Fun Blogging

A visit to the Post War destination:

2013-10-20T02:33:00.001-07:00

I do not know. But I am a bit emotional in scripting this episode. Because it was the journey that taught me what sacrifice is.? A journey that taught me what patience is.? A journey that taught me what commitment is.? A journey which evoked the hibernating patriotic feelings in me. A journey that made my vision broad. A journey that brought change in me. A journey which can me scripted in my heart forever.

As I updated my status over my FB wall saying. “Anjaw a place much awaited by me to explore. Hope the place delights me with its lush green charm and with enigmatic wildlife. Of to the destination 2mrw. Jav jav china ka border anjaw”. The place really delighted me. As ever, I started my journey from Itanagar but it was with my friend anup this time. Anup’s short intro would be, “a man who is working on pine species in Anjaw district for his thesis”. We reached Tinsukia the town in Assam the next day morning. From there, we travelled to Tezu a town in lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh. As usually, the driver of the sumo in which we were travelling took the short-cut route to reach the place. We had to cross a river to reach the place and due to some local bundh around tezu, the ferries were not operating. So we had to cross through the river on small boats run on raft sticks I mean poles. Ha ha ha. We reached the other end of the river and hired a 7 seater. The driver told us that he was taking us on his own risk and hardly can drop us till landing ground in tezu which is 4-5kms from the main town. I was seated in the front and literally to tell the 7 seater looked as if a piece of iron just being in the shape of a 7 seater as it should be pushed to get started and at every push, the radiator peed the hot water over my feet and the skin got burnt. It was a scorching sunny day and we had to walk 4-5kms to reach the hotel carrying 30 kgs of luggage. Face dusted and hair over blown in cargoes being folded over the knees, we looked like labor. Ha ha ha. And looking at over faces that too in place where the bundh was in progress, we were inquired by a police about our belongings and ourselves. We reached the hotel and rested over there. We chilled that evening however. We came to know that the next day was even a bandh and the other next day, we travelled to walong. It was a lovely journey over the roads cutting through the mountains with lush green jungles, streams and snow caps. A scene from a chopper can be portrayed as a cobra cutting through a green and white carpet.

Walong.. An overview and an insight towards a tribute:

I did not knew walong being a place which had importance during the Sino-Indian war of 1962. It the place from where the Chinese troops tried invading our country after tawang. But there were not successful in crossing walong due to the strong fight back from the Indian Army.

About the War:

A war memorial at Walong would tell us the whole story and will surely bring the images to one’s mind. The words engraved over the war memorable are that strongly written. A bloodshed occurred during the sino-indian war in 1962 where the water in the rivers around walong turned to red from blue indicating the impact of massacre. In 1962, there were no roads that connected walong and kibito from tezu (240kms). The Indian army carried their arms and other artillery using the mules from tezu crossing hills and fought the war is such a difficult terrain. The Chinese troops couldn’t move beyond walong because of the strong hold by the Indian army. The prestigious times magazine of US wrote stating, “Indian troops lacked everything. The only thing that they did not lacked was guts”. And thus the counterpart termed this place as the “TigersMouth”. And beyond this place (nearly 7kms from walong) are the Namti Plains. Namti plains actually remembered me of the Hobbiton (www.hobbitontours.com).

The Awesomeness:

As usual, the place is blessed with amazing wildlife. Hundreds of golden eagles, blue waters, pines and the tits, warblers, thrushes etc made us delightful. The raptors soaring along the cliffs was an amazing sight. The cliffs made me remember of the highlands of Ethiopia where the mighty geledas are found. Due to heavy downpour and some army issues, I was not allowed to roam around and there are needs for heavy permissions. The Dawn Village (nearly 4-6 kms from Walong) was an another delight for me. It is the place in the country that receive the first sun rays. The Mayor community around has got some extremely skillful people.

The Return back:

The return back journey was a real test of patience. After two days of waiting, we got a sumo that was about to leave to tezu so we bordered it. And before this, the sumo had some wiper issues. The wiper was repaired and thus the driver accepted us to drop in tezu. After crossing walong, the wiper got jammed again and we had to drive back to get it repaired. It was drizzling. We started our travel and tyre of the sumo got punctured which was repaired later after a massive struggle. We reached Hayuliang a place 100kms from tezu towards walong. We had our lunch and the journey started again. Some technical trouble was observed in the sumo which stopped our journey. So in the middle of night, we had to get another sumo to drop us back at Hayuliang where we halted in a booth bungalow like hotel that night and the next day, we reached tinsukia from Hayuliang. And I reached itanagar from there. The bus even broke down several times that night however.

