My journey from newsroom to wildlife

Life isn’t fair all the time but sometimes you get dealt a great hand

Being a wildlife cinematographer was always a dream but as life would have it, instead of landing a job in a wildlife channel, I got my first job in a business news channel in Mumbai. Number crunching and market ups and downs became my daily routine; but my mind was always set on getting out of the newsroom to explore a wild world which most people don’t know about.

Along came my good friend, Nikhil Nagle, a former banker whose passion for wildlife took him to far corners of the world for over 20 years, to document these untold stories through photographs. In 2017, he decided to turn this passion into a professional venture – that is when he roped me in to set up Gypsy Tiger.

Are you ready for a wild life?

It was time to leave behind all the comforts of city life. “A comfortable bed to sleep in, home cooked food and sometimes even basic amenities like toilets are going to be missing, are you ready for this? We will be travelling 200 days out of 350,” said Nikhil. Having lived in a city all my life, I was apprehensive, but also raring to go and the lure of the wild is what keeps the adrenaline pumping.

And the Journey begins

Since 2017 its been a a rugged, chaotic and beautiful ride into the wild. Being a solo woman traveller is not easy and it’s even tougher in the wild. There are physical limitations which test your confidence; but with all of these challenges comes a lot of fun as well.

I have visited over 20 countries with Gypsy Tiger. From Polar Bears to Jaguars, Tigers and silverback Gorillas, we have seen them all in their jungles. We have felt the joy at seeing a mother caring for and feeding her cubs, laughed at snow monkeys’ funny antics, got emotional on seeing a Deer trying to save her baby from a Tiger and got exhilarated on seeing successful hunts.

Each place has its own story:

Ladakh: One never forgets the first trip. We visited Ladakh in the peak of winters to document the ghost of the mountains, the Snow Leopard. This trip was my first and biggest challenge to decide if I had it in me to continue wildlife filming. The temperatures fell below -25 degrees on most days and small village homes with less than basic facilities were the only accommodation. Our sleeping bags provided some comfort but for days we had to survive on instant noodles and live without a shower. One instruction I still distinctly remember was our guide saying, “Do not drink water after 7 pm, it will be a challenge to go out to use the toilets.”

The shoot was even tougher, with wind lashing at you and snow making it tough to see anything. We would wait for hours on end in the open with our camera gears to get a glimpse of a snow leopard. After a month in this tough terrain we saw around 8 snow leopards and this torture was completely worth it!

Alaska: August is the time for the famous Salmon run in Katmai National Park where the sock-eyed Salmon come to spawn upstream. It is also a time for Grizzly Bears to come and catch these fish and fill up their tummies to prepare for the long winter hibernation. This was our chance to get up, close and personal with the mighty bears. Our comfortable lodge in the middle of tundra forest was breathtaking and the mode of travel was via sea planes. The awesome arial view of the Alaskan landscape would make us forget the task ahead — trekking each day for 7-8 km with 20 kg of camera gear on our back over mushy ground was no mean task. Rain lashing down on us in temperatures as low as 3-4 degree celsius was the icing on the cake. By the end of 10 days we saw more than 40 bears, a cub trying to imitate his mother hunting salmon, playing with each other, mama bear chasing a male bear away….we got some amazing footage and we could not complain.

Brazil: A place which boasts of one of the richest wildlife in the world, Pantanal is home to the biggest Jaguars. Here you see the big cat roaming the banks of the river in search of food which includes Caiman, Anacondas, Capybaras amongst other species. Being on an open boat with temperatures soaring at 40-45 degree celsius and humidity killing you, shooting was both a challenge and a treat. We rarely got more than a 10 minute break, every part of the river bank had a Jaguar. This is one place where we were always falling short of batteries for the camera as most of the time it kept rolling. A place so dear to us that we have gone there 4 times already. From anaconda hunts to mothers teaching their cubs to swim, to mating pair, we have seen it all but are still hungry for more. But the biggest challenge there was a tiny creature, the infamous mosquitoes — nothing worked on them until we managed to somehow get our Indian Kachua Chaap which provided the much needed respite. 

Kaktovik: Polar bears have always been one of my favourite animals and what could have been better than spending my birthday with them. October month in Kaktovik, Alaska means -30 degree celsius in an open boat all day. We had a cozy trailer as our home for 10 days and just french fries and burgers as our meals. The weight of all the clothes was more than our body weight and trying to operate cameras was the most difficult task. It was so chilly that removing the gloves off your fingers for more than a few minutes would turn them blue. This place was heaven, we saw close to 20 bears, cubs plunging in ice cold water seemed like challenging us for a polar plunge, sub adult cubs rolling on snow, male bears trying to hunt seals, everything seemed surreal. And while I tried to grab a cold bear, I asked my friend back home to grab a cold beer for me on my birthday.

India: Tigers are endangered with around 3800 left in the wild and India is home to most of them. The beautiful Sal forests are home to a variety of species like elephants, Monkeys, Deers, Leopards & Tigers which roam freely. Each park has its own famous tigers and most of them have names which immediately gives that emotional connect with us. From the famous Tigress, Arrowhead of Ranthambore walking out of palace (Ranthambore National Park fort), to Spotty of Bandhavgarh National Park swimming with her cubs, to Paro of Jim Corbett National park teaching her solo cub how to hunt, we have seen and documented it all. Watching a Tiger up, close and personal is always mesmerising no matter how many times you see them. We even named ourselves after them. Sitting in gypsies all day, waiting for that one shot can be challenging but with the Tigers they always say, patience will pay. And it most often than not does.

Over time, I have travelled to Patagonia (Chile) and walked with the Pumas, stayed for hours in an open boat and filmed the Polar Bears of Svalbard (Norway), spent many months across all of India’s Tiger parks, went diving to explore the vast ocean. I have also had some heart wrenching experiences watching the critically endangered Orangutans struggle for survival. Seen the Rhinos lose their horns as a preventive measure to protect them from poachers, visited Canada for coastal wolves to an undisclosed location.

Each journey has brought me closer to wildlife and farther from city life, each day is a learning. It also brings forth the sad reality that more than half of the species we know are endangered or in the red list.

Over time, this wild world has become my home. Contrary to what people say, I feel that one is more safe and protected here than in any cities of the world.