A band of brothers set out on such journey to proffer their deference. And I was a part of the family.

As soon as we passed by pine grove, the fragrance of pines tingle our nostrils. And there were beds of infinitesimal wild flowers for our eyes. And each tiny flower was no longer than 3-5mm in diameters. I took shots after shots until the Li-ion was totally exhausted.

We mounted a few hills. When we were surrounded by many more hills, a member of the family finally announced that this is the end of our journey.

Yes, I am hopelessly in love with the wonders and beauty of nature.

A day before, rain showered down on the valley. It had moistened the dusty roads. It had washed away all the dirt from the leaves. Finally the forest had come to life again. It flourishes with all the unfathomable colors. I looked at the emerald hills and got lost. My deep emotion corresponds equally with the beckoning of forest. I asked myself,” What am I doing here in cubicle?” I was not tied up. I was free to tramp for a day in the wilderness – under the thick canopy of trees, in the midst of ferns. So I grabbed my backpack, packed the Rain Jacket, water bottle and some indispensable stuff into it. I checked the battery status of my camera and headed out. On the way, I picked some bars of chocolates to boost the calorie. I was all set for a day.

A dash of violet accompanied me on trail or wherever I treaded. Even the skies seemed to be bathed in violet, though the dark clouds dominated the entire expanse. For four hours I walked, listen to the rhymes of brook and tried to capture the details of undergrowth. I also shrieked in fright when I heard a gunshot in the distance. The gunshot that boomed and wrecked the serenity of serene ambiance.

In the forest, day really turns to dusk quite quickly. I speed up my pace and reached the entry point in three hours. It was a good day. The weather greatly favored me, as, I was not soaked in rain from head to toe. I didn’t expect to see many birds as gun slinging predators always scare them away, so I wasn’t disappointed. It was a good day, indeed.

At the moment, the drains are still choked with polythene bags, plastic bottles, wrappers and so on. And the people (races and communities – no bar) are still hurling trash in night at somebody else’s property to keep their yard clean. Migrant laborers and traders still pee on the roadside. Cattle, dogs, pigs, cars, poultry, motor bike and beautifully attired men, women and children still roam and share the same street and market place as ever.

The dumping ground is where you’ll see the most cattle frequent as if it is some kind of bars or night-clubs. Stray dogs are not too far behind in foraging for left-over in such locus, which sometimes become an excuse for feud between dogs and cattle. As a result, Dogs often dragged the scraps from the site and scatter it all over the road. Like human, the cattle too die ultimately after consuming too much polythene bags at these night-clubs. Many a times, I saw bloated dead animals on the road. Once, my friend told me about an incident during a festival when they had extracted a whole leather bag from the sacrificed Gayal’s stomach. I thought all cattle of Ziro town would die if they keep on visiting these night-clubs with their kids. On the contrary, lately, I have observed that the numbers of stray animals have actually increased. I wonder. It’s a wonder that despite the stubborn plastic and toxic waste they could still survive. Please don’t tell me that polythene bags are “VIAGRA” for cattle.

Does anyone know that the builders also lend a helping hand in beautification of Ziro town by jettisoning unwanted pebbles and sand on the road? Moreover, the contractors would choose only a rainy day to fill the potholes with soil – making the road as muddy as swamp. Why not sand or pebbles? Why soil? It is obvious that the contractors pay less money for soil. Thus, more money in the pocket of contractors. On a romantic day when rain pours, our town resembles a town in cowboy movie. Django, if I am not mistaken. Only the horses are missing. Oops! I forgot the cattle, we can’t ride it though. Where was I… yes, on rainy day when the rainwater cannot find its way to drain because it is being clogged by god damn non-biodegradable rubbish. The rainwater rules the road. This is when you can see the myriad things floating around – PANTENE shampoo container, LAYS chip wrapper, Pepsi and Coke bottles, Manikchand Pan Masala wrapper, even discarded underwear and bra, and so on.

Some people in my hometown implore for downpour as it would wash away all the dirt from their courtyard but I always laugh at it. You can never tell what it might bring in my front yard and backyard from others. Apart from polythene bags; used-condom, medicine container, half-sleeve pullover, rum & whiskey bottle (quarter size seems to be very popular), incandescent light bulb, etc. always flow into my property. So every morning and evening, I burn incense not for religious ceremony but to keep away the appalling smell.

God bestowed abundantly on Ziro. The landscape is awesome. Emerald mountains. Blue sky. Fresh gentle wind that chill us to the marrow. Lush forest and paddy fields, which is sadly decreasing rapidly. Our forefathers understood the importance and preserve it so that one day we may also reap the benefit. Look at our hometown now – another slum in the making. Wherever you go, you’ll not miss a trail left by human being. Can you imagine a beer bottle in the middle of a jungle?

We do not have a rich cultural heritage. Ask yourself – What sort of cultural heritage are you going to bequeath to your offspring? Poly vinyl culture? The offspring will not dig the earth to bury our dead bodies. Instead they’ll be sorting out the heaps of plastic from soil and they’ll say, “Look. What I’ve found, CD!”  It is not too comforting to think of lying down with potato chips wrapper next to you in deathbed and kissing nappy pads. Isn’t it?

Most people I talked to regarding civic duties and poly bags, they say that the authorities and civil society have to initiate a program. Washing hands of sordid task, huh? For god’s sake, they alone are not littering the whole town. On the other, the authorities would say that the public have to cooperate. Washing hands again. Too much washing is not good. It’ll make the hand dry and creased. As a matter of fact, the common people don’t give a damn and so are the authorities. No need to waste your valuable time in pondering over how the layer of plastic has piled up. There is already a ban on poly bags at Ziro. It is just that the authorities do not monitor the violation and the public cannot say “NO” to poly bags as they are so used to it.  They would even get enrage if the shopkeeper don’t hand them the stuff in poly bags. Great!