Rain Pain n Gain at the Indo-Burman Border

2013-09-08T00:00:00.001-07:00

Place of xperience: Namdapha National Park

I’m writing ma blog after nearly one and a half year and hope the readers have not forgotten ma blog posts. Regret from ma side to ma readers. Will be updating ma blog now and then from now. Was busy all these days and just got some time to put up ma xperiences in the field as a blog post writing. Before beginning the write up, I jus remembered a dialogue from a Hindi Film “Oh my God” starred by Paresh roval (hope spelling is correct) and Akshay Kumar. In the film, Paresh says Akshay at an instance when Akshay kumar gives Srimath Bhagawatgeetha (Holy book for Hindus) to Parvesh, Parvesh tells that he has thrown the book out of his shop as the book looks uninteresting as there no photos etc. and it makes readers get bored. So here too, I donn wann make ma readers get bored by writing paras and paras. What I do is put up some small clips of the forests and animals. What say people? Ok right. Let me proceed.

As usually, I have started ma travel with my field assistant Biron to reach the place and as described in the earlier posts, you people might understand how the journey will be usually. A long hectic and backbone disk relocating journey I would say. However, reached the place and got the permits to enter the National Park cum Tiger reserve. The research officer of the park being ma fren asked me to stay back for a day as the forest department is celebrating Raksha Bandan Divas by asking school children to prepare Rakhi’s to tie them to trees and the enclosures in the zoo having animals. Just as a sort of mass awareness program. It went on well and I was privileged as being invited as a guest for distributing the prizes and even biron got the chance to do so. Next day me and research officer left to camp site and made our stay. It was hot and humid as one can xpericence how the tropical rain forests would be. It was much irritating moment for me and staying in the tents have even made the situation worse as we sweat like pigs inside the tents and literally the tent floor got damped due to flowing sweat. Ok no more pulling. Coming to the next part.

Initial Walks:

We set on a go for a night walk and on the first lucky day itself, we got something interesting. I was leading the team and was ahead of everyone. I saw some shine and the animal disappeared from the path at an instance. I asked ma assistants to flash the lights n nothing was there. I described the size etc. and ma assistant (Erebo the 2^nd assis) told that it might be a leopard (as there were lot of sightings of a leopard couple around the camp site). But ma subconscious mind was not accepting it. As I went ahead, I sighted the shine and took the flash light to identify the animal and it was still unclear. I asked ma assistants to flash the spot lights now (which I usually use less as they literally make the animal blind and deaf, I mean the animal will not even know whatz happening in its front. That’s it. It doesn’t hurt the animal). It was the lovely leopard cat sitting over a liana downslope. It was on a search for its prey and stayed there for a minute and disappeared into the bushes. I know the questions flash in your minds, have I photographed it. And I would say no. None of us. I took a camera which was new and I din even move a muscle looking at the lovely animal and more over, I have to take out the camera from the pouch, put the lenses and adjust the settings which would take a whole lot of time and I din wanted to miss the lovely sighting by doing such non-sense. The walk went on and there was a Bengal slow loris sighting that night. Few null nights (zero sighting) went on after that and the research officer left the camp site to attend an official work. My work went on however as I have to collect ma data with regard to ma PhD.

Party Time:

After few days came the SriKrishna Janmasthami (Lord Sri Krishna’s B’day) and my name even being so, I asked the cook to prepare some sweet dish so that everyone in the came might n’joy it. And the cook did so even. Around 10.30 in the night, the cook calls me and asks me attend the small group of people who were uttering some bhajans keerthans and more over it was a very polite call. I thought of nt denying it and attended it. They gave me some instrument to play which produces small sound when I hit it to ma palm during the bhajans and they all were happy that I have joined them. They severed me the red tea and dishes and after 12:00, we had our dinner all together. The cook and the local staff were happy as they all had only such moments where they can n’joy as they live for months inside the jungle where even mobile connectivity in this 21^st century doesn’t even reach.

Rain Forest Experience:

I being from a dry area I mean hot area have no idea what rain forests are till ma graduation. But I experienced the true rain forest this time as the name signifies or tells what all “Rain” forest is. Yes it is named aptly. It rained and rained all day for nearly 10 days and even rained on the day I left from the camp (more over it was a forceful retrieval from the camp as it started flooding and I would have got jammed inside the jungle if I would have not did so). It rained from the time I wake till I sleep. So there was little work that happened during this spell. But I never miss a opportunity. I had night walks during the short dry spells in the nights. So now you might understand what excites you is the what more sighting might I have made right?? Ok let me go on.

Leopards, Flying Squirrels, Snakes, Lorises, Civets & Leopard cat retreat:

