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

Share a piece by that finds a place in The Hindu - Sunday Magazine, 1st June 2014. Thanks are due to The Hindu, Samrakshan Trust, Krithika, Ramki and Dharmendra.  How green is your travel? Nimesh Ved and Yaranajit Deka At a recent meeting in Kohima, Nagaland, a senior wildlife biologist asked about the viability of eco-tourism as an income source at multiple locations in places like Nagaland and Meghalaya? The demand is, as of now, low due to remote locations and the way these states are projected in the media. There were other questions too: How many tourists can be expected in these not easily accessible areas? Can wildlife-based tourism take off in places where dense vegetation does not help mammal sightings? At that point, we were discussing Community Conserved Areas ( CCA ) in Nagaland and exploring potential sources of income for the people who are the custodians of the amazingly rich biodiversity in these areas. A few weeks later, we found ourselves rev...

Do not much wonder on what the reason is but the last few days I have been - kind of - talking to self of you. More than a few times, have I told mumi that you would have said this or done that in a particular situation.  One day, out of nowhere, I wondered on how special you made me feel. As I revisit the moment I realize there was no before, no after and no reason; just the thought. The other day mumi prepared a dish which you loved and I felt, no – wanted is the correct word, you to pull it towards your plate for a refill. Chatting with mumi on going out for a walk in what she was wearing then; I told her that while she agreed you would have, in her place, got excited and asked how it would appear! Putting back the Sherlock Holmes Omnibus on the rack, the other day, I was reminded of how you were a tad displeased on my having got the book on my birthday; as opposed to a box of sweets.  I still savour both equally! Around a month ago as I walked along the r...

An edited version of the piece below finds place in SAEVUS; May 2014.  Thanks are due to Saevus, Sree and Sudarshana. Indebted to Dampa Tiger Reserve,  Pu Tlana, Jhony, Joseph and Zakhuma besides many others in the landscape who shared time, awareness and tea. Marauding oil-palms Dampa Tiger Reserve in Mizoram is arguably one of the older and yet lesser-known Tiger Reserves in the region. As you read this, it faces a threat like few others. Is it one of the usual suspects: Hunting? Shifting-cultivation? Dams? No. This time the offender is deceptively green - or should I say - oil that appears green . This comes at a time when camera-trapping exercises have revealed the splendour of its wildlife wealth to be not only intact but also on the rise and the field-director has titled his endearingly drafted piece – Dampa: Out of the Woods? The highly diverse forests in the villages that constitute the Dampa Tiger Reserve and are a crucial habitat for all t...