New Delhi, Sept. 19 -- There are only a few places in the world where one feels time just stops, or like payasam falling from a ladle-it moves in an especially slow trickle. A place where you, and what you think, aren't the main event. In these cathedrals bound in time, all you can do is surrender to your senses.

The forest is one of these places. Old places walled by trees, textured with grasses, roofed by canopies, with windows of light between tree crowns; a place which feels like a house, gathered and complete in itself. This monsoon, we were in the central Indian forest, which many have read about before they tread in it. The Jungle Book has immortalised stands of forest rife with snakes, bears, leopards and a surly tiger. Several s...