Frankly to tell, animals in Northeast India are elusive and very shy. So more sightings would be during the calm hours i.e., nights. Yes. Also, hunting at rampant in these areas has made the animals to be elusive I would say. And more overnight hours are ma favorite to make moves in the jungle. Literally I have habituated myself like Owls which sleep in the day and active in the nights with their powerful nocturnal vision. Ok now heading back to the narration path, during the nights, my walks continued. One night we walked for nearly 4kms and there were no sightings and I thought that this was even a null night even and continued walking. I tucked something with ma heavy boots (usually I won’t see the forest floor as ma search always remain in the canopy with a headlamp mounted over ma cap for detecting the shine) ma assistant pushed me and I literally tumbled. I asked him what happened. He showed me a Pit viper (mostly a mountain pit viper) what I tucked was its head. It was in an aggressive mood and was mocking as if to fang. I was happy to see it and tried photographing it. As you know in animal dilagoues “these stupid boy photographs everything which appears in the path. Sorry buddy I have to leave… Let me search ma food” and it disappeared rapidly into the bushes. Ma walk continued and there were two pretty slow lorises and they were utterly cute. Ma walk continued and a rodent was on the path and I really donn know why it din even move when we flashed light at it (might be terrified). I photographed and slowly it too disappeared into the bushes. Ma walk continued and I stopped at another eye shine and ran to the place. It was another slow loris. This loris posed for some lovely clips. We took out our GPS, took the reading and I was noting few things in my pocket dairy. Suddenly, I saw a something heading towards us. It looked like a devil and the eyeshine was very strong. The gap between the eyes was even less. On better observation, it was a leopard. It ran immediately when I flashed ma head lamp at it. I took ma assistants to follow it but we were so unlucky that it disappeared into the bushes downhill. I was excited. Ma walk continued and I again tucked at something as usually ma assistant pushed me and I saw a Green colored Pitviper (in the process of identification, probably might be a new addition to the snakes of India. Pic sent to herp expert for identification). It looked so aggressive and the same after photographing, it disappeared into the bushes. The other nights were even delightful with the sightings of Masked Palm civet and Leopard cat. Ok I have not mentioned flying squirrels right they being ma part of research, were sighted on all ma search nights as ma main focus was on them.

Return back:

After all these xperiences, as it was raining like hell and it started flooding, on the advice of the forest staff, I left the camp and returned back to ma university as even the ration that I carried was about to get emptied. The same disk relocation journey back way. Long sleep after ma return to university continued. Ha ha. Bye for now. See you all on ma next blog post. Tata.

Journey to some of the less known destinations -An episode of Survival man...

2012-01-15T02:31:00.001-08:00

Journey to some of the less known destinations

-An episode of Survival man...

This time the journey was to some of the least known but nature’s blessed places. People who boost exotic places like Switzerland, Canada etc should visit these places. India has got some of the beautiful places which are less explored and thanks to god that these are least explored. Otherwise even these areas get commercialized. I might be biased. But I’m true and stick to it. The places are Anini, the district head quarters of Upper Dibang Valley district and Mehao Lake of Lower Dibang Valley District of Arunachal Pradesh, India. This time I would like to narrate you people about the beauty of the places as well as my experiences. Plz try to read some info on Anini in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anini)... It’s Interesting... Let me split the narration into two parts. Part one will be about Anini and Part two will be about Mehao Lake.

Part 1: Travel to Anini:

Our journey started from Roing town to Anini in a Tata sumo as it is the only means of transport to reach the place. Total distance is approx 210kms. It was a packed sumo and we got 4 seats in the back row. The road passes through Mehao WS... Beauty of Mehao WS is that it has got so much of variation in its forest type from being to tropical in lower ranges and to temperate in its higher ranges. One can see the variation within few kilometers and I think it is the only sanctuary with such variation that one can get within few kilometers of travel. One can feel the sharp variation by looking at the vegetation and weather while travelling uphill. The excitement came to me when I experienced the 1^st snowfall of my life at a place called Mayodia. Snow capped mountains stole my heart. It’s a beautiful place. After crossing Mayodia, the sumo travels downhill. In the middle of the journey, the sumo met with a puncture at one point. Luckily it was carrying a spare tyre, but was in a very bad condition. However the driver promised us that he’ll drive safe and will make us reach the destination. It was about 2.00 P.M. in the afternoon and everyone was so hungry. The only place at which sumo stopped was at a place called Italin. What a lovely name right. The food over there was still good. Such a nice food we had. I still remember it. Finally at around 7.00P.M., we reached Anini and were accommodated in VIP rooms at a circuit house as we were on an official work.

The morning welcomed us with the warm rays of sun. The town is surrounded by rows of hills with pine and bamboo. Few hills at distance were covered by snow. One can see the town name ANINI carved on a hill where the army bunkers are placed. The place looked like heaven. Let me put some pics.

Ok let me not extend more about this journey as the next part may take a little longer time to read. Let me shorten because more paragraphs may exhaust the readers.

Part 2: One of the Epic Journey’s of my life... Trek to Mehao Lake... An episode of Survival man

Mehao was one of my dream places to trek as I used to hear a lot about it from the tribals where I used to work. Their words are true. There are no words to express the beauty of the place. I completely fell in love with the place.

Our journey started on 1^st of Jan 2012 to a place called Abango near Roing town from where we had to start the trek to reach the lake. Our trek started on plains initially and was ok. But after 4-5kms of travel, the collar bones, calf muscles were asking for rest as we were carrying more than 25kgs of luggage and also didn’t had the morning breakfast even. So we rested at a place to have the plum cake that we bought the previous night and drank water. Ooops I forgot to tell you people one more thing. As we were in hurry that morning we forgot to carry bottles of water. At last all we had is a bottle of water borrowed from locals at Abango. So we drank the water without wasting even a drop of it. Trek continued... After few minutes, we had to trek uphill literally at an angle of 70 degrees forcing our knees to do the job. Initially the body co-operated moving forward in 2^nd gear but later we had to shift it to 1^st. Lactic acid was building up. Body started losing water and salts. We rested now and then. The luggage was pulling us down due to gravity. At last we reached a small plain area where a small water source was available. It was almost afternoon and the guard who came with us told that we covered only 20% of the distance and had to move still faster. As everyone was hungry, we took out Maggie and cooked and had it.

