Conservation, Naturally!

The rains had played truant. Clouds were gathering and it could rain any moment. As I sat by the window expectantly, I noticed fresh petunia blooms in the flower bed. I heard Ginger, my cat, mew as he raced up the compound wall. I was dreading the moment he would land on the petunias and destroy a flower or a bud. Even as I raised my voice to shoo him away, he had landed, deftly avoiding injury to any of the plants. When he saw me at the window, he made his way up, taking extreme care not to damage a single petal or shoot. As he snuggled up to me, I petted my purring pet for having been so sensitive. This instinct to save nature is innate in all animals – wild or domestic. They do not want to cause wanton damage. However, we, humans seem to have overcome this instinct and, the average global citizen doesn’t really care about wildlife or the environment.

So, why must we bother about wildlife conservation? Why do conservationists and concerned citizens cry themselves hoarse when, in a country like India, we have so many other urgent problems that need our attention? Well, it isn’t solely because tigers and forests are beautiful. There exists a deeper reason to this. The forests that clothe the various animals’ habitat act as watersheds of major Asian river systems such as the Brahmaputra, Ganga and the Irrawady. The forests regulate the flow of water after the rains and protect the soil from erosion. The survival of these rivers is critical to the farmers whose survival depends on agriculture. For that matter, what would you and I eat if the farmers could not grow their crops? When we protect forests from the myriad problems that face it, we are not indulging in a luxury that we cannot afford in a poverty stricken, overpopulated country. We are, indeed, protecting the soil and water resources that sustain us.

However, our forests today are not very safe. The immediate threats to our forests and its animals, today, are poaching and man-animal conflict.

It is very scary that the third most rampant illegal trade in the world after narcotics and arms is that of wildlife! Our laws today provide for a maximum fine of Rs 50,000 and 7 years in prison. But, come to think of it, when notorious poachers like Sansar Chand can own property worth Rs 40 crores, what is a mere fine of Rs 50,000? On the other hand, these poachers have all the resources to engage the best lawyers in the country! We need to give this a re-think!

The other immediate threat is when people stay very close to protected areas, and come in conflict with animals. People staying very close to PAs also means that they trade in minor forest products, which causes a lot of disturbance in the food chain! However, we do have a policy wherein every family that wants to relocate from around a Tiger Reserve is given a compensation of Rs 10 lacs. This needs to be implemented whole heartedly.

At the end of the day, we have to come together – architects, engineers, conservationists, wildlife biologists and even the lay man ‐ so that we can make a difference. We need to conserve our forests and the magical creatures that live in them, not only because it is insensitive and cruel to let them disappear from the face of the Earth, but because our very survival depends on it!

I WOULD HAVE STEPPED ON IT!!!

Sunday morning, Siddharth, Nikhil, a few others and I went birding. We were going to a place where my luck had always been disgusting, to say the least. It was almost as if all the birds and animals that were known to live there would run for it the minute they knew I was around!

We arrived at our birding spot after a quick half an hour ride, and were blessed with the sight of a mighty, beautiful and absolutely awe-inspiring bird - the steppe eagle. The guy was HUGE, to put it very mildly. Moving on, we came across a few ashy crowned sparrow larks and a few butterflies. And lo behold, our eagle was out, mobbing a kestrel!! The speed at which the eagle flew was simply unbelievable!!! It soared through the skies, maintaining its balance and suddenly it pushed back its wings before it touched the kestrel! Two of the most agile birds were at each other. The drama made us just hold our breath and watch, until the eagle decided to do the disappearing act. :(

The steppe eagle - The Tiger of the Skies.

As we decided to move on, Chirag, one of the people who was with us, came screaming "Chinkara!!! Chinkara!!" The Chinkara, or the Indian Gazelle is a beautiful little antelope that is extremely graceful in every leap and step it takes forth. The chinkara is also an endangered specie, and it was like a dream to see it so close to the city.

We decided to try and see if we could get another glimpse of this magical creature and started walking in the direction in which Chirag led Sid and me - Chirag walking about 50 metres ahead of us. We ambled along, watching a couple of rufous tailed finch larks flitting around, and my concentration was focussed only on the larks. Suddenly, Sid goes "Mridula!!! You almost stepped on it. Look behind. There's a dead monitor." I turned around and was taken aback at the very size of the creature and I was thinking of how I'd probably walked across it. The two of us stood, on either side of the dead monitor, wondering how it could have died, considering there were no marks of blood or anything on it. We must have spent atleast 3-4 minutes pondering over the various possibilities. Then, I suddenly asked Sid, "Are you sure its dead?" He gave a little chuckle and said "Of course it is!!!" and raised his foot about 5 inches over the monitor to prove it to me, when the "dead" monitor "came to life" and darted and ran as fast as its stubby legs could carry it!!!! I gave out a piercing scream that even a train would be envious of, because the monitor ran in my direction, and jumped as far as I could jump and Sid and I were left speechless by this crazy encounter. It took us a good 5 minutes to recover. Initially, when we believed that the monitor was dead, neither of us bothered to click images of it, but thankfully, I did manage to click one, which I have shared below. It is a record shot though...

