Junabai, Rains, Patience & School of Tadoba!

 

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 “The two hardest tests on the spiritual road are the patience to wait for the right moment and the courage not to be disappointed with what we encounter.”

― Paulo Coelho

“Trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.”
― Moliere

"A tiger doesn't lose sleep over the opinion of sheep." — Chinese proverb

“I have observed a tiger a hundred times & along with the excitement, every single time I have learned something new by observing it’… Me

No need to introduce the writer of the first quote as he is probably the most talked about in our genre (Gen X i.e. forty plus in 2026) though many think he is overhyped but ok. Moliere is a French thinker & Chinese proverbs themselves are a book when depth is the aspect & then my own outcome of these people & the experience I had recently! Yes, it’s in tadoba & about tiger but then of late for me forest is lot more than clicking photos of tigers (well, it is indeed important aspect in some way) but it’s about studying the way this animal is adopting with changing circumstances & trust me, it has helped me a lot to adopt myself in right way, in the concrete jungle of ours! And then this was peak monsoon trip though this year rains have been very less in Tadoba region, the day we entered in tadoba rains started & didn’t stop till we left & frankly I don’t like rains in forest, yet they are very much important for the forests is a fact! We have chosen Madnapur gate, especially for Junabai & her cubs in Madnapur range & with the kind of rains I knew the chances are pretty less yet when in forest, just keep fingers crossed (read as patience). And we were to visit Keslaghat gate also, which I haven’t visited as well, forest in monsoons look totally different in Tadoba! As well there was training also of buffer guides about which I have already shared. The day we entered in tadoba it was warm-sunny & on first safari in morning, our guide said, “sir, is saal monsoon safari ki jagaha summer safari jaisa lag raha hai” i.e. sir, this year’s monsoon safaris are giving feel of summer safaris, such is the less rainfall. And the rain god must have heard his words, from the very noon, the typical tadoba rains started & it was pouring till we left tadoba! If they washed away our chances of Junabai & cubs, yet they gave us some wonderful landscapes of tadoba & yes, the patience lesson!

Junabai is a veteran tigress of buffers of madanapur which is exterior part of Kolara core area & some part of Kolsa also. She is around for nearly a decade & I have already covered her in Super Moms of tadoba & though she is a buffer zone tigress where deer & such prey base is less yet she has very rarely killed cattle, is her speciality. At the same time, she is known to move around humans without bothering them but this time she has four cubs of ten months to manage & feed & it’s a tough job. This is a very vulnerable age of cubs & two of them are male, which means their size is bigger already & to keep all of them in discipline is a tough job for any mom, even a veteran like Junabai! Though on one rain-soaked morning safari we saw Junabai along with her cubs yet when we came to know she has killed a stag spotted deer & kept on a bund near entrance, & alongside of road we were thrilled, thinking she will definitely be getting her cubs here as she can’t drag such big kill for long & cubs are big enough to bring them to kill. So, we entered first at noon safari & waited near kill. Now have a look at this situation, we were on the main road, on the left side of the road, its foliage of shrubs & slope ascends up in the form of a hill. On the right side of the road there is one trail used by villagers & their cattle towards the lake & beyond this trail there is a bund on which kill was laying. We were told that Junabai has killed the stag (few said it’s already been killed by domestic dogs, which I found difficult to believe) in morning by 9 am, & has ate very little & gone to get her cubs at the kill, & has returned & is resting in the thickset on our left-hand side with cubs. The kill seems intact & the family must be hungry & kill was in the open & waiting, so all we thought is, it's just a matter of time for the tigers to come on the kill & start feasting, but I underestimated Junabai!

