Waterman of India- Sri.Rajendra Singh at Pondicherry

Pondicherry Science Forum with a host of voluntary organisations and NGOs, govt. departments, farmers' associations, activist groups from Puducherry, Auroville, Villupuram and Cuddalore (PAVC) which forms a bioregion came together to form a People's Collective called the All for WATER for All (All for Water, Water for All) and launched a sever week long Water Festival 2016.



This was launched on the 2nd February 2016, the World Wetlands' Day and will go upto 22nd March 2016 which is the World Water Day.


The entire bioregion is divided into 7 sub regions and in each bioregion 7 days of activities would be held - total 7 sub regions and 7 weeks - to have a massive outreach programme to reach out to the children, women, youth, farmers, and the general public - to create an effective awareness programme around water in the entire bioregion.


In this connection, we had the Waterman of India - Sri.Rajendra Singh visiting Pondicherry on the 5th of March 2016 where he joined a team of bird watching in the morning around the Ousitteri Lake, the largest lake in Pondicherry. Later he interacted with the public at Sharanam near Ousitteri Lake.


He appreciated the efforts of the All for WATER for All collective and individual and collective efforts of Pondicherrians in protecting its water resources.


Some photos of Sri Rajendra Singhji during his interactions.

Parsi Streets and architecture in Mumbai.

These are shots taken on a rainy day in November 2015 as a small group of us wanting to see these wonderful large buildings.  They have a unique structure and  visibly different from the modern buildings. The Parsis came to India from Iran about 900+ years ago. 

Some images from Pune, rural markets, flowers and ....

Death and Rebirth

We die momentarily 

When dear ones depart us
But we are reborn 
with their energies 
transferred to us
and may be 
they live in us, 
through us
Provided 
we are worthy 
of being the carrier of 
"their" lives..
for what
they stood 
in their lives,
the values they fought for
the virtues which they cultivated ...

Butterflies...(Lemon pancy)

To catch butterflies in camera is a bit challenging especially because of their random movements which in one way could be one of their strategies to evade from their predators.. This Lemon pancy was spotted in the Regional Institute of Education, Mysore near the Godavari Guest House on the 8th of August 2015 when I had been there for a workshop for teachers..

From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junonia_lemonias

Junonia lemonias, the lemon pansy, is a common nymphalid butterfly found in South. It is found in gardens, fallow land, and open wooded areas. The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies with about 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. These are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a reduced pair of forelegs and many hold their colourful wings flat when resting. They are also called brush-footed butterflies or four-footed butterflies; because they are known to stand on only four legs while the other two are curled up;

It is brown with numerous eye-spots as well as black and lemon-yellow spots and lines on the upperside of the wings. The underside is a dull brown, with a number of wavy lines and spots in varying shades of brown and black. There is also an eyespot on the lower side of the forewing. The wet and dry season forms differ considerably in coloration and even shape. In the wet season form the markings are distinct and vivid and the wing shape is a little more rounded. In the dry season form the markings are obscure and pale especially on the underside and the wing margin is more angular and jagged. This helps it camouflage in the dried leaf-litter. The lemon pansy is a very active butterfly and can be seen basking with its wings open facing the sun. It sits very low to the ground and can be approached easily. It feeds with its wings half open. It is a fairly strong flier and flies close to the ground with rapid wing beats and often returns to settle back in the same spots.

Kukkarahalli Lake, Mysore, Karnataka

During my recent trip to Mysore in association with a Training Programme for teachers held at the Regional Institute of Education, Mysore, one of the morning, myself along with two of my friends visited the nearby Kukkarahalli Lake located adjacent to the University of Mysore. A wonderful place well kept and not disturbed much, I could see scores of people walking along the beautiful tracks on the side of the lake. This is also an excellent bird watching site. I had a few snaps taken just before the sun rise and also some views of the lake.

More information regarding this beautiful lake can be had from the link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kukkarahalli_lake. From wikipedia: It provides lung-space to the city. Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, (1794–1868) of the Mysore Dynasty (Kingdom of Mysore) was responsible for getting the lake created, in the year 1864, to provide water for irrigation to about 4000 ha (10,000 acres) of land outside the city.[2] The Lake also used to be a source of water supply to the city of Mysore but over the years, sewage and excessive land encroachments (mostly illegal) and blockage of water flow sources almost led to the eutrophication of the lake. The University of Mysore and the citizen forums of Mysore continue to make efforts to preserve the lake by implementing several remedial measures. 

But my friend from Mysore says that there are new efforts to destroy this lake by having huge large scale constructions around this lake (by the University of Mysore) and which is being opposed by the citizens of Mysore. 

If people of higher learning institutions like the University of Mysore do not understand the importance of such beautiful natural systems, and those who should protect and improve the health of these systems, they themselves start destroying the systems, then what values these institutions will transfer to the young generation?