Loxtunned

How does one pick Loxton, South Africa as a place to explore, for whatever purpose? I’d be keen to hear from others, but can tell you that I used stratified random sampling. Intending to systematically check out rural and urban areas in each of the biomes of South Africa, I took the map and laid one degree (latitude by longitude) squares on each biome. None of these squares were contiguous, and at least three quarters of their area consisted of South African land (not sea or neighbouring nations). Towns and villages were identified within each degree square at a constant scale of 10km on Google Maps. Metropolises and cities were excluded, and only towns with significant urban populations and rural areas were retained. The random number generator in Excel was used to select two sample sites per degree square: one each of a town and a rural area. And that is how I meticulously incidentally picked Loxton as the rural area representing the Nama Karoo biome.

L: Driving in the Karoo; R: Walking in Loxton

I had proposed that a minimum of 30 households would be sampled at each site, but in the sparsely populated Karoo, especially the tiny settlement of Loxton, it was clear that finding respondents was going to be a task. The first household surveyed had large pelts on the wooden floors and hung on the walls alongside animal trophies. The second household surveyed belonged to a dear old lady (one of the handful octogenarians I had the privilege of speaking to) who with her husband grew food in her yard. It was past midday, and my field assistant and I walked the tree-shaded gravel road in search of the elusive third household. We came upon an uncharacteristic house with an open door, where we were welcomed in. An enthusiastic and friendly Gavin sat us down at his dining table and said we had come to the right place. He grows a lot of the food in Loxton.

Gavin is a self-made agro-entrepreneur who worked as a telecommunication technician with some big firms in Johannesburg before retiring and moving to Loxton a few years ago. Loxton has a history as a privately-owned 1800s Trekboer farm that was supplied by irrigation channels in 1900. In the early 1960s, the dam supplying the settlement was breached, resulting in a flash flood and rebuilding of much of the infrastructure. Gavin says the surface water in the dam fills up every seven years or so, and lasts only a year on the surface, but the aquifer continues to supply the irrigation channels through the year. He believes you can grow anything in Loxton, which to an outsider comes as something of a surprise considering how visibly dry and desert-like the Karoo surrounding the village appears. Gavin tries various hand-mixed substrate combinations of soil, sand, compost, and fertiliser on his farm, which is not much bigger than your average home backyard. There are 13 beds, 17m by 3m each, planted with maize and several fruits and vegetables, some in the open, some in a tunnel.

Gavin's garden

Inside the tunnel

He does not follow any permaculture design or organic principles, but does use raised beds, and homemade mulch and compost, and believes in hybrid technological solutions. He showed us the remote irrigation system he was building using photoreceptors, humidity sensors, and a radio transmitter that plugged into a programme on his laptop to switch on the water supply when radiation and humidity was neither too low nor too high, to achieve optimal input. Gavin has tried to engage the local community by skilling and employing them and donating saplings, but speaks of social problems. He believes the young are not interested in working, especially given the labour involved in farming and comparatively easier government grants for sustenance. He also mentions how vandalism and tree felling for fuelwood has squandered previous efforts and plans for tree planting in the area. However, this does not deter his entrepreneurial spirit. He also rears bees and chickens, and runs a bakery. He takes his bees to other farms to pollinate their crops and gets paid for this night job, as he refers to it.

On the farm, you can find beetroots, brinjals, butternuts, carrots, cucumbers, gem squashes, green peppers, okra (!), onions, parsnips, potatoes, pumpkins, six varieties of tomatoes, and turnips. The leaves growing on the farm include asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, two varieties of lettuce, rape, and spinach. Among the fruits are two varieties of apples, apricots, figs, grapes, nectarines, two varieties of peaches, plums, and watermelons. Chillies hold a place of pride in Gavin’s garden, and he has five varieties, including the fiery scotch bonnets and potent jalapenos. Off the top of his head, he gave me annual harvest estimates of 300 pumpkins and 500kg of onions! The harvest is sold to the local community from Gavin’s home, through local corner shop merchants, and to the local restaurant. There are no indigenous species on the farm, but Gavin is open to growing some provided information on what to grow and how to grow it. I was delighted to pick a basketful bounty of fresh vegetables for us.

Karoo delight

We returned a day later scouting for the remaining 27 respondents, and were successful in finding households in the township at Loxton. Like their neighbours in the slightly more urban Carnarvon, a considerable number of households ate sheep meat, and very few had food growing in their yards. There were some stark sights, however, such as the biggest prickly pear (Opuntia) plant I’ve ever seen, towering to about seven feet bearing almost ripe fruit, which passers-by picked freely; and tin houses on the very edge of the settlement with no water or electrical supply that were brightly decorated and chock-full of pumpkins and young fruit trees. I also remember a distinguished-looking lady sitting beside the giant prickly pear who interrupted her congregation with some young men to invite me to interview her (in their presence), and telling me all throughout that I was very mooi (beautiful in Afrikaans); and a rather enthusiastic gogo (grandmother) who lived alone in a large dilapidated house and insisted on answering my questions despite being busy with some rushed cooking. The warmth and resilience of the people shone through in Loxton.

