My Rendezvous with Nature

Today being Parsi New year we did not have college. I thought why not utilize the morning to go for a nature walk and explore a new place. Therefore I along with my 2 friends ( neighbours) went to Naigaon the station next to vasai towards Churchgate.
There is a abandoned railway track that leads to unused the bassein creek bridge between naigaon and Bhayander. This bridge is now the medium of transport for the people staying in the panju village along the coast of creek. We began the walk on the patri at around 6.50 am in the morning.
We where welcomed by the melodious chirping of the tailor birds which were very active vocally. We also got to see them very close. The region along both the sides of the track were filled with fluttering streams of cocks combs and balsams that were waving gracefully along the gentle stoke of the wind. Walking further we also encountered many other plant species , butterflies, dragonflies and birds. We also saw red whiskered, red vented and white cheeked bulbul in plenty. They were very generous in appearing in front of us. We saw the ashy Prinia, cattle egrets, small egrets, flocks of cormorants, Brahminy kites etc on our way. The sighting of the Brahminy kite was also very close. Few butterflies that I could identify were the psyche, yellow orange tip, white orange tip, striped tiger, etc. We also saw certain butterflies that I could not recognize. The plant list I have given at the end.
Well it was fantastic trail as the end point of our trail was the tip of the creek where the bridge begins. We were awed by the massive waterbody that showed the ripples with supremacy and pride. The wind at the point was blowing fiercely and we had a tough time holding on to ourselves. As my friends were first timers for a nature trail , they were indeed fascinated by the beauty that a small spot like this provided. We thus ended our trail with the beautiful close encounters of birds and butterflies captured in our minds thanking God for creating beauty so close so near.
This place is worth a walk for 4-5 hrs as it also promises sightings of different snakes, birds very close and beautiful butterflies.
Plant list-
Impatiens balsaminae
Clerodendron inerme
Lantana camara
Celosia argentea
Cyanotis cristata
Trichodesma indicum
Clitoria biflora
Cyanotis fasciculata
Sesbania bispinosa
Cleome viscosa
Tridax procumbens
Acacia sp.
We saw the flowering of all the above plants

After having an eventful day in the morning we had had a splendid evening. I and Sagar had been to Shewree for bird watching. The place was the dockyard near the colgate factory. There were many asian palm swifts welcoming us and so were the crows and pigeons.
Reaching the place which was exposed to the sea we grounded to our feet after seeing the sight which was waiting for us. Their were thousands of flamingoes on the muddy areas near the mouth of water. There were around 5000 of them. While walking along the shores we noticed mangrove plants and some beautiful birds like the white wagtails moving around making beautiful sounds. Kentish plovers, common sandpipers, accompanied them. We walked a little further down; we climbed on to a motorboat to have a better look at the birds. We got more birds to see like the gulbilled terns, ruddy turnstones, Eurasian curlew, black-headed gulls, little terns, lesser flamingoes and greater flamingoes.
The prized sights were the flight of these pinkish red colored flamingoes. It was a precious and million-dollar sight. To observe with a photographer’s view was something different than a normal vision. I was awed and struck by the beauty of the flight of the flock of these pink beauties.
Overall it was a great day and I immensely enjoyed my experience.

I am very happy to share my experience, which I had on 18th December with the mentally retarded children of the skills and abilities institute in Nerul. It was an wonderful experience and one of the golden opportunities to interact with these mentally challenged kids.
I am being the first person to arrive in the school was greeted with welcoming smiles by the kids playing on the ground. Returning there greets with a similar smile and words of ‘ good morning’ I proceeded towards the principal’s office. I met the principals of both the sections viz. deaf and dumb and mentally challenged Ms.Surekha Patil and Ms.Juee khopkar respectively. They briefed me about the institute and its works and showed me the splendid artwork of the children. They are true craftsmen.I short of words for appreciating the children’s work. I immediately decided to purchase a waste paper basket made from paper by the kids. It is a beautiful piece of work. Though it is a waste basket I am not going to use it as one.
Meanwhile the children were arranged in lines for prayer. The children to our delight sung the songs like ‘ man ki shakti hame de na datha, manka vishwas kamjor ho na!’. Later Sagar, myself , raghu and sunita along with some staff of the school led them to the garden near the school. By splitting the children into groups , older ones led by Sagar and me and the younger ones by sunita and raghu we completed the small trail. The children were very responsive and understanding. They correctly identified mango tree and mentioned many uses of mango.
Returning back we had a feedback session along with a slide show. The feedback was quite successful and so was the slide show. They properly identified most of the plants and animals shown in the slide show. I should say the I wouldn’t have got a better opportunity than this to be with children. The most interesting part was that the older children knew their responsibility of taking care of the younger ones and they did it wonderfully. When the time had come for us to leave we were gifted by a small bouquet made by these kids. What moved us more was the kids saying bye, shaking our hands and looking at us with a longing eyes that asked when we would be returning.