I forgot, Junabai is a tigress who has lived around humans more than a decade & she won’t take chances with humans especially, when she has four teenage cubs (analogy is same when compared with human kids) to manage. As the lake is frequently inhabited by residents of the village nearby, we also could hear their voices & their cattle’s. It was five pm now & the cattle along with villagers started to get out of the forest very slowly, testing our patience, as now I was sure unless every single of them leaves the area, Junabai won’t come out on the kill. It was six pm & she was in shrubs looking at us & the villagers & their cattle but not coming out. It was now past 6 pm & end of our safari time still no Junabai on kill & I know why she has been so successful in surviving even living along with humans, patience for right timing & this is what she was teaching to her cubs also. Imagine the tigress was hunting entire yesterday as I have seen her running behind a hare (jungle rabbit) showing her desperation for hunger & she has made this kill in the morning & so it’s nearly 30 odd hours with empty stomach & yet here she is, silently waiting till the humans move away from her zone. As Junabai knows, with kill so close to path of humans & their domestic animals, five tigers feasting in open would have created mayhem & her cubs would have got distracted with movement of cattle & their guarding dogs & anything could have gone wrong causing confrontation with humans, means danger for her & cubs, instead she chose the right path i.e. patience! I knew only after darkness fell & we also left, she would come to kill & feed her cubs, though she wasn’t having any issue with tourists in the gypsy but villagers & their animals she didn’t want to take chance with. Next day morning, we came back at 6 am, & as I expected the kill was gone, a lone cub was sitting on the very same place where last evening the kill was laying & its siblings were playing in the grass behind & Junabai was peacefully resting in the shrubs on the same side of road where she was last evening but definitely with full stomach now! Again, the morning ritual of villages with their cattle started going inside the forest from the same trail but now the cubs were well fed & in the grass away from the trail & I saw Junabai looking at my camera lens from the bushes she was sitting (hiding) in! What’s more important, she has avoided the temptation also to attack any cattle which was passing just at paw’s (read as hand’s) distance from her, even on an earlier day when she was hungry!  As killing cattle means war with humans, & though around tadoba there are tigers like Cm & Mama who do kill cattle, yet for a mother of four cubs its risk as usually the cubs will also start chasing cattle if they see their mom killing the cattle. But Junabai is getting old & soon she will have to kill cattle for survival as killing a deer or wild boar needs a lot more energy & strength than killing a domestic animal, yet she is wise (and tough enough) to prolong cattle killing for survival! Junabai has given me (once more) the lesson of patience & controlling temptation in the forest & its importance for survival! I love watching movies & in one such named Karate Kid (Jacky Chan one) where his pupil asks him, which is the best fight, on that Jacky replies, the one which you can avoid! Today Junabai has given me the living example of this quote by keeping patience & avoiding a probable fight with humans, this is how tadoba’s tigers also have learned coexistence. We do know, to sight a tiger you need patience but even a tiger has to keep patience if it wants to survive, I have seen living example of it! At the same time, I admired the courage of villagers also, who know a tiger is sitting right in the vicinity of ten feet from where they walk every day but they respect tiger’s privacy & they believe in tiger’s patience & control on temptation! So much to learn from this, and look at us, we Punekar’s who don’t wait to turn the red signal green & jump it endangering our own as well other’s lives! This is why I love forest & tadoba more with every hour spent here!

If this was about patience lessons in the forest then rest safaris was eyeful joy & with tormenting rain accompanying all the time, the forest was at its wildest best! I have never been to keshlaghat gate, which is on other side of Kolara & the forest is green with thick vegetation, something you don’t get to experience much in tadoba habitat. With nonstop rains all the water bodies, streams were flowing full & everywhere the music of water was on background. There is a myth about no tiger sightings during rains & this is the reason many gates were having very less tourist flow. This is something which forest dept must do about as online booking shows full but on gates like Somnath, Pangdi & keshlaghat, there were hardly two or three vehicles actually entering in the park. And if someone directly comes to the gate at such a time that tourists aren't allowed to book the available gypsy, I think with the help of technology we must tackle this issue. As why waste safaris & more importantly can’t the gate take online booking via connectivity with head office, surely it will be a great help for on-gate tourists & empty hands of guides & gypsy driver’s waiting at gates, right? About sightings of tigers in rains, they don’t mind much about rain as hunting doesn’t stop in rains as well territory marking also but only if there is a bug break or gap in rain or else there is no point in making markings in the rains as it gets easily washed away wasting time & energy! So, do mind this aspect while monsoon safaris as well when at kill tiger need water post meal but in rains water bodies are available everywhere so the tiger doesn’t need to come in open for cooling in water after meal, is one more reason of lesser sightings during rains!

At keshlaghat we were accompanied by a young guide Atish & driver Vijay, who were a bit shy at start as they thought we were to see a tiger (as usual) & tiger sighting was a bit low presently (which we knew)! But as we started moving in the forest & they knew we undertook training of guides also then they were enthu & started showing us places like local god (bhibhishan) & traditions followed around. They were thrilled when Vinod (bartakke) asked them to stop at a wildflower plant named Agnishikha, a beautiful flower which has tips of petal red & lighter colour down. This I have only seen in photographs, incidentally there is a postal stamp of this flower & waiting to admire this flower, we saw a pair of spotted owlets, again a reminder, when you stop at any place & remain silent then many hidden things in the forest you can see! Atish & Vijay, were overwhelmed as even without sighting of tiger we have enjoyed the safari so much & they said, sir first time we came across tourists who asked us about our god & wildflowers & trees, this is where we need to train our guides more as a dialogue makes all the difference, I told them this!

