The forest and Daleep Akoi have always had a lot to say to each other. And their favourite language is silence. Daleep reasons, “Even when it is really silent, it never is. There are insect noises, birdsong, the sounds of the river, the wind through the trees, and the sound of stillness.” 

And in that silence, he’s had some of his most profound conversations — both as a child who ventured into these fragile ecosystems with his father, Inder Pratap Singh Akoi and, now, while being at the helm of Jim’s Jungle Retreat in Uttarakhand. 

Calling himself and his sister “Corbett pilgrims”, referencing the many trips they took into Corbett Tiger Reserve, Daleep recounts his childhood being filled with campouts in forest bungalows, tiger tracking on elephant back, long campfire nights with forest guards, and sumptuous picnic lunches surrounded by the wonders of the jungle.

“We learned through sight and sound, discussion and debate,” he says, going on to recall early morning safaris on elephant back, crossing the vast expanse of grasslands. “We’d spot a tiger approaching an elephant and almost sensed the fear of the elephant; its shivers reached us.” 

He chuckles at how these forest rendezvous were often cut short by the smell of kari patta (curry leaves). “Hunger would set in, and we’d start thinking about lunch,” he shares. 

Intent that these not just remain childhood stories, Daleep designed Jim’s Jungle Retreat in a way that his guests can experience all of the above. 

Connecting people to the jungle 

In the early 1950s, while India was still recovering from the hangover of the British Raj, Inder, who was just a toddler at the time, accompanied his uncle on hunting trips. 

Daleep explains, “This was before India banned hunting in the 1970s; the British had leased out forest blocks to people who were interested in hunting. During the........

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