Nishand's Photo Ark » Photography

‘Today and Tomorrow with the Tree of Sorrow’

by admin· March 09, 2026· in Animal Rescue· 0 comments

During dawn observed a few flowers that are left on the branches where butterflies and bees are flying around. Insects might even check on the orange-red tips of the freshly fallen flowers. Some flowers fall on the leaves nearby, but those which are on the ground might seem like a floral carpet for a passer-by. Does watching flowers create positive influence on beholder’s mind? The tree that I am mentioning here is generally known as Night-blooming jasmine, which in the local language here is known as ‘Harsingar’. Some call it the tree of sadness or tree of sorrow. For me this one is a tree of gifts. There is also another local name which is ‘Parijat’ which has a cultural and spiritual connection with people in India. Many use these flowers for rituals and offering prayers. It’s also heard that some use parts of this tree for medicinal properties sometimes. My fascination towards this tree is due to the fact that it is a survivor, and very punctual with its duty of flowering which denotes the change of seasons. Well, trees can understand the change in weather quite well, now this tree is ready to welcome winter by offering flowers on […]
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Long Day for the Night Dweller

by admin· January 21, 2026· in bird, Bird watching, Environment, Nature, Photography, Rediscover Nature, Writing· 0 comments

Rediscovering nature is a sort of detective work. Keeping your senses tuned towards nature and its elements is necessary. With practice it becomes your second nature. Stay curious, that’s the way… Here is a story that I would like to share… 7:05 am 14th January 2026 Morning is quite cold, but outside on a neem tree birds were having a heated conversation. Jungle babblers, crows, red-vented bulbuls etc, all were quite alarmed. I first thought it was a cat or a monkey. But after sometime I felt whatever was there inside the foliage as deeply disturbed the serenity of that location. People below are taking a walk in the park, while the temperature was quite low. Maybe in their minds many thoughts might running and creating a cacophony similar to what was happening on top of this tree. I felt it would be better to wait for a while, as I assumed if the thing that disturbing them was a cat or a monkey, it would move out soon. But the ruckus continues. 7:14 am Within ten minutes I was out to observe, the reason for the disturbance. Considering the ambience and setting it must be something these birds are […]
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So Far in 2025

by admin· January 01, 2026· in Environment, Nature, Photography, Writing· 0 comments tags: biodiversity, environment, nature, writing

Last year has been productive in intrinsic manner. While facing fresh challenges I have learnt to adapt to given circumstances. Even as conflicts were raging around the world giving news of despair and creating anxiety for the audience, there always has been refuge provide by nature to many. Observing nature in the small corner nearby me have always taught me to continue my pursuits even when the results are sometimes not as prompt as the attempts made. As usual Science Next Door always gave me the opportunity to share my thoughts on nature continuously for the fourth year. What started in April 2021 with a poem on butterflies has now grown to reach 137 so far. Will I be able to contribute 150 poems in this website? Here are some of the poems published in Science Next Door last year… A Seedling’s Toil- Tale of the Soil Wetlands’ Habitual Posers: The Cormorants’ Disclosures Duress to Zoochosis- A Lonely Wolf’s Crisis Sole Goal Of A Fish In The Bowl Nature’s Colour Galore: Indian Pitta’s Lore From Oceans to Nations: Mind’s Wavering Contentions Mosses and Notions of Coexistence Predators vs. Prey in Real and Virtual Space… Experience Of Rat Snakes’ ‘Combat Dance’ A Rainbow View to Pursue… […]
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So Far in 2024…

by admin· December 30, 2024· in Environment, Nature, Photography, Writing· 0 comments

Well, it is time to say good bye to year 2024 and welcome New Year 2025… I am sharing some of the important milestones in the journey of this nature enthusiast this year. Fortunately I was able to kick-start my travels across India this year in an extensive way. Visited the Ghats of Ganga, Hills of Uttarakhand and Gir in Gujarat. Writing for nature brought various recognitions this year and I express my gratitude to those who supported my ad’ventures’. This starts with appreciation to Wildlife Blogger Crowd for congratulating me on the occasion of being the runner-up of the WeNaturalists People of Nature Awards 2023 in the category – Nature Storyteller of the Year Thanks to Fireflies Asian – Association for reading my essay on fireflies and considering it for this recognition. First position in essay writing competition. It is really an honour to see that my work for nature is being accepted and rewarded in this manner. Sharing with you all my thoughts about fireflies with a nostalgic touch, published in Spillwords.com I am extremely grateful to the lonely conservationists website for sharing the third blog on my journey for nature awareness and self learning. I am glad […]
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So far in 2022

by admin· December 30, 2022· in Animal Rescue· 1 comments

If you want to know your progress then compete with yourself, not others. Everyone’s situation, aims, exposure and struggles are different. This is my third year documenting my journey as a nature enthusiast. One of the highlights of this year is being a finalist for People of Nature Awards in the storytelling section. I am grateful that my work was considered worthy enough by the esteemed judges to reach the final stage of People of Nature awards. The metamorphosis from photographer-volunteer- explorer- writer have reached another phase that’s of a communicator by 2022. 2020 and 2021 were quite challenging years in the journey of this nature enthusiast but these years also taught me to adapt to the change. Here I am sharing some of my learning opportunities and achievements this year. Writing poems for Science Next Door continued, the year started with the poem on Struggling to support its diversity: Squirrel’s Destinyinspired by the work of the squirrels.of.india. They are trying to share the knowledge of biodiversity in squirrel species and the importance of preserving and recording their presence in various areas in India. Slowly from 40 poems, step by step I was increasing my collection of poems in Science Next […]
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So Far 2021 as a nature enthusiast…

by admin· December 13, 2021· in Environment, Nature, Photography, Writing· 0 comments

