It was 8 in the morning. We'd woken up at 4:45 and driven over a hundred kilometres to Bhigwan. We waited a long while for our boat, and as we waited, we looked at terns, gulls, storks and stilts around us. And then, eventually, we boarded a boat and made our way across the waters towards the flamingoes.As we sat there, watching geese and ibises, I looked at the water around me and thought about what draws me to Bhigwan year after year. Why do I wake up in the pre-dawn hours and travel before light to a place two hours away?(Incidentally, when we went this time, my great-aunt had an interesting question, "Do flamingoes stink?" That was one of the questions I pondered as I sat and gazed at the pink-legged flamingoes in the distance. I still cannot answer that.)I looked at the painted storks, which look like old men walking with their hands behind their backs.I gurgled with … [Read more...]