A Schooling with Wildlife

Plus a surprising development in the book journey...

Hey friends,

Greetings from Rishi Valley School, India!

I used to wake up to the sounds of wild boars digging outside my window.

For four years, I lived in a boarding school that abounded with wildlife. Located away from the city, in a forested valley, Rishi Valley School abounded with birds, snakes, boars and more. It was the few years I spent here that cultivated my interest in snakes and other wildlife. I was super stoked to be back and exploring these hills once again.

Now I write extensively about my adventures in Rishi Valley in my book—about how my time and experiences there affected me. Therefore I won't spoil anything here. But I will tell you about my recent exploits. This week, I went back to Rishi Valley to write the concluding chapter. I started the book with an incident at school, and I thought it was only apt that I end it at the same location.

And so, armed with my notebook and my camera, I spent two days exploring the forest around the school. I went "herping", which is basically looking for snakes and other reptiles.

I managed to find a checkered keelback, but the snake slipped away before I could photograph it. I also saw a spotted owlet, which is the bird that inspired the name of this newsletter. That story requires a whole other newsletter issue. I'll write about it soon!

A coiled shape in the grass caught my eye. Walking up to it, I found a saw-scaled viper staring up at me.

Saw-scaled vipers are one of India's Big 4 deadly snakes. These guys are responsible for several deaths every year. They're so tiny that an adult can fit in the palm of your hand. If they bite you, you'll suffer from haemorrhage and, if not treated well, death.

In spite of this, I'm simply in love with snakes. For the longest time, I didn't understand why. But as I looked at the tiny snake below me, I had a revelation.

Snakes look so unreal to me. They look slightly artificial, like a toy or intricate sculpture. The perfect geometry of their scales appears too perfect to be natural. Their scaled eyes look like the glass eyes in teddy bears. All this makes for a bizarre creature.

It is this peculiarity that makes these reptiles so endearing to me.

I spent a long time with this venomous snake, and I'll write about it in the concluding chapter of my book. Stay tuned!

Book Update

There has been a new development in the book journey.

As I edited the book chapters, there were many stories I had to remove. All these stories have been taken from the main document and put into a separate document.

Looking at these cut-out stories, I realised that they all followed the same theme—they all involved me searching for wildlife in agricultural areas.

In India, forest cover is dwindling. As a result, much of the wildlife now lives in human-modified landscapes, in fields and plantations. When I was not in remote jungles, I was exploring these agricultural tracts, looking for wildlife.

I’ve realised that I need a whole new chapter dedicated to these stories because it signifies India’s (and the world’s) changing landscapes. And so now I’ve been drafting this chapter, connecting the stories and working it into the larger narrative.

All this will ultimately delay the 1st manuscript, which was supposed to be ready last week. But I guess this is all part of the journey. You need to be willing to adapt to the times. In the past few months, I’ve overhauled the structure and contents so many times. This is just another phase in the journey.

Excited to see where this goes!

Here are some links I enjoyed this week:

• Ali Abdaal Book Video: Ali Abdaal is one of my favourite creators on Youtube, and I’m super excited that he’s finally finished with his book. I’ve been following his journey closely, relating with all the book-writing struggles he talked about in his newsletter. I can’t wait to get my copy, and I’d suggest you do the same!

• Inside the life of a snake breeder: In the US, snake breeding is an accepted profession. Here’s a video that gives you an inside look into what snake breeder’s work is like…

Postcard

Some of the highlights exploring the forests in Rishi Valley

These were some of the photos I managed to take on my phone. Obviously, they’re not the best quality. My higher-quality images are still in my camera and need to be edited. I shall post them here and on social media in due course.

The first image is of a subadult rat snake I stumbled into next to one of the school buildings. The encounter illustrated a typical day in Rishi Valley. Running into wildlife was literally like running into one of the neighbours. The snake quickly scaled up the building before I could react.

The second image is of a cool millipede I found. Many people don’t like “creepy crawlies” like this, but I think they’re fascinating.

The third image is of a rock agama—a type of lizard—in breeding colours. This snake is very common in Rishi Valley. Many researchers visit the school to study this reptile.

The last image is of a wild boar carcass. This was such an unexpected find. I couldn’t ascertain the cause of death…

Favourite Quote

The birds have vanished down the sky.

Now the last cloud drains away.

We sit together, the mountain and me,

until only the mountain remains. 

—Li Po, “Zazen on Ching-t’ing Mountain” trans. Sam Hamill

Have a creative, energetic and inspiring week!

If you’re new, welcome to The Owlet! My name is Ishan Shanavas, and I am an Artist, Photographer, Writer and Student of the Natural World.

Here I talk about my work, along with curating the most interesting ideas on the internet. I confine them to topics like Nature, Culture, Photography, and Art but often fall prey to other genres.

I would greatly appreciate it if you shared my newsletter and work with your friends. It really helps me out :)