Trek continued. Guard with the other two of his friends told us that they’ll move ahead to the lake fast and make arrangements for us so that we’ll be comfortable when we reach the place... He told us that he’ll leave signs for us in the trek path in which we had to travel at the bifurcations. We agreed for it and they took and went the ration that we brought with us to make the arrangements for us. I, Kuldip, Parimal along with Biron continued the trek. Our body got exhausted and the energy levels went low. The Water which we carried also emptied. We continued our trek and the inclination kept on increasing though few plain paths were there here and there. It was about 5.30 in the evening and was completely dark. We switched on our focus lamps and trekked further. Finally we decided that we should camp at some place as we might lose the path. We rested at one place and gathered firewood and had a camp fire as it was too cold even. Two of us got busy in putting up the camp fire and other two in arranging the tent. We had a doubt if we were lost in the jungle. Thanks to BSNL here. One of my frens had network in his mobile. So we thought of calling a senior at my institute to know if we were on right path are not. I took out my GPS and took the reading of the location. Then we called the senior and asked if we were on right path to the lake r nt. Bad luck the mobile got switched off due to low battery. Luckily parimal had an extra battery and we were happy. We called the senior again and he told us that we were on right path and had to cross one more hill to reach the place using Google earth. We were happy. But the mouth was getting dried up; lips were getting cracked due to lack of water. Stomach started growling. So we took out potato, burnt them in flames and ate. We also had a bit of glucose powder and chera (Atukulu in Telugu made out of rice (Rice flakes)) though we knew that it dries out the mouth. Upay nahi hai. Bhook lag raha tha. After which we slept in the tent. I was a bit scared because it’s a Sun bear prone area. Bears and elephants are the two things that I’m a bit scared off. So I had a very little sleep. I kept an eye on the camp fire throughout the night.

Next day morning, we packed everything and continued the trek. Our body was not at all co-operating. If one can remember the heavenly rays falling on tom in cartoon Tom & Gerry, such was the situation. We felt the heavenly rays were welcoming us. Mouth got totally dried up. After few minutes of uphill trek, parimal got a bottle of water which slightly had a smell of kerosene (Hunter’s usually keep bottles of water hidden at places in jungle). We had no other option to keep ourselves alive. So we had to cut a bamboo, pour water into it and boiled it after which we had few sips of hot water. Then we collected some leaves which are edible and that supplemented a dose of water to our body. The area looked very dried up. After further trek, we reached a place called Gahori (Gahori meaning Wild boar in Assamese) camp and we were tracking the route using GPS this time. We heard the calls of the guard and the other two in response to our calls. We felt very happy and rejoiced thinking that we almost reached the camp... But the tragedy was that the guard in search of us was returning back. We were upset hearing it as he wanted to leave the place. After a talk, he understood the situation and took us to the place. There we had to stay in an old wooden hut constructed by forest department and was in a very bad condition. It just had single room where we had to cook and sleep. The next day morning the guard and the other 2 frens of him left. We four stayed and enjoyed the place.

The lake is at an altitude of 1700mts approx situated in a valley. It is surrounded by lush green hills and snow capped mountains in the backdrop of them. The mercury stayed low and never raised. It was around 2-3 degrees C. There were frequent hailstones whenever it rained. Much info about the area and wildlife will be discussed in the article which will be coming soon. And you can go through it. All we had for food was fern, Banana ka phool, rice, some leaves etc. One thing is that whatever you cook and eat in the jungle it’ll be tasty. The final day came and we started our return trek to Abango. This time it was still more difficult trek as the gravity pulled us down while walking downhill. And often we slipped and fell as the soil was loosen due to rain. Finally after 9 hrs of trek in the evening we reached Abango and rested there in a local’s home, where I had some more experiences. Let me tell about them later. Bye for now. What I realized from the trek is hard work pays off and also the importance of food and water. Tata…

"Experiences Have To Be Experienced..."

- Murali Krishna.

Fate of a Researcher:

2011-10-31T11:06:00.000-07:00

Who is a researcher?

No need to search for him as he is everywhere. You’ll find him in every walk of your life. For example: Today you use your face book account. 2mrw when you login again, you’ll find some changes being made in your FB account. You feel relaxed and say “thanks god now I can do video calling even on FB”. How did it come from? It’s the researcher (Software) who made it easy for you. This is just an example.