Home garden in Loxton

Garden home in Loxton

The Karoo produces significant amounts of sheep and goat wool (including decadent mohair), and onions and garlic. The landscape is stunning, almost otherworldly, with its vast plateau stretching out beyond the horizon, with dolomite koppies (flat-topped sill hills) rising now and then. Driving through on the empty roads, one can spot the odd windpump, a flock of grazing sheep, some quiet antelopes. One morning, there was a lone bold blesbok drinking water close to the road, and a sharp Verreaux’s eagle gliding above, seemingly having caught sight of prey below. Another evening, I stood parked alone by the roadside in the still orange sunset, watching the grasses stand out amidst the grey scrub. And suddenly, a herd of springbok charged off in the distance, raising a dust cloud. My eyes followed the herd for a while as they chased across the flat and up a hill further away. The sun crossed the hill, its shadow creeping steadily upon the land and toward me. The peace and the pace of the Karoo is meditative, therapeutic. The land seems to speak of an ancient time when life was sparse. The sheer spaciousness of the Karoo inspires awe. 

Ficksated

Tapping in data for the last household at the second site, I looked at the time: 1923h, seven minutes before the kitchen closed. I rushed up the little spiral staircase to the restaurant, and requested a ravioli in burnt butter and sage. The gentleman behind the counter looked a little surprised as he took my order, “How do you know what’s on the menu?” I told him I’d been there for lunch, and after exchanging quick introductions, Gavin, one of the owners of the restaurant, invited me to his garden the following day. Café Chocolat is a quaint restaurant situated in Ficksburg (South Africa) that serves local ethically sourced food. It gets most of its supplies from Ficksburg farms and gardens. I was lucky to get a close look at two of these gardens: Gavin’s and Sandra’s.

Baby spinach in Gavin's garden

Gavin grows a lot of food in his home garden, which is designed around the principles of permaculture. For the uninitiated, permaculture is a philosophy, a way of life based on optimising resource use in harmony with the surroundings; in food production, this could mean growing a variety of species adapted to and interacting favourably with the local ecosystem, with minimal external input. For example, Gavin uses raised beds with compost and mulch topped with trellises under tarp tunnels. Raised beds allow for better soil drainage and health, compost cycles nutrients within the production system, and mulching uses slow-decaying matter to contain and control moisture naturally. Trellises support plants to grow and fruit over a wider and more accessible area, and the tarp provides shade from extreme weather conditions such as the cloudburst the previous day.

Raised beds, trellises, and the tunnel. Some herbs also hang from the ceiling.

So Gavin grows apples, figs, grapes, lemons, limes, peaches, and plums; beans, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, tomatoes; fennel, garlic chives, lettuce, parsley, sage, spinach, spring onions; and chickens. He’s been growing food in his garden for five years now. In addition to his own kitchen, the fruits, vegetables, herbs, and chickens contribute to the Café Chocolat kitchen. He sells his excess lettuce – about 15 bags a week – to a franchise food outlet for a small sum. The chickens lay 15-20 eggs a day, which he also sells excess of. Chicken waste enriches the compost with nitrogen, and some of this is sold when people request it.

Chickens lay eggs and their droppings enrich the compost

Fruit trees accompanied by flowering plants attract bees into the tunnels for pollination. A little pond harbours frogs to control snails. Potatoes plants are grown in sacks so when the potatoes are ready, one can simply rip the bag open (as opposed to digging). What one might call farming hacks. “You have two mothers: your own, and the earth. If you don’t look after them, then there’s trouble” says Gavin. He is a firm believer in recycling and upcycling, and this is reflected in the restaurant’s waste segregation practices. Waste organic matter (including food) is composted, and waste recyclables are collected until a pickup can be requested. Indeed it is a great feeling to know that your food is local, free of heavy duty fertilizer and pesticide, and is easy on the environment. I was thrilled that my pesto was made with basil fresh off the stem.

L: Savoury pancake with local asparagus, spinach, and tomato; R: Spaghetti in fresh basil pesto

Sandra owns the premises out of which Café Chocolat operates. She also owns the Green Acorn bed and breakfast and Die Blikplek, a scrap metal workshop, on her premises. Her garden features profusions of leafy vegetables and herbs on raised beds surrounded by fruit trees. Besides the oaks that shed their acorns with loud (often bouncing) pops, the bed and breakfast and workshop are also dotted with fruit trees which were laden with ripe fruit during my stay. The workshop has two rows of tin sheds decked with upcycled scrap metal ranging from trinkets to furniture.

