Saving the Stripes- When a live tiger becomes more valuable than its carcass!
Published April 7, 2010 | 
Tiger conservation in Kerala needs much more concerted efforts and a strong will to make sure that the national animal of India roar again in the jungles! It can happen only when a live tiger becomes far more precious than its carcass. It goes without saying that a massive project of this dimension can succeed only with the participation of the wild life department , NGOs, the forest staff, villagers and the tribals. Monetary benefit and tiger protection can be linked together to make it a lucrative affair for the landless tribals, who depend on the forests for their livelihood. The general public should be educated about the long term benefits of tiger conservation including better tourism prospects and employment scope.
The forest staff should be provided with better security gadgets and the latest weapons to deal with the poachers. Harsh punishments and hefty fines should be imposed on those who dare to kill wild animals so that it could prove a deterrent to the others. Bonus and pension plans of forest staff could be made relational to the improved tiger population during their tenure.
The tribal families who live along the periphery of the periyar tiger reserves should be provided jobs , housing and free education facilities to sustain their interest in tiger conservation and to make it financially viable for them . Preserving the bio diversity is the simplest and the most natural means to increase the tiger population and to minimise the man – animal conflicts. Probably the most important reason of all would be that our commitment to ensure our children and grand children the thrilling experience of beholding this wonderful animals in the wild! The count down has started and being an Indian, everyone of us should make sure that the body parts of our national animal never change hands again to be put up for sale in the road side markets of China and Vietnam!
The Tiger trails continue…..
Published March 18, 2010 | 
To ensure the survival of tigers in the wild, the Kerala State and Indian Government should make stringent laws and punishment that would be deterrent to the wrong doers. Though the recent amendments have provision for as much as 75 lakh fine and 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for killing a tiger, many loop holes in the law still exist! Many countries like Siberia have very strict laws where a person can be jailed for even cutting trees that form part of the habitat of the Siberian Tigers!
Well experienced and armed forest guards should be employed and the green cover should be enhanced by planting more trees and clearing off the illegal human settlements. Unlike elephants, which travel long distances in search of food and water, tigers do not like to wander long distances. So a regular food supply needs to be ensured to make sure that the tiger makes it through the lean patch. It is reclusive and solitary and normally like to live near dark and dingy caves and cliffs close to the water bodies.
Ordinary people like you and me can do many things to save this animal. In case you happen to live in the hill stations , amidst plantations or along the periphery of the tiger reserves, chances are that you get a chance to meet eye to eye with this creature. If it is devouring your cattle, it is because his natural food supply chain is cut due to the insensitive human behaviour. If you spot a tiger lurking in your backyard, do not harm it – Be responsible in your actions and inform the matter to the wild life officials, who will ensure its safe release to its home back in the wild.
We should spread awareness among the local community including schools to make sure that the urgency of the matter gets maximum coverage. If you know any habitual wild life offenders or poachers in your area, bring the matter to the attention of the wild life officials.
A mass conservation drive is the need of the hour where every single effort counts. Like the many drops that make a mighty ocean, our small tasks would make a quality change in the wild life richness of India that comprises of not just the tigers but all wild animals. Let us join our hands to ensure the survival of these beautiful creations of our ancient land, India well known for it non violence and peace loving credentials.
We at Karmakerala have decided to keep aside a space in our blog to follow the pug marks of this beautiful animal and with every new pug mark in the muddy tracks of the deep jungles, we can be rest assured that India is one step closer to the mission- to save the ultimate predator of the wild- The Great Indian Tiger!
Tiger tales- A follow up
Published March 3, 2010 | 
This is a run through of the earlier tiger blogs posted a few days back by our team at Karmakerala to express the anguish , concern and the frustration at the way things were shaping up in the Tiger conservation front. India has been the home of this majestic animal since time immemorial when these animals always coexisted with the humans, where neither the man or the tiger felt threatened. In those days, a strong respect and fear existed between the man and the beast, which prevented man from venturing into the tiger territory in the wild and vice versa.
