tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76631717451084588822024-03-14T12:04:49.424+05:30A Glimpse Into My ClosetEverything about life - Wild and not so WildVishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-18294698042552113272016-09-10T17:33:00.002+05:302016-09-10T17:33:31.803+05:30Academics and I<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Academics and I go a long way back. We began like 2 strangers stuck together on a long journey. Slowly we got to know each other and by the end of a 18 year journey we were back, full circle complete, still as strangers. One thing we both saw was that both of us had the capacity to become better. But we could not do it without each other. After years of debate and argument we changed seats, moved away from each other just before we got off. In a huff, both of us got down at the </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">same</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> stop, went pretty much in the </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">same</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> direction till we ended up on one helluva long road with each other for company and no one else to help except her mother - Education.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It then dawned on me that I was thinking about academics and her betterment this whole time. After school and college, I went to work with the tourism sector. Here I was, showing people birds and animals and getting them to learn the environment around us. Soon, I saw myself moving into research, environment education till one day I moved into a lovely school. Here I met my old friend academics again. The only thing that struck me was that she was looking very old. I could not comprehend the fact, for a moment, that we were on an 18 year and more journey together. I knew I had grown up and had changed in many ways, but when I did meet her, she seemed so much older, so much like a great- grandmother who refused to reach Pearly Gates due to her strong will to live on!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit2ze0GCDc7rH83H3ZxAsu4aoEF7eO5dLsrubV2tf9uU7iwXpUvgWFReI4qjkeulBYPkWkHufwZ8cKF5BFK7Tfm9gysHg1_xv03asJMJSNJmyJ2SlTST31PfuffxOi_C3t15MQHSimoZQ/s1600/mother-and-daughter-jay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit2ze0GCDc7rH83H3ZxAsu4aoEF7eO5dLsrubV2tf9uU7iwXpUvgWFReI4qjkeulBYPkWkHufwZ8cKF5BFK7Tfm9gysHg1_xv03asJMJSNJmyJ2SlTST31PfuffxOi_C3t15MQHSimoZQ/s320/mother-and-daughter-jay.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We sat down and spoke for a long time. This is when I got to know that there was a young academic in there somewhere wanting to get out of the old body I was talking to. A young academic who wonders why people are not letting her move on and become better. She had apparently spoken to many other people like me and asked for their support to become better, to grow so that she in turn could help others around her. But she never got all the support she needed. Some people wanted to help but hesitated by thinking "what can I alone do?", while others helped her for a very short time. In this time, she could not change into the young and dynamic personality she really is. With this little to no help situation, she began to look older and older. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This reminded me of a caterpillar getting into the cocoon stage. The caterpillar wants to come out as a beautiful butterfly, but people are not wanting the caterpillar evolve into a butterfly because it looks cute and chubby. Academics too is at this stage in her life. Before leaving for the day her mother - Education came up to me and said " What does not evolve, change and remains stagnant is as good as dead. My girl is dying because people have kept her stagnant. If she does not evolve soon, she might just die. If she dies, I will be the next to go. Then what will happen to all of you?" </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This question struck me as if I had put my fingers into the electric socket. What <i>will </i>happen to us if there is no education, if academics is not allowed to evolve? I guess we will ourselves stagnate, degrade and die out eventually. Is it really worth it- <i>That is the Question?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I, along with few others like me, am out to help academics and her mother Education to evolve and change for the better. Would you like to join in and help bring about this change? Its worth it I'd say!! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-25236275270121612372016-09-07T11:01:00.000+05:302016-09-08T16:31:01.467+05:30Butterfly emerging<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Found this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_oCt1j-eTU" target="_blank">butterfly</a>, a Common Mormon (<em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 21px;">Papilio polytes romulus -</em><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #333333;"> Cramer, 1775) emerging from its chrysalis stage one morning on a lemon plant (my terrace garden). These are fairly common butterflies in and around Bangalore city. The caterpillars are generally found on plants of the rutaceae family like citrus spps. More information on this butterfly can be found </span><a href="http://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/sp/603/Papilio-polytes" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">here</span></a><span style="color: #333333;">.</span></span></span></div>
Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-46154936133191416362016-08-28T11:25:00.005+05:302016-08-28T11:25:57.747+05:30A Getaway to the Kingdom of the Birds<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was sitting and mulling over a book I needed to finish writing when I got a call from an old friend. S.K. Srinivas is an old friend in many aspects. He is chronologically, significantly older and a person I know from a number of years too. But the great part about him is that he is young at heart... only 2 stents inserted till now. He called to tell me about a birding trip with a Dr. Ilana and her husband around the outskirts of Bangalore. The destinations - Tailur tank, Kokkarebellur village, Ranganatittu Bird Sanctuary, Ramanagara Vulture Sanctuary and back. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was of course, all in. Old places to visit and new people to meet!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I remembered the old saying that what you intend with a true heart will come true. I really needed a break from my "routine" and was intending for something like this to happen. Voila! there was the call!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We were scheduled to do this trip on 11th August, 2016, a week from when I got the call. On the 11th, Srini as everyone calls him picked me up early in the morning. Accompanying him was Dr. Ilana. After the initial ice breakers, we found ourselves at the breakfast point - Kamat Lokaruchi, on Mysore road. We enjoyed a lovely and extensive breakfast (thanks to Srini's insightful inputs) and a hearty talk about South Indian food among other things. During this time I found 2 wasps mating behind the Golden Bamboo leaf. (Talk about intimate stuff happening behind the curtains!!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Soon after, we found ourselves at Tailur tank. There was unfortunately not much of a "tank" left. It used to be a huge water body filled with a large number of water fowl like ducks, teals, pelicans and cormorants, different herons among other waders like Sandpipers, Snipes, Ibises. Now, it is nothing but a large herding and grazing grounds for cattle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_wsl8pDaspJoAJ4scaUXu3Ue1aLoZ_hw0et-Jtca3lVh3Oq47esEYDp6tjw4pvaymetw9KcGXTnAyr4WZm0Y13rNtRw-fv1d0MNDOvbgTc5qrJ-aft5V6X1fws8FX3VH6prFNkvpUjfw/s1600/DSC08471.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_wsl8pDaspJoAJ4scaUXu3Ue1aLoZ_hw0et-Jtca3lVh3Oq47esEYDp6tjw4pvaymetw9KcGXTnAyr4WZm0Y13rNtRw-fv1d0MNDOvbgTc5qrJ-aft5V6X1fws8FX3VH6prFNkvpUjfw/s320/DSC08471.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But, birds have never failed us. We did find a lot of birds in and around the bushes and the lone tamarind tree. We caught a glimpse of the busy Coppersmith Barbet, the ever watchful fighter jet of the bird world - The small green Bee-eater, the songster - Ashy Prinia, the kingpin of the territory - The Indian Robin, the amazing architect - the Baya Weavers and a stray blue tailed Bee-eater. We also saw a large flock of Black Ibises ( the Pharaoh birds, akin to the god Thoth, the god of wisdom in Egyptian Mythology)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDL09D-Zk6huYKiSHCl4PEdUyk3itc39iEBmMHDLl7AY6YXSo7T6vZteh5lzFKumduFIEa5BmTqFN4V3zsLyhKtHK5NIvwZDV4-JlI796LwIti4jA8QvVyTEm_mnaKmfXesf8mQrrNEro/s1600/DSC08477.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDL09D-Zk6huYKiSHCl4PEdUyk3itc39iEBmMHDLl7AY6YXSo7T6vZteh5lzFKumduFIEa5BmTqFN4V3zsLyhKtHK5NIvwZDV4-JlI796LwIti4jA8QvVyTEm_mnaKmfXesf8mQrrNEro/s320/DSC08477.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguYJ8P-cw-CZ4zR4di6H0Ox7PfXfjK6XSz1sYAVmJ75Io0r6xw0SlYMeGb8Zt3ri9bFEp7xdsBvdKG3LpVDdR03hL43rSbTU6DEKOM4hWq4nXuRPhCAzBCJa3lOq1w4QbJKFagpQEdeK8/s1600/DSC08474.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguYJ8P-cw-CZ4zR4di6H0Ox7PfXfjK6XSz1sYAVmJ75Io0r6xw0SlYMeGb8Zt3ri9bFEp7xdsBvdKG3LpVDdR03hL43rSbTU6DEKOM4hWq4nXuRPhCAzBCJa3lOq1w4QbJKFagpQEdeK8/s320/DSC08474.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXbneIVOYadYYzUyUz4Mi76qVfOpar872w0XzlEGGxD7Lppj6oJcKvnHCeet_WxNTmMplVEs-719R4orALOXmUHGsbKqwZUJZDi4PGTvZvcvqCowhYXq_1Eh5mUSmifMUAZExJDSJh6U8/s1600/DSC08473.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXbneIVOYadYYzUyUz4Mi76qVfOpar872w0XzlEGGxD7Lppj6oJcKvnHCeet_WxNTmMplVEs-719R4orALOXmUHGsbKqwZUJZDi4PGTvZvcvqCowhYXq_1Eh5mUSmifMUAZExJDSJh6U8/s320/DSC08473.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWqrfgf4bW3-uN5QYitKmC9nByBTwEI324mA6byj1XsLTF3ZwVnZl_FbtSdgmBfPRmz80DoQjzjH8ZXW8vAZWzHyIYGSj6XGwPAIxnF07d8wZGogbseWXUn06_iJ7RpTZ2a6BKa6hl9A0/s1600/DSC08469.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWqrfgf4bW3-uN5QYitKmC9nByBTwEI324mA6byj1XsLTF3ZwVnZl_FbtSdgmBfPRmz80DoQjzjH8ZXW8vAZWzHyIYGSj6XGwPAIxnF07d8wZGogbseWXUn06_iJ7RpTZ2a6BKa6hl9A0/s320/DSC08469.