Sahyadrica

Millions of years since our ancestors first drank from a pond, bathed in a stream, built a house by a lake, grew vegetables along a river, and channeled water for their home – today, in this anthropocene era, I sit and I wonder: whether a bird now shares its wetland with man, or does man lend his wetland to the bird. The bird is not your everyday business-man, or your money-lender. A bird here is Mother Nature. Chapter I: The Built Wetland The dancing bird Jayakwadi Dam, Paithan, Aurangabad District, Maharashtra A few centuries ago when the world was slightly different than it is today, man in many regions built temples, castles, and romanced, and wrote poems under the tree – always by the waters. This water was visited by many a creature beside man. Beside man, many depended on it, for food, for breeding, for life. And so the harmony between man, water, and his neighbours, was in epitome of its relationship – until that day when we learnt to own wetlands for our purpose,...