High Tourist Influx In The Corbett National Park – A Boon Or Bane?

The high tourist influx in the Corbett National Park – which has the highest tiger density in India in terms of per square km. of forest area – has resulted in a sort of face-off between the Union Environment and Forest Minister Mr. Jairam Ramesh and the state government of Uttarakhand (i.e. the state where the National Park is located).

Ramesh has requested the Uttarakhand government to restrain the inflow of tourist vehicles into the Park, as he feels that it is hampering the conservation of the Park’s tiger population. In the last year the Park reportedly witnessed the visit of more than 2 lakhs of tourists, with a daily average of around 400 tourists.

Ramesh has opined that the huge inflow of tourist vehicles has caused a huge air and noise pollution. And that in turn has resulted in a significant stress for the tigers. A key point made by Ramesh is that the noise pollution resulting from vehicular movements has adversely affected the breeding of the tigers of the Park.

However, the Uttarakhand government is in no mood to accept these observations. It has strongly claimed that the tourist influx has been kept within the permissible limits, and so no fresh restriction can be issued. The state government has also highlighted the fact the livelihoods of a huge chuck of the local population is dependent on the tourists, and putting a restraint on the tourist influx will also threaten the livelihood options of those locals.

What I feel, as a layman, is that the issue must be analyzed and evaluated purely from the sustainability angle, instead of letting any political face-off coming in the way.

Tourism is undoubtedly a crucial issue, as it ushers in a huge revenue for the government, thus enriching the latter’s coffer to a great extent. However, at the same time we can not wish away the issue of conservation. In fact, we must remember that negligence towards conservation can ultimately threaten the existence of the National Park itself, thus resulting in a threat for the very tourism business for which the conservation issue was ignored.

The Uttarakhand government has said that livelihoods of a huge chuck of the local population is dependent on tourist inflow, and that is one key reason why that inflow cannot be restrained. A good point indeed. But the state government must remember that if unrestrained tourist influx robs the Park of its tiger population (as it assumedly happened in the case of Sariska), then the tourists will stop coming here. And then it is that very livelihood of the local population that will be at stake, right?

Let me just give you an example in this respect. Suppose there is a milking cow at my home, which gives a substantial quantity of milk, thus addressing all the milk related requirements of my family. Now, shall I maintain some self-restraint while milking her every morning, so that my demand is fulfilled and the cow is also not forced to overdo herself? Or shall I squeeze her for so much milk everyday, that she ultimately falls ill and becomes permanently unable to give any milk at all? You will certainly want me to go for the first option, right? Similarly, our hunger for tourism-generated revenue must not “enthuse” us to squeeze a spot so much that it eventually runs out of the very “tourist attractions” that it is known for.


So I feel that the state and the central government should jointly set up an independent committee, comprising relevant technocrats including Eco-tourism experts. Let them conduct an independent study to decide whether the tourist inflow in any National Park (and not only in the Corbett) is within the permissible limit or more than that. Let them first make a list of all those sanctuaries and national parks which are witnessing significant tourist inflows, and then make the study. They can either evaluate the sanctuaries and parks one by one, or can study all of them simultaneously by dividing themselves into various teams.

There must be a balance in our approach to tourism and conservation, wherein we should appreciate the importance of both of them. And this balance of approach should be reflected in the ground management, wherein tourism should be allowed up to the level it does not threat conservation, and not beyond it. Basically the concept that I am referring to is “Sustainable Tourism” – a buzzword in today’s world.

And it is precisely the job of the Eco-tourism experts, i.e. maintaining the right balance between tourism and conservation. So it is they who are best qualified to oversee such issues, and not the political masters.

Dalai Lama – The Gritty Peace Lover

Dalai Lama – the gritty peace lover, for whom “Peace” is not an excuse to avoid conflict and adversity

But a powerful tool to counter his adversaries with composure and dignity.

Dalai Lama – the embodiment of the pride and indomitable spirit of the great Tibetan race

A man who is so humble, and yet carries himself with elegance and grace.

Dalai Lama – the great apostle of love, harmony, compassion and humanity

An angel in the form of human being, who is here to guide us to the heavenly path of holiness and nobility.



(It is a humble ode to the great Tibetan leader on the auspicious occasion of his 75th birthday)

Diluting AFSPA Will Be A Blunder

It is really alarming to see that the government of India is planning to modify (read dilute) the AFSPA or Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.

Everybody accepts that there have been some instances of misuse of this power by certain bad elements in the Army. And those scoundrels should be awarded the harshest possible punishments.

But under no circumstances it is acceptable that the government will modify the Act, thereby diluting the effectiveness of the same which in turn will have a highly adverse impact on the performance of the security personnel fighting day in and day out to keep our country safe from the fangs of bloody terrorists.

Almost every day a number of government officials of various ranks and posts are misusing various powers that they enjoy by the virtue of their ranks and posts. If the government decides to stop the misuse of governmental powers by diluting the powers themselves, then it will eventually dilute the executive capacity of the government itself.

The best way to ensure that no military officer misuses AFSPA is to award strong punishments to the offenders, which will discourage any officer from going for such an act in the future. Fake encounters is an alarming issue. But that does not mean that the government will dilute the AFSPA, thereby weakening our security personnel and giving the terrorists more power to harm us.