If a tourist of foreign origin can respect our motherland by adhering themselves to the civic responsibilities of their country, then why we are so incline in maligning it. Or are we waiting for somebody extra-terrestrial beings to do our job. Dream on! Keep laughing.

Once I asked my students, what they do with the poly bags in their house. How they get rid of it. “We burn them”, they told me. Quite logical. What alternatives do we have besides burning them? There’s no recycle plant. Rag pickers would take any scrap of metal without our permission, yet they would never touch the plastic even if I offer remuneration. Bloody stubborn plastics. So I told them that it is alright to buy things that come in plastic package but not to accept extra poly bags from shop. Hence, beginning of my cause – the “GREEN CLASS”.

So far I had conducted only five classes with seven standard students – one class in a week. And they are extremely enthusiastic about it. Now they are asking me to conduct additional classes. Since their summative exams are approaching very near, I have had to express my disapproval every time they plead for Green Class. I am happy; my students are supporting me at least. Now I realized that I was knocking at the wrong door.

Dedicated to the people who missed their chance to visit Ziro, and the color ‘green’.

All Photographs copyrighted to the author.

The press release states that coinciding with the ‘International Day of Actions against Dams, and for Rivers, Water and Life‘ on March 14^th, the Idu Mishmi Cultural and Literary Society (IMCLS) and All Idu Mishmi Students’ Union (AIMSU) demands declaration of Dibang Valley as Ecologically Sensitive Zone according to the provision under Section 3 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986 similar to Aravalli Hills where mining is banned; and in line with that they have demanded banning of construction of Mega Projects such as Dams in the region and to declare Dibang Valley as ‘No Dam Zone‘.

In an open letter to Prime Minister (reproduced below) they have asked the government to stop the cruel circus of development in the name of national interest of which they have little understanding and which do not evoke interests in them considering the impact it would have on the Idu Mishmi community.

(Click on the image for larger view)

They’ve further prepared a case for declaring Dibang Valley as ‘No Dam Zone’ under the provisions of Environment Protection Act, 1986. Find the case here.

Read related story on The Telegraph

“No wonder,” one Arunachalee student of Delhi University said. “Ours is a land of hunters. To expect of birds-even rats and snakes are not spared.”

The old folks of Yazali, Yachuli and Ziro, however, felt that the area is still quite rich in bird populations. Sight of birds in roadside and jhum or cultivated area depends on the different times of day and the different seasons of year. They also acknowledged having spotted almost all the bird species mentioned and illustrated in the Salim Ali’s ‘FIELD GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF THE EASTERN HIMALAYAS’ in the area, though not all of them have local names. They also agreed upon the fact that the numbers of various bird populations are dwindling due to hunting or may also be due to addition of more and more of forest land under cultivation area.

The bird populations, frequented in vicinity of cultivated area, are different species of pigeons, wagtails, kites, hawks, eagles, kingfishers, hoopoes, owls, hornbills, jungle fowls etc. A good number of migratory birds also visit this area. The birds such as heron, ducks, cranes and others used this area, especially the Ziro valley, as a stop over for their long journey from Siberia or Tibet to the plains of India and back. This author is told that some species of the migratory birds (also known as game birds) are conspicuously missing since last four – five years. “Now they seemed to have changed their path for the fear of hunters,” Said one bird lover.

Hunting is quite popular in the area, particularly in Ziro valley. Ring road in Ziro has served at least one purpose- easy access to otherwise undisturbed wooded forest some four years ago. Today one sees hunters roaming about here with improvised guns, round the clock, and hunting whatever they see on their way- deer, monkey, birds and so on. Birds being the most easily visible prey are the soft target.

In fact hunting is a popular sport of the people of Arunachal. Along with illiterate and uneducated villagers, government officials and public leaders with improvised guns have joined the race. Such a culprit has been booked and punished elsewhere in the world but the law enforcing agencies of the state are, to some extent, blind to such activities.

“What a rubbish!” said an old man from Hari village when this author told him that the killing of birds such as hoopoe, hornbill etc., which are the threatened species, is offence against the law. “If birds are not to be hunted and relished, what is it for?” He is an illiterate lot. He is not aware of what we were taught in our schools; that every living organism has their own role in an ecosystem.

In fact birds are benefactor of man in many ways. They exercise a very important role of biological control. The birds such as flycatcher, hoopoe, woodpecker and others (in fact most of the birds) control the population of insect pests by feeding on them. In their absence, these pests would multiply in numbers and cause havoc to our commercial trees and crops. We can imagine how devastating these pests could be from the fact that when locusts move on in swarms, extending many kilometres, devour anything of grasses and leaves that come their way. Some birds known as the birds of prey such as owl, hawk eagle etc., kill and devour thousands of field mice, rats, ground squirrel etc., which are menace to our agricultural crops. Besides, they are an important agent of seed dispersal and thus conserve the forest. The man did not plant those huge trees of the woods; it is the birds, wild animals and some natural agents that did it. The bird that feeds on fruits of the tree also engulfs their seeds which come out with their droppings in some distant places and sprout out into seedlings.

Needles to mention, birds enhance the natural beauties of the area.

Moreover, in these days of eco-tourism, Arunachal Pradesh has huge potential to become its destination and bird watching and bird hunting (with cameras not with guns) are very much the part of the eco-tourists. Once we stop killing birds for our pleasure, restore their habitat and they are coming back in good numbers, we will be able to attract many such tourists, especially the foreign tourists, which will boost the tourism industry of the state.

Do we need to think twice before shouldering our responsibility? Let us save and protect our feathered friends. Hunting surely is an exciting sport. What a noble idea it would be to hunt birds and wild animals with cameras in place of guns!