Back to basics. Wilderness first aid is about paying it forward.

August 29, 2016August 30, 2016 ~ Lalitha Krishnan ~ 1 Comment

I have in my possession two little cards that slide into my wallet that qualify me to administer CPR and first aid. These will stay put, unseen for another two years, till I do a refresher. It’s nothing to crow about but I silently feel empowered with life-saving skills.

I live in the hills where like anywhere else, emergencies are aplenty but opportunities like this course, rare and far in between. When Hanifl Centre for Outdoor Education in partnership with Aerie Backcountry medicine offered this course, I enrolled immediately.

“Do no harm.”

Wilderness First Aid (WFA) makes sense because of where I am. It would make as much sense in an urban setting. The difference as far as I can see is the high-caliber of the course for a reasonable price. The idea, I think, is to make it affordable for everyone – paying it forward right there. The other huge advantage of this wilderness first aid training is that it teaches you to be resourceful. To make do with what you have or what is around you, in order to prevent serious injuries from potentially becoming deadly. I especially like the emphasis on “do no harm” while doing good!

Unlike first aid courses often held in air-conditioned conference rooms, this one also exposes you to the elements, where scenarios, complete with blood* and gore, make it scary-real. It’s also a very interactive course (with many light moments thrown in) that builds confidence to go solo and work as a team. What really sticks is the creative use of the body as a teaching aid and unconventional props.

Hanifl Centre has trained 370 people in small batches across India, in 1 1/2 years including professionals from the outdoor/tourism industry, corporate world, housewives, university students, and teachers. I would highly recommend it. Take it forward. Share.

Write to info@haniflcentre to know more.

*Realistic makeup

My hometown south of the Himalayas is fading fast.

April 14, 2016January 21, 2017 ~ Lalitha Krishnan ~ Leave a comment

Kaithamukku, the town of my childhood is in Kerala. It’s the place where my mother and her whole tharvad of siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles and numerous grand old relatives grew up under one roof. We used to make the two and a half day’s journey there every summer, travelling in a non-air conditioned train carrying games, homemade delicacies, and bulky canvas bedding. The little that is left of my mother’s world includes two ancient Ayurvedic shops. Read the whole story here:

https://maptia.com/lalitha_krishnan/stories/sos-hometown-fading-fast

Tigress, Tigress Burning Bright

February 14, 2016March 16, 2016 ~ Lalitha Krishnan ~ 4 Comments

William Blake knew what he was talking about when he penned his poem, The Tiger. I saw this beautiful tigress scent her territory in Corbett, seemingly unperturbed by jeep loads of tourists capturing her every move. It was around 3-4pm , her coat looked like it was aflame in the dappled light. She confidently strolled ahead of us scenting every tree – letting us know we were trespassing.

Watch her on my You Tube channel:

The Tiger by William Blake.

TIGER, tiger, burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder and what art

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand and what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? What dread grasp

Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,

And water’d heaven with their tears,

Did He smile His work to see?

Did He who made the lamb make thee?

Tiger, tiger, burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

When Street Dogs Attack Wildlife

January 21, 2016November 6, 2017 ~ Lalitha Krishnan ~ Leave a comment

I was out with friends in the Little Rann of Kutch on 18th Jan 2016, exploring the sanctuary for Asiatic wild asses and birds, when we came across this beautiful lone Nilgai (Indian Antelope) standing perfectly still. It was a great photo-op. As I zoomed in I noticed its eyes were focused at a point somewhere behind us. Thinking it odd, we took our shots and moved on. Before we knew it the Nilgai turned around and started sprinting away with two dogs in hot pursuit. Very soon a third dog joined the hunt. The chase continued for a quite a while. The antelope was tiring but the dogs looked like they would go on forever. As much as I love dogs, I mentally rooted for the Nilgai.We didn’t quite expect to see wild dogs or a hunt. I did a second take when I realized these were strays. The sanctuary fringes a village. Never before have I seen strays attack wildlife. There was nothing friendly or domestic about these dogs. They were plain wild. There was something wrong with the whole scenario. It wasn’t the same as watching a wild animal hunting another wild animal!

We kept our eyes on the animals till they disappeared from sight. What happened to the Nilgai? I’ll never know but I’m beginning to think something more needs to be done with managing strays. The incidents of humans being attacked by strays are multiplying. Now they seem to have found new hunting grounds.