Pumpkin and cabbage in Sandra's garden

The Green Acorn, Café Chocolat, and Die Blikplek are quite an experience, but Ficksburg also has great views of the mountains in Lesotho rising over the grasslands, and a cherry festival in November. In my survey of Ficksburg, most households had a peach tree, and some had gorgeous little food forests in their yards.

Working with sea turtles in India

February 2015 was a poignant time. I joined the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore as an intern. The sea turtle project at Dr Kartik Shanker's lab runs in collaboration with the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust and Dakshin Foundation among others. For a Skype interview with Dr Shanker and Muralidharan, I was draped in a sari (having just returned from my friend’s wedding). On my first day at work, I found out that this had intimidated them as their sartorial choice tends towards the practical shorts and shirt. I spent my first few days on the job learning about the project, and made this poster:

Original size poster here

I also sought accommodation closer to work to save me 36km and some hours on buses between south and north Bangalore. By the time I found a decent place 10 minutes away, I was to leave for our field station in Odisha to help out with the arribada – the annual mass nesting of olive ridley sea turtles.

Rushikonda, Vizag at dawn

In the next two days, I was off to Ganjam, first on a plane and then on a train. I arrived at the field station around 10pm and was whisked away to witness the bonanza. The week was spent in nocturnal frenzy, counting all things turtle and trying hard to sleep in the day. It was magical! More here. After the nesting was over, Nupur, a research assistant and I went to Visakhapatnam to organize the annual Turtle Action Group workshop. It struck me as a big responsibility and I wanted to validate this entrustment. The workshop went smoothly and I made many new contacts working on coastal conservation. Good fortune (and goodwill) took me back to Visakhapatnam two weeks later as a representative for the Turtle Action Group at the Government of India-UNDP workshop on addressing sea turtle mortality. All the eminent folk involved in coastal conservation were present. It was one very insightful experience that also served to mould my aspirations to an extent. I thank KS for this opportunity.

Rushikonda, Vizag at midday

All this was between working on the website (seaturtlesofindia.org), a bibliography of sea turtle literature and administrative tasks. In June, we started dissecting turtle hatchling samples. Those dissection skills I had enthusiastically accrued over the past five years were jubilantly put to use. We had individually and collectively questioned the nature of these dissections – they felt so necessary and practical, yet would we ever actually use these methods? With our professors explaining that the cockroaches and mice were pests, the earthworms and snails were abundantly cultured and the fish were market surplus, we had concluded that it was simply ideal practice in our learning pathway. And here I was, harvesting immature gonads to determine the sex ratio of the emergent population. The turtle hatchlings dissected are the ones found dead on the beach due to natural mortality (survival rate is 2-5% per nest). Turtles take 10-30 years to mature and even adults do not show distinct sexual dimorphism, so one has to practically cut open a dead turtle/endoscope a live one to figure out the sex.

A couple of samples per nest are collected every year. These are meticulously labeled from the dead hatchling to the slide under the microscope. One has to harvest the gonads of every hatchling, take a tissue sample, process it, embed and section it, stain and fix it and identify the sex under the microscope by looking at the oviducts/semeniferous tubules. Why is this useful? Because looking at the sex ratio every year over a long period will tell us if climate change is affecting the population. The sex of hatchlings is determined by the environmental temperature (warmer=females). After over a month of furious lab work, sexing was complete.

This was around the time my funding took priority and I’d frequently abscond from the workplace but work from home on the annual project report. Shuttling frenetically between banks, cities and interviews was all part of the process and thankfully I was afforded the luxury of flexible work. Kartik Shanker gave me his book to proofread, which was a delight! By the end of my tenure I’d met some really awesome colleagues that inspired me!!

All the Ms (l-r): Meera, Mahima, Madhavi, Murali, Marianne, Madhuri, me

The book, and KS's kind kind words

Pictures: My mother

Arribada!

The coast appeared from under the clouds on the horizon rather abruptly. The waves were but thin white lines on the narrow shore. As the plane descended over the Bay of Bengal, the blue ocean began to get a texture. And just as it began landing in Vizag, I could see sprays spontaneously dotting the deep. All this before I had even arrived in Ganjam, Odisha to witness the mass nesting of olive ridley turtles!

Of the seven surviving species of sea turtles, only two - the olive ridley and the Kemp’s ridley - display this behaviour of thousands of adult females laying eggs in very close proximity and simultaneously. Sea turtles come to land only to lay eggs, the hatchlings of which will swim back into the sea. Males never return to land, but females do every few years, just for a night or two, to nest. With the ridleys, at some sites, the females come ashore in large numbers every season in an event called the ‘arribada’ (Spanish for arrival). In Sanskṛt, that would be Aagaman.

