tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20770534221677473502024-03-05T16:02:25.709-08:00Croakers' diaries!Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-80345429280588691922015-02-01T23:40:00.000-08:002015-02-01T23:40:26.912-08:00Around the film-making in 5 days! Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Kumbara night frog had just made <a href="http://epapervijayavani.in/Details.aspx?id=14496&boxid=15521878" target="_blank">headline news</a> during May 2014 and a few weeks back it was the turn of <a href="https://www.blogger.com/.%20http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-27330603" target="_blank">Dancing Frogs</a> to catch the attention of the whole world. I had put videos of both these frogs and their breeding behaviour shot at Kathalekan forest on <a href="http://gururajakv.net/gallery.html" target="_blank">my web page</a>. But I felt that the video quality and narration could have been better, despite knowing that it is really tough to make videos on frogs and more so when the frog stays more in water, dark brown to black in color and active only during night. Complementing to the scenario is that the shooting gear is a digital aim and shoot camera and source of light is nothing but the headlamps. Nevertheless, those videos provided the necessary information on Kumbara night frog and Dancing frog. <br />
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As a scientific adviser to BBC wildlife film making team, I watched them making a film on Dancing frogs. In the previous season I was with Amoghavarsha and his team at the same region on one of his project titled Finding Saxicola. They asked me to explain foot flagging behaviour of the frog in the movie. Few months earlier to this, I was with Bedi brothers filming unit and this time I was part of the film. I was asked to walk up and down, back and forth to get my field work in action. It was all fun and great learning experience just by watching what they did in the field. Hats off to their patience that they tolerated me and my inquisitive nature. In spite of this little stint with film making crew, I was feeling very restless for the fact that none of the above movies were portraying what was in my mind about frogs. All the on-field filming experience were just worsening my situation.<br />
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It was more than a co-incidence that I landed in <a href="http://www3.canisius.edu/~noonan/">Prof. Michael Noonan</a>'s Film-maker's workshop at Animal Behavior Society Conference in August 2014. It covered topics from script writing, exporting, distribution, shooting to hands-on editing. It was about nature and wildlife documentaries and surprisingly it was all taught in a single day. We were provided with Adobe Premier Pro demo version to edit 47 shots on Chimps. With such packed event, somehow I finished editing a small movie. However, I was totally lost in appreciating each of the topic discussed in the workshop.<br />
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Soon after my arrival in September 2014, I happened to read a message in FaceBook by Abhaya Simha, Film Director, mentioning about 'DSLR Short-film making course' to be conducted at Ninasam in January 2015. It was a great surprise and at the same time a great opportunity for me to learn film making. Without much delay, I registered for the course. I knew Abhaya Simha for his National award winning film "Gubbachigalu". Though, I have never met him earlier, we knew each other through various leads.<br />
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KSRTC sleeper bus dropped me at the entrance of Ninasam, Heggodu by 6:40am on 22 January 2015. Ninasam was already up with activities, few were sweeping the grounds, few practicing Kalaripayatu and few curious eyes followed me. Satisha girigitle received me with full smile, took me to the room where I was supposed to stay for next five days and explained few strict rules to be followed at Ninasam. Now I am part of the film-making course. From here on till 26th January it was a journey without any dull moment. Learning curves were steep and resting periods were short. In next couple of parts, I will try to cover the workshop lectures, how we did our own film, audience response to it and much more.<br />
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Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-14590238813309012142013-04-29T03:34:00.004-07:002013-04-29T08:00:27.159-07:00Find a Frog using Frog Find: India's first ever mobile app on frog identification in field<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
'Can we develop an app for frogs and toads based on this?' asked Harish, who along with Ashwin came to purchase the book <a href="http://shop.gubbilabs.in/Book-1" style="font-style: italic;">Pictorial Guide to Frogs and Toads of the Western Ghats</a>. Though it was a complete surprise as developers themselves came forward, but I have had a discussion few weeks back with Dr. Sudhira on the same. The first obvious question that came to my mind was what will happen to the book, that was released few months back. 'Good thought, how are we going about it and what will happen to my book?' I asked Harish. Harish and Ashwin smiled at me and the message was conveyed. We exchanged emails, had lengthy conversations, shared folders (to download bulky images, but it was never used fully!), requested images, expressed some apprehensions and had few weeks of silence in between. But again, it would start with a sms to email to lengthy call and the entire process was repeated for several times. All this started in July 2012 with the on set of monsoon and I have had no clue on how it would be once done.<br />
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Lot of bikes, smells of cigarette, an open space where people seems to have immersed in discussion - the picture immediately reminded me of IISc coffee board, but it was not. We were led into a dark room with dusty table, mud walls and good wall hangings. Bottle filtered light, two exhaustively working exhaust fans and dim lights provided the right ambiance.<br />
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A guy with blue cap arranged about 30 chairs in less than 10 minutes, Priti helped in arranging books and book markers and photography, hot coffee/tea and samosa were arranged by Sudhira and me putting a slide show on the wall that read 'Frog Find v1.0: Frogs and Toads of the Western Ghats' and at the bottom '<a href="http://www.savethefrogs.com/index.html">Save the frogs day</a>, 27th April 2013'.<br />
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Yes, it was the launching of the mobile app that we discussed 10 months ago. It was arranged at <a href="http://jaaga.in/">Jaaga</a>. The <a href="http://gubbilabs.in/Launch-Frog-Find-1.0">i<span id="goog_963433152"></span><span id="goog_963433153"></span>nvite </a>by <a href="http://gubbilabs.in/">Gubbilabs</a> had mentioned the event to start at 6:30pm, thanks to Bangalore traffic that chief guests could able to make it only by 7:00pm. It was good to see packed audience with diverse age groups from 5-70yr old.<br />
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<a href="http://seshadriks.blogspot.in/">Mr. Seshadri KS</a>, an young, dynamic researcher from ATREE who has worked on diverse aspects of amphibians from road kills to selective logging to pest control to discovery, gave introductory talk on Frogs at Risk. The talk elaborated on evolution of frogs, frog diversity, canopy frog research, discoveries, research on pest control and concluded with risks that frogs are facing and ways to conserve them.<br />
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Seshadri is too good! That was an excellent talk!! Wonderful to know about such activities on frogs!!! These were the feedback on Mr. Seshadri's talk. There was a bit of silence, probably that is the only few seconds of silence during the entire programme. People on first floor provided additional orchestra for our audience by their movements and high decibel conversations, added to this was a water pump that worked exclusively for this function. I must thank the audience here, despite all the odds and almost like a oven (with absolutely no air circulation), they stayed with us and supported us till the end. </div>
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Frog Find was released by <a href="http://www.wildwanderer.com/blog/">Dr. Karthikeyan S</a>, by touching the screen of a tablet. </div>
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Mr. Harish explained details of the app, feature existing and on future updates. </div>
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Frog Find thus became the <b><u>first ever mobile app in India on amphibians</u></b>. The app facilitates easy identification of frogs in the field and is a standalone. Currently it provides information on 55 species with features like high quality photographs, search options, habitat photos, distribution maps, identification hotspots, ecological status and screen saving options. There were few questions on how to get it, how much is the price, how to get it on other platforms. Sudhira had tough time in answering them, however he was positive that the app will be made available within couple of days and a possible announcement at <a href="http://gubbilabs.in/">Gubbilabs</a> website. </div>
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Finally, I am very happy to see such a handy app and would be even happier if it beats my book. Indeed, such is the quality of this app. Thanks to Harish, Ashwin, Vinay for making it happen and thanks to Sudhira, Seshadri, Aravind, Roshmi and Priti for all the support. Photo credits: Priti G</div>
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Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-8812386687289079892011-01-14T23:56:00.001-08:002011-01-14T23:59:07.544-08:00In search of Rao’s lost speciesFor more detailed blog, look at <a href="http://www.lostspeciesindia.org/LAI2/blog.php?page=com_list&id=19">Lost Amphibians of India</a>Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-516586705103121892010-07-13T07:27:00.000-07:002010-07-13T22:30:34.674-07:00Wanted! 'Rao', But only alive!!ನಮ್ಮ ನಡುವೆ ಬಹಳ ರೀತಿಯ 'ರಾವ್' ಗಳಿದ್ದರು, ಇದ್ದಾರೆ ಮತ್ತು ಇರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಆದರೆ ಅವರಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲವರೇ ಅತ್ಯುನ್ನತ ಕೆಲಸಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಹೆಸರು ಮತ್ತು ಜೀವನ ಸಾರ್ಥಕಗೊಳಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿರುವರು. ಹೀಗೆ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಲ್ಲೇ ಮನಸ್ಸು 'ಪ್ರೊಫೆಸ್ಸರ್||ಸಿ.ಎನ್.ಆರ್. ರಾವ್' ಅವರನ್ನು ಕಲ್ಪಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಬಿಡುತ್ತದೆ. ಆದರೆ ನಾನು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಿರುವ 'ರಾವ್', ಹೆಸರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಮ್ಯತೆ ಹೊಂದಿದ್ದರೂ, ತಮ್ಮ ಕೆಲಸದಿಂದ ಮತ್ತು ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ದಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರೊ.ಸಿ.ಎನ್.ಆರ್.ಆರ್ ಗಿಂತ ಬಿನ್ನ. ನನ್ನ ರಾವ್ ಒಬ್ಬ ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ದ "<span style="font-weight: bold;">ಕಪ್ಪೆ</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">ರಾವ್</span>", ಹೆಸರು ಪ್ರೊ.ಸಿ.ಆರ್.ಎನ್.ರಾವ್ (ಹೆಸರಿನ ವ್ಯತ್ಯಾಸ ಗಮನಿಸಿ). ನಮಗೀಗ ಇಂತಹ 'ರಾವ್'ಗಳು ಬೇಕಾಗಿದ್ದರೆ, ಅದೂ ಜೀವಂತವಾಗಿ!!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQBEqJy9qxvHqclI6URu0Eyye4tQxaEPR3BskzoqJt6xVDFbl41AJxb9t6f5GNcqFBfDwx9mQEQJknOXqNmwMX3WBD1c7PPogcQc7Tr6M0BywAgsMF1_Xerxip07Q5OzNqdTGNn5NrB0A/s1600/CR+Narayana+Rao.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 149px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQBEqJy9qxvHqclI6URu0Eyye4tQxaEPR3BskzoqJt6xVDFbl41AJxb9t6f5GNcqFBfDwx9mQEQJknOXqNmwMX3WBD1c7PPogcQc7Tr6M0BywAgsMF1_Xerxip07Q5OzNqdTGNn5NrB0A/s320/CR+Narayana+Rao.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493441936365873074" border="0" /></a> ಸಿ.ಆರ್. ನಾರಾಯಣ ರಾವ್, ಚಿತ್ರ ಸಹಾಯ: ಕರೆಂಟ್ ಸೈನ್ಸ್, 2007<br /><br /></div>ಜಾಗತಿಕ ಮಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳ ಸಂತತಿ ನಾಶಹೊಂದುತ್ತಿರುವ ಸಂಧರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ, ಇತ್ತೀಚಿಗೆ ನಮ್ಮದೇಶದ ಪಶ್ಚಿಮ ಘಟ್ಟಗಳಿಂದ ನ್ಯಾನೂ ಕಪ್ಪೆಯ ಪ್ರವರ್ಗ ಮತ್ತು ಪ್ರಭೇದವನ್ನು ಗುರುತಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಈ ಹೊಸಕಪ್ಪೆಯ ಹೆಸರು 'ಅದ್ದೂರಿ ಪೊದೆಗಪ್ಪೆ' (Resplendent shrubfrog). ಅಪರೂಪದ ಈ ಕಪ್ಪೆಯ ಪರಿಶೋಧನೆಯು ದೆಹಲಿ ವಿಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯಾನಿಲಯದ ಡಾ| ಸತ್ಯಭಾಮ ದಾಸ್ ಬಿಜು, ಪೂನೆ ವಿಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯಾನಿಲಯದ ಡಾ| ಯೋಗೇಶ್ ಶೌಚೆ, ಉತ್ತರ ಒರಿಸ್ಸಾ ವಿಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯಾನಿಲಯದ ಡಾ| ಸುಶಿಲ್ ಕೆ ದತ್ತ, ಫ್ರಾನ್ಸೆ ದೇಶದ ರಾಷ್ಟೀಯ ಪ್ರಾಕೃತಿಕ ಪ್ರಾಚ್ಯ ವಸ್ತುಸಂಗ್ರಹಾಲಯದ ಡಾ| ಅಲೈನ್ ದೂಬ್ವ ಮತ್ತು ಬೆಲ್ಜಿಯಂ ದೇಶದ ಉಚಿತ ವಿಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯಾನಿಲಯದ ಡಾ| ಫ್ರಾಂಕಿ ಬೋಸ್ಸ್ಯುತ್, ಇವರುಗಳ ಪರಿಶ್ರಮದ ಫಲವಾಗಿದೆ. Current Science ಎಂಬ ವೈಜ್ಞಾನಿಕ ಪತ್ರಿಕೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಕಪ್ಪೆಯ ಸವಿವರ ಪ್ರಕಟಗೊಂಡಿದೆ (25 ಏಪ್ರಿಲ್ ೨೦೧೦). ಸರಿ, 'ಕಪ್ಪೆ ರಾವ್'ಗೂ ಹೊಸ ಪ್ರಭೆದಕ್ಕೂ ಏನು ಸಂಬಂಧ ಅಂತೀರಾ? ಮುಂದೆ ಓದಿ.<br /><br />ಈ ಪರಿಶೋಧನೆಯಿಂದ ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳ ಹೊಸತೊಂದು ಪ್ರವರ್ಗವೂ ಬೆಳಕಿಗೆ ಬಂದಿದೆ. ಈ ಪ್ರಭೇದಕ್ಕೆ 'ರಾವೋರ್ಚೆಸ್ಟೆಸ್' (<i>Raorchestes</i>) ಎಂದು ನಾಮಕರಣ ಮಾಡಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಇಲ್ಲಿನ 'ರಾವ್' ಪದವನ್ನು, ನಾನು ಮೇಲೆ ಹೇಳಿದ ಕಪ್ಪೆ 'ರಾವ್' ಹೆಸರಿನಿಂದ ತೆಗೆದು ಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCIUUyJ1hOSq4wplBcMuynN7JoTAK_3XQTdC7U_JV09C795mL2dohupHUOeF_Ygbk2ADSxi1lQtqJqgxmoKdt0XHoRo5IQ5dCGvJl0NLDiabQVErvpR07CspJ4D8xNi_XW18kgXVq4PE0/s1600/New+frog+2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCIUUyJ1hOSq4wplBcMuynN7JoTAK_3XQTdC7U_JV09C795mL2dohupHUOeF_Ygbk2ADSxi1lQtqJqgxmoKdt0XHoRo5IQ5dCGvJl0NLDiabQVErvpR07CspJ4D8xNi_XW18kgXVq4PE0/s320/New+frog+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493443915915912898" border="0" /></a><i>Raorchestes resplendens.</i> ಚಿತ್ರ ಸಹಾಯ: <span>ಡಾ</span>| ಎಸ್.ಡಿ. ಬಿಜು<br /><br /></div>ನಮ್ಮ ಈ ಕಪ್ಪೆ ರಾವ್, ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ಹೆಸರಾಂತ 'ಕಪ್ಪೆವಿಜ್ಞಾನಿ'ಯಾದ ಸಿ.ಆರ್. ನಾರಾಯಣ ರಾವ್ (೧೮೮೨-೧೯೬೦). ಅವರ ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳ ಮೇಲಿನ ವೈಜ್ಞಾನಿಕ ಸೇವೆಯ ಸ್ಮರಣಾರ್ಥ, ಈ ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳ ಪ್ರವರ್ಗಕ್ಕೆ ಅವರ ಹೆಸರನ್ನು ನೀಡಲಾಗಿದೆ. ೧೫ನೇ ಆಗಸ್ಟ್ ೧೮೮೨ರಲ್ಲಿ ಕೊಯಮತ್ತೂರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಜನಿಸಿದ ರಾವ್, ಬಳ್ಳಾರಿ ಮತ್ತು ಮದ್ರಾಸ್ ಕ್ರಿಶ್ಚಿಯನ್ ಕಾಲೇಜಿನಲ್ಲಿ ವಿದ್ಯಾಭ್ಯಾಸ ಮುಗಿಸಿದರು. ಕೊಯಮತ್ತೂರು ಮತ್ತು ಎರ್ನಾಕುಲಂನಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಾಧ್ಯಾಪಕರಾಗಿದ್ದರು. ೧೯೩೭ರಲ್ಲಿ ಸೇವೆಯಿಂದ ನಿವೃತ್ತರಾದ ಅವರು ಸೆಂಟ್ರಲ್ ಕಾಲೇಜ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಾಣಿಶಾಸ್ತ್ರದ ಪ್ರಾಧ್ಯಾಪಕರಾಗಿದ್ದರು. ಆ ವೇಳೆಗಾಗಲೇ ರಾವ್ ಅವರು ೧೮ ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳ ಪ್ರಭೇಧಗಳನ್ನು ಪಶ್ಚಿಮ ಘಟ್ಟಗಳಿಂದ ಹುಡುಕಿದ್ದರು. ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ವಿಶೇಷದ ಸಂಗತಿ ಎಂದರೆ, ರಾವ್ ಅವರು ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತ ಈ ಹೊಸ ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳ ಪ್ರವರ್ಗ ಮತ್ತು ಪ್ರಭೇಧಗಳನ್ನು ಪ್ರಕಟಿಸಿದ 'Current Science' ವೈಜ್ಞಾನಿಕ ಪತ್ರಿಕೆಯ ಪ್ರಪ್ರಥಮ ಸಂಪಾದಕರು (೧೯೩೨) . ಪೊದೆಗಪ್ಪೆಗಳಿಗೆ ೧೮೩೮ರಲ್ಲಿ ಸುಡಿ (Tschudi) ನೀಡಿದ್ದ ವೈಜ್ಞಾನಿಕ ಪ್ರವರ್ಗದ ಹೆಸರು ಆರ್ಚೆಸ್ಟೆಸ್ (<i>Orchestes</i>) ಎಂದು, ಇದನ್ನೇ ಪುನಃ 'ರಾವ್' ಹೆಸರಿನ್ನೊಂದಿಗೆ ಕೂಡಿಸಿ 'ರಾವೋರ್ಚೆಸ್ಟೆಸ್' ಎಂದು ಕರೆಯಲಾಗಿದೆ.