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

The book Em - No - Nahin Tarun Bharatiya November 2025 ISBN 978-81-933492-7-4 Yaarbal Books Pages 205 Multilingual INR 1,200/- This is a book which reminds us of - The beauty of black and white photographs, of rains Khasi Hills beyond the tourist brochures, beyond Shillong The power that Schedule 6 of our constitution bestows Protest poetry ( a rare species in our country! ) What all an individual can do All that sustained efforts can achieve Life being about a lot more beyond money World having changed a lot during the last couple of decades Above all the book brings the term PROTEST back in our conscience. This it does in times when standing up to power is disappearing, when NO is met with violence, when most voices that question have been silenced by those in power, absolute power, and when the only people who rise up the proverbial ladders are those who agree. And, it does what books are meant to - makes us think. The book is about Khasi hills, about Kong Spillity Lyngdoh Langrin -...

A Pocket Guide to the Birds of Meghalaya Anwaruddin Choudhury Gibbon Pocket Guides The Rhino Foundation for Nature in North East India 2014 Book Each of the species enlisted is accompanied by an alphabet indicating its status (eg: u = uncommon). Sketches, local names and images are present for some species. Select species also bear notes - like the Tawny-breasted Wren Babbler and the Grey Sibia. There are few lines on each of the bird families. The book also brings in old i.e. British era data which increases the richness; specimens collected from across Meghalaya. Basic information is present on Protected Areas, Important Bird Areas and even places one could stay at. Bibliography could be of interest to people interested in the state. Few people know the region like the author and with his vast experience he is able to bring our pointers like – Some Key Birding Sights. As one reads one gets an idea of his abnormally high level of familiarity with the reg...

Garo and Attong names   Asian Elephant: Mongma    Asiatic Black Bear: Mapil wak    Binturong: Matchibil    Black-naped Hare: Sapau, Susreng  Capped Langur: Ranggol  Chinese Pangolin: Kawate, Gotai  Clouded Leopard: Matcha chidual, Matcha do.tok    Common Leopard: Matcha peng, Matcha chirua    Common Palm Civet: Jaha matchru, Baira asru, Menggo apru, Jonga  Crab-eating Mongoose: Ang.ke rijong The People’s Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI) envisions the creation of a Linguistic Survey rooted in people’s perception of language.    PLSI as a nation wide survey is being carried out by members of respective communities, writers, cultural activists, scholars of intangible heritage, practitioners of oral arts and traditions, responsible citizens interested in working out alternate ways of development and scholars who believe in maintaining organic links between scholarship and the social conte...

This note finds place in JBNHS 111(1), Jan - Apr 2014.   FERRET-BADGER RECORDS FROM MIZORAM, MEGHALAYA AND NAGALAND, INDIA Nimesh Ved 1 and Laltlanhlua Zathang 2 1 Srinivas Nagar, Padmarao Nagar, Secunderabad , Telangana, 500 061, India. Email: Nimesh.ved@gmail.com 2 Tuikal South, Aizawl, Mizoram 796 001, India. Email: Tlana_z@yahoo.com   Introduction In India ferret-badgers are restricted to the tropical and subtropical forests and grasslands of northeast India (Datta 2008). This region, comprising the states of Assam, Aru­nachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Tripura, forms a part of the biodiversity “hotspots” of the world (My­ers et al. 2000; Ved and Lalramnuna 2008). Ferret-badgers are nocturnal, usually active at dusk. Like most badgers they live in holes dug by themselves or in burrows of other animals, and in rock crevices. They are good climbers and often sleep on the branches of trees. They are omnivorous and known ...

Keeping the questions alive This piece appears in the August 2014 issue of Teacher Plus. Thanks are due to Shalini, Teacher Plus, Rishi Valley School, its students and teachers - especially Radha, Santharam, Kaustubh and Sonali.  A recent trip to Rishi Valley School ( Andhra Pradesh ) presented an opportunity to interact with students in different classes on divergent topics. During the trip I enjoyed being with the students and partially succeeded in soaking in their energies, enthusiasm and knowledge. But, it was their eagerness to know more that left me stunned and pleased at the same time and in no small measure. As Eugene Ionesco put it: " It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question. " My interactions with the sociology and ecology students I shared my experiences at Baghmara ( South Garo Hills, Meghalaya ) and Saiha ( Mizoram ) with the two sets of students. For my interactions with the sociology class I decided to focus on my experiences in...

Share a piece by Yaranajit and me that finds place in February 2014 issue of Sanctuary Asia (Vol. XXXIV No. 1) A group of pale, yellowish white-winged butterflies fluttered around the rotting fruit. We moved forward slowly and then stood still to observe them. Yes, the prominent yellowish-white forewings had a black margin with two chains of white spots and two isolated white spots. The whitish-yellow hind wings had two tails with a ridged margin. A couple of years ago, we would not have been able to identify these butterflies but we had no hesitation now – Great nawabs we wrote down! The nawab butterflies, along with the rajahs, we had read up, belong to the ‘brush-footed butterflies’ family, also referred to as Charaxinae group. Nawab butterflies occur in Northeast India and further east up to Thailand. Many have gaudy colours and brilliant flashes thanks to iridescent scales covering the wings. Beauty notwithstanding, some are known to favour decaying crab-meat or rotting ...