This blog is to record my impressions of the natural, environmental and conservation aspects that I noted and felt while I was at Ranthambore. A slightly more serious look at the whole affair. The entire nation is ( was, I should say – our collective sympathy is abysmally shallow) talking about the “1411″ tigers left in India – this is what mass media does to us. Notwithstanding the soppy ad in which the tiger cub is whimpering for its mom ( go search for the youtube video yourself), we are left to fend for ourselves when we want to know what really is going on in these national parks. A visit to a park perhaps would tell me more.

Ranthambore National Park is widely noted as one of the best places to see the tiger, and we were lucky enough to see one, but that is I guess not very relevant when we are talking about the issue of survival of the animal.

Until last year, when a massive census across India was conducted with close to 80,000 people on the field, we didn’t even know how many tigers were actually there in the wild. It was anybody’s guess and anybody’s claim. While the goverment claimed, in 2004, that there were 15 tigers in Sariska, in reality there were none. They had all been poached away!

This census tried to get some accurate numbers of tigers in the different habitats. The report tells us that in the last census in 2008, we found that the number of tigers have halved in the past 5 years due to poaching and loss of habitat, dwindling from more than three thousand to around fifteen hundred.

Tigers, apparently, were not doing very well. Why?

The first issue is the question of gene pool diversity – since the tigers in most parks  are pretty much contained in the park area they have only relatives to mate with. In Ranthambore, as park of an area of about 500 sq kms, Half the tigers here are apparently from the same grande-dame female, Machchli. The question is: with all this incest going on, will the tigers of Ranthambore get genetically weaker and one day disappear because they are no longer strong enough/quick enough? There is currently no indication of this – but it is possible. There is a talk of a corridor that links all the tiger reserves in India. Perhaps this may mitigate the problem of incest and decreasing diversity of genetic pool. This is one of the recommendations of the report – has concrete recommendations for the government to follow.

The second issue, about which I read further once I got back home, is the issue of man-animal conflict. This is of course a common problem around all wildlife designated areas . Apparently, 10-15% of the tiger’s diet comes from domestic animals. This is a serious problem for those living around the park, most of whom are poor. Then  there is the problem of displacement of human settlements from inside the park once the park was declared a national park. It is done to protect the tigers as well as the human beings.

Poaching is still the leading cause of these animals disappearing as is reported in the media, and some of the people who stayed in these village communities were engaged in poaching. Efforts are on to provide alternate livelihood to these folks – Jungle Lore, the company who had organised our trip, was spearheading some of these efforts. Unfortunately, Tiger poaching is very lucrative, each of its parts used by folks in East Asia ( chinese mostly) to ward off various illnesses. Not to mention hoarders of tiger skins.

Will our next generation be able to see this great animal? I don’t know, given the situation -  so part of the reason I took the young ones there was, i think, to provide them with the experience of seeing one while it was around in the wild.

Whether or not I was overly pessimistic, and the majestic animals will continue to survive – that depends on the action we take today.

Here’s another – Kasu Brahmananda Reddy park ( or KBR park as it is popularly known among Hyderabadis) is a national park, right in the middle of Hyderabad city’s poshest areas – Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills.

It is a great place for joggers, walkers and nature enthusiasts. Apparently the huge sprawling forest area is also the estate of the Nizam ( there is a another gate inside with cannons lined next to it, so this could be true).

One morning last week, when I was tying up my laces for my morning walk around the park, my husband decides to join me. With our little kid in tow. He meant to carry her in her backpack.

And this he did. The effort was worth it – he sweated it out, she enjoyed the ride on his back, and we got to walk together. We took the outer route ( they have a beautiful path around the park that you can walk on without even entering the park).

Once we walked about 4 kms outside, my kid wanted to see the peacocks, so we went in. Here are some photos of the peacocks doing their dance in front of the peahens. ( I did not dare to get too close).

I strongly recommend this place for a nice walk, a run or jog, or a outing with the kids. Its excellent for bird-watching too – without trying to hard I spotted about 10-15 species of birds, while on my walk. A pity I could not note  down the details this time!

The temperature shoots up so early, even at nine in the morning its a blistering 35deg. I have to walk on the roads at the risk of burning my skin. The afternoon temperature is predicted to be 43 deg better today. Even Delhi, notorious for its heat waves, is not this hot yet. Its max is only a mere 38deg!

This burning and dry heat is posing a big challenge to the lifestyle decisions I had made a month back – of staying fit by doing a lot of walking and cycling and avoiding the car  – how do I try to incorporate walking/outdoors into my lifestyle with this kind of weather?

A possible solution – get up very early while the morning is still cool, and spend some time outdoors before the it gets too hot. Go for a walk, do my practice stairs-climbing for the Everest Base Camp trip I am planning in May. Hibernate during most of the day, at least in  the afternoons, and then again go out in the evenings after five. Stay up late into the night.

