Year – 1/Issue – 10/June – July’16
World after 5th Extinction Featured Topic : We are at…. WAR RISK (Part – 8) Editors’ Desk : Who made “Vermin”!!! Upcoming Programmes
Exploration
Story Room : Delightful Dooars
Arnab Basu
Theme Poster : Martial Eagle
Foraging Armies Until recent times armies lived off the land; their logistical support systems were so rudimentary that nothing else was possible. This process provides the key to much of the damage caused by wars, from ancient times onwards. Classical Greece exemplified the process. The Mediterranean borderlands feature long hot summers and short wet winters; their topography is mostly mountainous, with soils that are light and easily eroded once natural vegetation is removed. Armies of the Greek citystates pillaged their enemies' farmlands, destroying annual crops and olive groves. Rural people fled to safety in the hill forests or fortified towns ahead of advancing military columns. In the Peloponnesian War (431–04 BCE), which ended the golden age of Athens, the Spartan army repeatedly ravaged the farmlands of Attica, Athens' agricultural base, destroying crops in an unsuccessful effort to starve the city into submission. These campaigns were the grim precursors of modern "total war," obliterating the distinction between civilian and military targets. The short-term impacts were obvious to everyone involved; the longer-term environmental results are more difficult to measure. Southern Italy suffered similar damage to its agricultural lands on a larger scale two centuries later, when the Carthaginian 1|Page
them
general Hannibal invaded the Roman Republic in the Second Punic War (219–01). In a long military stalemate, thirteen years of annual summertime fighting in southern Italy impoverished the land, as both armies attempted to deprive each other of provisions. The environmental result was neglect of tilled lands, forest depletion in hill regions and watersheds, soil erosion into streams and rivers, and coastal siltation. In the disturbed coastal zone malaria became endemic, throughout the region's subsequent history until the DDT campaign that followed World War II.
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In the monsoon climate belt the Indian subcontinent saw similar impacts of military movements. In the upper Indus and Ganges river basin, the Mughal empire's armies (1524–1707) led by elephant corps and cavalry devoured the food and fodder resources of the land. The imperial army was a mobile city of nearly a million fighters, camp followers, and suppliers, who stripped wide areas of everything useful as they moved. Cavalry swept the countryside, depopulating villages; rural society and its biological base could take decades to recover from the disruption. Medieval European history showed similar patterns on the land during wartime. Until the late 1700s a perennial problem was how armies were recruited and compensated. Lords on manorial estates and the serfs who worked their lands were both warriors whenever military campaigning demanded. In the age of chivalry mounted knights on heavy horses dominated battles. Foot soldiers were of two sorts: local militias of impressed peasants, and mercenary bands organized by military entrepreneurs. Their rewards most often came in the form of booty, a chaotic process always disruptive to agro-ecosystems. The Hundred Years War in France (1337–1453) was a major example of undisciplined armies ravaging crop lands, marshlands and woodlands. Many campaigns were renewed for years, devouring both woods and croplands in the process. In the twilight zone between mass violence and peaceful times, including after campaigns were over and temporary troops were disbanded, brigandage (hardly distinguishable from regular soldiering) festered. Lands deserted when rural people became refugees reverted toward natural woodlands and wetlands, with concomitantly increasing species diversity. The short-term damage to partially domesticated landscapes was evident to anyone with eyes. The long-term ecological transformations of the early medieval period are difficult to assess, since the long term was a matter of peacetime recovery processes.
