.... and How it all Started
Dad just sent this forward with the words in them.. it reminded me of my childhood days when I used to spend hours in our backyard (Farakka D-3) watching the birds play build their nest, rebuild and rebuild. Every afternoon after coming back from school (KV Farakka) I used to gulp down the food somehow to see if the nests were complete, if they had eggs, if there were babies..
Yah, I was very lucky to be not growing in a city but in a small town with big trees and plenty of sights from nature to cherish. I JUST LOVED IT. I think after birds it used to frogs that I used to follow. Birds were too pretty to hold and catch and they would fly so I could never really catch them. But frogs were slimy, sluggish and lazy.
As a kid I have had a parakeet, a guniea pig, streets dogs and lot of cats as pets.
As a wildlifer I had a squirrel, a snake, a leech, a spider, a preying mantis as a pet. Most of these creatures recoverd half dead or injured and I nurtured them till could or till they choose to stay. Those that survived the shock were released back. And I used to love observing them. Unfortuantely the once I found in wild never built their house in front of me but I gathered my love and passion for them from my backyard 20 years back in Farakka watching the 'Birds'
I grew up in a small town called Farakka. It was almost a village when we first moved there. We landed there on a summer morning quite pleasant than the kolkata I was used to till then. I remember my first sight of the township was very exciting. I had never seen such big trees at reachable distance. I had never seen unpaved roads. I had never seen huts for real or paddy field. We first lived in C3 then after two years moved to the D-complex, D3. That's where my life changed as we had a huge back yard with jamun, guava, banana, lime trees. There were lot of flowering plants too but jamun and guava were my favorite as I could climb and play for real. I used to have a tree house in my head and I used to imagine myself staying in it, when for real i just sat on a branch and chewed some raw guava's I guess ! I used to sit their quietly and wait for birds to come. Offcourse they never came till I sat there unless it was the ripening time for guava and jamun :) And it was my paradise. I did not know the name of the colorful birds I saw. But I remember seeing a beautiful yellow bird. Later when I went to Wildlife Insitute of India, and had my first binocular, I saw my yellow bird first in Salim Ali's 'Birds of Indian Subcontinent' then for real in our campus. I recognized them right away. It was a pair of Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus).
It might sound stupid, but I felt I saw the pair I saw in my backyard. It felt as if they came to tell that I am on track. It felt God sent. I cannot explain the feeling. But something divine, when I knew deep down its was not the same pair I used to see in our backyard. But seeing something I saw in 1988 again in 1997 was like a rebounding of something deep within me. And I knew it then I am doing what I am meant to do. And that's the first time I felt the touch or presence of something beyond me, guiding me. The presence of an unknown, the universe, a faith, a vision was born. I saw it. I felt it. I lived through it. I can only remember and re-experience it. But I cannot define it. And honestly I do not want to describe it either. But that's how it all started. My journey into the Wild, my journey with the Unknown. The unknown force still resides with me in everything I do. It touches me every time I go back to nature, every time I hear something close to what I heard in 1984. It was bliss. It will always be. My first and foremost love and passion. Something that came from within.
I have never written about the Golden Orioles but they were the one's who used to visit my backyard and I used to so wish that they make a nest in the guava or jamun tree, but they never did. They only came to eat the fruits. And t hey came only thrice. I waited and waited but I never saw them again until in 1997. I did manage to find nest in my backyard in the jamun tree. But it was too far for me to see if they had eggs in it. But often I used to see a Cuckoo . Hence I knew it was a living nest. Later I came to know that Cuckoo's are parasites. They take over the nest of other birds and the baby cuckoo ends up throwing the eggs of its original occupants as it keeps growing. Yah, sad but true ! Survival of the fittest.
There was one small nest in the Bedana tree too, but I disturbed it with my excitement and chased away its owners.
But then came the Baya Beavers at Wildlife Institute in the reeds. The Orioles lead me to the beavers and the beavers led me to where I am today. A journey, I am proud of. A journey that got reminded today and I will always remember.
I never knew then that what I saw in my backyard would give me the strength in life too. Had I not grown up in Farakka, had I not studied Ecology or Nature, Had I not seen the hardship and perseverence the animals and birds have, I don't think I would have survived the harsh weather in my life.
Every now and then there are hail storms and snow storms here and there. But I have decided to stay PUT and not GIVE UP.
NEVER SAY NO. It was ONLY in 2003 that I uttered the word 'THE END' in my life. Thanks to my parents and Avanti who stood by me and helped me to rebuild my life.
These snaps reminded me of a journey I have survived and that I will make it. No matter what! I will MAKE IT .
Today or Tommorrow.
Thanks Bapi for reminding me the backyard of D3, the essense of my life.
