Dehradun, May 17 -- The road climbed through winding hills, where the forest seemed to wrap itself around us silently. Time itself seemed to slow down.

We were in a trance. We almost missed it.

The forest track had narrowed to little more than a suggestion, and the teak trees on either side had closed ranks overhead. Then, without warning, a stone pillar emerged from the undergrowth -carved, deliberate, ancient - and I realised I was not alone in this jungle.

I was walking through someone's city.

This is the Polo Forest Reserve, 400 square kilometres of dry deciduous forest in northern Gujarat, where the Aravalli Range begins its long, stubborn march toward Rajasthan. To the casual trekker, it is a sanctuary of teak and bamboo. To any...