The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
The Malabar Giant Squirrel
or Indian Giant Squirrel is described as “an upper canopy dwelling species,
which rarely leaves the trees. It is a shy, wary animal, not easy to discover;
it is active mostly early in the mornings and evenings, resting in the midday.”
Till recently, I had only
had fleeting glimpses of the Giant Squirrel, usually as it disappeared into the
dense canopy before I could get a close look. Which is why, when I saw one
perched atop a tree outside my room, I waited till I got some decent photos
before calling out to Samhith and the others, informing them of its presence.
As it turned out, I needn’t
have worried. It was a regular visitor here, having its breakfast, and in no
hurry to leave before it had its fill! It stayed on that particular tree for
over an hour before finally taking a massive leap to another one, and
disappearing in seconds!
The Malabar Giant Squirrels
are a species endemic to the deciduous and moist evergreen forests of
Peninsular India, extending as far as the Satpura hill ranges of Madhya
Pradesh.
Incidentally, it is also
the State Animal of Maharashtra, and is called ‘Shekru’ in Marathi. The
Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary was created in 1984, specifically with the aim
of protecting its habitat. However, I saw it, not in its protected sanctuary,
but at Dandeli, at the Dandeli Jungle Camp, where I stayed for a night during
my recent trip.
Great clicks, Anu..
ReplyDeleteThank you, Meghana!
Deletewe recently saw the Malabar giant squirrel when we visited thekkady and went to the deep safari, it was there lazing and sleeping on top of the tree
ReplyDelete