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He showed us many slides on the Western Ghats i.e. insectivorous plants, mountain goats, rivers that are formed by condensation of water vapour, plants that flower every ten years, etc. All that I had studied in geography and science in school now came alive for me. Both were very good. The next morning we went walking again and saw only birds. We walked about 12 kms that day.
Babu, Uncle Mano's nephew, reached me by bus to the Croc Bank on the 9th of December and I spent one glorious month there, the nearest I got to living in the wild. Although I was supposed to return home for Christmas I begged to be let off and was in the seventh heaven when my parents agreed. The Croc Bank is situated at Mamallapuram which is about 37 kms from Chennai.
At any rate I enjoy camping out and so I asked my parents if I could spend the night on the campus. They agreed. My assumption however proved wrong as I turned out to be the only residential participant! Anyway, on the morning of 24th August, after taking directions from my dad, I left for the ICAR at Old Goa which is about 22 kms from my home. I arrived there without any difficulty.
At the Ashram, I used to do my eye exercises and then return home. I did a total of 45 kms of cycling per day i.e. 360 kms of cycling for the nine days that I was there. The Ashram itself was an old building.
"Which is the male and the female?" and so on. At other times I would be pestering the staff to answer more complicated and detailed questions about the habits of snakes. Workers are a mine of information and all of it is knowledge gained from practical experience. Some nights we went frog catching. We used to go after dinner on scooters to a river about 10 kms away. The method was simple.
My father had no option but to leave it that way for Mr Khaire was expected to return only after three days. Dad then left me at the Park and proceeded to Mumbai. For the first few days therefore I journeyed back and forth from Sujit's house. Sujit's home is at Ganeshkhind while the snake park is at Katraj, a good 20 kms away. I remember how I got lost on the first day.
I looked around at the familiar street dogs and hawker stands and then hailed a motorcycle taxi to take me home, which was a short distance of 3 kms. Back home I proudly walked up to my mum who was smiling a welcome, my brothers punching me, my dog licking me-all so far away from the world of elephants and tiger footprints.
That she succeeded as she did is a high tribute to her kindness and tact as well as to her organising capacity, I cannot forbear quoting from the letter of a grateful poilu: "DEAR MISS, I am arrived yesterday very much fatiguated. After 36 o'clocks of train we have made 15 kms.
I had to get into another local bus to get to Auroville which was more than 10 kms away and after walking a short distance was greeted by Bernard, whom I knew, as I had met him some months earlier on my first visit to Auroville. I stayed free of cost at Auroville in a room in Bernard's quarters, sharing with him the meals he prepared. I cycled twice a day from Bernard's house to the Ashram.
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