Editors’ Desk :
Who made them “Vermin”!!! In the last week, a new controversy aroused when Hon’ble Madam Maneka Gandhi questioned her colleague in Union cabinet for declaring some wild animals as vermin in different Indian states and allowing people to kill those freely. Some bytes and newsprints have been spent on the controversy in social as well as formal media. Conservation activists raised their voice once again and some petitions got signed. But what it was all about! Was this anything new in India or in the world? Queries popped up in many minds. When we, Indians are cherishing ourselves, with the very popular slogan “सबका साथ सबका िवकास” (Everybody's company will help in everybody's growth) and India has achieved a more or less unprecedented GDP growth, though some of the higher ranked bureaucrats are sceptical about the calculation process and some are questioning the abnormally low industrial production growth rate, what is this new issue all about where Union cabinet is not unanimously agreed upon! The answer lies in the process of that “िवकास” itself. 2|Page
We, Indians, have never had a consistently strong nature and wildlife conservation policy. Many of you can jump up, seize me by the collar and start arguing about WPA 1972. Yes, that was of course the first ever proper safeguard to the wildlife in India in post-colonial era. Launch of Project Tiger in 1973 was indeed a very positive approach towards the conservation of wildlife. The project was one of the pioneer conservation programme in the world. But what happened in following years were not as promising as expected but much more devastating. If we go by the tiger count only, though it was initially rising, but the number of the biggest felid hit its lowest since 1972 in the year 2006 (as per the census in 2006, Project Tiger). The famous Sariska Tiger Reserve suffered a heavy poaching and lost its all tiger in 2004. Not only in Sariska, has tiger disappeared from many of its former habitats across the country with all its signs and tracks due to a massacre. It was the total failure of a pioneer project and of an act due to the lapses in implementation. We never took the issue very seriously. The same thing happened with other wildlife also, but the lesser tiger count has led us towards another big problem. In absence of the top ranked predator, large wild bovines and antelopes started growing like anything beyond control. These wild grazers started coming out of the forest in large numbers and sharing the same grazing area with our domestic cattle and the completion for food begun. They also started feeding themselves on our crops resulting a more intense human wildlife conflict. Human Leopard conflict is another serious issue of concern these days even in outskirts of metros
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So the argument of increased forest cover to refuge increased wildlife doesn’t stand correct and on the contrary human encroachment in forest area are increasing day by day. As we often cherish ourselves for increment in in tiger count in last 10 years by 30% we never mind that we have also lost 40% of Tiger Habitats in this period. We the human being are actually encroaching in their home in the name of Industrialisation, Development and Human civilization as a whole. Union Government has cut off Forest “No-Go” area by 10% (approximately 6000 sq.km) in Western Ghats, which has a very rich bio-diversity, in last year for Power and Mining Industries. Unprecedented under mining for coal in famous Tadoba Andhari Tiger reserve, hurdles like electric fencing and canal digging in the ancient migratory route of Dalma Elephants, roads and railway tracks crossing wildlife reserves and sanctuaries across the country and many other measures taken by human being to protect “our” resource are making the life of wildlife miserable. But we don’t care about this. Tigers, poached in first four months of 2016 are more than those during whole 2015 (WPSI data). We have been destroying the ecological balance and snatching 3|Page
-- Mahatma Gandhi
Now you may argue that wildlife must stay in wild. When we have been gaining forest cover area continuously for the last three decades, they shouldn’t come out and involve in a competition with human being. I’m fully agree with you on this. India has gained more than sixty thousand square kilometre forest cover in past thirty years. In last two years we have earned an area of impressive 3775 sq. km and unfortunately lost only 654 sq. km of our dense forest (data source : FSI report 2015). But if we look into the assessment process with a little more curiosity, we will find some discrepancies. Take Delhi, for example. The first FSI report recorded only 15 sq.km of forests in the capital. The latest report found 189 sq.km, an over 12-fold increase in three decades. Nearly a third of this is recorded under the “dense” category. Actually FSI analyses and finalises its result on the basis of Satellite Images to identify green cover and does not discriminate between natural forests, plantations, thickets of weeds such as juliflora and lantana, and longstanding commercial crops such as palm, coconut, coffee or even sugarcane. Now will we allow wild animals to habitat in our commercial crop fields, coffee and tea gardens and those artificial urban forestry? Moreover, another fallacy of this statistics is in the 1980s, satellite imagery mapped forests at a 1:1 million scale, missing details of land units smaller than 4 sq km. Now, the refined 1:50,000 scale can scan patches as small as 1 hectare (100 metres x 100 metres), and any unit showing 10 per cent canopy density is considered forest. So millions of these tiny plots that earlier went unnoticed, now contribute to India’s official forest cover.
wildlife habitats in the country for decades and compelling our wildlife to involve in competition for resources with us. But as the supreme race, we are not ready to give them a fair chance to live. In 2015, Government has eased out the process of declaring a wild animal as “Vermin”. As a result, more than 250 Nilgai, which is India’s largest antelope, were killed in 3 days in Bihar. Now it’s the time for our National Heritage Animal, The Asiatic Elephant, in West Bengal. The State Government already appealed to Union Government to declare Asiatic Elephant as “Vermin” in West Bengal for certain time. Uttarakhand Government wants the same for Rhesus Macaque and Goan Government has targeted our National Bird. Black buck will be named next, I’m afraid. In the game of “Food Bowl”, they are always to loose. We are the supreme race after all and we rule this time, The “Holocene”. “What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.”
like Mumbai and Bengaluru along with villages and towns across India. This is also because of, in my view, due to lack of tigers. Leopards being the top order predator in many forests of India these days in absence of bigger felid, are moving more freely. As they characteristically prefer to live near human habitat and to prey upon domestic cattle and stray dogs, human-leopard conflict has been persisting since long back. Now a days, as leopards are moving more freely and their numbers are increasing in absence of larger cat, the same conflict is getting more intense.