I LOVE YOU LIFE FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU HAVE GIVEN ME AND WILL CONTINUE CELEBRATING EVERY DAY OF IT ..
THANKS FOR EVERYTHING.
Yah, I was very lucky to be not growing in a city but in a small town with big trees and plenty of sights from nature to cherish. I JUST LOVED IT. I think after birds it used to frogs that I used to follow. Birds were too pretty to hold and catch and they would fly so I could never really catch them. But frogs were slimy, sluggish and lazy.
As a kid I have had a parakeet, a guniea pig, streets dogs and lot of cats as pets.
As a wildlifer I had a squirrel, a snake, a leech, a spider, a preying mantis as a pet. Most of these creatures recoverd half dead or injured and I nurtured them till could or till they choose to stay. Those that survived the shock were released back. And I used to love observing them. Unfortuantely the once I found in wild never built their house in front of me but I gathered my love and passion for them from my backyard 20 years back in Farakka watching the 'Birds'
I grew up in a small town called Farakka. It was almost a village when we first moved there. We landed there on a summer morning quite pleasant than the kolkata I was used to till then. I remember my first sight of the township was very exciting. I had never seen such big trees at reachable distance. I had never seen unpaved roads. I had never seen huts for real or paddy field. We first lived in C3 then after two years moved to the D-complex, D3. That's where my life changed as we had a huge back yard with jamun, guava, banana, lime trees. There were lot of flowering plants too but jamun and guava were my favorite as I could climb and play for real. I used to have a tree house in my head and I used to imagine myself staying in it, when for real i just sat on a branch and chewed some raw guava's I guess ! I used to sit their quietly and wait for birds to come. Offcourse they never came till I sat there unless it was the ripening time for guava and jamun :) And it was my paradise. I did not know the name of the colorful birds I saw. But I remember seeing a beautiful yellow bird. Later when I went to Wildlife Insitute of India, and had my first binocular, I saw my yellow bird first in Salim Ali's 'Birds of Indian Subcontinent' then for real in our campus. I recognized them right away. It was a pair of Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus).
It might sound stupid, but I felt I saw the pair I saw in my backyard. It felt as if they came to tell that I am on track. It felt God sent. I cannot explain the feeling. But something divine, when I knew deep down its was not the same pair I used to see in our backyard. But seeing something I saw in 1988 again in 1997 was like a rebounding of something deep within me. And I knew it then I am doing what I am meant to do. And that's the first time I felt the touch or presence of something beyond me, guiding me. The presence of an unknown, the universe, a faith, a vision was born. I saw it. I felt it. I lived through it. I can only remember and re-experience it. But I cannot define it. And honestly I do not want to describe it either. But that's how it all started. My journey into the Wild, my journey with the Unknown. The unknown force still resides with me in everything I do. It touches me every time I go back to nature, every time I hear something close to what I heard in 1984. It was bliss. It will always be. My first and foremost love and passion. Something that came from within.I have never written about the Golden Orioles but they were the one's who used to visit my backyard and I used to so wish that they make a nest in the guava or jamun tree, but they never did. They only came to eat the fruits. And t hey came only thrice. I waited and waited but I never saw them again until in 1997. I did manage to find nest in my backyard in the jamun tree. But it was too far for me to see if they had eggs in it. But often I used to see a Cuckoo . Hence I knew it was a living nest. Later I came to know that Cuckoo's are parasites. They take over the nest of other birds and the baby cuckoo ends up throwing the eggs of its original occupants as it keeps growing. Yah, sad but true ! Survival of the fittest.
There was one small nest in the Bedana tree too, but I disturbed it with my excitement and chased away its owners.
But then came the Baya Beavers at Wildlife Institute in the reeds. The Orioles lead me to the beavers and the beavers led me to where I am today. A journey, I am proud of. A journey that got reminded today and I will always remember.
I never knew then that what I saw in my backyard would give me the strength in life too. Had I not grown up in Farakka, had I not studied Ecology or Nature, Had I not seen the hardship and perseverence the animals and birds have, I don't think I would have survived the harsh weather in my life.
Every now and then there are hail storms and snow storms here and there. But I have decided to stay PUT and not GIVE UP.
NEVER SAY NO. It was ONLY in 2003 that I uttered the word 'THE END' in my life. Thanks to my parents and Avanti who stood by me and helped me to rebuild my life.
These snaps reminded me of a journey I have survived and that I will make it. No matter what! I will MAKE IT .
Today or Tommorrow.
Thanks Bapi for reminding me the backyard of D3, the essense of my life.
I LOVE YOU LIFE FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU HAVE GIVEN ME AND WILL CONTINUE CELEBRATING EVERY DAY OF IT ..
THANKS FOR EVERYTHING.
No comments:
Post a Comment