The monitor lizard! You can see Siddharth's foot in the frame - you can imagine how close were were to it.

This incident just made my day and we were thrilled to bits!! However, a question lay riveted in our minds till now - Howcome the monitor did not feel the vibrations of us coming along and run for it in the first instance?

Moving on after this completely incredible experience, we saw loads of kestrels, one of which hunted before us. We also got lucky with the chinkara and did see that too!!


All in all, it was a tremendous day of birding that I can never forget for the rest of my life. To think that all these magical creatures live 20 minutes from my house is just amazing. However, that also makes me feel the need to save the habitat of these animals so that they don't go away forever.


Kestrel. One of the most agile birds around.

Stunning Tadoba!

Tadoba came as a much deserved break after all the intense (if late) involvement with books. Camping after one whole year was really exciting and it was definitely going to be a fabulous 5 days! My co-instructors on the camp were going to be Mayank, a 14 year old who, actually, was younger than some campers, and Modi Sir.

We were all set for the camp, aware that it was going to be boiling hot! Our first trail was a walking trail where we visited a small pond in the buffer zone of the National Park, on foot. This little lotus pond was buzzing with activity! There were, to our pleasant surprise, 4 or 5 female paradise flycatchers in it! These pretty birds are usually found in bamboo thickets or in places with trees in them. This came as a surprise and I still am curious about this peculiar behaviour!

We also saw pheasant tailed jacanas, openbill storks, a very pretty common kingfisher, waterhens and many other winged beauties over there.

The female paradise flycatcher in the lotus pond

The next morning's safari was one that really won us over. Tadoba has such an amazing variety of birds! It surely is a birdwatcher's paradise... We saw oriental honey buzzards and Indian rollers by the dozen, paradise flycatchers, lesser adjutant storks, racket tailed drongos and many other birdies. We waited at many spots, expecting and hoping with our hearts to see the famous 'tigress with 4 cubs", but of course, we weren't patient enough to wait for too long and we headed back to the stunning Teliya Lake.


There was a massive crowd at the lake and the King himself was the centre of attention. He came, His powerful limbs just ruling over the lake, capturing the very essence of the forest. My heart sprang with joy at the sight of Him, but within a minute, I was almost reduced to tears. I was watching one out of maybe 1000 tigers left in the country... That's less than the number of students in my college. The very thought gave me goosebumps and re-instilled the feeling that we HAVE TO do everything we can to ensure the survival of this animal. He sat in the water, drank a little and settled down to cool himself, playing in the water like a little kid! It sure was a sight my eyes relished!
Livin' on the edge - Literally. When are we going to wake up and help save this majestic, majestic beast? It is very scary to think that there are fewer tigers in India than there are students in my college - think about it.

That evening, we saw the rarely seen chausingha and the muntjac. The tiger was still in the same place in the lake and after a while, walked back into the thicket. We also had a couple of gaur staring into our faces with a totally blissful look on their faces!

The next morning's walking trail was something I will never forget for the rest of my life! We set off on foot and for about half an hour, there seemed to be a lull in the forest. No animals and no birds were to be seen . Then, the guide suddenly signalled us to stop and said "Dholes", in the most calm manner possible. They were heading towards us, a massive pack of 17 of them. For a while, I thought something was wrong with my eyes that I was imagining 17 makkus coming towards me! :D The pack of dholes!

They stopped about 200 metres away from us, gave us ample time to get photos of them and then the alpha male headed then away. We also came across tiger pugmarks and I got a nice opportunity to show the campers how to read them! :)


The last safari was the best! We went into a different range of the forest, namely the Kolsa range and saw a riot of birds!! This place is just a birders paradise! Racket tailed drongos, indian pittas, ashy bellied drongos, flamebacks - it was CRAZY! The highlights of this safari were the jungle cat - a first time sighing for me, and the chausingha!

THE jungle cat!

It was a perfect 5 days in this beautiful beatiful forest. However, it desperately needs to get rid of private vehicles plying in it and also it needs to be managed as well as Kanha and Ranthambhore are. Tadoba, overall, was fantabulous! I can't wait for my next visit there! :)

Oriental Honey Buzzard at the Teliya Lake

White eyes waiting to get a sip of water at a waterhole

Indian Pitta

Spotted owlet at our campsite

Ranthambhore again!