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Upcoming Exploration Programmes :
14th January 2017 to 20th January 2017 Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve
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Story Room :
Piyali Ganguly
the ocean was less uncomfortable than the jerking felt in a multi-axle VOLVO bus. We had to endure this journey for 18 long hours (compared to the usual 12hours). By the time we reached the Tenzing Norgay bus stand in Siliguri I was feeling quite sick & hungry too. We had an entry permit for Jaldapara National Park for the same evening but there was no way we could make it on time. Day 1 of our trip was already ruined, courtesy NH31. Chandan Da (Chandan Mitra, who arranges all our trips to North Bengal)
It was Shasthi evening, the city had already descended on the roads for its customary ‘thakur dekha’. Our Royal Cruiser inched its way in a snail’s pace through the city chock-a-block with traffic. It took nearly 1.5 hrs to cover a distance from Esplanade crossing to Salt Lake Stadium. And by the time we reached the highway, we were already way behind our schedule. This is the second time we were travelling to NJP by Royal Cruiser. I was mighty impressed with their service the first time. The bus screened one Bollywood movie after another but who is interested in films? My mind was already wandering in the Dooars. Forests are my addiction. You may call me a perfect ‘junglee’; I would take it as a compliment. My body temperature started soaring again; time to pop up another paracetamol. I have been running a high temperature since the previous day (later, on returning to Kolkata was diagnosed as chikungunya). Turning a deaf ear to the repeated warnings of my mother as well as mother-in-law, I decided to go ahead with the trip. Cancelling a trip, especially one to the forests, was worse than death. But the new & disturbing development that I noticed was the numerous small swellings emerging on my cheeks, jaw bones & neck.
picked us up from the bus stop & after a Chinese lunch somewhere off Hill Cart Road we headed for Jaldapara. It was another 4hrs of arduous journey & the roads were worse. We reached Jaldapara Jungle Camp nearly at 9.30pm. I liked it immediately. It was here that the cast & crew of Goutam Ghosh’s critically acclaimed film ‘Moner Manush’ had stayed during the film’s shooting. Many other celebrities had also stayed there. The reception area had a celebrity gallery complete with photographs & newspaper cuttings. Since we were tired we rushed through our dinner & hit the bed.
The resort staff was pleasantly At the dead of night we reached Krishnanagar (normally reaches surprised to see us getting up at by midnight). I was hungry & thought it would be safe to have 4 o clock the next morning. We roti-sabzi. But I puked immediately after. I knew that ‘aal ij not had woken up even before their well (all is not well)’ with my body but it was probably getting wake up call. The staff admitted worse. The journey was also taking a toll on my already fragile that after the ordeal we went health. The condition of NH31 was pathetic, to say the least. The through in the last 24hrs, they entire stretch of highway seemed to have suffered an earthquake did not expect us to get up at the day before. A few months back I had the good fortune of riding the crack of dawn. I silently a motor boat on the Indian Ocean, but, trust me, the rolling of laughed. These people had no 5|Page E-mail: natural_destination@yahoo.com Website : www.exploringnature.org.in
