The Bar-headed Geese Have Arrived!

Yesterday, Friday, the 7th of March, after a rather disappointing visit to the Sultanpur National Park, I decided to visit the Najafgarh Lake Zone at Chandu Budhera. On reaching the lake I was pleasantly surprised to spot hundreds of Bar-headed Geese! It was even more surprising to see them reach their nesting ground so late in the winter season. I spotted these birds in the month of November 2023. Incidentally, I did not spot any of these birds in 2024.

The late arrival of Bar-headed Geese in the Gurgaon district could be because of climatic disruptions, change in weather, and availability of feeding grounds. It is also pertinent to note that the birds that once could be spotted closer to the city have now chosen to visit wetlands that are farther away. The Sultanpur National Park rarely hosts Bar-headed Geese and the Basai Wetland is no longer a wetland.

Bar-headed Geese are fascinating birds. They are capable of flying long distances all the way from central Asia, Tibet and parts of Russia and Mongolia. Bar-headed Geese can fly at great heights were there is hardly any Oxygen to breathe. Last but not least, they are amongst the greatest navigators in the world!

Their late arrival in the district of Gurgaon, in Haryana could be because of unfavourable weather and climate conditions. Strong head winds, lack of food, and global warming might have impacted their migration to India. Yes, it is unfortunate that their stay will be marred by the approaching summer season.

Bar-headed Geese are now forced to seek other more lush and better resourced areas than the Sultanpur National Park and the now defunct Basai Wetland. It is a matter of great concern that human industrial activities, conversion of wetlands into residential areas, and the general apathy of various organizations has resulted in these birds switching to other locations. The reduced number of Bio-diversity hotspots, lack of wetlands, is driving away migratory birds from the plains of Northern India. This has implications for us. A reduction in water resources and forests, the vanishing green areas are bound to have a future impact on the livability index for human beings.

 

Meltdown-A Poem

 Meltdown

People rush past a narrow path

Knocking each other on the path,

Their minds on the task ahead,

They barely register others.

A meltdown has taken place

A role-reversal between machines

And people. People do the hard work

Machines find time to rest!

People rush down a road so dark

That leads to a future so stark!

Of their own making is the world

A role reversal so rude.

For so would they meddle with

Science, thus making a machine with

The will to rule! And thus they head to

A meltdown of all things so good.

Countries fights for control

Over resources so scarce, to rule

Over the poor would be their role.

While machines watch thoughtfully!

Thus they said, 'Let them fight,

What good did they do the earth? What

Good have they done to themselves?

Let Earth rid herself of them!'

Sadness rules the world harshly

 And people lose their sense of humanity.

Goaded by pride and vanity, they hurt

One and all, just for supremacy!

Children pore into textbooks,

To be the best, to excel in exams,

In a world where rank and marks

Matter, humility makes an exit!

Even machines wonder at such

Harsh competition, the desire so much

To outshine one  another, so that they

Trample into dust love and empathy.

As humanity goes into a meltdown,

All human feelings get shut down.

Humanity copies machinery while

Machinery becomes more human!