A turtle arriving at dawn

As soon as I arrived that night, I dashed off to the beach. The waves were erupting in bioluminescence, courtesy the light producing microbes riding on them. As we walked toward the main beach, turtles were crawling around in dozens and more were emerging from the sea. Many were frantically looking for spots to dig nests; some were lying around as though defeated from the enormous effort of carrying hundreds of eggs inland (for all I know, it was quiet contemplation). The air was filled with a seaweed-y scent.

Nupur and Murali, researchers at Dakshin Foundation, told me what to look out for with the turtles as we walked. The crowd swelled to the extent that we had to dodge turtles as they scurried by or lay buried, at every step. They were certainly not bothered about walking into one another or anything else. Soon, the beach was full of heavy breathing, busy turtles spraying sand around, some beating down their sealed nests. This had to be the largest gathering of animals that I’d ever seen (except perhaps ants) and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon. And yet more kept emerging from the water, shells glistening in the moonlight. Their carapaces loaded with bioluminescent microbes while still wet. Running fingers down their back ignited glowing trails - talk about magic.

Turtle tracks on the beach

The nesting females take their own sweet time finding a spot - barging into several others in the process - and digging a flask shaped nest. As often as they abandon a nest halfway, they manage to dig out a nest already made by another. As a result, eggs in various degrees of squish lie around. These are literally the shape, size and firmness of ping-pong balls – they even bounce! The female turtle gets into an inclined position over her nest and commences laying. They often go into a glazed-eyed, still trance, some eventually buried under sand from neighbouring diggers.

A dozen humans were walking around the beach counting turtles and visually documenting them. Our team was conducting transects in some sectors, counting the number of egg-laying turtles only (not digging, crawling, covering), every hour. Over the next few days, we happily gave up on sound sleep to count turtles all night long. We’d also take shell measurements, and some of us even tracked the egg-laying. It involves making a small window in the nest once the mother settles in and recording the start and end time, counting every egg as she lays it.

Egg laying

In time, the lady finishes laying the clutch and covers it with sand, tamping it down with a meticulous flipper-waving, chest-thumping ritual. The compacted nest is then covered with loose sand, made to look rather uninteresting, and then the turtles return to the water. Although most of the activity is concentrated in the dark hours, turtles were still coming ashore at dawn.

The hatchlings will likely emerge in about 45 days and swim frantically back into the ocean. Not all eggs hatch, and only a few of the hundreds of hatchlings actually make it to the ocean. Many are preyed upon by birds, crabs, dogs and so on. Why the ridleys choose to nest this way and what triggers the simultaneous congregation has not been entirely deciphered yet. What is certain is that for these creatures, the strength is in sheer numbers that swamp their predators. The survival of the handful is the all a consequence of turtle teamwork.

Covering the nest

Magnificent is a small word to describe this phenomenon, but I imagine you get my drift.

Heading back into the ocean

Bloodbath...

Mosquitoes-that menace we live with! Speaking for myself, I am not too troubled by these voracious bloodsuckers. But I've come to realize that I am one of the more fortunate that are not attractive to mosquitoes. People with warm bodies are mosquito magnets even in relatively mosquito free places. It is heart-breaking to experience such folk struggling to survive evenings.

In the recent past, I have had a considerable number of spontaneous evening discussions on this subject. The people involved were mostly urban folk, some travellers from outside of my country. The talks threw up some interesting revelations. However, before we go there, I must admit, such a conversation with rural Indian folk would certainly be an eye opener. Would they be resigned to sharing space with mosquitoes? Would they explain their existence and purpose with folklore and mythology?

 The fundamental question has always been "Why do mosquitoes exist? What purpose do they serve?" Answers, or attempts at the same, were trivial, tragic, but mostly entertaining.

·         One person proposed that mosquitoes were created to help humans progress. They were meant to make us aware of our potential, realize that we must develop; rise from being animals to create clean, safe, comfortable spaces for ourselves.

·         Another believed that they were made to keep us alert of our surroundings, to keep us thinking of everyone's purpose on the planet.

·         One said they're only here to spread diseases. Another said they serve as food for fish and amphibians.

·         Most firmly believe that they do not deserve to exist.

·         One gentle mind suggested that they be genetically modified to not drink human blood, or better still, to not feed on blood at all.

What I enjoy about these conversations is that eventually we get to talk about ecology and population. Mosquitoes, being vectors, do serve the purpose of carrying a plethora of bacteria and viruses; transferring them from one host to another, helping them complete their life cycles and propagate and thrive. Besides, they are food for fishes and lizards and frogs. One simply cannot ignore the role they play - their ecological niche. Then comes the population issue. To me, mosquitoes are just one of the many other things around us that remind us of our responsibility as cohabitants of the planet. Inordinate mosquito breeding occurs in the vicinity of human population, especially unorganized areas. When a neighbourhood is kept clean, well spaced-out and orderly, mosquitoes definitely do not breed with the same intensity as they do otherwise. This is the case with most animals we choose to label as pests. With our livestock and grain hoarding habits, how can we destroy natural habitats and expect animals not to come in search of food and shelter?

