The Times of India’s ‘Saving Our Stripes’ campaign culminated in a climax with three Young Rangers having a close encounter with the big cat at Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve near Nagpur.
TOI had launched the campaign to celebrate the success of government’s Project Tiger. Kicked off in April last year, it was a multi-faceted effort featuring editorial articles, homage to Project Tiger’s heroes, interviews with experts, thought-provoking cartoons (Tiger-TOONS), podcasts, videos, anthems, and multiple contests.

Initially started as an awareness initiative, the campaign evolved into a significant movement, earning praise from luminaries like Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
TOI’s Tiger Anthem, aimed at inspiring the next generation to take up conservation efforts, was regionalised into six languages and featured at Vigyan Bhawan, G20 summit and other international platforms. A concluding contest — Young Rangers — involving students was rolled out across the country.
They were asked to convey the importance of tigers in any format of their choice. Over 60,000 students from 1,000 schools participated in the contest.
The top 3 winners of the contest got an opportunity to explore Tadoba alongside wildlife cinematographer S Nallamuthu. The adventure started with a stay at Taaru Vann resort and students interacted with Jitendra Ramgaonkar, field director at Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR).
A mind-blowing experience, thanks to TOI
The Tadoba tiger safari was simply mindblowing. It was my first tryst with the wild, and we were lucky to see a cub of tigress Babli stroll by, a feet away from our Gypsy. At that point of time, I wasn’t scared. Lost in the majestic presence of the tiger, my mind was unable to process any other emotion or thought.
During the trip, we got to know about various aspects of tigers, their habitat, way of living, and most importantly — The Project Tiger.
We got a chance to interact at length with Nallamuthu sir, Nikhil sir (owner of Taaru Vann), and Tadoba field director. Other Young Rangers were also good company. Our stay at Taaru Vann was fantastic, the rooms were quite spacious.

Saw a tiger cub & cricket legend too!
It was a great adventure. In the morning, our parents who were on a different safari Gypsy, spotted a tiger, Yuvraj. But it gave us a miss. Later, we sighted tigers with binoculars of Nallamuthu sir. Hotel owner Nikhil sir accompanied us on the second safari. Later, we shifted to the Gypsy of Nallamuthu sir and that changed our fortunes. Soon, we sighted a cub of Babli. It was a goosebumps moment, with the tiger standing hardly a metre from our Gypsy. While returning, we spotted cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar passing by in another Gypsy.

5-minute sighting & memories to cherish for life
With one safari completed, and the second nearing end, I had almost lost hope of sighting a tiger.
During the afternoon safari, as Nallamuthu sir and Nikhil sir kept us engrossed with tiger tales, the big cat made an unexpected entry. It was an ethereal experience. Unfazed by the tourists atop Gypsys, the king of the jungle made its way through roadside bushes. As we watched with bated breath, the tiger came closer to us. And it stopped suddenly, a few metres away. Even as we froze, the tiger stayed put for around five minutes, giving us a lifetime of memories.