A night before the full moon

Today , the 24th of November is the most auspicious day of Kartik purnima. On this day the auspicious month of Kartik comes to an end. Lord Krishna performed the most esoteric pastime of Raslila on this night.
Two years back , in 2005, I was far away from Noida in the jungles of Corbett Park.It was one day before the full moon, so the moonlight shone brightly on the thick woods surrounding us as we sat beside a bonfire next to the raging Ramganga river at Salluna resort.
Most of the guys were enjoying themselves with a liberal treat of snacks and drinks. I was among the non-drinkers (who incidentally happened to be a majority in that elite group) , but nevertheless lost in the intoxicating bash of songs, music and jokes being cracked around the fire.

After a fun filled session lasting a few hours after dusk, we had our dinner in the lawns at 10 pm.The next day we were to drive back to Noida , but nobody wanted to go to their rooms and go to sleep. The open clear sky with the moon shining bright, the serenity of the river flowing nearby and the mystery of the dense forests were too appealing for anybody to ignore.
At around 11 pm , suddenly an idea arose : why don't we take a walk through these forests now ? At least let us walk some distance along the river .
The idea was accepted by everybody in the group without any exception. However, our guide was a bit reluctant , saying "bagh hai... there is a leopard lurking nearby". We had heard the alarm calls for a leopard during our walk early that morning.
It took a few minutes to convince the guide and the resort guards, who were equally reluctant to allow us outside at that hour when "wild animals are at large".
We did not tell them however, that it was because of this sense of "adventure" that we wanted to go out at that hour!
Manav, our guide, gave some quick instructions. We were to walk together without making noise. Nobody should be left alone.If an animal was spotted, nobody should panic, rather we should move as a group all the time.
So, we walked out into the silent night, onto the jungle path that led towards the river. It was not far from the resort, no, not at all. But the rubble made the path quite slippery and any act of panic could have easily resulted in a fall and fracture.
Without speaking aloud, we kept walking like an army platoon in an enemy territory. Only that we were too eager to spot one of our "enemies" : some wild animal , in the dark.
Manav kept telling us in whispers, how to deal with the wild boar and how to duck an attack should it happen!
Dogs barking in the distance did send some chills up my spine, as dogs are known to bark when a leopard enters their area looking for its favorite meal!
We reached the banks of the river safely and did not spot a soul on the way.The riverside was shining with huge boulders. Some of the guys wanted to walk on the boulders, but permission was denied by the guide. He did not want to take further risks.
Suddenly, some of the guys spotted a "leopard" on the far side of the river. I could not see it anyway and realized that it was an illusion. Some of them insisted it was indeed there, a leopard, sitting on the other side of the Ramganga. For sometime, the debate continued amongst us before it was decided that we must return before we actually invite some trouble.
We walked back slowly and carefully to the resort.

Early next morning, I walked around the resort, and saw numerous marks made by wild boars that had uprooted herbs in that area the previous night. Fortunately, we had not encountered one during our walk : or else can't say what would have happened.

Today I was taking a walk around my campus , a concrete jungle where the shining moon gets eclipsed by the tall structures and mocked by the street lamps. The incident at Corbett two years ago suddenly came to my memory.