find-it-yourself

Taken at Karmi farms, Darjeeling in October 2009.

Small/Lesser Yellownape (Western Ghats species)

2011-02-18T10:28:00.004+05:30

Scientific name: Picus chlorolophus chlorigaster

Picus: An ancient Italian god of agriculture with prophetic powers. In Latin legend, he was a brave warrior, the first of Latium, and was finally turned into a woodpecker by Circe, whose love he rejected.

Generally called 'Green woodpeckers' (Picus), these birds are mainly green, often with dark scales or bars below. Sexes differ in head pattern and colour. The 'yellownapes' ('Chrysophlegma') differ from other Picus in having a crested yellow nape and rufous or maroon in the wing.

There are three geographical variants in Picus chlorolophus:

Picus c. chlorolophus - nominate species. Occurs: Himalayan foothills to SE Arunachal (roughly, north eastern strip of Indian subcontinent along the Himalayas)

Picus c. chlorigaster - Western and southern peninsular hills (including western ghats)

Picus c. wellsi - in Srilanka

Source: Birds of South Asia - The Ripley Guide; http://wordinfo.info

Place and date: Virajpet, Coorg district, 28-September-2010

Walk in the woods

2011-01-30T21:29:00.002+05:30

Landscapes

2010-12-26T20:07:00.003+05:30

Random thoughts

2010-12-22T12:04:00.002+05:30

Square-tailed Black Bulbul

2010-10-27T10:12:00.006+05:30

Scientifc name: Hypsipetes ganeesa

Place and date: Virajpet, Coorg district on 28-September-2010

Another bird endemic to western ghats. (Srilanka has a subspecies)

Gold-fronted Chloropsis / Leaf Bird / Green Bulbul

2010-10-27T10:04:00.003+05:30

Left frame: Female

Right frame: Male

Scientific name: Chloropsis aurifrons frontalis

Place and date: Virajpet, Coorg district on 28-September-2010

This species is an accomplished mimic. Some of the bird calls in its repertoire include: Tailor Bird, Redwhiskered Bulbul, Black Drongo, Iora, Whitebreasted Kingfisher, Rufousbacked Shrike and Magpie-Robin. The different imitations follow one another in quick succession without a break, its own song of several notes being wedged in between the imitations; thus a single chloropsis hidden in a leafy tree will often fool the listener into imagining a whole concert of mixed species within! (Salim Ali)

Nilgiri Flowerpecker (Dicaeum concolor)

2010-10-20T18:08:00.001+05:30

Another species endemic to Western Ghats.

A view of Radhanagari reservoir

2010-10-20T17:15:00.004+05:30

Photo credit: Varsha Madhukar

Images from Western Ghats

2010-10-19T15:00:00.003+05:30

From L-R: Raghavendra, Vidyadhar Atkore, Madhu and Varsha

From Nature - Landscapes ("abbe" falls, Madikeri)

From Nature - Landscapes (kuduremukh)

Indian Hanging Parrot

2010-10-19T12:43:00.002+05:30

Indian Hanging-Parrot (Loriculus vernalis)

Seen in Virajpet, Madikeri.

High canopy fliers, these birds are seen flying swiftly in small flocks accompanied by a shrill trisyllabic bat-like squeak chi-chi-chee repeated every couple of seconds or so. These birds possess one very unorthodox peculiarity, unique among Indian birds, that of sleeping at night hanging upside down like a bat.

Depth-of-Field

2010-10-13T11:05:00.002+05:30

Skylight

2010-10-07T20:48:00.006+05:30

Beautiful twilight and full moon. It appeared as though the sky did not want to fall behind in making the western ghats look more beautiful. It made a colourful display of light in pink and blue shades.

Photo credits: Varsha Madhukar

Green carpet, Cloud ceiling: Kuduremukh

2010-10-06T21:46:00.004+05:30

This is my most favourite landscape photograph. This was shot by my wife at Bhagavati Nature Camp, Kuduremukh - Karnataka.

Meadow of flowers

2010-10-05T18:42:00.004+05:30

We passed through this beautiful stretch of MSH-4 (Major State Highway) between Tarkarli (Malwan beach) and Vengurla.

