I love the universe in which we live. I watch the stars each night and seek out constellations. But I have now come to the realisation that closer home on earth, there are so many things that remain to be discovered during day-to-day life. I used to go for walks with my sister and sometimes with my mother. I would seldom look at the plants along the road; instead I always looked straight, while talking to whoever was with me.
After the thought struck me that I should look around closely at what nature has to offer, I began to carry my eight-year-old camera with me. Thus began a journey of discovery. I captured images of a variety of flowers, insects, and birds each day. There was always something new to discover even when I went to the same place again.
It was as if I had discovered a whole hidden universe.
On Facebook groups I could easily have the birds and butterflies that I had captured, identified with the help of others. I would then search the Internet and find out more about them. Among them, for example, bighistoryproject.com is a great website; it tells you everything … from the beginning of this universe to how complex life forms evolved on our planet. I came to realise how delicately all the diversity came into existence through millions of years of evolution. I also realised that humankind is nothing when compared to the range of other species, including a zillion little insects, that are a part of this planet.
The big ones, including elephants, monkeys, birds, rats, bats, whales, fishes and also humans account for only a small percentage of the species on earth. Insects such as beetles, butterflies, grasshoppers, wasps and flies account for a much larger percentage of half life forms. Some scientists say there are about two billion insects for every human being. Isn’t it surprising that we hardly know much about them?
So let’s step outside and discover the nature that surrounds us. There is always something new to discover; it just takes a different attitude to see them.
shivanibalika@gRmail.com
