Journalism of Courage
Vacations are sorted out for V Deven and his brother Rohit. Their routine begins at 3 am they wake up,drive down to places either in the Western ghats or to Morachi Chincholi. There,they hike through the inhospitable terrain with cameras,binoculars and recorders. Their aim is to capture the sights and sounds of exotic birds early in the morning,document them and also record it for future reference. Termed as birding,the art of observing,documenting and collating data about birds is a hobby-cum-study that is fast catching up. College students,in particular,are taking it up because it not only gives them a chance to trek and explore the outdoors but also enables them to study birds,
document them and pursue online courses for the same.
Courses apart,the love for nature and birds is a stronger attraction for youngsters such as Maruee Pahuja. A member of Pugmarks,the 21-year-old student of optometry final at Bharati Vidyapeeth (BVP),says that bird watching and even ornithology can be a full-fledged profession later on. Studying birds can work very well with people who are interested in nature,wildlife and eco-system conservation. Since I also go for camps organised by Pugmarks,I have been interested in birds since my school days. I began with observing butterflies and then moved on to birds in my teens. Observing them through long-range telescopes,hearing bird calls and cataloguing the information are not only fun but also very relaxing, she says.
For Krishna Narang,who has started early at the age of 16,the process of birding is very organised. We leave at three in the morning,so that we reach the spot by sunrise. There we usually set up the cameras and start spotting birds using binoculars. Then,we start clicking pictures,making notes about their appearance,calls and cries. These detailed notes help in later references. We use recorders to capture bird sounds, he says.
Deven says the BNHS course requires students to submit monthly reports online about their work. We also need to follow the works of the other members,comment on it and upload our own work so others can follow them. This form of integrated study is a lot of fun because we not only learn but also enjoy, he adds.
