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

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 t...

'This opening post shares a recently published piece of mine from Indian Birds : 7(4); quite enjoyed the experiences described.  “Chika … Chika … ,” the tea-stall owner called out with a ‘ puri ’ (deep fried Indian bread) in her hand, and out of nowhere a hornbill appeared on the counter and noisily took the puri in its beak. I gobbled up the puri I was eating in wide-eyed silence. The tea-stall owner did not divulge much about the hornbill but the staff at the Tourist Lodge at Chaltlang (23º45’14”N, 92º43’30”E), shared later in the day, that the ‘fellow’ had been there for more than a year and was very smart. It was partial to fruits (and fruit vendors) and, according to the locals, did not waste its energies by flying in the city—it travelled atop city-buses! Sharing the pictures with Aparajita Datta the very next day helped erase confusions I had about the species—a female Wreathed Hornbill Aceros undulatus . However, it rekindled my curiosity to know more about this stunn...