Indian silverbills or white-throated munias
Quite often these drab-looking tiny birds are overlooked in favour of their more colourful counterparts. The Indian silverbills are one such species which though ubiquitous, are often ignored. They usually forage in groups and are very gregarious.…
The Langurs of Sevagram
Sevagram is synonymous with Mahatma Gandhi. He spent a large part of his life here during India’s freedom struggle. And one of his prized possessions was a tiny figurine of three wise monkeys who embodied the principles…
Melodramatica
When my face betrays What my heart feels- Or when the ink spilled from my pen Scribbles the story of my pain I am labelled melodramatic. Likened to the vulgar and the coarse And who knows, maybe…
Raazi: The price of patriotism
Patriotic films are shrill. You walk into the theatre and expect chest thumping, heavy dialogues, and perhaps even find a muscular gentleman pulling out a hand pump with his bare hands. And so when I heard that…
Passage through history: Heritage walk in Ahmedabad
We happened to be in Ahmedabad to attend the convocation ceremony of my niece Jyotsna at the Indian Institute of Management. Since we had an extra day in Ahmedabad, we were wondering how to spend it, and my…
Neelkanth: The Indian Roller Bird
This is one bird which you will commonly find perched on wires along roadsides. The Indian roller bird or the Neelkanth. As children whenever we had our trips to Nagpur, one of our common pastimes used to be counting…
Pathological alliances
Jabalpur brings back very unpleasant memories. It was the 25th of January 1996. I was in the midst of a gruelling course, pursuing my MD in Pathology- and I had nothing but microscopic images in my head. …
Indian Railways and IST
My train is scheduled at the unearthly hour of 11.30 p.m. Stubborn officials who quote absurd rules of reimbursement demand that I travel to another city in this heat instead of getting on a train from a…
Amaltas: The golden shower tree
The golden chandelier-like blossoms make you stop in your tracks, even when the firmament is afire. Pendulous yellow flowers cascade down in plenty making the green of the leaves redundant. The golden shower tree or the golden…
Golden orioles: My favourite summer sight
Sevagram can be terribly atrocious in the summers with the temperatures climbing to over 45 degrees C. But there are some blessings of nature one can look forward to even when the sun is blazing down. Delicious…
