Mumbai Butterfly Meet - 22nd & 23rd April 2023

The open, green ambiance of the Maharashtra Nature Park was a perfect backdrop for the inaugural Mumbai Butterfly Meet, presented by the Vivant Untamed Earth Foundation, which was held on the 22nd & 23rd April 2023.

We decided to look at the Butterflies as glamorous representatives of the largest group of animals on our planet namely the insects. Over the years, they have also found place in our art, literature, culture and come to occupy a very special position in our hearts. A thriving butterfly population is an indicator of the robustness of the health of an ecosystem. 

The Butterfly Meet was principally to look at their ecological role and the rationale for their conservation, especially in an urban context. And as an extension, create a common meeting ground for butterfly lovers from Mumbai and the surrounding regions. To this end, we planned diverse activities to engage visitors across different age groups, from children to adults and from students to citizen scientists. However, the focus was entirely citizen centric. 

The exhibition was inaugurated by the Director of the Nature Park, Shri Tushar Shinde in the presence of members of Vivant Untamed Eearth Foundation and the enthusiastic participation of children, along with their parents.

It narrated the story of the ‘butterfly’, covering aspects of their life cycles as well as behaviour, through collages of stunning images. These panels were not merely a visual treat but also offered relevant information in simple words, in Marathi as well as English. 

We are grateful to countless individuals who contributed their images for the exhibition. These visuals were supplemented by exquisite artwork. There was butterfly centric Origami art display by the Mumbai based ‘Origami Mitra’ organisation, along with a dynamic butterfly art installation by the students of Model Art Institute and beautiful paintings and sketches of butterflies, by Kishore Thakur and Apurva Malgaonkar.

Origami demonstrations which were planned for children had enthusiastic participation from adults as well. This was followed by an amazing story telling session by Shri Diwakar Thombre, author of a popular book on butterflies in Marathi titled, ‘फ - फुलपखराचा!’ The concluding session was presented by Gaurav Soman, who tossed up interesting questions. The participating children loved them and the right answers claimed some wonderful butterfly memorabilia as prizes. 

The lecture sessions on the second day were inaugurated by Shri Vishwas Mote, Assistant Commissioner, M (West) ward of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai - MCGM. He pointed out that the need of the hour is to come together and work together, towards conservation. The proceedings were anchored by Ar Vaishnavi Kalzunkar (ECS alumna)

Dr Sanjeev Shevade, co-founder of Vivant, offered an overview of organising the Mumbai Butterfly Meet and followed it by his presentation titled, ‘My tryst with the butterflies’. This highlighted how citizen scientists can contribute through observing butterflies with a serious intent. Dr Milind Bhakre offered insights into the mysterious life cycles of butterflies, illustrated with exquisite documentation. This was carried forward by Dr Raju Kasambe, who talked about the ‘Intelligent Caterpillars’ of the butterfly world. Gaurav Soman showed how citizens can play an important role in butterfly observation and documentation. Avinash Sant shared exquisite butterfly images and the secrets of capturing them, demonstrating the use of a telephoto lens as an unobtrusive means. Diwakar Thombre concluded by presenting the world of butterflies in his inimitable style with choicest music and Bollywood songs. Samir Gulawane (ECS alumnus), gave a backdrop for the screening of a short documentary about the ‘Congregation of Striped Tigers’. The sheer efforts taken by their group, Urban Biodiversity Conservation Group - UBCG, were appreciated by the participants. He also topped it up by reciting his poem, ‘स्वच्छंद मी’ inspired by the sighting of a dew drenched Grass Jewel butterfly on a cold winter morning. 

We wished to bring out simple steps to be butterfly friendly, as an individual and as a community. Involvement of the administration becomes an added advantage. One can begin with at least one butterfly friendly plant and scale up, whether for an individual garden, a community garden or public gardens. The importance and the significance of wild flowers in such green spaces was also brought out. They nurture a host of other pollinators from the insect world and also act as larval host plants for variety of species of butterflies, especially from the ‘blues’ family. It was  emphasized that our gardens should mimic the ‘wild’ at least in certain respects ... unfortunately our gardens are created only to satiate our visual and olfactory senses. 

It was indeed heartening to see butterfly enthusiasts sit through the entire proceeding, with special mention of quite a few  children who sat through the presentations with rapt attention, marvelling at the wonders of this  amazing world. It was good to see them taking notes and share their feedback enthusiastically.

Mumbai Butterfly Meet recognised the contribution of many individuals - फुलपाखरू मित्र - from the region, who have been working tirelessly in their own ways. These announcements were met with appreciative applause from the audience. We were delighted to have quite a few present on the day, like Shri Rajendra Owalekar, founder of ‘Owalekar Wadi’.

The efforts by the entire Vivant team, including the likes of Kirti Wani (ECS alumna) to put the meet together were really laudable and we sincerely appreciate the help of Kavita Bhalerao (ECS alumna) during the meet. It would be only appropriate to thank our vendors and the management of the Nature Park for all their help. 

The meet concluded on a positive note and we look forward to move ahead together and continue the saga of our butterfly love. We do hope that the meet takes wings and travels far and wide, with the message of butterfly watch, documentation and conservation.

- Dr Sanjeev Shevade

theuntamedearth@gmail.com