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Making
of Tiger's Den Resort
Shailendra
Tiwari (Owner and Managing Director) hails from Rewa, a township about 100kms
from Bandhavgarh. In 19th century Maharaja of Rewa's hunting ground was Bandhavgarh.
While the then Maharaja hunted Tigers in Bandhavgarh, Shailendra thought of
preserving Tigers.
After completing his Graduation in Hotel Management he joined the prestigious
and largest Hotel Group in Asia, namely, The Taj Group of Hotels. Serving in
the Taj for 14 years he learned a lot. But he was always searching for a purpose.
He went back to his roots in Rewa searching for same. Destiny had other plans
for him somewhere closeby. He visited Bandhavgarh and just fell in love with
the place. It seemed as if a dormant volcano had erupted. Purpose was found.
He bought a small piece of land in 1998, and decided to start a Wildlife Resort
with 10 cottages in Bandhavgarh National Park. He opened the Tiger's Den Resort
in April 2000. The Resort opened and was full instantly. Within a couple of
months he was forced to expand by demand for his resort. 4 more cottages were
added. They started and within a month more demand to expand further. He was
this time compelled by the Wildlife Lovers who loved this place to add 4 more
cottages. Now the inventory at Tiger's Den Resort was 18 cottages. Obviously
he had to add more land and plant trees. The initial land that he had bought
was absolutely barren, not a blade of grass. But he alongwith his team took
it as a challenge to create a mini forest in his area. He planted 5 thousand
trees in the area, and carefully nurtured them inch by inch, and then foot by
foot. His trees also did not let him down, they came up much quicker then expected,
perhaps he poured a lot of his love apart from water, and fertilisers. Today
they stand tall proud of work done by Shailendra
Now, what makes this place special. It is his team.
How he picked and trained his team deserves a book to be written. In short,
he picked up the people who constructed his resort to be employees in the
resort. The plumber, painter, carpenter, liked the purpose which they themselves
had built. They joined him. All the boys were taken in the restaurant, kitchen,
house keeping, and horticulture.
Then
started the training of the staff. He led his team from the front as an able
Captain of the Ship. He started serving in the restaurant himself to the guests,
and asked the boys to watch him. Similarly he taught them to make beds. So the
team, took interest as they realised this man was here for a purpose. They realised
that not only are they learning something new but they saw a light at the end
of the tunnel. As this team had constructed the resort themselves, so who better
to know the resort than themselves. They today believe it is their own resort.
A team of 12 multi skilled staff handling a resort in 4 acres of land, took
it upon themselves to take good care of the guests who were visiting Tiger's
Den Resort, just as Shailendra was taking care of them.
Shailendra's intention was pretty clear right from the beginning, he wanted
only to pamper and spoil his guests, he treats them like Kings. He believed
that a hotelier can become a wild lifer but it is rather tough the other way
around. The same he taught to his team as well. Soon his local team started
functioning like a well-oiled unit. Today they get compliments for the resort,
which he is not surprised by.
At the same time Shailendra was going with his clients to the park and learning
Wildlife. His genuine interest showed quick results and soon he knew about
Bandhavgarh, Bird and Wildlife therein better than many.
Now, people ask for Tiger's Den Resort for the kind of services Shailendra and
his team provides. The most interesting part about Tiger's Den Resort is that
you will come back feeling an integral part of it. He will share with you his
future plans, take feedback from you, implement the same at the earliest possible,
and you will say,
"Yeah this was my idea", so come be a part
of an idea, a dream, if you want to be treated like Royalty, to feel at home,
away from home, then come and see the dream of Shailendra, called
Tiger's
Den Resort, a dream that is now a reality.
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©Tiger
Den Bandhavgarh. All Rights Reserved
Meeting the Chief Wildlife Warden