On the way back from Keshlghat to Madnapur, the drive is nearly 40 km & one of the best drives as it encircles half of tadoba & full of wildlife activities, especially after sunset! We came across jackals searching for food, jungle cat & a barn owl. This road cuts through a few villages & as usual traffic chaos delays travel time, I think we must get this road bypass these villages maintaining peace for the drivers, wildlife as well the villagers too! Special mention of an Innova driver named Suraj who was very sharp to spot slightest movement of wildlife around in the darkness also & showed us the same by stopping the car!

With rains accompanying us till we left tadoba, I said thanks to Junabai & villagers residing around tadoba for making my trip so much fun even without much of tigers (a rare thing) as I may not have seen many tigers but I was going back rich with lesson named patience, what more tadoba could have gifted me than this…!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...

 

https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2025/12/pune-real-estate-in-2026.html

https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html

https://jeevnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2026/08/
Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

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I am Guide; I am Tadoba!

 

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“Bees always follow the sweet flower, that's why everyone enjoys being with you.”

“Remember expressions go a long way before you say or do anything, we look at how you represent yourself”
… Nozipho N Maphumulo

It's not what you show, it's how you show that thing, that is what makes you a right guide… Me

Nozipho N. Maphumulo is a South African writer and quoted author known for inspirational and poetic reflections & no wonder I could use two of his quotes at a time & draw some conclusion of mine from them. Well, the subject of sharing is about guides (yes it has forest & Tadoba also) & though its about wildlife & tigers but it’s about showing them or let’s see understanding them via guide! Ok, won’t make you stop reading by riddles (read as ridiculous language), I have been lucky to be part of Anuj Khare’s (Nature Walk) team along with Vinod Bartakke (Wildlifer) & Hemangi vartak (Jungle belles) to participate or address (Anuj’s term) to guides of Tadoba buffers in a training session arranged by TATAR (tadoba forest management). Well, those who have not yet gone to the forest safaris, for them you can not enter in reserved forests such as Tadoba, Pench or any Sanctuaries like UKWS in your private vehicle or on your own. You need to enter here in a special licensed vehicle (usually a Gipsy) & must be accompanied all the time with a trained person which we call as a guide. Though the catch is, this person is not forest dept’s employee nor he is a freelancer, he (or she) has been licenced by the forest dept as expert on respective forest & he gets paid per trip basis from the money which tourists pay to the said park or sanctuary as safari charges. Usually these are locals or natives who know the forest better than city people as they have grown up in the forest & knows many things about the wildlife, especially local wildlife. And as in & around reserved forests there are many restrictions on farming or doing any other business, being a guide is a good source of earning for the locals, is also one logic behind it, but!

But, there is a small hitch here, as these people are not academically educated & as well they have very less exposure of outside world & what they know about wildlife is in their native language or knowledge, they don’t have skill developed to explain the same to the tourists & updation of the changes in wildlife terminology of species or reasons behind them. And exactly for this aspect forest dept arranges their yearly training programs of which I was part of one such at Tadoba, Kolara range! The Tadoba buffers have more than 18 nos of gates & for this session approximately total 80 odd guides were present from six gates, which comes under Kolara range & they are Madnapur (here the training is conducted), Alizanza, Kolara Buffer, Belara & Shirkeda. I could see young teenage faces to weather torn seniors & few of them knew me already, though not as a trainer or speaker as this was my first time addressing to buffer guides. Anuj has told me to cover two main aspects, what tourists want from their guide & personality development along with motivation! I accepted this challenge for two things, one I wanted to have a dialogue with these people who every day are in forest & in a way it's actually learning from them & second no more wildlife tourism is a passion of patriotism, is what I personally feel. It must be treated as any other service industry if we want to make it sustainable, financially & what better opportunity than to interact with people who, along with forests, spend time with the end customer i.e. tourist! (One best thing was, I could communicate with them in Vidarbhian Marathi /Hindi, as being from Vidarbha)

