New Jungle book

Jungle Book with a Difference

Dr. Ali Khwaja

Aditya Ganesh grew up in a very liberal environment.  Though his father is into international finance and his mother worked in the corporate sector for a while, they always allowed him to explore and learn on his own.  Shifting at an early age from Mumbai to the ‘green’ city of Bangalore gave him ample opportunities to get closer to nature.

Animals always fascinated him since childhood, and he inevitably looked for activities concerned with the outdoors and with animals.  He become a member of ‘Friends of Elephants’, he volunteered with ‘People for Animals’ and kept looking around for opportunities to be with wildlife. In his 11^th and 12^th these activities took a back seat since, like innumerable others, he was asked to prepare for engineering or medicine, and his grades actually went down for the first time since he could not connect with those careers. After 12^th he got back to his first love, and took up B.Sc. with Zoology in a reputed University.  Even when others were questioning why he did not take up engineering or medicine when he had good grades, he himself did not have any doubts or regrets.  Luckily his parents supported him fully.  Studying Zoology brought many things in better perspective for him, and he actually become one of the toppers in his university.  He kept attending many camps and involved himself in activities concerned with the outdoors and nature.

On graduating he wanted to get into a prestigious all-India organization for his Masters but just missed getting selected.  Since he did not want to get into a mediocre course just for the sake of getting a Masters degree, he considered the rejection as a blessing in disguise, because he could look wider with freedom.  He took a gap year, which was not the ‘done’ thing, but he was not scared what his future will be – and once again he was supported by his parents. He dived into various activities.  He went to Kochi as part of a team that was studying dolphins. He made a breakthrough with a couple of reputed professors of the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), who encouraged him to help out in research work.  For 8 months he meticulously studied the behavior of fresh water fish in lab conditions, feeding them and observing them closely. Subsequently he was selected by the well-known Prof. Anindya Sinha to go to Chennai and study the natural behavior of street dogs in their own habitat, without disturbing them. He was oblivious of the summer heat as he spent hours taking notes about behavior patterns of the street dogs, each of whom he gave a nick-name.

He has now moved on to Netherlands having obtained admission in a prestigious European university for a Masters in Ecology and Evolution, which he feels is tailor made for him. He wants to secure his academic status by studying animals in depth and eventually get into sustainable sciences.  He is not particular what and how he will achieve, how much he will earn, but he is sure his life is on the right track.

He recollects some fascinating incidents from his unusual life path: He was selected for an Elephant census which was conducted unofficially and was to be completed over 3 days.  The first 2 days there was no sighting of any animals at all, and his team kept trudging to exhaustion in the jungles.  In the last half an hour of his last day he saw not only 30 wild elephants but also a leopard.  This “unpredictability of the forest” is what fascinates him.

He has had occasion to rescue distressed animals in the most unexpected of places: he found an owlet on the tin roof of a shed, too young to fly properly, and exposed to predators.  Aditya recalls how he had to walk gingerly on the roof of the shed and quickly pullout the little fellow.  On another day he found that a snake had gone down the pipe of a public urinal and was stuck.  Needless to say, with Aditya’s rescue the reptile is happily roaming around somewhere in the jungle right now.  He also found a rare Golden Oriole bird in the campus of Christ University.  It was incapacitated due to resin from flowering trees which had stuck its wings shut.  Aditya had to heat up water to apply to the wings and melt the resin, so that the little bird could fly free again.

Working without stress, enjoying every day and every experience of his life, Aditya is happy being on his own, befriending four legged creatures who get fascinated with him (some are seen to fall in love and drool when he is around), and is happily walking literally on an un-trodden path, merging into nature and giving back to it in some way or the other the innumerable blessings that nature gives us but many of us take for granted.

He is also very clear that wherever he may go for learning, he wants to definitely come back to India, because he believes that this is the country that worships nature and its creatures will welcome him back with open arms.

