Seek and you shall find!

“Do you want to cover a larger distance and see more or walk less and yet get to hear interesting insights?”. This was Anand Pendharkar, founder of SPROUTS asking a motley crowd of around twenty-five Mumbaikars gathered on an early Sunday morning at Kanheri Caves in Borivali National Park. SPROUTS, stands for Society for Promotion of Research, Outdoors, Urbanity, Training and Social Welfare, is an environment trust that was celebrating its 21^st anniversary with this trail.

As the harsh April sun had already started beating down, it seemed like the group had only one ready answer in mind . Within a few seconds, all of us echoed in unison, “Let’s go for the option of a shorter walk with more interesting factoids”. Needless to say, the combination of getting access to interesting stories and that too, over a short walk was the clincher.

Anand, a passionate wildlife biologist, and educator expounded, how we tend to travel far distances to enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature when we can find her magnificence not far from where we live. “There is no reason to go to Antarctica, or even Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, etc. when we have not yet explored the natural beauty right in our backyard.” All of us were perched on different rocks listening to him with rapt attention. “Today, we may not end up walking more than even a kilometer, but we will still take a few hours to cover that short distance. There is so much splendor and uniqueness of nature that everything we will see or touch will have a story to tell.”
Somehow, I knew I was not going to be disappointed. 

As we sat there in the quiet, sylvan surroundings detached from the mad rush of Mumbai ethos just a few kilometers away, he asked us to soak the moment. It was just us, belonging to diverse age groups, with the solid rock caves, gently swaying trees and the pure air for company. Oh yes, and I forgot someone else!

The Cicadas! They were all over the place and calling out to each other in a frenzy which later I understood were their mating calls.

The cicadas that come out of their hibernation during this time of the year can be a raucous bunch. The call of the cicadas if you care to listen, are always heard emanating from flocks of trees. As a Mumbaikar, who is used to the perverse nature of chaos, inside and outside the head, I would have completely missed the cicada’s ruckus but for that moment. And all this while I used to think they were crickets (Raat kide as we say in Marathi). But crickets make sounds only at night while cicadas during the daytime.

There is one more interesting facet to this insect which I discovered that morning. Some cicadas are called as annual cicadas, and then there are periodical cicadas. Periodical cicadas hibernate for as long as 13 and 17 years as a means of predator avoidance strategy. They lie hidden beneath the ground near the tree roots which also becomes their source of food. 13 and 17 years is truly a long time for hibernation especially when they live only for several weeks to a few months as adults and then die. Please note that both these (hibernation period) are prime numbers and the interesting explanation as to why such a long hibernation period is available at this link, though not completely proven yet. From a juvenile state, they emerge above the ground as adults ready for mating, and then they copulate and die. Now isn’t that an interesting facet of an insect. Like eager kids we now wanted to see what the cicadas looked like. And just as we were looking up in the air, over the tree cover for the flying cicadas, Anand had found one injured cicada lying on the ground struggling to get up and fly. He picked it up with a dry leaf and adults and kids alike, hovered around to see how the noisy insect looked.

As the group lumbered along the trail on a sunny morning, we decided to halt for a short break for snacks and water. It was the time when the team members came forward and did quick introductions about themselves. After all introductions, Anand introduced us to the last member of the group who in spite of his overpowering presence was just silently watching over us. Kanheri Caves, where we assembled comes from the Sanskrit name Krishnagiri, which means Black Mountain. These caves were chiseled out of a massive basaltic rock outcropping and date from the first century BCE to the 10th century CE. Though I had visited Kanheri Caves couple of times in the past, for the first time I looked at the mountains and the black rock beneath my feet in a different light.

The next stop was at a unique formation of an Ant’s nest which we stumbled upon (thankfully, not literally though). It was a Harvester’s Ant Nest, and it was something which immediately intrigued a few architects in the group.

Anand explained that due to this maze-like formation, it not only serves as a fortress to ward of any impending entry from outsiders but because of the way it is structured, even in heavy rains, the nest will remain protected from getting flooded. The nest is built slightly at an angle to the ground, and this helps the rainwater to flow out, rather than flow into the mouth of the nest. Also, the nest structure may not be even six inches high above the ground, but it runs deep. The ants create storage areas which can be many meters underneath the surface.

Indeed, interesting ways of nature and its inhabitants!

As we were still reeling under the fascinating architectural wonder created by the Harvester Ants, the Liana ‘crept’ upon us, as if out of nowhere.

Liana the tree climber, which we were pointed out to, is a woody vine that wraps itself tightly around tree limbs. They are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy to get access to well-lit areas of the forest. But what is unusual about this creeper is that it can grow as long as few kilometers (vertically or horizontally) while carrying water with it. Anand pointed out that the mechanism by which it takes water within itself by defying gravity is what humans can learn from to create a safe ecological option to replace the water pumps that we current use.

Later, as we all came together for a group snap for posterity; one of the kids discovered a small hole in a rock crevice as he was climbing. Anand could not help muttering under his breath, “Aaitya Bilaawar Nagoba” a famous saying in Marathi. Typically, a freeloader or someone who makes use of someone's hard work is called that.  I very well knew the meaning of the saying but came to know how it derived, only that day.

While it is true that snakes often hide in holes, they do not construct their holes themselves -- these are primarily the former holes of rodents, turtles, and frogs. (Additionally, snakes hide inside tree hollows or under the leaf litter, rocks or bark). Snakes, obviously having no limbs of their own depend on other animals for a ready-made home. Since they seize the hole of the rodent (typically) they have devoured and make it their home, the saying very well captures this snake attitude in a nutshell.

With many such new insights and explorations, the trail finally ended by one pm which was well beyond the stipulated time of 11.30 am. However, no one complained nor did anyone realize just how fast time had flown by in the lap of Mother Nature. As Anand had rightly professed at the beginning of the trail, in the half day, we probably had covered less than a kilometer, but all the astonishing facts about nature within close distance indeed left us yearning for more. It was my first outing with the SPROUTS group, and I can promise you that it will not be the last one.

I look forward to seeing; hearing and experiencing nature’s many more bountiful secrets in the coming days.

Seek and you shall find, the topic of the post is not a philosophical exhortation. In today's fast paced life when  get news updates come in 140 characters, when we get entertained by tiny tales, are happy with visual gratification and not through real experience, it is time we go back to the point where we came from and start digging deeper. 
In such shallow times when today's FB posts become faint memories of tomorrow (I doubt that too!), this blog post is about an experience that will remain etched in my mind. It is a feeble attempt to highlight what I truly need to do -  
Do not just ride the crest of life's tides but swim deep into it and soak in every moment.