Indian Wildlife Club Forum

At http://Indianwildlifeclub.com we have opened an interactive forum for members to write in about issues they feel strongly about.  We have more than 50 categories under which you can write.

Your post can be formatted with our text editor and you can include website links too.

We also have a category called "Events".  Many IWC members are actively involved in ground level programs in their respective areas.  Many organize bird watching lessons,  herpetology classes, eco-treks,  photo exhibitions etc.  IWC forum encourages you to write about these local events.

To upload photographs in the article, you need to first publish them elsewhere, say in a blog, and then copy/paste the picture into the article.

I have organized two events recently, a bonsai appreciation class on 7th April, 2018 and a workshop on waste management and home composting on 29th April, 2018

Here are some photos of the events

Composting Workshop by Padma Nandyal

LET US MAKE A DIFFERENCE AT GROUND LEVEL, wherever we are! 

I and my friends had gone to Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh for some bank audits, way back in 1986. We had several branches to be audited in that area. At that time there were no convenient hotels in most of the places and we had to stay either at branch premises or stay in nearby towns and commute daily to branch locations.

At that time, we were staying in Mainpuri and used to take one private bus which was plying in ‘Bewar Mathura route’, on a daily basis to visit these branch locations and return to Mainpuri late evening.

The bus driver was a middle aged gentle man who had the required skill and patience to drive on pot hole filled UP roads at that time. This gentle man will never allow any other person to drive this bus. He was not the owner of this bus.  Though we did not notice initially, we realized as the days went by, that there was some calmness in the bus which made everybody very comfortable. There were no fights or loud arguments with the conductor for returning of change etc.  In spite of very bad UP roads the journey was noticeable by its absence of jerks and annoying jolts and jumps. The passengers were dozing off to blissful sleep immediately after taking their tickets. There was no anxiety amongst passengers, whether the conductor will return the change etc.  We also felt very comfortable and we could always get the connecting Tonga (horse driven cart) to Madanpur where we had to go for audit. One of the things that we noticed was, we could always see Saras cranes dancing on the fields completely oblivious of the movement ofthe bus, each and every day when the bus was driven by this middle aged gentleman. I still remember clearly their movements and the background of lush fields passing by even now.

One day the middle aged driver was off duty and the owner of the bus was driving. Immediately we could sense the change of atmosphere in the bus. The conductor was rude and impatient and there were fights for seats and return of balance change. On that day the journey was very uncomfortable in the pot hole filled UP roads. We also missed our connecting Tonga and had to walk the entire six kms to Madanpur and the ordeal was repeated in the evening also. Most beautiful experience of spotting Saras cranes in the fields was completely absent on that day.

I somehow kept remembering these observations without having a clue as to how to comprehend them. I just left it at that time as one of many such instances which can be simply explained as subjective as no other external measurements were possible.

However about six to seven years back, some thought came to me about the flow of Mother Nature. I could sense and perceive Nature’s seamless flow in the whole episode. Suddenly I could understand the middle aged gentleman had an inward sense of peace that exuded to the surrounding and pervaded the space around him and he could be in sync with the flow of Mother Nature at that time. This sense of peace also pervaded in his style of driving which made the Saras cranes totally comfortable and was not disturbed at all as they must have felt secure, when this bus was passing by. Likewise the fellow passengers and the conductor also felt secure without realizing the reasons for the same. Thus an inward sense of peace of the bus driver permeated not only in the bus, but also to the surroundings where the bus moved. This was certainly a great lesson learnt from the nameless bus driver from a town in UP.

A multicultural and secular country like India is a sight to behold at times; places like the railway stations exist, where people of all caste and creed intersect and then carry on about their work like nothing really happened. Such a harmonious union is hard to find, and it is possible because of a very affordable public transport system like the Indian Railways.

This is the reason why a flawless concord of people from drastically different lives, come together in places like trains and railway stations. The ticket pricing on such a public transport is meager; in fact, the IR is one of the cheapest public transport systems in the whole world. The government understands that the per-capita income of people in India is very little, so they make sure that prices stay grounded. This results in a considerable part of the populous utilizing the system, the IR ferries over hundreds of millions of passengers each year, and the number keeps on growing.

Technology and the leap to an online presence

A two-step process began in the late 80s, first was to convert all manual ticketing to a computerized one. And then in 1995 after the invention of the World Wide Web, and the rapid growth of the internet, the IR decided to move its ticketing sector online. This was a game-changing step, as its usage and outreach skyrocketed. The once falling stock of the IR was now up and climbing, more and more people found it easy to use and book tickets.

It can be said that in today’s world, online ticketing has reached every nook and cranny in India. Even if one does not have access to computerized ticketing, one can still use the UMANG mobile application for bookings and other inquiries.

What is printed on a ticket?

An Indian Railways ticket has the name, age and the discount (if any) printed on it, along with its price.

Some miscellaneous features of the IR which are still significant are:

•    Season tickets, which allow travelers to make unlimited trips, can be made available on inquiry. Foreign tourists have can purchase an Indrail pass, similar to a Eurail pass for Europe. This pass allows the tourist to travel to unlimited parts of the country for a limited time period

•    The railways offer specific discounts to people like Senior citizens (over the age of 60), the disabled, students, athletes.

•    Some berths in second class, sleeper, and certain other accommodations are reserved only for women.  

The humongous population of India means that it hard to get access to tickets in times of emergency. Sometimes this creates an unwanted problem, so a particular type of ticket called the ‘reservation against cancellation’ gives the passenger a passage to board the train and obtain a seat chosen by the ticket collector.

PNR status check and bookings can be done on the IR website and various other ticketing websites. Cheap rates, excellent service, and unique features are the hallmarks of a great public sector service company like the Indian Railways. It is these features that make it the most used transportation system in the country.