My Valentine Walk in the Woods with Shortcut Safaari

Source: quotesgram.com

Haven't we heard or read this quote at some point in out life? Robert Frost's quote does remind us of the woods, but we don't keep our promise of visiting it! This valentine's weekend, I was going to keep my promise!

For the first time ever, as a blogger, I was invited to be a part of a movie promotion event. If you've been thinking, what's the connection with the title 'Valentine Walk in Woods' and a movie promotion, let me enlighten you...This was unlike any other run-in-the-mill film cliched promotion announcement- this was a zara sa hatke and a fun way to promote the film that keeps it's theme with nature and relates to children.

So on 13th February 2016, I traveled to Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) the Conservation Education Centre (CEC), located near Film City in Goregaon East, Mumbai for a Blogger Safaari with the team of Shortcut Safaari.

I was to meet my fellow bloggers Sujata Tawde, Geeta Sridhar, Amreen Sheikh, UK, Priya, Manujsha Pandey and a few others, invited by Riddhi Sharma. Reaching at 10.30 a.m. a wee bit late thanks to my autorickshaw driver, who had decided to go for his own trail by taking a detour from the venue.

From 10.30 am to 12.30 pm we had set out for a nature walk in the woods, at BNHS - Mumbai's best kept secret. Joining us bloggers on this walk was the Director of Shortcut Safaari movie himself, Amitabha Singh, who had earlier warmly welcomed each Blogger to the venue. And our VIPs of the day were the school children from Nehru Nagar Public School, Kanjurmarg. With instructions registered, pee breaks done and water bottles filled, we formed two groups and dispersed with two BNHS experts, one for each group. As soon as I stepped out side the BNHS observatory and classroom, I was taken back to my school days, a good 15 years ago. (Stop guessing my age!) 

It took me back to the time our school had taken us to BNHS, perhaps for an Environmental Studies assignment. And I'm sure, at that age I was not really paying a lot of attention to information given out about the trees and the critters there. But this time, it was different.

I was refreshed to know so many interesting facts on the bio diversity that is packed inside the green cover of Mumbai. Like did you know, Mumbai is home to the world's largest moth, the Atlas Moth? Or did you know about the agility of the Grey Hornbill or the beauty of the striped Tiger Butterfly? They all live in a biodiversity park within Mumbai's limits almost undisturbed by the hustle and bustle of urban activity.

Egged on by the inquisitiveness and enthusiasm of the children, 15 years later, I paid attention to each word by the BNHS expert. What surprised me to no end was the sheer unadulterated enthusiasm of the school kids in asking and answering questions to the BNHS Experts. And what did not surprise me was the eagerness of the children to pose for snaps! (Yours truly clearly remembers being camera shy, and still is) 

And to cater to such enthusiastic kids with bright and alert minds, a movie on nature is the need of the hour. That's what the movie Shortcut Safaari aims to do. At the end of the trail, we were treated to the music clip of a song from the movie but coded language! Can you guess what they are talking?

About 'Shortcut Safaari'

Shortcut Safaari is an independent film written and directed by Amitabha Singh. Other than being a fun-filled journey, it highlights certain touch points that affect us on a day to day level. In the broader stream of events and themes, the film also focuses on nature sensitizing. To a great response, the Film was premiered during the National Children's Film Festival at the Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi in November 2014, organized by the Children's Film Society of India (CFSI).

Furthermore, it received huge resonating appreciation from the audiences at Nandan, Kolkata during the Kolkata Children's International Film Festival in December 2014 organized under the aegis of Shishu Kishore Academy, Government of West Bengal.

Shortcut Safaari has made its presence felt over various National and International children’s film festivals across the country and now the film has embarked upon a new journey to connect as many children as possible to nature through various innovative activities and screenings. With Shortcut Safaari, Amitabha consolidates his position in the children’s film category. He has earlier helmed the camera for Chillar Party, Khosla Ka Ghosla and India’s Oscar entry in 2014- Good Road.