Another question that plagued some is: What do bloodsuckers feed on in forests with very few mammals? So some of us did a little thought experiment. My proposal was that bloodsuckers, like most non-herbivores, didn’t need to feed very often, and didn’t live very long as adults anyway. Just as many moths spend most of their lives as caterpillars feeding on leaves, bloodsuckers probably spent most of their lives as larvae (feeding on algae and microbes). How could this be proved? Well, it was fairly simple they said: collect the bloodsuckers from the forest, create forest-like conditions in a laboratory, and then observe them there.

So much for science! All I had to do was google, and then laugh at myself. While I was right about sanguivores not feeding often and mosquitoes not living very long, bloodsuckers do feed as adults, and on a lot other than just blood. Male mosquitoes spend equal amounts of time (about 5 days each) as larvae and adults, while females live for up to a month. Both of them feed on nectar and sugary plant liquids for energy. As we all know, only females need the blood for their eggs (that too, not always). Furthermore, most mosquitoes are not particular about the kind of blood they drink either (cold reptilian or warm mammalian). It’s the protein they crave.

Of course, human endeavours to solve the mosquito problem have been many, and they range from amusing to abusive. Planting herbs, shrubs and trees in the area, spraying the premises with aromatic decoctions; burning incense, neem, chillies; ointments, coils, mats, liquids and buzzers to repel them. Moving on to fumigation of neighbourhoods, light traps, electrocution devices; even going so far as considering spaying of male mosquitoes! For a stoic like me, mosquitoes are a necessary evil we live with, and all those guesses hazarded about why mosquitoes exist are valid. The best we can do is to keep clean and choose our measures sensibly. It is easy to wreak violence on the unaware. But peaceful methods work much better in the longer run.

Here are some interesting links:

·         http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-do-mosquitoes-bite-some-people-more-than-others-10255934/?no-ist=

·         https://richarddawkins.net/2014/11/scientists-have-identified-the-gene-that-makes-mosquitoes-crave-human-blood/

·         Fungus Fatal to Mosquito May Aid Global War on Malaria: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/10/science/10mosquito.html?_r=0

·         Bloodfeeding! http://research.amnh.org/~siddall/bloodfeed.html

Speaking of bloodsuckers, I cannot help but bring up leeches. The question of what they feed on in the forest was originally intended for those surreptitious creepers. Well, most species are not fussy about their food and often swallow invertebrates (slugs, insects) whole. They feed on blood from amphibians and reptiles as well. Again, it’s the protein that counts. Next time I’m in leech country, aside from the delightful incessantly bleeding bites, I will look out for them preying on invertebrates!

Rainforest!

Research in the rainforest had long been a tantalizing proposition for me. Rumbling down the jeep track on that first foggy morning, I was full of excitement for the days to follow, and sheer joy for being in a rainforest. As luck would have it, Paromita, a sprightly co-volunteer, showed me around the research station. I was awestruck by the beauty of the place, its pools and streams and dense forest. There are two resident Malabar Pit Vipers, countless little geckos and nocturnal visitors – scorpions - that warrant a thorough shoe check every morning. Large Brahminy skinks chase one another, and occasionally little snakes, on the leaf litter. A little white macaque skull sits with an old grey bovine one at the entrance.

ARRS is located on a small erstwhile plantation of areca nut and paddy, surrounded by forest. Kalinga Mane (Kannada for Home of the King Cobra) houses the neat and very comfortable dormitory, kitchen and open dining area. The office is one of the classiest I have seen, with traditional carved columns and doors, and a great view. The adjoining library is compact and cosy and contains a diverse collection of journals, magazines, encyclopaedias, field guides and even fiction. There are three lovely cottages on the premises at strategic locations.

One of the resident Malabar Pit Vipers

My work as a volunteer here was to collect data on dragonflies. We were observing their activity throughout the day at a little pool in the paddy field. This meant that we often heard and saw birds and even the Malabar Giant Squirrel at close quarters! Paromita and I would quietly stalk the species of our interest, swoop down on them with an insect net, gently mark their wingtips with colour codes and release them. We tracked their hunting flights and rather aggressive territorial chases and ended up basking in the sun with them all day. Some very interesting and heartening discussions would ensue during these hours.

Just a casual walk around the place could mean encountering at least a dozen species. Look down and you will find ants (procession ants, jumping ants, golden-backed ants, weaver ants and so on), slugs, snakes, scorpions, tracks and droppings (of boars, cattle, deer, leopards, civets to name a few). Look up in the trees and you will find birds, frogs (bush frogs, gliding frogs, etc), lizards (Calotes and Dracos) and mammals (giant squirrels, gliding squirrels, slender loris, civets). And it is equally important to look straight ahead as there are many spiders of all sizes, shapes and colours (funnel spiders, wood spiders, giant wood spiders, jumping spiders and many more) in their elaborate webs.