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Enroute, among all the travel was some good talk right from birds, to weather, climate change, politics and international policies, bird races, places visited and more. We did stop for a bit next to an open field to catch a Black Drongo on the wire when we found this - </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo2Q1xAv8fs7t9CpXlOYjLTVuqygOisLX65hgOmhPxwZynz-ktBlfsIS5MrLeqPPW5AozQVq3WlTUb1WABFWwPb2AsFxclIG8Q7zihxDR9Tul6XDKJX60M9ZjAwwWQTxzDuvzDdwgY4RE/s1600/DSC08483.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo2Q1xAv8fs7t9CpXlOYjLTVuqygOisLX65hgOmhPxwZynz-ktBlfsIS5MrLeqPPW5AozQVq3WlTUb1WABFWwPb2AsFxclIG8Q7zihxDR9Tul6XDKJX60M9ZjAwwWQTxzDuvzDdwgY4RE/s320/DSC08483.JPG" width="320" /></a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">a Eurasian Collared Dove having a mud bath in the open field. Right opposite to the open field was a couple of Baya Weaver nests freshly being made. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By around 11 we were at the kokkrebellur village. Unfortunately for us, thanks to "development" a huge road was being built right through the village. We saw only the Indian Roller and nothing else. Kokkrebellur is a village famous for Painted Storks and Spot billed Pelicans nesting right in the middle of the village. Apart from these big birds, herons of various kinds, cormorants and smaller birds like tailorbirds, wagtails also reside in this village. This village became famous because the people of the village were the first of their kind to act conservators a number of years ago. They protect the birds vehemently. But on the day we were at the village, upon asking the human neighbors, found out that the birds had indeed "left the nest". With a heavy heart, three of us moved on the the temple outside the village. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To our dismay, the temple had not only expanded, the lovely Mahua grove was almost gone. But the tamarind trees and a few Mahua trees were left giving a great canopy cover around the village. We did find a fine number of birds hidden in the canopy. Indian Grey Hornbills, Small Minivets, Great Tits (Yes, they are birds... not what anyone's guess would be) among other common birds like Red Whiskered Bulbuls and White cheeked Barbets. Some good willed folks had even replanted in the open barren areas around the temple we found out.Talk about medicine for a broken heart!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEXsmzxYbGPmwpmfxhxfAA0haTKKnNGxDOlFO_DDzBvlZUJn4nv5R0QXvdCyG96oNmQtO2NyDyPuAp71jcYVl9owpBztm_D-7r3h_mTKN_DVB3o_bNiB75tesz5RfN-uX9xZC-E_q4LhI/s1600/DSC08499.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEXsmzxYbGPmwpmfxhxfAA0haTKKnNGxDOlFO_DDzBvlZUJn4nv5R0QXvdCyG96oNmQtO2NyDyPuAp71jcYVl9owpBztm_D-7r3h_mTKN_DVB3o_bNiB75tesz5RfN-uX9xZC-E_q4LhI/s320/DSC08499.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_WTP-yVPlwB7Jk-uLVode2bo1UWEDVkPWAr__pnifSJ2bwupatvm1iC9-qPF_SlqMaFwqb4ugHZncNqbrLhBPLSVTz5-5AIV3Y0PdC6VmQS7zra4B4lwrk9lU2rXtGW4ACoD1NTPv0GU/s1600/DSC08498.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_WTP-yVPlwB7Jk-uLVode2bo1UWEDVkPWAr__pnifSJ2bwupatvm1iC9-qPF_SlqMaFwqb4ugHZncNqbrLhBPLSVTz5-5AIV3Y0PdC6VmQS7zra4B4lwrk9lU2rXtGW4ACoD1NTPv0GU/s320/DSC08498.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbVq3Fwv9Cc549EmuuAr4SmBI1DrxMcgzrr30bxc3ZZRb-ay6aPqx0yVNKuD-8qqWPTM5jd9uMyFjktWOH3EfO3GJv07ywfj1YH-Nj3ML3cgyN-SbA07oXBbLMwXf4cewuuUImW-vIoMY/s1600/DSC08491.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbVq3Fwv9Cc549EmuuAr4SmBI1DrxMcgzrr30bxc3ZZRb-ay6aPqx0yVNKuD-8qqWPTM5jd9uMyFjktWOH3EfO3GJv07ywfj1YH-Nj3ML3cgyN-SbA07oXBbLMwXf4cewuuUImW-vIoMY/s320/DSC08491.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht_oQfD9hW21mhwxR1-eizSqPz3g-qEr8YAGVC-_1E5bE_cFY_fBJ96bcQKZ_NUYK5kOv3er0Egxp0eKYrqaecWMRu5lTEGb8VIUrvarcjBZ2sI8zjcgAo3eHEN_P4rMsuBBhU234dIdc/s1600/DSC08508.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht_oQfD9hW21mhwxR1-eizSqPz3g-qEr8YAGVC-_1E5bE_cFY_fBJ96bcQKZ_NUYK5kOv3er0Egxp0eKYrqaecWMRu5lTEGb8VIUrvarcjBZ2sI8zjcgAo3eHEN_P4rMsuBBhU234dIdc/s320/DSC08508.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3rc2mvotjNu-y1DCIFM6AUk9hCl0tt9xzpweCYxpRBTSPwCAtbAfNn8BXZPB2CyXUW6nwS_b5-zHako26TkaymT7ej4cH9FYz3ifPyONt03UsXXstq08yXG9mRFmNZvxEJtj2mGj5dk/s1600/DSC08511.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3rc2mvotjNu-y1DCIFM6AUk9hCl0tt9xzpweCYxpRBTSPwCAtbAfNn8BXZPB2CyXUW6nwS_b5-zHako26TkaymT7ej4cH9FYz3ifPyONt03UsXXstq08yXG9mRFmNZvxEJtj2mGj5dk/s320/DSC08511.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQoDiQ7Ha4RKi61tbb-MuvmM1MrHpcxeD5jXCBm3MbdJzO2Ya6GBzXWnS0AByQm4lXmBwWwWum-qZoz8u8cfbJfHrXxSHnyYJ9CkRIAuCfO31rmjdJgys9Vvmi1bCj5uKaUDziTR7uK2s/s1600/DSC08501.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQoDiQ7Ha4RKi61tbb-MuvmM1MrHpcxeD5jXCBm3MbdJzO2Ya6GBzXWnS0AByQm4lXmBwWwWum-qZoz8u8cfbJfHrXxSHnyYJ9CkRIAuCfO31rmjdJgys9Vvmi1bCj5uKaUDziTR7uK2s/s320/DSC08501.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On the way out, we got a glimpse of a solitary Painted stork. It too soon disappeared in a flash. On the dry riverbed we spotted a Bronze winged Jacana, an Oriental White Ibis and a few Little Cormorants.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4r0irdqRHx9pQmhmlGM14tIsbkSfIyM36Ul0W41dA-UyFhR4NhO44GkE3FxrwJVIwllj9aYlUvft3JIxfa8XWARLhxpDUsN_hrrlSjpENPyzuwewtgA5dzwWNf0kkNHrJOtuw2U0sTeY/s1600/DSC08521.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4r0irdqRHx9pQmhmlGM14tIsbkSfIyM36Ul0W41dA-UyFhR4NhO44GkE3FxrwJVIwllj9aYlUvft3JIxfa8XWARLhxpDUsN_hrrlSjpENPyzuwewtgA5dzwWNf0kkNHrJOtuw2U0sTeY/s320/DSC08521.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXLFdYaqeRENEPpjWft7J-XgIK1nNloGWQYX1cvwR3ogTIhKu2W1DlGhsdFUAY6wkJcxOMVksl9iz_CW1QUtdiKMyCHBfAtFSnOa5BLId2IEujSYDNg7E3J59kJR0AaWiN73_dBog4cVk/s1600/DSC08520.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXLFdYaqeRENEPpjWft7J-XgIK1nNloGWQYX1cvwR3ogTIhKu2W1DlGhsdFUAY6wkJcxOMVksl9iz_CW1QUtdiKMyCHBfAtFSnOa5BLId2IEujSYDNg7E3J59kJR0AaWiN73_dBog4cVk/s320/DSC08520.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2dlB63JtSQLDKdJXnDOYVKY29oaDsnhXHGmzNkr5rPd0GQd5q74yukXOBoravliHqdSazmIKDf7SIi0aPQqTMP2_ibkMLzJjYxNXA1YZ1_PYCdN4yF7-PHQyvIEUWuGmCVnjcRw__KXc/s1600/DSC08517.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2dlB63JtSQLDKdJXnDOYVKY29oaDsnhXHGmzNkr5rPd0GQd5q74yukXOBoravliHqdSazmIKDf7SIi0aPQqTMP2_ibkMLzJjYxNXA1YZ1_PYCdN4yF7-PHQyvIEUWuGmCVnjcRw__KXc/s320/DSC08517.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaHqLbMlARvKnGK3OZyaQ5NsuQ5YkJUnGhZ9uu3JQmMdpR4iQocSNwlbAJUt_p-bGnosiJO1RuFffzZDZmf3fnYYMnG6y08EjD7uWxyUilwdwSG7msaHYOnL9PtKWOPopLXJsNKHpvFw0/s1600/DSC08522.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaHqLbMlARvKnGK3OZyaQ5NsuQ5YkJUnGhZ9uu3JQmMdpR4iQocSNwlbAJUt_p-bGnosiJO1RuFffzZDZmf3fnYYMnG6y08EjD7uWxyUilwdwSG7msaHYOnL9PtKWOPopLXJsNKHpvFw0/s320/DSC08522.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I must say, we were all indeed quite dejected at the turnover of events. We quickly made our way out of the town for lunch on the highway. After a slightly silent lunch (we were all VERY hungry indeed!) we moved on to Ranganatittu Bird Sanctuary. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqUSOwc27AIM8Su3JAtN0WCi9bqSQywUVGK70QcvIjZ2z7gooThlST5f4HJ3Ab-UAd_pmjuq7aZkctvvNBAaqBLwPkSavHg3R0w5ms0VxIx8aJ6ufCwRsStyotmfbAeXFgXAkQLeYExU/s1600/DSC08525.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqUSOwc27AIM8Su3JAtN0WCi9bqSQywUVGK70QcvIjZ2z7gooThlST5f4HJ3Ab-UAd_pmjuq7aZkctvvNBAaqBLwPkSavHg3R0w5ms0VxIx8aJ6ufCwRsStyotmfbAeXFgXAkQLeYExU/s320/DSC08525.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rangantittu has changed considerably in the past few years. We were welcomed by a lot of cars and buses (not to mention a large of gathering of school girls who poured all their hospitality on Dr. Ilana). For us though, the most welcoming sign was from a lovely, tiny, cute little bird called the Tickell's Blue Flycatcher. He gave us a pose, sitting on the bamboo twig. We walked in front of him, under him, around him but he did not move. Here is one good memory of this gentle bird.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2C4NFgQEFuSAeemH2B9tjyYxTMbaU_Uxhp1GRrbyq3t4hueeqy2zhFsEI0kxK69eX1Y-IZVJE1urhDDtAz7eq_Nx9oLouPe5NKFzE0cF86eamymL-8TCFjFwRAZnPqlU1pgsc0PmZ9_g/s1600/DSC08532.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2C4NFgQEFuSAeemH2B9tjyYxTMbaU_Uxhp1GRrbyq3t4hueeqy2zhFsEI0kxK69eX1Y-IZVJE1urhDDtAz7eq_Nx9oLouPe5NKFzE0cF86eamymL-8TCFjFwRAZnPqlU1pgsc0PmZ9_g/s320/DSC08532.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL-n2dZOpVlyLYCJTZKmuDvqAHF5yEEAF0QTYabpyGqvwaZwtTlNQYmHuvqp2nSmCNrRz88MVnswDNuZeDYZ-TUs1yZ4lMy58B8Buan32uj8mLC_fdZmG1-L7sMXsrVuMnw_qOmY95c2Q/s1600/DSC08536.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL-n2dZOpVlyLYCJTZKmuDvqAHF5yEEAF0QTYabpyGqvwaZwtTlNQYmHuvqp2nSmCNrRz88MVnswDNuZeDYZ-TUs1yZ4lMy58B8Buan32uj8mLC_fdZmG1-L7sMXsrVuMnw_qOmY95c2Q/s320/DSC08536.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Soon after we saw this flycatcher, we caught a glimpse of another type of flycatcher - the White throated Fantail. There was a pair, foraging among the bamboo and the other shrubs. Dr. Ilana got to see one aspect of the hunting behavior of this lovely bird and I was happy to get the video of it doing so. You can see the video at this youtube link as well - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwqZLkUDLWc</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWYfThiwsoiLufUe-xERR76jAlGw0zpIpgU6rCW3obWgiCtkA_UQtVVJn0SkOYLxonKbO6lv1na2S7tYSr5LjDKflEt4Ac5OgmbfFmyU5XDTH7oAfmsOy4uv0muYU6pFLejnZiv0lTWuc/s1600/DSC08553.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWYfThiwsoiLufUe-xERR76jAlGw0zpIpgU6rCW3obWgiCtkA_UQtVVJn0SkOYLxonKbO6lv1na2S7tYSr5LjDKflEt4Ac5OgmbfFmyU5XDTH7oAfmsOy4uv0muYU6pFLejnZiv0lTWuc/s320/DSC08553.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVnbJF5YEcj0VlXBRkJd5BmxAY96NqZIxVYN7P7RT4y8LkG3kRMjsS2bDBx2YPQ7tB6F-B6KW6GQVRKc7YcgXIrCWPXgyt5ekc6hTEsOVb-LYvIhdeSLcRvllPhoV8pAFkl0ffrUvxAEI/s1600/DSC08554.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVnbJF5YEcj0VlXBRkJd5BmxAY96NqZIxVYN7P7RT4y8LkG3kRMjsS2bDBx2YPQ7tB6F-B6KW6GQVRKc7YcgXIrCWPXgyt5ekc6hTEsOVb-LYvIhdeSLcRvllPhoV8pAFkl0ffrUvxAEI/s320/DSC08554.