However, as man became more ‘progressive’, he got access to some of the most lethal weapons, which unfortunately were put to use for poaching- Killing animals for sheer pleasure.:( The kings and the nobles had a passion to deck up the walls with trophies of the slain animals and their palace floors with tiger skin carpets! As time passed by, things got only worse and now these hapless creatures are being slaughtered for their body parts including claw, nails and teeth, which are widely used in Chinese medicine and are thought to have aphrodisiac properties ( No scientific proof is available to back this claim, which could be pointers to the fact that these are nothing but SCAMS!!) Ironically the Chinese calender is observing the year of the tiger in 2010!
Tiger is basically a very shy and reclusive animal, which prefer solitude and they will NEVER attack humans unless it is threatened. ‘The man eaters of Sunderbans’ is a misnomer considering the fact that they do not eat and kill humans. Nonetheless, if their regular source of food including the herbivores down the food chain like the wild buffalo, deer and boar are in short supply and their natural habitat gets smaller by the day due to the greed of man, it is quite natural for them to turn their gaze to the domestic animals and even man. Tigers normally have only 1-2 cubs in a litter and the infant mortality is very high, making the survival chances really bleak. The new born tiger cubs face threats from even smaller predators like hyena and only a fraction of them make it to their adulthood. So, as responsible citizens of India, it becomes our duty to ensure the safety and survival of these majestic animals, which has graced the glossy pages of Indian tourist brochures for eons of years!
Looks like there is some hope left for the 1411 Tigers remaining!
Published February 22, 2010 | The inauguration of the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve at Anappadi in Palakkad district on 20th February is some glad news for those who have been striving to make a difference and voice their opinion in the “Save Our Tigers” campaign launched by Aircel.
Well now, this shows that Kerala does really care and is solid proof as to how the people of Kerala do feel about this sensitive issue. “Action speaks louder than words “and yes, this venture does call for a lot of appreciation.
It was only recently that the dwindling Tiger population of the country caught the common man’s attention and it was not until Aircel launched their campaign that people began to voice their opinion. But as it is “Better late than Never”, it looks like people are beginning to feel the sting of it and doing all what they can to help save these beasts from mining, poaching and other operations by real estate mafia.
In his inaugural address, Union minister of state for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh said
“The extinction of Tigers is because there is a real-estate mafia, mining mafia and there is a crime syndication which wants to finish-off all Tigers and lay claim to the forest land and that is the real danger. The danger is not just to Tigers but it is to the forest land itself,”
Formerly known as Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, today, this reserve contains 20 out of the 1411 tigers remaining. The Tiger Reserve is the 38th in India and the 2nd in Kerala.
It is a harsh reality that out of the 40, 000 tigers estimated to be in India at the beginning of the 20th century, only around 1400 remain. An even more sad fact projected is that one tiger per day is dying!
The questions -”How did this happen?Where have they gone?” brings in multiple answers-all unsatisfactory! But what we, as citizens of India can do, is to do our best in trying to protect the ones that are remaining!
The Tiger – A magnificent animal needs your help!
Published February 17, 2010 | 
The country is being urged to support the magnificent tiger our national animal which is now just 1411 in number. A dismal number when once the jungles of India were full of them, sending shivers down a human’s spine if he were to go to the jungle for firewood.
Yes the Tiger was the lord of the jungle and the fear kept humans away from the forests. The beautiful, ferocious animal was in fact helping to conserve nature from human encroachment – one of nature’s own conservationists!
But we are to blame, human encroachment led to tigers being called man-eaters. In the book “Man-eaters of Kumaon” Jim Corbett had this to say about the tiger -
Human beings are not the natural prey of tigers, and it is only when tigers have been incapacitated through wounds or old age that, in order to survive, they are compelled to take to a diet of human flesh.
A tiger on a fresh kill, or a wounded tiger, or a tigress with small cubs, will occasionally kill human beings who disturb them; but these tigers cannot, by any stretch of imagination, be called man-eaters,though they are often so called.
