There is hope for our lakes!

On Sunday the 23rd October I was fortunate to be invited for a Whispering Wilderness Programme conducted by the Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (WRRC) Bannerghatta, on the Urban Lakes and Birdlife of Bangalore. What a great feeling to be among fellow enthusiasts cause being an environmental journalist one tends to feel isolated as 'normal' people do not feel as keenly as we do for the environment.

Over the years I have collaborated with Dr Subbu an ornithologist and scientist from IISC, Bangalore and was delighted to finally put a face to the man. Stories on everything from the dwindling Vulture population to Birding from Balconies and Bird baths in our mini gardens, I have collaborated on a plethora of stories with Dr Subbu.

He just opened his arms and hugged me when we met! It felt so good, cause he is one of the many environment voices that I use for my stories!

The whole day was spent visiting different lakes in the city. The first was Kasavanahalli lake which is fairly pristine accor to Subbu. Then we nearly died seeing Bellandur and Hebbal which are just cess pools of sewage and a so called joggers path-- see pic along Hebbal lake was under construction. Amazing how bold our municipality is to shamelessly go on with their filthy practices with no one to call their bluff.

Bellandur and its polluted froth. It was a shocker. As kids we played in the Raja Kalve and now its just pure sewage.I was depressed after that, totally depressed and there was a tired silence in the bus as all of us were horrified with what we had seen.

The Puttenahalli lake on Doddaballapur road is heading the same way as at night the huge buildings around let out their sewage which we saw pouring into the lake -- untreated please.

Do they not realise that they are polluting the ground water table? All that filth is seeping inexorably down and that is why we are all dying of all sorts of diseases.

There were many youngsters in our group. IT professionals both men and women who had given up a very sacred Sunday to come and listen to Subbu tell us whats happening to our lakes. I try by writing, but finally it is us who buy those expensive apartments who must lay down the law with the builder. Insist that he is careful with fixing proper sewage connections. Otherwise let me tell you dear reader -- it is YOU who live around and who tap the ground water who will die painfully and slowly with all sorts of diseases which our uneducated forefathers were smart enough to understand and who protected the lakes.

The Dendrobium orchid --It's bloomed!

That was quick -- Mum's orchid has bloomed this morning! Steve was a bit disappointed as only one bloom had opened but I am guessing that's the way they bloom and the flowers remain till the whole spray opens.

Let's see! Meanwhile look at the bloom, the shades of magenta are lovely! By the way these are Magenta Dendrobium and since they are easy to grow are used extensively in our weddings in Bangalore!

Waiting for the orchid to bloom!

I know, I know, you must think I'm nuts, but I AM waiting for the orchid to bloom. Ever since we brought Mums orchid plant that we gave her last year for her birthday, I never, ever expected it to bloom and just hoped it would live!

Suddenly one day putting the clothes out to dry in the balcony and my eyes nearly fell out of my head! Pow! The orchid had thrown a spray and I was dazzled.

For a long while I refused to photograph it, worrying if the flash might 'disturb' it or be too bright for it and hurt the tender buds. Then finally I gathered up courage and have taken this set of three pics of the spray of buds as they grow.

Once the buds bloom I will take a really nice pic to show off! But untill then, this is all I have got to show for my excitement!

A tribute to Wangari Mathaai the GREEN lady!

To me interviewing her in Bali last hyear, she seemed a font of energy and drive. The founder of the Green Belt Movement way back in 1977 when the word green did not even exist in our minds, Wangari planted over 30 million trees in Africa to help women in rural Kenya to plant trees as a means of improving their livelihoods through better access to clean water, firewood for cooking and other resources. Since then, the Green Belt Movement has planted over 30 million trees in Africa and assisted nearly 900,000 women to establish tree nurseries and plant trees to reverse the effects of deforestation.

Just imagine those full grown trees today, waving their branches in tribute to the woman who planted them and left them as her legacy of green gold to Africa.

Professor Maathai was the inspiration behind UNEP’s Billion Tree Campaign, which was launched in 2006. She became a patron of the campaign, inspiring thousands of people across the world to plant trees for the benefit of their communities. To date, over 11 billion trees have been planted as part of the campaign.

In 2004, the Nobel Prize Committee recognized Professor Maathai’s lifelong commitment to environmental sustainability and the empowerment of women by awarding her the Nobel Peace Prize. She was the first environmentalist and the first African woman to receive the honour.

I salute you along with all of us environment journalists. Your life has been taken away, yes, but the trees you have planted stand as living testimony to your foresight and clear ideals to clean up our planet.

Brass beauty!

Did you know that there are trombones for regular classical symphony music and a separate one for jazz. I learnt that gem at a recent recital I went to cover at the Alliance. The performer, a Frenchman from Lyon began the first half of the programme with classical pieces composed by French composers.The duet he played along with fellow Frenchman Jamal Moquadem on the piano thrilled a packed hall of music lovers for over an hour.

In the second half of the show the duo wowed the audience with their skill and mastery over true blue Jazz tunes dating back to Herbie Hancock and Duke Ellington's era.Thats when Eric asked for a few seconds to go off stage and bring on his Jazz Trombone! Most definitely the sounds that eminated from his Jazz trombone were silky smooth, mellow and very very sexy! True blue jazz!

Admire the Ashy Prinia!

The beauty of belonging to a birder e group are these fabulous pictures sent to me for stories. We had a nest like this made in a young Avocado tree when we were kids in Hayes Road. Dad loved Avocado and had just planted a young sapling at the back of the garden. A Ashy Prinia decided to build its nest in the sapling quite low enough for me to oggle it. However I have never forgotten the image of the bird which was triggered when Chandrakantha Urusu sent me these absolutely beautiful pics taken of a mother Ashy Prinia and her chicks.
This is what he had to say:

" When I went to hook up my handycam near Ashy Prinia’s nest I was little confused to see a caterpillar kept at the entrace of the nest. However after capturing 30min of video and watching it carefully realised that it is the release day for the little birds from their nest.

Mother's effort to get them out of the nest (comfort zone) is simply awesome," he said.

I agree all mother's including humans are awesome when it comes to coaxing their off spring into doing anything. Admire the pics, they have made my day!

By the way if you look out of your window in the mornings and late evening and you have a few shrubs and trees around, you are guaranteed a sighting of this perky little bird!

Are they outlandish or just desperate to be different?

In a recent set of classes that I took I was a bit bothered by one of the girls in class who tried to be a more dumbed down version of the Gothic Chicks I saw in Wales. Looking up about what makes these Gothic Chicks tick I found -
most goth chicks are just normal girls with a different style from the "norm". These chicks have no problem expressing themselves fashionably, verbally, or through rebellion, they don't care what the public thinks about them because they are content with who they are.

I dont know, but the ones I saw had this dreadful black makeup and black lipstick and looked scary with their outlandish clothes and boots. I liked the look of this picture - simply cause I wondered why such a beautiful girl was willing to 'spoil' her looks like this.