Horsley Hills

Horsley Hills

Dr. Ali Khwaja

Barely three hours of smooth drive from Bangalore, via Hoskote, you enter Andhra Pradesh and the small town of Madanapalli (of Rishi Valley fame).  A slight inconvenience of narrow market roads, and once you are beyond the town, you can stop a little beyond to admire and buy some clay artifacts made by craftsmen in the small villages along the way.  Another half hour, and you turn left, stop at the junction if you wish for a cup of tea at the thatched roof restaurants on the corner, and you are climbing the not-so-steep hill road after paying a nominal entry fee for the hill station.

Unlike most other ghats you barely feel the journey and before you know it you have entered the tiny resort called Horsley Hills.  On inquiry some people said the name was derived from horses.  Even the craftsmen below the hill sell different types of clay horses on the roadside.  I carried my skeptical mind to the office of the Andhra Pradesh State Tourism Corporation – and found the answer most unexpectedly.  There is small enclosure, almost unnoticeable, with a granite slab covering a grave, and the inscription that the hill station was founded by the then Collector of the District, Mr. W. H. Horsley.  The lack of attention to this great soul is confirmed by the fact that his tombstone has a plaque mentioning the same date and year of his birth and his death!

Those seeking a sprawling luxurious hill station will be in for a disappointment, for the entire place is so tiny you can walk around it in fifteen minutes.  No lake for boating, no sprawling gardens, no shopping mall, no spas and resorts, no fancy games or luxury restaurants.  But what it misses out in luxuries, it makes up in abundant nature.  Almost any point in the hill offers breathtaking views of the plains below.  There is even a spot from where one can see a natural ridge formation that looks like a map of India!

Yes, there is a swimming pool, and there is also a small nature health facility, which includes getting your feet nibbled by tiny fishes who can take away the dead skin and tiredness from your limbs – at prices which are a fraction of what you would pay in a fancy resort.  There is a stately Governor’s Bungalow with its own beautiful canopy at the edge with a lovely view, and it is open to public.  Food is restricted, particularly off-season, and you have to make do with the meals served there. 

The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Corporation offers large rooms in colonial bungalows and cottages which have been renovated with modern fittings and are fairly well maintained. For those willing to pay higher rates, there is a private Holiday Resort offering a little more luxury.

Almost unnoticeable is a little zoo with a spattering of crocodiles, fishes, birds and assorted animals.  Of course the monkeys roam free all over the hill un-caged.There is a very quaint Guest House of the Forest Department inside the zoo, but obviously you need governmental contacts to stay there. As expected, there is a small temple for the spiritual minded, and near it are a couple of tea stalls that offer chairs in their courtyards, and if you are lucky they may be willing to serve you rotis and chicken depending on the crowd on that day.

Though Horsley Hills becomes quite warm and uncomfortable in the summer, a visit from November to January, when the rain has brought back the lush greenery all around and the mercury has dropped, is quite fulfilling.  In fact you may need to wear a sweater even during daytime walks.  The real pleasure of such tiny resorts is to go there off-season when the day-time visitors come and go by sunset, and you find the entire place calm, quiet and serene, surrendering itself to the sounds and smells of unadulterated nature and you can take leisurely after-dinner walks in the hazy moonlight.  When the rush of human beings recedes nature teaches you to live life at its own slow and measured pace.

With my student and friend Dr. Priyam who runs a clinic for the poor at the foothills

Every day is Independence Day

Four years back, just before Independence Day, I was driving in the green environs of Cubbon Park in Bangalore when I saw a very old man on the road selling pins with small metallic National tri-colour flags for five rupees each.  I bought four of different design, more out of compassion for the elderly man braving the sun and heat in urban traffic,  and I started wearing them one by one in rotation every day. 

For the first few days nothing happened. No one seemed to take any notice of this new appendage on my shirt.  Then I started seeing curious looks. “Hey, Independence Day is long over” they said, “why the flag?” Some people even passed sarcastic remarks, “you don’t have to wear your patriotism on your chest every day”, they said. I waited for days and weeks, persistently wearing the flags, and waiting for the one-odd person who would give me a positive compliment on this habit of mine.