Oh boy! This place sure has me addicted to it :-)

The third visit to this place, disappointing in parts, really breathtaking in some ways, the trip was good, overall. :-) The first thing that we saw outside the national park was something i will never forget despite the apparent insignificance of it - a squirrel :-)

When we first entered the national park, there were the ever present long billed vultures on the cliff at the entrance of the park... it felt great to see atleast a few of this highly endangered specie, that has come under great threat because of the drug "diclofenac" that acts as an anti-inflammatory for cattle. When the cattle dies and the vultures feed on them, it affects them adversely and kills them.

spotted owlet - by far the cutest bird around!

A little later, just outside the fort were a big bunch of mischevious langurs, extremely adorable and HYPER!!!!!!!!!! One of them actually got into a jeep and acted like it owned it! Really cute fellow!

The beautiful lakes of Ranthambhore were just BURSTING with life!!!! There was a bird and deer stampede in them! There were ruddy shelducks, and apparently, there are fewer ruddy shelducks than tigers in Ranthambhore... So those of you who think its too bad I didn't see the king himself, I saw someone rarer than him! :P There were bar headed geese and pied avocets, both first time sightings for me :-)

It takes two to tango - the spoonbills

What was the icing on the cake, though, was the pair of spoonbills that looked extremely adorable when they were looking for food in the water!!! They both did the same actions at the same instant... it was like a well rehearsed performance for us :-) There were also countless sambars and chitals, which look extremely beautiful!

Predator and Prey

On one of the safaris, there were frantic alarm calls from the sambars, a sign that there definitely is a big cat or some predator around. The atmosphere got very tense, the sambar began to hit his hoof on the ground, ears pricked and tail up. Was the King somewhere around? Or maybe the leopard, the ghost of the forest! We were all waiting with bated breath for quite some time, but to no avail :( However, the very feeling that was embedded into us was just crazy! Its amazing how at times, there can be a "lull in the forest", at times its just so full of excitement and activity; sometimes its beautiful and sometimes, scary...

An alert sambar!

This place never leaves me without some hidden gift and this time it showed me one of nature's most magnificent creatures - pelicans! We couldn't get good shots of it, but I did manage to get a couple of record shots :-)

On the other hand, the visit left me a little shaken. There was a lot of plastic in the forest and somehow seems to be losing its charm. Just 3 days before we were at Ranthambhore, 2 sub adult tigers had been poisoned by the villagers, showing that this place, too, isn't a safe haven after all...

All in all, Ranthambhore was stunning! This place deserves to be well looked after so that the mighty, elegant beasts that inhabit do get a chance to survive!


A tiger pugmark! Though we didn't see Him, He sure was there..

Hindi essays and me..

Hindi was never my strong point. Particularly Hindi essays. The painful things we had to write in school, could really murder any sane, normal person. So, here I was, a poor, innocent thing, waiting for the topic to be revealed in all its glory and to begin writing on it.

So, Mrs. M walked into the class, scowled at us, and wrote the topic on the board. Now, I maintain to this day, that I never intended to do what I did. The topic said, "Aap bus mein kahi jaa rahe ho aur kisi ki jeb kat gayi. Aapne kya kiya..." ("You are in a train and someone's pocket got picked. What did you do?")

I assumed that jeb(pocket) means jeeb (tongue) and that's where all the trouble began. Now, I always knew that Mrs.M was not the nicest person around, but I never thought that her imagination could run THIS wild.

Totally disgusted with her and the topic, I settled down to write about it. I have never had to think as much as I did for that one!

So the final composition was truly worth a listen.

The story was "I was in a bus with this guy sitting in front of me. He was very hungry. So, he pulled out an apple and a knife from his bag. He began cutting it and eating the apple. When suddenly, he put the knife in his mouth and cut his tongue. Oh my god! His tongue was bleeding and thankfully, I had the presence of mind to call an ambulance. He was admitted and my presence of mind saved the day.''

And yeah... I got one and a half out of ten for this masterpiece :D

Just one and a half, considering the amount of laughter I brought into Mrs.M's life.. x-(

Makku and Gingu... or Brindle and Himal??

