Footprints on the Mountainside

The New Year is almost here, and the greeating cards with best wishes are flooding in. Just today, I received some 34 greeting cards. Many of them were from people I don’t even remember. I doubt if I am going to read them all - ever. Perhaps some of the really interesting ones, I might read.

If this is the state of my cards, what is happening around the world? How many trees have died, for cards, no one even bothers to read?

I rarely use paper for my work. And when I do, I use both sides, most of the time. It not only keeps the number of papers more controllable in terms of storage, but also helps me be more organised with a computer, leading to an efficient information storing and recovery method, which ends up saving a lot of time and effort for me.

Raka is also very particular about being careful with resources, and we often collect the clean plastic bags we have and return them to shops so that they can be reused.

I am sure we make a difference - however small. What if the many of us could actively involve ourselves into making tiny changes in our habits, to create a massive positive influence on our planet?

With this in mind, I went to the WWF website and got this information to share with the readers here, so that anyone interested, knows exactly what they can do and can begin, without further ado.

I’m not inviting anyone. It is your planet as much as mine.

Save Wood and Paper Return unwanted mail and ask for your name to be removed from the mailing list. Always use both sides of a sheet of paper. Use e-mail to stay in touch, including cards, rather than faxing or writing. Re-use envelopes. Always recycle paper after use. Share magazines with friends and pass them on to the doctor, dentist or local hospital for their waiting rooms. Use recyclable paper to make invitation cards, envelops, letter pads etc.

During Holidays Go on holiday during the off-peak period to prevent over straining resources - you’ll also avoid the crowds. Find out about your destination before you go on holiday - it may be an environmentally sensitive area. Doing this will also ensure you are informed of what to see and any local customs. Find out about places before you visit. You may be visiting a environmentally sensitive area, in which case you must take extra care to stay on footpaths and follow signs. Don’t travel by air if you can avoid it because air travel uses up large amounts of fossil fuels and creates greenhouse gases. Avoid taking things on holiday that you will throw away. Dispose of any rubbish responsibly - it can be hazardous to wildlife. Ask your travel agent or tour operator what they are doing to be environmentally responsible. Use public transport, cycle or walk instead of using a car. Use facilities and trips run by local people whenever possible. Don’t be tempted to touch wildlife and disturb habitats whether on land, at the coast or under water. Be careful what you choose to bring home as a holiday souvenir. Many species from coral and conch shells to elephants and alligators are endangered because they are killed for curios or souvenirs. Don’t leave any rubbish at the beach - turtles are often killed by plastic bags they’ve mistaken for jellyfish and many items take years to degrade as well as being dangerous. Boats and jet-skis create noise and chemical pollution which is disturbing to wildlife - don’t keep the engine running unnecessarily.

© [date of material] WWF. Some rights reserved.

TOURISM MINISTRY PROMOTES INDIA AS A 365-DAY DESTINATION: The ministry of tourism in an effort to promote India as a 365-day destination launched three CDs on MICE, adventure sports and cruises. The ministry is showcasing India as a world-class MICE destination with many convention halls coming up in the line of Hyderabad International Conference Centre (HICC). The CDs also give details about all the adventure sports facilities available in the country and the many cruising options that are coming up.

TOURISM MINISTRY ISSUES GUIDELINES FOR ADVENTURE SPORTS: The ministry of tourism recently issued special guidelines for adventure sports activities in the country. The guidelines are regarding land activities like mountaineering and trekking; water sports like river running; and air sports like parasailing, paragliding and bungee jumping. The ministry has laid down the basic minimum standards for adventure tourism related activities that are undertaken in different parts of the country.

KERALA TOURISM TO REVIVE THE URU / ARAB DHOW: Kerala Tourism has plans to start URU cruises to replicate the spice route travel of the 16th century. The uru is a home made colossal sailing vessel made out of timber which used to ply the Indo Persian routes in times gone by. It is the Indian equivalent of the Arab Dhow. When launched they will operate on the Bekal - Cochin sector.

HELICOPTER TOURISM SERVICE IN KERALA: God’s Own Country Kerala will be luring tourists by launching a ”Helicopter tourism” service. Visitors will be taken from one tourist spot to the other in a seven-seater helicopter to save time and also discomfort on the roads. A nu mber of cost-effective packages have been designed in the helicopter tourism segment like ”Capital by Air”, ”Backwaters by Air”, ”Fly the Hills” and ”Shoreline Flights”. The ”Capital by air” offers sightseeing trips around Thiruvananthapuram. The backwater trip takes tourists around Kumarakom, while the ”Fly the hill” provides tourists a taste of the hill stations at Thekkady and Munnar. It will also touch Kochi and Kumarakom. The ”Shoreline” flights offer sightseeing to Kanyakumari along the picturesque coastline.

PALACE ON WHEELS ADDS SEVERAL LUXURIES: The second Palace on wheels to be launched in Rajasthan early next year will have a dance floor, a massage center, a conference room and bars. It will be the third tourist train to be operated by Rajasthan Tourism after Palace on Wheels and Heritage on Wheels (on the Shekhwati sector). The second Palace on wheels will also have special suites.

