Weekend wandering

Weekend wandering

It’s a Friday evening and my phone starts buzzing. A friend on the line is asking about Sunday’s outing.

“Hi. Amol”

“Hi. ……..” Me.

“What’s up? What is Sunday’s plan?”

“Not decided yet. Last time in Yeoor my friend saw an Atlas moth cat. But we haven’t visited Nagla for long. Especially in this monsoon! We should plan for Nagla.” Me.

“That’s fine Amol. I will ring you on Saturday night. Bye”

“Bye”. Me.

This kind of conversation is a weekly routine. Friends never hesitate to buzz me like that. (It’s not the one way. I also sometime ring them up for the same!!! But rarely).

People are eager to visit nearby forests almost on all weekends. The number of nature enthusiasts visiting the forests have been increased tremendously in last four or five years. Somebody has to apply statistics but I feel like he number has quadrupled in last four or five years. This indeed is an addition to the so called green lobby. This has also increased the reporting of the sightings of the visit. The sightings broadly can include sighting of unknown species, behavior of the species, new record, destruction of the habitat, long and short trip reports etc. (Missing anything??).

NE (Nature Enthusiast. Can evoke memory of NE India to those lucky who have seen that area) is now a days member of many e-groups. The photos taken on Sunday trail immediately appear on the group by the night or early Monday. (I have become lethargic in that manner. I have still not uploaded Amboli trip photos from July 10). So you get immediate news from the field almost within 24 hrs. NEs are very eager to bunk the college, office on Friday or Monday to visit far places.

Due to exponential growth in the usage of the internet these kinds of reports reach masses in a single click. (Sometimes get delayed if the Moderator of the e-group is away on the trip!!! But it reaches sooner or later).

Another very important feature that makes these nature trails very interesting is availability of the digital cameras. Almost everybody carries smaller or bigger camera. And they click almost anything they would like to. Sometimes the photos are blunders but other times you can have an ‘arti’ shot or you can see something new. I think everybody will agree to the fact that photo-digitization of the natural wonders is happening a enormous rate. These photos in future will be resourceful for researchers, memorable for others and as record for future purpose. A term ‘record shot’ is often used. This means aiming the object and just taking primary shot. If that object disappears then you have at least a ‘record’. If it is still there then you can play with the camera and try to get the proper shot.

I see three kinds of NE. First kind is happy with the ‘record shot’. Second kind likes to have a record shot and then a better shot. The third variety loves to have proper shot instead of record. I am of the third variety. (Offcourse my photos may be not be ‘classy’ as you may think!!).

Other class of NE, I see is the quantity of their photos. Some just go on clicking while some click only when they want to. (One has full legal right to disagree to this!!!). Shooting at burst mode sometimes results in recording of unusual sighting or behavior or something sort of. Burst mode clicks all the things in front of the lens involuntarily while other one results in voluntary recording as per the wish of the brain behind the lens.

Cooperativeness is another virtue of the nature photoshoot. If you have taken a photo let your friend also have it. Disturbing the object knowingly or unknowingly disturbs your friend as well. Put yourself in his shoes and think of him disturbing the object when you are ready with your camera. Offcourse this kind of disturbing is not common but it happens willingly or unwillingly.

I also know some people who just like to come with me in the forest and just enjoy. They calmly stand by side when I stop at one place and trying to capture a proper image. They are happy to hold an umbrella, extra baggage, or help to hold the extra flash for an extra lighting. These people just accompany us and enjoy the forest as per their ability.

Primarily there are two classes of people who enter forest. One, who do not enjoy the nature at all and come for boozing and littering. Two, who enter forest because of their love and affection towards it. The nature doesn’t distinguish between these classes. All are welcomed. It’s a theatre without doors. Some people enter this theatre just to enjoy the darkness while some enter to enjoy the drama going on the stage. In my backyard, Yeoor forest, during monsoon times special police cop surveys the area for restricting the entry of notorious persons. But being a theatre with many doors the people venture in from any side. I really don’t see any point in going to forest and drinking liquor. I don’t know how it makes people forget the sorrows of life by drinking in beautiful surrounding like forest. In fact, these category One people overlook the happening nature around them.

Different shades of green all over. A strong aromatic fragrance of grass filled everywhere. A beautifully coloured butterfly flying from flower to flower and sipping nectar, honey bees flying from flower to flower with legs full of collected pollens. A praying mantis stalking calmly near the flower waiting to ambush on unwary insect. A forest Calotes waiting in the corner of the bark to pounce on the prey. A beautiful yellow oriole singing aloud sitting on the top of the tree. A squeaky call of Crested Serpent eagle hovering high up in the sky. What else is required to precipitate all of your sorrows?

I personally feel that going to nature trail is almost equal to the meditation. If you are really keen observer of nature then you will see wonders in many small things. Just think how some flowers come up only in specific season only and why not some other time? This is because this flowering, fruiting and sprouting cycle is programmed in their DNA. The entire plant obeys the signals coming from DNA and thus never fails to perform their destined duty in the ecology. The flowers are not going to attract more and more insects by blooming in non flowering season. Look at the praying mantis that is waiting near the flower to wait for insects to arrive. He is programmed to attack insects which are coming to flowers. Insects come to flower without having fear of getting attacked. This is not because they have some armored protection to defend against the attack but they are living the moment. What is destined is feeding at the moment. Getting attacked and killed is the matter of the next moment. Similarly the mantis is not there to admire the beauty of the insect rather he is there to attack. Having a success is matter of next moment. The three components of this drama are doing their respective jobs. Flower has bloomed to attract insect for pollination, insect has attracted to the flower for feeding on sweet nectar, since the possibility of success is more at the flower the mantis is trying his luck there. Scientifically speaking their brain is not so developed to think of future and past for a long. They learn whatever is strictly required like they will remember the colour of the flower; hence they can be easily attracted to any colour that resembles the flower.

Meditation and nature trail if synergized then might give some astonishing results, I feel. Ancient “Hrushi – Muni” like Valmiki, Vashistha and numerous others did meditation by staying in the wild surrounding by blending into the surroundings. It was possible during those days probably because humans were not so parted with the nature as of today how we are. With today’s lifestyle it is not possible to spend so many days without monetary earning. There are no Udipi, Punjabi, Shahi, Marathi joints, no Bengali sweets, no pizzas, no burgers, no cell phones, no internet, no malls to ‘kill’ time etc etc.

Therefore best we can do regularly is Weekend Wandering. What say???????

-by Amol Patwardhan