Common become uncommon

Only if we miss something the wanting becomes more… and it’s obvious in case of house sparrows. We lost the species almost in towns and cities and the reasons may vary from increased radiation in air to cut down of trees and shortage of grains. House sparrow is a species that survive along with human habitation lost tack while our lifestyle changes.

Today we see the sparrows only far away from cities (that too has become a rare sight) where the changes in architecture and communication laid back or less treated. There were times during childhood I tried to catch the sparrows that often visit our balconies and sometimes they built their hay nest among the sewage pipes and pillars. It was also a lovely scene to see those small sparrows perching the cable wires across the lane in a line and piercing the grains left over the balcony.

Even in late 90s, sparrows were spread across the cities and it was in very short span the sparrows went invisible almost. There are only brief memories perching upon the sparrows and their sweet chirrups were lost echo from ears, but meanwhile the mynas and cuckoo brought comfort around our homes. Sparrows usually pick their nesting places inside or at the entrance of homes, storehouse and elsewhere human reside. In villages, folks tie a bunch of paddies at their house entrance to treat the little birds with grain and help building their nests.

I can’t remember when I last saw a sparrow in our city (Chennai) but I could see them in fair numbers sometime far away from home – such as Western Ghats. Hence I couldn’t see them away from human habitation.  The pair of sparrows you see in the picture above was taken inside the Danish Fort at Tranquebar and I could find a number of house sparrows residing there, perhaps being Danish colony the colonial buildings (a combine of tiled and pillared architecture) here encourages the livelihood of sparrows to lead life at comfort.

Today being a World House Sparrow Day, the thought on sparrows intend to write on them and I feel so pity that we couldn’t provide livelihood for these small birds that share very small space in our neighborhood. I was really sad and shock to read the news in paper here today, where in Karur (a district in Tamil Nadu) number of sparrow is killed every day for meat in a TASMAC bar. Each sparrow was bought for Rs.5 and a plate of meat was sold for Rs.30.  It was totally frustrating; at time when we were looking forward how to bring back the sparrows into our neighborhood, such poaching in innumerable disturbing a lot.

Hope the govt. takes action on those poachers and I don’t know what to say when such thing happens in a government run Wine Shop. Pls stop! 

Flameless Sun

Picture by Jeevan: Ooty Botanical Garden

Its fun taking pictures on sunflower

a flameless sun, sparkle in golden yellow
breaking down a sow of seed, the sun rise
from a vivid bud, grows a graceful flower.

From the garden of Blue Mountains
I captured this yellow beauty
holding a smile always as cheerful
building its hope upon vibrant colors.

As bright as sun with dark disk core
has the only guts to face the sun forever
following its journey from east to west
displays a glorious sight alongside sunlight.

Being a source on everyday recipe
sunflowers produces fuel for multipurpose;
there isn’t sunburns exposed to this sun
only to become favorite of almost everyone. 

A year around Barath

My nephew Barath – cousin’s son, turns one today. And he’s such an adorable child I ever met in my life alive and he was four months old when I first saw him. He was a very happy child and laughing Buddha, anytime anyway and in-between cries he smiles like there isn't sorrow anymore and his crystal clear eyes beholds for transparent relationship at heart. He is gem at expression and his each gesture embarks upon unpaved terrain with no more violent imprints.

The kid has grown to stand on his foot now, never waits for someone to get things and his pursue has become challenge for the adults to follow him. He also shows interest on mechanical front these days to check anything suppose to be wheels and whatever troublesome he was troubleshoot his kind heart and innocent smiles. I don’t know what to write more about him and he’s a kind I could not find resemble and perhaps his present has been cheerful and get relief out of  inherent storm.

I wish him all the very best and good health – since he has a weak immune, often capture with illness – hope he drives away anything hold on his pursuit of happiness, and earns more strength and nutrition as well enough wealth and knowledge. Happy Birthday dear Barath: the following greeting cards were created by me and I am also going to present a video CD on him along with it, while there’s a birthday party at their home this evening. I’m not supposed to attend since they hold it on their terrace which is hardly possible for me, my parents will pass it.

Btw I was also caught between severe cough and cold for a week now and so was my absent here these days. I had visited doctor two times this week and feeling somehow better now to play with normal. I had constant cough and spending time on laptop was very low and overall the dry throat restricted me from reading. Hope to be back in normal few days. 

(click pictures for enlarge)

If you had time pls do check the video on my nephew (below)

Saturdays and the sound of squirrel

Until reading Keith’s post on ‘my favorite sound on earth’ I didn't had much thought about sounds that are my favorite. Just before started to write this post (on Saturday afternoon), I was hearing the shrill of squirrel somewhere from the nearby trees and this sound always set my mood somewhere into the past. I could recollect a couple of moments as series from past which has relationship between Saturday and squirrel. Both were a phases took place in my childhood and age less than 12.