Literally the original research that is being done is useful to everyone in one or the other way. But the problem is the attitude and approach of the people towards a researcher. Many people insult saying, “what research dude”? “What is it useful for”? Those idiots’ don’t even have the right to ask such questions (Problem is that even qualified people ask such questions). We hear a lot like “How much do you earn”? Oh so less.. Ok! “How many years will it take to complete”. Oh! so many years! Ok. So after that, “what will you be doing”? So and so.. “If you won’t get it”? “I’ll be doing post doc”.. “For how many years”? Some -- years. Oh! is it so.. After that, “What will you do next”? “Arey yaar.. Us ke baad mai kya jaanta hu”. I feel like asking them, “What will be you fate in the next minute”? “Do you know”? No one knows the answer. But many people ask hundreds of non sensical questions.

At times I feel.. Is it the inability of the government to provide scope for a researcher or is it written in the fate of a researcher that he should suffer? The government pays the lazy officials so much and a researcher gets so less. Government pays an office boy with salary much more than a researcher. Why is this negligence? No answer. But who is the one who really works hard? It is the researcher. Because it such a position where one should use their own brain and no one can bluff and move further (some might do as everything has + ves and – ves).

Whatever it might be I’m happy and proud to say that I’m a researcher. Because I use my own mind and I work hard to achieve my goals.

Jungle Tales: Open Season One (I)

2011-10-28T03:22:00.000-07:00

Jungle Tales: Open Season One (I):

This time I would like to write the xperiences of Jungle tales of Arunachal in the form of a movie story. This will have the introduction, interval and climax. Let me start.

Name of the Movie:

Jungle Tales: Open Season One (I): Of To Namdapha… Let’s rock in the Indo-Burman Border.

Starring:

Murali Krishna (Me), Parimal Ch Ray..

Other Actor’s:

Biron in and as Field Assistant

Rego Chakma as Local Field Guide

Gopal as cook 1

Gogoai as cook 2

Special Appearances:

Daamdoom (Blood sucking flies)

Leeches

Biting Spiders

Kujli patta (Itch leaves)

Etc.

Music, Photography, Story, Direction By:

Murali Krishna.

Producer:

DST.

We would specially like to thank Airtel, Forest Department Arunachal etc.

It was in the afternoon when the bus that goes to Jagoon (a place bordering Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in eastern portion of Assam) arrived, at the network bus center in Nirjuli. We boarded the bus and travelled to Jagoon.

The next day morning at Jagoon, we hired a vehicle to reach Miao, which is the headquarters of Changlang district, Arunachal Pradesh. There, we stayed at circuit house and did all the works related to forest department like getting permits etc.

The next day we started to travel to a place called Deban in Namdapha. We had to cross a Nala (stream) on the midway, which doesn’t have any specified direction of flow as it keeps on changing randomly. Somehow we managed to cross the nala as both the

heroes (Introduction) and Biron came into action. We reached Deban, pitched tents over there as we couldn’t move further into the jungle.

Here comes the other actor into the scene called rego chakma, who usually is called a gandagol aadmi by us as he uses this word a lot. The story begins from here:

The work started with two shifts, one in the morning and the other in the evenings(late). The work went on well with trekking n climbing hills. But one evening we spotted an animal in the night and I along with biron were focusing on it. Meanwhile Parimal used the liana (woody creeper) to reach the spot and tried to observe and photograph it. I too thought of doing so but thought if the liana breaks it’ll be difficult for parimal and rego to reach back. So I dropped my idea of climbing up (heroic thought). The adventure starts from here.

The next day we had to reach a place on the other side of the river for which we had to raft till a point and then have to cross the river on foot. I and Parimal helped the boat’s men to fill the air in the rafting boat. Then we reached the point from where we had to cross on foot. The water current was so strong that it started pushing everyone. But atlast we crossed the river with some struggle. We reached the place trekking uphill. We completed the work over there and at around 3.00 P.M. we moved back to reach rego’s basti. By evening we reached rego’s basti where we met his family and from there we moved back to deban.

After 2-3 days we thought of going back to a place on the other side of the river. But this time we had to go along with the local guards and foresters. We walked along with them till a point and then took another route on a work. After the work was done, we had to return back to the river and my guide took a route which was so difficult to reach the river bank. We had to walk down the hill. The mud was loose and our shoes were slipping. It was really difficult to get the grip. We made it somehow.

The other day we trekked a long distance and were about to return back to the camp. On the way we saw the route being blocked by an adult and a baby elephant. We thought they were wild ones. But I knew that they were not and even the others realized it. Rego the local guard said that they were mischievous elephants and might even attack and injure at times. We too felt so as there was a baby elephant. When we moved ahead the elephants blocked the road and tried to move towards us in aggression. We had to take another route as it was getting dark. But taking other route was difficult as

one side is uphill and the other side the downhill covered with thick bushes. Then…

INTERMISSION…

Let us meet after a break

Chaiii chaii, Cool drinks, coffee, Samosa.. Oops sorry. Lal chai, Thanda paani..