I'm glad I got a chance to be a part of this Nature Trail cum Bloggers Safaari. I am sure such an initiative fulfilled its aim to view  and to reconnect children with their roots and showcasing the natural world amidst the humdrum and chaos of daily city life.

Real promise towards Real Togetherness

I saw this excellent comic by Bizarro and it cracked me up. Will it not be any truer?

Another shared message through WhatsApp comments that today's generation is smart only through their phones. Not only the teenagers (now known as the 'Millennials') but Gen Y too are very much social in the confines of our smart phones, iPads, Tablets, smartwatches and headsets! 

It got me thinking:

We rarely move out of the confines of our homes albeit only for work.

We may just WhatsApp/ comment on their wall and wish the person instead of calling them.

We seldom meet anyone in person, not even on their birthday, even if it’s a national holiday.

We don't have our loved one's phone numbers by heart.

Our lives are more online than offline.

We depend on Google for general information, Facebook for recalling friends, Twitter for #news and YouTube for how-tos.

Don't get me wrong, I am as social online as it can get. After all I'm blogging 'online'. But I feel we need to realize that there is no real connection is' through wires, plastic and microchips. 

Fact is, we do know this, maybe realize this and acknowledge it. Even participate in campaigns that talk about being in the real world. (can you notice the irony?)

Let me share something. Before I gave birth to my daughter, I made a promise to myself, that I would make her experience the real togetherness with nature that I had experienced when I was a small girl. Away from the gadget menace, I promised that I would help her understand nature by reading to her bright coloured picture books on nature, take her to local botanical gardens, go to sanctuaries/ national parks and watch animals in all their magnificence, grow a plant and look after it as our own, take a trip to a farmhouse and learn about domesticated animals and more. That is togetherness in my mind.
I want her to experience all of this what now-a-days children do not experience - the real togetherness with nature. This is how I intend to teach my little one about nature and to be together with nature.

Now as a mom to a growing toddler who absorbs information like a sponge, I have this growing fear that down the line, if addicted to technology, she will brush me off for smarter technology quicker than the next software update on Android.

So I’ve taken slow steps towards how I can keep the childhood alive in me and enrich her childhood years. I want to keep our real togetherness alive. 

I want to embrace technology when it is needed the most, but not replace our bond with nature.

Similarly, Kissan is keeping the spirit of togetherness alive with their own destination – Kissanpur. I can still recall the packet of tomato seeds in the newspaper Kissan had shared to help us nourish our wonderful little tomato plant.

Check out Kissan's wonderful new TVC for us to relish the oneness with nature and then head to Kissanpur to discover real togetherness.

Rhythm Divine

When the skies appear sullen as if after a white-wash, the sun peeps through the clouds no more, the cool icy breeze wavering the leaves on trees, pitter-patter of the raindrops against the windows...What can get better than this atmosphere, when the clouds pour down without inhibition albeit intimidating Nature to take on its course.

All one can do in this wonderful serene weather is to sit back and enjoy nature's spectacle; every cycle begins with the blessing of monsoon as mother earth quenches her thirst for many a months in the seasonal cycle.

The onset of the monsoon brings one joy-one becomes a kid again-and undiluted calmness. I reminisce, the flowing of paper boats across the overflowing water stream, wearing gumboots and flopping about in my raincoat, without a care in the world dancing away to the divine rhythm of the rain. (And also of how being scolded for turning into a muddy mess and have earthworms crawling all over the floors of my home :P)

Of corn cobs being roasted merrily while tea simmers away in an old pot. Of sitting beside a loved one chatting away interrupted only to sip hot tea and eat hot onion fritters. When one doesn't mind when umbrella is forgotten "by mistake" and get drenched to the toe on such a whim.

Such wonderful times, mesmerizing...

Reminds me a wonderful song by B. J. Thomas:

"..The blues they send to meet me won't defeat me
It won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me..
..Raindrops keep fallin' on my head.."

Enjoy the monsoons folks! :)



Statutory Warning: This post may dampen/ unable to rekindle spirits of those afflicted with leaky-nose syndrome (aka common cold).

image courtesy: mlissa2121 from photobucket.