<br /><br />ಕಡೆಯದಾಗಿ, 'ನಮ್ಮ ಕಪ್ಪೆ ರಾವ್' ಮತ್ತು ಈ ಅದ್ದೂರಿ ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳು ನಮಗೆ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆಯ ವಿಚಾರವೇ, ಆದರೂ ಚಿಂತಿಸಬೇಕಾಗಿರುವ ವಿಷಯ ಒಂದಿದೆ. ಏಕೆಂದರೆ ಈ ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳು ಪ್ರಪಂಚದಲ್ಲಿ ಬೇರೆಲ್ಲೂ ದೊರಕದು, ಅವುಗಳ ಸಂತತಿ ಉಳಿಯಬೇಕಾದರೆ 'ಅನೈಮುಡಿ'ಯಂತಹ ಪರ್ವತಶ್ರೇಣಿಗಳ ಉಳಿವು ಅತ್ಯಗತ್ಯ. ಪಶ್ಚಿಮ ಘಟ್ಟಗಳು ಇಂತಹ ಅನೇಕಾನೇಕ ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳಿಗೆ ನೈಸರ್ಗಿಕ ಮನೆಯಾಗಿದೆ. ವಿದ್ಯುತ್ ಯೋಜನೆಗಳು, ಅರಣ್ಯ ವತ್ತುವರಿ, ಅಕ್ರಮ ಗಣಿಗಾರಿಕೆಗಳಿಂದ ಪಶ್ಚಿಮ ಘಟ್ಟಗಳನ್ನು ಉಳಿಸದಿದ್ದರೆ, ಇನ್ನೂ ಬಹಳಷ್ಟು ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳು ವೈಜ್ಞಾನಿಕವಾಗಿ ಬೆಳಕಿಗೆ ಬರುವ ಮುನ್ನವೇ ನಾಶವಾದೀತು. ನಮ್ಮ ಪಶ್ಚಿಮ ಘಟ್ಟಗಳ ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳ ಉಳಿವಿಗಾಗಿ, ಇನ್ನಷ್ಟು 'ಕಪ್ಪೆ ರಾವ್' ಗಳು ಬೇಕಾಗಿದ್ದಾರೆ!Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-84052910512130240042010-05-01T01:52:00.000-07:002010-05-01T04:19:48.470-07:00ಕಪ್ಪೆ ಉಳಿಸೋಣ ಬನ್ನಿ!ಇದೇನಪ್ಪ, ಮೂವತ್ತರಲ್ಲೇ ಈ ಮಾಣಿಗೆ ಮಂಡೆ ಕೆಟ್ಟುಹೊಯ್ತಾ? ಅಂತ ತಿಳ್ಕೊಬೇಡಿ. ನಾನು ಹೇಳ್ತಾ ಇರೋವಿಷ್ಯ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಗಂಭೀರವಾದದ್ದೆ. ನಾವೆಲ್ಲ ಸೇರಿ ಯೋಚ್ನೆ ಮಾಡ್ಬೇಕಾಗಿರೋದೆ ಆಗಿದೆ. ನಿಮ್ಮನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ ನಾನು ಸುಮಾರು ೧೦ ರಿಂದ ೨೦ ವರ್ಷಗಳಷ್ಟು ಹಿಂದಕ್ಕೆ ಕರ್ಕೊಂಡು ಹೋಗ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದೀನಿ! ಹೆದ್ರ ಬೇಡಿ!! ನಾನೇನೂ ಹಿಪ್ನಾಟಿಸಂ ಮಾಡ್ತಾ ಇಲ್ಲ. ಆಮೇಲೆ ನಾನೇ ನಿಮ್ಮನ್ನ ಈಚೆ ಕರ್ಕೊಂಡು ಬರ್ತೀನಿ, ಆಗ್ಬೌದ? ಆದ್ರೆ ಒಂದು ಮಾತು, <span>ನನ್ನ</span> ಜೊತೆ ಬರ್ತಾ, ಬರೀ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಕಣ್ಣು, ಕಿವಿ, ಮೂಗು ಮಾತ್ರ ತೆಕ್ಕೊಂದಿರ್ಲಿ, ಬಾಯಿಗೆ ಬೀಗ! ಒಹ್! ಏನಂದ್ರಿ? ಅದು ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಕಷ್ಟ ಅಂತೀರಾ!! ಹಾಗಾದ್ರೆ ಕಷ್ಟ ಆಗೋರು ಇಲ್ಲೇ ಇರಿ, ಉಳ್ದೊರು ನನ್ನ ಜೊತೆ ಬನ್ನಿ. ನಾನು ಯಾಕೆ ಹಾಗೆ ಹೇಳ್ದೆ ಅಂದ್ರೆ, ನಿಮ್ಮನ್ನ ಕರ್ಕೊಂಡು ಹೋಗ್ತಾ ಇರೋದು ರಾತ್ರಿ ಹೊತ್ತು, ನಮ್ಮಿಂದಾಗಿ ಕಾಡು ಪ್ರಾಣಿಗಳಿಗೆ ತೊಂದರೆ ಆಗೋದು ಬೇಡಾ ಅಂತ. ಅಸ್ಟೇ ಅಲ್ಲ, ನಾನು ನಿಮಗೆ ತೋರ್ಸೋಕ್ಕೆ ಹೊರಟಿರೋ ನನ್ನ ಸ್ನೇಹಿತರು ನಮ್ಕಿಂತ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಭಿನ್ನ! ಅಂದ್ರೆ, ನಮ್ಮಂಗೆ ಇನ್ನೊಬ್ರು ಮಾತು ಆಡ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದಾಗ ಬಾಯಿ ತೂರ್ಸೋದಿಲ್ಲ, ಬದಲಿಗೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಮಾತು ಕೇಳಿದ್ರೆ ಅವ್ರೆ ಬಾಯಿ ಮುಚಿಕೊಂಡ್ಬಿಡ್ತಾರೆ. ಸರಿ ಇನ್ನೇನು ತಡ ಮಾಡೋದು ಬೇಡ, ಹೊರಡೋಣ.<br /><br />ನಾವೆಲ್ಲ ಈಗ ಊರಾಚೆ ಇರೋ ಕೆರೆ ಹತ್ರ ಬರ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದಿವಿ, ಹಾಂ! ಕೇಳಿ, ಕಿವಿಗೊಟ್ಟು ಕೇಳಿ, ಎಂತ ಸಂಗೀತ! ಕೇಳಸ್ತಾ ಇದ್ಯಾ!! ಕೆರೆ ಹತ್ರನೇ ಹೋಗೋಣ, ಇನ್ನೂ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಕೇಳ್ಬೌದು! ಬನ್ನಿ, ಬನ್ನಿ, ಹೀಗೆ ಬನ್ನಿ!! ನಾನೂ ಮೆಲು ದನಿಯಲ್ಲೇ ಮಾತಾಡ್ತೀನಿ! ವಾಹ್! ಅದ್ಬುತ ಗಾಯನ. ನಾನು ನನ್ನ 'torch' ಹಾಕಿ, ಒಬ್ಬೊಬ್ಬರನ್ನೇ ತೋರ್ಸ್ತೀನಿ!<br /><br />ಅವ್ರೂ, ಆ ಹಳ್ದಿ ಬಣ್ಣದೊರು, ಅವ್ರ ದ್ವನಿ ಕೇಳಿದ್ರ, ಎಂತಃ ಶಾರೀರ! ಕಂಠ ಮತ್ತು ದ್ವನಿ ಚೀಲ ಎರಡೂ ತಾಮ್ರ ವರ್ಣ! ಅವರು ನಮ್ ದೇಶದ ಅತೀ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಾಯಕರು! ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡಿ! ನಿಮ್ಮ ಕಾಲ ಬುಡದಲ್ಲೇ ಇನ್ನೊಬ್ರು ಹಾಡ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದಾರೆ, ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಚಿಕ್ಕದಾದ್ರೂ ಕೀರ್ತಿ ದೊಡ್ಡದೂ ಅಂತಾರಲ್ಲಾ ಹಾಗೆ ಇದೇ ನೋಡಿ ಇವರ ಗಾಯನ ಶೈಲಿ! ಬೆನ್ನ ಮೇಲೆ ಚಿನ್ನದ ಸರಗಳನ್ನ ಹಾಕಿರೋ ಹಾಗಿದೆ ನೋಡಿ. <span>ಜೀವನ</span><span>ವಿಡೀ </span>ಉಚ್ಛ ಸ್ತಾಯಿಯಲ್ಲೇ ಹಾಡ್ತಾರೆ. ಇವರ ತಮ್ಮ, ನೋಡೋಕ್ಕೆ ಇವರ ಹಾಗೆ ಇದ್ರೂ, ಕೆಂಪು ಬಣ್ಣ ಜಾಸ್ತಿ. ಹಾಡದೆ ಇದ್ದಾಗ ಇಬ್ರನ್ನೋ ಒಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ನೋಡಿದ್ರೆ, ಅವಳಿ ಜವಳಿ ಅನ್ನಬೇಕು, ಹಾಗಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಕೆರೆ ನೀರಿನ ಮೇಲೆ ನೋಡಿ, ಅಲ್ಲೊಬ್ರು ನೀರಲ್ಲಿ ಯೋಗಾಸನ ಮಾಡ್ತಾ ಹಾಡ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದಾರೆ! ನೋಡಿದ್ರಾ? ತಾಳಿ, ಅವರು ನಮ್ಮ 'torch' ಬೆಳಕಿಗೆ ಓಡಿ ಹೋಗ್ಬೌದು! ಮಂದವಾಗಿ ಅವ್ರ ಮೇಲೆ ಬೆಳಕು ಹಾಕ್ತೀನಿ!! ನೋಡಿ, ನೋಡಿ, ಬೇಗ ನೋಡಿ!! ಇವರು ಬೇರೆ ಸಮಯದಲ್ಲಿ, ನೀರಿನ ಮೇಲೆ ಓಡಿ ಹೋಗ್ತಾರೆ. ಏನು? ಅರ್ಥ ಆಗ್ಲಿಲ್ಲ ಅಂದ್ರಾ! ನಿಮಗೆ ನೆನಪಿದ್ಯಾ, ನಾವೆಲ್ಲ ಶಾಲೆಗೇ ಹೋಗ್ತಾ, ನೀರ್ ಮೇಲೆ ಕಲ್ಲು ಚಿಮ್ಮುಸ್ತಾ ಇದ್ವಿ! ಇವರೂ ಆ ಕಲ್ಲಿನ ಹಾಗೆ ನೀರಿನ ಮೇಲೆ ಚಿಮ್ತಾ ಹೋಗ್ತಾರೆ!! <span>ಇವ್ರಿಗೆ</span> <span>ಯೋಗ</span> <span>ಶಕ್ತಿ</span> <span>ಎಷ್ಟಿದೆ</span> <span>ಅಂದ್ರೆ</span>, ನಿರ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಳ್ಗಿಕೊಂಡೆ ಒಂದೇ ಜಾಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಬಹಳ ಹೊತ್ತು ಇರ್ತಾರೆ. ನಂಗೆ ಇನ್ನೂ ಒಂದು ವಿಚಾರ ನೆನಪಿಗೆ ಬರ್ತಾ ಇದೆ, ಹಾಂ! ವೇದದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೂಡ ಇವರೆಲ್ಲರ ಹಾಡು, ವಿಚಾರ, ಮೈಬಣ್ಣ ಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಬರ್ದಿದೆಯಂತೆ!! ವಾಹ್, ನಿಜವಾಗಲೂ ನನಗಂತೂ ಇವೆಲ್ಲ ಗಂಧರ್ವ ಗಾಯನವೇ ಸರಿ. ಇವ್ರನೆಲ್ಲ ನೋಡ್ತಾ, ಇವರ ಹಾಡನ್ನ ಕೇಳ್ತಾ ಇದ್ರೆ, ಸಮಯ ಹೋಗಿದ್ದೆ ಗೊತ್ತಾಗೊಲ್ಲ ಬಿಡಿ. ಬನ್ನಿ, ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಕಮ್ಮಿ, ಇಡಿ ರಾತ್ರಿ ಇವರ ಗಾಯನ ಗೊಸ್ಟಿ ಇರುತ್ತೆ, ವಾಪಸ್ಸು ಹೊರಡೋಣ. ತುಟಿಪಿಟಕ್ಕೆನ್ನದೆ ನನ್ನ ಜೊತೆ ಬಂದಿದಕ್ಕೆ ಧನ್ಯವಾದಗಳು!<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx9KTb6G5G1XHyauaHl-fOYeW9O0lCD33IziYhlcisjEeZvIz_g2yktYrq6hdwk-NdcK5gqksbGU2zRG8p1fA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />ಈಗ ಅದೇ ಕೆರೆಗೆ, ವರ್ತಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೋಗೋಣ! ಬರ್ತಿರ! ಖಂಡಿತ, ನಂಗೊತ್ತು, ನೀವೆಲ್ಲ ಬರ್ತಿರ ಅಂತ. ಅವತ್ತಿನ ಸಂಗೀತನೇ ನಿಮನ್ನೆಲ್ಲಾ ಮತ್ತೆ ಆ ಕಡೆಗೆ ಎಳಿತಾ ಇದೆ. ಬನ್ನಿ ಹೋಗೋಣ! ಯೋಚ್ನೆ ಮಾಡಬೇಡಿ, ರಾತ್ರಿ ಊಟದ ಹೊತ್ತಿಗೆ ವಾಪಸ್ಸು ಬರೋಣ.<br /><br />ಅರ್ಧ ಗಂಟೆ ಆಯ್ತಲ್ವ ನಾವೆಲ್ಲಾ ಈ ಕೆರೆಗೆ ಬಂದು! ಏನಾಗಿದೆ? ಅವತ್ತು ಅಷ್ಟು ದೂರದಿಂದಲೇ ಕೇಳಸ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದ ಸಂಗೀತ, ಇವತ್ತು ಕೆರೆ ಮೇಲೆ ನಿಂತರೂ ಕೇಳ್ತಾ ಇಲ್ವಲ್ಲಾ? ಕೆರೆ ಕೂಡ ಕಾಣಸ್ತ ಇದೆ, 'torch'ನ ಅವಶ್ಯಕತೆಯೇ ಇಲ್ಲ! ಅಷ್ಟೊಂದು ನಗರದ ಬೆಳಕು!! ಅರೆ ಇದೇನಿದು, ಕೆರೆನಲ್ಲಿ ನೀರು ಕಮ್ಮಿ ಆಗಿದೆ. ಕೆರೆ ಅಂಚಿಗೆ ಬಹು ಮಹಡಿ ಕಟ್ಟಡಗಳು!! ಬಸ್ಸು, ಕಾರು, ಲಾರಿ ಶಬ್ದಗಳೇ ಜಾಸ್ತಿ ಆಗಿದೆ? ಯಾರೂ ಹಾಡ್ತಾ ಇಲ್ವಲ್ಲಾ? ಏನಾಯ್ತು? ಅಯ್ಯೋ, ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡಿ! ಅವತ್ತು ಆ <span>ಹಳ್ದಿ</span> <span>ಬಣ್ಣದೊರು</span>, <span>ದೇಶದ</span> <span>ಅತೀ</span> <span>ದೊಡ್ಡ</span> <span>ಗಾಯಕರು</span> ಅಂದಿದ್ರಲ್ಲ, ಅವ್ರ ಮೈಯೆಲ್ಲಾ ಹುಣ್ಣಾಗಿದೆ! ಹೌದು, ಹೌದು. ಇವರೂ ಗಟ್ಟಿ ಇರೋದ್ರಿಂದ ತಡಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ! ಉಳಿದವರು ಜಾಗನೇ ಖಾಲಿ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದರೆ ನೋಡಿ!! ನನಗಂತೂ ನೋಡೋಕ್ಕೆ ಆಗ್ತಾ ಇಲ್ಲ! ಬನ್ನಿ ವಾಪಸ್ಸು ಹೊರಡೋಣ.<br /><br />ನೋಡಿದ್ರಲ್ಲ, ಏನಾಯ್ತು ಅಂತ? ನನ್ ಜೊತೆ ಬಂದೋರಿಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಿದೆ, ನಾನು ಯಾರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹೇಳ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದೀನಿ ಅಂತ. ನಿಮಗೂ ಕುತೊಹಲನಾ. ಹೌದುರಿ, ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳು, ನಮ್ ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳು, ಎಲ್ಲಿ ಹೋದ್ವು ರೀ, ನಮ್ ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳು. ಅವತ್ತು ನಾನೇ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದೆ, ನನ್ ಜೊತೆ ಬರೋವಾಗ ಬಾಯಿಗೆ ಬೀಗ ಅಂತ, ಇವತ್ತು ನಾನು ಹೇಳ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದೀನಿ, ಬನ್ನಿ ಎಲ್ಲ ಸೇರಿ ಈ ಅನಾಹುತದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಚರ್ಚೆ ಮಾಡೋಣ, ಬರಿ ಅಷ್ಟೇ ಅಲ್ಲ, ನಮಗೆ ಈ ಜಗತ್ತಲ್ಲಿ ಬದ್ಕೊಕೆ ಎಷ್ಟು ಹಕ್ಕು ಇದ್ಯೋ, ಅಸ್ಟೇ ಹಕ್ಕು ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳಿಗೂ ಇದೆ. ಇನ್ನಾದರೂ ತಡ ಮಾಡದೇ ಕಪ್ಪೆ ಉಳಿಸೋಣ ಬನ್ನಿ!!Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-13879714875421167622010-04-03T00:09:00.000-07:002010-04-03T01:31:29.587-07:00ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳು ಭೂಕಂಪದ ಮುನ್ಸೂಚನೆ ನೀಡಬಲ್ಲವು!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicvsmaIAMnuXrsb60SEYesOC1fpHyCbwngSHD8TpFGstY4YE0L93YTvVMSNKuFv0Jl-OCgxjHhXavpFalksupc3YTipko3OsiDma9SruxhPsnr0FEFFpE2m4HqzWOX3p3VNgq43K7Rxds/s1600/bhookampa.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 211px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicvsmaIAMnuXrsb60SEYesOC1fpHyCbwngSHD8TpFGstY4YE0L93YTvVMSNKuFv0Jl-OCgxjHhXavpFalksupc3YTipko3OsiDma9SruxhPsnr0FEFFpE2m4HqzWOX3p3VNgq43K7Rxds/s320/bhookampa.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455813828020989426" border="0" /></a><br />ನಾವೆಲ್ಲರೂ ಹೊಸತಾಗಿ ಆರಂಭಗೊಂಡ ನಮ್ಮದೇ ಆದ 'CiSTUP Coffee Tea Club' ನಲ್ಲಿ ಟೀ ಹೀರುತ್ತಾ, ಮುಂದೆ ಆಯೋಜಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿರುವ ಪ್ರವಾಸದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹರಟುತ್ತಿದೆವು. ನಮ್ಮ ಸಂಶೋಧನಾ ಕೇಂದ್ರದ ಪ್ರಾಧ್ಯಾಪಕರಾದ ಪ್ರೊ. ಸೀತಾರಾಮ್ ಕೂಡ ನಮ್ಮೊಂದಿಗೆ ಟೀ ಹೀರಲು ಅಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಬಂದರು. ಬಂದವರೇ, "ಗುರುರಾಜ್, ಇವತ್ತಿನ 'ನ್ಯೂಸ್ ಪೇಪರ್' ನೋಡಿದ್ರ?" ಎಂದು ತಮ್ಮ ನಾಗಲೋಟದ ಮಾತಿನ ಧಾಟಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಕೇಳಿದರು. ನೆನಪಿಡಿ ಯಾರೇ ನಿಮಗೆ ಈ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ ಕೇಳಲಿ, ಅದರ ಅರ್ಥ ಅವರೇನೋ 'ಹೇಳಬೇಕೆಂದಿದ್ದಾರೆ' ಎಂದು. ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಸುಳ್ಳೇ ಅದರೂ (ಪೇಪರ್ ಓದಿದ್ದು ಸತ್ಯ), 'ಇಲ್ಲ ಹೇಳಿ ಸರ್' ಎಂದೆ. 'ನಾಲ್ಕನೇಯ ಅಥವಾ ಐದನೇಯ ಪುಟದಲ್ಲಿ "ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳು ಭೂಕಂಪದ ಮುನ್ಸೂಚನೆ ನೀಡಬಲ್ಲವು" ಅಂತ ಬಂದಿದೆ, ಓದಿದ್ರ? ಅಂದ್ರು. 'ಹೌದೆ?! ಖಂಡಿತ ಓದಿಲ್ಲ ಸರ್' ಎಂದೆ. 'ನನಗೆ ಭೂಕಂಪ ನೆಚ್ಚಿನ ವಿಷಯ, ನಿಮಗೆ ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳು ನೆಚ್ಚಿನ ವಿಷಯ, ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ನೋಡಿ ಹೇಳಿ' ಅಂದ್ರು.<br />ಮುಂದಿನ ಐದು ನಿಮಿಷಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಗ್ರಂಥಾಲಯದಲ್ಲಿ 'Times of India' ದಿನ ಪತ್ರಿಕೆ ಹುಡುಕಿದೆ. ಹೌದು, ಅವರು ಹೇಳಿದಂತೆ, ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳು ಭೂಕಂಪನದ ಮುನ್ಸೂಚನೆಯನ್ನು ಕರಾರುವಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಹೇಳುತ್ತವೆ ಎಂದು ಬರೆಯಲಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಈ ಮಾಹಿತಿಯ ಆಧಾರ ಹುಡುಕಿದೆ. ಕೆಲವೇ ನಿಮಿಷಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನನಗೆ ಈ ವಿಷಯದ ವೈಜ್ಞಾನಿಕ ಲೇಖನ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿತು.<br /><br />ಇದೇ ಮಾರ್ಚ್ ೩೧ ರಂದು 'ಜರ್ನಲ್ ಆಫ್ ಜೂಲೋಜಿ' ಎಂಬ ವೈಜ್ಞಾನಿಕ ನಿಯತಕಾಲಿಕೆಯಲ್ಲಿ, ಇಂಗ್ಲೆಂಡ್ ದೇಶದ ವಿಜ್ಞಾನಿಗಳಾದ ಡಾ. ರಾಚೆಲ್ ಎ. ಗ್ರಾಂಟ್ ಮತ್ತು ಪ್ರೊ. ಟಿಮ್ ಹಾಲಿಡೆ, ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಕೂತೂಹಲವಾದ ವೈಜ್ಞಾನಿಕ ಸಂಶೋದನೆಯನ್ನು ಪ್ರಕಟಿಸಿದ್ದರು. ಈ ವಿಜ್ಞಾನಿಗಳು ಇಟಲಿ ದೇಶದ ಲಾ ಕ್ವಿಲಾ ಪ್ರಾಂತ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಸಿದ ಸಂಶೋದನೆಯಿಂದ, 'ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳು ಭೂಕಂಪದ ಮುನ್ಸೂಚನೆ ನೀಡಬಲ್ಲವು' ಎಂಬ ಅಂಶವನ್ನು ಬೆಳಕಿಗೆ ತಂದಿದ್ದರು. ಭೂಕಂಪ ಸಂಭವಿಸುವ ೫ ದಿನಗಳಷ್ಟು ಮೊದಲೇ, ಹೇರಳ ಸಂಖ್ಯೆಯಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಗಂಡು ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳು (common toad, Bufo bufo ಎಂಬ ಪ್ರಭೇದ) ಭೂಕಂಪ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಬಿಂದುವಿನಿಂದ (ಎಪಿ ಸೆಂಟರ್ ನಿಂದ) ಕಣ್ಮರೆಯಾಗತೊಡಗಿದವು. ಭೂಕಂಪದ ದಿನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದೂ ಗಂಡು ಕಪ್ಪೆ ಆ ಸ್ಥಳದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಗಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಭೂಕಂಪದ ತರುವಾಯ ಎರಡು-ಮೂರು ದಿನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಗಂದುಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳು ಅಷ್ಟೇ ಸಂಖ್ಯೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪುನಃ ಕಾಣಿಸಿಕೊಂಡವು. ವಾತಾವರಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಇರುವ ಆಯಾನೋಸ್ಪೆರ್ (ionosphere) ಪದರವು, ಭೂಕಂಪದಿಂದ ಹೊರಡುವ ಅತೀ ಕೆಳಮಟ್ಟದ ತರಂಗಗಳಿಂದ ಬದಲಾವಣೆ ಹೊಂದುತ್ತದೆ. ಈ ಬದಲಾವಣೆ ಭೂಕಂಪ ಸಂಭವಿಸುವ ಮೊದಲ ವಾರದಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ತಿಳಿಯುತ್ತದೆ. ವಿಜ್ಞಾನಿಗಳು ಈ ರೀತಿ ಆಯಾನೋಸ್ಪೆರ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಆದ ಬದಲಾವಣೆ ಮತ್ತು ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳ ಸಂಖ್ಯೆಯ ಇಳಿಮುಖದಲ್ಲಿ ಇರುವ ಸಂಭಂದವನ್ನು ಗಣನೆಗೆ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಂಡು, ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳು ಭೂಕಂಪದ ಮುನ್ಸೂಚನೆ ನೀಡುತ್ತವೆ ಎಂದು ತಿಳಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ.<br /><br />ಈ ಹಿಂದೆ ಸಸ್ತನಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ, ಪಕ್ಷಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ, ಇರುವೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ, ಇಲಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ್ತು ಸಾಕು ಪ್ರಾಣಿಗಳಾದ ನಾಯಿ, ದನ, ಬೆಕ್ಕು ಮತ್ತು ಕೋಳಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಭೂಕಂಪದ ಸೂಚನೆಗಳು ಕಂಡಿದ್ದರೂ, ಅವುಗಳು ಬಗ್ಗೆ ವೈಜ್ಞಾನಿಕವಾಗಿ ಸಂಶೋದನೆ ನಡೆದಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತ ಸಂಶೋದನೆ ಪ್ರಾಯಶಃ ವೈಜ್ಞಾನಿಕ ಜಗತಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಮೊದಲನೆಯದು ಮತ್ತು ಭೂಕಂಪದ ಮುನ್ಸೂಚನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳ ಪಾತ್ರದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ನಡೆದ ಏಕೈಕ ಸಂಶೋದನೆ ಆಗಿದೆ. ಜಾಗತಿಕ ಮಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳು (ಉಭಯ ಜೀವಿಗಳು) ನಶಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ, ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳ ಅರಿವಿಗೆ ಈ ರೀತಿಯ ಸಂಶೋದನೆಗಳು ಅತೀ ಮುಖ್ಯ. ಇದೇ ಏಪ್ರಿಲ್ ೩೦, 'Save the Frog Day'! ಬನ್ನಿ ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಇನ್ನೂ ತಿಳಿಯೋಣ, ಅವುಗಳ ಪರಿಸರ ಉಳಿಸೋಣ!!<br /><br />ಆಧಾರ: Grant, R.A and T. Halliday, 2010. Predicting the unpredictable; evidence of pre-seismic anticipatory behaviour in the common toad. Journal of Zoology (2010), 1-9.Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-37243934021096888502010-03-30T22:14:00.001-07:002010-03-30T23:27:05.779-07:00Earth hour celebrations: The BESCOM styleMajority of us heard a lot about 'Earth Hour' in last one week. People celebrated 'Earth Hour' by switching off electricity between 8:30pm to 9:30pm on 27th March. And many in Bangalore burnt Candles (not their fingers, I believe) to celebrate. I was wondering, is there any better way to celebrate. One thought occurred to my mind is to have 'Full night' cricket match at Chinnaswamy Stadium with flood lights on. Do not mistake me, although at the outset I look very satirical (why flood lights to celebrate earth hour), but it is not so. We could have played without light in the night, but cameraman cannot see those elite people in the VIP stand and major complaint will be from the spectators for not seeing anyone on the ground. I also thought of providing infrared spectacles to all, any way this is how I think. <br /><br />All these thoughts were taking some shape in my mind, suddenly my wife came running to me and said, 'Guru, street lights are on!' without allowing her to complete the sentence, I told 'so what?'. She is more patient than me, she politely said, 'it's ON even now and the time is 9:30AM'. I was about to tell! 'Eureka', controlled myself, did not express the feeling, otherwise she might ask for the copyright of the thought. Indeed, this is the most fascinating way to celebrate Earth Hour. It's a common practice in Bangalore to celebrate Kannada Rajyotsava till December 31st of the year, although officially it must be on November 1st. So I thought, 'what an idea' these BESCOM people have, they are in fact celebrating Earth hour, although not on 27th, but on 31st March (Important to note here is that they have not forgot, applause for their memory!) and more importantly, it's a brilliant idea to keep all the street lights on in broad day light, which is quite innovative and impressive than switching off them in late nights where nobody would have noticed. Simply keeping all street lights on during day (point to note here is that these street lights are not our CFL's, or tube lights, they are sodium vapour lamp, consumes just 70% more power) and tell the world 'We also celebrated Earth hour' in a typical Desi Style. Congratulations BESCOM, you did it and made us proud!!Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-2654903251216871332010-03-30T03:10:00.000-07:002010-03-30T19:27:03.181-07:00Pushpak: The Mythological Aeroplane in Bangalore, one can see heaven in Rs. 10.I am quite fortunate to have migrated to Bangalore from a not-so urbanized city called Shimoga, so does many more Bangaloreans, to get to know 'heaven' from close quarters on earth. I feel that we who geotag many places should also geotag "Pushpak" with "heaven in Bangalore". Oh, sorry, I dragged you guys somewhere else like our godly swamijis and politicians do. Thanks to our conductor cum driver saheb in these Pushpak, who is the agent directly descended from Indraloka. In fact, I felt quite often to prostrate in front of him, for his godly actions, behavior and above all for 'his driving (s)kills'. oh yes! I just forgot to tell you, as the name suggests Pushpak is divine aero-plane from BMTC, rendering help in getting connected between God and people. <br /><br />I will narrate an occasion, where in, I was taken to heaven and just because I am very humanly, I was sent back to earth to lead this meaningless research life. It happened few weeks back. I was walking very fast rather it was a kind of running to catch '276'(It's just the route number, nothing to do with similar looking numbers).