That gorgeous patch of earth

Photograph by Preeti Verma Lal

She is dark and oh boy! how wholly gregarious she can be. She is such a great mimic that when she performs men drool. Some call her audacious; others put the pest epaulette on her shiny skin. But this scion of the starling family is a great artiste and very pricey. That's the hill mynah for you - the black bird adorned with orange and yellow wattles and very conceited about its repertoire of 13 calls. This impressionist also happens to be the state bird of Chattisgarh.

The Sparrow could not be wrong about the mynah, could he? So when noted ornithologist Dr Salim Ali talks of the dialects of hill mynah (gracula religiosa) believe him. You walk a few kilometers and the warbles and the wails of the gregarious mynah you heard a while ago would change considerably in tenor. It is like walking from one village to another and getting lost in the sudden showbiz of another language.

And if you want to see hill mynah, go to Chattisgarh, south Chattisgarh, to be precise. The black birds have made the dense forest of Kanger Valley their home. You don't need to strain your ears to hear their whistles and the wails, they are literally piped through the forest. Of the four species of the hill mynahs found in India, the Bastar mynah is considered the smartest mimic of the human voice.

If the hill mynah is Chattisgarh's pricey pin-up girl, the macho Asiatic wild buffalo is its state animal. An endangered species, the wild buffalo can be found only in the Indrawati/Kutru National Park in the Indrawati valley of Bastar. Efforts are being made to protect the species from extinction. Project Wild Buffalo has been launched in Udanti and Pamer sanctuaries. Soon the wild buffaloes would be wearing radio collars to help wildlife experts track their habits and prepare a better protection strategy.

In its 10 sanctuaries and four national parks, the forest play host to several other animal species - lion, cheetah, spotted deer, sambhar, barking deer, bear, to pick some of them. Of course, the crowd depends on the relevant habitat but the forests of Chattisgarh are still one of the best in the country.

The state has nearly 14 percent of the country's forest cover and roughly 60,928 sq. kms. of its total area have a forest canopy accounting for almost 50 percent of the state's territory. Of the total forest cover, nearly one-thirds are covered with sal trees. The sal trees not only add the green cover and maintain the ecological balance, they also contribute more than 40 percent of the total annual forest revenue and provide livelihood to thousands of people through the 10,000 industrial units that depend on forest for their raw material.

There are 22 varied forest types found in the state, but from the management point of view they can be categorized into sal, teak, miscellaneous and bamboo forest. Sal, said to be the only evergreen forest tree in the country, stretches with gay abandon in Barnawapara and Sitanadi sanctuaries covering 244 and 533 sq.kms., respectively. Of these, Sitanadi is said to have the best sal forest in the state, just as the Godavri basin is reputed for its moist teak.

When forest is discussed in Chattisgarh, the conversation often skews to its symbiotic relationship with the tribals. Not only do the tribals depend on the forest for their daily sustenance they also find their deities and their doctors there. Chattisgarh is known for its rich variety of medicinal plants - ambda, anjan, amla, harra, kurlu, kusum - which are used for ailments ranging from simple fever to more complicated ones like cancer, leprosy, diabetes, even abortions.

When in Chattisgarh, think William Blake and his tigers burning bright in the forests of the night. Or just listen to the hill mynah and dream under a sal tree.


Published in Discover India magazine, September 2004.