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Apart from the birds we got to see some other interesting pieces of Nature's craftsmanship. One particular one that intrigued me immensely were the designs on the young bamboo. The coloration, the designs were just mind blowing. This particular bamboo showed all three stages of growth - young and growing (orange with black stripes), grown and mature(deep green) and old and dying/dead( brown and broken). One even showed the shoot tip which looked like a black flower.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzihrtUuiRarDC9JqdFyTrPiM01XRFwW27qnQqZMXGJG7kadFHY0Z33h7cjlUGR8T4oDQohcEc_m0TrYsSyHHVXza_f0gOXkSxB6w_oMfwjVGd7pjxgFBZxEVquV7CpxWKi5e2ofpahOE/s1600/DSC08541.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzihrtUuiRarDC9JqdFyTrPiM01XRFwW27qnQqZMXGJG7kadFHY0Z33h7cjlUGR8T4oDQohcEc_m0TrYsSyHHVXza_f0gOXkSxB6w_oMfwjVGd7pjxgFBZxEVquV7CpxWKi5e2ofpahOE/s320/DSC08541.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIbfzyP1um6V6mlkN3ipunosGt8apWnAaghsLz6irQxU8BMtetdsUzTgQBkq4EzUNWoxYcqkzygA6eQ8ln_ZlFNHzVMOCaUwr0OWbOjWIwzc52VPCyZNEP9RgUvGxK-1YL-S3FRwE2flE/s1600/DSC08540.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIbfzyP1um6V6mlkN3ipunosGt8apWnAaghsLz6irQxU8BMtetdsUzTgQBkq4EzUNWoxYcqkzygA6eQ8ln_ZlFNHzVMOCaUwr0OWbOjWIwzc52VPCyZNEP9RgUvGxK-1YL-S3FRwE2flE/s320/DSC08540.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXXYHP3E5UZghWyWvSHv-0Jpzle9vcI2mkuXAE4ELTjXLknDPM0JGJm8awJhAMOb3lVr3F7SvhXG89lQtTqhkvqeRtIaEZyEgk7kE0S-elBzu9zF3m5RnZ-QvZSAIKEhQp_CDOj18-ws/s1600/DSC08539.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXXYHP3E5UZghWyWvSHv-0Jpzle9vcI2mkuXAE4ELTjXLknDPM0JGJm8awJhAMOb3lVr3F7SvhXG89lQtTqhkvqeRtIaEZyEgk7kE0S-elBzu9zF3m5RnZ-QvZSAIKEhQp_CDOj18-ws/s320/DSC08539.JPG" width="320" /></a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">The other thing that caught my attention was the Water Strider. This is an insect that floats on the water surface looking for prey under it. They have such thin and nimble feet that due to strong surface tension the legs don't sink Thus, keeping them afloat while their eyes are huge and located more towards the bottom of their body. This gives them a view from below and on the surface of the water. They have a long, strong proboscis which they keep flat under their bellies. This is their weapon for killing and a straw for drinking the insides of its prey.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5xnPBUT_brKF8V4z2LCVtjKiK8-L5GgbqZVZp-b4rD26EtCRKNK2fNkMCQ_uijEU3qzgLNMcA6mXVmNssfkxdRuJqalaUuY8zZlWHOVETxBz9n0bF0CV7hyFHu5cFW685CcscfJWXgo/s1600/DSC08544.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5xnPBUT_brKF8V4z2LCVtjKiK8-L5GgbqZVZp-b4rD26EtCRKNK2fNkMCQ_uijEU3qzgLNMcA6mXVmNssfkxdRuJqalaUuY8zZlWHOVETxBz9n0bF0CV7hyFHu5cFW685CcscfJWXgo/s320/DSC08544.JPG" width="320" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was a long day and we were tired. For a moment our feeling of resting for a while was reinforced by another old friend. This friend was sitting on the rock like a person who sits on the massage table in a sauna and spa and the grin on the face was like the massage was going on - the masseur , the sun! We felt that is was a good time for that, but we had to hit the road again... all the way back home. Here is a photo of this fellow enjoying itself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6vcGiV1DYfQk9ruvZ3z4OLQhaMbpkdXpAUbtTDsOvPHQU2SbJ3ldwQaTb2HP9HJKFybIzapOWs0CA7KSuM-4XB8-JL-fVqBj33gDukBV9Lf-PVjRDkmI-WHNnfMFRe4CtFn7_kO6NFu0/s1600/DSC08570.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6vcGiV1DYfQk9ruvZ3z4OLQhaMbpkdXpAUbtTDsOvPHQU2SbJ3ldwQaTb2HP9HJKFybIzapOWs0CA7KSuM-4XB8-JL-fVqBj33gDukBV9Lf-PVjRDkmI-WHNnfMFRe4CtFn7_kO6NFu0/s400/DSC08570.JPG" width="400" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On our way back, we bumped into a purple rumped sunbird couple on the Australian Bottlebrush tree. Next stop - Ramnagara Vulture Sanctuary.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgrDOx2h3qxEkne_ZXacmkUrHKFHkpfG2fTWGnuiSFxL7ZYLZgXcGKyXK9uM5Xk-QJSq8u7rpqKzNCoQNVJwh4EsaPydSpVLj16Dv7q3-OBqnuVY06sAfCm0_MGMEU1S0UAe8AKoInwWk/s1600/DSC08561.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgrDOx2h3qxEkne_ZXacmkUrHKFHkpfG2fTWGnuiSFxL7ZYLZgXcGKyXK9uM5Xk-QJSq8u7rpqKzNCoQNVJwh4EsaPydSpVLj16Dv7q3-OBqnuVY06sAfCm0_MGMEU1S0UAe8AKoInwWk/s320/DSC08561.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaU4AxtOROAHQHfhLV08dqoMI9RjcmAVAX7zCzvRMLG6i3C8_x7SNPZw7OSHxihp4palGryH2svIuhtRoH3FIStEq8MSWVOMpb0PZx2rwcSCMJlBt30U0-HLwSKw_laWN3Gwd3jhzctic/s1600/DSC08565.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaU4AxtOROAHQHfhLV08dqoMI9RjcmAVAX7zCzvRMLG6i3C8_x7SNPZw7OSHxihp4palGryH2svIuhtRoH3FIStEq8MSWVOMpb0PZx2rwcSCMJlBt30U0-HLwSKw_laWN3Gwd3jhzctic/s320/DSC08565.JPG" width="320" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At Ramnagara Vulture Sanctuary, we realized we were late. It was already 6:00 PM. We were informed that the sanctuary too has corporate time schedules - Morning 9:00 AM to evening 5:00 PM. These were vultures of a different culture I would say!! We did see 3 vultures though and that ended the day well. Srini, Dr. Ilana and I were tired and hungry, but the smiles on our faces were full of energy. We managed to find around 65 species of birds on our trip and now we were is dire need of refueling. It was 7:30 PM - dinner time. We stopped by a good restaurant quickly and quietly had something to eat and headed back home for a much needed rest.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In this whole trip, we had fun, we ran after birds, had good topics to talk about, exchanged notes and ideas. I would like to thank Srini and Dr. Ilana for this wonderful and insightful experience. I did sleep like a baby that night with all the memories floating around like fireflies, in my head.</span></div>
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Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-42603467769993954562016-08-15T12:01:00.002+05:302016-08-15T12:01:30.774+05:30Terrace gardens - and what they teach you!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was always interested in having a garden. I want to grow vegetables mainly, but if there are flowering plants I will not disturb them. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a very long time my dream was realized. 2 years after moving into my own house I finally started a "garden". The initial "garden" was just a few pots and some random plants in them. Soon, plants like Papaya and capsicum, tomatoes and brinjal began to grow out of a modest area of soil layered directly on the terrace floor. As these plants began to grow furiously and take more and more space, I realized that a more specific area must be marked according to the plant growing. Thus, I got big pots and put the plants into them. They grew properly for a few weeks and then stopped. For a long time I did not understand what was going on. I gave the plants the space they required, gave the required nutrients, but they just would not grow. The plants seemed to be struggling somehow. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was getting clues but I did not know what to make of them. One early morning I decided I will thoroughly scan the entire terrace and figure out what was going wrong. As I sat next to the pots and began my "interrogation" I realized that the plants were attacked by pests called white flies and mealy bugs. I did my best to get rid of them, but if I removed them from one pot they would magically appear in another within a few days. I had thought that getting rid of the pests would be the end of it all, alas I was grossly mistaken. Upon further investigation I came to be enlightened by the fact that the pests had a caretaker and protector. The caretaker was none other than the humble ant. These ants would go about spreading their nest and larvae from under the compost pit to under the pots. Some of the ants went into the pots as well. At plain sight the ants seemed to be living off the compost and living under the pots like good citizens. But look at the same from the point of view of an investigator, one will see the true nature of the situation here. The ants used the mealy bugs as humans use cows. So where ever they went they picked up the bugs too. After a point of time the ants were everywhere and so were the bugs. I almost collapsed at the sight of the plants wilting and dying out and to the thought that I will have to remove ALL the plants! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By this time I also saw that earthworms were present in the compost pit and the coconut shells that were lying around were taken over by fungal hyphae. But both these were not in the same area of the pit. There were so many other insects in the garden too. I was overwhelmed by the sheer number in such a small area. I decided that the plants need to be removed from the pots and put into large bins. While I was doing so, I noticed that the papaya and the periwinkle had intertwined their roots while at the bottom of the pot where the coconut fibres were, fungal hyphae took charge and connected both the plants through their roots. This was something new to me! Upon further investigation, I found out that plants and fungi live a symbiotic relationship and that they communicate with each other like a neural network! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The periwinkle and the papaya with the help of the fungal hyphae were exchanging information, resources and were helping each other to grow better! From here onwards, started my "education" with the plants as my teachers. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nature has
always something to teach – provided the person is ready to learn. Nature is
always telling us something – it is up to us to listen. My terrace garden has
taught me a couple of things in the past few days (though I have a garden from
the past few years – my perception has changed a lot of late)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Things I
learnt from my garden plants – <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1] Pineapple
– from the pineapple plant I learnt patience. It took the plant one year to
start boasting a crown. This plant has taught me to give time to certain things
and they will bloom just fine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2] Avocado, Papaya
and Mango – No matter whether you are in a pot or in a large space of good
soil, healthy or slight pest attack, you must keep growing no matter what.
