On revisits and rediscoveries

There is value in revisiting places. Sometimes, people ask me how I cycle around the same place for kilometres, and why I find enjoyment in exploring the same natural spaces of Anushaktinagar again and again. I wouldn't be honest in saying that I had an instant answer. I don't think I still do, but I do know now that there is true value in revisiting natural spaces.

For one, nature is a vast, imploding space - there can never be a state of complete discovery or experience with it. Moreover, even the most experienced naturalists may be used to tuning into nature through an expected set of senses; but the natural environment has layers of experiences to offer - visual, auditory, kinesthetic, emotional, perceptual, philosophical, cultural, intellectual, artistic, and for some, even spiritual. Nature educator Ann Pelo, in her essay "A Pedagogy for Ecology", writes of facilitating unique experiences in nature by opening up the senses and exploring new perspectives to discover nature. She writes,

"Living in a place over time can breed a sense of familiarity, and familiarity can easily slip into a belief that we’ve got the land figured out. We stop expecting to be surprised, to be jolted into new ways of seeing; we become detached from the vitality of a place.

"Our challenge is to see with new eyes, to look at the familiar as though we’re seeing it for the first time. When we look closely and allow ourselves to be surprised by unexpected details and new insights, we develop an authenticity and humility in our experience of place, and wake up to its mysteries and delights."

I find so much meaning with each visit to a tree, a trail, or a stream. Being surrounded by dense urban settlements has had little effect on our home - Anushaktinagar - where I have found species for the first time in my life, species that are known to travel all the way from Europe, and species that are rare and endangered. Beyond species, home also is a space for discovery - of interactions, colours, feelings, movements, thoughts, smells, and realisations. I only wish I had begun revisiting these places much earlier, and I now hope that I get to revisit them often, before they are lost forever.

 

An old Baobab tree in Anushaktinagar - a place visited by birds, lizards, children, snakes, and observers like me. More on this beautiful tree later!