Blog
Arboreal Almanac
I often lose track of time. The pace of modern life is such. Sometimes days go by in such a blur, I have to check the calendar - What day is it exactly? Which month are we in? How long until the balmy summer gives way to cool rains? When will winter come? These are...
Our Shrine – The biggest Banyan of Pollachi
During my childhood, trees were an integral part of my daily life. Our home was at the edge of the village, where the village ended and the coconut farms started. At school, we often had lunch beneath the shade of Thongu Moonji (Rain Tree). After school, my friends...
The reason I fell in love with the forest yet again!!!
It was October of 2022. It had only been a few weeks since I started working in a forest resort located in Lonavala as a 'Naturalist'. I was conducting nature trails for a living. On one fine evening, I was returning from my nature trail and was going to get my...
Meaning-making from Trees
Meanings are derived from ontologies. You know how we talk about humans looking up at the stars, reflecting on how they inspire thoughts and philosophies of comparative existence; that stars reminded them of the vastness of the world and the minuscule existence of...
Like Living Root Bridges
I heard a story about ka jingkieng Jri & the story of mutualism Of sturdy, of diversity, of path ahead In a continuous improvement process The resilience of ka Jingkiengjri is such that it can withstand adversity by its strong roots entwined together by people...
The Hollock Tree
The morning was cool, and the air fresh and frosty. Dawn had just broken through the malleable night. Eager to make new feathered acquaintances, we set out early along a solitary road that floated up towards a dead end. It was our first day in Roing, Arunachal...
Home is a Fig Tree
There’s this gorgeous friend I want you to meet. Rooted in land owned by a charitable trust, she is surrounded by a granary, a bakery, a government school, a busy thoroughfare, a storm-water drain, and our four-storeyed apartment. A Tamarind tree grows side by...
The Apricot Trees of Ladakh: A Symbol of Culture, Biodiversity, and Hope
Our journey began with a simple observation: the traditional game of hopscotch often involves the fig tree, but fig trees aren’t native to Ladakh. Inspired by this, our mentor, Ms. Preeti Chauhan, encouraged us to replace the fig tree with the apricot tree—a...
The Rewards of Time
The end of a year, or the beginning of another, calls for some reflections on times past and those to look forward to. While ‘new’ means hopes and resolutions, wading through the rest of the worn-out year and the unaccomplished can be taxing, which stands to show...
The Oak and the Rhododendron
The Oak and the Rhododendron is a personal reflection of my childhood preference for the vibrant Rhododendron over the seemingly plain Oak tree (Banj or Quercus leucotrichophora) in Pauri Garhwal. As I grew older and studied ecology, I came to appreciate the Oak's...
Goa Banyan Project
Monsoon 2018 marked a significant turning point in my life. Upon returning from my travels to Parra, North Goa, I was confronted with the grave news that a 100-year-old Banyan in my Vaddo had been hacked down without any justified reason. This event awakened a deep...
A Sweet Story
On a sunny morning during the lockdown, I was roaming around my home documenting life using the iNaturalist application. Castor plants grow wild and abundant across Bangalore and there was one growing in a small patch of land next to our home. While watching the...