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idea how obsessed I am with forests. Sharp at 5am our Gypsy entered the Jaldapara National Park (constituted in 1941 for the protection of wildlife, particularly of one-horned rhinos). The smell of the forest & the cool morning breeze made us forget all the hardships that we endured the previous day. A few kilometres into the forest there was a bridge & there we halted. A huge male rhino was lazing in the canal, half submerged in water. It was in no hurry to get up & could watch it & click it to our heart’s delight. As we headed toward the watch tower we met a group of wild elephants & a few other rhinos on our way. From the watch tower we spotted a herd of ‘gaur’ (Indian Bison) grazing in the savannah. The park also has a healthy population of spotted deer & sambhhars. The guide who was chattering away with my husband in Nepali (having spent a good many years of his life in Darjeeling my husband speaks Nepali fluently), told us that the park was also home to Royal Bengal Tigers but they are seldom spotted. On our way back we spotted a few tourists taking elephant ride. The next thing I knew was to call Chandan da & chew his head. “Ami kobe haati chorbo (When do I get an opportunity to ride Elephant?)?”He assured me “arey, ami aro bhalo jaigai haati chorabo (I will ride Elephant in a better place)”. We returned to the resort for breakfast before heading toward Khairibari. I discovered that I have developed small red rashes all over my body. Now I was worried. The fever was one thing but the swellings & the rashes could not be symptoms of a simple viral fever. On our way to Khairibari we stopped at a chemist shop & bought an antiallergic. Driving through the forests of Khairibari was a beautiful experience. The clear blue autumnal sky & the bright sunlight played hide & seek through the thick foliage. We visited the Khairibari Tiger Rescue Centre. When tiger shows in Indian circuses were banned, the rescued tigers were brought here. After Khairibari, our next destination was Buxa Tiger Reserve. En route we visited Chilapata, Rajabhatkhawa & Jayanti. We were driving through the Chilapata forest. The windows of the car were rolled down. The guide accompanying us suddenly asked the driver to slow down. He said there were wild tuskers around. Even we could identify the smell. We got down from the car & waited in silence. I could hear cries of hornbills. My frequent visits to the forests have enriched me with enough knowledge & instincts. Now I am fairly acquainted with the cries, smell & footprints of some animals. Our eyes scanned the forests for elephants. But we were disappointed. The tuskers decided to elude us. But yes, I could spot a few giant hornbills perched on tree tops. 6|Page
The Nature Interpretation Centre at Rajabhatkhawa was nice. Though small in size, it was quite informative & had a fair number of species on display. We learnt many interesting things. The curator of the museum narrated to us the story behind the naming of Rajabhatkhawa. Centuries ago, the King of Bhutan was once invited by his Indian counterpart for lunch. It was in this place that the gala royal lunch was organised. That is how Rajabhatkhawa derived its name. From Rajabhatkhawa we moved on to Jayanti. The Jayanti River with the Jayanti Hills standing tall behind it, offered a spectacular view. The remains of a decadent railway bridge stood over the river. During the British Period this place had railway connectivity. Unfortunately for us, the Buxa Tiger Reserve (name derived from Buxa Fort, once used to keep prisoners during the Indian freedom struggle) was closed for the tourists. I was thoroughly disappointed. How could a trip to the forests be complete without a sight of the big cats? Buxa was the only chance of sighting a tiger in the Dooars. Next destination was Buxa Fort. It was a long road uphill. After a while it got too much for my lungs. Even my Foracort inhaler did not help me much. I, who had previously managed to climb the 200+ steps at Nathula (had fainted afterward, causing some tension to the army) could not manage this one. I decided to stay back. The driver, the guide & my husband went ahead. Other tourists were a little curious to find a young top & capri clad woman sitting alone with a backpack & inhaler in hand. Some asked questions, some offered help. Being alone did not bother me, I was worried about snakes. Fortunately for me, no snake came to say hello.
