Discovering Nature in Delhi: Tracing the capital's secret natural world

In her new book, Neha Sinha explores Delhi's hidden wilderness-from the Aravalli Range to the Delhi Ridge-revealing the capital's rich but overlooked biodiversity

Discovering Nature in Delhi

By Neha Sinha

Published by HarperCollins

359 pages ₹799

 

The other day, I was out for a walk in my neighbourhood park and was surprised to be greeted by a pair of passing peahens. In the crowded, bustling and polluted capital city we call home, sights such as these are rare. Conservation biologist and author Neha Sinha’s latest book is a journey through Delhi’s hidden wilderness — through monuments, forests, parks, forts and the Aravalli hills — where she uncovers wild creatures, ecological histories, centuries-old groves of trees, rivers, tracks, and bird calls. 

As a young girl, Sinha did not play with dolls; rather she played with ants, birds and other insects in her garden in Tagore Park, a small residential colony in North Delhi where she grew up. “Life was outdoors, life was in the mud, amidst the grasses and bugs, and we liked each other’s company,” she recalls. And so, with this book, she sets out to reclaim the garden of her childhood. “I must regrow its wild, strong sense of abandon,” she resolves. 

In her pre-teens, Sinha learnt that trees don’t have to be elegant, and that the truly memorable is often not sweet. One can discern the type of tree with an intuition rather than a medical examination, she points out. Having said that, trees are individuals, too, and not every tree follows notes of how it is supposed to look, she adds. “What matters is that you notice the tree, and that you allow it to tunnel into your life, to open new neural pathways,” she writes. 

It’s amazing how natural spaces such as the Aravalli wetlands, the Ridge Forest and the sacred grove of Mangar all exist alongside urban structures such as malls and other concrete buildings. Despite having lived in Delhi through most of one’s life, there are so many details that one often misses and is probably unaware of. Along the way, the author also makes some observations about different parts of the city. 

Sinha writes that there are over 400 bird species in Delhi, some of which have been crossing the Himalayas to migrate to the metropolis for centuries. She points out that the area around Hauz Khas Village has a pilkhan tree, one of the city’s designated “heritage trees”. Also, the channelled course of Delhi’s lesser-known river, Sahibi, is more infamous as the Najafgarh drain, “the greatest source of water pollution and effluents in the Yamuna”. The author also shares some interesting trivia, such as the fact that it was the yellow-throated sparrow that spurred noted ornithologist Salim Ali to study birds seriously. 

The author also goes on to share personal memories and stories — her own as well as those of others — related to the trees, flowers, plants, birds, and animals she highlights in the book. Sinha recalls that the garden of her childhood — in the late eighties and nineties — was awash with fireflies. “When exactly was there an abundance of fireflies in the city, and when did they all but disappear?” she wonders. Similarly, the coppersmith barbet’s call is a sound from her childhood. “The time of our childhoods was overall a quieter one, because we were able to hear the outdoors,” she reminisces. It was only many years later during the Covid-19 pandemic that she heard the coppersmith’s sound once again. 

Talking about her favourite tree, the semal, Sinha writes that it was important enough to be traced, through memories, anthers, filaments, heartbeats and maps. Along with Vallari Sheel, who completed a PhD on Delhi’s trees, she creates a map of the city, recounting all the places where they had seen the semal. Ironically, as a child, the author was told that it was not safe for her to venture into wild places in Delhi by herself. She substantiates this with the example of Sanjay Van, which is known for being the capital’s most haunted place as well as a routine site for violence, crime and stashed bodies. 

The author notes that in the Gazetteer of Delhi, 1912, there is evidence of much more abundant wildlife in the capital, including leopards, hyenas, wolves, hog deer, foxes, jackals, hare, porcupines, and crocodiles. “What we have now are the clues remnant populations leave us,” she writes. Finally, Sinha recommends spending a little time with nature every day, exploring the outdoors, preferably with like-minded people. “Going into nature has meant a going out of comfort zones, and a growing inward for rootedness,” she explains.

 

The book is filled with several beautiful pictures and illustrations. Apart from that, the Appendix also consists of a flowering calendar of Delhi with details of all the flowers that bloom in respective months. 

The reviewer is a New Delhi-based freelance writer