Tigers at dawn: The wild beauty of India's Ranthambore National Park

To catch a glimpse of the tigers at the national park, one has to be patient, and listen to everything the guide says.

If you’ve never heard the jungle hold its breath, never felt the way the air tightens when a predator steps into the clearing, or caught the sharp scent of fear – not yours, but the prey’s – you haven’t yet lived wild.

Not properly. Not the kind of wild that gets under your skin and stays there, long after the dust has washed off and the last mosquito bite has faded.