Limited resources? Then branch out !!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3] Brinjal
and Capsicum – one must provide good fruits of labour at regular intervals. The
importance and respect you get are tenfold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4] Ajwain /
Doddapatre and Onion– one must have
strong enough within to repel pests like negative thoughts and actions and grow
like crazy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5] Lemon – a)No
matter how many defences you might put up to protect yourself, you will always
have those few people who pass those defences and feed on your leaves of
knowledge. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">b) You will
be effectively helping someone to get out of their cocoon and fly away like a
butterfly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">c) Do not
get attached to either the caterpillar or the cocoon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6] Chillies
(normal and birds eye) – your face value need not be showy today, but your
fruits of labour must impact someone tomorrow in a big way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">7] Vinca
rosea – always have a pleasing appearance and be willing to grow anywhere with
anyone. Always strive to bring the colour into life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">8] Desert
plants – low resources? Harsh conditions? That should not stop one from LIVING
! what does not kill you only makes you resilient and stronger<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9] Cucumbers
and gourds – grow out of compost, grow out of rich soil, grow out of anything
but GROW!! LIVE!! Take every opportunity to grow and proliferate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">10] Orchid
and Tulsi – Always be special and unique !<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To see photographs about my terrace garden please visit <a href="https://www.facebook.com/vishnupriya.hathwar/media_set?set=a.10155066587253275.1073741830.699543274&type=3">https://www.facebook.com/vishnupriya.hathwar/media_set?set=a.10155066587253275.1073741830.699543274&type=3</a> </span></div>
Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-50983500436848453802016-08-14T20:18:00.002+05:302016-08-14T20:18:56.001+05:30.... And Im back with loads of things to talk about.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="height: 0px; text-align: center;">
Long time no see !</h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It has been a long time since I last wrote. Many things happened due to which I was not in the position to write anymore. But many things have happened by which I could document certain events and instances. I have a lot to talk about and will be compiling and posting more regularly. Thank you all for reading and supporting!</span></div>
</div>
Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-52259489333631250142014-12-10T12:43:00.001+05:302014-12-10T12:43:50.347+05:30An Ode to the Tree<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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They come in shades of pink violet and blue,</div>
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Some are orange, red and yellow too,</div>
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Some are short, while some are tall,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They are a sight to behold before their leaves fall,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They don’t comment, they don’t sin,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They just spread their arms and let you in,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For us to eat they provide a fruit,</div>
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And to sit and relax they provide a root,</div>
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care,</div>
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For us to breathe they purify the air,</div>
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If there is anything that you have to learn from a tree,</div>
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Is to be rooted to the ground and still set yourself free,</div>
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This is my way of thanking the trees,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For providing shelter and nectar for the bees,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For without them we would be dead,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now go save the trees, enough said.</div>
</div>
Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-19547929015379297902014-03-31T00:56:00.003+05:302014-03-31T00:56:57.126+05:30The Story of the Singing Trickster and the Shrewd Mobster<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Though the title suggests that the forth coming paragraphs
are a part of a story, it is quite real and happens in our daily lives. This
real life story has been observed and written over the ages, some sung in
songs, hymns and the like by our ancestors. It is a common story that usually
people tend to neglect, but if seen and observed properly, we would all be in
awe of the path evolution has taken with the main characters’ of the story. It
is a battle of who evolves better and has the upper hand over the other first.</div>
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The story of the koel and the crow have been mentioned and
described in detail in many books, songs and hymns before. I have the same
story to tell, but with first hand observations of my own. I have experienced,
first hand, about the deception of the koel, the strategies it makes, how the
crows are fooled into bringing up a koel chick into the world and…. And a few
more… things that no one would have imagined that a koel would do.</div>
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This story started off in March. A pair of crows brought
sticks to build themselves a sturdy nest on the gulmohur tree. It was nice to
watch a living being carefully plan and place sticks in a particular order to
build a good sturdy home… and all this without any hands or fingers! Once the
nest is almost finished, the female inspected it by squatting and settling in
as if she had a clutch of eggs beneath her. I was amazed to see her judgment
and precision while she arduously inspected the nest from every aspect and
angle.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From here started the courting and breeding (which the crows
kept private). I only saw them now and then at the nest during the evening
times. The male crow used to get tidbits for the female now and then and they
roosted at the nest in the evening, the male on a nearby branch while the
female was in the nest. Well, till now everything was going on fine (or so we
thought, the crows and I).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The crows
went about their rituals throughout the day for almost a week while I observed
them from my window (which was conveniently at the same height as the nest – 2<sup>nd</sup>
floor). What we failed to notice was that a pair of koels were also observing
the crows as well. I got to realize it at the last moment when the male koel made
desperate attempts to get the crows to chase him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After the first two attempts, I gave up on the crow
activities and concentrated on the koels. The male was purposefully sitting at
the edge of a branch, showing himself off by screaming. Now anyone who knows
koels enough would say that they would NEVER do such a thing like showing
themselves and drawing attention. At the first two attempts the crows refused
to take notice of him. Then the male koel did something CRAZY. He took one bold
hop at a time closing in on the crows nest. Then he flew right over the crows
head (as if the crows were occupying his space and he was willing to fight for
it). For a moment the crows did not know what to make of this rather ridiculous
charge on their personal space. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For a few days, the crows defended their turf together.
After a week, the female began to settle more and more into the nest, refusing
to get up even to stretch her legs and wings. The koels, I guess, had been
waiting for this very moment. For in the next 3 days, a clutch of 3 eggs were
laid in the nest. All this while the male koel used to sit out in the open and
make his “charge” at the crows now and then, screaming all the while. Till the
eggs were laid the crows hardly took notice of the koel and his antics.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But once the eggs were laid in the nest, the variables in
the equations seemed to change rapidly. The crows, on their part, changed
strategy from “ignore” to “chase at sight”. The koel pair however, changed the
whole plan all together. The thing is that till now, the female was hiding in
the foliage while the male alone tried to distract the crows. Now, their game
plan had changed. Both the male and female koels took turns in revealing
themselves to the crows and took turns in tiring the crows till they gave up
and went back to their nest. This was done with great planning and timely
precision. At first the female koel would slowly creep up to the nest without
being detected by the crows. Then with a shrill scream fly off right next to
the nest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the crows gave her a chase,
the male koel would fly perpendicularly to the female koel’s path and intercept
the crows, thus dividing them. The female koel would fly helter scelter through
thick foliage of nearby trees and bushes. This made the female crow to give up
chase. The male however persisted and got both the crows to chase him. This
drama continued for a few days, until one day, only the male was seen
performing his act while the female sat in the foliage waiting patiently. After
the second chase the female koel slowly made it to the nest picked up one of
the three eggs and dropped it to the floor while laying her own egg in the
nest. This act would have taken less than a minute. She was soon discovered by
the female crow and was chased out of the vicinity. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The female crow had not seen the deeds of the female koel.
Thus, for her, the nest was safe and life went back to normal. After a few
days, the koel chick hatched. It looked like a mass of pink flesh with a hunch
back and strong arms!! More like the hunchback of Notre dame crossed with
Mohamed Ali of the bird world! It quietly moved about blindly for a few minutes
and then targeted an egg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The clever
chick, using his back and those strong shoulders rolled one egg at a time to
the edge of the nest and… well, as they say, the rest (of the egg) is history!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Over the next few months, the chick grew like he was given a
daily dose of pharmaceutical growth enhancers. He became an adolescent in no
time! This is where the real magic of the koels began!! Till now, im guessing,
no one has seen this phenomenon – till date, the koel chicks voice evolved from
mimicking crow chicks to slowly becoming true koel. This adolescent was in the
inbetween stage of this vocal evolution. He had just begun to imitate the adult
crows (at the same time he had this musical note to his voice) when the adult
male koel was seen near the nest. For a few days the male koel kept his
distance while still sitting on the same tree. But after a week and a half, he
made his way closer and closer to the nest when the crows were away foraging.
He used to sit on a perch close to the nest, in full view of the chick…. And
slowly started to sing! He started with 2 short notes in the beginning and
slowly went up to a full <b><i>kuhoo – kuhoo</i></b> and more soon after. He
did this early in the morning (from around 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM) and in the
evening (from around 3:30 PM to around 7:00 PM) every day! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The chick, in the absence of the crows, would imitate the
koel and continue to sing when the crows were out of sight. When the crows
arrived on the scene, it would give random croaks and half caws and beg for food.
It would never ask the koel for food! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This went on till the chick was fully fledged.
When it was time to learn to fly, the chick used to try to join the koel on the
top branches and practice flying. Once the crows arrived, the chick used to go
back to the nest and beg for food. It was so good at begging that the crows
were occupied most of the time in foraging rather than teach the young one to
fly. The chick learnt all the tricks and did all the practice only in the
presence of the male koel and not the crows!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But this did not last for long. The koel got its jet black
plumes and looked an adult now. Added to this, the voice had gone from crow to
koel and the crows were mighty fed up of getting something to eat all the time.
They coaxed the chick out of the nest, they prodded the chick out of the nest
and finally they pecked the chick out of the nest!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After 3 days of pecking, the koel retaliated
and opened his mouth... and how he sang! His melodious voice rang through the
heads of the crows! For a moment the crows looked at each other and then at the
chick, not understanding what to make of the voice that came out of their
chick. Then like a lightening striking from a cloudless sky onto their heads
they realized what they had been fostering all this while. They took a glance
at the chick and pecked it so hard that it jumped off the nest and flew
straight away across the river with full gusto! The crows were baffled again, I
guess, at the sudden flight of the chick which <i>never </i>got out of the nest,
for they did not chase it!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
During all this time, the male koel sat nearby watching the
drama unfold and oh ya!! The wrath of the crows was taken out on him. He
managed to escape with his life between his beak, for the crows relentlessly
chased him right across the river and beyond!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, this is just one story. The crows did manage to lay a
few more eggs the next season. This time it turned out to be a female koel !! Here,
the game was up much faster, for the female koel’s mottled grey feathers showed
clearly and the crows ended up chasing her across the river, while the male
koel life was spared!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So who do you think is evolved? Who do you think is clever?