Procession ants carrying their 'crabby' prey

Mornings are often begun with the enchanting song of the endemic Malabar Whistling Thrush that likes to perch on the dormitory roof. Woodpeckers are especially active in the mornings, and the reverberations of hollow tree trunks being hammered can deceive one into thinking that these birds are quite large. They are in fact flamboyant little things that deftly maintain minimum visibility despite being right before or above you or swiftly changing trees. The Racket-tailed Drongos are unabashed in their playful banter, sometimes making startlingly complex combinations of screeches and whistles. Yellow-browed Bulbuls, another endemic species abound here, often flocking with different birds to make a collective effort at disturbing and thus seeking out insects. Giant Squirrels can get quite loud and White-bellied Treepies dominate the soundscape with what Joris, another co-volunteer, described as computer game sounds. The Malabar Grey Hornbill takes the cake, though. Its signature cackling calls would always crack us up and reiterate the importance of laughter.

The station is run mainly on solar power. By day, skylights in the traditional tiled roofs allow bright diffused sunlight to bathe the indoors. The bathrooms provide the luxury of hot water, a by-product of cooking. Evenings are illuminated by LED lamps, but more so by conversations over dinner. Some nights we would watch superb documentaries – not only published ones, but also some awesome footage recorded by researchers during the King Cobra Telemetry Project and an ongoing study on Yellow Wattled Lapwings.

Outside the office

Ajay Giri is the resident snake rescuer. He is often summoned even in distant villages when the situation is too tricky or the snake too risky for local rescuers. Witnessing four King Cobra rescues and two Spectacled Cobra rescues left me in wide-eyed wonder! The snakes are found in small tanks and wells, attics, sheds, even in living rooms, on gates, and trees. Ajay records the GPS coordinates, location and time of capture and release as well as the situation of the snake confrontation. The vital statistics of the snake are recorded too! The composed manner in which Ajay handles the snake and the situation is admirable and insightful, and so is the interaction that follows the rescue. The villagers talk to him about all kinds of wildlife, conflict, risks and habitats and he hands out informative leaflets to them. A joint decision is made on where the snake should be relocated and the site owner, often accompanied by neighbours, witnesses the release in a forest in the proximity.

Dhiraj Bhaisare, the research administrator is a treasure trove of knowledge. Walking with him around the area gave us much to appreciate. He showed us India’s smallest (Oriental Grass Jewel) and largest (Southern Birdwing) butterflies, the Hump-nosed Pit Viper we could have either missed or stepped on, and a beautiful Nilgiri Forest Lizard that we may not have otherwise identified, all on one walk. He also has detailed answers to practically all kinds of questions and casually drops thought-provoking questions and ideas around.

Ramprasad Rao is an amphibian and ichthyofauna researcher. He was kind enough to take us to the serene Jogi Gundi falls and the spectacular Onaki Abbe falls. Walking through the forest, he gave us bytes on trees, geckos, frogs, fish and scat, and very convincingly mimicked some bird calls. The Malabar Whistling Thrush began to sing with him! He also took us to the forest to extract a wild bee colony one morning. I was delighted to see him gently cup handfuls of bees out of a tree hollow and into the bee box. After much persuasion on my part and concerned hesitation on his, I finally tried it myself. It was a great feeling, fuzzy buzzing bees all over my hands! He also showed us jumping frogs, torrent frog tadpoles, skittering frogs, and allowed us to record their body measurements for his morphometry project. This awesome threesome is the soul of the research station. Keeping the station well-maintained is a local staff including the cook Nagaraj who never fails to please with hot nutritious and flavourful meals.

View from Onaki Abbe falls

There is a pair of camera traps in the forest, one recording video clips and another taking pictures. Going through the records, we saw many deer, a group of ten wild boars, quite some cattle and of course humans including us captured on camera. One of the mornings, a leopard walked down the path around 11am. At 4pm that day, we went down the very same path; we returned though, and the leopard didn’t. As though that wasn’t thrill enough, we used to go out every single night with torches. Occasionally we’d carry a UV light too, to spot the fluorescent green scorpions emerging from their burrows in the pitch dark night. We spotted frogs, snakes, slugs and the Malabar Gliding Squirrel a couple of times. The Slender Loris was often heard but seldom seen. We were absolutely thrilled to find Sri Lanka Frogmouths with the help of recorded calls. However we couldn’t come up with a suitable study design for them. Either way, we made the most of it by gazing at the tremendously clear star-strewn sky every night.

