Read how to preserve our planet’s precious resources through mindful practices
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Earth Day brings to mind vividly a day from the distant past, when the sky seemed bluer and the clouds whiter the air was intoxicatingly fresh, the water in the streams crystal clear. The tall grass was greener with its white toppings of flowers dancing in the breeze. Paddy fields smelt so yummy, mixed with…
Blame the heat on the education system
Whether one talks of urban heat islands or global warming, the prime cause is consumption. Unless consumption can be reduced drastically, there is not much hope. Every summer we fume and fret, chasing the mercury daily and comparing notes. This summer too. In Bengaluru, March has notched two degrees higher than ever. What will April…
Bengaluru can have water surplus, says scientist
A combination of rainwater harvesting and treated wastewater can easily provide more than the requirement of the city, says Dr T V Ramachandra. This is a person who knows what he speaks. He has, for the past couple of decades and more, worked extensively and researched on many related areas of energy, urban planning, lakes…
Do we care?
That wildlife constitutes less than 4 percent of all land mammals! E for Elephant? Wrong. E for Egg. E for Emu. E for Emma the bot? Right. No joke, that. Children of the next generation may well not know an elephant as well as a bot or some variety of poultry. On World Wildlife Day,…
Whose home is it anyway?
Whose home is it anyway? Leopard, gaurs, elephants and other wildlife continue to lose their lands. Conflicts are rising and we have ‘rogue elephants’ and ‘stray gaurs’ and ‘brutal leopards’. Is there a solution at all or do we simply keep removing the ‘trouble-maker’ each time? Recently during a family trip to Kotagiri, we got…
Tale of two ‘organic’ places
Tale of two ‘organic’ places With all the nutrients you consume with your dollop of veggies, do you know the chemicals you are popping in are hazardous? If Sikkim and Punukula can do it, why can’t the rest of the country switch to organic farming? Vegetables consumed in cities like Bengaluru are sourced mostly from…
A return to the roots
A return to the roots Being light on the land, and sharing the fruits of organic farming, is the objective of Madhuvana. A brook goes gurgling merrily around the land. A tree house invites you to share the canopy with birds and squirrels. Patches of green crops, freshly tilled land and a boundary of trees…
Every drop adds up
Every drop adds up The clothes you wear, the food you eat, and food you waste, the way you travel and the way you build your home, everything has a direct impact on the planet’s climate. Choose to make a change that can help the 8.7 million species on earth. As the planet spirals into…
Where tigers swim and roots stand up
Where tigers swim and roots stand up People in this delta, second only to the Amazonian one, struggle for a living caught between furious storms and a rising sea. The saving grace, mangroves, is fast disappearing. A long-dreamt journey to the Sundarbans ended up, not with sightings of the ‘cunning’ tigers but adventures of another…
Bird Walk
Bird Walk Naturalists will lead five bird walks across India on the occasion of World Environment Day, These walks will be held in Agartala, Dehradun, Mysore, Panjim, and Tirupati on 10 June 2023 early in the morning. They are supported by Early Bird, a learning programme of Nature Conservation Foundation and are a part of…
Lab in Nature’s lap
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
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
‘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…
Born in the Americas
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?
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
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!…
Seed, Soil and Sangita, ‘a proud farmer’
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.
Protecting the Gandhadagudi
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.
Elephants, Octopus, Plants & Gaia
Elephants cry. The octopus has three hearts and nine brains. Plants scream. The magical planet and its residents are whispering…!