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Suresh S's avatar

Saya is really a black beauty Sir. His eyes are so daring....... And the way he is walking will beat the king of the Jungle. Nice background and frames Sir, thank U for such beautiful pictures......

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Parag Kulkarni's avatar

Thanks a lot Suresh

Hope you read the First Time Mother as well ?

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SUDHIRKUMAR MUNDLE's avatar

Fantastic sighting Parag...you are very lucky.

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Parag Kulkarni's avatar

Thank you Bhaiya, yes very rare as now his sighting is extremely rare. We missed his prine as wildlife photography was not our passion then

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Ashok Phatak's avatar

One look at him and “stealth” is the only word that comes to mind immediately……

Those green eyes set on a black body could make anybody’s blood freeze!

Wonderful work with your lens Parag!!

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Parag Kulkarni's avatar

Thanks a lot, Ashok. He is gorgeous but ruthless too. And imagine what sight it can be at night in a puch darl forest, with his eyes glowinh like a torch & nothing else visible. Can get very scary too & can freeze the onlooker for sure

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Sugu's avatar

Blacky the best pics and well narrated sir

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Parag Kulkarni's avatar

Thanks a lot, Sugumar

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Adv. Anupam Kumar's avatar

Mesmerizing, no other word can describe my feeling on viewing this post. ‘Saya’ of the Kabini forest is definitely the ‘Bagheera’ from my childhood memories. Simply loved the post!

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Parag Kulkarni's avatar

Welcome back, Advocate saab

It is nice to have you back, just as it was nice to have Saya back

Aaap ka Saya InFocus par bana rahe

Thanks

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SUNIL PATEL's avatar

All pics are so beautifully captured and amazing narrated “The saya” Sir

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Parag Kulkarni's avatar

Thanks a lot, Sunil

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Mudit's avatar

Saya is spectacular ith your superb narration we felt Daya was just in front of us

The Ghost is superb jet black with only eyes glistening Sir your passion for wild life was recognised by Saya and thats why after going in woods again came back to give you the desired pics Superb experience wonderful

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Parag Kulkarni's avatar

Thanks a lot, Mudit , so happy u loved it

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SACHIN's avatar

In focus deserves all the applause and recognition for this one..! Seeing a black panther is once in a life time experience and you had the opportunity to savor the moment and capture this beautiful creature live from a few yards. The striking green eyes, the sleek velvety black coat ,well toned figure, the supple walk and crouching behind the tree scanning for the lost love...were all a sight to behold. Loved its composure , despite so many fans drooling and dying to get a glimpse it just doesn't pay a heed to anyone or anything ....keeps in focus.

Thanks for sharing these incredible sightings and experiences.

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Parag Kulkarni's avatar

Cool dude isn't he ... in fact "ultra cool"

Also a fearless predator

A master at his craf

Many many adjectives to describe him

Make a trip to Kabini, Sachin. Not him but others are equally interesting to witness. Try your luck

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Bhupinder singh's avatar

Sir You are lucky you saw black Panther very much nearly coz Black panthers are usually rare sightings because they are usually solitary animals and have a wide range of habitats, so they are not commonly seen in the wild.

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Parag Kulkarni's avatar

Thanks Bhupinder

Lucky for sure

But also I made my luck here with thorough preparation

And surely Black panthers are rarest of rare and Saya rarest among them too

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Khan Abdurrab Khan's avatar

Lovely and lucky for closeup encounter of black-panther that too from 20 feet distance, amazing click with “glowing eyes” and well narrated truly emotional blog sir, enjoyed reading… right signal always help us to achieve the goal…

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Parag Kulkarni's avatar

Thanks Khan

yes those eyes are mystical , especially in the dark of the night / evening , they are magical

we were fortunate

or should I say , you make your fortune

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Ashok Balaganessan's avatar

A good horror movie never shows the ghost upfront. It builds up the fear and expectations and in an unexpected moment the ghost appears on screen n freeze the audience. I feel this blog is designed that way. As we read down n down about saya, no pictures appeared (intentional?) and no distraction pictures of tiger or elephant. Building up the pressure on the reader and making him too long for the jewel 💎 picture is well contemplated. And finally showing him like a blockbuster star introduction in movies and especially in Rajnikanth movies, they show only his back first and slowly he turns and blaze the screen. Saya is no different as he is the one and only superstar of Kabini and people wait months together to get a glimpse of this ‘jungle thalaiva’ 😊 Elusive pictures and thrilling narration makes this as a blockbuster blog for this year without doubt. Thank You!

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Parag Kulkarni's avatar

Actually post reading your comments the comments of Madhav below (do read), bringing in Amitabh Bachhan in discussion, tells me how much moviedom has impacted us also how movie like my writing has become

Do I take a plunge in script writing ?

Does another career await me ?

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Ashok Balaganessan's avatar

Writing career is already running parallel 😊 and by the way you are indicating to people in 40’s, the importance of adopting multiple careers to skip boredom during 50’s and keep ourselves fit and engaged. Another crack? 😊

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Parag Kulkarni's avatar

I mean a full blown writing career (got the message in your defensive reply - loads of work to do & miles to cover , for that , got it) ... but there is no boredom at all with good guys around. Every one must have a passion & must pursue it also reinvent themselves regularly to keep the juices flowing

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Parag Kulkarni's avatar

well understood and well articulated

whether that was my intention or not ? let me not share , but if it was it looks superlative with your articulation

You seem to have cracked my code by knowing that I build thru other images and then lead to the main protagonist .... so a departure here ... and holding on the protagonist through words longer is a bigger challenge , looks like i succeeded in doing so

thanks, enjoyed your articulation

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Madhav Reddy's avatar

The Intro and expectation that you built around 'Saya' was like the 1970/80s movies of Amitabh Bachchan the undisputed Badashah of Bollywood. 'Saya' seems to fall in the same category when it comes to Kabini, I suppose. Good read, enjoyed the flow as usual.

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Parag Kulkarni's avatar

Wow, Amitabh Bachhan and Rajani (Thalaiva) in 2 comments (read comment of Ashok above)... i feel honoured

InFocus is bang on target with these visualizations

Inching towards my Goal

Book writing has to be pursued

Thanks Madhav for your generosity of words

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Anshuman's avatar

Rare sighting of the eluvise Saya and that too after a year! The stealth black leopard with that athletic built and the glowing eyes really is a gem of Kabini. Thanks for sharing the pictures sir.

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Parag Kulkarni's avatar

Yes, he is and I think you must grab any opportunity that you may get to visit Kabini for him & others

Thanks

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Subramani G's avatar

Saya picture are good sir and narrations also feels like watching the movie. Capturing pictures of saya close to 20 ft is great and feel the thrills while reading. After quiet few weeks, reading InFocus is superb sir.

Thanks for giving oppertunity to see kabini without much greeneries through your lens is another perspective sir.

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Parag Kulkarni's avatar

My pleasure, Subramani.

There was enough distance between us , though he is a Bold predator and is used to humans being around

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Lakshmi Sharma's avatar

I am so looking forward to visit Kabini sometime soon, to experience what you have narrated. Amazing.

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Parag Kulkarni's avatar

You sure must, Lakshmi

First tadoba and then kabini

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Mohini Gupta's avatar

Amazing !!! It seems as if Saya comes out of his hiding, because he wants to be photographed by you ☺️ !!! So “intense”- that is my adjective for him!!! Really enjoyed reading this!!! Thanks for sharing!

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Parag Kulkarni's avatar

Ha ha ... for ... "the joke of the day" ... he has been photographed and covered extensively by legends including Shannon Wild on Natgeo and Shaaz Jung who both worked months on a Natgeo documentary of him and Mithun . these are top notch professionals who extensively photographed Saya. Main toh inki parchai (saya) bhi nahin hoon

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