Framing a picture

2010-10-05T07:52:00.002+05:30

Puttting border to any photograph makes it look better. More so is a natural framing. When it comes to landscapes, it is a common practice to include something that would act as a natural border to the image. It can be trees on both sides, or a canopy covering the landscape shot (as shown in this image below), or a portion of a water body, etc.

This image was taken on the way from Kolhapur towards Radhanagari. The plants with yellow flowers were used to fence the paddy fields. I thought it would make a good picture and tried including the tree top to act as a border to compensate for the blank dull sky.

Used "Aperture Priority" with F22 to have a good Depth-Of-Field. Shutter speed was set to 1/50th of a second as there was good ambience light. ISO was set to 200 for a good quality image.

Monkey business

2010-09-16T22:09:00.001+05:30

Colours

2010-09-16T09:05:00.001+05:30

Visit to Kaas plateau

2010-09-07T10:00:00.005+05:30

Global Warming - blah, blah, blah

2010-08-25T09:06:00.003+05:30

I came across this article in today's The Times Of India (Pune edition) and felt little intrigued. It says "Proper livestock management can reduce global warming"

Here is the snapshot of the article:

Points of interest:

We know that carbon, methane, nitrous oxide are some of the greenhouse gases. Livestock ruminants produce methane and carbon dioxide while digesting feed in their rumen.
In India, a majority of the livestock are low on productivity, under-nourished and surviving on open grazing, high fibre roughages (includes pasture and hay). These animals release more methane than high yielding animals that consume better quality feed.
Importantly, most farmers are unaware of the threat posed by their livestock to global warming.
Most of the low productive livestock release significant volume of methane during night when housed in cattle sheds. Besides, animal dung and urine releases methane and nitrous oxide. Better management of farm yard manure and compost pits can reduce this emission.
Explore the policy and scope for relaxing export of cattle and other livestock.

Here is a link to another article that reads "Can Cattle Save Us From Global Warming?"

Points of interest: (Compare this against the points above)

First, the cattle industry and meat eating are targeted as a leading cause of global warming, up there with autos, jet planes and coal-burning power plants.
Second, efforts to stop global warming have been focused almost entirely on reducing emissions, not in taking existing carbon out of the atmosphere (a process known as known as carbon sequestration). Therefore this article talks more about carbon farming. Moreover, it supports no-till agriculture and managed grazing projects. The article suggests that these techniques help in higher absorption of atmospheric carbon by the soil.
But what about the argument that meat-eating is a major cause of global warming due to massive emissions of nitrous oxide, methane and other greenhouse gases from livestock operations? John Wicks answers immediately and forcefully, “That’s absolutely correct about feedlots and absolutely wrong about grass-fed livestock. Sustainably-raised grass-fed beef is a natural system and the methane and other greenhouse gases are mitigated by the carbon sequestration in the soil. We see this as a way to phase out feedlots.”
If the solution to global warming involves large herds of hoofed animals moving through landscape in ways that take carbon out of the atmosphere and into the soil, we can do that.
The central idea in carbon farming is moving the animals frequently—as once happened with wild herds chased by predators—so grasses are not gnawed beyond the point of natural recovery and plant cover remains to fertilize the land and sequester carbon.

Observations:

First article talks against low productivity of under-nourished livestock. Whereas, the second article talks against feedlots where high-quality food is forcefed. It rather supports open and managed grazing.
Energy output of green food (feeding on leaves, grass) is inherently less. Livestock ruminants have to feed a lot to get the required energy. Isn't that natural? While mentioning export of cattle and other livestock, about having better quality feed, is the first article insinuating about profiting some industry? Does this smell fishy?
While mentioning livestock as one of the contributors to the emission of methane, are not the exploding population (and so the meat consumption), exploding industrialization as the major contributors towards global warming?
While the second article supports no-till farming and managed grazing, India does not have much land space to afford this luxury. It may hold good to the US. With the forested land being less than 7 percent of our land mass, and the agricultural area under high pressure feeding the current population, all these suggestions are impractical to most of the third world countries.

Why can't the scientific community think simple?

