An evening safari at Jhilmil Jheel almost did not happen. A rushed train journey, an overdue arrival and a tangle of permits pushed the day to its edge. By the time I entered Rajaji National Park, the light was already beginning to fall.The jeep moved deeper through the reserve as the forest grew quieter. Near closing time, with only a few minutes left before the gate, the track ran alongside a canal and we slowed down.
Across the water, in the last light, a deer moved through the undergrowth—feeding, pausing, then looking up. Nothing about the moment felt dramatic. That was its power. The journey there had been all hurry and delay. The forest offered the opposite: an untroubled presence, a fading sky, and enough stillness to make the rest of the day disappear.