So somehow we took the uphill route n tried to escape from the elephants. But to our bad luck the elephants overtook us. We had to come down to the road as there was no further route to overtake the elephants, but it was steep. Somehow biron and rego got down. I had to get down followed by parimal in the last. I took the liana to get down but to my bad luck I lost the grip and was hanging at about 30mts from ground. Finally I made the way down to road with parimal. Then we took the downhill road and I lost the route as I

was late in following them. But it was so bushy that I got bitten by spiders, rubbed against the itch leaves and finally made the way to road. Bad luck.. The elephants were ahead of us. We just waited. By that time someone came along the road in bolero. Those elephants had a weak point. They were afraid of vehicles. They gave the route for the vehicle and so we too got a good chance to escape from them. Due to itchy leaf, there was a burning feeling on my hand when ever coldwater splashed on it. It took 3 days to feel normal.

The next day evening we went for the night walk. We reached a point and were observing some nocturnal creatures. Suddenly I heard some barking sound which exactly would be 100mts away from us. Firstly we thought it might be a pack of wild dogs. But we knew that wild dogs are not so vocal. Then we heard the call again and again. It was a call made by the barking deer. But it mimicked wild dogs. The same day we heard a cry of a bear which could have be around 200 mts away from us. Was bit scared as the bears are very aggressive at times. But we couldn’t trace it out. Last day was gaana bajana by the local guide, cook and by some guards. We joined the troop and hummed with

them. But it was nice eating the bark, leaves, fruits etc which my local guide offered me to eat. They tasted like tamarind, mirchi, halwa etc. What not I even ate makai chatni, bamboo curry, fern curry, boil, banana inflorescence curry etc. Still a lot..

The days passed on, also some tourists came and went, chatted with us, got some info from us. It was nice helping them by giving some information related to sightings etc. Finally the day came, we had to return back to Itanagar as the field session came to an end. We reached Miao and from there to Jagoon and from there to Banderdewa (A small town of Assam bordering Arunachal). After reaching banderdewa we understood that there were some local riots and the buses were not moving... So we had to walk to

university which is 10 kms from banderdewa. It is combination of plain, slight uphill followed by downhill road. Carrying 35 kgs of luggage we walked all the way crossing the fallen trees etc. We reached the hostel after 17 hrs of journey and 3 hours of walk. Happies Endings..

THE END.

Possible Movie Review:

The director didn’t mentioned about the special appearances like leaches and daam doom.

The reason is that they were present at every situation of the story.

The reason for making it short was not to make the audience feel bored.

The reason is it, is an adventure story.. lol..

Rate it out of 5 points viewers.

Role of Indian Festivals in Conserving Wildlife. A thought that went through my mind...

2011-09-02T10:43:00.001-07:00

India is a country of traditions, beliefs, sentiments, emotions etc. We have many festivals that pass throughout the year. For example Durga pooja, Sarswati pooja, Ganesh chadurthi etc etc. What i thought is instead of government and NGO's special efforts to protect and conserve wildlife goes in vain a lots of time due to hunting by locals. What exactly can be done to conserve them? I thought of a solution, which actually is a thought and might workout in our country. Many of the tribals and locals involve in hunting wildlife. But many among them believe tradtions and beliefs. So why can't be the efforts made to do campings in such areas during festivals. Like on Ganesh chaturdhi go with a concept of conserving elephant and xplain the people about the importance of it. On durga pooja, go for campign to conserve tigers, on sarswati pooja go for water birds conservation campign etc. So that it actually reaches the locals due to sentiments and their beliefs. What do you say frens and xperienced persons. Please do reply.

Land Slides and River out breaks:

2011-07-31T07:07:00.001-07:00

It was about 3.30 in the morning, my alarm started beeping and I had to get up... Oh oooo sorry sorry... I din tell you people why I had to get up right??? Even my family members and many of my friends will be surprised to hear that I woke up so early in the morning. And I did so as I had a reason. That day I had to travel to Parshram kund (Lohit Dt, Arunachal) from Itanagar in order to attend a meeting of forest department the next day. And it takes nearly 10-12 hrs to reach that place from Itanagar. Ok coming to point now. I just got up from my bed very lazily and got ready by 4.15. It was raining heavily that morning. At around 4.20 my mobile rings and it was the call from the person who had to pick me up from my hostel to take me to Parsharm kund. On phone he tells me that “there were few landslides on the way to nirjuli (where I live nearly 18kms south of Itanagar) and will take quite a time to reach there”. So I thought of going back to my bed and did so. Again at around 6.15 I get a call saying that they have reached and were waiting just outside my hostel. So I had to hurry up and finally took my chatri (umbrella) and reached the bolero. We started our journey and hardly would we have travelled 5-8 km where we saw that the road was blocked due to landslide and it was pouring rain even. So my driver thinks that he can turn back the vehicle and park it so that we can start our journey after the slide is cleared. We just parked the vehicle and few seconds later the slide happens just in front of the vehicle and it was my 1^st xperience of watching a slide in my life… The huge amount soil just rolled down the slope pulling down all the trees and bamboo thickets. It was terrifying scene. Immediately i told the driver to turn back the vehicle to go back to nirjuli as it is a safe place and also it was even raining which may lead to few more slides. The driver turns back the vehicle and starts driving. We reached nirjuli. I just recollected my past travel route to reach that place and told the driver that there is another route to reach Assam (as we had to travel through Assam to reach Parsharm Kund). I just told my driver about the route and we started travelling through that route. In the middle of journey, we saw few cars stopped. We just overtook them and saw water flowing from the mountains onto the road and cars can be easily washed away by the flow. As it was bolero, the driver jus drove very fast and we reached the other end of road quickly without any problem. The travel went on well..