<br /><br />As I stood near the entrance arch of Sri Kalika Durga Parameshwari Temple at Vidyaranyapura, a gray coloured aeroplane (looking something like mythological Rakshasa/demon) with LED display of Vidyaranyapura to Majestic scrolling from right to left and 276 displayed at the centre of the board 'landed' before me. Oh God sent! I thought, thanked god and entered the vehicle. Soon it turned out to be true, such things are made in heaven, packed in heaven and even drove by heavenly people. <br /><br />As I just put two steps into the bus, the Godly agent sitting on the driver's seat uttered 'tigiet'. Since there were no one behind me nor in front of me, I told myself that he was talking to me and realized there was no additional conductor in this bus. Meanwhile, he had already pulled a ticket and was pressing Accelerator peddle, both hands being free from the staring wheel, fully occupied with notes folded horizontally and kept between fingers (imagine how we used to write Sun's diagram, few lines radiating out of circular body, similarly currency notes were emanating from the spaces between his fingers)in one hand and other with booklets of tickets. He two hands looked like Vishnu's 'dasha hastas'. There was a pen tucked between 2nd and 3rd finger in the same hand which has currency notes between all fingers. The first two fingers are lingering to pull the ticket, which is in the other hand. Simultaneously, these two hands are also on steering wheel and the gear lever. Now, I feel you must have also felt 'the Vishnu' I saw with naked eyes. I am not as good as Sanjaya to describe Sri Vishnu. Please do not mistake me of comparing you people to Dhrutarashtra, my conversation ends at Sanjaya as a story teller and nothing beyond. At this instance, I felt, he cannot be human, because he is doing so non-humanly activities. My eyes became wet, voice got struck in the throat, tongue unable to utter, I was shivering. <br /><br />Soon, few bikes/cars honked as though some one has ran on their foot. This brought me back from the deep trance. I looked around to figure out, why such nuisance, why people won't allow for some one to experience heaven in Rs.10. Probably, I was not so immersed with his godly act, to me the pushpak seemed have taken some diagonal path and was ready to squeeze two bikers and a car (Alas, these guys did not understand that if they had crushed under Pushpak, they would have directly landed in heaven). But this god man was unfazed by such hue and cry, honks, etc, he was as cool as cucumber!, composed and did not even see the side mirror so as to know why the vehicles honked. He simply turned the steering wheel with his multi tasking hands, it automatically aligned itself to the road. See his magical touch. I was again astonished with his skills. <br /><br />This processes did happen in all stops, its not because all the bus stops in Bangalore are unscientific (what small thinking! if you also have thought so), it is because the driver was told not to show any racial, facial, sexual or intersexual discrimination for all the heaven seekers. For one thing, I must really appreciate, he was dedicated to his work. No matter whether ambulance passes by, signal shows red, people on the last step of exit, he mercilessly did his part of showing us heaven. Most surprising part was when I was made to depart from this heavenly vehicle. It was right in front of Sadashivanagar Police station, the driver took out his mobile and was searching for something in it. I requested him to stop at CPRI stop, but he wanted to show me much more. As the signal was red, he finally opened the door and asked me to get down, as though strictly implementing some ones suggestion. I felt, may be this is what he was searching on his mobile and GOD must have told him to leave me back on earth and take others along!!<br /><br />No sense of sides, no sense of speed, no sense of priority and no sense of respecting signal, I think these are the prime qualities of this godly man to make him agent of GOD. Hope many of you must have also experienced the same! I am just worried, will we ever get a human being to drive these vehicles? Will they ever have any sense of driving? Will it ever happen? God only knows.Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-49286356713918382892009-08-21T03:49:00.000-07:002009-09-01T04:47:17.945-07:00Auli ka MaulviKushal Anand, our rope way operator from Auli to Joshimat said "Kya kare, bahot log Valley of flowers nahin ja paate hain, isliye mein Valley vahan dikata hun aur flower yahan dikata hun (What to do? Many people cannot go up to valley of flowers, so I show the valley there and flowers here)" pointing his finger to high mountain ranges through the cable car and to the flowers below the cabin. We all burst into laughter. More importantly, my mother too laughed, clearly and loudly. I was surprised seeing the smile on her gladdened face. While going up from Joshimat to Auli, which was precisely an hour back, her face was knotted with worry lines on the forehead and was uttering Krishnaashttotthara, Vishnusahasranama while holding the arm rest of cable car as though she is clinging on to the last stone on a cliff and will fall off at any time. She was so tensed that she did not even look far out from the cabin.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFYS59I2Erj1pmqhsPo-sz_Ms4ihB3LXUpEI43qtm9FXo0l6gZJ8YAVukYfuBC60GcdEUWSvEDEzJjsy0X_yDjYKsarCfenJ_2qJ-i2ZzPEm9j6zzv1oW-A51My51B-QX9y1F5-dQiuQ0/s1600-h/DSC00192.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/AVvXsEiFYS59I2Erj1pmqhsPo-sz_Ms4ihB3LXUpEI43qtm9FXo0l6gZJ8YAVukYfuBC60GcdEUWSvEDEzJjsy0X_yDjYKsarCfenJ_2qJ-i2ZzPEm9j6zzv1oW-A51My51B-QX9y1F5-dQiuQ0/s320/DSC00192.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376452697816151138" border="0" /></a>Visit to Auli was a surprise pack of our tour programme, so much so that even Sudhira, our tour CEO, did not know how much surprise was in store. We left Badri after having the awesome Poori bhaji from Hotel Devlok at around 8:30 in the morning, went to Mana village and were back by 11:00 so as to get the gate clearance at Badri. We reached Joshimat by 3:10pm. Ustadji asked us to hurry up, only to realise that cable car is at 4pm. Sudhira did the homework and told us that it would Rs.500 per head. So Sudhira, Aravind, me and my wife managed the show and got eight tickets. The ticket issuing lady asked "Aaap log waapas kab ayenge (at what time you are coming back?" I was about to tell "aaj..hi"...Sudhira said "Paanch baje". I thought I am saved! Sudhira, Anna and Aravind went to the hotel and got some "Aloo paranta" and "Achar". I was with my mother, making her feel good while climbing as many as 40 odd steps to reach the gateway of the ropeway.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvblyvknGUHfhXzq51iKNUvwJAXPeWXAjX7NMujWdQp9choEyxlv1qjEQwdPiS7grXaJpW7RAcRC3B-H6XJwLr-1JNZsPF-LFqTsPD7Rs_tl2LaNXcx0eUaZlIjpQ3xqx3nXr11sIYfuA/s1600-h/DSC00217.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/AVvXsEgvblyvknGUHfhXzq51iKNUvwJAXPeWXAjX7NMujWdQp9choEyxlv1qjEQwdPiS7grXaJpW7RAcRC3B-H6XJwLr-1JNZsPF-LFqTsPD7Rs_tl2LaNXcx0eUaZlIjpQ3xqx3nXr11sIYfuA/s320/DSC00217.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376452715785656450" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPXalIKE79EZcL2tT5itSg5XJufY6_6CMdvH8jytwUGc0dHGbVsj0yNiRpzniDIhll_AKxFaznAqBCVPGUY6BQj7KQpmmxtXEiBjfq8jkGTNqSClfO5NOiivXyVFZoF2lNwfRI-pge1wU/s1600-h/DSC00125.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/AVvXsEhPXalIKE79EZcL2tT5itSg5XJufY6_6CMdvH8jytwUGc0dHGbVsj0yNiRpzniDIhll_AKxFaznAqBCVPGUY6BQj7KQpmmxtXEiBjfq8jkGTNqSClfO5NOiivXyVFZoF2lNwfRI-pge1wU/s320/DSC00125.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376452709207492754" border="0" /></a>This was also my first ever journey in ropeway, but it never occurred in mind, untill I asked myself after getting down at Auli, "did I ever travel like this before?". At 4pm on dot, cable car operator invited us to get into the cable. The signboards inside the car said, "no photography". I sincerely followed this, until I saw the first glimpse of Nandadevi peak. As soon as the operator pointed out, I just broke all the rules, opened the tripod and camera, went on clicking this amazing snow clad mountain. That's probably the luckiest moment in our Auli trip, after that, we could not get such clarity of the peak in the next few hours we spent at Auli. My mother saw the peak, yet she was tensed and her mouth was still murmuring some shlokas. We reached Auli, precisely after 22 minutes of journey over a kilometer of elevation.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4lEjPlMaLT6o93FnVbSMYeAPu7Ket9G6IvL-21yHaCw5k70YU20XPs5BqhaOYzulaEORXgzHrYNgYHPh3eLuHaGnykef1ur-h5H2yHXadwCoPsgzi5NfELdp4oCEpKOw3ymqgj7ObiV0/s1600-h/DSC00128.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/AVvXsEi4lEjPlMaLT6o93FnVbSMYeAPu7Ket9G6IvL-21yHaCw5k70YU20XPs5BqhaOYzulaEORXgzHrYNgYHPh3eLuHaGnykef1ur-h5H2yHXadwCoPsgzi5NfELdp4oCEpKOw3ymqgj7ObiV0/s320/DSC00128.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376452731141135394" border="0" /></a><br />Camera's clicked all around the place! Clouds were moving at our eye level, snow clad peaks were doing hide and seek, its really a strange feel to be with family on top of a hill. Though there is a famous saying, on reaching the top you are alone, but here it was quite reverse. We had two plates hot 'pakoras' with hot tea and coffee from the hotel at Auli.<br /><img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/DR4007%7E1.GUR/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.png" alt="" /><img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/DR4007%7E1.GUR/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-3.png" alt="" /><br />At 5pm, we were literally "forced" to get back into cable car. We all felt a day is not enough to fill our eyes with those scenic beauties. It's precisely in this return journey, we met the Maulvi of the Auli, Kushal Anand. He is a great entertainer indeed, as soon as we entered, he said "Mumbai log gaate hai ki...'lift karaadeh'...hum yahan sabhiko 'lift karaadetehai'". Its from him, I learnt that the real name of Joshimath is Jyotirmat, for the reason that Adi Shankara got his enlightenment in this area and also that during winter, Badrivishal statue will be kept at this place. He explained how this place is being readied for 2010 commonwealth games and why the skiing at Auli is considered better than any other place in India.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQhxW0zB9OGAG050dIDMAo8sZTUiWfRzgRKpkBKQsF5GcFSFCKa9Ot0hMP6OC3xsDp_Gpyw1VCcLLnx32FZv-vaUCvLZ0aAxdiNO43pj6UJYvHIGP1uZYd0334lctJJ6yKjt8MZjzItX0/s1600-h/DSC00155.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/AVvXsEiQhxW0zB9OGAG050dIDMAo8sZTUiWfRzgRKpkBKQsF5GcFSFCKa9Ot0hMP6OC3xsDp_Gpyw1VCcLLnx32FZv-vaUCvLZ0aAxdiNO43pj6UJYvHIGP1uZYd0334lctJJ6yKjt8MZjzItX0/s320/DSC00155.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376455479437793090" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirUSzO-O2bzash1qPgIzuCDjQkoJiJ87aqaaf7cNrmTtH2lbYB0nRKou5fbYfdGkl6f-zHRGZJMq5cjWv2F2mmfb1z_pRqGVEu0xpR1jdh6g0PwBhbfbDJ-HzpZ7gWWEvLfZb2b5KNFHQ/s1600-h/DSC00190.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/AVvXsEirUSzO-O2bzash1qPgIzuCDjQkoJiJ87aqaaf7cNrmTtH2lbYB0nRKou5fbYfdGkl6f-zHRGZJMq5cjWv2F2mmfb1z_pRqGVEu0xpR1jdh6g0PwBhbfbDJ-HzpZ7gWWEvLfZb2b5KNFHQ/s320/DSC00190.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376455485571260850" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgEDbvV3FM081Q0w8v20W8QS7TBlwfh1HOXKIdM_bQ_HZiU8ZciTrfzGLsHAk2Ihz2U4fWkuDghTzQEsJmlkphcFh0ui1hmvTg9UpvT7xX8tnp493doFAnhDBXQBLBG5c0K5LCStFmcis/s1600-h/DSC00127.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/AVvXsEhgEDbvV3FM081Q0w8v20W8QS7TBlwfh1HOXKIdM_bQ_HZiU8ZciTrfzGLsHAk2Ihz2U4fWkuDghTzQEsJmlkphcFh0ui1hmvTg9UpvT7xX8tnp493doFAnhDBXQBLBG5c0K5LCStFmcis/s320/DSC00127.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376455464967585602" border="0" /></a>He showed us "Queen" and "Elephant", which I personally consider the height of imagination. He carved out a queen face, pointing and moving his fingers over five peaks in front of us. Wow...its amazing, it really looked like queen's face. Hmmm...and youthful too. Then he said "I show her to many, but no one ready to marry!" Next was the Elephant peak, which he again carved out. I was just astonished to see that the peak was in front of us from 3pm, we did not even think of what it could be! Within a span of two minutes, we all agreed that it looked like an elephant.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggyUZbdLKaDxhB7LlRyKmlpMHEcBFl40AYzhKJmhFp4_p_gxwvTL0Gx9G_WAT1Tw7kfjhNoowYvkq52IK8NftF0aKsSMU2F00zai9RsFAvO_k84npFRmG3BKViV_FO5mvNCpeUHUpDwGY/s1600-h/DSC00212.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/AVvXsEggyUZbdLKaDxhB7LlRyKmlpMHEcBFl40AYzhKJmhFp4_p_gxwvTL0Gx9G_WAT1Tw7kfjhNoowYvkq52IK8NftF0aKsSMU2F00zai9RsFAvO_k84npFRmG3BKViV_FO5mvNCpeUHUpDwGY/s320/DSC00212.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376455496205925218" border="0" /></a><br />To test his presence of mind or to test our nerves, power went off when we were two towers before Joshimath. He mentioned in rhyming words " the power is gone, but not to worry we will put our generators on". Yes, the cable car again moved within a minute. He talked so simple, yet his words were well weighed and said. My mother personally thanked him and said, "Aap agar pehli baar aajaate, mein itna chintit nahi hoti (If you had come during our upward journey, I would not have worried that much)". We all thanked Kushal Anand, for making us feel the 22 minute tour less than 2 minutes. He is such a nice person with great sense of humor, knowledge, dedication and great commitment to his work, who not only made us to laugh with his one liners, but also relax and learn a lot during this short trip in cable car.To me he looked more like a Maulvi in uniform and in a cable car! Hats off to you! Sir.Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-39352854918735446402009-08-11T03:31:00.000-07:002009-08-20T06:43:17.588-07:00Uttaranchal Rocks! Indeed!!Attige with her typical accent was telling to Sudhira at Rahi motel, Hardwar, while sipping the last cup of black tea from Garhwal, "Uttaranchal means Rocks"! There was a pause for few seconds!! Seven of us looked at each other, probably we all had similar feel within us and endorsed her view. For last six days the word "rock" has not only had its impact on our mind, giving a philosophical bent, but also on my hand, giving me a greater physical dent. And like a quick black and white flashback in a color movie, my mind too travelled back and forth, and I too said, showing my injured finger and nodding my head, "Uttaranchal Rocks".