India’s “Palace On Wheels” Declared To Be The World’s 4th Best Luxury Train

It was a moment of extreme pride, glory and honour for India’s rich hospitality legacy, when the country’s mind-blowing luxury train “Palace On Wheels” was declared to be the world’s 4th best luxury train by “Conde Nast”, the prominent global travel magazine.

Notably, the ranking was made not by a group of domain experts comprising only a handful of people. Rather, it was based on a voting made by the readers of the magazine. The magazine asked its readers to rank each of their favourite trains out of 100 points, and our beloved “Palace On Wheels” grabbed the prestigious 4th position by attaining 83.94 points.

And which were the first three? Well, they were the Venice Simplon-Orient Express (89.92 points), Eurostar (86.92 points) and Pride of Africa, Rovos Rail (84.25 points).

I hope everybody will agree that this Indian jewel in the casket of global luxury trains has been awarded an honour that it truly deserved.

We are really proud of you, “Palace On Wheels”. Congrats!

And a bagful of congrats to the first three rankers, as well.

What Type Of Tech-Savviness Is This?

Other day I was going through a discussion on Apple i-Pad in the technology column of a top English daily. The discussion basically focused on a comparison between the Apple device and laptop, and sought to highlight certain drawbacks or inconveniences that one may have to face while using Apple i-Pad, but not while using laptop.

The column carried the comments made by some consumers having “first hand knowledge” of using Apple i-Pad. They all accepted certain inconveniences that the Apple device suffers from. However, a couple of them said that they would still go for that device, given the various features and attractions that it boasts, and which these consumers find so irresistible.

I was truly enjoying the column. Though I do not appreciate one getting too much obsessed with tech gadgets, I nevertheless appreciated the passion of those i-Pad users, who are using the gadget not out of any genuine need, but simply out of love for the gadget.

But then, while I was almost at the end of the column, I got this tremendous shock (sorry if I am overreacting). One of those consumers (who is a Web entrepreneur) said that he had already bought 4 Apple i-Pads during his last visit to the USA. One for himself, one for his 60 plus father. Fine. And the remaining two? Well, they are for his two sons. And their age? Now hold your breath. One of his sons is 5, while the other one is just 2 (and can barely read or write).

I was so shocked that I read the sentence twice, only to be sure that I read it right. And finally I was forced to digest this fact that it was indeed true.

There is no doubt that the gentleman has every right to decide what gift he will give to his kids, and we have no right to interfere in his personal matter.

But tell me, is it at all appropriate? Giving a gift of Rs. 30,000 each to kids of 5 and 2 years? Has the gentleman thought about the adverse impact that the gift will have on the boys?

First, they are getting habituated to using costly materials since their childhood, which is certainly not a healthy habit.

Worse, they are getting addicted to gadgets from this very early stage of life. They are getting this message that gadgets are part and parcel of modern human life, which will eventually make them so terribly obsessed with gadgets that they will be completely dependent on them. And it is a common knowledge that a lifestyle entailing an overt dependence on tech gadgets is not a very healthy lifestyle (or will it be so when those boys will be of my age?)

Don’t you think it would have been better if the gentleman gifted his sons something like a book of puzzles or one containing maps and pictures of the different countries of the world, or a book on plants and animals, or a book of fairy tales, or a set of indoor games (like Scrabble or Chinese Checkers), or anything of that sort that should normally be presented to kids of that age? The highly costly Apple i-Pad was the only gift that he could thought about for those toddlers? Oh God!

What type of tech savviness is this? Probably I am not modern enough, but I feel that we must learn to differentiate between tech savviness and tech mania. Being passionate about something is a healthy habit, be it music, sports, books or tech gadgets. At the same time addiction to anything is highly unwelcome, be it movies, smoking, drugs or tech gadgets. Am I right?

Factual Error In “Concise Oxford English Dictionary”

Recently I was going through the world famous “Concise Oxford English Dictionary”, 10th Edition (Revised), edited by Judy Pearsall, when I came across a factual error.

I found that in that book the word “Darjeeling” has been described as – “A high quality tea grown in the mountains of northern India”.

The fact is, the mountain where the world famous Darjeeling tea is grown is in eastern India. The exact place where the tea is grown is the mountain of Darjeeling (from where the tea has got its name). And this mountain of Darjeeling is located in the Indian state of West Bengal, in eastern India.

By the way, some people feel that Darjeeling is in North-East India. That information is also wrong.

I hope the “Concise Oxford English Dictionary” will rectify the mistake in the next edition.

The Bhopal Gas Tragedy Verdict – A Stigma For The Indian Judiciary

7th June 2010 will be remembered as a Black Day in the history of the Indian Judiciary. The laughably paltry punishment awarded to the accused is an ultra cruel joke that the honourable Indian judiciary has come up with, rubbing salt into the 25 years old wound of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy victims and their kin.

I do not know who or what is responsible for this shocking legal fiasco. It may be so that the damage was actually done when a Supreme Court Bench had diluted the charge against the Union Carbide India Limited management by declaring it as a case of causing death by negligence and not as a case of culpable homicide.

It may be so that actually it was CBI’s fault, as it failed to furnish enough evidence wherein the Court could have come up with a stronger verdict.

It may be so that the actual problem lied in the absence of a strong and effective Mass Disaster Law.

Well, I do not know what is the actual reason behind the Indian Judiciary’s failure in coming up with an appropriate verdict.

The only thing I know is that I am seriously frustrated that the law of my land could not award strong punishment to an MNC which caused the massacre of such a huge number of my fellow countrymen.