It was a two days session & on the first day in the opening session I have briefed them about the theme & told them a short story which is a real incident. Long back when I was having casual discussion with an MSEDL (MSEB) senior officer & image of MSEB in people’s mind, he told me, sanjay, it’s simple, if in a remote village at night electricity gets cut & the wireman which is last link of system is drunk & unable to repair the fault & the village spent night in darkness, the entire village will curse MSEB for being corrupt & useless organization. But if the lineman is awake & is fit & repairs the electricity fault at night & starts the supply, the villagers will praise the MSEB for its efficiency! In nutshell, the end guy of the system who is the actual link between the customer & the system matters most which a guide is for wildlife tourism & the forests! As tourists think they are the forest dept which they are not actually yet whatever the next four hours the tourist is going to see, listen or experience in the forest, how the guide behaves with the tourists is what is going make their opinion about the forest & wildlife at large! Next day, when I started, could see faces looking at me with curiosity & pepped up & again I told them, I am not going to speak a word about wildlife, not in this session but will try to share what I have understood about giving service to the client & its advantages, personal as well for the organization at large! I told them this also that at the same time I will try to learn many things from them & for that interaction is important, so I asked them to write (yes write) answers to two questions, one, “What is My Job?” & second, “What’s the most difficult question a tourist has asked you during safari?” And I told them will give you five minutes in which they have to write these two questions in three or four lines & submit to me with their names & gate!

This may look simple on face, but most of these guides have lost touch of writing even a few words which was important for me to make them realize for the session ahead & I firmly believe, when you write something, you need to be lot more focused than just speaking, which I wanted them to be! In ten minutes, I had nearly fifty plus sheets of papers & I didn’t press those who couldn’t write & told them no need to hide their faces, its ok, even fifty sheets is lot more than my expectations! And I moved on with the theme, focusing on my first question! What is my job, and 90% of the answers were near similar, I am guide, I am supposed to show tourist forest & explain them nature & such. And the next question, there were nearly 70% different answers, means tourists have asked different questions to each of the guide which they found difficult to answer. This is the game, I told them, as first question I got all answers near same as it was to be asked about you but the second question want in your control, & in one go like 21 Expected (plz google 21 apekshit) for 1oth exam, we have nearly all the most difficult questions which are asked to them respectively & which can be asked tomorrow to any of them. This is the power of sharing, I explained them, & then I asked one of the guides who came across a very peculiar question & it was about Periods of Tigress, that is what he answered. He said, I told them, I don’t know but I will get information & tell you. I immediately asked, 50% marks, but did you take down the contact number of this tourist & reverted him about the answer? The guide’s sheepish smile told me & this is what differentiates between a right guide & others as I didn’t call them wrong!

I told them there are only two types of people in the world & they are; capable & incapable (Layak & Nalayak)! We are all born as incapable but it’s the knowledge we acquire is what makes us able & how we use that knowledge decides whether we are really able or not! And here I shared one mor Zen story, which was about four stone men working on a temple with their sledge hammer & having clarity about the jobs at hand. While the first one said he is breaking the stone because he is getting paid for it, the last one said, he is making steps of a temple which is being built here & his job is to make stepping stones for the temple, having perfect clarity about the job, which is what makes him an able stone man! Then I came to the most vital issue or challenge in their job i.e. sighting of a tiger! I asked them even if the park's Field Director sits in your gypsy & asks you to show him a tiger, will you be able to do it; all laughed even that thought, FD sitting in their car! I said, no, will be the answer which you know & even FD knows, but the tourist comes to see a tiger is a fact whether you accept it or not & how we are dealing with it is what I am trying to help you with! I gave them an example of my own office, as in conference room of our office where my marketing team meets customers inquiring for home, the TV keeps displaying images of wildlife & our conservation efforts instead of our project’s images. The entire discussion starts with a different note than the rate of the project & eventually whether the customer buys flat with us or not, the meeting ends on a positive note. Same principles applicable with tourists on the tiger sighting front, as if we succeed to divert tourist’s focus from seeing tiger then half war is won, & this is what differentiates a best guide & others as there are nothing like a bad guide, I reminded them!  And for doing this, such trainings are essential as well they need to develop few things to make tourists speak about things other than the tiger & for that reading is a must as well gather knowledge about not just wildlife but general knowledge about our country, people as then you can open a dialogue with the tourist, which is the key. Make the tourist speak about things he or she likes to speak for e.g. a Bengali tourist will be happy if you ask him question about Mamata Didi or politics over there or about Jhalmodi (plz google) or Rosgulla, in short anything but tiger & see the effect!

At the same time, I suggested them to make groups of guides on WhatsApp & share information about wildlife across the gates & arrange their own get-togethers occasionally, as why they need forest dept to do so, why can’t they on their own arrange such training for themselves? Last but not least is, fitness, being a guide is tough job, bumpy gypsy rides, extreme weather conditions, all this does take toll on health & for that exercise, discipline & keeping away from addictions like guthka is a must, if you want to play long term innings! To conclude, I told the guides to practice three things, read, whatever you can from newspapers or on google news, write at least a few lines everyday about what they saw in the forest & last is, speak with tourists instead waiting for them to ask questions & then see the difference in life!

