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

  Schools and other institutions   This finds space in Teacher Plus December 2023. Thanks to colleagues there and to Richa for comments on the draft.   We often discuss how adults and children interact with each other or how they interact amidst themselves in school. Let us look at how these adults and children together, in other words - the school, interacts with some of its neighbours. We will also explore if these schools could benefit from higher intensity of engagements than those currently in vogue.   https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/exterior-museum-hospital-police-station-post-office-government-bank-school-theatre-university-city-town-halls-cartoon-vector-illustration-set-house-construction-building-facade-concept_21683710.htm Image by pch.vector</a> on Freepik Public-institutions like banks, post-offices, railway-stations and bus-stations Many of our schools have banks or post-offices or transport stations in their vicinity. With m...

Share a piece published on DTE blog during May 2015. We are a people in a quandary about the present. We are a people in search of our future. -Barbara Jordan I have experienced more than a few dilemmas in the course of my journey in wildlife conservation. But I believe that conversations with people, some of whom I learn from in no small measure, have helped to enrich the journey and also underscore these quandaries. Any of these quandaries that you will read about hereon emerge by virtue of practices widely accepted today. However, complex challenges that confront wildlife conservation presently warrant a relook at the conventional practices . A programme-director at a conservation organisation recently shared his experiences. He told that whenever he asks his colleagues about the next step in conservation, after camera-trapping or the use of automated cameras to capture wildlife, he, unfortunately, gets only one answer from them. In a very confident tone, they always s...

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...

During a recent trip to Rishi Valley I was asked if I would like to address the junior assembly ( which I happily agreed to ) and warned that the students asked too many questions !! I shared the story of my walk to a meeting place at a village in Nagaland I started from the foot-ball field, which also has a volley-ball court, at one end of the village I then came across young people at the amphitheatre Just nearby was a community place with painted walls Couple of pines had fallen at the corner As I walked further I saw people had stocked firewood  Reaching next locality I saw a house with a tin-roof (oil-cans) While another had beautiful carving and different colour Just besides was a house which had maximum look-alikes  Around the corner I saw the garage which looked familiar I reached the destination and saw the wooden-box which I recalled from last time; a grain storage-place Tea was getting ready at the center of the roo...