A monthly phenomenon, the light trap set up by Deepak, JRF at NCBS, is a sight to behold. A simple square cloth enclosure open to sky, it attracts moths of at least 30 different species (yes, I counted) between 9pm and 3am (those are the work hours). The first to arrive are pearly white beauties, some with heavy gold and silver designs adorning their wings. They literally look like jewels. As the night progresses, an array of moths convene on the walls, turning them into works of living biological art. The iridescence, camouflage, patterns, and above all, the astounding variety is awe-inspiring. Naturally, it also is a feast for frogs and lizards. Hawk moths are the group of interest here, and Deepak collects specimens and records every new species encountered to add to the list of moths of the Western Ghats.

A stream in the forest

Fortunate as I am, Romulus Whitaker visited along with Zai and Nikhil Whitaker and Dr. Gowri Mallapur while I was volunteering. Cheerful, charming and very friendly, he spoke to us about our experiences and shared his own. He is widely known and respected for his herpetology and conservation initiatives; I later also found out that he has done a lot more than that! Joris and I undertook a small survey on the habitat occupancy of the grassland around the station. The lapwings had begun to arrive from places within a 100km radius to pair and nest in the grassland. The environment was very charged and I learned a lot of things in my nineteen days at the station. Now I sit with my laptop, sifting through the collected data looking for trends and patterns. This was a life-building experience, and I aspire to return to ARRS and contribute some good research.

On the current situation of rape in India

The scene is tense over the shocking rise in reported rapes from across the country. It is almost as if every case instigates two more. As a concerned citizen and a fortunate female, I am inclined to analyse where we as a society are going wrong. What justice is to be meted out to rapists, I do not intend to discuss, but what I do see is an urgent need for change, and that is what this article is about. I have tried to put forth a logical opinion, and your comments are more than welcome.

The ghastly accounts of these incidences make one cringe. As a girl it is terrifying to deal with the abomination: female foeticide on the one hand, rape on the other. Where does this misogyny stem from? The causes of rape can be explained in much depth and detail, but here is a short list:

·         Domination :- as a vent for aggression, oppression, tension due to socio-economic instability

·         Deprivation :- not only sexual, but even simply a healthy relationship

·         Desensitization :- lack of consequence, exposure to titillation

·         Deviation :- paedophilia, perversion, sadism as a result of monotony or lack of occupation

Domination is the most obvious cause, so I can safely assume it is understood. Deviation is increasingly being brought to the fore in more ways than one, the British crackdown on paedophiles being the most recent example. That is an issue I’ve chosen to deal with in another article.

Deprivation is commonly perceived as unfulfilled sexual desire. However in our society, I would say we deprive our children and youth of a healthy male-female bond. Gender roles almost always override personality and a discrete partition is maintained between boys and girls. Even before they hit puberty, boys need to assert themselves. They seek approval of everyone in general, and the one social section that denies them just that is girls. To the extent that it is natural, it is healthy in the view of natural selection. But when we bring up girls to fear and dislike males, we start a problem. Girls are expected to play with girls, grow up learning to cook and clean and care for the household; as women they are expected to respect and serve the males in the house unconditionally. As females they are forced to be insecure in the presence of males of any kind. A girl mingling with boys is unacceptable. At this rate, what love do we aspire to foster between the two?

Desensitization is a major contributing factor to the general social decadence. It is worrisome how numb we have become to the shock-and-awe tactics of the capitalist market and media. Gruesome violence and deliberate unnatural titillation has become mundane for the average Indian. You don’t have to hide your pornography anymore; why, television and ad agencies are more than happy to shove it in your face. Even toothpaste is sold by sexy vixens. Moreover, the lack of consequence lowers the risk attached to the undertaking. This is a three way incentive (for the lack of a better word) – the man stands to lose nothing, the woman tends to choose silence over stigma and the law and order keep running in circles over technicalities.

Why is rape such a big issue? It is both necessary and disheartening that such a fundamental question be asked. Necessary as it brings up questions and debates of various kinds of violations and disheartening because as already mentioned, we have lost our sense of identity and sold our integrity to capitalism. This might be a big accusation to make, but I have elaborated.

The world faces some pressing problems today – genocide, communal violence and oppression, terrorism to talk of human rights, and energy crisis, pollution, wildlife depletion in terms of the planet. Is rape really that grave a crime or is it media sensationalism? Well, it is entirely true that we need to take stock of our actions: we are violating the planet by misusing and over extracting its resources; violating our fellow organisms by destroying their habitats; violating our own kind by encroaching on their territory in the name of politics and religion. And now we question if something as basic as violating our own female counterparts is really that bad. I would say that is where it all begins. Nations can go to war over resources, people can go to war over religions. But a woman’s body is her own, she has but one body and one life to live in it. If she and others around her cannot learn to respect that, our hopes of solving our bigger problems are defeated. If men and women cannot prevent rape out of mutual understanding, how can we aspire to end larger violations and achieve world peace?