Well, this was about the guides but on the training front I have few suggestions for the forest dept also, how they reach to right people as trainers…

First, indeed it’s a great initiative to take training of guides but it needs to be more systematic & periodical than abruptly scheduled. Let park’s senior officers sit with the trainers first & chalk out exact contents for training. See that all the guides get covered as this time half of the guides only got training & the rest half are in limbo about their term for training. Similar training is a must for ground staff of forest dept. Gypsy drivers are also an important aspect of tourism & their training is also equally important. As well all such sessions must be recorded on video as these are wonderful documentations & sharing them can help many other guides also! Last but important, remuneration of trainers, with due respect what figures I came to know from sources are practically peanuts & if proper remuneration is not there then the drive behind the training also gets loosen up. Thankfully our bread & butter isn’t on the training yet if we want quality training then we must pay also for that quality is logic, right? Guys, guides are the major link between wildlife & the world outside of it, if we strengthen that link then only there is hope for wildlife, is all I can say, adios with this note!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...

 

https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2025/12/pune-real-estate-in-2026.html

https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html

https://jeevnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2026/08/
Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

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Think Green, Think Life

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Sahjeevan; Joining Hands for Conservation & Sustainability!

 

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“This is biodiversity: a delicate web of life that we are slowly and systematically dismantling.”…  Fons Burger

“Neither Superman nor Captain America is real. Real heroes who will save our planet are activists and biodiversity savers; and each of us has one such within us”… Hakan Kapucu

“A City is nothing but people living in it” …Me

While I was explaining Sahjeevan to one of my friends these lines I used & let me confess, the words may be mine but philosophy of Jane Jacobs (plz google about her) as he said now Pune has grown in bounds & leap & every suburb has its own demand & plus points. My friend is from IT (what else) & this is a separate species as a client, as a lifestyle & they know everything as well as have opinions about everything. The later part is an inherent condition which becomes characteristic for being a citizen of Pune but the earlier part i.e. about knowing everything, they forget, it’s what is available on Google’s memory only! And I don’t blame them as of-let Gen Z & Gen Alpha thinks information or data as knowledge, so be it! There is a difference between information & knowledge, which exactly is the subject of my sharing. The object is not to sell or promote Sanjeevani or Sahjeevan project yet the project is core of the sharing because conservation without a real-life case study is just research paper, disclaimer, lol! Ok, we launched or were to launch new project is a western suburb Sus which is part of PMC & I was thinking how we can build a project (read as homes) which will not be different but which will be a home for everybody & when I said I mean everybody, it means not humans from all classes but every species as that’s what we are missing. Ok, before that let me ask you something, how many of you have last seen languors’ (Makad) around your home or office, how many of you remember hanging to a banyan tree’s hanging roots (paranbya), how many of you have last chased a butterfly fluttering on roadside wildflowers like terda or Junglee zendu, how many of you last got your feet wet in a fresh water stream, how many of you have listened music of frog sound after rains, how many of you have lifted water out from an open well in recent, how many of you even have seen a fresh water open well around, how many of you can count me name of five birds you have seen around other than, kite, crow & gray pigeons, well you can get tiered with my how many but my how many list is longer than Hanaumanji’s tail on this front as I wont even dare to ask, how many of you has last seen a fire fly & tried to hold it whether its hot (h=gently without hurting it of course), how many of you last seen the red velvet beetle which comes in open after first rains & the list is on?

If you can answer even two or three questions on "yes' note then I will say you don’t have to read ahead but I know that won’t be the case. As speaking for myself, I have seen languors in Kothrud last, in my college days in 1990 in Kothrud but then the road from Chandani chowk to Kothrud was aligned with huge banyan, piple & neem trees & the languors could go back in evening to heir resting zones in NDA hills using those trees as their Metro but we chopped down all those trees & chopped the way of languors in city. I have not seen a banyan tree with hanging roots in the last nearly decade as most of them have given away space for roads or our cars. I have seen open wells often because I myself have built a few but barring those I haven’t seen an open well with fresh water in the last two decades in Pune. I have not seen a freshwater stream where I can immerse my feet in the last two decades, maybe three as most fresh water streams are either buried/ blocked or now carry drainage water & so go on list of my answers which mostly are negative. But there is a silver line because I myself am a builder & civil engineer & I do see butterflies as well many birds including Munia, Brown pigeons, Baya weaver & such around my own office where I have made plantation accordingly & you can check those on the Flickr link along! Though I miss red velvet beetles & fire flies as I can’t build a habitat where they can be part of my surroundings which is why I thought of bringing in specialists for planning Sahjeevan as here is space & place where I can do things about habitat!