MEDICAL TOURISM BROCHURE RELEASED: The Ministry of Tourism is aggressively promoting India as a global healthcare destination and has recently released the ‘Incredible India Brochure on Medical Tourism’. The government has also started issuing M (medical) visas to the medical patients, and MX visas to the dependent accompanying them, which are valid for a year. Around 200000 medical tourists visited India last year, and the figure will grow by 50% this year.

GARIB RATHS (PLUSH TRAIN FOR POOR): The Indian Railways has introduced the ”Garib Raths”, a maiden scheme to provide plush rail services to the poor at affordable rates, and plans to link all state capitals with express trains, with the induction of 24-coach trains. The success of the Garib Raths, can already be seen in the rail operating between Saharsa (Bihar) and Amritsar (Punjab) which is a boon to the traveler especially during the festival season.

TRAIN TO KASHMIR HITS THE HIGHWAY: Ever heard of a train running on a road? It does in Jammu and Kashmir. Set to chug in Kashmir’s bewitching landscape in snowy February 2007, the first-ever trial train to Kashmir took off for the Valley on November 7, not on traditional tracks but on the 300 km-long Jammu-Srinagar national highway. It has added another chapter to the history of Indian Railways and Kashmir’s national rail project, as the first trial diesel mobile unit coach, a 36 tyre wheeled train pulled by a 460 HP engine, drove up the Jammu-Srinagar Highway at 0700 hrs and headed toward Kashmir’s Budgam railway station by taking a road route and not a train track.
JAIPUR TO SELL HERITAGE LIQUOR: Shops all over Rajasthan will sell heritage liquor, made from age old recipes of Rajasthan Royals. It is made from dry fruits, nuts, herbs and spices with a touch of saffron sometimes. To begin with, shops in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Bikaner, Ajmer, Udaipur and Bharatpur will sell the special liquor.
8000 DRUMMERS TO DRUM UP A RECORD IN MEGHALAYA: A band of 8000 drummers is set to break a record for 5 minutes of synchronized drum beats set by Hong Kong. The band will play a newly composed piece, “Positive Vibration” to enter the Guinness Book of World Records. The ensemble will play at Meghalaya’s autumn festival which expects to have entertainers from Australia as well.

GUJARATI EXPATS OWN 42% OF US HOTELS: In the 1970s the Patels moved in to buy motels in the US, so much so, these motels were often referred to as “Potels”. Some three and a half decades later the same Gujarati (mostly Patels) own 21,000 of the 53,000 hotels and motels in the US; a staggering 42% of the US hospitality market with a combined worth of $40 billion.
FAIRY QUEEN BEGINS DELHI-ALWAR-DELHI RUN FROM 11 NOVEMBER: Built in 1855, the Fairy Queen is the oldest steam engine in working condition. Every year it takes visitors on a Delhi-Alwar-Delhi trip. This year the schedule has been announced. It will ply twice a month (beginning 11 November) in November, December 2006 January and February 2007.

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I am not posting as frequently as I had imagined when I started this blog. I need to change that.

Currently, I’m working on a series of programmes for the students of the five ACESs (Atomic Energy Central School) for the children of the employees of the BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre) in association with Outdoor Education Training Services. They wanted to introduce outbound experiences among their children rather than the usual picnics to parks and predictable destinations.

For these programmes, OETS had already done a series of one-day programmes with an experience of rappelling and a nature trail for the 9th and 10th classes. When we decided to continue the series, we thought of replacing the nature trail (their complex is very green and has abundant wildlife) with something more “relevant”.

I had been toying with the idea of introducing experiential learning as a mode of development among schools for quite some time and had even done some programmes with schools and colleges, but this group was to be students from the 6th to the 8th classes, so I wanted to keep things from getting “too deep” while ensuring a productive experience as well.

So far, it seems to be going well. The students are enthusiastic and perceptive. What is even more interesting is the interactions with the teachers that accompany them. Experiential learning as a method to actively encourage development of thoughts and motivation among students was an unfamiliar concept, and they were used to didactic education or the learning through imparted information, rather than through personal discovery.

Our focus is “performance” considering that students today are under constant pressure to perform in all aspects of their lives. They feel stressed, but there is little choice beyond defining priorities and shouldering their responsibilities as well as they can. This only increases as they grow up.

I found it very encouraging that the students and teachers alike were very interested in the processes and activities, and discussions often spanned breaks, with new insights flowing. One teacher was pleasantly surprised to see her less-than-hardworking class discover the importance of practice through seeing the changes it brought to their performance in a game.

Another was encouraged to see that gender issues were addressed quite bluntly, when they hampered performance. The students were in the mode of exploring the secrets behind performance and the elements that helped or hindered. As she put it, “They don”t need to be completely comfortable, but at least they need to understand that barriers to communication between the sexes in class were not required, as there was nothing in their lives as students that they couldn’t share with others in the class” We seem to have made good progress on that front with some of the classes.

