How to make Indian cities sustainable The South west monsoon of 2023 has not yet arrived and it rained in Bangalore city last week. A young girl was drowned in the flood waters in the heart of the city after water entered the car she was in. Prof Ashish Verma, Convenor, IISC Sustainable Transportation…
Lab in Nature’s lap At Sapna Ranch in Maharashtra, visitors and students learn through activities and happily share their knowledge. A minimalistic, eco-sustainable living focussed on learning is the motto here. The joy of making stuff is unparalleled. Be it a cake or a kaleidoscope, the ‘summit feel’ is heady. Sadly, for the new generation,…
The King who roams the streets Fears of being wiped out from diseases as also rising numbers of the Asiatic lions have been behind the demand for its translocation to other parts of the country. Despite a Supreme Court order, this has not happened. While the African cheetah settles down (hopefully) into its new environment…
‘Far-sighted’ and forward looking Arguments and counter arguments are plenty on the topic of cheetah introduction into India. On Biodiversity Day, we can only hope that the costs and efforts pay off. In a jungle musical chair, the land that was readied and ‘stocked up’ for the Asiatic lion, now has the African cheetah surveying…
Image by Manjula Rao Born in the Americas WORLD BIODIVERSITY DAY Butterflies evolved roughly a 100 million years ago from ‘adventurous’ moths that explored day shifts for nectar browsing. A study based on DNA analysis had proved that in 2019. Extending that study further, scientists who collected DNA from 2000 species and built a butterfly…
Who is a mother? Simple definitions say it’s the female of the species that delivers a progeny. That’s the strictly biological viewpoint. From the emotional and spiritual perspective, a mother to me is anyone who nurtures and takes care of one in need, be it a child, an elder, a patient or an animal. Lo!…
Vanishing Act As trees in metros are felled thoughtlessly, the effects are telling The average Bangalorean today is given to complaining on traffic and weather. While traffic woes have become an accepted norm and settled into the framework, the couple of months of sweat and heat are an emerging phenomenon and topic for small talk!…
Imagine a piece of land measuring two acres, right inside a buzzling metro. Visualise six varieties of banana, seven of mangoes, 79 of tomato, 32 of brinjal and 19 of okra, besides varieties of carrots and strawberries, etc. Now be informed that on this patch of land, some 10,000 species coexist.
There is a story often not told, of the foot soldiers and their battle with the looters of the land. The looters often come in the guise of authorities, smugglers, hunters, companies, communities of people and so on. Unlike the Navi who use guerrilla tactics and their bow and arrows, these vigilant defenders depend on the courts and the justice system. Commitment and perseverance are the by-words for the WildCATs of Chikmagalur, Karnataka.
I cannot predict the future of humanity and the planet earth. I can, however, trace and reflect on my journey of the past 25 years – a constant swing between hope and despair, but leading to some measure of equanimity now by taking the long view.
