Understanding why we celebrate harvest festivals, what are their diversities, and how they connect us with our environment.

If there was ever a parliament of birds, then this avian would have delivered the most vociferous speeches. No doubt quirky artists caricatured it in their popular Angry Birds game. I’m sure you all must have enjoyed playing this viral pastime and gotten amused by the perpetual furious look on the birds' faces. Recognised as the most argumentative bird, the Jungle Babbler couldn’t be named more aptly... 

An inspiring story of a school teacher, transforming a barren hilltop into an evergreen haven with sheer grit, indefatigable passion, and true love for nature. ******************************* My name is Jeevan Singh. I was duly appointed in government service by my state’s education department in 2010. But I got properly initiated as a teacher only when I was posted at the Government Primary School, Sidhot, based in Salooni Educational Block of Chamba district in Himachal...    

Sharing fond memories from 25 years back—of ice creams, rookies, cow dung, and some cool environment stuff for kids. ************************************ In the summer of 1992, late at night in the basement of the then rented office space of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the editorial team of the Down To Earth (DTE) magazine had a very long hot and tiring day putting together their very first issue. Anil Agarwal, the founder editor,...

In spite of all the brickbats and rebukes, a tabloid matures into a magazine as it finds its 'beginners' audience and speaks through quirky cartoons.  ********************************************************************************* Gobar Times (GT) already had a successful 10-year run before I got on-board. It was always resplendent in a spectacular tabloid avatar, grabbing eyeballs everywhere. But as if this was not intimidating enough, here we were staging the arrival of a new GT. It’s looks? A standard news magazine format. Were we taking a risk?...

Narrating the tale and trajectory of Gobar Times—of how it evolved into a new avatar and gained new characters. ************************************* My association with the Gobar Times will be incomplete without Piu & Pom. We were once working on a comic strip for the magazine. Piu is the name of my daughter so it was easy to decide the name of one of the characters. But for Pom, there’s an interesting story. 

A thoughtful reflection on the value of Gobar Times with an understanding of what it is about, why so, how...and a little bit more.

Many of us love pets, especially dogs. But do you know that over the last five years, they have killed more than 300 people, mostly poor and rural children? Over 20,000 rabies deaths have been caused by homeless dogs and more than 30 endangered species have been hunted by them in the wild. The human-animal conflict between people and stray dogs in India has reached an alarming level. So, the next time you venture outdoors, please take care of yourself!

Dusting off our archives to showcase some of the best stuff we’d published so far.

Classroom experiments for fostering a healthy learning environment—based on ‘community comments,’ cooperative lesson plans, and a ‘mystery person.’ ********************************************************************** I believe that the most important aspect in a positive learning environment is the rapport between a teacher and her students. When the students are convinced that their teacher cares for them and wants them to do well, they feel relaxed to open up and ask questions. They no longer hesitate in making mistakes and taking risks. In order to build such healthy relationships, the …