The year is about to reach its end, no doubt 2021 for many was the year of survival. The disease that many thought will become as yesteryear’s nightmare in the beginning of 2021 unleashed itself in a modified horrific form taking many along with it. The visuals and news were clearly scary and depressing. It happened so suddenly when people were slowly taking a sigh of relief from lockdowns that put a stop to almost every economic activity happening in the World in 2020. This time pandemic took many lives that were thought fit enough to get through this. This also put an indelible scar in many minds. Hope time may lessen the dilemma that we go through. It is not sure after vaccinations and countless counter measures to celebrate and say that we have passed the test. I hope we don’t repeat the same mistakes that we did during 2020 that boomeranged on us as a second covid wave. More than just being a year of survival it is also the year of adapting to the crisis. Many may not agree, they want the old ‘normal’ back. As Charles Darwin postulated ‘ it is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; […]
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Living Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: An Owl’s Distress Call

by admin· February 10, 2021· in Environment, Nature, Photography, Writing· 0 comments tags: animalstories, birdstories, conflict, conservation, delhibird, ferals, observation, owl, poem, respect, stories, urban, wild, wildlife

‘With an expression that seems like we are scowling, Known as the masters in the art of prowling, Some do give a sign of their presence with a screech, Definitely we prefer homes that are out of human’s reach, Maybe in the woods, scraps or an old building, Whichever suits a perfect spot for hiding, If our choices make you wary, Life otherwise for us will be scary, The ability to turn our heads around, Keeps us away from dangers that can hound, Our piercing look is haunting as some may say, But that helps us fix our focus on our prey, Sometimes funny or uncanny, you might find our bobbing act, That’s a way to adjust our vision as a matter of fact, There is much more you can know about us, If you let go of all that eerie fuss, Persecuted for centuries as a representative of bad omens and death, It’s time for you to change this blind faith, There are many more things that need your attention, Stop indirectly harming us with rodent poison and pollution, For your pests our clan provides a solution, Far better than the chemicals which lead your race into the path […]
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So Far 2020 For a Nature Enthusiast

by admin· December 29, 2020· in Environment, Nature, Photography, Writing· 1 comments tags: environment, nature, photogaphy, poem, writing

Various reasons kept me at home, travel was not an option in 2020, but there was a silver lining In the beginning of 2020, it seemed like the option left for me was to focus more on home biodiversity and keep reading on topics regarding nature. It was time to keep the writing about nature without hindrance and thankfully there were opportunities to share those with others through websites. First one to get published in the year 2020 was my poem about Great Indian Bustards and the issues they face in their fight against the danger of being extinct from the face of Earth. The Great Indian Bustards’ Plea was published on spillwords.com and was one of the few contributions that I shared with this website in the year 2020. In March I was selected as Gallery Member of the Month for Saevus Wildlife for that month. This gave me an opportunity to showcase my images and share my experiences in the Saevus Wildlife social media handles in their Tete-a-tete with Gallery Members and also my interview was published in their magazine June-Nov edition. As the lockdown in India due to Covid 19 was announced and we had to stay indoors […]
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A Pet’s Covid Dilemma

by admin· June 30, 2020· in Animal Rescue· 0 comments

A PET’S COVID DILEMMA…. I am a pet next door, Who looked for people to pat me more, Out from home I got a lot of attention, Always made most of that situation, Goofiness was my trait, And everyone fall for that bait, How wonderful were those days, There were smiles on everyone’s face, Suddenly everything changed, What led Humans to stay as if caged? Every day when my human take me out for the task, Why he always have to wear a mask? From what I could hear, They have a disease to fear, When we walked people won’t come near, My walk became more easier, As for few days the roads were clear, It was only me and my human on my rear, At home all my family were there, Glad to have their love and care, But still I could sense the tension in the air, When my neighbours didn’t place their hands on my hair, I could feel how much they love to pat, But stayed away and refused to act, No more cuddles and sweet talk, They just said Hi and took a walk, I looked up and saw some in their balcony, When our […]
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A Mother’s Sacrifice….

by admin· May 14, 2020· in Animal Rescue· 2 comments

(Representative Image) It was not a regular day for her, she has to go near human settlements. Food is scarce; the old ways of searching for food haven’t been forgotten by manmade obstacles have covered their paths—ones that they have used and known for centuries. Roads and vehicles of various sizes send shivers down her spine. The most dangerous are the railway tracks that they have to cross in their search for water. A metal giant rolls itself through those noisy paths and smashes everything that comes its way. Only a few days ago one of the male elephants got hit by it—the train. She and her herd had stood helpless, watching his body being dragged for a few meters before the locomotive finally came to a halt. She told herself she will never allow her child to go near those tracks. But now, she will have to go near the village to get food for herself and the young one. It is not easy to get there. The fence surrounding the fields has been electrified. A mere touch could prove fatal for her. It is also difficult for her to hide in the field. Villagers know her herd will […]
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