Balais notes

 Shortly after Sherpa (Ritwik Prince Niyogi) finished his ICSE (ClassX) exams we headed for Raipur. Mr Debarchan Mishra, now a Big Daddy with Axis Bank (Regional Retail Head) was then the Branch Head of UTI BANK, Raipur and had made all arrangements for our two-day visit to Kanha National Park. We reached theTuli Resorts at the Kisli Gate in Kanha VERY late in the night only to be up and ready before 5 the next morning for our first excursion into the Park. After spending a greater part of the morning roaming around the Park in a Gypsy we got the news of a "Tiger Show"  - meaning a tiger has been sighted and surrounded on four sides by several elephants so that desiring tourists could climb on to other elephants and have a close look at it. Debarchan acted promptly and booked all four of us on an elephant. Barring faint memories of tigers from very early in my childhood - both live and hunted - while with my uncles in Hazaribag, this was our first live view of a tiger in the ...

 People close to me allege that Kolkata perhaps does not suit me because I am travelling out so frequently. Partly true! But I do feel fortunate to be in Kolkata at least on one count : there are several rich birding sites within a close striking distance from the City. Piyali Island in 24 Parganas (South) on the Piyali River near its confluence with the Matla River and hardly 70 kms from my residence near Gariahat is one such wonderful bird-land. I first visited Piyali along with a few of my bird-loving friends in April last year mainly in search of the magnificent Paradise Flycatcher. While I did get to see a few of these beautiful birds along with several other species, I could not get a decent photo and it left me all the more thirsting for some better photos.  A second visit followed within three weeks in early May 2014 and this time around I came back really happy with some very satisfying photographs of the Paradise Flycatcher – both  male (white) and female (ruf...