How often do you encounter someone who has a live birdsong for a mobile ring tone? How much rarer to meet someone who can imitate bird calls and insect sounds so convincingly that you are hard pressed to tell the difference between original and copy? Meet Ganesh, our resident Naturalist. Let him take you on a tour of our plantation animatedly explaining the hallmarks of Arabica and Robusta coffees, the subtle dynamics of pepper harvesting, the traces left by foraging wild elephants and boars, while, in between, calling out to a swallow in his own brand of bird language. "Enchantment unlimited", is how we would be prone to put it! However, there is more to Ganesh than his unusual ability to mimic animals. Hailing from the local Aadi Karnataka Edakkai sect, he shares our love for the land, its people and culture. Ganesh went to school for a while until his deeply embedded nomadic instincts caused him to drop out. He joined us in 95, soon after we had started. His talents were obvious to us and he became Naturalist by default. We gave him all the support and training he required. Some of our former guests who were professional birders and naturalists added to Ganesh's store of knowledge. He learnt quickly, and not just about birds and trees! He has an innate gift for languages and speaks no less than six Indian tongues in addition to English. His professional life with us, exciting and successful as it was, made him realise the need for formal education to enhance his capacities and improve his prospects. We encouraged him and he appeared for and passed high school privately. He is currently preparing for the second part of his pre-university exams. Someday, he confides, he would like to take a degree in Natural Science, preferably Wildlife studies. Needless to say, we will back him to the hilt. After all, we have a stake too in his achievements and revel in his growth and development as a person and a professional. Off-work, Ganesh is an ardent environmental and social advocate and gives inspiring talks to youth in his village and the school for tribal people. Again we pray, "may his tribe multiply"!