I read this in the newspaper... It is just MAKKU GINGU!!!! Totally them !!! Jug Suraiya ki jai! :D

Me and Himal

by-
Brindle Suraiya

Woof! I’m doing this column on Jugfellow’s behalf because this is something you’ve really got to hear from the dog’s mouth. I’d always wondered why, in human speak, the phrase ‘a dog’s life’ meant something unpleasant and undesirable. I’m a dog, and ever since I adopted Bunnylady and Jugfellow a while ago, I’ve had a pretty good life. I’ve got the two of them well trained to do what humans have been put on this planet to do: love and pet us dogs, feed us, and – most importantly – take us for walks. I’m glad to report that my adopted humans have always fulfilled all these functions quite admirably. And life for me was one long tailwag. Till one day they went and did the UNMENTIONABLE. They went and let a…i can’t bring myself to use the word… a CAT into the house. Not a full-grown cat, but a juvenile member of that species, what’s known as a kitten. Ooh, what a little oogie-woogie it is, cooed Bunnylady, picking up the wretched creature from the pavement where it belonged and stroking it. I was appalled. I’ve long known that Jugfellow is congenitally soft in the head and generally prone to strange and unaccountable behaviour. But i’d always assumed that Bunnylady had more sense. But here she was, holding this cat in her hands and saying: He’s so sweet, and round, and soft, and white, let’s call him Himal. Round and soft and white? Was the damn creature an animal or a sweetmeat? Why not just call him Rossogolla and be done with it. And were they actually bringing the wretched beast into the house, my house? I couldn’t believe it. They were. Look, you’ve got to understand about dogs and cats. You know India and Pakistan, right? Well, dogs and cats are like India and Pakistan. Dogs – all dogs, everywhere and anywhere, including in Pakistan – are Indians. Cats – all cats, including those in India – are Pakistanis. I’ll tell you about my first encounter with a cat, a big, mangy, fleabitten tom, oozing malice and treachery from every pore. I was little more than a pup in those days, and quite innocent of the ways of the catty world. So i bounded up to the monster and barked at it, whereupon – according to the rules – it was supposed to run up a tree and hiss down at me from the branches. But the freaking psycho did a Kargil on me: instead of running up a tree, with a bloodcurdling screech it scratched me on my nose. The scar was visible for weeks. Mortifying. After that, i learnt to ignore cats. All cats, of whatever shape, size, age or gender they might be. They represented an untrustworthy and malevolent life form which could never be relied upon to play according to the rules of the game. Stab you in the back, first chance they get. Or rather, scratch you on the nose. No. Cats were very definitely felines non grata, so far as i was concerned. That is until those two loonies i’ve adopted took Himal in. It’s just been a few weeks, but already he’s become quite gross and fat, the amount he eats. And from my bowl too, when i’m not looking, though he’s got a bowl of his own (from which i snaffle the odd morsel when he’s not looking, tit for tat. Or cat). But worse, much worse is to come. At night he snuggles up to me and sleeps with me in my basket. And all day he keeps mewling and purring and trying to entwine himself around me. I think he thinks i’m his mother, for crissake. Horror of horrors. Anyway, i’ve managed to avoid his revolting attentions for the past couple of hours. Wonder where he is, and what he’s up to. Hope he hasn’t got into any trouble, or hurt himself, After all, he’s still very young. Oh dear. A mum’s worries are never done. Hell’s bells. What did i just say…?

Heaven on Earth: Kaas!

The sanyasi with a smile!


A HUGE carpet of flowers. Blue flowers, yellow flowers, white flowers, pink flowers. You name it, it's got to be there! :-)
Welcome to Kaas. 110 kms from Pune, virtually in Satara, this place is just stunning! It comes to life around September each year and lasts only for a short while, only to come back to life the next year.
We left home for this heaven by around 5 a.m, and hit the road! For those of you who are late risers, the world looks VERY beautiful at 5 a.m! We reached the plateau in about 3 hours and boy oh boy was it beautiful!!! Red rumped swallows and malabar crested larks flitted about in their pretty, flower filled home. The collared dove gave it plaintive call. A mongoose crossed the road for us and I literally ran after it, but to no avail. :-(
This place really deserves a visit every year, right after the monsoons. It is EXTREMELY biodiverse!!! You find en number of reptiles, birds and amphibians over there!! Many of the plants and flowers found here are endemic. I'm sure all of you have heard of the "Valley of Flowers" in the Himalayas, where a myriad wild flowers bloom every August. Well, Kaas is like a miniature Valley of Flowers, and is, indeed, called the Valley of Flowers of Maharashtra! I have fallen in love with this place and will visit it every year for sure!!
However, it is very unfortunate that we do not even let a place as beautiful as Kaas retain its glory. It has been littered very badly.

Here are a few pictures which are more eloquent that the words! :-)

Freedom!!! That's what comes to my mind when I clicked this pic!

The end of the valley and these pretty flowers mark the beginning of the cliff

This is what Kaas is all about!

The malabar crested lark in its flower garden!