The chronicles of a wandering mind

 

Today is life — the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto – Dale Carnegie

                             LIGHTS OF PASSION         

                            Photo credit: Aishwarya Sridhar 

Thank you for your support of my first piece. A special mention to Dr Anjali Chhabria and all those who further expanded my understanding of mind: the citadel of thoughts, beliefs, memories and memoirs. It is really heart-warming to see how spoken words get priority over the face it is coming from. More importantly, through this continuous interaction, hopefully, many will get some answers to the questions that could have been haunting them. Gratitude.

 Hope you all will keep our little adda alive!!And get some more magpies to mull!!😉

Talking of magpies, trees can’t be left behind considering that we have just crossed another World Environment Day (WED, June 5). Though I feel, every day should be worshipped as the WED considering the way people keep mauling the greens, and soon enough, if it continues unabated, we will see red!! Thanks to Pandemic and its consequent repeated long lockdowns -less pollution, clearer air, cleaner water and greener surrounding which again go a long way in keeping all those happiness chemicals, especially Oxytocin(love hormone) and Serotonin (mood stabilizer) filling up our minds. But surely, this is not the way to keep the streams ebullient and/or our minds agile. I mean, lockdown might show the way, but cannot be the way. 

So, to keep the mind positive and the air pure, we need to embrace sustainable living. I feel the lifestyle you choose has a great say on the mind you harvest or vice-versa.  Do you agree? Mull and muse, but please comment. 

 

Meanwhile, let us see what our young eco-warriors think of a Nature-Mind interaction. After all, they are like conjoined twins, what with nature and second nature being intrinsic parts of your mindset. 

Losing our environment is not like losing an election. It means losing our entire future. No amount of money can buy that. It is very important that we preserve whatever we have left of our green and blue planet before it is too late and that is why Aishwarya Sridhar, a Women icon awardee does what she does. This is the introduction to Aishwarya Sridhar’s debut documentary Panje- The Last Wetland. It was telecast on Doordarshan (National) in 2018. It was also screened at various environmental film festivals. The film, Sridhar, 24, maintains, has helped stoppage of landfills in the last remaining wetland of Uran in Maharashtra, India. “Currently, we are fighting it out in the court to declare the land as wetland so that we can turn it into a bird sanctuary”, she observes. A resident of Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, Sridhar is a graduate of mass media, a poet, activist, wildlife photographer, TEDx Speaker and documentary film-maker. She is committed to educating and empowering the youths to speak up for environmental protection.

 Circa 2020. Aishwarya Sridhar’s mesmerising photograph of fireflies dancing in the night skies, titled ‘Lights of Passion’ won the ‘Highly Commended Award in Behaviour Invertebrate Category’ at the Natural History Museum’s virtual show. This was held in London on the occasion of the 56^th Wildlife Photographer of the Year event and she was the first Indian woman to win.

The photograph captures a unique phenomenon seen in India, only for two weeks during pre-monsoon every year. Male fireflies synchronised their bioluminescent frenzy to attract females for breeding.

 

She was just 22, when she ventured out and it was closer to midnight when she finally canned the shot. It was a cool summer evening in June, when she set out for the trek, deep in the forest, frequented by the wild and venomous animals and beset with thorny bushes, poisonous plants et al. She was all charged up, but terrified too as the forest was frequented by leopards. However, she was determined. Lo and behold! She finally got her subject:  Thousands of sparkling tiny yellow orbs flashing intermittently around a tree under a star-lit indigo sky. "I felt like stepping into a magical world like Narnia. I was mesmerised, but never dazed. Hence, I could click with a focus", Sridhar reminisces. 

 

This really calls for a strong mind. Tempted, I had to interview her. 

  

                                                                     Eco-warrior Aishwarya Sridhar

Q &A with Aishwarya Sridhar 

What is the best nutrition for a tough mind and why?

 

A tough mind for me is one without fear and self-doubt. Today mental health is very important. While we do cardio for physical fitness, meditation and staying positive can be great for mental fitness. A fit mind can also be the foundation of a tough mind. I devote one hour for my meditation and exercise daily, no matter how busy I am during the day.

 I developed a tough mind also because my parents encouraged me to take my own decisions since childhood. When I was four, i,e, in 2001, we came to Panvel (about 35 kms from Mumbai) in Maharashtra, India, which was then like a village, enveloped in nature. Children have a fearless disposition, as their minds do not have pre-conceived notions. Since I grew up in the countryside, I never feared the wilderness. That to me was my best friend. Unlike city dwelling kids, I spent my free time running after everything that moved-animals, birds, insects. This shaped me into who I am. Since a decade now, Panvel has become one more bustling city with unfortunately lesser tree count. 

In terms of nutrition for a tough mind, I believe in eating healthy, home cooked foods. Lot of green vegetables and fruits are my diet. Another ‘food’ according to me that can help you develop a strong mind and will power is a passion to know more about a topic. Learning is a great way to challenge your brain. It jogs your mind.

 

Who do you think is the influencer here – mind over behaviour or vice versa and why? 