The reason for this persistence was – people wear their religion, caste, political affiliations or memberships in blatant display, and it is accepted. Everywhere I turn around I see people flaunting their faith, religion or their community – on their foreheads, in their dress, through ornaments, and even on the dashboards or windscreens of their cars.  It is well established and accepted that you would like to announce your identity to all and sundry, and no one gives it a second thought.

I want to wear my Nationality on my person wherever I go, because I genuinely love my country and am proud to be an Indian – and my identity is more as an Indian than of the region, language, caste or state I belong to.  I decided to ignore the few ignorant friends who initially treat it either as a joke or something to be ridiculed.  I staunchly believe that when we can flaunt our religious beliefs, wear our caste on our forehead, why should we not be comfortable with someone wearing his nationalism on his sleeve.  I was born in one state, grew up in another, and now happily settled in a third.  I love all the places I am connected to in India, and most of my travel is within my country – because I sincerely believe that India is a microcosm of the entire world, and seeing India is as good as going on a global tour.

It is not that I am a diehard or extreme patriot – but I am a proud citizen of this great country, and I hardly have any other regional or parochial affiliations.  My language, religion, caste, region or political affiliation are very minor in comparison to my identity as an Indian – and I would like others to know this fact, through a tiny metallic tricolor flag proudly worn on my chest.  When someone asks me the clichéd question, “where are you from?”  I always reply, “India.”

I have now become immune to the quizzical and funny looks.  As long as possible I will continue with this little crusade of mine, even if I am the only one around doing so. I know the worth of being an Indian in this free, democratic and progressive country. I need India more than India needs me.  I am looking for like-minded people to join the caravan, so I have started buying these little flags every Independence Day and distributing to anyone who shows interest in wearing them.  The miniscule investment gives me immense satisfaction when I see a friend or acquaintance wearing what I have gifted.

I am confident that there are innumerable people like me who love our country immensely, but do not know how to express their admiration to our great nation.  This is one small way we can all do it.  If someone wants a small tri-color pin, I am willing to share from my collection.

I want to introduce you to an old friend of mine, Aab:

Aab sat on the hillock and was enjoying the view.  The hillock was definitely not Himalayas, and he was not there to meditate or seek enlightenment.  Poor Aab! What does he know what is enlightenment, and how to seek it?  He was there to enjoy the view, the breeze, and the solitude.

Aab lives in the twenty first century, but he does not belong to it.  He is from a different era, transplanted here like an anachronism.  At times he feels like a cactus in a blooming rose garden, sometimes he realizes that he is like the last guest in a party when the hosts are waiting to wind up.

Aab also knows that there are no hosts in this world.  Everyone wants to be a guest.  Each one wants to be served, not to serve.  Every person wants to move on when the party is over.  Only Aab knows that there was no party.

Aab was looking for loneliness.  Yes, what you read is true – he was looking for loneliness.  Not solitude, mind you.  Solitude one can get by just walking away from others, hiding in one’s physical or mental cave.  Aab in fact did not like solitude, except once in a while.  In fact, people sought him out.  Not like disciples seek a Guru, but more like those who crave to find themselves in and through him.

The narration will continue.

Giving significance to teaching...

Today when I read about the Vice Chairman of Niti Ayog (the new Planning Commission of India) quitting his job which gives him the status of a Union Minister, and going back to his university in the USA to resume his teaching job, I was thinking of the importance we give to the teaching profession.

Very eminent people, including past Governor of Reserve Bank of India Mr. Rajan, after their great achievements, going to full-time teaching jobs happily and with passion.  Why is it that we do not see that happening in India?  In a country where we consider the Guru as a God, can we not treat our teachers with greater respect, dignity and remuneration, so that the best brains take to teaching (particularly after they bring back years of achievements in very responsible positions) and hence the students will get much greater education and learning?

This is a great food for thought.  We have this large pool of talent, of eminent people who have made their name and mark in different fields and vocations, who can contribute so much to the next generation by teaching and training them.