Srinivas was very talkative but highly knowledgeable driver we got at Mysore. He was manning the second car we’d rented, during our visit to Jungle Lodges K Gudi.
Srinivas has been driving cars for more than 15 years now but says “I’m still learning”. “Customers are like gods for us and this car is the temple. When a customer sits in our car, our responsibility is to ensure his complete satisfaction” he added. Before taking up his current job at a Mysore based travel agency Travel Parkz, he was working as jeep driver to some forest officer, hence he was fairly familiar with some of the JLR staff, as well as various protocols to be followed in jungle. When we invited him to jeep safari inside BR hills forest, he promptly put on a greyish sweater on his white shirt, saying “elephants do not like white colour”.
Elephants are very friendly animals, but their habitat is increasingly being occupied by humans, resulting in human-animal conflict. Srinivasan also told us how to protect ourselves from an elephant attack: “Elephants might look big and slow moving, but they can run really fast. Best way to escape is to run in a zig zag manner, elephant will find difficult to run zigzag.” “Also do not climb uphill, elephant can easily catch up. Run downhill, elephant will abandon pursuit, as it can’t maintain balance and fears toppling over”, he added.
“If attacked by a lion or tiger, lie down on your belly, fold your arms against your neck and stay calm. If you’re lying on your back, its very easy for the cat to cut open your stomach, but when one lies on his belly, backbone makes it difficult for the cat to kill instantly. There’ll be injuries and blood loss, but there’ll be high chance of survival” was his advise.
He also told lots of stories about Sir M Vishveshwarayya…That will be covered in a separate post.
Srinivas is a nice person to engage for your cab requirements if you’re into writing/research etc. He’s fairly knowledgeable about the places around Mysore and their history and unlike other drivers who prefer to sleep in the car, Srinivas can accompany you inside the places and double up as a guide. But if you just want to sleep in the car and want him to just drive and nothing else, you may better clear that in the beginning.
Below is a youtube video on how a jeep driver scared off an attacking elephant.
Related: Mysore airport launch * Wayanad * Elephant bathing in K Gudi * Coorg * Life Saving skills from movies *
Srinivas has been driving cars for more than 15 years now but says “I’m still learning”. “Customers are like gods for us and this car is the temple. When a customer sits in our car, our responsibility is to ensure his complete satisfaction” he added. Before taking up his current job at a Mysore based travel agency Travel Parkz, he was working as jeep driver to some forest officer, hence he was fairly familiar with some of the JLR staff, as well as various protocols to be followed in jungle. When we invited him to jeep safari inside BR hills forest, he promptly put on a greyish sweater on his white shirt, saying “elephants do not like white colour”.
Elephants are very friendly animals, but their habitat is increasingly being occupied by humans, resulting in human-animal conflict. Srinivasan also told us how to protect ourselves from an elephant attack: “Elephants might look big and slow moving, but they can run really fast. Best way to escape is to run in a zig zag manner, elephant will find difficult to run zigzag.” “Also do not climb uphill, elephant can easily catch up. Run downhill, elephant will abandon pursuit, as it can’t maintain balance and fears toppling over”, he added.
“If attacked by a lion or tiger, lie down on your belly, fold your arms against your neck and stay calm. If you’re lying on your back, its very easy for the cat to cut open your stomach, but when one lies on his belly, backbone makes it difficult for the cat to kill instantly. There’ll be injuries and blood loss, but there’ll be high chance of survival” was his advise.
He also told lots of stories about Sir M Vishveshwarayya…That will be covered in a separate post.
Srinivas is a nice person to engage for your cab requirements if you’re into writing/research etc. He’s fairly knowledgeable about the places around Mysore and their history and unlike other drivers who prefer to sleep in the car, Srinivas can accompany you inside the places and double up as a guide. But if you just want to sleep in the car and want him to just drive and nothing else, you may better clear that in the beginning.
Below is a youtube video on how a jeep driver scared off an attacking elephant.
Related: Mysore airport launch * Wayanad * Elephant bathing in K Gudi * Coorg * Life Saving skills from movies *
Wish I never have to follow his advise in this life or next :D
ReplyDeletegovt says NO to pipe horns! but tht saves life...??!!??
ReplyDeleteWill I ever remember the tips if I face a cat?
ReplyDeleteGreat post. :)
Good advice. To add to the list, if a tiger or any similar size predator, threatens you, you can stretch your hands out wide (trying to reach an imposing figure) create as much noise and disturbance as possible. The tiger will either think you are bigger than him or will get threatened by all the noise. This is a much fool proof method than lying on the stomach, which is a last resort.
ReplyDeleteMridula,
ReplyDeletebut I want to try once...(and survive) ;)
Loggy: Yes it does. Banning pipe horns is because of completely different reason as they add to noise pollution
Indrani, the point is, will the cat ever read this post and device counter strategies?
Sankara, thanks for additional info. Yes, lying on stomach would result in severe injuries and bleeding, so obviously should be last option
This one is nice to know.
ReplyDeleteDo you know of any places to stay in K Gudi?
conversations with drivers are very interesting...hubby enjoys them a lot, and starts the conversation asking about where he hails from and what his ancestors did :).. esp interesting are tips like these which we will surely not remember if we ever need to use them....
ReplyDeleteRam,
ReplyDeleteJLR is the only place to stay in BR Hills are as far as I know. The other option will be to stay in Charmarajanagara, but JLR K Gudi doesn't have a day visit package.
Anu
Why do you think you'll not remember the tips when there's a need to use them? Due to panic ?
wonderful post!
ReplyDeletegood to see a person who loves his job too!
Very informative post.. and the comments indeed.
ReplyDeleteThere are really few people who love what they do. Nice to read about one of such persons...
Thanks Deepak and Satya
ReplyDeleteThis post makes me shudder. Yet it is always great to know things like this. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteLife saving tips for sure! Will keep these in mind. Nothing like the experience speaking :)
ReplyDeleteVery informative. The ways of escaping the attack from wildlife is really useful.
ReplyDeleteThanks Magali, Mohan and Rajesh
ReplyDeleteyes,it was very useful advice to the world.Thanks for sharing!
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Those are very informative but interesting advices. Man the time those people were inside the Jeep must be quiet scary !!!
ReplyDeleteCool post and very informative indeed..
ReplyDeletebut will we remember at the time of attack ion how to save ourselves or will our fear take over?
This time at Daroji, sitting in the jeep, few feet from the bears, i kept wondering "what if one of them decides to surprise attack us?"
Thanks Aarti,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure one will remember the trick unless he/she panics
There's a monk temple in Bankok where they rear tigers as pets.. what if all of them strike one day?
LR, yes, wondering what I'd have done if I happened to be driving it