‘Ullu’ is probably the first word of insult we come across in India before we upgrade to more sinister swear words. In English literature, on the contrary, an owl is always associated with intelligence and wisdom. In English again, a group of owls is called parliament but in India ‘ullu’ or owl is always associated with stupidity.

In many parts of India, the sight of a baya weaver bird, building its nest indicates that rains are around the corner. Identified by their bright yellow crest, there are four species of the bird indigenous to the country—the baya weaver, streaked weaver, black-breasted weaver and Finn’s weaver.

“The Ganga and Yamuna are holy but there’s a lot of pollution,’’ says my guide Dinesh of Mela Kothi, adding, “the Chambal is cursed, but the water is healthy.”

Darters are sometimes called snake birds and it’s easy to understand why when you see one in the water. They often swim partly-submerged with just that slim head and neck above the surface. Seen from a distance these birds really can look like snakes when they do that.

Flamboyant and jazzy, these kingfishers are deadly assassins. Like all fishermen, kingfishers are patient, waiting for hours on telephone poles or electric wires, reeds, trees and rooftops, waiting in happy anticipation of their victims to show up.

“The Chambal is the last refuse for us gharials. Please, Mujhe Jeene Do. (Please let me live).” Mujhe Jeene Do was a 1963 Hindi film, the first film on dacoits shot in the ravines of Chambal. Experts say the wild life of Chambal was safer when real dacoits used to rule over this region. No one dared come here. But now sand mafias, poachers, illegal fishing, hunting and mining, industrial pollution is posing a big danger to Chambal and subsequently the gharials and other species that live in it. It’s a wakeup call for all concerned states and agencies. “The Ganga and Yamuna are holy but polluted,” says our guide Dinesh, adding, “the Chambal is unholy, but the water healthy for these species.”

“A great silence is spreading over the natural world even as the sound of man is becoming deafening, little by little the vast orchestra of life, the chorus of the natural world, is in the process of being quietened. There has been a massive decrease in the density and diversity of key vocal creatures, both large and small. The sense of desolation extends beyond mere silence.” says Bernie Krause, who recorded the sounds of over 15,000 species in the last 60 years.