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

This article finds space in July - September 2014 issue of Hornbill  I visited the Siju Eco Camp, located on the banks of the Simsang river across the Siju Wildlife Sanctuary, Meghalaya, during first week of February 2013, with colleagues. A part of Samrakshan’s eco-tourism initiative, our objectives were to organize an in-house workshop for team members and allot time to look for birds. Samrakshan has taken up interesting and unique initiatives to conserve the habitat. These range from participatory elephant monitoring program to one on Community Conserved Areas. Samrakshan, a NGO registered as a Charitable Trust, works towards conserving biodiversity values in an equitable and just manner. Its Baghmara field-base was initiated during 2004. Pitcher Plant (Memang Koksi), South Garo Hills : Pankaj Sekhsaria Simsang from the hanging bridge at Siju : Pankaj Sekhsaria First the birds... A Blue Whistling-Thrush Myophonus caeruleus had made the Siju Eco Camp its ...

Kohima War Cemetery Maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission We react to people. There are people we are at ease and love being with and there are those of the other kind. One reacts to places as well. Places that tend to make one comfortable and at peace - enough to be lost in thoughts that one wants to – are rare This is one such place After the first trip to Kohima - when a friend and I missed it - have tried to make it at least once during each trip On one of these missed those I had lost in recent years Not easy to recall another place - that one has been to - which has been maintained in such an immaculate fashion Once as I sat on a wall I was stunned with the manner in which one staff-member moved over the walls – for me it would have been high intensity jumps ( and a failed one had I been foolish to overrate myself and attempt one ) but looking at him, as he moved from one wall to another, was like enjoying a ballet The ...

The Peripheral Centre Voices from India’s Northeast Edited by Preeti Gill 2010 Zubaan An imprint of Kali for Women This interesting collection of 26 essays on the region had me engrossed and also rekindled some memories! Different perspectives on a single issue present an interesting picture. Temsula Ao in her ‘ Benevolent Subordination’: Social status of Naga Women states “ Cultural impediments to social change can never be removed by legislation alone and cosmetic reforms like the induction of women into parallel bodies like the Village Development Boards, Town Committees and other similar organizations do not really address the issue of gender discrimination in power sharing .” While Lal Dena in Status of Mizo Women states “ In the final analysis, the overall democratization of Mizo’s socio-economic and political structures can be expected to promote women’s empowerment and emancipation .” Continuing with Lal Dena’s essay the quotes below succinct...

The Book In the County of Gold-digging Ants 2,000 years of travel in India Puffin Books Published by Penguin Books India 2009 The Author Anu Kumar The Cover The Reviews Share 2 reviews I found online and quite agree with the later that says that the book is for those aged 8 – 80; if one finds the details missing one can launch off online from the leads the book provides. Saffron Tree Good Books The Musings Intriguing how even then It was difficult to understand ‘India’ on account of treating it as one unit.  (for some reason recalled Javed Akhtar’s lyrics ) . We are an enigma? Extreme inequality was more of a norm than an exception. A friend shared of how after all the ‘development actions’ we have managed to reach the inequality levels we were at, a century ago! Halide Edib Haldie contrasted the poverty and inadequacy of primary education with the limitless riches of the universities she had visited, in A...

Bird by Bird :  Some Instructions on Writing and Life Anne Lamott Anchor Books A Division of Random House, INC. New York One of those books that A. You begin in a hurry and then slow down as you realize that this is what helps to absorb it better B. Before you finish - you know - you will want to re-read Please get and savour the book  If you   A. Like references from other books embedded B. Look forward to a book in conversational tone C. Write or are planning to D. Love an author who is frank and direct E.  Are a fan of one liners and quotes   Two points - though - left me wondering A. Why ‘instructions’ in the title and not ‘conversations’ or ‘experiences’? B. Why the negativity ( after sending drafts ) and its perceived presence in all? Reviews New York Times   Daily Writing Tips   Thanks   Shankar Raman for introducing me to the book

Cat Condo :  Dampa Tiger Reserve, Mizoram Big cats and bamboo enveloped silences This finds place  in National Geographic India Traveller August 2014 issue within the cover story :  Myth, Mystery & Unexplored Beauty Redolent with promise of the unexpected, the seven sister states of India’s Northeast present a tableau of cultural gems. I had spent three lovely years living in Saiha, a town in the southern Mizoram, during 2007 – 2010. So when I returned to visit Dampa in Mamit district in 2013, Mizoram’s only tiger reserve, I couldn’t wait to embrace the comforting warmth of the people and the place again. We landed at Lengpui Airport, close to Aizawl, the state’s capital, on a Sunday. Everything was shut, so we drove directly to Dampa on very uninviting roads and wooden bridges. I stayed in Phaileng, headquarters of the Tiger Reserve. The evenings here are special, the green and brown hills around seem to rise to greet the night sky. Homes along...