Since I
have a desk job it keeps me at the desk most of the time, without letting me
any opportunity to go out to enjoy nature and photograph it. I often find
myself in between a rational pull n push of what or how should I manage both?!?!?
As always it ends up me consoling myself with ‘I need to plan a trip soon!’ It
amazes me though how ‘NEED’ always overpowers ‘WANT’ in our lives!
Living with the disappointment, I remembered the lesson of one of the renowned personalities I met during my Samrakshn days, that – One need not go to forests or National parks to experience /appreciate nature, its everywhere around us, just need to care enough and have an eye for it! I decided to put the theory to a real test without stepping out of my room. The plan was to give it a couple of months (to be fair on the theory) to observe natural activities inside my room. While I was wondering if I was being too harsh on the theory, nature on the other hand (as always)was gearing up to surprise me.
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| Spirama helicina on my roof-ceiling |
Not more
than a couple of days into the plan I began to notice Moths sitting on my walls
and roof-ceiling. Moths and Butterflies belong to the order Lepidoptera in the
insect world. Lepidoptera means scaled wings (lepido = scale, ptera = wings).
Though they fall under the same order, moths are much under-studied then their
cousins, the Butterflies! One of the reasons could be lack of interest. For
most of us moths are butterfly like flying insects active mostly at night with
striking colors and wild patterns/designs on their wings and in bizarre shapes
and sizes. They don’t draw much
of our attention. Perhaps in today’s fashion-crazy world when style drives us
all, Moths with their odd look don't quite fit in! But then there are people
who spend nights searching for Moths, and because of them we have hope.
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| Moth on my wall |
Anyway
since Moths were flying around in my room, I started to give them more
attention. In one month time I have recorded at least a dozen different
(looking) Moths inside my room! I photographed most of them except the Micromoths
(really tiny ones) and those which were out of my lens' range.
The reason
behind such a high moth count could be the location of my house. I remember the
discussion with Sanjoy Sondhi (Naturalist and avid moth watcher) in one of the moth
watching evenings, where he gave us pointers to attract moths -
Open space opposite
forest/bush with a bright screen and a high power fluorescent lamp on top of the screen. My room apparently
fulfills all the requirements.
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| Butterfly on my bed |
Since I was
active mostly at nights only so what I observed were mostly Moths. Oddly enough
though it was night a couple of Butterflies did pay a visit just to remind me
of them. I love butterflies just like the other person, they are the insects I
first look for in forests and they are not at all camera conscious so I love
photographing them too! Along with Moths and Butterflies the other creatures I
noticed were Dragonflies, House Geckos, Spiders and Common Indian Toads and
their interaction with each other.
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| Micromoth on my roof ceilling |
In one of
the relatively cooler nights I was waiting in my room keeping my windows open
and light on to invite moths but I didn't see any. Later I noticed my roof
ceiling was almost covered with Micromoths of a particular kind. It was a
feeding frenzy for the house geckos. Even when the geckos were done hunting I
found 37 Micromoths were still there in the room!
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| Dinner time! |
Another similar
incident was me trying to photograph one of the Common Toads attempting to pounce
on a moth. Although I managed to get a photo of the event but I ended up doing
what humans do best and worst to Nature ‘Interference’! My interference in this
case has cost the poor Toad its dinner. Though I enjoy photographing inter
species interaction, I should be more responsible and careful in future with my
passion.
It’s been
almost two months now, moths have become regular. I can identify them with the
design on their wings; however I am not sure how reliable it is as an
identification technique. Well nothing can beat the joy/thrill of going out
into a forest and searching for wildlife but when I am not, I have my times
worth at home! Though I live alone am not lonely, I am happy to share my room
with all these different characters.
So truly
Nature is everywhere around us, do we care enough to observe it?!?!