So as a statistic, more cases are reported from New York than New Delhi. South Africa, crime capital of the world, has the highest rate of 114.9 rapes per 100,000 people. Contrast this with 1.8 per 100,000 in India. Why are we making raising such a hue and cry? Firstly, nothing justifies rape – no statistic, cultural, comparative or moral reasoning can make it acceptable. Secondly, if you have to compare, let us look at the literacy and poverty rates of the two nations. South Africa has a female literacy rate of 92.2% while India stands at 65.5%. 31.33% of South Africans live under the international poverty line whereas 68.72% of Indians fall into that category. Naturally, these two social conditions prove to be barriers in public awareness. Not only do much fewer rapes get reported in India, much fewer people realise that rape is a crime! Meanwhile, the nightlife and drug abuse in India pale in comparison to that of New York or Johannesburg for that matter. Girls and young women are free to dress and behave according to their will, drink and stay out late. Rape is not the end of life, as females are allowed to make choices and take responsibility for their actions. In India, where premarital sex is a big deal, rape will certainly make headlines, especially knowing how protective we are of our daughters.

That brings me to the astounding double standards we Indians live by. Girls have to cover up to avoid arousing boys. They have to return home early for their own safety. They need parental consent to stay out of hostels while boys can turn up next morning and not bother to answer as to their whereabouts. They are strictly denied permission to conduct field surveys on nocturnal creatures whereas their male counterparts can go romancing the night. What message are we sending out to our generations? That it is absolutely alright for men to have their way-be it studying bats or drunk fights; women, however, are expected to vacate the scene, and they may rebel to their own peril. That it is justified for a boy to view a girl as meat, but the best she can do to avoid dire consequences is wear clothes that cover most of her. Pray what are we doing here?! Instigating men to be lustful and then ensuring women deny them the very things they crave!

Therefore, a man must assert his manhood, and a woman must steer clear of men and hide any signs of her sexuality. A man is expected to build character, career and even clout, while a woman is expected to give up her sense of self for the family and household. Males essentially possess ego and females essentially lack self-esteem. A young man who can court many girls is a player, a stud; a promiscuous girl, though, is labelled by her own peers as a bitch, a slut. The media is full of irrelevant female bodies in suggestive attire and positions (advertisements, item numbers, you name it), but a college girl in shorts is sent home as “she is attracting bad male attention and disrespecting Indian culture”. The cherry on top of it all is India, the world’s largest growing population, a burgeoning 60% of it in the reproductive bracket, is not at all enthusiastic about discussing sex with its youngsters.

This highly disturbing dichotomy is bound to have consequences. The great chasm created by global commercialism and cultural regression (don’t even bother to call it orthodox or conservative) leaves young minds confused and frustrated. We are feeding them with ideas of over sexed females audio visually, and surrounding them in reality with the exact opposite kind. Is it surprising then that they resort to acts of aggression? Some say legalising prostitution may help ease the tension. That is a rather thoughtless solution in my opinion. Rape is not merely an act of sexual release, and prostitution is not a small industry. Those who believe this will work are in favour of paying to rape prostitutes. Besides, it is proven time and again that rape does not need a time or provocation from the victim-it is an act of desperate impulse. If we cannot build a society where males and females can consensually engage in sexual activity, we are a rapidly multiplying failure.

The final question I’d like to deal with is this: What can we do to curb this spate? And my opinion is that we desperately need to bring up our children better.

Bring up the boys to respect girls and women as equals. Teach them to share responsibility of all kinds, regardless of gender. Sensitize them to the exclusivity of sex and the sanctity of the body. Allow them to develop healthy relationships with females of all ages.

Bring up the girls to respect themselves and accept their sexuality. Violation of any kind is not acceptable, and one is the only protector of one’s own body. Teach them to defend themselves-6% more muscle and a penis do not make a man invincible. Allow them gain perspective and take responsibility. Naturally, the more openly you guard your treasure, the more curiosity, greed and jealousy you breed. Allow them to develop healthy relationships with males.

We really need to check what we let ourselves be subjected to. Do we need pseudo nymphs to sell us clothes, fruit juice and movies? Does a well rendered political drama need moaning groaning faceless women to be humiliated in every episode? Is a woman only the sum of her bodily assets? Not only do we need to shield our children from these disgusting trends, but we also need to question our integrity when we choose to witness these everyday deviations and allow them to pass. The more forbidden a fruit, the more tempting its allure. We simply cannot afford to hide about sex; it is as essential a bodily function as eating and excreting. A dialog needs to be opened up between the experienced and the inexperienced in this regard.

I am neither a parent nor an experienced adult. I am, however, an observer, and the situation has shattered my peace of mind to an extent. Many thanks to the various people who discussed this issue with me and gave me much to think and write about. A fruitful discussion always ensues with varying opinions, and hence I welcome all kinds of views. Thank you for reading.