After 10km of travel, we just stopped the vehicle once. Can anyone guess why? Dnn know how many of you can guess, it was another obstacle this time it was a river outbreak. Only trucks could drive across the flow. So we just waited. Slowly all the vehicles behind us disappeared in silence. An army Gypsy somehow crossed it. Looking at it the driver of our bolero got the courage and wanted to cross. But there was another gypsy infront of us and it started moving before we did. So we just waited for our turn to our surprise this time the flow of the water has increased. Gypsy just started drifting and was about to disappear in flow. But the driver of that vehicle jus showed the courage. He managed to break the vehicle put it on a back gear brought it back on to the position and then somehow managed to reach the other side. Looking at this our driver withdrew his decision of crossing it. After few minutes we made our minds and thought let us do it. The driver puts the 1^st gear and drives the vehicle to the other end and it took fraction of seconds for us to realize that we reached the other bank and that too so safely. Anju Bharadwaj who was my co-traveler was much tensed and even we were a bit but never showed it on our (me and the driver) faces.

We travelled quite a good distance and there was another river outbreak. This time a JCB comes for the rescue. It repairs the path and we crossed the river quickly. We reached Assam and were a bit relieved from one tension (because we entered plains and there will be no more problems of slides). The journey went on. It looked like someone cursed are so. This time the connection between the road and the bridge jus cuts down infront of our vehicle. And we had to stop the vehicle. I got down the vehicle and started observing surroundings. The highway was built a bit high than the surroundings. The level of water on either side of the highway was about 4-6ft high from ground.. Anju Bharadwaj told us that there was some flood problem prevailing in Assam that time. The road looked like as if it was floating on the surface of water.. After some time the road was repaired and the journey went on well.. We reached a place where we had to cross the e river (Short cut) on a ferry and it was such a scenic beauty. It was a good journey then after. We reached Parshram Kund at around 8.30 p.m. and the next day meeting went on well.. That very next day we had to return back to Itanagar so we started our journey. It was a bright sunny day. The journey went on very very well. But the driver who came with us never travelled to Itanagar and was new to Arunachal. We reached Arunachal Gate at around 7.45 p.m. It was dark and it started drizzling. Soon the drizzle changed its phase and started pouring. Look at our bad luck we just reached the road surrounded by hills and it started pouring again. It rained so heavily that even the vehicle high beam lights hardly could focus upto 4-5m. Even the front glass was covered with frost. Though how much ever we cleaned the glass the frost formed again and again. And it was such a dangerous curvy route that even we din had the thought of stopping the vehicle keeping the landslide in mind. . The other tension was about the driver as he was new and dinn had any idea about the route. He might just think that the road is ok and might drive the vehicle down the valley. So I told the driver that I have the idea of the route and jus he has to follow my guidelines. I guided him and finally we reached the final destination very safely. I skipped some more adventures that we did as it takes too much time to xplain. But really to say I had very good xperience.

Turn off Ur Pop Up's... My Xperiences in Arunachal during my 1st Field study..

2011-04-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

Actually I hate writing.. But I dnn knw.. I felt like writing my xperiences in Arunachal those are really funny. Before starting, let me tell you all one thing “All the characters and incidents that appear in this post are true (Filmy way of sarting).. Peh ;)

I actually thinking like writing it in the form of a research paper.. Aaaa… Let me start.

Title:

My 1^st Xperiences in Arunachal Pradesh..

Author: 1^st: Murali Krishna.C, 2^nd: None.

Introduction:

As I’m from south India, I used to hear a lot about the northeastern portion of India saying that the forests are pristine, rich in wildlife etc etc(Citation needed)(May be Murali et al2011).. But I had never been to these places before... and the time finally came in December 2010 when I planned to make my 1^st field study for my project...

Key Words: Kathra hai re, Asisa hai na, Bhoo khoo, Bondhar etc etc..

Study area:

Lower Dibang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh... I came to know that many people belonging to tribes like IDU, ADI, NISHI etc inhabit this area...

Material and Methods:

No specific methods and materials were used (Murali et al2011).. These are all the series of Xperiences..