Habitat, in simple terms can be considered as home for different species & the surrounding which takes care of respective species needs for their survival & comfort! Just the way we humans need amenities like malls, schools, hotels, hospitals, markets for our survival, even the butterflies & squirrels & sparrows too need something for their survival, which we call habitat. And habitat needs space, privacy also which sometimes is not possible in smaller land size projects & that’s why when I got an opportunity at Sahjeevan, I thought I must go for it, because if I (read as We) don’t think about all the above questions then who will, right?  This is where names like Shailaja Deshpande, Ankur Patwardhan, Anuj Khare, Ranjit Gadgil I thought of as each of them are authority & an expert on factors which build habitat. And, the way for any project we need an architect, structural designer, electric consultant, plumbing consultants which are experts on human’s comfort making services, if I want to build something for butterflies, fish & birds then I will need people who understands their needs better, right? And this is where high time the conservationists’ & society (I am referring to builders & their clients) must work together on a common platform which holds the future for our entire biodiversity or the conservation will remain for a select few & only in discussions of seminars while on ground their will be total darkness, which lies in the answers in form of No, to my all the questions about nature at start, is my object of sharing!

Many, (especially die hard conservationists) will frown as this may be just a publicity stunt to sale our flats; well, I can’t shut mouths (and fingers) of all (definitely not in the era ruled by social media where everybody has his or her opinion) but what’s there to lose in the first place, is what I will ask to all those questioners? We all speak about sustainability & if we want to achieve sustainability then every segment associated with earth must have comfort level, which for a business is in its financial healthiness, no wrong in it! But if while doing so I am trying to build habitat for other species, then what’s wrong in it, is the question I will put forward to those who really want to know the reason for getting associated with names like Shailaja, Anuj & Ankur sir! And what’s wrong if they call themselves as Brand Ambassadors along with being adviser/ consultant to Sahjeevan or any other project which is being developed keeping in mind greater good for the entire biodiversity, is the question I want to put forward here! And then these are learned passionate people who care for respective aspect of the environment & won’t get associated for money or fame with any project which is just using them as face & actually not doing anything concrete on ground about it, that must trust we definitely can put in them, right! Rather they will keep the project on the right track regarding its core object i.e. a home for every species & if any other project follows that path, there only lies a green future for this city, which at present seems dark! The problem with our country or society is, we want to save something at the cost of something, this is why we fail time & again on the conservation front. Look at Tiger conservation, only when Tiger started becoming an income source for the locals around the forests, its conservation became successful & biggest example is Tadoba where nearly 200 plus tigers live among 2 lakh humans, because both need each other’s. Same way if Pune has lost trees, fresh water, butterflies, sparrows & many other species because of human’s homes (read as builders) then by working with the builders only, we can get all of them back, is my object of sharing! And then the job is not restricted for Sahjeevan, at team Sanjeevani along with Jungle Belles team we make awareness programs for school kids which are our hope for nature conservation & we try to support other societies also for aspects like water conservation as this is not mine or yours fight anymore, its everybody’s war, i.e. to save the nature around us!

Here I will conclude with a story from Zen speaks, a philosophy which I myself try to live by!

In a Zen monk’s ashram, where he used to lecture his disciples, suddenly students started realizing their personal belongings are getting stolen, means there is a thief among the students. After some days they caught one of the students & asked the monk to shun him out from the class. But the monk refused & said the thief student will remain in the class, hearing this the remaining students got upset & said then they all will leave the class as they can’t share the lecture room with a thief. Still the monk said it's ok, you all can leave the class but I won’t ask the thief to go away from my class. Surprised by the monk’s reply, one student asked how can you accept this thief to be in your class & ok with we all going away? The monk smiled, and replied, don’t you see it's this thief student, who needs my teachings the most!

The story ends here & I think going on the same logic, it's high time all the nature’s conservationists who are monks for the society should learn from the Zen story’s monk as here, today’s so-called thieves on the front of nature are the builders & their home buyers! I am happy that in future when we will look back, then we will be proud of ourselves for Sahjeevan, as at-least we tried to build something of which our future generations will thankful to us for conserving fresh water well, butterflies, banyan trees & a lot more, for them; adios with this note!

Please go thru two links for our efforts on the habitat front…

Every Drop Counts!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQVCWXKkRPc&t=38s

Conservation, Joining Hands!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/coexistance_is_the_key/albums/72157627904681345/

-

Sanjay Deshpande 

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...

