Alone with fireflies: Kerala woman trekker survives in forest by drinking stream water

Kerala trekker GS Sharanya survived four days alone in Karnataka’s Tadiandamol forest, enduring rain and isolation. Rescuers found her safe after an intensive search, and she remains determined to continue trekking

Kozhikode: She stayed four days alone in a rain-soaked forest, with no food, mobile phone going dry and only fireflies to keep her company.

Kerala trekker G S Sharanya, who was successfully traced in the deep forests of Tadiandamol hills in Karnataka’s Kodagu district on Sunday night after losing her way during trekking, says she wants to go into forest again.

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She emerged from the wild not with fear, but with a story etched in resilience and quiet wonder.

While speaking from her home in Nadapuram here, the 36-year-old IT professional from Kozhikode said on Monday that trekking is her passion though her parents are not very keen for her to pursue it.

Sharanya, who lost her way during a trek to the Tadiandamol hills on April 2, survived on water from a forest stream, braving steep terrains and intermittent rain, before being found by rescuers on Sunday after an intensive search.

Recounting her days in isolation, Sharanya spoke less of hardship and more of the strange, almost surreal companionship the forest offered her. As darkness fell each evening, the forest came alive in flickers of light, she said.

“By evening, fireflies would fill the whole forest. There was moonlight, and the sky was so clear. I could see stars …,” she said.

There was no food, only the steady flow of water from a nearby stream. “I had nothing but a jacket, a phone and a 500 ml water bottle. The mobile soon ran out of charge. But, as there was a stream nearby, I had plenty of water to drink,” she said.

Choosing instinct over panic, she sought refuge atop rocky outcrops – spaces she believed were safer from wild animals coming to drink water.

The nights were filled with unfamiliar sounds, including the humming of cicadas, but not once did she come face to face with wildlife.

Despite the uncertainty, Sharanya said fear never overtook her. Instead, she held on to the belief that help would arrive.

Through rain and rugged slopes, she kept moving when she could, and stayed in relatively open patches, hoping to be spotted by drones or search teams combing the dense forest.

Her ordeal began when she got separated from her 10-member trekking group after taking a different path during the descent.

Her last contact — a call to the homestay in Kakkabe village — was a quiet admission that she had lost her way, before her phone battery died, cutting her off from the outside world.

What followed was a massive, round-the-clock search operation involving forest officials, Anti-Naxal Squad personnel, and local tribal communities, intensified with thermal drone cameras under the direction of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

She was eventually spotted in a remote patch of the forest — an area seldom traversed — by local residents after four days.

When rescuers reached her, Sharanya walked out to them, calm and composed, even smiling after days of solitude.

Back home in Nadapuram on Sunday night, she was received with relief and emotion. Her mother, who had waited through days of uncertainty, broke down as she spoke of an unshaken belief in her daughter’s return. “I knew she would come back,” she said.

For Sharanya, the forest was not just a test of survival, but an experience that has strengthened her further. Even after four days of hunger, rain, and isolation, she remains undeterred — her spirit of adventure intact.

When asked about her next trekking plans, the brave woman said, “Maybe after the summer season”.