Blog
The Timeless Witness
At the edge of a winding road stands a banyan tree, its roots sinking deep into the soil, its aerial strands swaying like threads of time. In the heart of the village, another banyan grows from an old stone platform, the circular seat around it now cracked with...
My Encounter with Trees
I have been lucky to live among trees since my early childhood, which I spent with my family (parents, brother, and sister) in FRI (Forest Research Institute), Dehra Dun. My father was a research chemist, and my mother, a housewife, was also the secretary of the...
The Tree Leaf that Raised a Wasp
How often do we pause to look beneath a leaf? Have you ever felt curious about the secret lives of insects and how they interact with trees or other creatures? Every tree we pass by holds a secret and a new story waiting to unfold. My story is about one such...
Not Alien, Nor Exotic
When I started my PhD research field work, I had to change my shoes until I found a pair of thick-soled leather shoes that would survive the thorns of the Prosopis tree. The thorns were unlike anything I had seen, similar to Acacia, but longer, and extremely easy...
The Whistle Tree
The delicate light green leaves tremble in the heat, providing much-needed respite from the sun. I stand with my family on the side of the road at the start of our village, looking up at the grandeur of this gnarled old tree. We're waiting for the bus to go back...
How Mangrove Trees Whisper to Dolphins: Nature’s Secret Language in the Sundarbans
The Sundarbans is a place where trees talk to the sea. Not with words, but through the silent language of seasons, salinity, and survival. As the tides ebb and flow through this labyrinth of mangrove roots, an extraordinary conversation unfolds between the forest...
मैं पलाश हूं
मैं पलाश हूँ , सदियों से परिंदों के सुकून की तलाश हूँ, मौसमों की पहली पुकार हूँ, और अब, शायद… तुम्हारी याद में खोती जा रही एक आवाज़। में हूं एक पुराना, सीधा-सादा पेड़ — ना ज़्यादा ऊँचा, ना बहुत घना ,पर जब वसंत आता है, तो पूरा जंगल मेरी ओर देखने लगता है। मुझसे कोई...
Flame of the Forest: Sparking passions
The African Tulip Tree (Spathodea campanulata), nicknamed the “Flame of the Forest”, sparked a fire of curiosity in me during the pandemic. Living in an apartment and being surrounded by concrete on all sides is a hallmark of our big, bustling metropolitan Indian...
The Seasonality of Trees: Rooted in Silence, Speaking in Seasons
Trees are majestic beings that stand tall, their roots piercing deep into the earth while their branches stretching towards the sky. Through their seasons, they teach us about growth, adaptation, and to find beauty in every phase of life. They sway with the wind,...
The pod that saved my life
In most Indian households, a pre-festive ritual of removing dust from all nooks and corners is performed once a year. This cleaning is done by shifting old storage boxes, deciding what to keep and what to discard, bidding farewell to some unwanted vintage...
A Room with a (Tree) View
Once there was a tree that I enjoyed watching every day, until the day it was no more… I have always felt at home in the company of trees. So, when we moved house, I was comforted knowing that there were many trees in the new neighbourhood, especially a mighty...
Lady Sheesham Then and Now
Back in 2021, when I was taking my first tentative steps towards living a life more rooted in the Yamuna floodplains, I undertook a plantation on the land I had recently come to steward. This first plantation consisted mainly of pioneer trees on the then barren...