yet again ... getting lost ... then enjoying self-discovery ...

Recently put in interesting time meandering around Zunheboto and Mokokchung . . Share some images . . .  Entrance of a house at Yehemi . . The design and neatness were striking . .  Grains put out for drying at Sumi Settsu . . A weigh-scale at Longsa . . At another village we were told this was used for weighing pigs (besides else) . .  This very interestingly named eating place was unfortunately shut when we stopped at the Akuluto junction . . The Village Council Court at Surumi and The Emblem on board of the office of the Council Court at Phuye (Old) . .  These are from a Centre at Ungma . . Elders come together here - catch up - have tea and make these artifacts which are then sold. I found this to be an amazing step taken by the Village Council. .  I missed getting one during the trip. .  Indebted to the people at the places we moved to during the trip . .

Share images from a meeting; the setting was one of the more interesting ones I have been a part of in recent times . . Meeting is on its way at residence of one of the village council members . . This is at Longsa in Mokokchung district . . Tea ( not been to many meetings without tea!! ) gets ready . . Hearth in the Ao residences is located at the center of the room . . Smoke on its way up from the hearth also dries meat . . Walls were interesting, lively and had that warmth . . And the camera I was using got confused on whether it should focus on the 'hands' or the 'Ao shawl' . . I was the least confused : hands that have toiled on jhum have been by far the strongest I have come across . . Many thanks to the people of Longsa. 

Had some lovely Amur falcon sightings during the recent trip to Nagaland . After the trip during 2011 when I saw them being sold at the market was keen to know more of the bird. Observations: During one of the sightings we initially saw them in two’s and three’s - moving in one direction. A light drizzle as if suddenly altered the scenario. Drizzle could possibly have brought out termites or other insects and the Amur falcons altered their movement patterns to move in a circle. This circle kept on getting bigger as more of their brethren joined in. This went one for about fifteen minutes before they resumed their earlier movement pattern.  During this while the drizzling too came to a halt. I suspect I also spotted a few  Lesser kestrel in the midst of large number of  Amur falcons. During the entire week we never spotted Amur falcons before noon (12.00 pm). Their movement during the early noon appeared more playful and leisurely while the evening sightings usuall

I begin with my favourite image from a workshop on CCAs . .  Some spoke while some thought it better to listen . . .  Some attended sessions while some guarded them . . Some gave interviews while some got all the attention . .  Some found food more interesting than the food for thought . .  I wondered why the air-conditioners worked so hard and made us uncomfortable . . ( reminded me of a friend who said suits lead to climate-change! )

Pleased to have been a small part of a publication that was released on 17th October 2012 by Ms. Jayanthi Natarajan ( Minister : Environment and Forests ) during the COP 11 action at Hyderabad. At the very function the India Biodiversity Awards were also declared.  Editors Pramod Krishnan Rajesh Ramakrishnan Authors Pramod Krishnan Rajesh Ramakrishnan Sushil Saigal Shailesh Nagar S. Faizi H.S. Panwar Subrata Singh Nimesh Ved                                                             Citation Krishnan, P., Ramakrishnan, R., Saigal, S., Nagar, S., Faizi, S., Panwar, H.S., Singh, S. and Ved, N. (2012). Conservation Across Landscapes: India’s Approaches to Biodiversity Governance . United Nations Development Programme, New Delhi, India. More on the publication here . Many thanks to Shailesh, Rajesh, Pramod, Faizi, Subrat, NRMC and UNDP.

Thoughts from a conservation gathering: SCB Asia 2012. At the onset I must emphasise that this piece does not intend to make a comment either on the Society for Conservation Biology that organized the Biodiversity Asia 2012 , nor wildlife scientists; both have enabled me to learn in no small measure. My attempt is  merely to share questions which confronted me during the event, left me puzzled and at times, even disturbed. One of the panel speakers, in his otherwise amazing talk, referred to ‘social scientists’ ( I don’t quite agree with the term ) role being that of raising ‘questions’ and not of providing ‘answers’. This was somewhat difficult to comprehend: On the one hand we talk of multi-disciplinary approach to conservation being the need of the hour and on the other we freeze our boundaries. Is this tantamount to throwing the ball in someone else’s court? Who then answers these questions put up by social scientists? During a dinner conversation I shared, with

This is what the flier of our workshop (organized as a post conference event at the SCB Asia 2012  said. Re-thinking Conservation Education Beyond tree planting and painting competitions We are at a threshold when nurturing and deepening ecological literacy and sensitivity is of unparalleled urgency in all our efforts to save the earth. Are we doing enough to spread and sustain this literacy? Where have conservation education initiatives taken us thus far? Do we have the right philosophical approach and necessary skills to translate good intentions into action? What are the appropriate scales to focus on? The questions continue. . . . .   I share below random thoughts from the pre-lunch session – panel discussion. Conservation Education: Have we made a difference. (Deliberations, in preparation of this session, were held over tele-conversations & chats over Google Talk and ranged from giving more time for the audience to removing the table such that e

Once upon a time comes a movie that makes you fall in love went the tagline of 'Lamhe' (happily saw  it few times with dadi ) and once upon a time comes an email - a response to what you write - that makes you feel warm, happy of your writing and the ability to make that connect and of course leaves you craving to go 'there' again . .  It talks of Lawngtlai - lights of which I saw from my room (near the Saiha Helipad) each evening. Initially I used to get irritated at Lawngtlai having electricity and my having to see it from the hill opposite that lay covered in sleepy darkness - but gradually started loving it - a bright shining necklace worn by the hill. The forests of Lawngtlai (along the Aizawl - Saiha road) where I first saw civets on a tired evening and also rats during moutam (bamboo flowering); of course the rats scared me. .  Our trips to Ngengpui Wls and Phawngpui (Blue Mountain) NP were possible only because of Pu Tlana. He then stayed in the lovel

An abstract I submitted at the recently organized SCB by ATREE at Bangalore was accepted and I had an interesting experience attending the Conference. While the abstract was submitted under "Biodiversity and People" - one of the 4 themes of the Conference my talk was a part of a session titled "Conservation Management : Tools and Education". Pleased to share  the abstract   and select slides. Conservation Education (CE): Questions enroute an invigorating journey. CE program at Saiha (Mizoram) had me undertake a range of activities that include film-screenings, church-newsletters and tea-stall discussions . These were organized on a regular basis over a period of 3 years with different segments of society and efforts made to generate synergies with local practices. My involvement with the entire gamut from plan to documentation greatly enriched me and also left me with questions.   Questions that range from whether we are communicating in an

Briefly and happily write of 2 experiences where sharing enabled me to learn quite a bit. Got an opportunity to co-ordinate a workshop on Conservation Education with Pranav Trivedi at the SCCS 2011 and quite enjoyed the experience at the energy filled event. After interactions over google-chat and telephones we decided that in the given time it would  make sense  to begin with what Conservation Education is and then to share our individual journeys - learning. Share few slides from my presentation which talked of dilemmas in one of the last slides. Dilemmas like : Should conservation education be a separate subject or included in the overall structure by way or greening of curriculum? Do we make efforts and go out of our way to make our daily lives more conservation friendly? Do we value nature for nature’s sake? Conservation Leadership Course (2011) organized by Tiger Watch at Ranthambhore was an invigorating event; discussions and experience-sharing in an