Our friends in the forest
You get down from the bus and start walking down a narrow winding path to reach the place where you are going to spend a very exciting night in the company of some exotic beauties! As you take careful steps on the path less traveled, sweet fragrances of jungle flowers welcome you. Soothing evening breezes blowing gently down the mountain slopes bring great relief to your weary mind and body. The melodious song of a magpie robin brings a smile on your face and the hauntingly beautiful “miao” of our national bird refreshes you like mint. You are in Mumbai! And the beauties that you can expect to entice you tonight include panthers, deer, jackals and wild cats!! Sounds contradictory, isn’t it? Not exactly.
If this is what greets you after alighting from a bus in Mumbai, then you are in the famed Borivli National Park in the northern part of the city. Recently the state forest department conducted the annual wildlife census in the forests of Maharashtra and the nature lover inside me woke up again. I spent 5 mornings and one night in the heart of this city forest with my friends, as a volunteer. Every time I go to such wild places, it brings great peace to me and creates a feeling of divinity and bliss, almost comparable to the serenity experienced while listening to soft bhajans in some nice temple. So, join me on a short trip down the green aisles of the verdant terrain of north Mumbai, keep all your urban tensions aside for a few moments and discover the natural wealth of India.
On the first day, 27 April, we assembled at the forest department’s office in the park at 5.30am. It was still quite dark and the twittering of myriad birds welcomed us. Just as we were about to board the bus to go to the interior of the forest, a beautiful herd of 5 chital deer made an elegant appearance, some distance away. These deer, found only in India, are considered to be one of the most graceful deer in the world.
As the sky started getting brighter, our bus snaked its way through semi-evergreen jungle and soon entered the core area of the park. A shiny green emerald dove was a feast to the eyes, sitting cozily in a bamboo thicket. One group of volunteers got down at the small Vyaghreshwari temple in the forest to commence their nature trail. This temple is dedicated to the tiger goddess according to the local vanvasi beliefs and reminded me of the Vedic tradition of seeing divinity in all living creatures. Such faith definitely goes a long way in conserving nature.
We saw the pugmarks of a large male panther very close to the temple in the soft earth and got back into the bus, elated by this sight. Our group’s destination was the southern end of Tulshi lake. This lake, which looks like a diamond studded in a rich green carpet supplies water to the politicians and elite of Malabar Hill in south Mumbai. I felt that this should be a very good reason for our policy makers to conserve the forest surrounding the lake.
Soon, we got down from the bus and took up a forest trail that skirted the lake in a semi-circle. Creatures small and large were making their presence felt with their variety of calls. But most of them were hidden from sight due to their perfect camouflage. Birds like cuckoo, crow pheasant and coppersmith were quite common in this invisible orchestra, while the cicadas (jungle crickets that chirp during the day) provided a constant background score.
The forests of north Mumbai are also full of plants with immense medicinal values. We saw trees like bibla (its bark used in diabetes), beheda (leaves used to cure cough) and kuda (its bark used to cure stomach problems). The latter was in full bloom with delicate white flowers decorating its branches. We also saw several ukshi trees with its flowers emitting a sweet fragrance.
On the northern edge of the lake, on a small hill, are the ruins of an old bungalow of a British officer, who had supervised in the construction of the Tulshi dam. Now called as bhoot bangla, this place offered a scenic view of the Tulshi and Vihar lakes with the dense jungle surrounding them and farther away the concrete jungle of the suburb of Pawai. Two crocodiles swimming in the Tulshi lake below were a reminder of the bio-diversity of the park. On the way back we also saw pugmarks of other denizens of the jungle like sambar deer, another male and a female panther and wild cat. Shri Gopale, the forest guard accompanying us, informed that since the distance between the two pugmarks of this panther was 90 cm, it’s a full grown animal of about 8-9 years old, past its prime. The pugmarks of a male panther are broad and square-like, while those of a female are narrow and rectangular.
If this small 105 sq km park in Mumbai holds so much wildlife, despite the constant human encroachments, one can just imagine the natural wealth of our much larger forest regions, spread across the length and breadth of India. There is so much to save and so much to lose.
Over the next four days of trekking in the jungles around Tulshi lake, Hanuman langurs and bonnet monkeys (the most commonly seen in peninsular India) and birds like jungle cock, lapwing, cormorant, egret, cattle egret, kite, reef heron, paddy bird, drongo, racket tailed drongo, alpine swift, spotted dove and different kinds of kingfishers kept us in good company.
On the second day, as we neared the forest department’s rest house – Log Hut – near the lake, we were greeted by a non-poisonous rat snake, slithering across the road in the early morning chill. Further on, we saw a couple of old huge mango trees. Such evergreen trees give the green canopy to this mixed deciduous forest, when many other tree species like savari and teak have shed their leaves. Several others like bahawa and soanmohar were blossoming in the full glory of late spring.
The third day was marked by a young python (about 3 feet long), which we discovered in a manmade water trench (dry at this time of the year) between the Kanheri mountains and Tulshi lake. Its light yellow skin with brown rosettes looked rich as it soundlessly slithered away at our approach.
