Good News for India As Wildlife Biologist Bags United Nation’s Champions of the Earth Award

The UN's highest environmental honor, the Champions of the Earth award, given to individuals for their transformative action to prevent, halt, and reverse ecosystem deterioration, has been awarded this year to Indian wildlife biologist Dr. Purnima Devi Barman. She has been accorded the award in the Entrepreneurial Vision category. Wildlife biologist Barman is the head of the "Hargila Army," an all-female grassroots conservation campaign working to save the Greater Adjutant Stork from extinction. She is also the Senior Project Manager of the Avifauna Research and Conservation Division, Aaranyak. Growing up on the banks of the Brahmaputra river in Assam, Barman fell in love with birds and would sing to the egrets and storks. She spent most of her career working to save the endangered greater adjutant stork, the second-rarest stork species in the world. The stork is locally known as "hargila" in Assamese, which means "bone swallower," and Barman understood she had to change people's ideas about the bird to conserve it, so she rallied a group of village women to assist her. Today, there are about 10,000 women that make up the "Hargila Army." They guard nesting areas, treat hurt storks that have fallen from their nests, and plan "baby showers" to welcome the arrival of fresh hatchlings. The greater adjutant stork regularly appears in traditional songs, poems, festivals, and plays. According to Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, "Barman's groundbreaking conservation effort has empowered thousands of women, created entrepreneurs, and improved lifestyles while saving the greater adjutant stork from extinction."  

Buddha Purnima: Celebrating Buddha's Birth Anniversary

Today is Buddha Purnima. It is also known as Buddha Jayanthi and is a public holiday in India. The day is celebrated in Budhist majority countries all over the world. The day is marked as Buddha's Birth Anniversary, who is believed to have lived from  563 BCE to 480 BCE  or sixth and fourth centuries BCE according to legends. Gautama Buddha is the leading figure in Buddhism and revered throughout the World in the Buddhist majority countries. In India, it is especially observed in Ladakh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Bodh Gaya. The  parts of North Bengal including Darjeeling, Kurseong , Kalimpong too celebrate this day. In Maharashtra, a state in which 73% of total Indian Buddhists reside, the day is marked with respect.  It is observed by Buddhist followers as the visit Viharas to observe a full-length Buddhist sutra. They all dress in pure white. The non-vegetarian food is usually avoided by them on this auspicious day. Kheer, or a sweet rice porridge is specially  served to remember the fable of maiden Sujata, who offered the Buddha a bowl of milk porridge. The day is informally called "Buddha's Birthday", which  actually observes the birth, nirvāna (enlightenment), and Parinirvāna (passing away) of Gautama Buddha. According to Buddha's legend, shortly after the birth of prince Siddhartha, an astrologer visited his father King Śuddhodana. He predicted that Siddhartha will either become a great king or renounce the world and  become a holy man. It will depend on what kind of life he saw outside the palace premises. The King Śuddhodana prevented Siddhartha from venturing out of the palace grounds, as he wanted  to see the young prince become a king. Despite his father Śuddhodana’s precautions, prince Siddhartha went out  beyond the palace walls by the age of 29. During these visits he came across a series of encounters, known as the four sights in Buddhist literature, Gautama came to know of the suffering of common people. He saw an old man, a sick man, a corpse and, lastly, a holy man, who seemed  at peace with himself and the world.  These encounters  led Gautama to leave his royal life behind and walk on a spiritual path in quest of eternal peace and truth. It is believed that the Gautama Buddha followed the path of asceticism to gain enlightenment  as was seen by many in those times. He meditated for a length of  time without adequate intake of food and water. It  caused his body to go weak. Noticing the weak Siddhartha Gautama, a girl named Sujata offered a bowl of milk to him. Gautama taught his followers a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism of those days. He later propagated his teachings throughout other regions of eastern India including Magadha and Kosala. Gautama Buddha’s teachings transcend all the man-made borders of the world and are like a beacon to the whole humanity.