The Hollock Tree

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

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 side,...
The Rewards of Time

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 why...
The Oak and the Rhododendron

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...
Goa Banyan Project

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...