We as mumbaikars don’t often get an opportunity to indulge with nature at its dazzling and picturesque best. Not at least in Mumbai though. But we, the zoology students of R.D National College, Bandra got that precious opportunity to learn and understand Mother Nature and all its subtle intricacies in its original naturality.
As per our credit system we had to perform an excursion on matters related to our subject of study. Since we had already undertaken an industrial visit to KF Bioplants to Pune as Botany students, it was the turn of zoology department to take us for a ‘ride’. And they did so aptly. The planned excursion was to Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) Goregaon, Mumbai. BNHS is basically an NGO or a Non-Governmental Organisation working for the conservation of nature in and around Mumbai.It is the oldest NGO in Asia running for the past 128 years.
I don’t know about you but I was hearing about this place for the first time in my life. We were asked to come on our own to BNHS. Our faculties gave us the necessary guidelines to reach the spot which is situated alongside the famous Goregaon Film City and on the outskirts of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivili. We had no idea what we had in store for us when we were in the bus which was supposed to take us to BNHS from Goregaon station. As the bus trailed like a snail along the township of Goregaon, I wondered how boring the excursion would be. But as soon as the bus entered into the Film City territory my imagination started running the other way. With every foot the bus moved, my expectations also got higher. And finally the grumpy old conductor announced that the bus has reached its destination. Clueless, we disembarked off the bus. We looked around and found our friends and faculty waiting for us. As we moved in closer I could see a board with a picture of a horn bill which read “BNHS” (that was the first time I realized the existence of this organization!!).
A relatively short man with a captivating smile wearing a T-shirt displaying the BNHS logo leaded us to CEC, the educational centre of BNHS. We were shown into an auditorium where our attendance was taken duly and our batch was divided into four groups for the nature trail (and I got separated from my friends). I looked around to study the members of my group and Dharam, Vivek, Valencia and Unain seemed to be the only people I knew. Our group had two members from CEC as our guides – Kaustubh Sir(Environmentalist) and Eugene Sir(Ornithologist). We were very lucky as we were going on the best, toughest and the most informative trail in BNHS - The Leopard Trail. As soon as we stepped out of CEC, our guides started to shower us with their enviable knowledge of ornithology. We as students could only hear the caws of crows. But they as seasoned bird watchers could make out at least 5-6 sounds of different birds including the Magpie Robin, Taylor Bird, Racket Tail Barbet, Mynas, Thick Built Crows and so on. We were obviously dumbfounded at their inimitable worth of knowledge.
We were trudging towards the entrance point of the Leopard Trail and on the way we were shown many specimens of different creatures and plants and were explained about their distinct characteristics. Kaustubh Sir also brought our attention to the bark of a tree which was valiantly scratched and nudged by a Sambar Deer. We moved on and on the way saw many flora and fauna like the Soccer ball Tree and the Leaf-Miner etc. After some time we reached the gateway to the Leopard Trail. A sign board read
“BEWARE! YOU ARE ENTERING THE LAND OF THE KING OF THIS JUNGLE- THE LEAPORDS...”
Enough to send chills down your spines. But our guides reminded us that leopards were nocturnal creatures and would not come out when people were spotted in large numbers.
We descended down a very steep inclination for a good 30-40 meters. There we met a river which though was not in full bloom, was very scenic and catchy with tiny creatures like the land crab and the water cricket moving around in large numbers. The river would get deeper as we moved forward. There were many highlights on the way like the Ghost Tree, Curled Ginger Flowers, The Wolf Spider etc. We had our moments of excitement when Dharam said he had spotted a snake and I too had seen something wiggling in the water. But nothing much developed out of that.
Then we moved along to the ascending part of the trail which was a very long and harsh climb, tiring us physically. We saw the teak tree. The leaves of this tree are peculiar. On rubbing the leaves on our hands we get a reddish brown tinge which is due to the heavy iron content present in it. I wondered that I studied about teak since I was in my 4th grade but I never came across such facts. Pop came the answer too. Its because bookish study just polishes the external mind. But the knowledge which we acquire through experience stays for ever. And that’s why field study becomes so important in building a person’s career overall. We observed some exotic trees like the Eucalyptus( Australia), Gliciridia(Central America), Gulmohar( Madagascar). Some of my answers impressed Eugene sir and he complemented me. Though I was happy I thought those answers to be childish and known to all.
We came back to the CEC after that wonderful and informative trail and learnt that we were the only ones to take the river route!! I was feeling elated and at the same time sorry for my friends who did not have the luck to trail the coveted Leopard Trail.
The excursion ended with a thanks giving session by Manoj Sir – Not to forget his trademark ‘sort of’ which he included in his speech which made us cry with laughter.
And at the end of the day we walked away with serious thoughts lingering in our minds about nature and ecology. I was thankful that I didn’t take up engineering. Otherwise I would have ended making machines and devices locked up in a four-walled room rather than exploring and playing an important hand in conserving and nurturing God’s precious gifts. Hope another such excursion comes by in no time……………
