Sahyadrica

Subtly she sings, her tone a murmur, carrying An aura upon her skin, unwavering, enchanting And brushes along the shores, ever waking To glorious mornings, and ever shimmering On pleasant evenings, since time’s beginning. Subtly she sheds her satin, a fair lady treading Down the vale, where leaves form her bedding And dreams of younger days, her thoughts flowing Tireless but patient, tender but bold, reminiscing Of distant past, where shores in greens lie dancing. Subtly she dons a veil, dark and menacing To the eyes that see naught but riches, unbecoming And tramples along the shores, taking everything To the sea, biting, gnawing, deceiving, unforgiving For she is worth not in possessing, but in being. Jamunia (or Jamuniya) is a river flowing from the village of Mandai, across the buffer zone of Kanha Tiger reserve, and uniting Banjar River in Bhimlat, in the southern district of Balaghat, which then joins River Narmada in the district of Mandla, ...

Think wasp is a stinging machine? Think again. If you’re a curious naturalist, and are amazed by little natural, but seemingly supernatural, feats all non-humans are capable of, be it your pet dog, cat, the wild tiger, or your unknown companion the ant, you are bound to have understood how closely related we all are albeit the fact that we’ve classified ourselves and made them appear quite distant from us. One of the startlingly familiar features common through almost all, if not the entire, Animal (or Plant) Kingdom, is motherly care. Mother was chosen to be the most beautiful word in English, and indeed it is, for it has a profound meaning incomparable to any – and by this I mean it is universal in (almost) all life. I talked with much enthusiasm in 2010 about a mother wasp I had the fortune to be amazed by. It was an Ammophila wasp (Digger wasp), I had documented in the October heat of 2008, absorbed in ensuring that her offspring received plenty food and protection from...