My father, holding great devotion toward gods, usually takes us to the Pillaiyar Kovil and Anantha Padmanabha Swami Temple near Adyar junction in the neighborhood. And just about a km from home, he used to take us in his bike or sometime walkabout. It used to be our first outing on weekends being Saturday morning; the priests in the Pillaiyar temple were so familiar with us since father never misses visiting their temple then on Saturdays. (The stories where different after shifting home to another area (Thiruvanmyuir) seven years before)

Even he occasionally visits the Adyar Pillaiyar temple, he never miss going to temple on Saturdays still.  Thankfully there’s a Pillaiyar temple at our street end, so he doesn’t needed to traveling 4km to worship his favorite god always. Unlike the Adyar Pillaiyar temple that stood on the middle of the road by splitting a lane, and got disturbed by both sides of passing vehicles; the Padmanabha Swami Temple lies quiet few meters away from there.

I always enjoyed visiting Padmanabha Swami temple, since it has a spacious corridor and courtyard and very less people visited then, we take it as advantage to experience our liberty.  I really liked placing the lord’s headgear (which is a practice in all Perumal temples, to place or make touch our head with a silver headgear, similar to the one on god’s head); even they keep it only for a second, I look for one more time and I don’t know why but I liked it then. I also like having the holy water they drop on the extended palm which taste delicious.

In this temple the lord was seen on a lying position.  Behind the main shrine and on the corridor, there’s an Almond tree and it is where I used to hear the squirrel squeaking and they even run across the corridor leaving their calls behind. To my knowledge it is where I first saw squirrels, to be chased by me. Another place I used to hear the squirrel calling was where I studied tuition, a street away from us.  And she’s was an Anglo-Indian women who took tuition for me and another girl on her own interest and I need to acknowledge, only because of her my English improved much better.

I attended tuition for my fourth and fifth standards to her and she lived in the first floor of an apartment on a dead end street. Almost isolated from noise disturbance, she lived alone with a servant maid aid and occasionally her uncle or aunt visits her. Unlike the weekdays where I usually go to her house in evening, after coming from school, on Saturdays I visit her in morning the time close to our present at temple. Here I hear only the shrill of squirrels rather seeing them in action inside the temple premises. Every time I hear the sound of squirrel I couldn’t avoid touching those memories in mind. 

PAP – Best Water Resource Development

Water, the chief ingredient of life is reliance upon rain. We can live even without eating for few days or a week but no life is survived without drinking or sucking water fall as rain. Life becomes trouble in case we took refrain drinking water for whatever reason such as hunger strike; though however noble it might be. Today obesity has drive people to drink plenty of water – which eases digestion and helps removing toxin from body. The advance technology in desalination has made alter routes for getting drinking water from sea, but the natural rainwater still holds lot of benefit on health enhancement.

It’s apparent that no life exists in earth without water and it’s a cycling process where trees help producing rain and rain as its resource. We man disrupt either by placing our self in front row, driving others as much possible aside by building endless homes and business to extreme anti-environment and producing immense population shrinking our  sources. The water was sought not only as a life source or health benefit but also to gain trust of vote in election. The politicians bear water as a vital element to score higher in election, no matter how people suffer or fought for life.

In Tamil Nadu the best water resources developments took place during the Kamaraj’s administrative – the former chief minister of TN; who widely known as Kingmaker in Indian politics, who’s tri-tenure or the nine years administrative (1954-1963) as CM of TN were considered as golden period. During his regime witnessed number of dams built across the state and each one of them were an engineering marvel. The uneducated genius - Kamaraj - plays a pioneer on interconnecting rivers and his head of administration has dug number of tunnels diverting the water to utilize fully.

Among the many major plots he charted on irrigation front, feeding thousands of acres of lands across the state, the 'Prambikulam Aliyar Project' is notable! Carried out on the state boarders of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, PAP is a multipurpose and interstate river valley project diverting and integrating the eight west flowing rivers to the east side to the then drought pone area of the Coimbatore and Erode districts of TN and Palghat of Kerala.  The irrigation network consist of seven major canals, comprising one diversion weir,  seven storage reservoirs, conveyance system and interconnecting tunnels to divert water impound to the plains of Coimbatore and Erode.

Except the three reservoirs slip into the Kerala state, I have drawn to five of the seven reservoirs lie at various elevations ranging from  +3800 feet and +1050 feet across the Anamalai Hills. Lying at difference in elevation has also made it possible for these reservoirs to generate hydro-power. The Aliyar Reservoir built across the Aliyar River at the foothills of Valparai has its source in the Anamalai Hills. Apart its own catchment area of about 76 Sq. Miles, water to this reservoir is diverted through the Aliyar Feeder canal and the Contour canal from the Parambikulam group of reservoirs.

What you see in these photos is the Contour canal rode from Parambikulam, which is one of the major canals running for a total length of about 250 km. apart various branch canals, distributaries and minors through which about 4.25 Lakhs acres of lands get irrigated. About 5 km from Aliyar Dam, we saw the contour canal crossing the road to Valparai, and this canal carries water to Thirumoorthi reservoir about 35 km from here. The water was at its full fledged during our uphill ride and we stopped there for a while, while our relative explaining its progress. It felt something wonderful when looking at the fresh water rushing through the canal and fact that they pass number of tunnels lasting certain kms into hills. 

It seems one of the best sharing projects so far between the states with no major issue based on sharing. To note a point, the PAP project had carried out quite throughout IndiraGandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park which beholds number of endanger and wild animals. It doesn't sound easy for me to dug deep tunnels into the haven of wild animals and infectious insect bites… and in time when everything was suppose to done manually. I couldn't stop praising those heroes involved in this project and the engineers with amazing talent on finding routes.