NB : Emptying this post from my drafts ! I wrote this 2 years back and with no edits or reading publishing it so that I am being sincere to the post . This happened actualy in 2015.
Its been sometime since days are not defined by clicks, taps, and scrolls . Happiness is probably never ending chats with friends or making the best out of an fb post or posting the latest pic to instagram. Life has too much to contribute to the big data the world defines , bothering too much about work , stress and life. It revolves either around those plans for career enhancements or about the band you are stuck with.Intruding the automatically defined life cycle, to my astonishment there was a mail from ecology club confirming my request for participating in their camp. In this one and half
years of TCS life , I had experienced its technological side alone and hence was clueless about what a bunch of coffee loving techies in Air conditioned office gonna do in the forest.Ecology being a long forgotten word in the dictionary of life.
I was both skeptical and curious !
Ringing up extensions, pinging friends in here confirming who all are in , I finally decided to attend my life's first ecology camp. A two day camp to Pampadum Shola National Park(the smallest National Park in the country) read the itinerary. The first to know google grabbed links and images , but more than google could, Manu (organiser) said worse cases of not having electricity or mobile network, the simple living expected from the team and the assignment we aim in there. I was more excited how am I gonna deal this ?! I would not sleep without Fan in full speed . I preferred skipping my food than having not so favorite dish . I loved admiring mosses and liverworts than feel its texture. Leeches, snails or any small insect to a long snake once seen could ruin my peace of mind . The irony is my decision to go for nature camp.!
Except few, quite not familiar with the rest we started our trip on 13 Nov 2015 around 3:00 pm. We had an ice-breaking session in bus followed by the usual fun , music ,reminding me of the excursions. Broadening the connections to more experienced and much wise people wearing the same ID as i do, brought in a new level of inspiration. I met people who stops, listening to bird sing , spots a plant and speaks its botanical details ,see the less noticed , and feel the life around us.
We reached our accommodation by 10:00 pm. Walking in the dark through the sprawling grass that still holds the wetness ,mobile flash lights guiding to the dormitory, all I could see was three single storied buildings of Forest Department. The climate was cold enough , I had my jacket on and my friend with gloves, hat and what not.May be because she being an exaggerated version of cold-hating human , still be prepared with warm clothes. The kitchen staff served the dinner as hot as possible, trust me I never had such heavenly feeling having steamy food. With life reverberating in every blade of grass, bloodsucking leeches welcoming, the fragrance of fresh air, freezing cold and occasional drizzles , we had an impressive welcome.
"Alien Invasive species " : Last time they bothered me was when i gave my biology board exam 5 years back and I thought we were done and dusted forever. I had my text book explaining examples across the globe and never had I thought someday I would be contributing in eradicating one such species. The objective of our camp was to help bring back the unique shola forest by uprooting the alien species introduced here as part of government policies and constructing contour bund to prevent soil erosion . . "Acacia mearnsii (Black wattle) and grandis (a variant of eucalyptus)" nowhere close to the picture their names indicate they had spread across this place causing water scarcity in nearby places.We had two volunteers (Jison and Ajay) of Kottayam Nature Society to guide us all along the camp.
Leaving the knowledge of what happens after 50 years to a sleeping seed , I was moved by the life in the words of KNS volunteers all along our camp. Perhaps that's the way you learn loving the nature. While we live helping our present, they live saving the future. Trust me, those people could fill a library with their nature stories. Its not just the motivation or the inspiration , it more of a realisation. Worry not just about the data packs, but the nature too. Fuel not just your Car, but a plant too. Care not just your pet , but other species too.
The next morning , wonder struck I could see clouds kissing the western ghats, Pine trees, grassland and eucalyptus together marvelously painting various shades of green. We started off by around 7:30 to the hilltop, to help recreate nature ,the pond she owned decades back. There stood the tall eucalyptus,like the guards to the throne and we walked along the road , few stopping to watch native species of flora and fauna ,and some capturing the moments , others feeling the freshness. Indeed a refreshing and memorable walk , halting at every possible tree stump , panting and testing the patience of my friend we finally reached the point !
