Archives at NCBS

Research Fellow Talks



 
The Fall of a Florican

Nisha Bhakat
 
Tue, Jan 7, 2025. 4.30 PM

Lecture Hall – 1 (Haapus), ELC, NCBS
 
Abstract: The story of the Bengal Florican (Houbaropsis bengalensis) is fascinating yet tragic. Known for its unique courtship display, the Bengal Florican has seen its population plummet due to habitat loss, hunting, and changes in land use. Inspired by Dr. Ravi Sankaran’s research in the late 1980s (through the Ravi Sankaran Papers located at the Archives at NCBS), this study attempts to unravel the species’ history, Sankaran’s contributions, and conservation efforts over time. An attempt is also made to geographically locate the earliest record of the species.
The study examines historical insights into the Bengal Florican, tracing early documentation in the 1700s, followed by detailed studies about its life history in the next century. Sankaran’s pioneering research, including India-wide surveys and meticulous notes on behaviour of individual birds, highlight the Florican’s reliance on grassland ecosystems and the importance of their conservation. Despite these findings, limited conservation efforts and changes in grassland management have led to their further decline. Today, the Bengal Florican seems to have disappeared from Dudhwa National Park where Sankaran did his doctoral research, and possibly even from Bengal from which it gets its name.
This study calls for a reassessment of conservation strategies, integrating archival literature to inform them, and addressing knowledge gaps in efforts towards the survival of this iconic species.


 
Bio: Nisha Bhakat is a wildlife researcher interested in the past and present of wildlife beyond protected areas in India. She holds a Master’s degree in Wildlife Biology & Conservation from NCBS, India and has studied birds in the Dooars and the Nilgiris.
 
 
Between the Devil and the Deep Lake:
Courts and Environmentalists on Evictions in Bengaluru's Keres
Achintya Anita Gurumurthy
 
Wed, Jan 8, 2025. 4.30 PM

Lecture Hall – 1 (Haapus), ELC, NCBS


 
Abstract: My work is a study of the history of slum evictions and demolitions which have taken place on lake and tank beds in Bengaluru. It seeks to bring out the peculiar relationship of Bengaluru's lakes with its dwellers, and analyse how judicially mandated evictions have deployed environmental concerns to legitimise dispossession. Examining legal history, I look at how the rhetoric of nuisance within the law has reproduced imageries of slums as harmful to the environment. Placing these discourses beside the understanding that ecologists have of urban relations, I rely on the rich repository of environmentalists' interventions in the Archives at NCBS. In doing so, I trace how ecologists have conceptualised questions of housing and ecological conservation in the context of Bengaluru's lakes, in an attempt to imagine alternatives to the judicial narrative. Through this, I aim to bring out the varied voices within the environmental movement in Bengaluru by looking at state ecologists like A N Yellappa Reddy, as well as people's movements – including forums like the Environment Support Group. Thus, I hope to highlight how the history surrounding Bengaluru's lakes and its dwellers can offer rich perspectives in understanding questions surrounding commons, environment and housing within the Indian urban question.
 
Bio: Achintya Anita Gurumurthy has graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Laws Degree from Jindal Global Law School. Their research deals with questions of caste, class and gender marginality in the history of the modern Indian judiciary, and the social and political pasts of people's movements.
 
 
The Making of a Bird Field Guide
Vrushal Pendharkar
 
Thur, Jan 9, 2025. 3.00 PM

Lecture Hall – 1 (Haapus), ELC, NCBS
 
Abstract: Field guides are reference books used to identify the taxa they represent. There are different field guides for mammals, birds, butterflies, reptiles, trees and other life forms. Field guides could be made of photographs or illustrations. The guides are useful to wildlife tourists on safari or researchers and nature enthusiasts in the field. But what goes into the making of a field guide? The Carl D’Silva Papers at the Archives at NCBS enable the telling of the backstory of the work a wildlife artist puts in to illustrate a field guide on Indian birds. This talk will unpack the process undertaken by D’Silva to create several plates in the field guide. The talk is an interpretation of this process as understood by the Research Fellow. By referencing rough sketches, drafts on arrangement, reviews and correspondence, the talk will try to draw comparisons with the publication of scientific research: the process of art mirrors the process of science. The talk will also try to capture the history of field guides in India, and their evolution from late 19th century British India.

Carl D’Silva was a wildlife artist based in Goa. He is the only Indian artist to have worked on the popular field guide ‘Birds of Indian Subcontinent’ by Richard Grimmet, Carol Inskipp and Tim Inskipp. He also illustrated the 13th edition of Salim Ali’s ‘The Book of Indian Birds’.


 
Bio: Vrushal Pendharkar is an independent journalist covering the environment. In his time as a Research Fellow at the Archives at NCBS, he has looked at the Carl D’Silva Papers and the Ravi Sankaran Papers.
 
Is this a Public Event?: Yes