निर्वनो वध्यते व्याघ्रो निर्व्याघ्रो छिद्यते वनम् ।

तस्माद्व्याघ्रो वनं रक्षेत् वनं व्याघ्रं च पालयेत् ॥

nirvano vaDhyathe vyaaGro nirvyaaGro Chidhyathe vanam |

thasmaadvyaaGro vanam rakSheth vanam vyaaGram cha paalayeth ||

Meaning: 

The tiger is dead without a forest. The forest is destroyed without a tiger. Thus, the tiger protects the forest and the forest too sustains the tiger.

In this episode, Dr. N. Hema Malini and Madhavi Nadig discuss the interdependence of everything in nature.

• We Indians are fascinated by our native Bengal tiger, also our national animal.
• Of the 9 subspecies of tigers, 3 are extinct. Through sustained conservation efforts, India is home to the most tigers in the world.
• The white tigers in Bannerghatta National Park are individuals expressing a recessive gene.
• As Asian animals, tigers get a lot of prominence in the folklore of these countries. They were not part of Europe, Africa or the Americas.
• The markings on each tiger are unique and used to track their activities.
• It’s said that tigers attack humans from the back. Hence people in Sunderbans wear human-faced masks on the back of their heads in an attempt to fool them.
• Millennials grew up watching the antics of Mowgli and his wolf family in the Jungle Book series on Doordarshan. As kids, they feared or hated Sher Khan, the wilful tiger.
• In the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon series, Calvin’s best friend and partner-in-crime is Hobbes—a tiger that's alive and kicking. But when anyone else enters the picture, Hobbes transforms into a mere stuffed toy.
• Does Goddess Durga ride a tiger or a lion? The debate continues. But Goddess Durga controls the wildest of the cats and the most brutal among beasts.
• Since tigers live in forests while lions inhabit grasslands, their territories don’t overlap. Thus, there is no conflict—each cat is the master of its territory.
• The Disney movie The Lion King explains the circle of life beautifully in a conversation between Mufasa, the Lion King, and Simba, his young cub.
• Farmers extirpated wolves from Yellowstone National Park in the US. Many decades later, conservationists reintroduced wolves. This is a case study showing the unforeseen ways in which a top predator supports its ecosystem.
• In a circular economy, by design, there is minimal waste and pollution, things are used, transformed and reused for as long as possible, and natural systems are regenerated.
• Many UN member nations have adopted the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They aim to improve living conditions on our planet by 2030.
• As individuals, we can repair our clothes, gadgets and appliances, invest in reusable products and transform broken items into something usable, becoming more sustainable.
• By transforming flowers used for puja into agarbattis, Phool is tackling a part of the land and water pollution problem.
• The song “The Circle of Life” from the Lion King movie has a beautiful message for all of us—“You should never take more than you give.”

What are the sustainable habits you practice? Please share them as suggestions to all of us.

@susambhashanam on Instagram & YouTube

Music: https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/calm-reveal-logo-154643/