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

Fourth day had us off to the final village before we entered the ‘forest’, putting up of the first post and of course meeting the Burmese Underground ~ We left early after tea. Last night I was told that we will be taking a vehicle. Today we walked from Bymari to Lomasu. Some of our luggage came on horses. After troubling me a lot by incessantly making noises and then successfully evading my binocular gaze I finally got a close look at the grey hooded warbler. While the black drongo and red vented bulbuls were in good numbers the sightings of the barred cuckoo dove and the white rumped shama were intriguing. Lomasu ~  Reaching Lomasu - that has a very different look from other villages - we do what we are very good at; have tea. NT’s face was at its expressive best! This he said was a forest village that had ample water and therefore fishes, forest around and a pleasant feel. While Bymari was a ‘basti’ he had visited for the first and last time in life! I the...

Third day had us meeting people in the village ~ jotting basic socio-economic information on the villages (also a part of the trip agenda) and  getting an idea of wildlife and hunting scenario ~ Pigs and hen had amazing gusto and energy in the morning chorus – it also meant my getting out of the sleeping bag. After a nice cup of tea and somewhat quick, inadequate and awkward thanks, and I returned to the ‘previous house’. Confusions on the movement ahead made me feel all was ok and since food was some time away I moved to meet people in the village. Life guided by food time and aided by tea is a good life. A musical instrument ~  first and last of its kind  I came across  On Ra’s suggestion we went to a teacher’s house. I was fascinated by the trophies on the wall: hornbill casque, drongo feathers, turtle shell and barking deer horn! The house had a television too – in absence of electricity connection. Tokalo has electricity poles that have never exp...

The second day was more of setting the tone, talking with people and moving in the Tokalo village and of course realizing that we did not have a map ~ The Wildlife Sanctuary gets its name from the village ~ The day begins with a visit to the tea-stall at the Phura market. While the tea here has been favourite the smile which accompanied it had me gulp an additional puri. Yes, the hot puris are wonderful too. This was followed by another cup of tea at the Rest House. We left early for Tokalo and while this had been conveyed to me I was happily surprised at departing at the time planned. The pick-up stopped thrice enroute to address its problems and I am so glad for these – its problems. Two Malayan Giant Squirrels rushing and gushing on a tree adjoining the road greeted us – yes by this time most if not all trees, which met the glad eyes, were big if not huge. At another stop as we wondered why a couple of Yellow-footed Green Pigeons acted as if purposely ignoring us an O...

Some of us, some years ago, walked the boundary of a Wildlife Sanctuary, in South Mizoram, where India meets Burma, these few weeks will stay with most of us for long ~ In this and following posts I share the day-wise experience ~  We began our trip to the amazing forests finally, after multiple days of delay! We shopped in the morning session for the survey and I made frantic jumps into shops for procuring odomus! Some of these jumps were to the tune of my mobile ringing – almost incessantly! A long bye to mumi – the trip would take around 3 weeks without phone connectivity. Jo and Ja reached office on time while the ‘pick-up’ came without announcing to pick us up – on time – but this meant disposing the half cooked eggs and leaving on an empty stomach. Loading ourselves, colleagues for the trip and all the purchases of earlier in the day we were ready. As I awaited NT – Forest Range Officer and ‘partner’ ( as he nicely put it ) for the survey; a ‘Hindi speaking’ Forest ...

Title: The Paradise Flycatcher Author: Deepak Dalal Illustrations: Krishna Bala Shenoi Series: Feather Tales Publisher: Puffin Books - An imprint of Penguin Random House ISBN: 978-0-143-44174-8 Year of publishing: 2018 This book takes the bird series ahead, even the names of characters have been retained. There would be few other books on similar lines; books that talk of the animal world using the fiction route, are based on quality research and colourfully portrayed. Books which make natural history interesting. Here woven within a story, where birds talk, is ‘information’ about birds - Hornbills do not mix with other birds, Ioras usually fly short distances while Minivets can cover much longer distances. The diversity an urban garden can possess is brought out. The book makes us aware to the wealth around us and encourages us to devote more time and attention to the elements of nature around us. We could do good to observe, listen, smell, touch the plants, ...

Cycling and walking around the town got me intrigued about the buildings, some gelled with the surroundings, some hugged trees, some showcased sheer beauty, some had definitely seen better days, some were part of royal families earlier, some - like much else in the town - defied logic (what ever it means) . . . .  One morning I took my camera as I went with the cycle, if this is what one of the 'main' roads has on offer one get some idea of what lies hidden in the lanes. . . . The endearing charm of wooden windows, of the times when windows were meant to allow sound, air and light in, to take in the surrounds and not keep them out . . . .  Some have little left of their windows, on occasions when we have walked past such buildings (and the town has plenty) colleagues have asked if people live in these, twice people have come out (as if on hint) to dry clothes from windows like these  . . . .  Some are stately, this particular one was a favou...

Weaving and sarees; both have intricate relationship with the town ~ Banarasi weaving as we were told ‘ is making a slow but sure comeback ’ ~ In its own way the place accords respect to weaving ~ Makes people like me aware to the magic, to the art, to the colours and more ~ The place boasts of a carpet section as well ~ A beauty of a carpet stands out here; it depicts the moon ( and its reflection ); that moment onwards I ( a self confessed moon-lover ) began seeing carpets differently ~ The section has a projector with sensors; as one walks on the carpet projected on the floor, the carpets folds up ~ Banaras has much more in its repertoire than sarees; this museum makes one aware of the diversity ~ And what quality ~ Talks with the staff revealed that some products have been commissioned while some garnered from other Museums in the country ~ A new generation museum with touch screens ( which work ) and also a toilet which has sensor driven lights ( fir...

Paan, sweets, kachori are talked about when one talks of the streets of Banaras ~  I have often wondered why Chai gets left out ~ This when there are pockets in the town where Chai stalls remain open round the clock ~ Our walks and cycle rides are more often than not guided by the locations of these Chai stalls ~  This is from a Chai stall at Sarnath ~ A destination as crucial as the ancient remains themselves ~ A parking place for our cycles ~ And much more ~  This, like many other stalls functions from 4 am to 10 pm ~ More than once, here, I have remembered Sydney Smith : ' Thank God for tea! What would the world do without tea! How did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea ' ~  Such fun, these buns ~ This is one place where, besides butter, one has also options of having them with either  malai  or  rabdi ~ My limited English skills cannot describe what these combinations do to the taste buds ~  Compli...

Bird by Bird ( With respects to Anne Lamott ) Published in the April 2018 issue of Palash.  Thanks are due to the Editorial Team of Palash. We are also indebted to Binoculars for Charity for the support with equipment. The location of the Rajghat campus and the vegetation it boasts of made the decision to take up bird watching very easy. The crux lay in moving around and enjoying with the birds; there was little to plan. We began with 1 pair of binoculars and 6 species on the first day. Design was to discuss birds, talk about their colours, size, actions and else, and not bestow inordinate attention on names and lists. 7 sisters or noisy birds after a while became babblers and some weeks later we were in a position to determine whether they were the Large Grey Babblers or the Jungle Babblers; 2 babbler species occur on campus. Time put in with the bird book ( or the field guide ) to figure out what they saw also allowed the group to get familiar with sp...