Hunting animals used to be central to the survival of most human communities over most of human history, whether it be for food or medicines or to use their fur and skin as clothes and rugs. Communities had developed ways to hunt animals without overexploiting them, such that the animals and humans could survive together. While we try to inculcate the values of sustainability in people today through classes and lectures, such values used to be a matter of common sense. If you kill all the animals this year, what are you going to hunt next year?...
Mushrooms have always enthralled our imagination. Let’s step onto a captivating trail to understand them and the world they inhabit.
Knock-knock, who’s there? The holy Brown Rock Chat. A holy who???... That’s how a timid bird perplexed me at 3:30am in the dark of dawn. It was February 2019 and I was calming the anxieties of my daughter, who was fearing her imminent exams. Persistently knocking my door—I hesitated to investigate any such visitor at an ungodly hour. So, I peeped out from an adjacent window to survey my doorway and was delightfully surprised to find a beautiful, winged creature.
“Mama, look who’s come to wish me luck!" My doll whispered in ecstasy...
The Limca Book of Record holder, Rakesh Khatri, will offer an inspiring chitter-chatter on sparrow conservation.
From privileges for a few to rights for all
There was a time, not so long ago, when the so-called ‘civilised’ world was divided into free humans and slaves. Free humans were those who had the right to own property while the slaves were those who were considered as property. Free humans had the privilege to make decisions not only for themselves but also for their slaves.
As we learnt from others who we thought were less civilised than us...
A simple, lucid explainer on the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of wildlife corridors.
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When I was little, my grandparents used to tell me stories about how they left their small village in Rajasthan to travel to the big city of Jaipur for better opportunities. Today, I have left Jaipur for the even bigger city of Delhi to try my luck. I am sure all of you know of family members and friends who have migrated for studies, jobs, or marriage. All of us witnessed the plight of lakhs of people who migrated back to their villages on foot during the lockdown imposed in response to COVID-19. . All these people had come to cities for livelihood and they all went back when their livelihood dried up...
You know Jackie Chan, right? Or was he a superstar when I was growing up? Yes, you are right, you probably do not know Jackie Chan, the greatest martial artist to have ever walked the earth. The world changes fast these days. Heroes of my childhood are not the heroes of your childhood. Jackie Chan was a household name in urban India when I was growing up. He was an action hero who did all of his stunts himself. Yes, that’s right, no stunt double, no CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery), nothing, and he got hurt, really hurt, while performing his stunts, but he just went on and on like a trooper...
At the outset, I want to thank the United Nations of Humans for giving us this opportunity to address all of humankind. I speak on behalf of the quintillion microbes of our planet.
I know that we are speaking to you in a time of great distress. Each of you present here has faced personal tragedies. We convey our deepest condolences...
In 1887, 18 years before they divided Bengal into two, the British laid down a railway line through the Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary, located on the south bank of the Brahmaputra river system in Jorhat district. While the railway line connected British tea plantations in Tinsukia with those in Jorhat and Dibrugarh, it divided the sanctuary into two unequal compartments—one roughly 150 hectares (370 acres), the rest roughly 1,950 hectares (4,820 acres)...
Kendrapara is now a privileged district because it is the only one which hosts all three species of crocodilians found in India. Saltwater crocodiles have liked to hang around the area for some decades now. So, they are old news, nobody gets excited about them. Sort of a ghar ki murgi dal barabar situation. People get excited when new and unexpected things happen, when things happen that make us feel special.
Thus, news was made in 2016 when for the first time in the history...
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Where happiness comes in small packages—the ever-delightful house sparrow.
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We often ignore our immediate periphery in our quest for finding excitement. Just think of the house sparrows! As a kid, out of sheer ignorance, I recall embarrassingly how I plundered their nests. But now, I compensate by feeding their chicks, watering them, and sheltering them in their cushy abodes.
In all this while, these humble birds never ever deserted their homes nor me...
When we think about biodiversity, we usually think only of animals, birds, insects and plants. We forget that fungi are also biodiversity. According to Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in the UK, fungi are ‘distinctive organisms that digest their food externally by secreting enzymes into the environment and absorbing organic matter...
A Freedom Pledge on greenery—a promise to protect the forests and biodiversity of our planet.
A first-hand experience narrating the extraordinary about the ordinary—crow.
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Do you remember your Mum pointing out a kauua to you as a kid? A crow is certainly among the first non-humans we notice as babies. In fact, children very quickly pick up their 'ka/kaw' in spite of its harshness, and repeat it like a sweet lullaby. This is how, crows become our best, flying companions—they fly wherever humans go! Moreover, they also display many of our traits...