Be a thoughtful spender of natural resources. This does not need one to be a hermit or a miser.
Put a brake to the wants. Why does a family need more than one vehicle (considering vehicle is a need in the current generation)? Number of four-wheelers in the US is almost equal to the adult population. The trend has started in the cities of India as well.
Understand and respect the difference between "needs" and "wants"

"Noteworthy" accomodation at Mahabaleswar

2010-07-06T21:23:00.004+05:30

My wife and I visited (and would not like to call it a trip) Mahabaleswar last weekend and we would like to share the bad experience of our stay at a hotel called Sunny Mid Town where we had booked an accomodation for two days through Sai Bless Holidays Services Pvt Ltd.

We reached the hotel by 1:50 PM on 3-July-2010. We had opted for "Luxury room with bath tub". Though we did not expect any luxury as such, the least we expected was that the room would be clean. To our disappointment, the room was very dirty and badly maintained so was the lobby on each floor. For instance, bedspreads and the pillow covers were not clean. The bed was damp. The room was right next to an entrance that opened up to a garbage disposal area. There were also red stains of pan spat on the floor and window sill. Hotel Sunny International, where the food is served for the guests staying at Sunny Mid town was equally unhygienic. It looked like dining hall was never mopped and there were flies all around. The steel plates and glasses which were used to serve food were way too dirty.

The bath room was not clean either. In contrary to what the website claims, there was no 24-hours supply of hot water (we were told that the water would be available between 7 am and 9:30 am). We informed the manager in charge about the room and the bathroom being unclean, but it fell on deaf ears. He was aloof when we mentioned about the lack of cleanliness.

In summary, the so called "luxury room" was in fact unhygienic. We were very disappointed to end up in one such room after paying Rs.1700/- per day. It was not worth even half the money paid.

The hotel staff also did not even bother cleaning the room, in spite of requesting them. We checked out of the hotel at 3:30 PM (within two hours of checking in). Though it was a financial loss for us, the terrific conditions of the room did not give us much choice. We returned to Pune the same evening.

Although the weather was very pleasant at the hill station and the clouds crossed our path as we ascended the hill almost blocking the view ahead (pleasantly foggy), all these came to an abrupt end and our much awaited & planned trip was washed off; all thanks to the "luxuy hotel" called Sunny Mid Town.

Mahabaleshwar is breathtaking in the monsoons. So, for all those who are heading to this place to have a good time we recommend to not even consider this hotel for enquiring let alone booking an accomodation.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/44846/a-safe-landing-magadi.html

P.S: Kindly note Sunny Mid Town, Sunny International and Sunny Classic are a chain of hotels managed by the same group.

Happy outing!

Bhigwan - A birding profile

2010-03-12T09:45:00.005+05:30

Varsha and I visited Bhigwan on 1st March 2010 (Monday). Reached the place around noon. We could not venture out under the hot burning sun. We had to bird from a shelter close by for the next four hours.

Few kilometres from Bhigwan is Diksal village, where a wetland has formed by the backwaters of river Ujni. We settled at the backwaters along the road between Diksal and Bhilarwadi sugar plant.

Here are few of photographs taken at the place:

Bhigwan in a nutshell

2010-01-13T13:32:00.001+05:30

Presented by Online Education

Bar-headed Geese (Anser indicus)

2010-01-06T10:20:00.001+05:30

Puffin rescue ad

2009-11-04T16:24:00.000+05:30

Frames

2009-11-04T15:01:00.002+05:30

Trying to see if frames really add to the aesthetics of an image.

Unknown kids of mother Earth - (KANNADA)

2009-10-28T10:09:00.001+05:30

From Azad with the wife and kids of Master Rudranarayan

Darjeeling in the night

2009-10-27T13:35:00.002+05:30

Karmi Estates is in the hills facing Darjeeling. On the way, we got to see it in the lights, across the valley.

View of Rammam river - Darjeeling

2009-10-26T14:22:00.003+05:30

View of Rammam river - Darjeeling, originally uploaded by bv_madhukar.