 

https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2025/12/pune-real-estate-in-2026.html

https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html

https://jeevnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2026/08/
Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com / https://junglebelles.in/

Doctors, Traffic, Solar Electricty, Tigers & the Government!

 

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“People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.” … Alan Moore

“Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.” …  James Bovard

“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.” …  Margaret Thatcher

“For me Govt is like God, I haven’t seen it yet I believe in it & it's everywhere & controls everything”… Me.

Moore & Bovard comes from USA which is (was) supposedly considered as land of opportunities & freedom of thought while The Iron Lady represents world’s most open & free democracy which at the same time has a King/ Queen as a Supreme ruler & I derived my views from the wise words they all shared & my experiences about life! Well, from the quotes you must have guessed the subject & I don’t know why I felt like penning down my thoughts about this subject but then that’s one good way of letting out frustration (read as warning people who still reads) & its safer (read as easier) than the path of protest which Dipke, Wangchuk in recent & many others in the past have chosen, so be it! Ok subject is our govt (Mai Baap) & though its most commonly discussed as fortunately in our country (till now at least) anybody can condemn (in private) the govt & its policies & that’s a boon as well sign of democracy, point is what govt thinks about such discussion & answer is, nothing! All these “Chay pe Charcha” (nothing to do with Hon PMs Chay) in the end just vaporize the way vapours of tea get merged in the surrounding & people start their routine for charchas on new topics or policy & that’s ok. Problem starts when more & more people (read as common man) over such Charchas’ starts naming/ doubting/ condemning the actions of the govt, that’s first sign of cracks in the wall, which is happening around is my subject of sharing. And then when the govt starts making wrong policies on one front then sooner or later this attitude is going to hit my profession/ business/ earning & even at home also & next direct victim of wrongness of govt’s act can be me or my company or family, is the main reason of my such sharing!

Here I will share a story from Panchatantra, where a pair of sparrows lived on a tree which was in the midst of a farm. The crop ploughing was due & before that the dry grass as well unwanted creepers needed to be removed from the farm & best way is controlled fire which needs more hands than just the owner couples! So, one morning the farmer couple was discussing burning the weed in the farm & listening to that, the she sparrow says to her husband, let's move from here as this owner couple will be bringing some help from villagers to burn the weed in the farm & the smoke will affect our chicks. The male sparrow hays don’t worry nothing will happen & next day nothing happens. Few days later the female sparrow again tells to her husband, lets’ move from here as today the farmer was telling to his wife that let’s call our relatives to help us to burn the weed so we can start ploughing, I think we must leave the nest tonight. Again, the male sparrow assures, nothing will happen let’s stay & nothing happens. Again, after a few days the female sparrow says, I heard today the farmer was telling to his wife, two of us should burn the weed tomorrow. Hearing this, the male sparrow tells his wife, let’s move toady & they flew away from the nest with their chicks. The female sparrow asks to her husband, when I told you the farmer was going to call his villagers or relatives, you said nothing will happen & but when I told you that they two only are going to burn the weed, you immediately agreed to move from the nest. The male sparrow smiled & said, this time they were not going to be dependent on others but going to do the job by themselves!

This story I have read in my school days & yet it has stuck deep within & always keeps me on my toes & this is the reason as the way now govt has started behaving, its time to make people aware as well brace myself as a person & as a professional, is my thinking, so the sharing! *Disclaimer at start, if by reading this story you think this is criticism against any party or govt then it's not, I am just sharing what’s going on & the way things are heading, right or wrong to decide it or conclude is readers’ choice & right, lol!

Cut1; To start with there was a news of Doctor’s in our State are going on or decided to go on strike as govt has come up with a policy where Homeopathy (a line of medicine which uses herbs or say natural ways of treatment) doctors to prescribe allopathy medicines (Crocin, Combiflam types) to their patients which earlier was allowed only for doctors with MBBS & such degree i.e. practicing allopathy. Though for doing this, they will have to do a one year course & they can’t treat certain diseases or patients, is the condition. And the reason for such a policy is given, as the lack of doctors in rural areas. Now, in the last month only the very same State govt has come up with another policy under which they have removed conditions for fresh MBBS doctors to serve for minimum one year for public hospitals or such establishments before starting their practice or further education. This bond condition was there for the last six decades & suddenly now the govt removed it saying they can’t risk the lives of people by getting treatment from fresh doctors, wow just wow! Means these doctors can practice on their own, that’s allowed but bond is removed & the very same govt can allow a totally different branch’s doctors to treat with something they are not trained, that’s not threat to public health, this way of working or say attitude of govt is my subject of sharing. I am no authority to comment on allopathy or homeopathy or medicine but what I am putting forward is the sheer illogical approach of govt towards a subject as sensitive as public health!