Results and Discussion:

I started my travel to Roing town in Lower Dibang valley dist in Dec 2010 from Itanagar in Network travels... It was a very cool day and my field assistant asked me to put some warm clothing so that I’ll be comfortable during the journey… And the journey started.. The next morning at around 4, we reached a place called Teensukia from where we had to get into other bus to reach Roing town. And finally we got into the bus.. It was about 5 hours journey, where we had to cross river Brahmaputra in a ferry.. Finally at around 11:30 we reached Roing town.. And there we met a local who actually has to help us in Local field assistance.. And from here are the series of Xperiences that have occurred.. The local field assistant reached the place and started assisting us.. He asked us to buy the grocery needed as we were supposed to stay in the field site which is away from town. So we had to travel using the local transport.. He asked us to keep the luggage in the transport and asked us if we had our breakfast r nt.. We shook our heads and he took us to the restaurant.. Then I asked the local assistant if it was safe to leave the luggage in the transport and go. He said “ Ye hamara area hai.. No one can cheat you come let us go”.. Looking at his confidence we went to restaurant and had breakfast.. For my Surprise after reaching the taxi stand, the local gaadi was nt there.. I was looking at the Local assistant in anger, he took the bike and told me that "let me go and search for it " I was asking my field assistant wht if luggage was lost. Should we complaint in local police station.. he said.. Donn worry chewing taamool… Yeh why should he be worried I would be responsible if sm thing happens.. I was telling myself “Murali All is Well All is Well”(Thinking inside Sala Ye tho Sirf movie me Amir Khan he Bhol Saktha hai).. Finally The Local Gaadi arrived and in such a small vehicle (Tempo) nearly 33 people were loaded even on the top and hanging on the sides ( Mai soch raha tha Arey Gibbons tho Yehe me hai.. Let me Join the group).. Then the local guide told let me take you on my bike and let the field assistant come in the transport.. Ok I said. Finally we reached the place(Field site)..

After reaching the place I understood that we we had to stay in a local’s home.. It was a thatched hut and lots of local wildlife was around it.. Field work went on and once a local head (Actually nt bt pretended as so) called us to the kitchen which was adjacent to our room and was asking about the details like from where we were etc etc I dnn know he thought like let me check out this boy like from where he is and started talking in this way bhooo thooo naaa moo and it sounded to me like a Korean movie without subtitles and I made faces . Then he started saying muah bhoo hoo and listening to that, I was surprised and asked my field assistant "what is he saying muah muah is he saying like does he wants to greet me in French kissing style on cheeks.. let me run from here", my field assistant said no no laughing.. Then the person understood that I din get him.. He jus spoke to me in Hindi and left..

When we were in field session sometimes we had to talk to locals about the presence of gibbons.. The people said “ Khya aap Bondhar ko pakudenge khya” (me thinking inside.. Kya hum bandhar pakadne waale jaise dikthe hai.. God kya halat bangaya).. Then some say BONDAR cahiye kya.. Idhar pe Dhuniya bhar ka kaala bandhar milte hai( Me thinking again.. Dhuniya bhar ka bandhar hone se hum logonko kuch kaam nahi hai kya unhai doondne ke liya).. One night the head person of the home who actually never disturbed us came and he was drunk. He knocked the door at around night 9.. Then we got up asked him like what’s the matter.. He took us out for a walk and said “ Khya Bhai log aap tho raat me room me gus ke itanaa jaldi soojathe hai.. Ye jail nahi hai.. Aaap logonko njoyment bholne se patha nahi hai, mai thum logonko njoyment boolne se kaisa hoga dhika doonga” and started singing like crazy and my field assistant started dancing (Me thinking inside.. Arey jisne India me Major cities Kho deka hai metro life ka experienced hai and jungle me kais enjoy karna hai oo bhi patha hai.. Ye aake ham logonko njoyment ke baareme class deraha hai ok let him) and I also joined the tune..

One day I was trying photographing the gibbons with my 26x zoom digi camera.. One localboy came to me and was observing carefully I asked him do you want to do the same he shook his head and was excited.. I taught him like how to hold and how to take the pic.. He said “ Aap log tho kathra hai.. Idhar see utana dhoor ka photo keench sakte hai” I smiled and said yeh… The he asked “ Kya aap log Bondhar pakdneke liye aaye hai kya”.. Oh god same question.. I was thinking do we look so and left the place saying no.. That evening we were cooking the food and the head women of the house came and sat beside us asking like how the work was going on and we said it was gng on good.. Then we asked her to taste the food that we had cooked. Then she started laughing loudly and it was a giggly, woogly, jiggly, paagley riggly maagly tuffly kind of laughter I was a bit scared (I even hear the sound sm times in my sleep making me scared) and then she says boys cooking and asking me to taste, funny but good.. laughter continues like the lighting and thunderbolts in the back ground..

But any how I njoyed the field work the people were good, friendly sometimes even over friendly and over affectionate that they called us to work in their paddy fields.. But I loved the place the people over there.. It was nice spending some time with such people who really have a different look of life, Njoyment etc etc.. I hope I din hurt anyone writing this post as I always respect the local traditions, local religions, language etc etc.. And this post is just to share some funny stuff..

Conclusion:

Ihar udhar ki bathe wagey ra wagey ra..

Acknowledments:

I wish i would like to thank my field assistant, Local Field assistant, my co researcher, Local house head etc etc. But why should I ?????

Refrences:

Nonscense stuff.. Mural Krishna Et.al 2009, Null publications.

Never it was there.. Mural Krishna Et.al 2010. Infinite non sense publications..

Ok people enough reading get back to your work..

Caution: Reading is Injurious to health (Nonsensical post)