<br /><br />Previous day was probably one the greatest learning day of my life and teacher was non other than "rocks". The first lesson we had was "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Destination is driven by rocks and not by any transport mode</span>". I had the glimpse of this lesson in 2007, while coming back from Rohtang pass, but teacher was not in a mood to teach me properly at that time. We left Karnaprayag and were heading towards Hardwar, we were in the truest spirit of returning himalayan trekkers, with crystal clear pride on face, of trekking upto valley of flowers, bowing to Badrivishal and roped away to Auli, to me it was equivalent to climbing mount Everest (importantly, I was with my wife and she was first timer to Himalayas). Amidst, such zeal and josh! our vehicle made a steady and slow halt. Our ustadji (driversaheb) stopped the vehicle hardly after an hour of journey. He suspected a traffic jam and simply parked the vehicle behind another tourist vehicle. Initial few minutes inside the vehicle was very restless, every one was anxious, excited, unsettled in the hope that road will be soon cleared and we will reach Hardwar by noon and/or in a hurry to convey this fantastic tour reports to our friends, to gain that extra pat on the back.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzN3l6BrYbva43Rc2OY9wUVyRDx1_DzR7ASX1SdKKjBnnIKEJxsHUK4G97evr1PeHrp9DvlNtgzWfICR0E_jJQzckwodJbjz6fw0Va-R75FN4Pzb6IJs6-oLX4v-tGG2N7uv7YN0tqyh0/s1600-h/DSC09227.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/AVvXsEjzN3l6BrYbva43Rc2OY9wUVyRDx1_DzR7ASX1SdKKjBnnIKEJxsHUK4G97evr1PeHrp9DvlNtgzWfICR0E_jJQzckwodJbjz6fw0Va-R75FN4Pzb6IJs6-oLX4v-tGG2N7uv7YN0tqyh0/s320/DSC09227.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372037081310482002" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimfAiNryxFLZocN5uISdWSknGZHly5c9cyrYoVyakLPV-Ryp1M_weZqM9ljbXYJ7p45lvHGsqQjQl1Y7Z-ZyJhkwimx_MsWTlsWYT3MOfzX6xUtS1SPgkEUvghMdIB8E5sa0OKUFpJGZc/s1600-h/DSC09246.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/AVvXsEimfAiNryxFLZocN5uISdWSknGZHly5c9cyrYoVyakLPV-Ryp1M_weZqM9ljbXYJ7p45lvHGsqQjQl1Y7Z-ZyJhkwimx_MsWTlsWYT3MOfzX6xUtS1SPgkEUvghMdIB8E5sa0OKUFpJGZc/s320/DSC09246.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372037473998610098" border="0" /></a><br />People did rotis on the roadside, some slept and some sang, a few even danced. Most common kind, threw stones into the river. Time passed by. First to go out of the vehicle was Sudhira, after an hour or so, me, my brother and Aravind came out of the vehicle to have First Hand Information. Ustadji was right, true to his guess, two huge rocks of a swaraz mazda size stood in the middle of the road since 8:30 in the morning and were in no mood to give way for over 300 of us on either way. They were clearly hitting at the pschye of any human being around at that place and we all looked too feable and useless infront of them. The only thing I could do was to take few snaps and movies of the "Rocky event".<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgimjeohSGz1xDAJZCB-kRK2SU01bnssMAO2B_e_fukzU7XIsE0bui9AWCZFaeTq0gqAyjZ7FTShOVwVV6Sqi8fb7kXn3oFRGinEbCMxCA1Lnx-WKaHBNAcQsVcn00fn9nRJb_WFoVaeRw/s1600-h/DSC00243.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgimjeohSGz1xDAJZCB-kRK2SU01bnssMAO2B_e_fukzU7XIsE0bui9AWCZFaeTq0gqAyjZ7FTShOVwVV6Sqi8fb7kXn3oFRGinEbCMxCA1Lnx-WKaHBNAcQsVcn00fn9nRJb_WFoVaeRw/s320/DSC00243.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372037758299491410" border="0" /></a><br />After five hours of relentless effort by Border Road Organization (aptly called BRO), rocks slid onto the riverbed and we moved towards Srinagar. This five hours of wait, as I said earlier taught me (hopefully for others too) the first lesson.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihkJWwsTvyRb5KGbWiLDRGF7yDAC6A5xMl7ox8jAisMaGrSfjtBjxqHbz7eWTgzCn13BUGvk5BNAGVj_LKdGscuoPA7bCJvf4XEn63X4T_AuKZQ2o_uSKwMmqJpr3Jgzk1otPdvemtYPw/s1600-h/DSC00244.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/AVvXsEihkJWwsTvyRb5KGbWiLDRGF7yDAC6A5xMl7ox8jAisMaGrSfjtBjxqHbz7eWTgzCn13BUGvk5BNAGVj_LKdGscuoPA7bCJvf4XEn63X4T_AuKZQ2o_uSKwMmqJpr3Jgzk1otPdvemtYPw/s320/DSC00244.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372037835516537746" border="0" /></a><br />After such an everlasting class, one needs a break and we hurriedly had it at Srinagar, thinking that there will not be any more classes like this from Uttaranchal. Ustadji drove to his maximum, pressing the peddle even in the turnings, squeezing and pushing through rolling stones of Shivaliks. I was nearly petrified on seeing that there were few stones coming down and Ustadji simply drove through them. As a seasoned driver, he must have made up his mind that smaller stones can be dodged and at most can cause a dent but larger ones, as that of the morning, one cannot do anything but stranded for hours together.<br /><br />I had this rare opportunity to be the navigator of the vehicle on last day of our tour and with Global Positioning System in hand, was making countdown of distance to reach Hardwar, like 30 to Hardwar, 27 to Hardwar. I just said 7 km to Rishikesh, Ustadji stopped his vehicle again. I was very anxious, I was telling Ustadji that vehicles are moving! in a way that he too can squeez his Sumo and go ahead. Ustadji enquired a few onward travellers and found that the smaller vehicles can go but not bus and truck. A strange smile was on my face, but it did not last long.<br /><br />Finally our vehicle came to complete halt at around 7:30pm. For the first time, an absolute negative vibration came to all the minds inside our vehicle. Are we going to make it (From Hardwar our train to Delhi was at 11:30pm, on this same night)? An hour passed by, as exhausted and learned travellers of today morning, we did not bother to go out and see. We all were thinking that, at least by 9pm, we will move from this place. No way!!! By 9pm, Sudhira, me and Aravind, with my minibrightlight torch, got out of the vehicle. I was just telling to my mind, "please not again", fortunately, it was again rocks on the road, but of smaller size. In addition, there were over 20 Sardar youths, putting their energy to move these stones. As we entered the scene, few stones came rolling down, one brushed Sudhira's feet, but none got hurt. Earlier in the evening, two from the road clearing team of Uttaranchal Government slid into the valley with minor injuries. So there were no support from machine or Government for us this time. Few of us made our mind, at least to push one of the stones into the valley. Eight to nine of us gathered around the stone, one put a small crowbar under the stone, in one voice we all uttered "Jo bole so ni hal, sat sri akal". Rock did move a centimeter or two, but in the next second, ayyyyyyyyyyooooo......! I was in utter pain, I was holding my right hand in lefthand, pressing the middle three fingers. "I must have lost three fingers, oh please, let it be only one, oh, its my right hand, oh please, nothing should happen to bones" I was talking to myself. After a few minutes, Aravind saw me holding my hand. He was shell shocked, so was Sudhira, but he did not show on his face. I made up my mind to loosen the hand and to see how many are gone? Fortunately, only my middle finger was injured and with the help of Aravind's first aid kit, I got it dressed. So was the second lesson for the day, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Do not muddle up with rocks</span>". We marked our place for sleeping, Sudhira and Aravind on the bonnet, my brother and his son in the last seat, Priti in driver's seat, Attige in navigator's, Amma in the middle and me on the "Rocks". No need to say that we missed our trains!. Till 0:30hrs, I was sleeping on the rocks, keeping my right hand up and my mind was full of teachings, lessons and learings from the rocks, indeed "Uttaranchal Rocks".Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-54274652140410861172008-12-07T22:28:00.001-08:002008-12-08T04:59:03.702-08:00Do you have both fun and earn! while you Run? We did it at IISc<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVCee4q-jK6s2rh8QqLezqDlm3XAcvD8HvvWrCDagFGYxoik0aEl2hKEUtEx7hDOhoRy2eNO1qdZtegC6f3H3jx8xzojA24u1mhjGKQgbI1-Mk7Ehhgaci_Jud6lnvL3xrgkF55Xt0-T8/s1600-h/t-shirt+back.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 314px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVCee4q-jK6s2rh8QqLezqDlm3XAcvD8HvvWrCDagFGYxoik0aEl2hKEUtEx7hDOhoRy2eNO1qdZtegC6f3H3jx8xzojA24u1mhjGKQgbI1-Mk7Ehhgaci_Jud6lnvL3xrgkF55Xt0-T8/s320/t-shirt+back.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277327105179747586" border="0" /></a><br />"Are you in 55+ or other category?" asked one of the volunteer at the registration disk, engrossed in a document with the ticked list of registered participants, not looking at us. That was a surprise question to both of us. Me and my cousin looked at each other, though we are aged, but certainly not to the number that volunteer mentioned, smiled at ourselves and paused for a while as we could not digest it or probably in search of a fitting reply on a chilling Sunday morning. Probably annoyed and irritated by our no response or by the mounting pressure from the antline behind us, the volunteer got up from the seat and was about to say something to us, just in time saw our faces and uttered in complete disbelief "oh..oh...sorry! sorry! Sir, I did not mean in that sense, but if you tell your category that would be fine for us give you the specified ribbon, along with a t-shirt".<br /><br />We smiled at the volunteer, got blue ribbon for both of us (orange for under 15, red for 35-55, green for 55+), a t-shirt and a green seal pressed on to our wrist as a token of registering ourselves. The organizers have requested us to assemble at 7:30am, since we knew that this is going to be a gala event, made ourselves at the spot by 7:17am. Even at that time, the antline to which we joined was well over 100 in each and was meandering like a river. Later, the number turned out to be well over 1500. With such an overwhelming response, and still hundreds in the line, naturally the event was delayed by an hour. As there were drums of tea and coffee to offer, for researchers like us, its more than enough to spend next 'few days' in that place. This was quite evident, even when the organizers told the registrants to assemble back at 9:00am, no one moved from the place or willing to do so. Such an electrifying, rich and charged atmosphere we had. We both put our t-shirts on, got camera from lab and within few minutes, a mini 'Club of CES' was ready with Alka, Boomi, Durgamadab, Hari, Rohini, Supriya and myself, additionally Aravind, Gowtam and Rajat too.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtxrGAO6wZr3QNjOtKVPO_y59Nw-7cyMkbT7TTz6VOic-OMSozKwqaUQrCUhcMQ7ZHY69OhnLMmIa1KK89EnSVE4EVxAiBLlk015QjTWmuh2zII1gH2atsl_ukDV-2zdDElA_AnD2cvJo/s1600-h/MiniCES.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 131px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtxrGAO6wZr3QNjOtKVPO_y59Nw-7cyMkbT7TTz6VOic-OMSozKwqaUQrCUhcMQ7ZHY69OhnLMmIa1KK89EnSVE4EVxAiBLlk015QjTWmuh2zII1gH2atsl_ukDV-2zdDElA_AnD2cvJo/s320/MiniCES.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277344315454844722" border="0" /></a><br />After having National anthem, few welcome notes and two minutes of silence for the recent trauma at Mumbai, run started at 9:00am sharp for our category with flagging off by G. Padmanabhan, our ex director. Subsequently with 5minutes gap for other three category. A total of 3.5km for us and for others, it was 1.5kms.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKXDvdN3oSqcd8gvAHmZl5pWxn5JlCXrHSYIAdTruwo1xJI69ubOuHcF7A64dsZNOhLypGMjmsw7fRRBlpdc0fnN4zJMYUb1Xl7jqcfY9n05HsGcu3u9m23-1HRfJ-vXG9-OBLTcW34D0/s1600-h/on+the+mark.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/AVvXsEjKXDvdN3oSqcd8gvAHmZl5pWxn5JlCXrHSYIAdTruwo1xJI69ubOuHcF7A64dsZNOhLypGMjmsw7fRRBlpdc0fnN4zJMYUb1Xl7jqcfY9n05HsGcu3u9m23-1HRfJ-vXG9-OBLTcW34D0/s320/on+the+mark.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277371116292505410" border="0" /></a><br /><br />To me this run was merely for fun or at most to prove a point or two too for myself. After my school days, this probably my first official run. So, I was pretty much visualizing and bringing in that school composition into me, hence was highly excited. More so, with aging body, I was in self doubt whether I could run or not? This takes me into a recent movie, Cheeni kum, where in Tabu asks Amitab to run up till a tree, to show that he still is capable of. As field biologist, we have strenuous trekking, nature walks etc, but as an athlete the scenario is completely different, though the strain might remain the same. First two kilometer was real good to run with lots and lots of people seen in front of us, making us to push a bit more. It was more of a fast walk, since one cannot leap, in worst scenario we might stumble and lead to stampede. Fortunately, nothing happened like that. In all these length, our mini CES club was almost together. As the length progressed, I was left with Boominathan, and all others from our team either slowed down or took break. Few photographers at the corners, water bottles at our disposal, a videographer on a bike and importantly, claps and cheers from Mohan Reddy and co., have certainly added a few more calories for us to run.<br /><br />It was last 1km, that took almost all physical energy and stamina from me, what was remaining was my will power. My body said, stop and walk, mind was supposed, but I blocked it. I said, come on, few more meters to go and that's it. Pushing literally, a foot by a foot, step by step, finally, I completed the run, without break in approximately 19 minutes 50seconds (which might look too odd for the professionals). Body asked for a complete rest and relax! Mind said "you did it". An Appy/Fruity at this instance was more than what one seeks at the end of a run and that's exactly what the organizers have provided. With every passing minute, one after the other entered the ground, completely burn out, yet bubbling with enthusiasm.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifvS7yVRMTDVWPQV18ccFPp4ON2AVGnbgE-IszS1YE-wHJOcx08bZFaKcERx0KuDXUsWs4_CFBsEAD1iH9QzEkA-V5w2kaj7VatPc5VewBCDCEejP_Di2_z8fKz5plUV1iSwhbJoC97g4/s1600-h/after+run.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 211px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifvS7yVRMTDVWPQV18ccFPp4ON2AVGnbgE-IszS1YE-wHJOcx08bZFaKcERx0KuDXUsWs4_CFBsEAD1iH9QzEkA-V5w2kaj7VatPc5VewBCDCEejP_Di2_z8fKz5plUV1iSwhbJoC97g4/s320/after+run.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277357475977059058" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg-giqWSWtDEuIzWMMpPf3L19o7smWXQYfHEZtpKn7hH0KmjGjvxXoYRSettDd8fXsWyLoV5b06IGSBBnE34AoUFZRtyS2Ut1JwkkEESLCzLU8QU8AUwDyzm_c8SwnoaO7ftw0FDHZIFc/s1600-h/padma_balakrish.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 251px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg-giqWSWtDEuIzWMMpPf3L19o7smWXQYfHEZtpKn7hH0KmjGjvxXoYRSettDd8fXsWyLoV5b06IGSBBnE34AoUFZRtyS2Ut1JwkkEESLCzLU8QU8AUwDyzm_c8SwnoaO7ftw0FDHZIFc/s320/padma_balakrish.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277371127643363906" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrBm-zSaCWENjryWs92EWuJ3vBjobDTO4F7N5qJDQOWDvtV-dUiHdzVnj64ddXflY54kNl7yZ_0cC4jGGeDwPS8MfD_cSNFdxZN8qaHH7nPiz8hJOS3NU3-aeyAN7wtYnyU-FfidBTIoY/s1600-h/prizes.