Like always ignorance, fear and superstition in our minds have been the cause for the tiger being endangered today.
Last year I had the chance to see a magnificent Bengal tiger in a zoo in Malaysia. There were no cages, it was an enclosure with a pond and a few trees, and a moat to prevent the tiger from getting at the visitors. While all animals there seemed to have lost their spirit and seemed tame, the tiger was definitely a wild one- he kept pacing up and down making growls. He was a sight to behold, all other animals paled in comparison including the lazy African lion.
From the Shere Khan of Jungle Book by Kipling to being the pet of Lord Ayyappa in Kerala, the tiger has always been a fascination to us all. The Tiger is our national animal because it is a great symbol of India’s glorious past.
Every state in the country except Gujarat has a tiger reserve and the government is today making a change in this. Join the cause, do your bit, blog, Tweet or join clubs to help save the tiger. We cannot let such a beautiful animal, so much a part of our history and national identity, go extinct!
Sabarimala – The centre of faith and devotion
Published November 21, 2009 | Like every year the doors of the famous temple Sabarimala were once again open for two months for the pilgrims. Being a devotee of Lord Ayyappa I was also one among those millions of pilgrims waiting to get a glimpse of Lord Ayyappa. The temple gets thronged with devotees especially during the main pilgrim season from November to January. Mandalapooja(Nov.17th)and Makaravilakku(Jan.14th) the two main events of the pilgrim season. The temple remains closed during the rest of the year except for the first five days of every Malayalam month and during Vishu (April).
Throughout the route to pamba we spotted hundreds of pilgrims marching ahead to their destination ‘Sabarimala‘. After reaching ‘Pamba’ ( the third longest river in the South Indian state of Kerala and considered as the Dakshin Ganga due to its association with the pilgrim centre – Sabarimala) I was much pleased, the way the authorities have cleared up the banks and made ample space for the pilgrims to take the holy dip in Pamba.
After taking the holy dip in ‘Pamba,’ we marched towards the Pamba Ganapathy temple, we started our journey bare footed with Irumudi Kettu (Irumudi is the only travelling kit which a pilgrim carries on his head during the pilgrimage) on our heads toward the hilltop Sabrimala shrine. Metal detector and scanning machines were installed to keep a vigil. Thousands of devotees were marching up chanting ‘Swamiye Ayyappa’ ‘Ayyappa Swamiye’. Even the arrangements seemed quite perfect this year with many commendable works by the dewasom.
Glimpse of the development this year :
- Construction of new Cardiology Centre.
- Broadening of pathways
- Concreting the pathways
- Building up new barricades on the way
- More resting shelters on the way to the shrine.
- Medicated water stalls for devotees
Many temporary restaurants and tea stalls were there on both sides of the pathway. We all were moving on chanting the name of Lord Ayyappa, and suddenly the climate changed,and it was rain all over. Soon we moved on to those resting sheds constructed this year, again we started our journey towards the shrine after the rain.
Walking for an hour more we finally reached the ‘Nadapanthal’ where devotees were queued waiting for making it to the 18 holy steps. All along the journey I found more devotees from Tamil Nadu, Andra Pradesh and Karnataka rather than Kerala and few foreign nationals were also there stating how popular Sabarimala is. As one steps on those holy eighteen steps, a full throated cry goes up from the devotees, “Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa!” It is the realisation of a mission. Policemen were deployed all around. After few struggle we managed to those 18 steps (Pathinettu padi) made up of pure gold, where policemen were standing on both side of those 18 holy steps pulling up devotees quickly.