The singing trickster or the shrewd mobster? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thus continues the arms race!!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
*for those
who think this is a story, its not! It is my observations over 2 years!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*for those who are having a hard time digesting the fact
that koels are more than nest parasites, I would suggests you sit down and
drink 2 glasses of water and calm down, as I did when I saw the drama unfold in
front of my eyes!!</div>
</div>
Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-65011039990513011782014-03-31T00:54:00.001+05:302014-03-31T00:54:24.831+05:30The Great pied Hornbills<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We were on a long trek one beautiful mist filled morning. As
we entered the forest, the vehicular sounds dimmed and the forest sounds
increased exponentially. One moment we were hearing our vehicle being parked
and the next… Nothing!! Every now and then the wind would blow through the
trees and the leaves would gently sway and give the characteristic rustling
sound as if they were singing and dancing. As we went deeper into the forest,
we slowly started hearing the birds. Some were minute whistles, some were loud
cackling sounds and some a beautiful song. </div>
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After a rather arduous walk, we came to rest in a clearing.
It was a beautiful place, something out of our imagination. There were large
trees about 30-40 feet in height, with a circumference equivalent to 7- 8
people standing in a circle with their arms spread out and their fingers barely
touching each others’, standing in an almost perfect circle with the dappling
sunlight gently touching the forest floor through the foliage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of us sat in silence, some even in the
meditative pose to hear the sound of the forest. In this silence, we could hear
the water flowing over the rocks from a nearby stream, the wind rustling
through the foliage, birds calling each other from the tree tops and
surprisingly ever a little forest cockroach walking in between the leaf litter
that was decaying on the forest floor.</div>
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After 5 minutes of meditation, we came to understand the
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walked quietly for about 10 minutes. The silence was really something!! All of
us just looked around, noted our observations and quietly moved on! This
silence, however, was broken by a loud, resounding sound that is like a mix of
a boom with a squawk ( like a GWWAANK – GWAANK, GWONK – GWONK ). The sound was
pretty bad actually, but the magnitude made us all stop dead in our tracks and
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now here is our
situation, we were at this point of time walking on the mountain side with
barely any leg space. One side was the slope of the mountain and the other a 30
foot drop into the valley through a whole lot of foliage and bamboo. All of us
were balancing like tightrope walkers in a circus, for our dear lives and we
get to hear this loud GWONK from right above us. Already at our wits end
balancing for our lives, this sound really got some of us down the slope even
before we knew it. As for the rest, they just froze like they had seen a bear
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from the tree right above us. Huge, near rectangular, black wings with a large
patch of white and yellow, sizable head with a humongous beak, and wing beats
that resounded like an aircraft flying through the valley – <b><i>GREAT PIED
HORNBILLS</i></b>! We heard the wing beat for over 15 minutes, though the birds
were long gone. No one moved a muscle till the flapping stopped and after
that….we looked at each others’ faces with the typical wide eyed stare of shock
and surprise. We kept mum for the rest of the journey, least we lose the moment
by talking. Enroute we saw 6 more of the great pied hornbills flying over the
valley, but the sightings did not have the same effect.</div>
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At the campsite, there was no silence. The talk was about
the Great Pied Hornbills, till post lunch. Some of us were <b><i>SO</i></b>
excited that the talk about the hornbills went on even during the resting and
refreshing time in the tents!! Only by next morning the talk had subsided.</div>
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lives had changed. We went back home <b><i>EVOLVED</i></b>!</span><br />
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Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-54290236412051362222014-01-30T23:02:00.000+05:302014-01-30T23:02:24.166+05:30The Shikra Barbet Saga !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b></div>
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There are many birds found in
cities. They range from seed eaters to fruit eaters, insect eaters to bird
eaters, rodent eaters to fish eaters. But the most common and my personal
favorite for observations is a small bird called the Shikra. </div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MD-KUoA2WT4/T-HjuchnFhI/AAAAAAAAAsQ/pIuFACHxDW0/s1600/DSC_4661_cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MD-KUoA2WT4/T-HjuchnFhI/AAAAAAAAAsQ/pIuFACHxDW0/s1600/DSC_4661_cropped.jpg" height="200" width="136" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">glum looking shikra</td></tr>
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The Shikra (<i>Accipiter badius</i>)
is a small raptor (or bird of prey if you prefer) present in the concrete
jungles of the human world. It preys on a variety of animals and birds. Some of
the favorite preys are small birds like bulbuls, barbets, animals like
squirrels, and a large variety of insects ranging from flying termites to large
sized grasshoppers. An occasional young and inexperienced snake and an unlucky
gecko also add to the menu. It makes its nest is tall well shaded trees. Well,
enough of describing the bird, I have a story to tell about its life.</div>
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I love to see the day to day
behavior of these birds, for they never cease to amaze me! One might think of
them as just “birds” or “bird brains” and something of lesser intelligence to
us humans. But some of the things birds are capable of, just leaves you
dumbfounded when you are a witness to the incident.</div>
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<br /></div>
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There is one incident that sits
vivid in my mind. I was on my terrace one beautiful morning, photographing
flowers from an African tulip tree (<i>Spathodea campanulata</i>) when a pair
of shikras’ came and sat quite close by. They seemed to be in an argument, for
they did not stop calling and screaming for the next ten minutes. Soon after
the male, very typically, left the place and flew far away. The female shikra I
guess was in a foul mood and she sat on the branch like a feather ball with a glum
look on the face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Little did the shikra
and I know that the branch she was sitting on was the top part of a White
cheeked Barbet’s (<i>Megalaima viridis</i>) nest.</div>
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Barbets (<i>Megalaima</i> spps)
make their nests in dead branches of trees. Some face the entrance facing the
ground, some prefer it vertical. The White cheeked Barbet usually makes the
nest vertical. They excavate by removing parts of the dead branch with their
beaks and creating a hollow inside. The reason they choose the dead branch is
that the wood is soft and can be easily removed by scraping it off with the
beak. Their beaks, by the way, are not hard like the woodpecker’s to chisel, so
they choose softer wood and “chew” through.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Da5I-t0tEOQ/T-Hjjcjfz6I/AAAAAAAAArg/6KZKzR_ymd8/s1600/DSC_4685.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Da5I-t0tEOQ/T-Hjjcjfz6I/AAAAAAAAArg/6KZKzR_ymd8/s1600/DSC_4685.jpg" height="200" width="132" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shikra sitting right above the nest</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--pOFUpJOENM/T-HkAPRRFKI/AAAAAAAAAtY/HDDMU9mgjQw/s1600/DSC_4644_cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--pOFUpJOENM/T-HkAPRRFKI/AAAAAAAAAtY/HDDMU9mgjQw/s1600/DSC_4644_cropped.jpg" height="137" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barbet peeking out of the nest</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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Well, here is where the actual
story begins. The shikra is sitting on the top and the barbet nest entrance is
below. A barbet peeps out to see whether the noisy couple has dispersed. The
shikra sees this and with wings open just parachutes down on the barbet’s neck.
Just as it lands on the neck, the barbet pulls in, into the hole. Now imagine
this situation, the nest is on a dead branch which is vertical, the shikra has
caught the barbet and is not willing to let go, but, it has no foot hold! The
barbet on the other hand, has the talons digging into its neck, in the very
comfort of its own nest! Awkward situation, where the predator and the prey
both are equally at advantage and disadvantage AND both not willing to let go
as there the stakes are high! For one- its life and home, for the other – first
meal of the day ready on a platter but not able to get it out.</div>
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So… here I was standing and
watching from the terrace, a spellbinding spectacle, the barbet pulling in and
the shikra with one leg in the hole pulling out. This drama was, however, cut
short. Before the natural fate of the struggle could be seen or predicted, it
came to an end with a bunch of keys hitting the already surprised shikra on the
neck. The next moment saw the shikra on a nearby branch and the barbet on the
cemented sidewalk, both shaken a little after the incident, one looking down
and the other looking up, wondering what in the world had just happened!!</div>
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The shikra, gaining its senses
back quickly dove at the barbet (which was now a sitting duck). This time it
went for the kill like there was no tomorrow, just to be hit again in the face
by a bunch of keys. This time completely bewildered and mightily pissed at the
invisible assaulter it decided to cut the chase a bit short and flew away. The barbet’s
side of the story however came to realize soon after. This barbet was a young
one! Though it had all the feathers and had grown well without any physical
defects, it had not yet mastered the art of flight. </div>
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<br /></div>
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By the time this drama was cut
short by my trigger happy uncle throwing a bunch of keys in the air to
discourage the shikra (or that’s what he “meant” to do) I was down on the
ground floor. At first he thought the barbet was injured due to the fall and
thus could not fly. But after checking for injuries, (while giving an
explanation to uncle as to how he had disrupted the natural order of hunter and
the hunted) I came to the conclusion that it was a fully fledged, yet young,
Barbet who did not know how to fly. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The poor barbet was put into a
box and a couple of friends who work with the animal rescue team came and
assessed the situation. All of us wanted the barbet to go back in the nest, but
the branch was dead, which means it could snap and fall with a little extra
push by a human. Thus, it was decided with a little disappointment that the
barbet be sent to the rescue centre.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Thus ended the shikra and barbet
drama. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Oh! By the way, my uncle’s reason
to distract the shikra and not actually hit it was he wanted to save the poor
barbet from being killed. I’m sure the shikra cursed my uncle at that point of
time (first the husband and now a human – one majorly pissed off female shikra!!)
because the keys he was throwing in the air got caught in a small branch. So, a
second rescue attempt was launched to retrieve the keys. After everything had
settled down, he must have said sorry to the barbet and I a thousand times over
and quietly slunk away.</div>
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Thus ended the uncle drama. He never
tried to “help” anymore without asking first.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Now the shikra has got chicks of
its own and so have the barbets. But neither came back to the same tree ever
again. They are around though… see them on a daily basis ! and thats another story !</div>
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Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-62495618098662365272014-01-09T15:21:00.000+05:302014-01-09T15:21:45.858+05:30Street wars – of underdogs and alpha dogs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">All
of us have heard about dogs being in packs. Usually these packs are one family,
which is led by the alpha male and female and the other members are usually
siblings or kins. Such packs have a strong system of hierarchy. Everyone has a
rank and must follow the “pecking order”. This means that each rank has a
particular role to play in the daily routine and survival of the pack. The
lower ranks get to do the dirty jobs while the higher ranks get a better cut off
the dirty jobs and the alphas do the thinking and reproduction for the whole
pack. There are a lot of intricate rules and norms in such packs that cannot be
dealt with in this article.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Having
given a fair idea of a “normal” pack of dogs, I would like to draw attention to
the other dogs. Dogs that have either left the main pack, or have been ousted
out of one, or never had a pack at all. By never had a pack at all, I am
talking about our street dogs. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Normally,
when a dog has been thrown out or has left the pack, gets to another area
outside the territory of the previous pack and forms a new pack of his own.