Another teacher insisted that teachers training programmes based on experiential learning would go a long way to empowering Indian teachers struggling to manage students from the new generation, as they sought the fine balances between discipline and opression; guidance and influence; and teacher and confidant.

At the moment, I’m taking each day as it comes, as each batch of students is different. But I see a new awareness among the students and teachers about learning itself. I hope this grows

Leaving for Pench today. Haven’t been there before. It is Wide Aware’s first Wildlife tour to this Tiger Reserve, and we are filled with apprehension and excitement. We have organized this tour at expense, as we have no experience of this region to be offering services. It is a nail-biting time as we wait for the train to arrive, and our journey to start.

Many thoughts cross my mind. Nervous “what if” ones as well as fanciful flights of my imagination. We want to see tigers the most, as it is supposed to be the highlight of this reserve, but we are also anticipating a fantastic time among trees, birds, wild dogs, herbivores like bison, deer… My hyperactive mind serially visualizes all available options including a boring trip with no sightings, people collapsing in the extreme heat of the region in this season, superb sightings, but getting lost in the jungles, a tiger attack, evenings of star gazing…. My mind knows no limits. I even found myself idly thinking about a campfire evening – The temperatures out there are going to be prime heat stroke material – campfire!!!??

This happens to me with every new tour I begin. My mind goes into an imagination expedition. All the years of experience and their accumulated wisdom are inapplicable to these fantasies, and I am free to be a completely ignorant child on these flights of fancy. However bizarre, it may sound, but the girl who has spent 12 years in the wilderness one way or the other still gets fits of nail-biting, particularly when on a new tour with clients.

We are well equipped with a camera, another camera, a third camera, binoculars, field reference guides, notebooks, small pouches we are planning to gift participants to put their rubbish in so as not to litter, a book on astronomy for the nights (I am a perpetual beginner, with my reliably forgetful memory), snacks for moments of hunger, a first-aid kit, and lots of things besides. A friend even joked that the only thing left out is a pack of diapers in case we see a tiger from really close.

So, I have vented my jitters, reviewed my preparations, and it is now time to leave for the much awaited tour. Bye folks, wish us luck. I should be back soon with tictures and an account of the trip, maybe backed by a short video or something.

Ta-ta!

I just got a call from a woman who had heard that we conduct wildlife tours to Pench. Her son had told her, and he absolutely wanted to go. He wouldn’t listen, and she called me up to find out more about what her son was so eager to get into.

Always eager to speak with parents encouraging their kids to an adventurous existence, I was at my warm and welcoming best in the beginning, but to my dismay, she didn’t really want to know anything about the tour at all! Not even where it was going!

Instead, her biggest worry was danger. She wanted a guarantee that “nothing will happen to my son”. I patiently explained that while no one can foresee what may or not happen, in the 12 years or so that I have been working in this profession, I have not had casualties or even a serious need to apply all the first-aid training that we so religiously keep up to date. This is tours we conduct for clients, we save our stunts for personal outings

This was not good enough to convince her, and she wanted an idea of how dangerous it actually was. I said that wild tigers are dangerous animals, but we are well protected on horseback and in our jeeps. We have experienced forest rangers with tranquilizing guns for emergencies to guide and look out for us.

She wanted statistics, which I didn’t have. The only thing I could say in favour of the tour was that I have not heard of deaths or dangerous attacks from man-eaters on the tour we are planning. The whole thing was less dangerous than commuting by bike in Mumbai’s heavy traffic (which, incidently her son does).

She then wanted an assurance that the facilities were good and that her son was sensitive to insect bites, so no insects should be around and that he should have the facility to call home every evening, or whenever he wished. She also wanted assurances about the quality of food, and to know if it was ‘tested’ (whatever that means). The last thing she requested was that her son not share rooms with people who snore, as he is a light sleeper

We TASTE the food and it is yummy - just perfect after a long day in the wild. I am not going to bother to vent my irritation about the snoring.

I was dumbfounded! This is a man who has a job and owns a motorcycle that he rides to work - not a baby! It is a tour he wants to join desperately. Surely he is aware that insects are present in jungles and a wide variety of repellents exist. Furthermore, his mother is so worried about his comfort, that she needs a guarantee of him not being tortured by the tiny things! Her son actually gave her the number so that she could call and find out!!!

I think it is important for a person to step out of his comfort zone in order to expand his personal experience and knowledge, whether in a corporate office, or in the wild. There is a big difference in a known and calculated potential risk and reckless behaviour, and it must not be equated either.

Even more than that, I feel that if we over-protect our loved ones, we handicap them by glorifying limitations that can easily be overcome. A little independence in a grown-up son is a virtue that will help him stand as your support when you grow old.

Of course, I couldn’t tell her that, so I made polite noises and suggested that perhaps her son might be able to survive such a dangerous experience, because of his own capabilities and put down the phone.

Then, knowing that the woman would never risk reading such a dangerous site, I came hare to rant