The river is "Rammam". To the left of it is Sikkim, and West Bengal is to the right. The town in the centre of the image is "Jor-thong"

Chandrashekhar Azad - Few photoes

2009-08-15T10:22:00.003+05:30

From Portrait of Chandrashekhar Azad

From A letter by Chandrashekhar Azad

From Photo taken immediately after Azad shot himself dead

From Long live Azad

Assembly Bomb Case - Leaflet

2009-08-15T09:26:00.001+05:30

Assembly Bomb Case - Leaflet

To the Young Political Workers - Shaheed Bhagat Singh

2009-08-15T09:24:00.000+05:30

To the Young Political Workers - Shaheed Bhagat Singh

The Philosophy of the Bomb - Shaheed Bhagat Singh

2009-08-15T09:23:00.000+05:30

The Philosophy of the Bomb - Shaheed Bhagat Singh

Why am I an Atheist? - Bhagat Singh

2009-08-15T09:21:00.000+05:30

Why I am an Atheist? - Shaheed Bhagat Singh

Moral Stories - In Kannada

2009-08-12T09:45:00.001+05:30

Moral Stories - in Kannada

Story of NACHIKETA - From kaThOpanishat

2009-08-08T18:03:00.003+05:30

Click here to download the story in PDF format

Nachiketa height="500" width="100%" > value="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=18424227&access_key=key-1l0n6q0dglwt3gi3kf7k&page=1&version=1&viewMode=">

A story from Upanishad

2009-07-31T09:05:00.003+05:30

ಪ್ರಾಣ

ಒಂದಾನೊಂದು ಕಾಡಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಇಬ್ಬರು ಮುನಿಗಳು ಒಂದು ಆಶ್ರಮವನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟಿಕೊಂಡು ವಾಸಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಶೌನಕ ಕೌಪೇಯ ಮತ್ತು ಅಭಿಪ್ರತಾರೀಕಾಕ್ಷಸೇನಿ ಇವರೇ ಆ ಇಬ್ಬರು ಮುನಿಗಳು. ಇಬ್ಬರೂ ಯಜ್ಞಯಾಗಾದಿಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡುವುದಕ್ಕೆ ಹೆಸರಾಗಿದ್ದರು. ಪ್ರತಿನಿತ್ಯ ದೇವತಾಪೂಜೆ, ಹವನ ಹೋಮ ತಪ್ಪದೆ ಆಶ್ರಮದ ಮುಂದೆ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದಿತು. ಈ ಮುನಿಗಳೊಂದಿಗೆ ಕಾಡಿನಲ್ಲೇ ವಾಸವಾಗಿದ್ದ ಇತರ ಮುನಿಗಳೂ ಸೇರಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು.

ಶೌನಕ ಕೌಪೇಯ ಹಾಗೂ ಅಭಿಪ್ರತಾರೀಕಾಕ್ಷಸೇನಿ ಇಬ್ಬರೂ ಸಕಲ ಜೀವಗಳಲ್ಲೂ ಉಸಿರಾಗಿ ಇರುವ ವಾಯುದೇವರ ಆರಾಧಕರಾಗಿದ್ದರು. ಹವನ ಹೋಮ ಕೈ೦ಕರ್ಯಗಳ ತರುವಾಯ ದಿನದ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಸಮಯವನ್ನು ವಾಯುದೇವನ ಆರಾಧನೆಯಲ್ಲೆ ಕಳೆಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು.

ಒಂದುದಿನ ಮಟಮಟ ಮಧ್ಯಾಹ್ನ ಇಬ್ಬರೂ ಮುನಿಗಳು ದೇವತಾಕಾರ್ಯಗಳಾದ ಬಳಿಕ ಊಟ ಮಾಡಲು ಕುಳಿತುಕೊಂದರು. ಆಶ್ರಮದ ಹೊರಗೆ ಭಾರಿ ಬಿಸಿಲಿದ್ದಿತು. ಆ ಸಮಯಕ್ಕೆ ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ಎಲ್ಲಿಂದಲೋ ಒಬ್ಬ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಚಾರಿ ಅಲ್ಲಿಗಾಗಮಿಸಿದನು. ಅವನ ಕೈಯಲ್ಲೊಂದು ಭಿಕ್ಷಾ ಪಾತ್ರೆಯಿದ್ದಿತು.

ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಚಾರಿಯನ್ನು ನೋಡಿದೊಡನೆ ಮುನಿಗಲಿಬ್ಬರಿಗೂ ಆ ಹುಡುಗ 'ಭವತಿಭಿಕ್ಷಾಂದೇಹಿ' ಎಂದುಕೊಂಡೇ ಬಂದಿದ್ದಾನೆಂದು ಅರಿವಾಯಿತು.

ಶೌನಕ ಕೌಪೇಯನು, 'ಏಯ್ ಹುಡುಗ, ಇಲ್ಲೇನು ನೋಡುತ್ತಿರುವೆ? ನಿನಗೆ ಭಿಕ್ಷೆ ಹಾಕಲು ನಮ್ಮಲ್ಲೇನೂ ಇಲ್ಲ. ನೀನು ಇಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಹೋಗಬಹುದು' ಎಂದುಬಿಟ್ಟನು. ಅವನೊಂದಿಗೆ ಅಭಿಪ್ರತಾರೀಕಾಕ್ಷಸೇನಿಯೂ ದನಿಗೂಡಿಸಿದನು.

ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಚಾರಿ ಸಾಮನ್ಯ ಹುಡುಗನಾಗಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಬುದ್ಧಿವಂತನೂ ವಿಚಾರವನ್ತನೂ ಆಗಿದ್ದನು. 'ಮುನಿವರ್ಯರೇ, ತಾವುಗಳು ದಿನನಿತ್ಯ ಯಾವ ದೇವತೆಯನ್ನು ಆರಾಧಿಸುವಿರಿ? ನೀವು ಪೂಜಿಸುವ ಆ ದೇವರಾರು?' ಎಂದು ಪ್ರಶ್ನಿಸಿದನು.

'ಈ ಹುದುಗನಿಗೆಕೆ ಈ ವಿವರವೆಲ್ಲ?' ಎಂದು ಮುನಿಗಳಿಬ್ಬರೂ ಮನಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲೇ ಗೊಣಗಿಕೊಂಡರು. ಆದರೂ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗೆ ಉತ್ತರಿಸಬೇಕಾದುದು ಧರ್ಮವೆಂದು, 'ನೋಡಯ್ಯಾ, ನಮಗೆ ಊಟಕ್ಕೆ ಹೊತ್ತಾಯಿತು. ನಾವು ಪೂಜಿಸುವುದು ಎಲ್ಲರ ಪ್ರಾಣವೂ ಜೀವವೂ ಉಸಿರೂ ಆದ ವಾಯುದೆವರನ್ನು. ತಿಳಿಯಿತೆ? ಇನ್ನೊ ಇಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಹೋಗು' ಎಂದರು.

ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಚಾರಿ ಮತ್ತೆ ಮಾತನಾಡಿ, 'ಸರಿಯೇ, ಹಾಗಾದರೆ ಆ ಪ್ರಾಣ ಇಡೀ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಾಂಡವನ್ನೇ ಆವರಿಸಿದ್ದಾನೆಂದೂ ನಿಮಗೆ ತಿಳಿದಿದೆಯಲ್ಲವೇ? ಅಷ್ಟೇಕೆ? ಜಗತ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಎಲ್ಲಡೆಯಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಪ್ರಾಣನಿದ್ದಾನೆ. ಚಲಿಸುವ ಹಾಗೂ ಚಲಿಸದ ಯಾವುದೇ ಇರಲಿ ಅದು ಪ್ರಾಣನೇ ತಾನೆ?' ಎಂದು ಹೇಳಿದನು.

ಆಗ ಒಬ್ಬ ಮುನಿ, 'ಏಯ್ ಹುಡುಗ, ನಿನ್ನದು ಅತಿ ಮಾತಾಯಿತು. ಅವೆಲ್ಲ ನಮಗೂ ಗೊತ್ತಿದೆ. ಈಗ ನೀನು ನಿನ್ನ ದಾರಿ ಹಿಡಿದು ಹೋಗು' ಎಂದನು.

ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಚಾರಿ ಮುಗುಳ್ನಗುತ್ತಾ, 'ಮುನಿವರ್ಯರೇ, ತಾವೂ ಪೂಜ್ಯರು, ಹಿರಿಯರು. ನನ್ನದು ಇನ್ನೊಂದೇ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ. ನೀವು ಊಟ ಮಾಡುವ ಮೊದಲು ನೈವೇದ್ಯವೆಂದು ಅದನ್ನು ಯಾರಿಗೆ ಅರ್ಪಿಸುವಿರಿ?' ಎಂದು ಕೇಳಿದನು.

ಮುನಿಗಳು, 'ಈಗ ಹೇಳಲಿಲ್ಲವೇ? ನಾವು ಆರಾಧಿಸುವ ಆ ಪ್ರಾಣನಿಗೇ ಅಂದರೆ ವಾಯುವಿಗೆ ಅರ್ಪಿಸುತ್ತೇವೆ' ಎಂದರು.

ಆಗ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಚಾರಿ, 'ನೀವು ಆರಾಧಿಸುವ ಆ ವಾಯು ಅಂದರೆ ಪ್ರಾಣ ಇಡೀ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಾಂಡವನ್ನು ಆವರಿಸಿರುವಂತೆ ನನ್ನಲ್ಲೂ ಇದ್ದಾನೆ ಅಲ್ಲವೇ?' ಎಂದು ಪ್ರಶ್ನಿಸಿದನು.

ಶೌನಕ ಕೌಪೇಯನು, 'ಹೌದು. ನಿಸ್ಸಂದೇಹವಾಗಿ. ಎಲ್ಲರಲ್ಲೂ ಇರುವ ಪ್ರಾಣ ನಿನ್ನಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಇರುವನಷ್ಟೇ' ಎಂದನು.

ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಚಾರಿ, 'ಅಂದಮೇಲೆ ನನ್ನಲ್ಲೂ ಪ್ರಾನನಿದ್ದಾನೆ. ನೀವು ಯಾವ ದೇವರಿಗಾಗಿ ನೈವೇದ್ಯ ಅರ್ಪಿಸುತ್ತೀರೋ ಆ ದೇವರು, ಅಂದರೆ ಪ್ರಾಣ ನನ್ನ್ಲಿರುವನೆಂದ ಮೇಲೆ ನೀವು ನನಗೆ ಅನ್ನ ನೀಡಲು ಒಲ್ಲೆ ಎಂದರೆ ಆ ಪ್ರಾಣನಿಗೆ ನೀಡಿದಂತಾಗುವುದೇ? ಇದನ್ನು ನಿಮ್ಮ ದೇವರು ಒಪ್ಪುವನೆ?' ಎಂದು ಮುನಿಗಲಿಬ್ಬರನ್ನೂ ಸಂದಿಗ್ಧದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿಸಿದನು.

ಇಬ್ಬರು ಮುನಿಗಳು ಹುದುಗನಾಡಿದ ಮಾತಿನ ಅರ್ಥವನ್ನು ಗ್ರಹಿಸಿದರು. ಕೇವಲ ವೇದಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಗಳನ್ನೋದಿದರಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಪ್ರಾಯೋಗಿಕವಾಗಿಯೂ ತಿಲಿಯಲೆತ್ನಿಸಬೇಕೆಂದುಕೊಂಡರು. ತಮ್ಮ ವರ್ತನೆಗಾಗಿ ನಾಚಿಕೊಂಡರು. ತಾವು ಸೇವಿಸಲು ಸಿದ್ಧಪಡಿಸಿದ್ದ ಆಹಾರವನ್ನು ಹುಡುಗನಿಗೂ ಇತ್ತು, ಎಲ್ಲ ಒಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಊಟ ಮಾಡಿದರು. ಬಳಿಕ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಚಾರಿ ತನ್ನ ದಾರಿ ಹಿಡಿದನು.

African Cheetah may be imported to India !

2009-07-08T09:24:00.005+05:30