Cut 2; Every day our govt announces new highways, expressways, fly-overs, building Missing (or connecting, what matters) links & boast themselves as a Govt of development & no wrong in it. At the same time today, I read a news about Automobile sales (cars, commercial vehicles) crossing 26-lakhs vehicles in the month of July 26 alone, which is a record till today. Well, on one side this is great as road networks & flyovers are a must for connectivity & if the sale of vehicles is increasing that’s also a good sign for the production industry, but! But, on the other side our Hon Road Minister himself has shown concern over nearly 1.80 lakh people dying  in road accidents in the last year & a guess (as data isn’t available) is, nearly thrice of this number means, 5 lakhs people must have got injured in these accidents. And most of these accidents are due to private vehicles, domestic & commercial & at the same time in the major ten Metro cities of the country, traffic congestion is increasing everyday because of the inability of the road network to accommodate these vehicles! Don’t you see the controversy or say ill effect of the policies which you call development as just building roads & flyovers, the problem is not going to get resolved, what we (common people) need is strong & safe public transport & that front is very weak, may be deliberately! Right from PMPML (PMT) which is local Pune city public bus system to ST i.e. State Transport, the infrastructure for the public transport is very poor & govt doesn’t do anything about it, neither govt is forming any central public transport body nor its increasing numbers of railways or busses at local or central level, making people surrender to buy & use private vehicles, which not only chokes the roads but is main cause of accidents also! Again, policies which are creating doubts in the minds of the common man, that for whom this so-called development is intended, actually!

Cut 3; Recently I read (one more) news, which was about Solar farm companies suffering great losses because of policy change by the State govt. For those who are unaware of these terminologies, Solar Farming means building (and investing) solar electricity generation plants & we all know this solar electricity is way lot cheaper than conventional electricity which is generated by burning coal (plz google for more info)! So the govt decided to urge people to invest in solar electricity production which many people did but now the govt says this solar electricity govt (Electricity boards) will buy only for night consumption not online i.e. when its produced which is in day time! Well, if this is a joke then it’s a very cruel joke because solar electricity is produced only in day time this even a 5^th standard student can tell & to use this electricity at night means it is needed to be stored means huge batteries & who will spend for it & then why such foolish (sorry but that’s the only word come to my mind) condition as what govt wants in the first place, reduce use of conventional electricity or demoralise use of it, or else how can you say something in public & come up with exactly opposite policy of what you say, is my subject of sharing!

Cut 4; One more news (I am sorry but can’t help) though very local & went unnoticed by the most was about allowing some mine (of some mineral) in remote parts of State in Chandrapur district by the State govt backed up by Central govt. Nothing wrong in mining as we need minerals for our life but the problem is with the location, as this mine comes right in the track of an important wildlife corridor which could displace tigers & many animals. I am not an expert or researcher on this subject but I know this part of the State & I am a civil engg, so I can definitely say the mine is going to damage in some way the wildlife over here as a mine doesn’t mean just a hole in the earth. Along with mine comes tons of debris, dust, tree cutting & people & their machinery & their movement & homes & commercial establishment, & all this combinedly destroying tigers & wildlife & yet govt is hell-bent on going ahead with the mine plan! Again, on one side govt gives full page advertise on World Tiger Day, Hon CM & Central ministers attends seminars on this day & pat their own backs for calling Nagpur as Tiger Capital of World & on other side right under their nose they permit such destructive developments or doesn’t give a clear logical idea how these mines won't harm wildlife. Again, policy making, creating doubts in the minds of common man (few of them) for whose benefits these policies are being made, is my subject of sharing!

There are many more ‘Cuts” I can list, right from urban planning & scrapping of TP schemes in Pune to prolonged Pay & park policies allowing free parking on roads everywhere to basic things like clean & useable public toilets for women in city or villages, but neither a policy is being made nor it implemented rightly is there is right policy, such is the scene of govt making us think what govt wants actually! This is why I am worried as today its mines, public toilets & highways & solar electricity, tomorrow (there already is tomorrow) there will be homes & real estate which is my bread & butter, is my reason for thinking & sharing this piece! And, not all of these issues or demands of public needs some extraordinary technical competency, some common sense & a will to do right things, is required which govt doesn’t has; why, is what Desh Janana Chahta Hai (plz google), do it Mai-Bapp govt until there is too late, adios with this warning!

-

Sanjay Deshpande

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...

 

https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2025/12/pune-real-estate-in-2026.html

https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html

https://jeevnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2026/08/

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com / https://junglebelles.in/