Pollution due to Immersion of Idols in rivers and lakes

• We can urge our local Puja committees or organizers to use biodegradable material and organic colours for the idols.
• We can consider immersing the idols in specially created temporary water tanks, so that toxic sludge can then be disposed safely.
• Spread the awareness among people so that the burden can be reduced.

A Night in Similipal

If I have to account for my earliest experience with the Tiger, I would have to go back to Similipal National Park in the state of Orissa, India. Recalling the experience, I realise how fortunate I have been to have such an experience in the midst of a carefree, fun filled trip.

It was the month of January 1997. We had finished with our MBA course in Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar. Much to our collective relief, the placements were over, and we were on our way to becoming responsible adults with good jobs. Ours was deemed the best batch of graduates ever by our own professors but the placement session was chilling, to say the least. It was with a sense of relief and new-found independence that we decided to go to Similipal national Park to just chill out. And what a chilling out experience it turned out for us.

We had booked for six of us in Chahala rest house. At the last moment the number went upto seven when Sambit joined us. The forest department rules permitted one driver and one helper to accompany a group of six. So it was decided that we would hire a jeep with a driver and one of us would pose as a helper. We joked that Sambit had to pose as a helper. In the morning when we started from Baripada, Sambit turned up immaculately dressed in a formal shirt, beard carefully shaven with a liberal dose of aftershave sprinkled on his face. We couldn’t stop laughing. Satyaswarup finally volunteered to pose as a helper. He wrapped a red gamuchha (thin hand woven towel) on his head like a daily wage earner with determination writ large on his face.

And the fun had just begun….

The rear right tire of our jeep punctured just as we were entering the forest from the Jashipur side. We discovered then that the driver didn’t have a jack with him. I came forward to help with the tyre change fully expecting the others to chip in by push and tilt to the jeep till the tyre was changed. Satyaswarup, the ‘helper’, had no idea of such technicalities and conveniently hid himself behind a tree. The forest officer was screaming as to why the helper was not around to do his duty.

The fun had just about begun….

Before embarking on our journey, one of the guys had been given charge of stocking up for the duration of our stay inside the Jungle. On reaching Chahala that evening, we started preparation for dinner and for the first time took stock of the provisions that we had for the trip. One kilo of rice, half a kilo of dal (lentils), two dozen eggs, two loaves of bread, half a kilo of onions, few green chillies, six or seven small packets of biscuits and a couple of packets of Haldiram’s bhujia. This was meant to keep seven fully grown men fully fed for 3 days and 2 nights, which was to be our duration of stay at Chahala. Heated arguments followed and there was unanimous decision to leave Chahala the next morning.

And we just could not see any fun in the situation….. (more…)

 I love driving. A broken leg didn’t dim my enthusiasm for driving fast; rather it shifted my preferences from motorbikes to cars. Off late, the Chennai roads and the driving habits of people have somewhat tempered my temptation to drive fast. I have witnessed incidents where cars are smashed beyond recognition. Sad they are, but I had never seen a fatal accident before where the helpless victim was hit while running helter skelter to avoid the speeding vehicles.

I had seen signs near wildlife habitats warning of road kills, but this was the first instance I watched a road kill. And the helpless victim was a mongoose which is as threatened as a tiger and is placed in the Schedule I of the wildlife protection act 1972.

 I was in Bhubaneswar and driving in a busy road. Suddenly, a mongoose appeared through a hole in the wall of a garden. The traffic was less and it tried to cross the road. I braked and pulled to the side of the road to watch it. I was scared that the mongoose might get hit. Unfortunately, when the mongoose had crossed half of the road, a speeding motorcyclist blocked its way. The mongoose got scared and tried to retrace its steps. Alas, precious time had been lost, as the traffic had turned green in the connecting road and all of a sudden there were several cars speeding across in the road. The mongoose tried to duck the cars and move to safety, but luck was not on its side. In a moment’s time, everything was over for the hapless mongoose. I had parked my car and was shooting. That slowed down the traffic a bit, but not enough. Perhaps I should have parked my car in the middle of the road. Cars were just zipping past me and flattening the mongoose over and over again with a few cursory glances at me wondering why I was shooting.

In a few moments, there was a road kill and it went unnoticed for the majority of people. This brings to our mind, an important question. Do any other species have a right to live on this earth?

We have been singularly insensitive to their needs. We have been systematically destroying their habitat. With the explosion of human population, we have been ‘developing’ areas that had been earlier home to several species of birds and animals. Even small tracts of land, can be a home to insects, small birds, and animals like this mongoose. Rather than allow it to live in peace, we have been killing the mongoose to use its hair for paint brush. Brushes made of mongoose hair are supposed to be good for oil paintings. Thousands of mongooses were killed for their hair. The Govt. of India finally woke up and trade of mongoose hair was banned. Hopefully, it will stop the killing.

However, a far greater threat is the habitat destruction. I have seen mongoose in small gardens near my house in urban areas. With our urban areas turning into concrete jungles, these green areas are lost without people even understanding its impact on the various species. I hope we pause for a moment to closely examine our fast depleting wildernesses and the few remaining green tracts in and around our urban areas.