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrBm-zSaCWENjryWs92EWuJ3vBjobDTO4F7N5qJDQOWDvtV-dUiHdzVnj64ddXflY54kNl7yZ_0cC4jGGeDwPS8MfD_cSNFdxZN8qaHH7nPiz8hJOS3NU3-aeyAN7wtYnyU-FfidBTIoY/s320/prizes.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277371125439182338" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://alumni.iisc.ernet.in/cgi-bin/sntrun/index.jsp?mode=results">24 prizes were won</a>. It was a strange delight when you see kids and elderly go to the podium and receive the prizes. That too when intellectual giants like Dr. Duttaguru, Dr. Balakrishnan, Dr. Balaram and Dr. Padmanabhan showing such enthusiasm in participating in the event as well as in prize distribution, I thought to myself, this is an event to remember for rest of my life. All these giants, at the fag end of the ceremony showed why they are called so, in announcing that "A gift coupon worth hundred rupees to all who ran". I was just touched.Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-3002328446193587512008-11-26T23:40:00.000-08:002008-11-26T16:41:39.804-08:00Drushya, Hasya and LasyaMrs. Vani Ratnakar gave me an invitation, saying "Do not miss it! Its not typical, it has some thing different and a new trail too". I simply accepted her invitation and said I will make it. After having a very good cup of strong filter coffee, I bid farewell to her. I extended the invitation to my mother too, 'surprisingly' she too accepted it and we were at Kuvempu Ranga Mandir, precisely at 6:00pm on 8th October. The Event was " Yaksha-Drushya-Hasya-Lasya" - a special Yakshagana programme picking up comedy scenes, organized by 'Abhiruchi' - a cultural organization to mark its 5th annual day.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-__dQu5_ijaarNDPk_bXQ3Yd6OPL3k7N7oP6OvTI7TTsTA_kdGRQrL-5izCIVu4YHspIJlcRPvG4H5W-GHWvnnRuqdJFhCtXgtX1Y9EtvEk6q_5W-vPDHicOZqA2z43X0ggw7hX0oBkE/s1600-h/DSC02088.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/AVvXsEj-__dQu5_ijaarNDPk_bXQ3Yd6OPL3k7N7oP6OvTI7TTsTA_kdGRQrL-5izCIVu4YHspIJlcRPvG4H5W-GHWvnnRuqdJFhCtXgtX1Y9EtvEk6q_5W-vPDHicOZqA2z43X0ggw7hX0oBkE/s320/DSC02088.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266671416009471826" border="0" /></a><br />The programme began with an young boy, Sripada Hegde, doing "Harikathe" on Bhakta Sudhama. For a boy of 8years, the presence of mind, clarity in thinking, proper utterance of words and above all the confidence in communicating the delicate social issues to the public was just mind boggling. Here is an excerpt of his Harikathe. His Harikathe must have put many into trance.<br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwhCsjTwOanx0XMwxON184NItGNg8eByaPkPu7UYuaHyhmMg2zx-w5Yx1DvUsxQgQCOkvW6GPPPR9fZ51Fv' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />After harikathe, next two hours was nothing but laughter, laughter and laughter. Sridhara Hegde Chapparamane, hails from Sirsi (Sneha balaga), settled in Shimoga and runs a pan shop for livelihood, was the key artiste. In search of lake hidden Duryodhana by Vyadha and Bhima, was the first part. Sridhara played Vyadha's role. My mother amidst of such humour, was constantly telling me to lower my volume of laughter. Second part was Bedarakanappa and Poojari, where Poojari was by Sridhara. It was an amazing performance by Sridhara, who is an actor par excellence!! It was also unique attempt in Yakshagana. I am far more happy for the very reason that I could able to make it along with my mother. Instead of putting my words to describe, here are the clips for you to enjoy. Thanks to Abhiruchi, for arranging such a wonderful programme.<br /><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxFJBYsPPZMTag5Q-7oBWVTKRd4DrLpd1HuWLfYYuuHxTeeDfe6amm-x7ezwKoAm_3_0yM-WKskRM54g0iqqw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-447130742544413152008-11-25T17:33:00.000-08:002008-11-26T17:44:23.733-08:00Choice or Chance! or Just Made in Heaven?Mate selection in human are non-random, for that matter in any living being. To put it in simple terms, it is 'by choice' we find our partners and not 'by chance'. I got very inquisitive on the issue very recently, thanks to my age or an evolving mind!! Google guru, my brother, and a paper in The Public Opinion Quarterly of 1953 have all provided sufficient gum for me to chew.<br /><br />I started off with an approach of thinking globally and acting locally. At a larger picture, especially in the West, finding a partner is more individualistic, while here, its more societal or familial affair. As male or female attains certain age, the family decides that its time for marriage and search would soon start, in the relative circles. At this instance, let me presume that the male to female ratio in the society is 1:1 and also that for a female there exist a population of suitable males and <span style="font-style: italic;">vice versa</span>. In other words, the probability of getting a mate is 'one'. As my knowledge and understanding on the other than Hindu religion is very limited, I restrict my self to this religion, which is one of the key variable in mate choice too. If mate choice so easy, I think, even myself would not have tried on writing this piece. As we start scaling down ourselves, the complexity increases, so also the variables.<br /><br />I tried my level best to put major variables in to two broad categories, Family and Individual. At the familial level, the key variable is religion. Followed by caste, sub-caste, gotra and pravara. Other important variables are family background, parents, siblings, tradition and region, but over the years, with the advent of nuclear families, these variables are losing their intial charm (In a way good, increasing the probability!). Individually, Janma Kundli (Jataka), at religion level and age, height, education, occupation/salary, complexion, at personal level forms key variables. The important point here is that, with the addition of each variable, the probability value starts dwindling, more so each variable are not uniformly valued. The weight to each of the variable is decided again by the family, an example would be, a traditional and orthodox family might give higher weight to caste, sub-caste, gotra, jataka etc, while it may carry least weight in an unorthodox family.<br /><br />Whatever may be the weight, ultimately, with almost 10 major and 6 minor variables, the probability value of 1 decreases drastically. In some castes in India, this has gone to zero (fortunately, probability does not give negative values, otherwise it could have been -1 too), in the sense, there is no way of having a 'choice' of partners as there are no partners at all. Similarly, each of the variable has a threshold value, below which probability is on a higher scale, where as after breaching the threshold, the probability diminishes exponentially. An example is age (again this is not equally weighted and cannot be between male and female), 23-28 for male is considered prime, and so is his probability. Once you touch 30, its the danger mark of overflowing dam and beyond 32, the dam breaks! and probability is near zero.<br /><br />At the outset, what looked as non-random selection, finally when it boils down to marriage, looks exactly the opposite of what is said, its purely a chance! and nothing else. In India, after 'Monsoon', Marriage is said to be the second only 'chance' Indians bet on (pers. comm. chandrakantha). Amidst all these, some sensical and some nonsensical variables, key set of variables called 'heart/mind/feel' were never considered at all and were no where in the picture too. These variables, which determine the entire after life of marriage, of a male or a female, should have been the prime factor, putting all others in the dust bin, during mate selection. Otherwise, we have to accept that mate selection is random, marriages are made in heaven and keep our fingers crossed!Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-38233817675171377462008-11-21T16:47:00.000-08:002008-11-25T06:09:23.309-08:00ಯಾರು ಹಿತವರು ನಿನಗೆ ಈ ಇರ್ವರೊಳಗೆ? (Who is better among the two)Love! they do, truly, though one way, but passionate . They are behind me from the day they learnt that I love forest and would run into a nearby one with slightest opportunity. One exclusively in Monsoon and the other in Winter/Summer. They must be having a greater understanding of niche partitioning, which makes me wonder and think of a ecological niche modeling for better insight on 'shared love'. Over the years, I heard that love loses its lust, but here it has deepened further and this year, it was much more than what I anticipated? I think, only here, I got beyond what I aimed for!<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Oh...I forgot to introduce, please meet my beloved friends, leeches and ticks. At least I can tolerate leeches, certainly I cannot with the other one. Though both have some similarity when they approach me, the difference lies when they depart from me and that too after a day or two. Ticks would literally push me to depression, would occupy both my mind as well as my body, unlike leeches. There were more than 20 rashes in very strategic positions! on my body, this I counted after 4 days of field work from Dandeli. Rashes followed by itching...oops...puss formation...irritation...and invariably during night I will scratch one or the other and again it bleeds. That is too much of ticks. Leeches on the other hand, though very large and scary than ticks, but are silent killers. They crawl up your feet, cling and suck the blood and drop as soon as they have drunk enough for next few months. The difference is that, you will not feel the itch or rash like that of ticks. Unless one has seen it crawling and tried to pull leech from the wound, leech seems to be gentlemanly parasite.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMWsbd0VUhFHFMeyFfTXpbT-aO0b01Qg2xD_zXOP3jS6XzUHbGOt_XMeZ45DkNo0XWQfGXRziXZ-ynhp48JsG_owvvZE_22ktQWiLwj4DbCVNsteM0Npha_cF6iSoGERDE6w6-nDB-rs/s1600-h/DSC02359.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMWsbd0VUhFHFMeyFfTXpbT-aO0b01Qg2xD_zXOP3jS6XzUHbGOt_XMeZ45DkNo0XWQfGXRziXZ-ynhp48JsG_owvvZE_22ktQWiLwj4DbCVNsteM0Npha_cF6iSoGERDE6w6-nDB-rs/s320/DSC02359.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272593025960403058" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NfVrQcRZ3GdLlHdcOmOhVN1fk4-nBjoIZJHaYeka3OmZU3f6kVJfyfWQfUumz97PVpcfABhrrT6bVwDiE1upI_UnB2BNi35e3ehGTG6nD6pU6rBMOPH2Yv6AvWjv8EhsYvZADZK8kmw/s1600-h/DSC01134.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 316px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NfVrQcRZ3GdLlHdcOmOhVN1fk4-nBjoIZJHaYeka3OmZU3f6kVJfyfWQfUumz97PVpcfABhrrT6bVwDiE1upI_UnB2BNi35e3ehGTG6nD6pU6rBMOPH2Yv6AvWjv8EhsYvZADZK8kmw/s320/DSC01134.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272593261972066754" border="0" /></a><br />Recently Vijay Cavale was asking me, what repellent I use for ticks? I said 'nothing'. And unfortunately, in a kind of giving out more information, I uttered about KFD (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyasanur_forest_disease">Kyasanur Forest Disease</a>), a deadly viral fever from tick bites in the region of Sagar, Kumta, Bhatkal. Vijay became very restless and I over heard him telling 'no one has informed me about such disease can occur from ticks or at least about the vaccination'. He started asking every villager or village boy he met, what will happen with this tick bite? Any disease? Do they lay eggs beneath the skin where they bite? Do you people know KFD? etc etc. It took two long days for me to explain that nothing will happen with this tick bite, its the larger tick that causes KFD, and for KFD there is vaccination and I have taken twice while working in that region. On the next day, I was sensing some smell from Vijay, he had put some repellent and was telling me that he will not have tick bite any more. For me, a simple tick bite can give sufficient food for thought, for entire life and I would prefer leech over tick!!! and what about you!?<br /><br /><br /></div>Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-50786061115311357352008-11-21T10:56:00.000-08:002008-11-21T11:26:56.486-08:00Vijay - The Cavalry"Gururaj, This is THE best micro lens in the world, its Nikkor 105mm, 1:1 and this is one of the best Cameras in the world (Nikon, D2x). Take this and shoot what ever you want to! All images are yours and do not hesistate. This is 'on' button, just focus and click" with these words, the middle aged gentleman, who drove all the way from Kulgi to Syke's point at 6:30 in the morning, handed over the camera to me, with his ever lasting smile and charm on the face. I was really touched!!! For the first time in my life, some one offered his Digital SLR camera, that too on his own. Hats off to you Vijay Cavale for that kind gesture!<br /><br />The camera weighing more than a kilo, my intial photographs were blurr! I even tried, stopping my breath to take a few pictures. After a few clicks, I could able to hold the camera properly, but infront of this camera, my own Sony DSC-H2 appeared like a peanut!! (I stared clicking DSC-H2 with one hand). He asked me to carry the camera with me even after our morning session at Syke's point. Since I was new to micro lens, I went very close to take a frog's photograph. This gave a very low depth image of my frog, which Vijay shot later with a distance more than two meters away!!<br /><br />For the next two days, Vijay was my teacher, friend, philosopher and guide in many issues under the sun, starting from photographic lessons to leading a fruitful life. Words fail to express my sincere thanks to Vijay - The Cavalry. To know more about Vijay Cavale and his passion, visit <a href="http://www.indiabirds.com/">www.indiabirds.com<br /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMifdOoYsKzr64C-tn4_JPyyIjWrTpv64Fid7nBHFJWFWcqTrkl-dTYaH42t_DhkHDmBP6KyYgOXald3jsW5BeZ-Tttm1-GwM6Cz9vqR8NkEKDxNbMkEfF0_rBWyk8IvuvdU0QIvw1noI/s1600-h/Vijay.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/AVvXsEhMifdOoYsKzr64C-tn4_JPyyIjWrTpv64Fid7nBHFJWFWcqTrkl-dTYaH42t_DhkHDmBP6KyYgOXald3jsW5BeZ-Tttm1-GwM6Cz9vqR8NkEKDxNbMkEfF0_rBWyk8IvuvdU0QIvw1noI/s320/Vijay.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5271191950154362114" border="0" /></a>Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-76766499980025063752008-11-21T08:55:00.000-08:002008-11-21T11:39:24.770-08:00The King's Gambit!!STOP...stop...stop...stop...stop! I screamed to CR Nayak. We were on two wheeler, heading towards Dandeli along Kulgi-Dandli road, had come just a kilometer from Kulgi toll gate. Surprised by sudden scream, Nayak pressed hard, both the foot break as well the front one, to get the bike stop at least 10 meters from the spot from where I screamed. Still in his surprise, he looked at my face, with an expression, why did I do that?<br /><br />"King cobra"...I yelled at again and started running back. He followed me, now a bit more confused. I stopped nearly 5-6 m away from the on looking King, dropped my back pack and started searching for the Camera! Literally pulled out from my ever packed bag, my DSC-H2, shot one and for safety clicked one more. What a sight! He was simply majestic. Nearly a feet and a half lifted from the ground. To me, his had the grace of a tusker, looking both ways for the clearance for easy passage. I too was mesmerized with its shimmering black colour, size and the majesty. In fact, I forgot to click more or move closer to have better shot.