 

Human affinity to nature is quite ingrained in our genetics and also has its roots in our evolution. To me, the mind is a better and stronger influencer over behaviour as what I think interests me or captures my attention, thus results in me wanting to perform the task and hence my resultant behaviour.  So mentally, if I decide that I want to know more about a species, I decide to go ahead and make a plan to visit its habitat and photograph it or else go out and see what I can do to protect its habitat and ensure its survival. Hence, for me, my behaviour is very much influenced by my mental thoughts and desires.

 

How important is self-control in achieving your target? Kindly explain vis-a-vis the following example: You witnessed an array of emotions while wading deep into the forest. How did you combat your fear and remain placid when you got what you desired and perhaps even more. In this case, the iconic shot. Also, if possible, share your techniques of self-control.

 

I feel self-control is important to achieve your goals in life. For me, self-control involves a strong will power, discipline, focused set of goals and a good determination to achieve those goals. My earliest practice of self-control was having to not watch TV during exam time. The first time, was very difficult but as it became a practice each year, it seemed super easy. And this taught me to focus on what I felt was important. 

When I first decided to go to Bhandardara village in Maharashtra to click the fireflies, I was determined that no matter what I will try my best to capture them in my camera. So, with my mind made up, I landed at the forest, just outside the village. Since I have visited jungles from a young age, I have no fear of forests or animals as I personally feel the safest when I am in the midst of mother nature and her creatures. No animal will ever harm you if you give it space and respect its need for distance. So as I walked the jungle trails that evening, my mind was so relaxed as I heard the forest symphony - sounds of crickets..birds chirping …leaves rustling in the  breeze…I of course just wanted to spot the fireflies as they dazzled with all glory. And this passion of mine to see them and photograph them was so strong that the trek seemed very easy to do. I have been clicking since I was eight. I used to be very excited as a kid and that has messed up many shots when it came to photographing animal behaviour. That taught me to be composed on the field. With a clear mind, you can think. When you are hyper, even the simplest problem would look massive. Maintaining a cool mind and seeing through the situation is what I try doing.

 

I do have a strong will power and I have been disciplined and focused since childhood. Even during my school and college days, I had a set timetable which I adhered to as I used to juggle wildlife photography with my studies. I knew if I had to achieve good grades and great images, discipline would be needed. My timetable included study and free time and I used to set goals to complete my syllabus. And this has helped me a long way in being fit mentally and physically. I never compare myself with anyone and I firmly believe that if the flame of your passion is fuelled by a constant thirst for knowledge coupled with a strong determination, then any goal can be achieved. So, self-control to me is all about never letting my mind go astray.

 

When you were out in the forest at night to take that luminous picture, how often did you think of yourself as a young woman? Here, kindly explain, what matters to your mind then – being gender-neutral or sex-specific and why? Is it important for you to be gender-neutral and age fluid at times? Yes/no, why?

 

I have never felt that gender limits your ambitions or dreams. My family never once told me that I could not do something because I was a girl. They treated me as a person and not as a ‘girl’. Even when I was at the forest clicking the fireflies, all I thought was how well I could photograph them in the darkness of night and what camera setting would best help me in that. Never once did I think of my gender.  I usually never let my age or gender come between my dreams. I think it is important to be gender-neutral and age fluid at times as then only can we work towards achieving our goals without any hindrance.

 

Do you believe nature has a great role in influencing our mind and vice-versa? Yes/no, please enumerate with some age fluid activities that bring us closer to nature.

 

Yes, I do believe that nature influences our mind big time. Nature to me is the best doctor and teacher ever. Being amidst nature, or observing the beauty of nature, reduces negative emotions and stress and increases positive emotions and pleasant feelings within us. But apart from this, nature also teaches you many lessons. Here I have mentioned two to exemplify my point.

 Resilience- The river you see flowing across rocks has at one point cuts through mountains to chart its course and meets the sea. If the river had given up and felt that cutting through the mountain was very difficult, it would never have become a river in the first place. 

 Altruism -  Nature teaches you selflessness as well. Look at a tree. It continues to give shade to even the person who brings an axe to chop down its branches. There is no revenge or anger in Nature. Being in nature’s lap not only makes you feel better emotionally, it contributes to your physical well being by reducing blood pressure and the production of stress hormones.

Be it a swim in the sea or a walk on the sand, Nature fills you with happiness wherever you stand.

To my mind, age fluid activities are also great detoxifiers and are actually easily accessible. For example, when you watch a documentary film on wildlife/nature, scroll down on your Facebook account and get engrossed into a Dodo feature, tending to your terrace garden or even some indoor plants/herbs like Tulsi and Hibiscus at your drawing room or simply staring out in the open at the early hours, all make up for keeping your mind positively stimulated.  I also find a walk in the woods or just sitting by a river and soaking in the sounds of nature very age fluid activities. To me and my next-door aunt, the best music can be heard in the silence of the woods or beside the brook. For city dwellers, even going for a nature walk in the local park, holidaying in a nature lodge are activities that can turn even our silver citizens into a bunch of curious teenagers!!

Nature has always been without boundaries or barriers. Age, Sex, Caste etc doesn’t exist in the forest. Everyone is welcome there. That is precisely why, it is so easy to become one with nature.