The night long watch after the fifth day was the grand finale. We hoped to see the king of the jungle face to face. Ever since tigers were wiped out from these forests, over 60 years ago, the panther has been the undisputed king of this mosaic of hills and valleys, in the middle of a city inhabited by more than one crore people.
Currently there are about 20 panthers here and that seems to be just the right number for this small forest area, as against the earlier 40 panthers. If the forest department gets proper resources and if the men in uniform do their job well, the Borivli Park should be able to sustain this wilderness, along with the big cats, provided encroachers are kept at bay.
The machan was erected near an artificial waterhole. It was nicely camouflaged and was quite spacious. We took up our places by 6.30pm and by 7pm it was quite dark. The birds of the day were slowly retiring for their night long roost and those of the night, like night heron and night jar, were taking up their place. The forest floor was now an uncertain patchwork of blurred shadows and our imagination was going overboard, creating animal forms under the tall trees and bushes.
By 8pm, the full moon rose from behind the Kanheri mountains and bathed the jungle in a soothing fluorescent light and greatly improved our visibility. But that night, our friends of the forest had perhaps decided to communicate only with their calls, without revealing themselves. Soon after 9pm, Shri Tarpe, the forest guard with us this time, drew our attention to warning calls of chital deer and barking deer from various directions. This clearly indicated the movement of a couple of panthers in the vicinity. To add to the show, a solitary papiha (a type of cuckoo) kept on giving its plaintive call throughout the night. It was an enchanting experience under the moon and the stars, sitting in the middle of a tropical jungle, 8-10 km away from civilization, even as our forest friends and cool breezes lulled us to sleep towards the later part of the night, with their mystery and melody.
The following morning saw me back in the hustle and bustle of Mumbai and I wish to visit my forest friends again, as soon as possible. But some thoughts bug me. How long will this forest and its denizens survive? Borivli and most other forests in India are threatened in more ways than one. Encroachment by slums, quarrying, illegal forest cutting, forest fires, animal poaching & poisoning and some selfish corporate interests are gradually ruining our meager forest cover. We seem to have forgotten our ancient and rich Vedic heritage, which upheld a life in complete harmony with mother nature. Our culture worships tiger, lion, elephant, snake, cow, deer and peacock and trees like peepal, banyan, umber and mango. India is dotted by sacred grows or Devrais, where the locals do not destroy the forest since it is considered to be the abode of God. But will the consumerism and materialism imported from the West, allow India’s eco-friendly culture to survive? Time will decide. But it is really up to us to reform our lifestyles and thus continue the sustainable Vedic culture of live and let live, rather than denuding our natural resources in the name of lop-sided development, just like China has done.
But for now, the beauty of Borivli remains, like a jewel in the crown of Mumbai and India and our forest friends as described by the great Sant Tukaram from Maharashtra are beckoning us!!!!
If this is what greets you after alighting from a bus in Mumbai, then you are in the famed Borivli National Park in the northern part of the city. Recently the state forest department conducted the annual wildlife census in the forests of Maharashtra and the nature lover inside me woke up again. I spent 5 mornings and one night in the heart of this city forest with my friends, as a volunteer. Every time I go to such wild places, it brings great peace to me and creates a feeling of divinity and bliss, almost comparable to the serenity experienced while listening to soft bhajans in some nice temple. So, join me on a short trip down the green aisles of the verdant terrain of north Mumbai, keep all your urban tensions aside for a few moments and discover the natural wealth of India.
On the first day, 27 April, we assembled at the forest department’s office in the park at 5.30am. It was still quite dark and the twittering of myriad birds welcomed us. Just as we were about to board the bus to go to the interior of the forest, a beautiful herd of 5 chital deer made an elegant appearance, some distance away. These deer, found only in India, are considered to be one of the most graceful deer in the world.
As the sky started getting brighter, our bus snaked its way through semi-evergreen jungle and soon entered the core area of the park. A shiny green emerald dove was a feast to the eyes, sitting cozily in a bamboo thicket. One group of volunteers got down at the small Vyaghreshwari temple in the forest to commence their nature trail. This temple is dedicated to the tiger goddess according to the local vanvasi beliefs and reminded me of the Vedic tradition of seeing divinity in all living creatures. Such faith definitely goes a long way in conserving nature.
We saw the pugmarks of a large male panther very close to the temple in the soft earth and got back into the bus, elated by this sight. Our group’s destination was the southern end of Tulshi lake. This lake, which looks like a diamond studded in a rich green carpet supplies water to the politicians and elite of Malabar Hill in south Mumbai. I felt that this should be a very good reason for our policy makers to conserve the forest surrounding the lake.
Soon, we got down from the bus and took up a forest trail that skirted the lake in a semi-circle. Creatures small and large were making their presence felt with their variety of calls. But most of them were hidden from sight due to their perfect camouflage. Birds like cuckoo, crow pheasant and coppersmith were quite common in this invisible orchestra, while the cicadas (jungle crickets that chirp during the day) provided a constant background score.
