Jungle is so nice….

I think that I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earths sweet flowing breast
A tree looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray
Poems are made by fools like me
But only God can make a tree
— Joyce Kilmer

Recently I visited Dajipur Wild Life Century near Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India! I am a member of WWF India and it was a nature awareness camp arranged by them. Though the facilities provided by Government of Maharashtra were not up to the mark , it was a great experience.

I realized that jungle is just not about animals. Birds sighting, animal sighting is just a small part of jungle trail which might happen or not. But there are many other reasons to visit jungle. The cool breeze in the morning, sounds of different birds, insects, droppings of animals (Yes!), pug marks showing animal existence…. All these things make jungle trails a cool experience.

I realized how nature works in cooperation. How everything is dependent on everything else. We have been told not to displace even a stick. A small stick lying on the ground is also contributing to life at that place. So many ants, decomposing agents are dependent on that stick. The stick might be part of food to the nearby tree…. Its all so amazing! I am not getting enough words to express it.

We usually walked about 10-15 kilometers everyday, but we hardly got tired. I think it generally happens in pollution free environment like this. But for people like me, staying in cities, it was one of the rare experiences.

There were 2-3 professors of Zoology, Botany in the group. So the trails used to be technical (rather biological). The use of jargons and Latin names for plants, leaves, birds, animals was a normal thing in trails. These guys don’t say “Leopard”, they say “Panthera Pardus“. It gets boring sometimes for a person like me who can hardly identify 5-6 birds and 5-6 trees by name.

I like to feel jungle. To be with nature, being natural, away from cell phones and computers and Internet. I don’t know if I liked this trip because it was small and a sort of refreshment. I don’t know what will happen if I need to stay at such a place for a long time. But one thing is sure that it was boring returning to city, back to work. Its so Unnatural!

(Photo Courtesy :My friend Aditya Bapat)