Dumping the back bags, we started the task ! Though Men at bund construction had better tedious poses for photos , uprooting the wattle sapling was equally troublesome . The beauty of the woods is they let you leave mesmerised and lost to a peace you never taste in the city life. So with the self satisfaction of doing something for tomorrow and a reassurance of coming back to check the goodness we together tried to bring back ,we left for base camp. 
The fog : Then you find me walking through the path unknown ,hidden in the fog is either its beauty or my destiny !We had an evening walk till checkpost, leeches could not prevent me from falling in love with the November mist .
The trekking day : The forest wearing clads of colors is full of life , the brook joyous , flowers gleaming at you , birds humming , leeches thirsty ,tigers roaming :P!Trekking experience in short was" OMG Leech - leeches - leech! I dont mind". The beauty when we are the guests of their kingdom need to be felt than read. All way up we had a memorable time following pug mark , seeing few rare species (swifts, Nilgiri flycatcher, black-and-orange flycatcher,wild gaur, Malabar giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) and the Nilgiri langur) and with little anxiety and more excitement we had a hope of seeing the landlords(TIGER). The wilderness is not just about tall trees and scary canopies , they do contain some beautiful flowers.
Flowers: The rose tree(Rhododendron) known to be found in Northern parts of India, is fascinating to be seen here. There were many such genera of flowers in various colour shades.
Then at some altitude I found everyone looking down, a slippery steep slope with a forest of trees , few fallen and hosting troop of mushrooms , few standing tall designing the canopy and some with roots entwined . I was not enjoying the beauty nor searching a species , because they told we will continue down this way! It took some time for that to make sense, though frightened , trusting all roots to be strong ,holding all possible moss painted barks, we managed to reach down. That was one great experience of my life. Astonishment never ends there .
Photographers: Like any other team we too had the company of sophisticated cameras . I must say this is a paradise for photographers. And hope the photos added here proves that.
Vattavada :No trip is complete without shopping , something to bring back home ! This time we shopped some fresh vegetables from vattavada. A village that breathes the shola wind and curse the eucalyptus. All garden fresh vegetables in plastic bags and sacks of memories we bid good bye to the National park. Unlike any other Munnar trip this one was special and beautiful.
“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”
― John Muir, The Mountains of California
Quite down to earth , burying the laziness , with no heaviness of mobile phone , no botheration of status meetings I had the best two days. Just be there and you will love it for rest of your time in this beautiful planet .My gratitude note may go endless. I thank and appreciate all the efforts put for making this a reality .Apologies specially to Manu for the delay in making this post!
Flowers: The rose tree(Rhododendron) known to be found in Northern parts of India, is fascinating to be seen here. There were many such genera of flowers in various colour shades.
Then at some altitude I found everyone looking down, a slippery steep slope with a forest of trees , few fallen and hosting troop of mushrooms , few standing tall designing the canopy and some with roots entwined . I was not enjoying the beauty nor searching a species , because they told we will continue down this way! It took some time for that to make sense, though frightened , trusting all roots to be strong ,holding all possible moss painted barks, we managed to reach down. That was one great experience of my life. Astonishment never ends there .
Photographers: Like any other team we too had the company of sophisticated cameras . I must say this is a paradise for photographers. And hope the photos added here proves that.
Vattavada :No trip is complete without shopping , something to bring back home ! This time we shopped some fresh vegetables from vattavada. A village that breathes the shola wind and curse the eucalyptus. All garden fresh vegetables in plastic bags and sacks of memories we bid good bye to the National park. Unlike any other Munnar trip this one was special and beautiful.
“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”
― John Muir, The Mountains of California
Quite down to earth , burying the laziness , with no heaviness of mobile phone , no botheration of status meetings I had the best two days. Just be there and you will love it for rest of your time in this beautiful planet .My gratitude note may go endless. I thank and appreciate all the efforts put for making this a reality .Apologies specially to Manu for the delay in making this post!