The forests of north Mumbai are also full of plants with immense medicinal values. We saw trees like bibla (its bark used in diabetes), beheda (leaves used to cure cough) and kuda (its bark used to cure stomach problems). The latter was in full bloom with delicate white flowers decorating its branches. We also saw several ukshi trees with its flowers emitting a sweet fragrance.
On the northern edge of the lake, on a small hill, are the ruins of an old bungalow of a British officer, who had supervised in the construction of the Tulshi dam. Now called as bhoot bangla, this place offered a scenic view of the Tulshi and Vihar lakes with the dense jungle surrounding them and farther away the concrete jungle of the suburb of Pawai. Two crocodiles swimming in the Tulshi lake below were a reminder of the bio-diversity of the park. On the way back we also saw pugmarks of other denizens of the jungle like sambar deer, another male and a female panther and wild cat. Shri Gopale, the forest guard accompanying us, informed that since the distance between the two pugmarks of this panther was 90 cm, it’s a full grown animal of about 8-9 years old, past its prime. The pugmarks of a male panther are broad and square-like, while those of a female are narrow and rectangular.
If this small 105 sq km park in Mumbai holds so much wildlife, despite the constant human encroachments, one can just imagine the natural wealth of our much larger forest regions, spread across the length and breadth of India. There is so much to save and so much to lose.
Over the next four days of trekking in the jungles around Tulshi lake, Hanuman langurs and bonnet monkeys (the most commonly seen in peninsular India) and birds like jungle cock, lapwing, cormorant, egret, cattle egret, kite, reef heron, paddy bird, drongo, racket tailed drongo, alpine swift, spotted dove and different kinds of kingfishers kept us in good company.
On the second day, as we neared the forest department’s rest house – Log Hut – near the lake, we were greeted by a non-poisonous rat snake, slithering across the road in the early morning chill. Further on, we saw a couple of old huge mango trees. Such evergreen trees give the green canopy to this mixed deciduous forest, when many other tree species like savari and teak have shed their leaves. Several others like bahawa and soanmohar were blossoming in the full glory of late spring.
The third day was marked by a young python (about 3 feet long), which we discovered in a manmade water trench (dry at this time of the year) between the Kanheri mountains and Tulshi lake. Its light yellow skin with brown rosettes looked rich as it soundlessly slithered away at our approach.
The night long watch after the fifth day was the grand finale. We hoped to see the king of the jungle face to face. Ever since tigers were wiped out from these forests, over 60 years ago, the panther has been the undisputed king of this mosaic of hills and valleys, in the middle of a city inhabited by more than one crore people.
Currently there are about 20 panthers here and that seems to be just the right number for this small forest area, as against the earlier 40 panthers. If the forest department gets proper resources and if the men in uniform do their job well, the Borivli Park should be able to sustain this wilderness, along with the big cats, provided encroachers are kept at bay.
The machan was erected near an artificial waterhole. It was nicely camouflaged and was quite spacious. We took up our places by 6.30pm and by 7pm it was quite dark. The birds of the day were slowly retiring for their night long roost and those of the night, like night heron and night jar, were taking up their place. The forest floor was now an uncertain patchwork of blurred shadows and our imagination was going overboard, creating animal forms under the tall trees and bushes.
By 8pm, the full moon rose from behind the Kanheri mountains and bathed the jungle in a soothing fluorescent light and greatly improved our visibility. But that night, our friends of the forest had perhaps decided to communicate only with their calls, without revealing themselves. Soon after 9pm, Shri Tarpe, the forest guard with us this time, drew our attention to warning calls of chital deer and barking deer from various directions. This clearly indicated the movement of a couple of panthers in the vicinity. To add to the show, a solitary papiha (a type of cuckoo) kept on giving its plaintive call throughout the night. It was an enchanting experience under the moon and the stars, sitting in the middle of a tropical jungle, 8-10 km away from civilization, even as our forest friends and cool breezes lulled us to sleep towards the later part of the night, with their mystery and melody.
The following morning saw me back in the hustle and bustle of Mumbai and I wish to visit my forest friends again, as soon as possible. But some thoughts bug me. How long will this forest and its denizens survive? Borivli and most other forests in India are threatened in more ways than one. Encroachment by slums, quarrying, illegal forest cutting, forest fires, animal poaching & poisoning and some selfish corporate interests are gradually ruining our meager forest cover. We seem to have forgotten our ancient and rich Vedic heritage, which upheld a life in complete harmony with mother nature. Our culture worships tiger, lion, elephant, snake, cow, deer and peacock and trees like peepal, banyan, umber and mango. India is dotted by sacred grows or Devrais, where the locals do not destroy the forest since it is considered to be the abode of God. But will the consumerism and materialism imported from the West, allow India’s eco-friendly culture to survive? Time will decide. But it is really up to us to reform our lifestyles and thus continue the sustainable Vedic culture of live and let live, rather than denuding our natural resources in the name of lop-sided development, just like China has done.
But for now, the beauty of Borivli remains, like a jewel in the crown of Mumbai and India and our forest friends as described by the great Sant Tukaram from Maharashtra are beckoning us!!!!
-- Atul Sathe © (The author owns the copyright and can be contacted at atulsathe@yahoo.com )
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