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Rather, I was greeted by innumerable butterflies. Butterflies of such hues, such brightness, I have never seen even on NatGeo or Animal Planet. After a long time, the three of them returned. Heard they were attacked by leeches. Tired & crestfallen, I dozed off in the car during our return journey. Near Chilapata my husband woke me up. Evening was setting in & there was a fair chance of stumbling upon elephants. But once again, there was no show. Even our guide was depressed. Perhaps he considered it a failure on his part not to be able to satisfy his tourists. He sat brooding for some time & then asked “sir, sottii haati dekhte chan? Rattirbela grame asben? Roj rate haatir pal ase paka dhan khete. Mathe gele sure haati dekha jabe (If you want to see Elephant, come to village in night. The herds regularly visit village to eat crops)” We almost jumped up. It would be one hell of an adventure! The guide said he would need to hire searchlights & one more guide. My husband immediately paid up & all was set. My temperature had returned, my body was aching but how could I let go of this opportunity? After dinner, we quietly slipped out. The manager would raise an alarm if he came to know of our plan. After all, what we were going to do was extremely dangerous. We drove through the village roads & stationed ourselves in front of the paddy fields. Each field had a watch tower like structure locally called ‘tong’. The farmers stay there at night to keep a vigil on their fields. The Forest Department supplies them with searchlights & chocolate bombs to drive away elephants. Ripe paddy is a hot favourite with elephants & every night during this time of the year herds of elephants descend on the fields & ravage the crops. The man-animal face-off often causes casualties on both sides. We sat in absolute silence, invaded by mosquitoes & other insects. My sick & tired body found it hard to keep the eyes open. Way past midnight we heard a loud cacophony of beating drums & cans, chocolate bombs & angry shouts. People from the nearby fields were chasing the elephants. Now they would come to us. My muscles tightened, the heart started thumping. It was excitement mixed with fear. The noise came closer. Our guides promptly switched on the searchlights. What we witnessed made our jaws drop. A group of 7 elephants, 3 ‘dantal’ (tusker) & 4 ‘makna’ (without tusk), stood in front of us. The one in front, presumably the leader, was huge. Its tusks nearly touched the ground. Disturbed by the powerful light, the elephants moved off to a different direction. Our guide whispered “asun Sir (come)” We got off the car & started following the elephants. The guide was 7|Page
almost sprinting ahead. I always wonder from where the forest people get so much courage. This young man’s father was killed by an elephant. Once his father (in an inebriated state) was returning from the forest after sundown, when he stumbled upon a bull elephant. The elephant smashed him under its feet. After a point we thought it was getting too risky & we decided to go back. The next morning was very unpleasant for me. Woke up with a severe pain all over my body, specially the joints. The feet too had swollen beyond recognition. My husband decided to drive straight to Bagdogra & catch the very next flight home. My heart sank. I cried & almost begged him not to go back. Finally he said “ja khusi koro (do whatever you wish)” I managed to have my way. Happily or grudgingly, he was staying back & that was all that mattered. After breakfast we set out for Jhalong & Bindu. Jhalong is a small township where the Jaldhaka Hydel Power Plant is located. The view of the mighty Jaldhaka River in its full force was awe inspiring. Some of my best shots of the trip were taken here. Bindu is a small village, the last village of Bengal on the Indo-Bhutan border. It is beautiful. From there we headed toward Gorumara. Light was fading as we entered Lataguri. The road ran through the middle of the forest. Along the entire stretch of the road there were
signboards marking the ‘animal
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crossing zones’. Yet, animals are often crushed under the wheels of recklessly speeding trucks. My eyes were busy scanning the forests. At one point, I felt I saw some movement in the forest. I asked the driver to stop & alighted from the car. Yes, my assumption was correct. 3 young ‘makna’ elephants were feeding. While we were busy watching them we heard rustling of leaves. The sound was pretty close. A moment later we spotted a huge tusker, hardly a few feet away from us. I tried to click photos. But alas, even with the night vision mode on, the photographs were far from satisfactory. I tried to inch closer but was pulled back by Chandan da (who had joined us from Maynaguri). Actually it was somewhere here that a photojournalist was attacked by a male rhino just the day before. He was battling for life. Our stay at Elephanta Forest Resort began with coffee & chicken pakora. Our cottage had a thatched roof & the interiors were aesthetically done with bamboo work. I liked it. Even the kitchen & dining area with a little pool (and a bridge over it) was beautiful. The next morning we visited the Gorumara National Park (declared a National Park in 1992). The previous night a few elephants had destroyed a guard house. Out of the 3 guards on duty at that particular point, 2 fled & 1 saved himself by climbing a tree. The elephants also tore off a large stretch of electrical fencing. The cause of their rage was yet to be ascertained. The DFO, we heard, was scheduled to visit later in the day. We climbed the watchtower facing a salt pit. 2-3 other families were already sitting there. Together we sat in silence, watching the deer, the rhinos & birds. We hoped to see some more animals. But that was not to be. A richly attired Marwari family with 3 noisy kids