DIVINE DESTINATION

Mid-Dec. saw us hosting the high profile, spiritual leader, “Sri M”, on a 3-day event for his Satsang Foundation. His Satsang Retreat activity with 250 participants was held here with yoga, meditation and other spiritual activities, but no safaris, as their get-together here was of a spiritual nature and not for wildlife viewing.

However, on their concluding day, the Padma Bhushan awardee and our esteemed State guest, “Sri M”, and some of his Foundation members, did go on a safari, and relished breakfast at the breakfast point inside the Park.

While 130 of them stayed with us and the rest at different resorts in Pench, all their activities were held at our resort, including their 4 meals of the day. It was a feather in our cap, therefore, to be successfully able to cater to a yoga and meditation spiritual camp of 250 people and also provide them with all the facilities for 3 days.

NATURE MATTERS

PATDEV TIGRESS TAKES OVER NOW AS A SUPER MOM!

T4, better known as Patdev, has given birth to a total of 20 cubs till date. The latest litter is now about 2 months old, sprightly and playful, and being sighted quite often, with their mother.

Like-mother-like-daughter, incidentally, Patdev, born in 2010, is the daughter of legendary supermom ‘Collarwali’, who gave birth to 29 cubs in 8 litters over a span of 11 years, globally recognized and renowned as the holder of the world record for highest birth and cub survival rates, dying finally at 17 years of age in June 2022. Raising cubs in the wild is no easy feat and to reach anywhere close to Mataram or Collarwali’s record, is an achievement in itself. May Patdev be blessed with many more successful years of motherhood and become a worthy successor to her mother.

SUCCESS STORIES

Suneeth Tatineni and Chaitanya Ayinapudi, Co-founders of the Hyderabad-based startup Caro Water, have come out with India’s first water box service.“We noticed we were using at least 24 one-litre water bottles during a single journey. All these bottles have to be dumped and there’s no way to check if they are being recycled properly… imagine how many of them are being used by people across the country!”

This, and the refill and hygiene issues with plastic water-cans where these water cans are refilled 200-300 times, pushed these two former IT and software professionals to set up Caro Water. Research studies conducted across the world, have also found the presence of micro-plastics, a major health hazard, in drinking water bottles, so they thought, why can’t we get a single-use (water) box that could solve this problem?”

Caro Water’s boxes use corrugated paper and the ‘BIB’ (bag in box), system, where a spout is surrounded by a corrugated carton box. They come with a built-in tap, like a water dispenser. These tamper-proof water boxes are recyclable, and use 85% less plastic as compared to the usual water cans. A consumer orders a Caro Water box, uses it, and the startup then takes these boxes back for responsible recycling. For every box returned, consumers get credit points that can be used for future transactions through the Caro Water app, which is available on both Android and IOS. The app delivery system is helpful since consumers don’t have to call them repeatedly to get their boxes delivered.

These boxes are also completely free of BPA, or bisphenol A, an industrial chemical used to make certain plastics and resins. The water is sourced groundwater which goes through a proper purification process — it is treated, enriched with copper and added minerals and nutrients. Today, people are more attracted to eco-friendly options. Single-use plastic has to be handled properly and that is their main motto: reducing plastic waste. Single-use plastic has become a major threat to the environment since, though it is recyclable, a large portion of it is not recycled and ends up in landfills or in the environment.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Female ferrets die if they do not mate once they go into heat as the high quantities of oestrogen produced result in Aplastic Anaemia, caused by the damage sustained by the bone marrow and blood cells.
2. Only half a Dolphin’s brain sleeps at a time as they have to hold their breath for an exceptionally long time, as they do have to come up for air from time to time. Hence, the brain needs to retain enough motor control to occasionally go up to the surface and breathe. Dolphins also sleep with one eye open at all times.
3. Armadillos can catch leprosy; leprosy is one of the few that actually can as it is able to infect both humans and, for some reason, Armadillos.