Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus). Location: Narsapur Lake, Medak.

If you are interested in seeing more butterfly photos do visit my Indian Butterflles gallery.

Common Silverline (Spindasis vulcanus). Location: Papikonda Reserve Forest, Maredumilli, East Godavari.

I spent three delightful days over the weekend traveling through the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh in search of butterflies and birds. We got ample sightings of both (as well as a few mammals). In total, we covered about 500 kms through three districts, East Godavari, Khammam and Vishakapatnam.

November 2008, Kudichintalabayalu Village, Nallamalla Forest.

(To read this photo essay in sequence from the beginning please go here.) 

November 2008, Kudichintalabayalu Village, Nallamalla Forest.

(To read this photo essay in sequence from the beginning please go here.) 

November 2008, Kudichintalabayalu Village, Nallamalla Forest.

(To read this photo essay in sequence from the beginning please go here.) 

Today, I am angry and ashamed.

Angry about hypocritical ‘hindu’ politicians, the uncaring society we live in, the heartless middle class that inhabits this country and the fate that awaits India if the above three continue on this trajectory.

Ashamed about hypocritical ‘hindu’ politicians, the uncaring society we live in, the heartless middle class that inhabits this country and the confluence of the above three.

Yes folks…welcome to the new Hindu rashtra!!! How long will we continue to sit silent while those Muslim behenc__ds rape, pillage and explode bombs? Of course, we too are proud Hindus. We cannot sit silent. The blood of the Aryans, Europeans, Rajputs, and Huns flows in our veins. We are the descendents of Shivaji, who held the might of the Mughal empire at bay. Hindu samaj is the possessor of all the worldy truths and all the knowledge that has been invented by western science. Our sages discovered the airplane, the atom bomb, fusion and fission technology and plastic surgery long before the white man.

Our seers invented 0, chess, algebra, arithmetic, geology, psychology, philosophy and zoology thousands of years ago.

Our ancestors dabbled into the depths of ontology and the heights of epistemology. Our Vedas, Shastras, Purans, Gita and Upanishads contain all the knowledge that is needed for this world.

We were the masters of dance, drama, art, literature, erotics, and aesthetics when the barbarians of Europe and the Middle east were foraging around in bear skins and loin cloths.

We are the inheritors of the proud Hindu culture….

How can we produce TERRORISTS?

Impossible, incredulous, lies, conspiracy, out to malign Hindus.

Of course, what ‘Sadhvi’ Pragya Singh and Armyman Purohit did is not retaliation or Hindu terrorism (gasp!!!)

They were just reacting to those vile Muslim terrorists. So what if a few explosions kill some people in Muslim ghettos? So what if some more explosions kill some random other people? SO WHAT

Hindus cannot be terrorists, That’s only for Muslims.

Today I hang my head in shame and stew in my own anger.

because yesterday I asked liberal Muslims to stand up and take a stand against terrorism, because the day before that I did believe that all the bomb blasts in this country were caused by ‘Muslim’ terrorist organisations.

because today my ‘Hindu’ neighbours tell me callously, so what? so what if ‘our people’ exploded a few bombs. After all, we are paying them back in the same coin..

Where have I heard that before?

Oh yeah…Buddhadeb Bhattacharya said that about shooting innocent people in Nandigram.

Narendra Modi said that about the Gujarat genocide.

Raj Thackeray is saying that about ‘bhayyas’.

So what’s wrong if we say it. After all, they are only *!*@*%# Muslims…

(fill in your own abuses in the space provided)

November 2008, Kudichintalabayalu Village, Nallamalla Forest.

Kodala Bayanna contracted polio as a child. Both his parents passed away a few years back and he now lives with his old grandmother. A couple of years back the government had given him a tricycle but that soon fell into repair and he does not have the money to get it repaired. Now the only way for him to move is by crawling and sliding.

(To read this photo essay in sequence from the beginning please go here.) 

November 2008, Kudichintalabayalu Village, Nallamalla Forest.

Ramulu lives alone. His wife left him taking their kids with her. He only replied in monosyllables and sat outside his house staring into infinity. The doctor with us speculated that Ramulu might be suffering from depression based upon his behavior and his wife might have left him because he might have contracted AIDS. Apparently, going to prostitutes is another vice that the Chenchus pick up upon exposure to civilization and not being aware of safe sex practices inevitably suffer the consequences of unsafe sex.

(To read this photo essay in sequence from the beginning please go here.)

November 2008, Sarlapalli Village, Nallamalla Forest.

Ever since the Chenchus have been forbidden to hunt animals in the forests they live in they have had to subsist on the wild roots, tubers and seeds (above photo) they gather in the forest as well as the occasional rice and pulses doled out by the government. This lack of access to a ready protein source is one of the causes for the greater incidence of skin and other malnutrition diseases among the tribals. 

(To read this photo essay in sequence from the beginning please go here.)

Novermber 2008, Sarlapalli Village, Nallamalla Forest.

Narayana, the man in the photo is 35 years old but looks 40. He has stayed back at home as he is sick. He feels too sick to go to the nearest government health center (which is two villages away, a considerable distance) and even if he goes there he knows he will not be treated well.

Many of the Chenchus we talked to complained that when they approached the government health center they were not treated well by the staff there. The doctors/staff there would not even touch them apparently! They would only ask what their problem was and upon the Chenchu describing his/her problem they would give them some common pills against fever etc. According to our doctor-producer most of the diseases that plague the Chenchus (like scabies, polio) are easily curable as treatments/medicines for them are widely available. If the government can improve the conditions at the health care center and make them more accessible for the tribals most of their health problems would be solved according to him.

(To read this photo essay in sequence from the beginning please go here.)