<br /><br />Mean time, it was Nayak's turn to get stunned at the sight and he intended to go near the King. Fortunately or unfortunately, a scooty came along and its line of arrival was like ours, me and Nayak started signaling those guys to move towards right. In next, few seconds, the King layed flat and started moving back. Since Nayak was very close to the king, my visual estimation of its length was about twice of Nayak's height (around 12ft) and almost 8-10inch in girth. Even in its exit, King showed why he is called 'King' Cobra.<br /><br />It took almost 10minutes for both of us to realize what we had seen. We looked at the path, it was hardly 5 feet from the King's head. Nayak was praising me for my sight and was surprised why he could not see? I told him that both of us were fortunate to see The King in this region 'live'!!! and 'Long live the King'. With a very happy and "achieved" kind of feel, we moved towards Dandeli. This King has etched his image in my memory for very long years to come.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqLo-fEQMu7efK1B4WYfC5ckjNZk2s219Er0aVXj5Bhm1qt780uBgAc5AP192MPB-p2MPTjZ6AvuEVXDjcrDnCmEUzdJ58x7UfILKcPmhMsw3XzcUSEcT2EhR_QyagWgFl67X2Jvb2OkM/s1600-h/The+King.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 228px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqLo-fEQMu7efK1B4WYfC5ckjNZk2s219Er0aVXj5Bhm1qt780uBgAc5AP192MPB-p2MPTjZ6AvuEVXDjcrDnCmEUzdJ58x7UfILKcPmhMsw3XzcUSEcT2EhR_QyagWgFl67X2Jvb2OkM/s320/The+King.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5271183913732099474" border="0" /></a>Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-59158607119745628142008-10-30T15:24:00.000-07:002008-10-30T18:15:03.832-07:00Ekalavya, Drona and Lightening KidScore read 6-3, I started feeling a bit uneasy, more so for the reason that I have to be in the same state for next 48hrs or so. A rare kind of breathlessness, may be similar to those few anxious moments before the final hooter, when India leads against Pakistan in world cup finals (I wish, my dream come true in coming years at least). It is not about Hockey, our national game (which has now become 'neighbours pride and owners envy') or some scene of Chak de India. Its about a game, which was born in India, adapted in Europe, dominated by Russians and brought back to India with great pride, single-handedly like Bhageeratha who brought Ganges.<br /><br />You guessed it right, I am talking about chess and 'our' world champion, <font style="font-weight: bold;">Vishy</font>. On Wednesday night (game started at 3:00pm local time at Bonn, Germany, which is +1:00hr of GMT, means +4.30hr or 7:30pm in India), I was anxiously following the moves on internet of this tournament format of <a href="http://www.uep-worldchess.com/">World championship</a>. With the Sicilian defense, I felt Anand had advantage on the board and was discussing the same with my colleague Karthick. Vishy agreed for a draw on 24th move, and won the World chess championship by 6.5 to 4.5 with a game to spare. I gave the sigh of relief, as though I fought and won a wrestling with a Dutch! I was jubilant, overwhelmed and touched. So far in my life, the most admired sportsperson is Vishy, although I like Kasporov's moves and thinking (much more than what Vishy is), Tendulkar's batting, Schumacher's driving, and Ronaldo's kicks. For me, no one matched a sportsman like Vishy. The humbleness, the gentleness and above all the patience, that's what makes him quite different.<br /><br />I wish to call Vishy, a modern Ekalavya, at a time when we know more of Cricket and a bit too less about hockey, and nothing about Chess, he survived the pressure and won World Junior Championship in 1987. Somewhere at the period, my brother introduced me to Chess, but this teenager having a yellow gray striped full arm tea shirt with one hand folded and other supporting his cheek and chess board in the front, has become my idol. This ekalavya is Dronaacharya to me in Chess.<br /><br />I wish Vishy great chess career ahead, at least till that time, when one more better Vishy is found.Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-83420673919586964072008-10-24T22:46:00.000-07:002008-10-25T00:01:11.576-07:00Feelings...untoldI was touched by <a href="http://naturelyrics.com/">Ganesh H Shankar's </a>article on <a href="http://www.naturelyrics.com/articles/dead_baby_article/dead_baby.html">Dead baby and Mother</a>. Untold emotions and feelings were brilliantly narrated through those portrays. In fact, if it were to be a research article, with plain words, I would n't have read beyond first few lines. Thanks to Ganesh's approach, his photographs have explained beyond words. I always feel that 'words' alone fail to express the feeling.<br /><br />This particular article has etched in my memory so strongly that whenever I try to take photographs, I try to feel the subject first and then look through the camera viewfinder, can I get that emotion? I did a similar thing, when I went to Nandankanan Zoological Park on 24th October 2008. There were troops of free roaming Hanuman Langurs in the park. Light flashed!!! in my mind. First few snaps were that of few sub-adults and their activity. After a while, I caught up with a female. She looked very familiar to me. Especially her eyes! Very expressive. She was telling me something. She seemed to be middle aged. I stop here! No more words...feel yourself what she must be feeling.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDsUmxq4xOXdrNk9Lkc7N56WJKt-B7N-3I2DvgVgjBXqvmtsm36JHRkHrfDe-AJ5Wu2rodXsqi6yaUHT5S48B9lWg7SghAEjV9Dsmd-mzrDvX4jLYxvU04L-awp3uFe_cig05N5I8P-0/s1600-h/Eyes.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 243px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDsUmxq4xOXdrNk9Lkc7N56WJKt-B7N-3I2DvgVgjBXqvmtsm36JHRkHrfDe-AJ5Wu2rodXsqi6yaUHT5S48B9lWg7SghAEjV9Dsmd-mzrDvX4jLYxvU04L-awp3uFe_cig05N5I8P-0/s320/Eyes.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260982947437767730" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5SJsmeQWiNIZvGc5lWXYJSODe_iMCnEB0YGNqro0kXPD6x-0XkZpVZ_ZiqqidCmqcAfvvNlx0DR0h8F9lSpsvXPwQf59x-R8w41E9zDkpD5pUT9yXvIwOfFnWwvYjGggR07NL29c0_zA/s1600-h/Where+I+went+wrong.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 234px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5SJsmeQWiNIZvGc5lWXYJSODe_iMCnEB0YGNqro0kXPD6x-0XkZpVZ_ZiqqidCmqcAfvvNlx0DR0h8F9lSpsvXPwQf59x-R8w41E9zDkpD5pUT9yXvIwOfFnWwvYjGggR07NL29c0_zA/s320/Where+I+went+wrong.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260975106541166610" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAjZlIZApcZVxgISjtzOqnKRCvWJY-CyxQEGDklIjoRVYz8sOAnbh8itE5tpkHj4itme8-Aw4HbbfyOx0Yf6-8cHrTOQLvDx-HJVIjlIwbx2RX-6O-TibBEbbBJVxd_xcHXrJXL8-PSGo/s1600-h/Meditation.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 197px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAjZlIZApcZVxgISjtzOqnKRCvWJY-CyxQEGDklIjoRVYz8sOAnbh8itE5tpkHj4itme8-Aw4HbbfyOx0Yf6-8cHrTOQLvDx-HJVIjlIwbx2RX-6O-TibBEbbBJVxd_xcHXrJXL8-PSGo/s320/Meditation.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260975100725301906" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitaPNI1irqpeXpdtOIgK2BLgb0fRlW2MAncoK9ql95aIBoKNNT2fHsQ6iuzmekfNzsq00UjueYGCalP_GVS09NeaAX4rdHxu06Di2CY70Ra_pWc1itdh14oiHECXUkGTcliqB-gIa8MgA/s1600-h/Will+I+reach.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitaPNI1irqpeXpdtOIgK2BLgb0fRlW2MAncoK9ql95aIBoKNNT2fHsQ6iuzmekfNzsq00UjueYGCalP_GVS09NeaAX4rdHxu06Di2CY70Ra_pWc1itdh14oiHECXUkGTcliqB-gIa8MgA/s320/Will+I+reach.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260975090416197730" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhSzAV-z9uu-yyxSAdCtTbdGzrcOnCQdgo8OKVnxTuBXd0jksd57TWJN3gc8SioQaL4hOL_nATy9sRcanyGjAtSNk93NdWuRS9YS_dv4-_owOAjEaMZJ6cWxzwcE6c8K4uakh4YPuebZA/s1600-h/Will+he+come.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 237px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhSzAV-z9uu-yyxSAdCtTbdGzrcOnCQdgo8OKVnxTuBXd0jksd57TWJN3gc8SioQaL4hOL_nATy9sRcanyGjAtSNk93NdWuRS9YS_dv4-_owOAjEaMZJ6cWxzwcE6c8K4uakh4YPuebZA/s320/Will+he+come.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260975091588975810" border="0" /></a>Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-65562585041392855122008-10-24T05:08:00.000-07:002008-10-25T02:46:59.101-07:00Cycle track! This city is the Bench Mark!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk75FJ6mRolJbI9VyPhBc8eBpW0gl7rOoSRLCjDxrBLahYPpsWp68a5gC_pjkprHgKtQhOuRhfXsjYH65fQ-VWqEGWUv279zRLmz4G3Ft2Wq61MAmLoqG59DsDxveoo4fmo7-oZrULb7Y/s1600-h/DSC01776.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 178px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk75FJ6mRolJbI9VyPhBc8eBpW0gl7rOoSRLCjDxrBLahYPpsWp68a5gC_pjkprHgKtQhOuRhfXsjYH65fQ-VWqEGWUv279zRLmz4G3Ft2Wq61MAmLoqG59DsDxveoo4fmo7-oZrULb7Y/s320/DSC01776.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260741909857850770" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC9FGeUnIhxA5klkqAmG9O0CHHZnYg8gPwksRshbb-T4DBg-LeTvdlPYVG1FY1HMrEsVzEBvyzlxbLSuGRoPfjBF-biym6XP3cmtAMy5QZIXDtEW5Q6DpZtTn7LPaa691tCiAaWPSq1p4/s1600-h/DSC01779.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC9FGeUnIhxA5klkqAmG9O0CHHZnYg8gPwksRshbb-T4DBg-LeTvdlPYVG1FY1HMrEsVzEBvyzlxbLSuGRoPfjBF-biym6XP3cmtAMy5QZIXDtEW5Q6DpZtTn7LPaa691tCiAaWPSq1p4/s320/DSC01779.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260741916821966242" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdUynx0zbpO3pwH_3BObbnOkzRTOvSbkiy-Uqle5m1K7QF3ojKVXE8hMS25HV_DcGptP0ZPGVu-Lmy0Wv4WDgUzsO0GYXHsPOHxRbnRYDNjbMDcindpheHynGqvHVByCLdOWv46mUNaho/s1600-h/DSC01782.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 101px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdUynx0zbpO3pwH_3BObbnOkzRTOvSbkiy-Uqle5m1K7QF3ojKVXE8hMS25HV_DcGptP0ZPGVu-Lmy0Wv4WDgUzsO0GYXHsPOHxRbnRYDNjbMDcindpheHynGqvHVByCLdOWv46mUNaho/s320/DSC01782.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260741921213332578" border="0" /></a><br />I could not believe my eyes! when I saw a board titled "CYCLE TRACK". I checked myself twice, was that wrongly spelled for "Cycle Stand"? 'Bhayya, ye board kyun laga huva hai?' I asked a passerby to verify myself. Indeed, it was meant for cycle and it is a cycle track.<br /><br />No...I am not in Canada, US, Germany or UK to get astonished to see a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segregated_cycle_facilities">cycle track or Bicycle lane</a> (I have not been to any of them so far). I am overwhelmed to say the least, that, it is in fact in India, and that too in Bhubaneshwar, state capital of Orissa state, one of the adversely hit state over the years with natural calamities, most malnutritioned state and not 'so called' tech savvy. I saw this board on Janapath (the main road in Bhubaneswar) and on the way towards Nandankanan Zoological Park. More importantly, people are using this track and tracks are really good too.<br /><br />Those who have peddled their way in Bangalore would agree with me for the need a cycle track. I peddle down from Sanjaynagar to IISc, through 60ft road and then New BEL road. Often I feared of cycling in this road, not because speeding vehicles would crush me, but for the traffic jams that I might create at the speed in which I move (2.4km in 9min), and at places where I have to crossover. In Bangalore, in such conjested city, even 'thinking' about cycle track becomes a crime. Few months back, we had an 'auto lane' on this road, now the roads have got a face lift, yet there is no sign of a safe cycling track.<br /><br />But what an eye opener I had from Bhubaneswar. Its not poor or rich, nor its tech or not-tech or high-tech, its only the 'mind set' that brings about the change. My hearty congratulations to Orissa Government for showing the way to many across the Nation that if the Government has real concern towards people, it would certainly do.Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-16606975371865468122008-10-20T01:09:00.000-07:002008-10-21T11:11:19.502-07:00Four men in a boat<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb90L7P574W4lZlHSnZRkFrMlk60GCVylJ7jMRT3ObXYpt044YnKIgxEIwpNhYPQXgNQKz7viKtNpv_24vy6DNEY8XigatMSE83hm1yg_-SlgMNsDnCFdKD4HyS6e1R4BKKP2gvOQXMeo/s1600-h/DSC01387.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb90L7P574W4lZlHSnZRkFrMlk60GCVylJ7jMRT3ObXYpt044YnKIgxEIwpNhYPQXgNQKz7viKtNpv_24vy6DNEY8XigatMSE83hm1yg_-SlgMNsDnCFdKD4HyS6e1R4BKKP2gvOQXMeo/s320/DSC01387.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259206501804713458" border="0" /></a><br />Many thanks to a marriage ceremony, more so to the punctuality of it, a typical of Udupi district, we were free after 1:30pm on that day and had plans to execute, especially to visit 'St.Mary's Island' near Malpe in the Arabian Sea (West coast of India). After having a sumptous'25±2' varieties in a single meal (seems pretty less! compared to a typical Udupi lunch!!), none of us were in the mood to do any thing, apart from a nap. In fact, Karthick and Sudhira took a brief nap too. Adding more to what seemed an near impossible mission was a mention of 'no boat service in the evening time'! But when the people are born positive, they find some thing in impossible too.<br /><br />Finally, with quite a bit of networking with Aravind, Guruprasad and Kamalesh, we had a good flash news awaiting us! '4:00pm is the last motor boat to St.Mary's island'. As Amit had gone to Sri Krishna Math, myself, Karthick and Sudhira were anxiously waiting his return. Finally at 2:55pm, we left Sri Kathyayini Kalyana Mantapa of Kadiyali and started walking. There was a kind of 'strict' information from Guruprasad, 'not to get into auto rickshaw' as it is waste of money, since there are city bus service for every two minutes towards Udupi bus stand. So we got into a city bus as soon as we stood in the Kadyali bus stop. In next 8 minutes we were in Udupi bus stand.<br /><br />I searched a bus with a board indicating 'Malpe' as its destination with 'via' places. All four got into a bus that read Malpe, lo, bus could not move. There was some air block in the engine! Time was ticking or rather I was very conscious about it (a week back my sister presented it to me), it was showing 3:06pm. Four of us were seeing each others' face, but there was a killing smile on all. Next two minutes, one more bus came and in next one minute, we were off towards Malpe.<br /><br />Its worth mentioning here about the bus service in Udupi. Amazing, awesome and accurate! Extra-ordinary control over the vehicle, sense of timing, above all providing good service. As per the instruction from Aravind, we got down at Malpe bus stand (otherwise bus will go to Malpe beach!which is far off). Took two water bottles and asked the shop keeper about boat timings and way to reach. Time now was 3:32pm. Shop keeper said, the last boat is at 4:00pm and only if stipulated head counts of 30 is reached. He also said to us that we should come early in the morning, so as to see and enjoy this island leisurely. Otherwise, we have to return by 5:30pm as the last boat that brings us back starts from the Island at that time. So we will be having hardly an hour to spend at the Island (about 20-30min is required to reach the Island). We spoke to a autowallah to take us inside the Malpe harbour! Reply was the same old story, but with lot more elaboration (Udupi accent of Kannada! Very melodious to listen)!!