Basically, become a nocturnal animal. .Not a bad idea?

Three days of living in the middle of natural surroundings next to a National Park is a treat in itself. Especially when the “living” is happenning in nice Swiss tents shaded with trees.

Learning more about the natural world in which we live from a knowledgeable and enthusiastic teacher while in this setting  – that, though, is the real icing on the cake.

The camp was all that it promised to be. The teaching was well organised – a mixture of class room sessions, with field work in the mornings and evenings. The food by the JLR staff ( a helpful and smiling lot) was simple and wholesome, I guess designed to keep us on our toes instead of dozing off in the afternoon heat. The company was eclectic – a chef from Bangalore, a farmer from Coorg ( who also runs a homestay, coorgcottages) , a entrepreneur, a doctor, business owner..sharing a common interest – a more than average interest in the natural world. And a huge amount of curiosity.And for some, a less-than-healthy attachment to the camera, especially those with ultra-zoom ( Bazookas!)

I would be hard put to remember the entire course content, though I must say unlike my engineering college days ( and even MBA days), I was way more alert. ( That’s easy for me though, I have been known to fall off the bench sleeping in class).

So even in the heat of the afternoon, we were listening to facts and figures around Biodiversity, birds and identification, plants and animal interaction. And lurking behind all this of course is the issue of conservation, about which we had a brief discussion. Sandeep, an alumni of NTP, attended one of our sessions and interacted with us. Sandeep runs a company called Outrigor that does outdoor adventure near Bangalore ( angling is his passion), and a program to keep Cauvery river clean and green   – we talked about a sustainable model for keeping the area clean of litter. Especially the killer litter plastic.

But mostly, we focused on birds. Their habits and habitats – how they preen and how they glean. How they mate and how they migrate. And we went to look for them – in the early mornings and late afternoons, among the scrubs and bushes and trees and lakes. And found them by the hundreds.

Karthik taught us how to be systematic about the whole thing. The first day we were not allowed to name a bird even if we knew it. So we went on like this – umm.. a smallish bird.. okay, how small is small. umm.. smaller than a sparrow. okay thats better.. what color? black. all of it black? well no, not all there seems to be some brown in its.. well.. vent u know. and so on and so forth.

In the process, we identified close to 80 species – every body had his or her own favorites, as well as hits and misses. Some, such as Antelope Aishwarya, had more hits. While some, such as yours truly ( Kingfisher K), had more misses ( missed the paradise flycatcher, for instance). At least I had Nilgai Naveen for company in this close miss. I am too lazy to compile a complete list here right now – but I promise it will be up. I have it diligently written down in my notebook. My favorite were the purple sunbirds, with their brilliant feathers that glinted in the sun-light – and the swallow that we spotted with its interesting flight. And of course the adorable Scops owls right there in the compound.

You’re wondering by now why there are no photos? Its because I was not one of the proud owners of a Bazooka! I’m going to get myself a tele-photo soon, I promised myself, when I left my camera in the tent. It was really of no use while shooting a tiny bird thats like 200m away in the bushes.

To show that we are not all only serious naturalists and all that, we even had a drawing competition The results are here:

I am hoping to spend a lot of time observing animals, birds and insects – just what I like to do best. And learning a little deeper about them than a casual observer.

It would be nice to spend time with lots of like-minded people too. Posts on the experience after I get back.

Anyway, one of the saving graces to the high-rises dominated landscape in which I live are the Botanical Gardens. With a 3.4 km loop for walkers in inside a forested area where peacocks roam and a manicured garden in the front, it really is a great a nice place to go for a fill of oxygen and nature exploration.

Needless to say, it is one of my favorite places near here. I go there to walk and run ( sometimes alone, and sometimes with the Hyderabad women runner’s Group), and take my kid there to play. My kid loves it, both for the play area ( with huge swings), and the pond with the ducks.

Here are some pictures:

Hibiscus flowers- a lovely shade, quite unusual too:

My kid with a friend at the pond, admiring the ducks:

Manicured front gardens, with a lovely park for kids.

And the awesome greenhouse, designed like a huge turtle, again a hit with the kids.

My only crib with this place is that once in a while they randomly rent it out for “events” . If you happen to land up there on one such evening, you’ll be denied entry unless you have an events pass. Its weird, because there is no way for you to know in advance whether such an event will happen on the day you are going there. Its happenned to me once, when I’d gone there with kids in tow and with full expectation of a nice day at the park, only to be told I need to have a pass for the event.

After threatening the gatekeepers with dire consequences ( none of which I was in a position to follow up on ), they told me there was nothing they could do. APparently, the park maintenance has been let out to a private firm and they are letting it out for these corporate advertising gimmicks.

But thankfully, this will happen only once in a while, and meantime we can enjoy the well-tended gardens, the park, and the trails.

Read about it completely over here. This bridge, instead of deteriorating over time, grows stronger and bigger with age.

