It’s Gir Forest

Briefing on the Gir forest 'tour package'

Shekhawat (c) gives a pep talk on attending exercises daily on time

All the jungle talk triggered by Bijoy Gupta (ref post of January 31) in the past few days has crystallised into an excursion to Gir Forest, the home of the Asiatic lion. Bhaswati Bose today reported about an irresistible ‘off season’ tour package that would take care of our boarding and lodging in a three-star resort, meals included… all at a throwaway price.
“This special offer is open only till March 31,” she pointed out. “I spoke to the resort and they say that now is not the holiday season. Owing to school exams and other reasons, people do not travel to Gir at this time of the year. That is why they are giving such a huge discount over their normal rates.”
Appealing as all this sounded, what is holding us back is the availability of train tickets to Junagadh, the nearest rail head. “We shall get free pick-up from the station to the resort,” Bhaswati informed. “The resort is supposed to be close to the wildlife sanctuary. What we shall have to pay for is the jungle safari for which there are a few options to choose from.”
Needless to mention, those present today were unanimous in their willingness to join the tour. But many were already pre-committed elsewhere in the near future, leading to the inevitable juggling of dates. Shekhawat has to go to Rajasthan, Gupta must attend a wedding in Kolkata, Siba Prasad Maitra needs to go to Dubai to be with his daughter, Naseeem Khan has to go to Gwalior for her brother’s first death anniversary…
Qadir Bano and Naheed Siddiqui also mentioned some dates before March 31 when they will perforce be away on weddings. In effect, a ‘window period’ for the trip will have to be found which does not clash with any of those dates. And that can be a herculean task. Only thereafter can we take our chances with the railways on booking our tickets. Time is against us.