<br /><br />Sudhira led us from the front and we started walking! On the way saw the fisher man folding their fishing nets and unforgettable 'fishy' smell all over the place!! A thought that came to my mind was, even if we miss this trip, nothing to worry!!! Mainly because, as one is on the sea shore, there is always plenty to see, think, watch, observe, photography etc. Later Karthick and Sudhira told me that they were also thinking the same! What a mind match!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsTNzGuxEDrLoycSojbXBwgp_69ZvLRV6rg3ql7KT3YgpZhh80EaqLeahqz08uIsTizaJWmHqvJ0LUgXyUFu4b4m8erOcjpcXPtFmdwyqkoQUUHbZJFRJW7SxAdLzxhA_wnpov33-zPps/s1600-h/DSC01302.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsTNzGuxEDrLoycSojbXBwgp_69ZvLRV6rg3ql7KT3YgpZhh80EaqLeahqz08uIsTizaJWmHqvJ0LUgXyUFu4b4m8erOcjpcXPtFmdwyqkoQUUHbZJFRJW7SxAdLzxhA_wnpov33-zPps/s320/DSC01302.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259206497595184210" border="0" /></a><br />We took an entry pass into Malpe harbour (Rs.1 each), reached the ticket counter. A gentle man was waving his hand to us as to get into the boat very fast. Again, invariably my eyes followed my mind, the time was 3:52pm. My tight lips gave a strange smile to myself! it was similar on others too. The lady at the counter said, Rs. 70 each and totals to Rs.280. We paid the amount and got into the boat. We placed ourselves at the rear end of the boat. Plenty of people, yet the head count was 21!! In another 7 min, a group of 12 arrived and boat started at 4:03pm.<br /><br />Engine started releasing a blue coloured gas, which went straight into my nose! Then I realised why people did not sit where we were sitting! But as the boat moved, from the shore, there was no sign of this gaseous plume.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu-owypef5fWNtBdrWPTFzTXkXGZmUxaumjVdFqufCL1bQGT0N0tTOkJmMVm_ajZJHvNKQXacGd4yLCogtu4G4GduhvYYd_9Pmt3WOTOKGmW8VeUx4zr3tzm6uMi_q51Cn46ed7pst-gc/s1600-h/DSC01320.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu-owypef5fWNtBdrWPTFzTXkXGZmUxaumjVdFqufCL1bQGT0N0tTOkJmMVm_ajZJHvNKQXacGd4yLCogtu4G4GduhvYYd_9Pmt3WOTOKGmW8VeUx4zr3tzm6uMi_q51Cn46ed7pst-gc/s320/DSC01320.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259206502945119474" border="0" /></a><br />As we started moving further into the sea, the dock yard started appearing as a big industrial building, the Malpe beach as an yellow strip along the bluish green sea. I saw the boat going up and down, cutting through the greenish blue water. I also saw that there are ditches and potholes and my god! mini large pond like depressions in the sea. From a distance, sea appears quite, calm evenly surfaced water body (except for those high tide times and during rough monsoon time) and its only when you travel at least a kilometer from the shore, one would realize what actually a sea is! Saw many Brahminy kites circling above, a few Terns, Brown headed gull, a flock of over thousand waders on one edge of the St.Mary's Island. I could able to make it as flock of waders for the very reason that they flew up, took a round and sat again on the same stony shore!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhADa2PQl6izWA3mqg0HNe36_eMbEjIbVZrnO02mXedNYagRLG4RRwiP3VWRM-NV5KsVIyBDWDJ-kxqSHQwwLK67RdUe3JVjrWCWoaEJUVrkOmKCzlOK1YzREhQN0HPpzkBIg1QE3XULMQ/s1600-h/DSC01329.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhADa2PQl6izWA3mqg0HNe36_eMbEjIbVZrnO02mXedNYagRLG4RRwiP3VWRM-NV5KsVIyBDWDJ-kxqSHQwwLK67RdUe3JVjrWCWoaEJUVrkOmKCzlOK1YzREhQN0HPpzkBIg1QE3XULMQ/s320/DSC01329.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259206509912362562" border="0" /></a><br />In another 20min, we reached nearer to St.Mary's island. Our boat did not go near to the Island, I thought we have to walk in the water, as I did in Chilka lake during December 2004. Fortunately, boatman did not give enough time for me to ponder over these issues, one more boat came and picked us up and went straight to the island through a roap way system. This is what I really like the people of coastal region (especially from Mangalore and Udupi). In this system, there will be an anchored boat having a rope from it towards the Island (tied around a rock over there) and the other end of the rope is pulled by our boatman, so that our boat reaches the shore. Wonderful! Still we could not completely land on the Island, but made an effort to not get our foot wet! The boatman categorically warned us that we should be back by 5:30pm. I checked my watch, it was 4:30pm. We have 60min to roam on the island. First we thought of going to the place where we saw waders, but as soon as we landed, our mind went hey wards. Indeed, there were at least 10 'young' ladies, welcoming us (In fact, they wanted to leave the place!!)! In a way, we cursed our timing, to quote, Sudhira 'Is this unfortunately fortunate or fortunately unfortunate?' Soon my mind vanished into the title song of 'Kaho na pyar hai', only to be brought back by those standing brilliant rock pillars of the Island.<br /><br />Next 60 min on the Island is an experience, I cannot express with these limited words of the language. We could able to cover only the north half of the island. The west shore was completely covered with varieties of shells!!! I saw at the end of the trip a guy was carrying at least few kilograms of empty shell in a polythene. What was more exciting to me was the rock formations in the island. Straight pillar like formations, clubbed together with a hexagonal pattern (when you view from the top) to them. I was struggling a lot, as any shot of the rock was against light, in addition, drizzling to ensure, I must keep my camera back safely in its pouch and secure it in my backpack. I simply obeyed the nature's command! but not very soon.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkZA0A1YaSGOX3geyTioXDiBFCy6V9PMsT8Q_vOvmx4ZmsCRaT_Z2PtWZzXyLYj5WAxbYs_E-rCwgS2DUC8jOIb0Dv73v4Djqf2JVVoarlnfrN8xFuaO9KjYMhzU_376jAK-bQxEDPZz4/s1600-h/DSC01361.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkZA0A1YaSGOX3geyTioXDiBFCy6V9PMsT8Q_vOvmx4ZmsCRaT_Z2PtWZzXyLYj5WAxbYs_E-rCwgS2DUC8jOIb0Dv73v4Djqf2JVVoarlnfrN8xFuaO9KjYMhzU_376jAK-bQxEDPZz4/s320/DSC01361.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259207157654521138" border="0" /></a><br />We took some photographs! and started walking back from the eastern shore. This shore line is sandy! unlike the western shore and few people were enjoying the water. We saw a plover on one of those rocks. Took some pictures again. By this time, we heard loud honks from the boat far off from the shore, still it was 5:20pm only. We hurriedly got back into the boat and drizzling got intense. I thought my laptop will get wet and hence stood under a blue tarpaulin of the boat. Soon that tarpaulin tilted and water came pouring on my head! Thanks to my cap! Only he got wet and not me!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgjOj839EO2Zarx0kbYVTD9e0A9QmgwD9nKPe6iHAhe57i1YCRWy-2_EuisT_wnPgNKeKFGyJMJpx3GRD_Y0kT0J3az1Vrdh2dSqMtx86i1todgcwREgLsW_oIeFMEa0zXh-W2e2crUl8/s1600-h/DSC01390.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgjOj839EO2Zarx0kbYVTD9e0A9QmgwD9nKPe6iHAhe57i1YCRWy-2_EuisT_wnPgNKeKFGyJMJpx3GRD_Y0kT0J3az1Vrdh2dSqMtx86i1todgcwREgLsW_oIeFMEa0zXh-W2e2crUl8/s320/DSC01390.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259207151453308722" border="0" /></a><br />People started pouring in and two boats were full. We were dropped in to the major boat with which we traveled and this bridging boat was simply tied to our boat. Again applause to these boatman for saving the fuel of their boat. Mean time, I saw few more people still on the shore! At this point, my mind again went back to 'Kaho na pyar hai', and started thinking what would those people be thinking...will they get a boat to come back! Or they have to pay more for some private boat!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QLVv7HW6rCedmyN46oPzKou2zQYApbrHPpIlEsMGN-avQxsYOg3wr84gKyEjLisAPqbNS6_48dD8p53RMHuS5m2Qw9VSc7N0JVLrmzaCdJefSXSbOfVdQuPjgfwrAWxsxn5e-qYHzsA/s1600-h/DSC01385.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QLVv7HW6rCedmyN46oPzKou2zQYApbrHPpIlEsMGN-avQxsYOg3wr84gKyEjLisAPqbNS6_48dD8p53RMHuS5m2Qw9VSc7N0JVLrmzaCdJefSXSbOfVdQuPjgfwrAWxsxn5e-qYHzsA/s320/DSC01385.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259207148292394402" border="0" /></a><br />As boat started back towards the Malpe shore, drizzling stopped and we were getting wonderful rainbows and sun light from our back. I took out my camera, and started clicking as though to capture everything in next 5min. Finally, we reached Malpe dockyard by 6:30pm.Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-62676672348728160762008-10-13T22:39:00.000-07:002008-10-14T04:32:12.415-07:00Auto fare and 20 more!!I am a regular commuter of one of the best mass transport system in India, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore_Metropolitan_Transport_Corporation">BMTC</a> (Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation) bus. Once in a while, as change to routine, instead of BMTC, I do go in Auto Rickshaw. This time it was on Sunday (12th October 2008), I was returning from N.R.Colony towards IISc, at around 7:20pm.<br /><br />I generally 'request' autowallas, whether they are willing to come towards my destination of interest"? This I have learnt over the years that nearly 80% of the time, there will be destination mismatch, if you ask!! As an example would be, if you ask for Basavanagudi at KR Market, he would say 'Yashwanthapura' (for general information, Basavanagudi is in south Bangalore, while Yashwanthapura is in north Bangalore, with an aerial distance of about 8km between them). So instead of asking, I started 'requesting', thinking that at least request might have an impact on listener.<br /><br />So, I 'requested' quite a few and the kind of responses I got were really cases for psychological studies. May be a doctoral thesis can be made on this subject. Some look at your face, from top to bottom, as though I spoke to them in Latin or like why this beggar is getting into my auto? or will he pay the money as he gets down? Other kind of response are like as though they have not listened to you, or releasing the clutch so that the vehicle moves and you should make out that he is not interested. Not to list only the negatives, there are some times overwhelming responses, with smile, and advising me that I should not 'request' and it is the very duty of every autowallas to carry a passenger where ever he wants to go and so on. In all these cases, I have no issues at all. But the kind of response, which I am narrating now, is really annoying and feel like taking them to task. For my request this autowalla responded, "<span>ಮೀಟರ್</span> <span>ಮೇಲೆ</span> 20 <span>ರೂಪಾಯಿ</span> <span>ಕೊಡಿ</span> <span>ಸಾರ್</span>! <span>ವಾಪಾಸು</span> <span>ಖಾಲಿ</span> <span>ಬರಬೇಕ್ಕಲ್ಲ</span>, <span>ಅದಕ್ಕೆ</span>!!" (Translation: Pay Rs. 20 more on meter charge! as I have to come back empty!!). Though my fuse was blown out, I tried to convey him that I will not pay a single rupee above the metered charge, with stiff voice. One of the best demonstration of voice modulation and its utility can be given in such conversations. Probably going by my voice and native language, he accepted me into his auto, but started murmuring as I was about sit. I got down and said, "I do not want to create scene as I get down near IISc, more over I will not pay a single rupee more even if you do all kinds of drama there". He accepted me again and sat in the auto.<br /><br />If there is any slogan that unites autowallas, then the above one can be rated as the best. There is one more to their slogan list, that is "<span>ಒನ್</span> <span>ಅಂಡ್</span> <span>ಹಾಫ್</span>" or "<span>ಡಬಲ್</span>" <span>ಕೊಡಿ</span>!! (Translation: pay one and half or double). Once, I just landed from Delhi at Yashwanthpur and 'requested' an autowalla for a drop at IISc (I walk down the distance from Yashwanthpur railway station to IISc, when I carry very less luggage, it is hardly 2km). He said Rs.80 for it. I lowered my voice and told him, I needed only his auto service and not his 'personal service'. I think he could not make out my wit there.<br /><br />On the way, this autowalla started speaking about the problems of autowallas, family, traffic, commuters, police, tariff, meter, gas, potholes, etc. He was talking every thing under the sun and finally tying it with autofare. I do feel for the autowallas, but the issue here is about service. Since its being programmed that for every kilometer the rate is Rs.7, it includes the Gas, service, etc. There is not point in asking for more. I do not understand 'for going back empty' we have to pay. Money is given for the service provided and not for service anticipated!! If some one gives as TIPS, I have no issues. But demanding TIPS from all is unethical. There are people who are economically under privileged, for them going in auto itself is very demanding. In fact, if they reach the nearest destination from where BMTC service is available, they would go only up to that point. For them too, if Rs. 20 over the meter is asked, where is the ethics!?<br /><br />Finally, I reached IISc. The meter read Rs.70, I paid the same and in addition gave him 'THANKS'.Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-1190575230347056182008-10-11T22:13:00.000-07:002008-10-11T23:42:29.852-07:00ಆ ದಿನಗಳು!Wildlife week 2008After being an activist for two days, I managed to come out that state of mind and even from Karwar. Rao, Karthick, Durga and Amit moved towards Kumta, while myself, Dhaval, Shrikant, Tushar and Vishnu started towards Dandeli. The plan was to drop me in Dandeli to have a discussion with DCF and field work for two days (all alone) and others would move towards Yellapura.<br /><br />Since it was 7th October, the last day of wildlife week, chances of meeting DCF was more than 100%, my only concern was whether he will be able to spare time for me! After having a cup of tea at Kumbarvada, I took driver's seat and reached Kulgi nature camp at 1:30pm. It was, in a sense, perfect timing, as lunch was being served on the occasion of wildlife week. Without any second thought, we all took our positions in the que and started having our lunch.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLOflRmK5crMagpRTB-CBtLPUTsnxdPkM-B64Z40hbha71Kfyxo01k6Ktmmd20QcG8rz7QKSAqWXHYjj62xBkcPVYWMY2e7TRoU7GfrutGpo46cD22mvOktuN42Rzebz-uWqTD3sQSgyQ/s1600-h/quiz_wildlife+week.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLOflRmK5crMagpRTB-CBtLPUTsnxdPkM-B64Z40hbha71Kfyxo01k6Ktmmd20QcG8rz7QKSAqWXHYjj62xBkcPVYWMY2e7TRoU7GfrutGpo46cD22mvOktuN42Rzebz-uWqTD3sQSgyQ/s320/quiz_wildlife+week.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256149903488576802" border="0" /></a><br />In the mean time, I met Dr. Bhat from forestry college and Sri. Balachandra Hegde. They asked few pictures of frog for the quiz competition. In next few minutes, I was in their tent with three photographs and three movies and at the back of my mind was my days in these wildlife week quiz! I turned a bit nostalgic, recounting the interesting event that made me to get into these quiz competitions.