When you have a strong desire to do something - It just happens. Yes, I visited India's first( probably the only one) private sanctuary - SAI( Save Animals Initiative) Sanctuary - This plan had been in my mind for more than half an year. A couple owns this sanctuary - more than owning it they devoted their lives to the sanctuary. The equation is quite simple here:
'Save the forests, wild life thrives on its own which in turn propagates and nurtures the forests' - such a divine relationship.
This is simple to comprehend but not so simple to put into practice unless one has utmost commitment & is true to the self. Fortunately we have two here: Anil Kumar Malhotra & Pamela Gale Malhotra.
It all started...
When I was thinking of the migration of the elephants from the dry regions of the Bandipur forest to Brahmagiri wild life sanctuary via Kabini reservoir. Brahmagiri wild life sanctuary abounds in terms of vegetation & water sources even during the hot Indian summers. The banks of Kabini reservoir, which lies in Nagarhole national park, set stage for Asia's largest mammal gathering as part of the migration.
Not really sure which search term landed me on the home page of "SAI Sanctuary", but somehow I stumbled upon it. When I made a call to the numbers listed in the website, the voice on the other end suggested me to email the details. Then I thought that's one of those emails for which I would never receive a reply. But surprisingly, I got a reply from Pamela. Email exchanges went on for next 2 to 3 months and finally she locked a day for me - 14th April, 2017.
14th April, 2017...
Awaited this day like a crazy person. Started from Bengalore at 6.30am and reached Theralu village, where sanctuary is located, around 12.30pm. The route suggested by Pam was:
# Bengalore - Mysuru - Thitimathi - Gonigoppa - Ponnampet - T.Shettigeri - Sanctuary #
There were no suggestions for the route to sanctuary even after reaching T.Shettigeri. A person from the sanctuary escorted me in the final 10km of my journey. I was actually surprised/disappointed how people were not ware of the great work going around - Or it is also possible that I didn't ask in a language that they understand.
Welcome to SAI Sanctuary
1. First things first...
As I reached Theralu village by afternoon, first thing as per the schedule was to finish lunch. Food was outsourced to a near by home stay(?) ( Jungle side). Some of the people in Kodagu / Coorg, especially Kodavas, own massive chunks of land for plantation. One of such people is maintaining the Jungle side home stay. There were two people, accompanied me, who were doing some research on food security, demographics, culture and customs of that place. ( an Indian boy - Bopanna & an Italian woman - Claudia). Along with them it was their driver - one another landlord - and his name is Raja.
After lunch I went to my cottage and was eager to meet the couple.
2. Meeting the couple...
The meeting spot - In front of the house of Malhotras
'The house' was around 1km from my cottage. I reached there by 4.15pm, the scheduled time. Finally I met 'them'. After exchange of formal greetings, I too joined the discussion that's taking place. Probably I was the least educated among all in terms of forestry knowledge. Anil & Pam have been staying with the nature for last three decades, Bopanna is a masters degree holder in forestry studies and the other lady has organisation of her own. However, my love for the nature is no less than anyone else's. The discussion ended around half past six in the evening. Tons of topics were discussed. The following were a few -
- Transpiration, a natural phenomenon in which plants & trees act as medium to create clouds. Trees absorb water from their roots and releases the water vapor into the atmosphere from the back of their leaves.
- 50% or more contribution of forests in the rain fall across the world - scientists identified this using the chemical signature of the water droplets ( I think I remember it correct). Whereas, the rest of the rain fall is from the Oceans.
- Easing of the forest clearance rules for setting up projects( know more..) - it's trading the nature for money and a disaster. My past experiences suggest, it is difficult to make people, who have political bias, believe in the facts. They just don't listen .
- Elephants propagating the forests by pooping the seeds across their migratory areas.
- Slight increase in the tiger population due to the tiger conservation program - Project Tiger
- A good Bengalore vet who visits the sanctuary whenever is required
- Mr Righteousness, ex-CM, approving dam in the past, that could have submerged 25% area of today's Coorg.
- SST's fight against the dam
- Domesticated dogs in the region and how they affect the eco-balance
- Animal/bird rescue stories at the sanctuary.. about the hornbills, parakeets & love birds
- Influence of western civilization on Indian youth that made them ignore the knowledge given by their ancestors. I personally cannot throw complete blame on the West - there are multitude of reasons such as:
- Misinterpretations of various concepts which in turn led to ignoring the knowledge inculcated by the ancestors
- Irresponsible media & politicians
- Education system to some extent - I remember reading the uses of tree as everything else but what they actually are. Though there were chapters that stressed upon reforestation, I don't remember anybody caring it.
- Ancient Kodava knowledge & Devara Kadu: Kodava ancestors, as any other nature loving clan, used to respect the forests. They preserved certain areas of the forests with a name - Devara Kadu( Sacred Forest) - the sole purpose of which is conservation.
- God's in chains, a documentary that tells the horrifying lives of elephants in India.
I felt that I had spent, almost, more than two hours of quality time discussing these things. It always happens when you speak to the people of your wavelength.
I, along with other visitors, finished my dinner and went back to my cottage. Then I saw a spectacular scene - that was orchestrated by a swarm of fireflies.
After the night fall, my cottage took a plunge in the darkness. It was hard to see anything other than the light coming from my bike. I turned off the ignition and looked around - the trees were fully covered with thousands of these fireflies. It was in my childhood, I saw these creatures in great numbers and this was the first time in recent past.
The fireflies started flashing the light as if they were playing a symphony - however, the outcome was not music but a visual spectacle.
3. Night at my cottage...
My cottage in day light - imagine the absence of it ;)
Cicadas, crickets or whatever... they were making noise and that was the only thing I could hear inside my cottage. Having been disconnected from nature for so long, I could not adjust to the forest initially. I could actually listen to the silence - I mean it. I had a great experience with 'silence'. The extract of my experience is:
#"Silence greets... silence whispers... speaks..if not understood, it scares... and silence heals..."#
Didn't I scare? Of course, yes. Living alone in the forest, the cottage surroundings and the sounds I heard were new to me. Survival instincts had my body in control - as a result - my body was super alert. My pupil dilated to its max diameter and capturing every single light ray, my ears were listening to even the rustles of the leaves.
The experience I had with silence spawned new thought in my brain: When our ears are super alert they try to listen through the gaps in the sound waves - that situation is very difficult to explain - presence of any sound triggers investigation; absence of any sound lets the ears further pierce the silence.
Finally, I settled down after thinking and recollecting the events of my day for sometime. Later I slept off.. ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment