Sahyadrica

Hemanta is one of the six seasons of India. It is the time of the year starting November and lasting until January. It was first described intricately in Ritusamraha – one of India’s most beautiful epic poems written by Kalidasa, commingling in words nature’s virtues in the six seasons with a tale of two lovers. Ruddy Shelduck returning to the wintering grounds The season is marked by a significant drop in temperatures, the returning of the migrant birds and departure of migrant butterflies. Along the coasts, they hover over comfortable numbers between twenty to twenty-five degrees during morning and twilight hours. Humidity drops and dryness lingers. Hemanta, or Hemant, is therefore generally said to be a pleasant season followed by Shishir (January to March), a season of transition. “Pleasant with many an attribute, stealer of the hearts of women, and at which time the confines of villages are overspread with many an abundant rice-crop on earth, and overlaid is the sky wi...

The Sweet One Sudhagad Plateau The rustling grass formed shapes of spirals in an otherwise uniform, sun-blasted lateritic surface of the Sudhagad plateau. As we emerged from the hot and humid forests adorning its foothills, we were witness to a vast field under a clear sky with a cumulonimbus budding over the horizon. From far we saw a Bonelli’s Eagle as it swooped low amongst ancient trees twisted and gnarled, to surprise the hidden doves and quails, of which there were plenty. Some of these ancient trees reminded me of Corbett’s banshee, screaming and wailing from the tree tops, but as the screams fell on my ear it was not the dread I felt, it was amazement. Then I looked at the reason behind the painful squeals, saw an unsettling grin it had carved, and thought otherwise. I quickened my steps as I fought myself from being attracted to this hidden (hideous?) face. The banshee Then quietness settled upon me. Not the lull before the storm quiet, it was of something p...