Goa's other wild side

You could say I am prejudiced, about this book on a Goa you don’t know, and I love, from the author Nirmal Kulkarni, who introduced me to “his” Goa — away from the sun n’ sand n’ the flea bazaar n’ the feni.  

Prejudice aside, it can be objectively said that The Goan Jungle Book is a delightful introduction to the forests of Goa. Yes, you read that right. Goa is a wild, wild place, and not (just) in the manner we imagine. Between the sea that runs along its western edge and the towering Western Ghats (a biodiversity hotspot) is a myriad of ecosystems – mangroves, estuaries, rivers, grasslands and evergreen forests – which host mega-fauna such as the tiger, leopard, guar, sambar and so on. Kulkarni, however, takes us up a different path, choosing to acquaint us with creatures that may not carry the same glam quotient as the tiger, but are equally interesting, if a shade quirky. The book waxes eloquent about the “creepy-crawlies” — spiders and frogs and snakes and ants … creatures largely maligned, and usually met with a shriek and a shudder. Kulkarni, obviously, has a different perspective that he presents simply and succinctly. He throws light on little-known facts about the lesser-known forms of life. The king cobra – which can grow up to 14 feet – is the only snake that makes nests for hatching in the manner of birds, while he describes the ornate flying snake as a diurnal, sun-loving beautiful Indian snake known for its unique ability to “fly” or rather glide effortlessly from one tree to another. Kulkarni introduces Goa’s own tarantula — huge guys with retractable claws like cats who do not weave webs unlike others of their kind.

Goa draws visitors from across the world, but few know of Goa’s oldest tourists — rare olive ridley turtles which arrive every winter to lay eggs on the same beach that they were born, before going back into the sea. The eggs, secured beneath the sand, hatch about 55 to 60 days later. A personal favourite is the chapter on the slender loris, a tiny, nocturnal primate with huge eyes that seem to end in a long, heart-shaped nose. The creature has a peculiar tendency to spray itself with its own urine to soothe the bite of toxic insects and keep them at bay!

No trail down the wild path, or no tome on nature, comes without the posse of threats involved, and The Goan Jungle Book is no exception. So much as one enjoys the wonders of wildlife, it is accompanied by a sense of despair on the perils that stalk them all — snakes and crocodiles killed for their skin, monitor lizards and slender loris to boost potency or for some imagined medicinal powers, frogs for the pot. Add to that the very serious threat of destruction of wild habitats.

Finding this book is much like coming across an unexpected pleasure, like finding that little extra in something familiar, something – in this cas, someplace – you thought you knew so well, but you did not. It’s the unknown, exciting face of an old love. An acquaintance with the Goan wildlife changed the pattern of my affair with Goa. The excitement of rave parties and beach shacks has been replaced with nights spent hunting for the slender loris, the thrill of an encounter with the vine snake, and sojourns in a rickety boat watching birds and crocs.

The Goan Jungle Book is a tiny window to, and your first step into, Wild Goa.

THE GOAN JUNGLE BOOK
Nirmal Kulkarni
Herpactive Publications
109 pages
 

Rebel with a cause

With Islamic terrorists replacing the Russians as certified global Baddies for the West, spy novels have become more exotic than ever. Games Traitors Play lives up to that with its attractive renegade MI6 agent Daniel Marchant, part Philby, part Bond, playing a game of Catch The Terrorist from Marrakech to Madurai with Salim Dhar, inevitably the world’s most-wanted terrorist. He has competition from the CIA via its lush and improbably-named agent Lakshmi Meena and the Russians too. Marchant’s role in delivering Britain from a 9/11 of its own may bear a passing resemblance to an episode from the BBC series Spooks but it is no less compelling. And when Al Qaeda confounds western intelligence agencies on a regular basis, novels like this are satisfyingly cathartic.

GAMES TRAITORS PLAY
Daniel Marchant,
Blue Door,
376 pages, Rs 275