DilliMeriJaan

I have been to many tiger reserves and each trip has been fantastic. I have never seen a tiger. We go in winters, when the forest is lush green and tigers could be sitting a foot away and we wouldn’t see it among the shrubs. So we have a very good time looking at migratory and resident birds, animals and trees. This time we spend 6 days in Ramnagar, the town near the national park. We chose a place right on River Kosi. The cool thing about a river bank, at the foothills of Himalayas, is the large number of water and mountain birds that you get to see. Lots of birders go uphill and click spectacular photos of mountain birds. And others go to river banks to see spectacular herons, storks, ducks and other water birds. At the river bank on foothills, as you may have guessed, you see both kinds. So it’s such a good idea to do this. We stayed at a place which had one complete side open to the river and a magnificent hill. So if a tiger or leopard wanted to come and have a drink ...

A pair of small eyes that we’ve brought onto this earth, look up to us every Autumn, asking 'what does this Good-over-Evil, really mean'. Because ‘polluting the water bodies with plaster of Paris and toxic paint immersions’ and ‘killing the air with crackers’ cannot possibly be good. Everyone I know, does multiple things to ensure their carbon footprint is minimal. But almost none of them raise their voice, when they see others harming the earth, mindlessly. The ‘ 3 legged Evil ’ of  shyness, fear -  this is DELHI, we will be shot , and  embarrassment , stops them. So this year, I insisted on demonstrating ‘Good over Evil’, with tangible outcomes. Of all the car-chases, of SUV's emitting fumes, angry shouting matches with those littering, and other loud fights, my favourite engagements are these below- 1.After raising hell with the Durga Puja committee, for destroying my park every year, this year there are students protecting the trees. The fight ...

Apologies for terrible pictures, I forgot to take my camera in all the excitement. Russia has the dubious distinction of being the most unfriendly country in the world. But it is also the land of Dostoevsky, Tchaikovsky and this year’s Football World Cup. So I set out for ‘the land of no smiles’, armed with a solemn expression and a Russian speaking friend. The second was most useful but the first was absolutely unnecessary. Go to Russia with a grin and an open mind – the place is bursting with friendly people who will materialise at every metro station and street corner, and try to help. It will be a long process of wild gesticulations as they don’t speak English. But at the end, you would have had a really nice time if not the direction to your destination. Some of my favourite things from the trip are: 1.        Music– I had read about the healing powers of Russian nuns singing, in a book.   We didn’t hear nuns but we heard ...

Part 1 -  https://dillimeriijaan.blogspot.com/2016/04/times-when-i-shudder.html As we publicly berate mindless acts of eco-vandalism, we continue to get unpopular. In a sudden moment of methodical madness, I decided to categorise us unpopular earth lovers, according to primary passion.   1.        Tree planters – there is a fanatical band of tree growers, thanks to whom we still continue to breathe. They are planting despite ‘objections’ (people want to park cars, rather than breathe), with or without permissions. They are clinging to trees to stop them from getting chopped and becoming very unpopular in their neighbourhood. 2.        Car avoiders – my CXO-level friends hang from metro rails and reach office beaming with sweat and joy. They don’t have to swerve through crazy traffic and also get to be green. They are very unpopular with colleagues who just don’t ‘get’ why their boss has to be so ‘cheap...

Heavily inspired by the movie ‘Lunchbox’, as most of my wisdom comes from Bollywood, I set out for Bhutan- The land of Happiness. I do not like mountains.   And it doesn’t get more mountainous than Bhutan. So I started my 10 day trip with violently throwing up all over – thanks to the gorgeous, but highly bendy road to our Thimpu Homestay. But all the while, my mental notebook was busily scribbling two kinds of evidence - 1. On gross national happiness 2. On being carbon negative.  Here are the initial notes from those scribbles- 1.        On gross national happiness. The people seemed very happy and constantly chewing fermented betel nut pan, Doma. I was beginning to look for a causal relationship between the two. I realised there was unemployment and everyone went to India for college. But they all came back. All men wore the ‘gho’ and women, ‘kira’. All houses followed the Bhutanese architectural style. There were photos of t...

If you are planning to visit Sundar Nursery, and you must, you will need a strategy. Till October, the place is only open from 9am to 4pm. And is closed on Sundays. That leaves a few burning hot hours on working days and a precious Saturday, for you to explore this new beauty. Reach there by 850 am and keep smiling at the guards till they allow you to get in through a tiny crack at the gate. Be very nice to them and promise that you will not step on the grass and what a splendid job they were doing to keep the place looking spiffy – which is true. They will allow you to begin your tour a little before 9 and trust me, every minute counts when you are racing against the sun. sundar burj Walk straight towards the first monument, appreciating the gorgeous flower beds on either side. This is the Sundar Burj, which has beautiful engravings of Quranic verses. You can see the long stretch of the waterway all the way down to the bridge from the north exit, Sundar Mahal from the ...

As we hurtled into middle age, most of us started doing very physical and adventurous things, in defiance. Some of my friends started biking over mountains and across continents, many started playing multiple instruments while others started running marathons. I am lazy so I took up birding! Oriental White-eye But birding is not a lazy person’s hobby. Immediately on taking it up, people do the following: 1.        Buy a DSLR .  Forearms are strengthened to be able to carry these heavy weights and most importantly, keep them focussed on one spot for hours (ok minutes) to capture a bird. 2.        Buy camouflage clothes . Browns and greens are bought, to merge with the birds’ habitat. 3.        Go on birding trips . Most rush to the hills (Sattal being a hot favourite) while many others to bird sanctuaries. Common Tailorbird But here is what I did. 1.   ...

“Where should we meet after work? I am carrying my walking shoes so it’s ok”, my screen blinks. Walking shoes are an important part of meetings with my friends. We don’t meet in cafes. Other than widening our waistlines and thinning our wallet lines, it does little else.  So we meet inside a forest/park. Sometimes, we catch a lovely sunset on top of a rock or a bird singing on a branch. Conversations flow easily and deeply in such places. Some of my favourite forest meeting points are- ·          Sanjay van - I must have been a deer or nilgai in this forest, in my last birth. The moment I enter, I feel I am home. You can enter from the Qutub institutional area side and walk straight. On your left there is a rock formation – an easy climb and a great spot to just sit and catch up with your friend. You will invariably see a variety of babblers, a kingfisher and loads of peacocks from your perch. You can then walk on and climb the...