arrived to spoil the atmosphere. They were more interested in photographing themselves than in the animals. The kids munched on their ‘Lays’ & ran about noisily on the wooden floor. Forget sighting more animals, even the birds sitting nearby flew away. Our experience of forests told us that the loud sound waves had already travelled deep into the forest & no animal would come out now. Without wasting more time we pushed off. Before returning to the resort we went to see the Murti River. The river seemed doubly charming when I heard that leopards, elephants & other animals come there at night to drink water. My heart leapt at the prospect of a second consecutive night of adventure. Back from the Murti we had a hurried breakfast at the resort & then we set out for Samsing & Suntaleykhola. But my happiness & excitement were marred to a large extent by the severe body ache. My legs had swollen so much that it was quite difficult to manoeuvre them. We hurried through the two places as I wanted to return to the resort & rest. Our driver Annu was a very nice guy (tipped him generously while saying good bye at Siliguri) & he took utmost care in driving so as to make it comfortable for ‘boudi (sister in law)’. But nothing really helped. Back in the resort, late afternoon, I slumped into bed. I decided to skip the tribal dance show in the evening. A little after 5pm, there was a knock on the door. The man at the door said “Haati chorben to asun (come here, if want an elephant ride)”. For me it was a tough call. My body craved for the comfort of bed, my mind craved for elephant ride. Predictably, my mind won over my body. We drove to a place where 4 elephants were waiting. Ours was a large tusker, its tusks neatly cut & filed. I later learnt it was from Dalma. We had to climb on a watch tower like structure in order to mount the gentle giant. But at the last moment I drew cold feet. 8|Page
Oh God! The arrangement was totally different from the previous elephant rides I had taken. There was no framework to sit on, no iron railing to hold on to. In short, there was nothing to protect me from falling (this was actually a patrolling elephant, not a tourism one. Had no idea how Chandan da had managed it). “Na ami chorbo na, ami pore jabo (No, I don’t want elephant ride, I am afraid, I may fall)”, I screamed. But eventually the mahout coaxed me into mounting. I sat sandwiched between the mahout & my husband. The sunlight was already mellow when we entered the jungle. Movement was slow & our bodies swung from side to side in accordance with the elephant’s gait. We tried our best to adjust our centre of gravity. I tried to calculate into how many multiples my 206 bones would break, in case of a fall. Silently I prayed to God: “If you make me fall, then please let me die, don’t keep me bandaged all over for 6 months”. Slowly as we learnt to adjust ourselves with the rhythm of the elephant, our fear was alleviated & I could afford to turn my attention to the forest. With the light falling
steadily, the forest gradually looked different. The branches & leaves brushed against our bodies as we ventured deeper into the forest. Soon we came to a watch tower. It stood beside a rivulet. Beyond it was a large patch of savannah. We spotted rhinos & gaurs there. Soon we were going to be with them.
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Navigating up & down the slope of the river bank was really dangerous. Even my husband got scared this time. It seemed we would slip off any moment. Fortunately, nothing happened. The elephants went & stood right in front of the rhinos & gaurs. Some would look at us curiously, some were not bothered & continued eating but none of them was hostile. After all, which animal would dare to be hostile when surrounded by 4 elephants? By the time we left the animals behind, it was dark. The moon was high in the sky. Since Kojagari Laxmi Puja (held on full moon) was only 3-4 days away, the moon was big & bright. The river glistening in the moonlight, the carpet of fireflies along the banks, dense forest on one side & a savannah on the other- the atmosphere was surreal. We rode through the dark forest. Faint moonlight peeped through the foliage in certain places. We engaged in a little conversation with the mahout. He told us a lot about forests & narrated to us some of his best experiences. He informed us that the elephant we were riding was one of the elephants that went to rescue the photojournalist the other day. As we neared our resort we thanked the mahout for this wonderful experience. He took our leave & went back to the forest for patrolling. We reached our cottage contented. I promptly fell asleep & probably did not even get up for dinner. The next morning we took it easy. We woke up quite late & had a relaxed breakfast. There was a long & tiring bus journey ahead of us. The plan of spending the night at the bank of Murti had not materialized but surprisingly I did not regret much. I was already stretching my physical capacity way too far. I needed immediate medical attention & for
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that we needed to get back to Kolkata fast. Even then I could not help feeling a little sad. Holiday was over & once again the same sickening routine awaited us. But finally the trip did end on an endearing note. I met Red FM RJ Pooja at the bus stand. She was waiting with her friends to catch the same bus to Kolkata. She is a nice bubbly girl & a chatterbox like me. We hit it off instantly, and we remain friends till date. An awesome trip & a new friend, what more could I want?
For Team Exploring Nature Editors’ Desk : Dwaipayan Ghosh Arnab Basu Title & Logo Design : Arijit Das Majumder Saitak Chakraborty Newsletter Design : Dwaipayan Ghosh
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Theme Poster
:: Martial Eagle – Photography by Arnab Basu :
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