But, what would one dog do if he has never been in a pack at all?? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Street
dogs go through a life very similar to humans living in the alley. If they want
to survive they need to be on top and if they need to be on top, they need to
fight. They need to fight other dogs weaker than them, equal to them and
stronger than them. Interestingly, individuals come together to form loose
groups and help maintaining dominance over a certain area. This group mind you,
is not like the normal pack. Here it is every dog for himself, just aiding the
others so that he has an opportunity to survive.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Street
dogs are always into street fights, just like their human counterparts. They
growl, appear to be bigger than they are, show dominance, bite, claw and
lastly, even kill to keep themselves on top of the ladder. The way they make a
pack is a very interesting to know. Mere observations can get you a fair amount
of knowledge about the working of such packs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Let’s
start from the very beginning. There is no “pack”. There are only individuals
hanging around here and there on the streets. Each individual has one small
road for himself as his turf. I am talking only about the males with regard to
street dogs as they are the ones who usually keep turfs like this and the
females move around between turfs. Once in a while they get to meet the others
at the edge of their turf. They have small tiffs and break off. Soon as they
get more accustomed to each other, especially with the same female moving
between territories, they form a truce, a kind of a dog treaty. This treaty
states [though scent markings] that only the females are allowed, not other
males and here I am in charge not you.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Soon
these males have their own kins, which move out into newer territory. Many
young dogs like this come into one space which is “no dogs land”. Here they
play with each other, have mock fights and grow up. In this “no dogs land” too
there are rules. The rules are such – the eldest of the lot has a say in
everything, he has the first share in the food and the best sleeping spot,
anyone who opposes him has to fight him and prove him wrong. These rules, mind
you, are the stepping stone and more like a training schedule for the young
dogs for the real deal ahead in life. Soon enough the youngsters either join in
with other dogs or go on and find a street for themselves.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">If
they go ahead and find a street for themselves, then there will be no pack
formation again. But many a time, they are clever enough to join other
youngsters they have been playing with and form a loose pack. Initially, this
“pack” has members of equal ranks; moreover none of them have ranks. But as
time goes and they grow up a bit more, it all starts.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The
bigger and older dogs, who have “won” many of the play-fights earlier, now
challenge each other and this time the fight is for real. They show dominance
by keeping their heads high, standing tall, keeping their ears and tails erect
and growling. Other dogs who do not want to challenge them keep their tails
between the hind legs, ears drooping and almost crawl while whimpering all the
time. The real challenge starts when another dog does the same dominating
moves.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">At
first the dogs “size up” each other. They stand tall, head held high, ears and
tails erect and growling all along. If neither backs down, then the real fight
starts. They growl louder and begin to assault each other by kicking and biting
the vulnerable areas like the legs and the ears. If one of them begins to run
after sometime, the dog left standing is the winner and proclaims dominance to
the rest of the group by challenging them all. The winner is now the “alpha”
male.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similar to his fights, others fight amongst
themselves to establish a higher rank in the now forming “pack”. By and by,
ranks are quickly established and a sense of hierarchy is maintained. The
number in this pack may vary vastly. The first interesting part is that the
street dogs, like their human counterparts, spread the pack over a large area
[this depending upon the number of individuals of course]. In this way, any
news be it food source, females, neighboring territory status etc. is quickly
circulated to the whole pack. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second
interesting thing about these dogs is that even though the “pack” is formed and
the hierarchy is maintained, everything is not fixed or permanent. The pack
itself is loose; the hierarchy maintained is not exactly of the strict order. I
would say this because upon observations I have come to understand that even as
a pack, its every dog for himself. This is where the street dogs of the urban
jungles differ from the ancestral wolf pack of nature’s jungles. Wolves, plan
and execute, defend and kill as one whereas the street dogs act as individuals
gaining an advantage in being in a pack, but look after themselves when it
comes to fighting, fleeing, food and mating. They do not bother about other
members of the same pack. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">This
sort of life goes on and on for the generations to come, and the dogs, like
their human counterparts, think and act more and more individualistically and
selfishly rather than as a group and selflessly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Thus,
is a small story of the top dogs and the under dogs of the urban jungle. Simple
observations and a little understanding of the dogs will show us that they are
no different from us and us from them.</span></div>
<br />
<div id="__tbSetup">
</div>
</div>
Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-53507902272737593012010-09-22T00:03:00.001+05:302013-04-26T14:55:49.724+05:30Emotions and Perceptions in the Animal World - part 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"> Whenever I come across an animal, i usually take some time to observe it. A lot of interesting things can be seen by sparing just about 5 minutes of your time. A week back I was sitting in the institute library [ which happens to be OUTSIDE the institute luckily] and reading a book. I had been going to the library from a week but had not seen any dogs there. One rainy afternoon, this little dog comes into the premises, barking and whining his throat off. Wondering what had happened, my friends and I tried to calm him down first, but the dog just sulked and kept up the barking on a high note. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"> Well, noticing that he was not in a mood to socialize, we just left him alone for sometime. As expected, he quietened down in 5 minutes and curled up on the floor of the parking lot only to be rudely awakened by the monsoon splattering carelessly over him. This got him back on his high vocalization track, which actually sounded like he was complaining and cursing the world around him. Soon we saw him slowly advancing towards the main door. Since I was the only one around at that time I allowed him to come up to the doormat. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"> I noticed a couple of things about the dog's behaviour. The first thing was that he had a collar and a chain hanging on his neck. So, this means that he had run out of his owner's house. the second thing was that when he came into the gate, he was clearly nervous about something. He kept on barking and whining.... the way dogs do when they are either being chased or have stones thrown at them. He would not come anyplace close to a human.Probably someone had chased him or hit him with something. The barks seemed almost similar to us complaining about something bad that someone did to us !!!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br />
The next couple of things I noticed is when he came up to the doormat. I was keeping a watch over him, and he knew that. So he came up slowly towards the doormat, sniffing here and there in the air, looking around while doing so... and as he approached the mat, he knew that both of us were in clear visibility range of the other. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"> What he did next really took my mind off its feet.... he purposefully avoided looking in my direction, but keeping a lookout for my reaction from the corner of his eye, came upto the mat... and acted as if he was looking for something else and not interested in the mat at all !! he was sniffing in the air, looking around [ except in my direction]... he was clearly using the " deceiving looks" tactic on me !!! </span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"> Till the time I had my eyes on him he was using the tactics. Once I removed my eyes off him and went back to work, he quickly made himself cosy and at home on the warm and dry doormat. For a minute or two he did keep a look out for me from the corner of his eye, reducing direct eye contact, acting as if he was looking at something else. Later on he quietly went to sleep and did not even budge after I went close to him. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br />
Poor fellow must have had a scare I feel. Now on the mat, the sense of security returned, he dosed off happily. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br />
There are so many things that one can observe in animals that are very similar to humans.... its just that we should take some time to observe and understand our fellow earthlings. That is when we find that its not the speciation or language or even the intelligence that separates us humans from the rest of the animal kingdom... its the perception !</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-45565085664630717122010-04-15T22:13:00.002+05:302013-04-26T14:56:48.391+05:30Lost inspiration and laziness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Its been a very long time since I have posted anything on this blog page. Its mainly due to lack of inspiration to write [ one of THOSE moments everyone has] and a little bit of laziness [ genetic defect, sorry to say]. But the next one will be posted very soon. Lot of things to share.</span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-32581982773146834042009-11-08T22:39:00.003+05:302013-04-26T14:57:45.182+05:30Story time !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Over the years I have come to understand that while describing an observation to anyone the best thing to do is to animate it. That is not very difficult for a comic like me [with a constant flow of imagination]. But i did not realize this till I came across a group of school kids who I had accompanied on a nature trail. Like people before me [read "EXPERTS"] I began with a monotone and a serious note on how one should go about identifying birds and the like while on a walk. After some time I saw that the kids were clearly not keen on the walk anymore.<br />
Well, the walk did end quickly and I returned home. Once back I went through and old trunk with my books searching for something to read. I found an old book called " Just So Stories" by Rudyard Kipling.Upon finishing the book I realized what I been doing in any of my nature walks! weave out a story !!! or at-least animate it enough to keep people engrossed ! so then on I decided to animate each of my walks whether I was alone or with people [of any age group]. Further on, I kept reading a couple of the old stories written by both Indian authors as well as the English counterparts.<br />
The more I read I came to realize a pattern in the writing. Most of what they had written were actually true observations ! The ones that you see in your day to day life [and tend to ignore it usually]. But these authors - they probably sat out in the porch, looked around, observed many things around them, added some amount of imagination and wove a beautiful story around it.</span></span> <span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 85%;">All the stories that I had read till now all had daily observations about a particular organism written in an imaginative way !<br />
This got me thinking.... if these guys were men of science..... just if... they would have brought out the first scientific papers on behaviour and intelligence of animals !!!<br />
But they too knew their society very well. If observations like that had to be presented to the public without getting whacked and paraded nude in the town for wasting time looking at birds and insects rather than working, they had to weave out a story and target the right type of people for it to become well known.<br />
I got to hand it out to the authors, for they had great marketing skills and really good imagintion too. They observed, wrote in form of a story and the best part -- target audience - childern !!!<br />
Now with stories like that written, and children occupied reading them, no parent would object. Those guys got famous within no time !!<br />
And what happened to their observations? They are still there, embedded in the story, waiting for people to realize that they existed in daily life and not just as a story.... waiting for people like us, the " scientifically inclined" class to decipher the observations to their true worth and yet enjoy the imagintion of the author.<br />
Think over these few stories -<br />
1] The thirsty crow - a common story where a crow seeks water from the bottom of a pitcher by dropping pebbles in it so that the water level rises<br />