Actual Timings during the Mandala Pooja – Makaravilakku Season
Opens at 0400 hrs 0400 hrs
Nirmalya Darshanam 0405 hrs 0405 hrs
Neyyabhishekam 0430 – 1130 hrs 0425 -1130 hrs
Ganapathi Homam 0435 hrs 0430 hrs
Usha Pooja 0730 hrs 0730 hrs
Ucha (Noon) Pooja 1230 hrs 1300 hrs
Closes at 1300 hrs 1330 hrs
Opens at 1600 hrs 1600 hrs
Deeparadhana 1830 hrs 1830 hrs
Pushpabhishekham 1900 hrs 1900 hrs
Athaza Pooja 2230 hrs 2230 hrs
Harivarasanam and Closing at 2250 to 2300 2250 to 2300 hrs
My eyes were taken by surprise to see such a massive turn out of devotees, the Lord Ayyappan temple (Sreekovil) was glittering with gold all over it, from roof top to pillars and doors all made of pure gold. In the sannidhanam there is a shrine of Lord Ganapati which is also recently platted with gold facing to the south-west of the main temple, known as Kannimula Ganapati. The special offering to this deity is Ganapati homam.
After worshiping the two deities, we moved to our camp. Though it was 10 pm but the buzz and enthusiasm of the pilgrims made me to realise that its nothing other than Gods blessing which keeps those pilgrims active even after walking for hours bare footed.
Next was to buy the prasadam, the queue for arvana was really long with devotees waiting to make it to the counter. I felt the lazy approach in the arrangements made by the police, as many devotees jumped the queue to buy the prasadam. After an hour we got the arvana payasam (prasadam of Lord Ayyappa).
Next morning we woke up early to take the holy dip in the ‘Bhasma Kulam’(About a 100 metres away is the shrine of Malikappurathamma. where hundreds of devotees takes holy bath in memory of the tapaswini Sabari who entered a fire to end her mortal life. It is after her that the peak is named Sabarimala). After taking the holy dip we started our journey back to pamba, while descending on the route we saw tall trees standing dead straight appearing like skyscraper. We spotted many ‘Doli’(Palanquin) carrying old aged and disabled devotees. I appreciate the efforts by those palanquin carriers who carry pilgrims on those hilly terrains.
Being the first day of Mandalamasam there was huge rush of devotees. After reaching pamba, again we took a holy dip refreshing ourselves from the fatigue of descending down the hill. With the first dip in water something brushed my feet, it was a mundu – Many devotees abandon their mundu after taking the holy dip on their way back.
In order to avoid any traffic congestion heavy vehicles were not allowed to be parked in the parking lot near pamba. So we opted for a public transport towards Nilackal (An important Temple enroute to Sabarimala and located between Plappally and Pampa) an intermediate halting area with ample parking facilities distributed separatley as per states, like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andra Pradesh. This year lot more parking area was allotted, from there I boarded my bus and started my return journey with the hope to come back again next year, with more fervor and devotion. “Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa”.
Barn Owls in Cochin
Published November 16, 2009 | Barn owls are, the world over, highly endangered. Their secretive and shy character makes the encroaching of humans especially problematic. Being shy, they are rarely seen and all the more valuable. The recession is also threatening them as they figure in a ritual sacrifice whose sacrificiants believe will make them more prosperous. The Kerala forestry service has reported a number of cases where smugglers have offered barn owls for sale for prices as high as 1.5 lakh (£2000) per bird. Buyers will sacrifice them and use the body parts.
All of which seemed pretty remote to us until the recent bad weather revealed the existence of a nest of 5 chicks in our roof space in the Tharavad south of Cochin. The bad weather had disturbed them and the nest. One of the chicks was killed, but the other four survived. With the nest destroyed and the parents away we decided that they needed some tender loving care to rear them adulthood. We called the Forestry service who drove up full of excitement and are now rearing them. They were also deeply grateful that we had not sold them - “good, good people”.
This was also the first we had heard of the threat to them from black magicians. Rediff carried a story in June on the case: http://www.rediff.com/news/2009/jun/24can-an-owl-in-kerala-ward-off-recession.htm
Hopefully our birds will grow to be magnificent adults and perhaps with some luck they will return to our house and start another brood. Below are some pictures of them:
