A single patch of sunshine is real estate as our brief winter descends upon us.
In a forest in Bihar this month, I watched a Chital stag with a huge rack of new antlers negotiate the colder weather. His antlers did not have points, and were still covered in fine velvet—an indication that they had freshly grown. He nudged a bush, and lifted his huge head towards sunlight that fell in bars on the forest floor. Seeing him stand perfectly still, limned by golden light, it was as if I was looking at a statue carved by a master. The stag stood there for so long I wondered if we must learn words to describe how non-humans appreciate things.
Other, smaller animals move towards the sun too, losing a little inhibition. Every day at about 3 pm, a Brown-headed barbet comes and sits on a silk floss tree, right in the middle of a patch flooded with sunshine. Normally this leaf-green bird is indistinguishable from leaves in a canopy. But the silk floss is flowering. It’s dropped most of its leaves and is adorned with large pink flowers. The barbet stands out—in the way something that looks like a leaf with a beak might stand out. And at 4 pm everyday, a little Indian palm squirrel climbs an Ashoka tree and sits in the warm spot, its eyes tightly closed. I’ve watched langurs close their eyes in the sun, seeming like they are sighing.
We often think that appreciation is a human quality, but perhaps other creatures know appreciation intimately too. It’s the end of the year, and time for our lists. We list our successes, the number of times we could leave cities, and our regrets. We tally what we are grateful for. For the environment, it was a year that could have been landmark, but ultimately wasn’t.
The year saw massive rainfall in the Western Himalayas, the breaking of the Teesta dam, and floods in Chennai. It also saw countries meet to work out a climate deal. Yet, towards the end of December 2023, we don’t have a good enough deal on financing developing nations and we still don’t agree on what constitutes climate finance.
And yet, the natural world continues to surprise us. Usually a creature of lower slopes, a tiger was found high up in Sikkim. The elusive rusty spotted cat was found in Bharatpur in Rajasthan. New species of bats, fish and plants have been found in India in 2023 (similar to records in other years).
We constantly fall short of performing our responsibilities and commitments towards Nature, and constantly the natural world continues to amaze us. As the days get colder and our new year goals get longer, perhaps the most important thing to remember is that being safe, comfortable and appreciative is not restricted to people alone.
Every creature wants its spot under the sun. And because we have the power to be appreciative, and because we have the power to make things happen, we must make a little room.
Neha Sinha
Conservation biologist and author
Posts on X (formerly known as Twitter): @nehaa_sinha