<br /><br />It was in the year 1990, when I was studying 9th, I happened to attend a wildlife week interactive session held at ATNCC (Acharya Tulsi National College of Commerce) auditorium. There was one middle aged, short but stout person, telling about bird watching, what needs to be done, how one has to dress, what to bring etc for the next day's field visit. (He was none other than Prof. A.S.Chandrasekhar, Principal (retired), Sahyadri science college, under him I graduated from that college). In the same bench, was a senior friend from Ravindranagar locality, Purushotham (now Doctor) holding a book - A Pictorial guide to the birds of the Indian subcontinent. As a inquisitive boy, I asked him what is that book and how to use? He was probably overwhelmed as it was a prize he got in the quiz and not really bothered about my questions. But one good thing happened to me...I thought if I too win a prize in this wildlife week quiz, I will also get the same book and there will not be any struggle for me to search for bird information (I used to visit Balavana library, in the erstwhile Minizoo, where forest department has kept 'the Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan', to cross check which bird I saw on that Sunday, and these books looked too heavy for my size, even the librarian was looking at me as though I would be crushed under its weight). This is probably the turning point in my life to attend quiz programs. Only hurdle was, I have to get into college to participate in Quiz as there was no quiz for high school students.<br /><br />In the next year, our entire family got involved in various competitions of wildlife week, and got as many as five prizes, of which two to me (essay writing and slogan) and one each to my dad, brother and sister. Unfortunately, from that year onwards, the prizes were not Bird books, which I was aiming at, but books by C.H. Basappanavar's on tigers.<br /><br />My first quiz program in the wildlife week was with my fellow senior friend Mr. Harish N.S., in 1993, I was in my second year Pre-University and he was in first year Bachelors. I still recount that event, quiz master was Sri. Raghavendra Rao, Teacher from Jayaprakash Narayan Highschool near McGann Hospital, shimoga. First two rounds we were struggling to get past 2o points, in the visual round, we gained 110 points and at the end of the event, we won with more than 130 points from the second place. It was my first ever, first in Quiz. Harish and myself became so good partners and we were regarded as nightmares in any quiz competitions held in the region.<br /><br />Coming back to Dandeli event, I requested organizers, to have some prize for the audience too. As usual they made provisions for chocolates. First round first question was on Nilgiri tahr and chocolate came straight to me! After three chocolates, organizers said, you had taken enough and they provide only 'applause' for me! I changed my seat sat next to some forest officials, made them also to have some chocolates!! I felt as though my days of college is back and I am attending a quiz with the same zeal and enthu!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXrBkmohIrxRVrvJaxsIK1_ESfzfTLQqYNUJNkYdgAxlN1ute6V9PnxxMP0betXhONQMjhaOlo6vK5SATDo3EHYFJqas8s4ojoFm9pHa-2CTojrbF_IlcOvG7RqMxVM5CXZn7aXnubFg/s1600-h/quiz_wildlife+week1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXrBkmohIrxRVrvJaxsIK1_ESfzfTLQqYNUJNkYdgAxlN1ute6V9PnxxMP0betXhONQMjhaOlo6vK5SATDo3EHYFJqas8s4ojoFm9pHa-2CTojrbF_IlcOvG7RqMxVM5CXZn7aXnubFg/s320/quiz_wildlife+week1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256150559072386978" border="0" /></a><br />Thanks to DCF, Bhat and Hegde to accommodate this fully grown child in the quiz event and making me to cherish and relish those wonderful days of my college.Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-34386106314078310022008-10-11T20:05:00.000-07:002008-10-11T22:04:29.854-07:00Catching up the Rajdhani<p></p>'Jumping a road divider, squirming through speeding vehicle, cursing railways for putting the very train in last platform and making me run that entire length like a 100m dash of life, screaming at the porter for not catching up with speed at which I am running and finally making into a running train' - this is neither a script of any movie nor a heroic story of a passerby. Above all, I always thought that such things can happen only in films (filmy eshtyle: father and son chatting all the issue on the globe, and only as the train starts moving, father runs the entire platform to handover the ticket that was kept inside his pocket) or in dream or after marriage (if so fortunate!). Surprisingly, this came a package to me on 13th August 2008, seeking all experience, energy and mind, and finally to keep my track record still straight and clean; I have never missed a train.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMw6nXLgvQPu-k2FjpMDRBwcerOCKtyreduAfyO88yhRjrA7dqIPubghKbt_kKSeLAxTwYlqUhArzdEpKK3mrjg4ywKA1F4vkYvMJKsia2lpcobGjLmXrU0MHOjyjy1V3oFoe7801zNMg/s1600-h/Rajdhani.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMw6nXLgvQPu-k2FjpMDRBwcerOCKtyreduAfyO88yhRjrA7dqIPubghKbt_kKSeLAxTwYlqUhArzdEpKK3mrjg4ywKA1F4vkYvMJKsia2lpcobGjLmXrU0MHOjyjy1V3oFoe7801zNMg/s320/Rajdhani.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256126047902557986" border="0" /></a><br />My supervisor is known for packing, not the luggage but persons. He seemed to be well experienced in putting frogs into weighing pan!! Five of us, Amit Yadav, Rao, Ray and Vishnu were forced to fit into an Ambassador, with all our luggage (at least 2 for each). Poor car, it looked as though it was directly taken from ICCU and ready give its last breath on the way. Interestingly, the driver too looked the same to me. A 60+ man in his all white uniform, putting all his energy to show that he too can survive in Bangalore. The way in which he was struggling to putting our luggage in the dickey, we joined our hands to help him out. Finally, we started off, towards railway station.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwtlhCi1CQHmyFdCLFkulVcqNI86X5E595Car50qkgC6vALBWw6X783vfI8nJzlBEuMemRnN_vLFuE5i7sMWgxVMO435IClbgkXzOScBgfgmpj_HJEcFee7HHZFA-AsI1hb8_bo2V1oc/s1600-h/team-himachal.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwtlhCi1CQHmyFdCLFkulVcqNI86X5E595Car50qkgC6vALBWw6X783vfI8nJzlBEuMemRnN_vLFuE5i7sMWgxVMO435IClbgkXzOScBgfgmpj_HJEcFee7HHZFA-AsI1hb8_bo2V1oc/s320/team-himachal.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256126498404295282" border="0" /></a><br />The car was so emotional, I think it had sixth sense and very well knew that this will be the last trip, that it did not want to go out of the campus. To me, this journey appeared as a battle between two senile elephants, not for selecting a mate, but to know who will die first. As the elderly man wanted to change the gear, the car never accepted it at the first instance, it protested violently (as though some has pinched the bottom), shook the body, almost ready to stop and say 'I am dead'. Evenly poised and reluctant was the driver, he also wanted to prove a point or two. So he used to bring down the gear and push the gear up twice, amidst these protests, the car finally accepted gear number two, as though she has to chose good among the drunkards. I was feeling that we were having an evening walk in the car along the busy streets of Bangalore.<br /><br />With all these scenes, we managed to come up to the main entrance of the railway station, but were supposed to take a roundabout to reach the railway station. There was a huge traffic and driver was telling us it would take another 30 minutes to clear. At this point of time, it was 8:14pm according to Station time board and Rajdhani was supposed to leave at 8:20pm. In another, 4 minutes, the car moved only 4 feet. So we took a decision, to jump out of the car, jump the road divider and ram into the railway station. Ray, Rao, Amit and Vishnu picked up their luggage, and I was about to do the same, the driver came hurriedly and said, "sir please put your signature, otherwise I will not get the money". I was about to shout at that fellow, instead put my signature and did all other things in a filmy style. Only thing was a heroine missing to accompany me!<br /><br /><br />Strange feelings started pouring in my mind, as I started running through the platform, I felt as though I am running for my life, if I miss this train, I may not live? or how to get it canceled and book another train? above all how, to face the Supervisor? Can he make out this situation? or for at least today, can the train start a bit late (as it happens with other trains!)? These few minutes were really tough, not because it drains physical energy, but drains my mind too, which is far more strenuous to me than running a mile.<br /><br />With all push, pull, struggle, jiggle and a bit of scolding too, I managed to reach the guard's cabin, which has already started moving. I asked him, Can I put my luggage here and will pick it up in the next station? His experience is more than my qualification is, in a calm but strong voice, he said, some one has pulled the chain, so get into the cabin to which you belong, train will take another 5minutes to start!!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgskZsnJhRqs-yu-QhkQzlINxMEa-7-k2xfERkzZD3_hwPNf958J8g7bP_N30ZFQ22U0B6BM-Tir-mP1SeIN2CpmtxgeQVLrn4cVfp6tU1R4OYux4YFoAoRWSJKFx-Bm-o5-98qp0fGmY8/s1600-h/pullchainstoptrain.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgskZsnJhRqs-yu-QhkQzlINxMEa-7-k2xfERkzZD3_hwPNf958J8g7bP_N30ZFQ22U0B6BM-Tir-mP1SeIN2CpmtxgeQVLrn4cVfp6tU1R4OYux4YFoAoRWSJKFx-Bm-o5-98qp0fGmY8/s320/pullchainstoptrain.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256126951693515330" border="0" /></a><br />Finally, five of us put our luggage into a bogie and stood for a minute or two to take our breathe and Rajdhani started moving. Did our hi fives, shook hands, congratulated each other, saying we made it. It was a sigh of relief, more for not giving reasons, how we missed train! I took out tickets and inquired with a pantry car fellow, with his answer I was about to faint! We landed in B1 and were supposed to go to B9! that means we have another mile to walk within train with all our luggage on! Incredible India and Incredible Indians.Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2077053422167747350.post-44918088376402446642008-08-09T07:12:00.000-07:002008-08-10T04:40:22.398-07:00Driving in the darkness - From Kemmanagundi to ChikkamagaluruOur official driver, Mr. Shrikanth had viral fever and the Doctor advised him to take rest with a course of antibiotics and some paracetamol. This is the blessing in disguise to me!!! From past 3 nights, I was asking Shrikanth to allow me to drive in the high altitudes of Bababudan hill ranges and he denied every time. But today, I finally made him to take rest in the lodge where we were stationed, and started off with Mr. Dinesh of ZSI, Calicut and our evergreen hero from Kumta, Mr. Vishnu D Mukri at around 3:00pm. We have Mahindra CL 550 from the Department, a vehicle suitable for two, but we carry as many as 6-8 in it.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ-5lJSdFPKyL8PVMw2dCEE8mAe0bVkO3u2ATagM0pwfBb7VRw8O-ZyOYTMrDrHZyE7AW6MzVmku0kbEdA820phQDPcUL8dBRXsN0vZhcoTDR9PrmPG5JDjOcX_2zU-eu_EcetCLg6epo/s1600-h/DSC07227.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ-5lJSdFPKyL8PVMw2dCEE8mAe0bVkO3u2ATagM0pwfBb7VRw8O-ZyOYTMrDrHZyE7AW6MzVmku0kbEdA820phQDPcUL8dBRXsN0vZhcoTDR9PrmPG5JDjOcX_2zU-eu_EcetCLg6epo/s320/DSC07227.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232528828703028242" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcR11H7kLKutl1vzLlRDM9pob-8DYkGZiTqT6adbe7Qs4RuVjVyNqUs1lDv_ADvMgaOvmLZyrufa76GJDB3wWAXdLBcdv_BpY_zlkJGGCe1OV_8OehPjApD8DOJtA37JylTZ3nAYJnTyg/s1600-h/DSC07266.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcR11H7kLKutl1vzLlRDM9pob-8DYkGZiTqT6adbe7Qs4RuVjVyNqUs1lDv_ADvMgaOvmLZyrufa76GJDB3wWAXdLBcdv_BpY_zlkJGGCe1OV_8OehPjApD8DOJtA37JylTZ3nAYJnTyg/s320/DSC07266.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232528832877870674" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMvqSU9WOCthd-PJsfykxCdkLs3u9IKaNyEunqeK0l3rSW4WWTRZEJzS2pm88r-pnsDL_MZkZW5q9tTQHbojGN_ZaMdsE5bPRObD53j2ftSSqOEa-YTmkzMmAmjgi1UvzXvFRQkdgUeI/s1600-h/DSC07156.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMvqSU9WOCthd-PJsfykxCdkLs3u9IKaNyEunqeK0l3rSW4WWTRZEJzS2pm88r-pnsDL_MZkZW5q9tTQHbojGN_ZaMdsE5bPRObD53j2ftSSqOEa-YTmkzMmAmjgi1UvzXvFRQkdgUeI/s320/DSC07156.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232528620097181122" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQsVoj1BAuh5jZFGwNLizburpJza15edy7wytOLTr5EQAGHyH9zeNVaqSKCLuBsceZAs4nnKHfDrAF2oAUiowqx3woZRUqA08v3loV0mBqRmAuzgfXrQyDlGr8cjoTRoZytU-oh1zOikw/s1600-h/DSC07247.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQsVoj1BAuh5jZFGwNLizburpJza15edy7wytOLTr5EQAGHyH9zeNVaqSKCLuBsceZAs4nnKHfDrAF2oAUiowqx3woZRUqA08v3loV0mBqRmAuzgfXrQyDlGr8cjoTRoZytU-oh1zOikw/s320/DSC07247.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232528830100669538" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRC17-sB0vgSaB9uYBxlXFAzJghAambJdCGvq2CGxM7-sUP1vvF2oTSeBZjhXCSDwe-whK3pORWOPjauhJMDbszv5NNUUWjQzKQEuu85_OoI-GQsJFNU8VN6WBojyGXYERoJGExL9isx8/s1600-h/DSC08135.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRC17-sB0vgSaB9uYBxlXFAzJghAambJdCGvq2CGxM7-sUP1vvF2oTSeBZjhXCSDwe-whK3pORWOPjauhJMDbszv5NNUUWjQzKQEuu85_OoI-GQsJFNU8VN6WBojyGXYERoJGExL9isx8/s320/DSC08135.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232850099149686898" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNwyYIdsbdoV-z2-Dzf1HHxAlfJB80mJZYOuO4WK6MO93LROSiD0cn_vj5vOEZQrWTb0tGNacswnFoWw7NFmX0VDRrz8t0FzyhFezVrUcJNkoSuLk_r-DwVUP68B86huhaTnxbplkcW4/s1600-h/DSC07012.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNwyYIdsbdoV-z2-Dzf1HHxAlfJB80mJZYOuO4WK6MO93LROSiD0cn_vj5vOEZQrWTb0tGNacswnFoWw7NFmX0VDRrz8t0FzyhFezVrUcJNkoSuLk_r-DwVUP68B86huhaTnxbplkcW4/s320/DSC07012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232850094628266354" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I took the road that leads to Bababudan hills. This possibly the oldest hill formation in south India (of Archean type) making a semi-circle attachment to the long standing Western Ghats. We were at Attigundi at around 4:00pm and had a nice cup of tea and kodbale from hotel Bismilla! Rain started as we started moving up, at K. Kindi, where we cut across the Ghats and move to the other side of the hill range, the breeze was too heavy and fog reduced the visibility to just 2/3meters. This is just amazing and I have no words to explain apart from few snaps. I felt the whole stretch to be very romantic, especially for the chill, breeze, fog and greenary. Simultaneously, it was seeking my knowledge on geology, vegetation and faunal components.<br /><br /><br />By 8:00pm, I really had tough time in driving. Heavy rain, plus fog and added to it are potholes, for every one hole, three are free. Thanks to Mr. Dinesh, for regularly cleaning the glass for me and to Mr. Vishnu for constantly telling me that a guy is sitting behind. We reached Chikkamagaluru by 10:00pm via Lingadahalli. More on the field visit in the next blog.Dr. Gururaja K Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08784974106570562573noreply@blogger.com0