Recalling as a Nature Lover after 8 Years

Part 1 — Theosophical Society

2009 was the year I got associated with a Nature Club where once I got a chance to visit pretty good, but the least visited place(s) right in the heart of Chennai City. Thanks to my school where I spent my early years who arranged for a trip that still pumps me up.

The trip begins with boarding the bus around 9:00 am and off we head towards Adyar from Saidapet only to get down in a road that was serene with the entrance to theosophical society on one side and a compounded structure on another. We were informed about an hour long informative session on the ecosystem there and what we’ll find along the way.

Entering the compounded structure on the other side we saw a path leading to a hut like building amidst all the green and all I could remember was the seven-spotted cockroaches that I would have been spotted at least seven times in the walk to the hut either crushed or running. The seven-spotted cockroach(Therea petiveriana) is an unusual species found in southern India but never have I seen it again post trip.

We refreshed ourselves and entered into Theosophical society with adequate permissions as it is a reserved area. The 260 acres stretched garden is known as “Huddleston Gardens” located on the south bank of the Adyar River hosting a variety of flora and fauna that includes rare species. The international society was formed on 17 November 1875, however, the one in Chennai was founded 7 years later by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.

Cutting short on history, which was all we heard the entire day, we were stunned or at least I was when we caught the glimpse of the legendary Banyan Tree (Adayar Aalamaram). The tree is said to be one of the world’s oldest Banyan Trees that lived up-to four hundred and fifty plus years spreading its aerial roots covering 60,000 sq. m. The tree stood majestically until it fell on its own in 1996 leaving its roots that are still present as a testimony.

Post lunch and visiting a handful of historically important buildings within the Garden, we headed deep into the garden until we reached the end only to find ourselves on the banks of the estuary. I must admit that I was pretty amazed as it was the first time I was seeing a place where a river meets its fate into an ocean. The estuaries were filled with quite a number of white feathered birds to have their part of lunch in between (honestly speaking) a good amount of garbage. The broken bridge was clearly visible from where we stood and there ended our time inside the gardens abruptly just like the broken bridge. The next trip was someplace that I was never aware of which is shared below in part 2.

Part 2 —A haul inside the Reserved Forest

The second trip was weeks after, thanks again to the Nature Club. With special permissions in place, we were allowed to enter the gates of the Reserved Forest sitting adjacent to Children’s Park which, I have been a frequent visitor.

The first few minutes of a walk was a pleasurable experience as we were just wrapped with various species of plants, trees, and shrubs. The vegetation was typically tropical dry evergreen. What beats a walk into unharmed and uncharted space within the city.

The entire walk was covered by well-cleared paths so it was not a trekking kind of experience exactly. Fig trees occupied a larger population in the forest and it is said that a good amount of groundwater is present which is more than enough to keep the forest alive. As it was summer, few dry ponds were spotted here and there along with the companies of some rare species of Orchids.

Halfway through we found ourselves in an open space and I was lucky enough to spot a Blackbuck that was far away that perhaps would never near us. The further we moved away from the urban jungle to the real jungle we found an anteater, a creep of star shelled tortoises and few bird species were spotted from the observatory point(s). The officials were cautious in keeping away poachers from smuggling these rare species of tortoises and other fauna.

It was a delight to hold a fan throat baby lizard in our hands with the guide’s supervision. We had Macaques (Monkeys) as guests for our lunch. Our hearts and stomach were full that day when we returned back to live in our own urban jungle.

The pictures were sourced from the internet and I own no copyrights to it.

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