Comment on Villagers protect sacred forest outside India’s polluted capital

MANGAR BANI, India -- The schoolchildren enter the forest at dawn on a bird-watching field trip. They step softly on crisp fallen leaves and speak in hushed whispers. A metallic tuk-tuk-tuk sound fills the air. The bird watcher points at the entangled branches above. The pre-teens gasp as they spot a tiny green-bodied, yellow-necked bird with a red face. "Coppersmith barbet," whispers Sourajit Ghosal, the bird watcher looking through his binoculars. A vast, centuries-old unspoiled grove sits secretly sandwiched between India's polluted capital, New Delhi, and its affluent suburb Gurgaon.