Can you trace the origin of your interest in birds?
I have always been an outdoors person, having spent every possible holiday in a wildlife park. So, the interest was more in the outdoors than in birds. But, living in Delhi, one doesn’t get much of a chance to see and feel the great outdoors. So, from wildlife, I switched to birds — they can be found everywhere and I don’t have to take long journeys to be with them. Also, they can be part of my everyday life and the interest does not have to be restricted to my holidays.
Sharp focus: (clockwise from top left) Devasar switched interest from wildlife to birds; the brown-winged kingfisher; a ferry docked at the Sundarbans; the mangroves. Photographs: Nikhil Devasar
How frequently do you go on birding trips?
We go for field outings in the Delhi area every Sunday morning, but out-of-town visits happen usually once in three months, with as few as two persons or as many as 14. We use the group to collect and collate bird records from India and also help and encourage new enthusiasts and enable birdwatching visitors and short-term residents to meet fellow birders in India.
Why did you zero in on the Sundarbans?
We went to see the mangroves and appreciate for ourselves the spirit of the Bono Bibi (literally, the forest goddess). The Sundarbans are always elusive, always secretive and you never know what to expect. So, you just go.
You travelled to Kolkata and then made your way to the Sundarbans?
Yes, we landed in Kolkata from Delhi, flying over the Sundarbans and the Ganga delta, and got fantastic views of all the winding waterways and silt islands. On landing, we drove for 3 hours to Sonakhali. Halfway past the paddy fields, prawn fisheries and huge brick kilns — the same scenery we’d had aerial views of—we stopped at a little tea shop for the yummiest singaras (Bengali samosas) and, if you could ignore the swarms of bumble bees, scrumptious sandesh (traditional sweets) and mishti doi (sweet curd). At Sonakhali, we boarded a boat that would take us to our camp, a further three hours away. Though a small overcrowded ferry boat pulling away from the jetty had me praying for everyone’s safety, our boat had comfortable sleeping areas and bathrooms with running water.
Where did you stay?
At the Sundarbans Jungle Camp in Bali island, where our rooms resembled mud huts. That night, the local village troupe enacted the story of a little boy, Dukhe, and Bono Bibi, who protects devotees from the perils of the forest, specifically the tiger, which seems to have lost its fear of man and treats him like an easy prey.
That would have set you up for the jungle! What were your experiences there?