Watch the chase here on YouTube: Street Dogs Chase Wild Nilgai

Himalayan Cuckoo Atop A Deodar

May 17, 2015February 6, 2017 ~ Lalitha Krishnan ~ Leave a comment

This beautiful cuckoo graced the deodar outside for just a few minutes. The call was a distinct giveaway but I wasn’t fast enough to capture it. The video and stills were shot through a glass door so they’re not very sharp.

Watch my video:http://youtu.be/2j56MpEaimc

: Himalayan_Cuckoo_atop_a_Himalayan_Cedar

: #HimalayanCuckoo(Cuculus saturatus)

Related sites: Click on the link to hear cuckoo calls: Via xeno_cantohttp://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Cuculus-saturatus

Via wiki:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalayan_cuckoo

Hippotion Celerio Hawk-Moth. Nocturnal Visitor In My Garden

May 13, 2015February 6, 2017 ~ Lalitha Krishnan ~ Leave a comment

At sundown a few evenings ago, I saw what I thought were two bees around my flower pots. They were still there an hour later. On taking a closer look I realised there were moths, though quite different from the hawk moth that I was familiar with. I took the camera out in time to get a few shots before nightfall. It wasn’t easy as these moths were flitting around like they couldn’t make up their minds; barely hovering over a flower for a second or so. Peter Smetacek, a lepidopterist-friend, helped me id the moths. Peter is one of India’s experts when it comes to butterflies and moths and has got a whole lot of us “infected” as he says, with his passion for the flutterby.

The Hippotion Celerio is also called the Vine hawk moth or Silver striped Hawk moth. With summer flowers blooming, I hope I get to see more of the Sphingidae family.

Read more about Hawk Moths and Peter via Woodstock School:http://www.woodstockschool.in/hovers-like-a-hummingbird-looks-like-a-bee/

Related article on the Vine moth via wiki:.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippotion_celerio

Here's another Hawk moth — Here’s another Hawk moth

#Hawk-moth — Are moths attracted to shades of pink and purple?

How a visit to an obscure Himalayan village proved that my street knowledge of villagers is all wrong

September 4, 2014February 6, 2017 ~ Lalitha Krishnan ~ 1 Comment

'Himalayan' Buffalo — ‘Himalayan’ Buffalo

In fact, it’s all blah. I was invited to Dunda village (Uttarakhand, India) by a colleague who heads ‘Community Engagement’ through the school I work for. These service projects, a collaboration between a hospital, an NGO and my school is a mutually beneficial arrangement between villages and us; mostly, providing opportunities to our students; exposing and sensitizing them to village life, actively engaging them in bringing about change, and hopefully impacting them for life.

Most of these projects are student-driven. They are instrumental in replacing destroyed irrigation systems, roofs, in some cases, houses and providing employment. Besides providing training in revival of more eco-friendly farming, animal husbandry, poultry farming, construction techniques and use of poly houses, building a brand new primary school, creating sand-based water filters and benefiting lives in other small ways. But this post isn’t what is being done and planned for the village but it’s about my undoing!

The familiarization trip in a glossed-over-by-rain landscape was a great out of office experience. The sound of gushing waterfalls and paddy fields were a sight for sore eyes. In spite of all the green cover we could see where last year’s landslides had covered up fields with rocks and rubble, devastated irrigation channels overnight destroyed the livelihood of several villagers.

I always thought it was impossible to get two neighbouring villages to agree on anything.

There were 2 villages gathered under one roof that day, representing around 75 families. Though voicing their concerns rather rambunctiously at first, they simmered down to discussing and making decisions on their own.

An alcove originally used for oil lamps in an himalayan village-home — An alcove originally used for oil lamps in a Himalayan village-home

I believed a woman has no voice in an Indian village

The head of the village/gram pradan who is a young woman chaired the meeting while lots of other women attended. They are no less vocal than their menfolk. I found out just how hard their lives are; even basic necessities like sanitary napkins are beyond their reach, making it almost impossible to venture too far from home when they’re menstruating. Plans are on to teach them to make low-cost yet hygienic and eco-friendly sanitary napkins. The younger girls, like all young girls, aspire for more. “English-coaching” and tailoring skills are part of their bucket list.

I was of the opinion that the ‘caste system’ in villages is set in stone

What really made me sit up and take notice was the fact that these villagers whose lives are steeped and driven by caste equations were nonchalantly nodding their heads in agreement when it came to the ‘right’ to education. They promised us that the new primary school would be open to any child from Dunda and the neighbouring villages.

Was it the collaboration between the facilitators that in turn triggered the collaboration between the villagers? I will never know for sure but it was rather unexpected to see them take a common stand. Perhaps once in a while one needs to visit a village to look at life afresh.