2] Rikki tikki tavi - a mongoose who accepts a human family as his own and defends the baby against a cobra [poor fellow gets killed because the mother of the baby "assumes" the blood on the animal's snout is that of her child]<br />
3] The Jungle Book - one of the greatest books written by Rudyard Kipling where he shows that the jungle has a law of its own and most of the animals follow it. Those who don't will be thrown out of the jungle. The story also shows how some animals can be really compassionate towards beings of other species. It also shows that each animal has his or her own personality or charecter. It also shows that the humans have ignored seeing these traits in the jungle and its inhabitants.<br />
There are many more of such stories which show that animals do have and individual personality, show emotions, can act silly, be brave, compassionate, and they do have their own language too. But I touch on that in the next post.<br />
Thinking of all this, I began to take a different approach into looking at things. I began to "add spice" and life to how I was and what I was speaking.<br />
I'd say, I'm having a much better time this way !!!<br />
</span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-71593571270431953362009-09-29T00:24:00.004+05:302013-04-26T14:58:35.355+05:30Emotions and Perception in the Animal World - Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">There had been a death in the family recently. Though death is perceived as "Sad" and "This should not have happened to him/her" by us humans, for me it is a good time to observe the emotional expressions of both humans and animals alike. For a long time there has always been that question that has been running in a researcher's mind - can animals perceive death? and how do they perceive it?<br />
The death in this family came suddenly on sunday morning - a morning specifically kept for getting up late and spending the rest of the day virtually in bed. I am usually not the type who would go for a funeral, but this sunday was different [ EVER in my LIFE]. I was the FIRST ONE to reach the home of the deceased! Well, I went in rather sheepishly putting my head down, for I have one crazy nature. I smile or laugh whenever I see someone I know. Now, this comes out so spontaniously, that I smile and then realise that im at someone's funeral !<br />
Well, getting away from the lighter note, I also realised that this was a good time to seriously look at peoples' faces and see what they might be going through. I was doing this initially, when I realised that the house dog was also around lying down at one corner of the room. Looking at the dog's sleeping face, I went into the great thought of whether the dog knew that one of the hands that raised it from a pup was suddenly gone? and went furthur to dwelve into how the dog percieved the dead body and the unusually large crowd that had gathered in his masters house bawling their hearts out on the floor?<br />
For a moment there, I focused so much on observing the dog that I did not hear people chanting various hymns, ladies crying their hearts out, and the people moving around me. As for the dog, for quite some time he lay on the floor with his eyes closed like he was having his morning siesta. Later, he opened his eyes, looked around and nudged the servent maid to take him outside so that he could relieve himself. He did not seem to be bothered about the crowd at all. He just strolled out, finished whatever he wanted to do and strolled back in just as before.<br />
Once he stepped back into the house, his behaviour changed a little. He seemed to have understood that something was wrong. He kept looking towards the servent maid repeatedly [ who had been crying for sometime now]. He went upto his master, who politely, took him and locked him up in a room. On his way to the room he saw the body of the deceased [ and im sure he would have sensed the familiar scent]. He did not do anything much except get into the room. But once inside the room, the fellow began to bark and howl. Well, the first thought that came to my head is that he may not be the type who would like to be locked up in a room. After 10 minutes he was allowed to come out again.This time, he hung his head low, and I could see a tear drop in his eyes. He quietly came out and settled in a corner, put his head down, and kept looking around at the faces closest to him.<br />
As far as my "observations" were concerned, I feel that the dog could sense that someone from the house is the center of attention and that the person showed no signs of being the center of attention. It might have understood that the deceased will not be coming back. At the same time, it might take him some time to actually understand that the person is actually missing from his daily life, and after a couple of days he might just forget the person. The sadness and the sense of questioning in his eyes told me that he knew the end was here for the deceased even before his master did, and that he was trying to convey the message that he too like the rest of the family was sad about the demise.<br />
I shall not generalize the conclusion to all animals, but elephants are as close to humans when it comes to percieving death. They too mourn at the death of one of the members of the family, get spooked by skeletons of one of their kind and CRY ! Dogs on the other hand, realise and are sad when one member is gone from their pack, but they soon get used to the member not being around and soon forget about it. </span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-26412913531059035222009-09-28T23:07:00.004+05:302013-04-26T14:59:22.221+05:30Emotions and Perception in the Animal World - Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">People have always thought animals to be without the sense of emotions, with only "barbarism" and "brutality" in their blood. Everyone has conveniently overlooked the fact that we - Humans, have done nothing different when it comes to "brutality".<br />
I was watching a documentary on elephants in Africa. The scientists there were getting puzzling stories and evidences about elephant attacks in certain parts of game reserves and national parks. Some elephants were found to be killing rhinos in certain areas and in other areas, some were seen killing cattle belonging to the tribes there. I will not go into the complete details of the film itself... but will give a brief outline of the outcome.<br />
Well, upon good investigation, it was found out that the elephants killing the rhinos were all young males that were reaching maturity or that have just passed the initial phases, where as the elephants killing the cows were found out to be females, some young adults and some old. Upon thorough scrutiny of the killings, one startling conclusion was reached.<br />
It was reported that those particular " deranged" males found in the reserve had a very shocking common history. All of them were rescued as babies and relocated into newer "elephant un-inhabited" areas of the park a very long time ago, during the civil wars. Due to the wars, people had wiped out patches of elephant population in parts of Africa. After the wars, the government decided to "distribute" the remaining populations all over.<br />
PROBLEM - They could not transfer the adults with just man power present just after the wars. so they relocated the babies only. During this time some of the adults were killed in front of the kids, and the kids were left to fend for themselves in a completely new environment without their close knit family.<br />
EFFECT- The elephants had no parental care and teaching, and upon losing their close knit family, they went into shock. They did grow up very well, but had signs of aggression, Post traumatic stress [PTS] etc. Besides that, upon reaching sexual maturity, the males did not know a female elephant let alone how to woo her. They tried bonding with what ever was alive. Rhinos were all around. The rhinos that refused the advances of the elephants would be killed. Not only that, the male rhinos were killed first [to reduce competition presumably].<br />
For many years, people wondered why things like this were a common occurance. After trying quite a bit to understand, and finally understanding it, they tried an experiment.<br />
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They brought in older males from other parts of the continent and left them in the same reserve as the traumatised elephants. Within a year, the number of deaths became negligeble, and the "deranged" elephants were becoming less aggressive and more "normal". Soon all the elephants were calm and went about doing their normal jobs or walking and eating and mating with females of the same species. Though this result was significantly good in terms of "behavioural rehabs", many elephants still showed signs of aggression towards people.<br />
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The female elephants on another part of the continent were also found to have a shocking common history. They had all lost their calves to humans. The problem started off when the elephants walked int the villeges and ate everything there is. The tribes had to shoo away the elephants.There were casualties from the humans side.Many times the shooing away would go too far. The men followed the herd and speared the elephants. For the sake of revenge over losing their own young the men killed the elephant calves. The females, went into shock and PTS and began to attack anything with a human scent on it. The easiest targets were cattle that would go to the grass plains to feed along side the elephants.<br />
This so called War would have gone on and on if the scientists had not interviened. Different methods were sought after to keep the elephants out of the village and to keep the villagers safe. On the same lines, the tribes were convinced not kill little calves again.<br />
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VERDICT - The bull elephants got back to normal in some time in the presence of older elephants, while the females took some more time. Some of them did not make it actually. They were so stressed that it took a toll on their lives.<br />
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BEHAVIOURAL OBSERVATIONS - Elephants, unlike previously thought, are very much like humans. They are at the apex of their evolutionary line. They are highly evolved beings, having complex social stuctures, immense emotional values, a unique way of communication and much more. They too undergo stress as much as we do. and show the same symptoms if left unchecked.<br />
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Only after such incidents do we find that we are not AS different from animals as we thought we were. We can be equally barbaric and brutal just as the animals can be emotional and caring. It is high time we came out of our " Ignoramus Shell " and realised that we belong as much as they belong on this planet and all of us are an intricate, intertwined strand in the web of life.<br />
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Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-63447427182065235752009-07-05T22:23:00.004+05:302013-04-26T15:00:01.408+05:30Chaayachitra !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRUtE-UGpf71bfHqXu74AiPdUVEp9vr16rD6EjEDy27DriwA5faEho08ivv1GKdsy5mrwws32CeWd-53xciuDG0fspwR_7fsRsNBSuX5qZNMFVpwmKu7ktCHqhyphenhyphengDzcfpA4GdSlywrX0E/s1600-h/rajamundry-112+extra.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355022963887746930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRUtE-UGpf71bfHqXu74AiPdUVEp9vr16rD6EjEDy27DriwA5faEho08ivv1GKdsy5mrwws32CeWd-53xciuDG0fspwR_7fsRsNBSuX5qZNMFVpwmKu7ktCHqhyphenhyphengDzcfpA4GdSlywrX0E/s320/rajamundry-112+extra.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Chaayachitra - or shadow art [ Indian term for Photography, though photography is to do with light not with shadows]. Well this photo says it all. I literally took the photo of this butterfly against the light, thus getting only a nice silhouette. The photo was not taken in this manner intentionally, but came out well !</span></span> <span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> This fellow had wandered off into the bus in which I was traveling.The bus had of course stopped [for a short break, and everyone except me had got down]. Took this oppotunity and tried my hand and interior butterfly photography. Will put up the butterfly photos soon !</span></span></span></span></div>
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Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-71748607094042388712009-07-05T21:54:00.006+05:302013-04-26T15:00:25.357+05:30Now you see me- now you dont !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwYjtohmg0N06b4u6JkiAef_Hx4J4ZT4cLPEk89kNVi4o95kiwAJKNLRaCOms78maYPRvQwpoIrJUb8Xt0lNUiR84px1oSKToPQEFYBHW0k61NakDld3qi4wEIwsBYTBGMM9vNUP3a1r8/s1600/chikmagalur-098.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwYjtohmg0N06b4u6JkiAef_Hx4J4ZT4cLPEk89kNVi4o95kiwAJKNLRaCOms78maYPRvQwpoIrJUb8Xt0lNUiR84px1oSKToPQEFYBHW0k61NakDld3qi4wEIwsBYTBGMM9vNUP3a1r8/s320/chikmagalur-098.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This moth was posing as a part of the bark of this small tree in Chickamagalur. Saw it before darkness, or else I would not have been capture him. One hell of a disappearing act I must say ! </span></span></span></span></div>
