A blackbuck meeting

On May 12, 1978, Mr. Vivek Kunte brought together sixteen of Chennai's nature enthusiasts together to form the Madras Naturalists' Society. Not much is documented about the early days, but the Society has grown to about 300 current members, whose interests span almost every aspect of nature and the environment.

Over the past 4 months since I joined the Society, there have been quite a range of events: a birdwatching basics camp, two 'Tree Walks', a couple of field trips, participating in a census at the Guindy National Park - I end up feeling sad that, despite joining this Society with all good intentions, I'm still not able to take out time for all the varied activities that are on offer.

Yesterday was the formal (mandated by law) annual meeting of the Society. The accounts for the last financial year were accepted, the Society's office bearers elected and some animated discussions on its direction for the next 30 years were conducted, over a couple of hours. But by the time we thought about taking a picture, many of the members had left - so here are those who stayed on to continue talking about all kinds of flora and fauna!