And then, on the other end, there’s food that our body ( and mind) seems to think it needs – but doesn’t really.

A quick way to check how much of what we put into our system divides itself into these two groups is to look at your food storage. It is difficult for most of us to keep track of what we are eating, but when we see before us what we have kept as stuff to eat in the next few days, we have a better idea.

A quick look at your fridge should look a lot like the combination of foods that give us our protein/carbs/vitamins requirements on a daily basis – to give a quick visual idea of what that is, check out this food pyramid from the USDA:

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Here’s what a healthy natural eating person’s refrigerator may look like:

Shelf1: Dairy products such as milk, yogurt, cheese and cottage cheese

Shelf2:Left-over food that does not spoil and can be easily converted into a tasty snack

Side shelf: Eggs, water, ( ideally no ready made juice)

Shelf 3: Leafy vegetables and fruit ( should look very colorful, the more colors you see here the better)

Vegetable compartment: SHould be stacked with veggies of all colors, the fresher and better they look the more inclined you will be to eat them

Freezer: Chicken, fish

Here’s what it should not look like:

Shelf1: Loads of processed cheese, cream

Shelf 2: Leftover food from the Chinese takeaway/ biryani joint

Shelf 3 & 4 : Empty

Side shelf: Juices of 4 different kinds, bottles of Pepsi

So which one does your food storage look like? Give and honest answer, and you may even answer the age old riddle of “why do I still put on weight even though I go to that damn gym everyday?”

And so, I came up with a few changes in my routine trying to incorporate this.

I’ve already talked about walking, but I unless you are really breaking sweat you don’t get any cardio-vascular activity out of it. So then what is a viable option? A good way of getting your heart to work faster and harder while going about your daily routine? There is one, will work if you are living in an apartment complex/ working in a multistoried building – take the stairs instead of the lift.

So I figured going up and down three flights of stairs for 5-6 times a day should make for some decent amount of cardio-vascular training, don’t you think? Add to that the fact that sometimes I walk up to my friend’s apartment on the 5th floor (it helps that our lift malfunctions at times). Don’t scoff – I agree its not a new idea and every health article has this little bit about taking the stairs, but hey, have you tried it consistently for a period of time to see if it works? I am going to, and I will tell you whether it does (or not!).

Another trick I tried today as a substitute for upper body strength training. I discovered after a session of Yoga yesterday that my arm muscles were atrophying – they no longer had the strength I remembered – I could not support my body weight on my arms and they were actually shaking when I tried to. It was quite a shock. So today, I decided that I am going to lift weights regularly. Not my dumbbells, but something else.

If you see a lady in track pants walking with two large bags of groceries straining against her arms, sweating in the hot sun somewhere in the hi-tech city area of Hyderabad, you know who you are looking at ☺

I have yet to find a viable way to exercise the abs and lower back area naturally as part of my daily living. And yes, I have been thinking of doing the old house-mopping with a cloth sitting on your haunches thing. Apparently it will put me back into size 26 jeans. But I am afraid my maid will protest – what will she do, poor thing?

In my first post, I had mentioned the joys and the frustrations of trying to live a life closer to nature in a city whose natural environments are fast degrading, and especially in an area where there is no regard to keeping these natural environments alive. I live in Kondapur, in the area now known as Cyberabad, the hi-tech area of Hyderabad. There are high-rise buildings in various stages of construction in the area, without a single patch of greenery or lung-space to provide relief to the residents (except for the botanical garden, which is certainly not enough for such a large area). The roads are often choked in the mornings and evenings, and there is dust everywhere. Not a great place to walk or ride a cycle, right?

I am trying nonetheless.

For starters, I try to walk my daughter to her school. The school is less than a km away. It should be a nice simple walk, pleasant mother and daughter strolling through the streets, daughter skipping along with her school-bag on her back. Telling the mother stories about what is going to happen in school that day.

Unfortunately it does not always end up being a pleasant walk. The roads, as I mentioned are very pedestrian unfriendly. Not only are there no pavements (how could I even ask for such a thing?) , there is utter disregard for a person walking on the streets. No wonder the only people we see walking on the road are people who cannot afford a car, or joggers.

There was a time when we used to walk to get to place A from place B, now it seems we walk either a) inside our house b) for exercise c) inside our office d) in a mall. And we wonder why we are getting obese/ unhealthy/ unfit for physical exercise. The answer is right there – walk more, and be healthy.

It is difficult for any one person to make the choice – in fact, somewhere along the way, the choice has been taken away from us. It has become extremely hazardous to walk on the roads – unless you want to get choked by the dust and smoke, or killed by a racing car you are better off taking a car or a bus.

Is there an alternative/ can we plan our towns and cities such that we can continue to enjoy the pleasures of walking/ bicycling without putting ourselves in mortal danger.

Are there, in fact, cities anywhere in the world where it is still feasible to walk from, say, your house to your school to your grocery store? I intend to do some research on this, watch this blog for more.