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Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-29630306957721182132009-06-09T19:30:00.005+05:302013-04-26T15:01:44.598+05:30Another year added - remembering the first days<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Well, another year added to my life just a day back. While my phone went berserk with everyone's frantic messages and calls wishing me, I went back in time to my school days, sometime during the beginning of my 8th grade. I went back through the first science practicals of the 8th grade, where my science teacher went about teaching my class about insects and my friends [especially the gals] made faces and stuck out their tongues at the specimen collections,and the satisfied look on my teacher's face when she noticed that AT-LEAST ONE fellow took interest in the class</span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 85%;">.</span></span><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Well, that was the day started "experimenting". I had, at that point of time 4 pens. Each pen had a transparent body and cap. I began with the most common insect that i could find and capture - MOSQUITOES. I would gently tap them while they were sitting around so that I didnt squish them, then slowly put them into the pen cap followed by the pen so,when they woke up they could not fly out. I would then take them to school the next day, ask my science teacher for a microscope and go through the different parts. By this I learnt a lot, and later started applying it to other insects too. Every time my science teacher would ask me " so what did you bring today?" [ sometimes out of habit I would answer " chapatis and tomato curry" and she would laugh aloud.]<br />
Thinking about it now makes me wonder, those were the days... but what happened after that?? where did all the "experimenting" go?? The answer lies in the education, the growing up and forgetting the times of fun thanks to the various circumstances that lead me away, and I unknowingly followed...<br />
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Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-56171712730270711262009-05-31T12:40:00.001+05:302009-05-31T12:44:33.265+05:30Grasshopper Nymph<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNlQDb01Dh6S3fgwNpoqty-0D8pLRw1YC1HTyxGZLhBWcDsO-zsriqKd_oERjgNOqiBRdr9Z1NvzUHyYc2cAHSXtnThwbyr9F4OSAoJssFVwlpiaVDEoLiOO-D1p-bo5Ghe9_Qtwu-PPg/s1600-h/chikmagalur-112.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNlQDb01Dh6S3fgwNpoqty-0D8pLRw1YC1HTyxGZLhBWcDsO-zsriqKd_oERjgNOqiBRdr9Z1NvzUHyYc2cAHSXtnThwbyr9F4OSAoJssFVwlpiaVDEoLiOO-D1p-bo5Ghe9_Qtwu-PPg/s320/chikmagalur-112.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341882983691572578" border="0" /></a>Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-61739923200551416002009-05-31T11:49:00.005+05:302013-04-26T15:02:59.337+05:30Baby's Signature - Mother's Pride - In the end, Everyone Died !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQMv16DLDB8l33RmqTx4jFm9bfo2WXCS-yTVQOLkuWCE-9pSSkGDujfA0WF3flTM_lEykQGS5eS5spdutGRDFfaUG_5uHhhpoNcnGKjJtt6uoizI_au6yjInIPBYBhxEQqIzkIqNwp82A/s1600-h/signature-1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341879756578048354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQMv16DLDB8l33RmqTx4jFm9bfo2WXCS-yTVQOLkuWCE-9pSSkGDujfA0WF3flTM_lEykQGS5eS5spdutGRDFfaUG_5uHhhpoNcnGKjJtt6uoizI_au6yjInIPBYBhxEQqIzkIqNwp82A/s320/signature-1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 226px;" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmcbNfvHcwRW5Gs9VDsFrerdKx65me5MmguTxigBpemUgKq0EVM2FWvth_GBsbA1lA5qsmEydHwots1D9d-gzFsQlFPVmKG_NiIgGKYcaYCpoWLN5ANZQJ6xal-7iWKO9CBgvAKDTR9AE/s1600-h/friends-005.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341879754378619730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmcbNfvHcwRW5Gs9VDsFrerdKx65me5MmguTxigBpemUgKq0EVM2FWvth_GBsbA1lA5qsmEydHwots1D9d-gzFsQlFPVmKG_NiIgGKYcaYCpoWLN5ANZQJ6xal-7iWKO9CBgvAKDTR9AE/s320/friends-005.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">One morning I happened to take notice of a newcomer to my garden. She was beautiful, especially in the early morning sun coming from right behind her. Within an hour she had settled down in a nice corner of the garden. She had strategically spread her belongings all over the corner, signing all over it,and sat inbetween... she was not going to move out anytime soon, nor was anyone going to make her do so. Within a day or two she had a big bag with her, which she guarded like a lion guarding his kill. A week later, the bag was oozing with a large grey blob. On looking closer, I found that the grey mass was actually was a mass of tiny bodies, hugging each other. They were less than a millimeter in size and as soon as they felt my presence thy began to move around and some of them even dispersed to the nearby plant...</span>I felt really happy to be a witness to all that had happened. I took a photo of the proud mother and her little ones in the nick of time, for the next day the place was clean. No mother, no kids, nothing !! Someone had cleaned the place with a broom !! Now, who would be dumb, and so insensitive, as to clean the garden, and rid the place of a new and proud mother and her newly emerged babies??<br /> A couple of days later, I did find some of her kids... wandering here and there, and to my happiness, 2 survived, had their own corners in the garden and had their own belongings spread around, duly signing all over, just like their mother before them... though sadly they too did not survive beyond a week or two. They too went missing after that, their belongings bearing fact that there had been a battle...<br />
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Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-74897625571538416552009-05-22T16:28:00.003+05:302013-04-26T15:03:21.212+05:30Flirting around !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrDKg36S_EMUjpENVv7vfTs52D85wEL54mHWKm8d0ucZOXcAIaBlV_5jA1pBhI1dPMNDLZTHRasGvDo7hm8vSNozfr3PPOQxTYWPD3UxRHsmQf9Zo-9LNTUMNeDvwUZnoO_LWE2qT_mKw/s1600-h/danaid+eggfly+pair.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338605075388793138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrDKg36S_EMUjpENVv7vfTs52D85wEL54mHWKm8d0ucZOXcAIaBlV_5jA1pBhI1dPMNDLZTHRasGvDo7hm8vSNozfr3PPOQxTYWPD3UxRHsmQf9Zo-9LNTUMNeDvwUZnoO_LWE2qT_mKw/s320/danaid+eggfly+pair.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It took me half and hour to follow the Danaid Eggfly</span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> <span style="font-size: 85%;">female just to get a photo. Just as she settled down [ and i had a small breather] the male approached her, sat in front of her and started vibrating his antennae and wings. Quietly, I got down on my stomach and approached them carefully. As I went closer, I noticed that the male eggfly was vibrating his antennae all over the female's head and antennae. Hmmm... looked like he was in a mood to woo her... and taking this opportunity, I took a photo of the romantic couple. The female, shy as can be, moved a little by the time I clicked...probably she had the feeling that they were being watched</span></span><span style="font-size: 85%;">... [<span style="font-family: verdana;">hmmm... I wonder why?? ]</span></span></span></span></div>
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Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-78472895978324147112009-05-22T00:12:00.003+05:302013-04-26T15:03:42.794+05:30Handicaps within the Invertebrates<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf9D7eDh0Kl-oCAjOTAg_uLh_LVEI-VpqW_rdzGA_XKC15B2E9UYMg8V19eIi2e625u8N5PKw-0ck8fQeH9mGX6G9Xze382G-ln5_V5wfXpca3YFd3n0zotUMyHrOK8SC4CkynQeZ7Zio/s1600-h/copy+ofhome-048.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338354001683983954" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf9D7eDh0Kl-oCAjOTAg_uLh_LVEI-VpqW_rdzGA_XKC15B2E9UYMg8V19eIi2e625u8N5PKw-0ck8fQeH9mGX6G9Xze382G-ln5_V5wfXpca3YFd3n0zotUMyHrOK8SC4CkynQeZ7Zio/s320/copy+ofhome-048.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 194px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I was looking for insects in my garden one evening and found this jumping spider sitting on a banana leaf. I was quite surprised to find out that this spider had all his 4 legs on one side of his body missing !! This was the first time that I had seen a handicapped individual in the invertebrate kingdom [especially jumping spiders] who have survived !! But this spider was full of life... even with 4 legs [ all on the same side of the body] it was able to move [ little slowly, but surely] and to an extent JUMP !!! but with his other legs missing, I am sure that it would have posed a problem while hunting. I saw the spider only for a day. I dont know how it had lost its limbs, or how it had survived till then... but it sure showed that humans are not the only ones undergoing pain, trauma, and the like... for we are taken care of others around us, who will help us to survive. In the spider's world, others are waiting to eat you !! </span></span></span></span></div>
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Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-83799499536763933422009-05-21T23:46:00.003+05:302013-04-26T15:04:22.764+05:30Ancient Architects - Changing Rocks to Soil<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPvfJVSXQq8VEHwmqlw1kAZskAu9BOWjlnaq5bw0_bnWaSMFAXTs8GcHqcipD6oVq8Pg0X6YNquSIItJ2Byb8B_TMQqq3eGc-N3MmQoMDGoBRS1setv6al1mHo8eHJp7HOcaA5kspp9bU/s1600-h/rajamundry-021.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338349173891830210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPvfJVSXQq8VEHwmqlw1kAZskAu9BOWjlnaq5bw0_bnWaSMFAXTs8GcHqcipD6oVq8Pg0X6YNquSIItJ2Byb8B_TMQqq3eGc-N3MmQoMDGoBRS1setv6al1mHo8eHJp7HOcaA5kspp9bU/s320/rajamundry-021.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">During one of the outings, I happened to notice something quite like never before. I was on the lookout for butterflies, specially the smaller ones</span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 85%;">, so I was lying on the ground to get a better view. Crawling ahead in the same position I happened to come close to a small rock. This rock had 2 small holes in them. At first glance it looked like someone had driven a couple of nails into the rock. But, on looking closer I saw a lot of ANTS walking all over the rock, inside the hole and outside, carrying bit sized rock pieces and throwing them in the most orderly fashion ! After making sure that it was a rock that the ants were digging into, I took a break from butterflies to observe the ants. These creatures, I must admit, are the greatest architects !! They were using their sheer numbers and their tiny brains in building themselves a new home THROUGH a ROCK !! now what better protection do they need?? Home is a STONE fortress, and the army is about a MILLION strong !<br /> Coming to think of it.... why did we humans think of something like this before?? we got bigger brains and the same number of individuals !! </span></span></span></span></div>
Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-84477232566590023432009-05-21T23:15:00.004+05:302013-04-26T15:04:46.801+05:30Natural Wallpaper !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8CijQTTHItVxkZpA0807JeGVHDyeErsIdsp6cqfXhzoRknHgbtYLAiZinDn7Q5XLL3bxnruUxQfEy9I_gRcRI4GoXpsqmtuZ7D8eRHe6BobT1L_YSemazNhr8ka8n2Rl8-99hVYN5Eo/s1600-h/rajamundry-087.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338341540942617090" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8CijQTTHItVxkZpA0807JeGVHDyeErsIdsp6cqfXhzoRknHgbtYLAiZinDn7Q5XLL3bxnruUxQfEy9I_gRcRI4GoXpsqmtuZ7D8eRHe6BobT1L_YSemazNhr8ka8n2Rl8-99hVYN5Eo/s320/rajamundry-087.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Walking on a road running right through the Eastern Ghats one fine summer morning, my friends and I were looking for butterflies. We were on an outing specially for identifying and photographing them. Since there was no traffic THAT early in the morning, we were walking right in the middle of the road.... and we found something . Upon further examination I was able to decipher what the creature was. The poor fellow must have tried crossing the road sometime when a big vehicle ran over him/her. The fellow had become a Wallpaper instantly ! poor dear !!! Hope the creature is identifiable !</span></span></span></span></div>
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Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663171745108458882.post-16774236042240476102009-04-14T00:29:00.003+05:302013-04-26T15:05:11.496+05:30Dancing dolls - An apt name for this flower<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4D3_levOtBqdHoV_DCKbwTormzU0Xt0y9tzBw33ZWWNEsFMEwv279ci9zFq2agv2lJItiFkzcbSdhH64g4uiuXrf2b3A2stdGfeAuoc6q-By9q3ki1oJlD503HkdsDEnYBLxGOHxzQts/s1600-h/Dancing+Dolls-2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324253099149582258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4D3_levOtBqdHoV_DCKbwTormzU0Xt0y9tzBw33ZWWNEsFMEwv279ci9zFq2agv2lJItiFkzcbSdhH64g4uiuXrf2b3A2stdGfeAuoc6q-By9q3ki1oJlD503HkdsDEnYBLxGOHxzQts/s320/Dancing+Dolls-2.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /></a></span></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Saw these flowers growing in one of the coffee planters house. The lady who planted this plant told me that it was known as "Dancing dolls". A very apt name,for these flowers look like small dancing toy dolls [ the type you would find in local shops in villages]. They grow in bunches and hang down from the tip of the plants. They resemble small bells to me, and they actually dance in the wind!</span></span></span></span></div>
Vishnupriya Hathwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08161207219265858057noreply@blogger.com2