Thoughts and More

The Best Gift – Books for all ages

Anu — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 03:00:00 +0000

When I won the World Environment Day Contest held by Pratham Books, I was thrilled! Any prize is exciting, but nothing beats a book received as a prize! And I would be getting a copy of their latest offering – “A King Cobra’s summer”! From the moment I told Samhith I had won a prize, and that he would be getting a book, he started asking me when the book would arrive!

And then, last week, the postman held out a parcel which looked a bit too bulky to hold just one book, but it did appear to be from Pratham Books, so I wondered what it could be! And what a surprise it was, to receive not one, but FOUR books from them!!!!

The King Cobra’s summer, like the name suggests, is about a King Cobra which finds its way into a city, and then has to find its way back to the jungle it came from. Along the way, it remembers its journey from birth, and gives us a great insight into the struggles it goes through! A definite learning experience, one which arrived opportunely just after the Nagapanchami festival, and made us re-think about what we do to snakes in the name of prayer and rituals! The festival had just initiated a discussion on snakes, one which had started when we had spotted a snake in our compound and heard about a similar one being killed in the next colony. The book couldn’t have come at a better time!!

Samhith’s favourite from the four was Chasing the Plastic Pisach, a book which deals with the issue of plastics. A recurrent topic in his school, the avoidance as well as re-use and re-cycling of plastic are issues he is familiar with. His school has stopped handing out books in plastic bags, they give us cloth or paper bags instead, and the kids are also encouraged not to bring plastic bags to school! The idea of the ‘plastic pisach’ – the plastic demon – found great favour with him, and he was busy trying to imagine different faces for the demon!

On the other hand, my mother-in-law loved The Case of the Healing Herbs, which talks of herbal remedies she has been using for years! Almost every ailment in our home is first treated by one of her readily available home-made medicines, and they work nine out of ten times! It is only for the odd one which doesn’t seem to listen that we need to visit the doctor! No wonder, Samhith has grown up with no fear of doctors and injections, and even better, no idea of what tablets and tonics taste like! She was thrilled to see these easy remedies in print, that too in a children’s book!

Among the four, In Search of the Rain Woman was the only one which did not make its mark, maybe because it arrived with so many other books!!! Besides, the topic will be more relevant in the summer, when we experience the beginnings of a water crunch, not now when the rain is lashing outside the window, not allowing us to set foot outdoors! I have packed up the book to read during the summer vacation..It will hopefully strike a chord then!!

Meanwhile, thanks so much, Pratham Books, for sending us such a wonderful set of books, which appealed to everyone – from grandmother to grandson!

Our ‘Pet’ Snails!

Anu — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 05:15:00 +0000

Samhith’s fascination for snails is well known to all those who read this blog! This monsoon was no different, though the enthusiasm has worn off a bit for me, and I refused to take pics of every snail we saw! He, of course, continues to look for them, and at last count, we had at least 20 big ones living among the bushes opposite our building, and numerous small ones (babies). The last time he tried to count them, he managed to go till about 80 before the bus arrived and he was forced to stop! That will give you an idea about how prolific the snails are at reproduction!! and also why they are considered pests!!! He has even started thinking of them as his pets, but which he leaves free to roam around, since he doesn’t want to put them in a cage!! We have a variety of snails, ranging from huge ones about 10cm long, to tiny ones less than a centimeter in length! Here are some of them!!

These are the most common snails we see. The shell alone is about 5 cm in length, and about 3 cm in circumference at its widest part. When the snail is out, the complete length goes up to almost 10 cm! These are just estimates.. (I have not got around to actually measuring them, though Samhith wants me to!!)

These are babies of the same variety, so are smaller, with about 3 cm long shells…

And we saw this one at the Maharashtra Nature Park. Samhith took the photograph himself!

And now we come to the twist in the tale. We recently started a tiny kitchen garden at home with a few pots on our window sill (more about that later), and to our surprise, we found some really tiny snails in them!! These were less than a centimeter long even when they were out, and the shells too tiny to measure! Here are some pics…

Of the two snails in this pic, the larger one has a shell about a centimeter long! The second is half of that!!!

Persistence does pay off, for, after taking about a hundred pics, I managed to get some decent ones of them….these have been cropped and enlarged….

And now we come to the best part of the story….. We found a snail the other day on a leaf, which Samhith took to school, much to the amusement and entertainment of his friends! The fact that he actually touches it without a qualm makes him feel like a hero, which has encouraged him to ‘collect’ more!! Here is one which he found yesterday, brought it home, and has taken to school today!!!

That Samhith likes snails and would want to take them to school came as no surprise, but that his friends would like them too, definitely was a big surprise for me!! Apparently, they have kept the snails among the plants in their ‘pot culture’ class, (wonder what will be their reaction when the snails eat up all their plants!!) and to top everything, they have even named it!!!! He is now a ‘class pet’ – of course, when the manage to find him, for, in Samhith’s words, “He escaped through the window into the plant there, but we know he will be there, so its ok. He is our pet, but he is free!” Kids come up with the most interesting things, dont you agree?

Other Snail Posts on this blog:

Sky Watch Friday – Skies over Mumbai

Anu — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 05:30:00 +0000

The Mumbai Skyline, over-set by monsoon clouds……

Walking along Marine Drive in the pouring rain brings back memories of my college days when I walked the path alone. So many years later, I walked the same path, this time with my husband and son! A memorable experience indeed!!!
For more beautiful skies from around the world, go to the Skywatch Page

Jungle Babblers

Anu — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 03:00:00 +0000

These are probably among the commonest of birds, but here, the Jungle Babblers are sitting on some beautiful works of art, which are equally uncommon……

We saw these birds wherever we went, and I did take many photographs…these two were taken at Chittorgarh…..

and this one at Aurangabad….

A Pair of Ducks

Anu — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 03:01:00 +0000

We saw these ducks on the way to the Dhyanalingam at Coimbatore…..

Does anyone know what they are called?

Grasshopper.. oops! sorry.. Cricket!!!

Anu — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 03:01:00 +0000

I have written earlier about how we have become interested in insects thanks to photography and blogging…. Of late, however, there has been a change. These days, Samhith no longer calls me to take a photo of an insect. He simply takes my camera and tries it himself! Of course, many of his attempts did not bear fruit, but here is one of his successful endeavors…..

He saw this ~~grasshopper~~ cricket at Auroville while I was busy buying things in their shop. He rushed to me, took my camera and ran off. My arms were full of things I had collected, and I couldn’t run behind him, and just hoped that he wouldn’t break it! I didnt pay much attention either when he told me he had photographed a grasshopper, and it was only when I downloaded all the pics that I realised that he had captured it beautifully! I have done nothing to these pics except cropping them, so you can see that his photography skills are improving!

He is now waiting for me to buy a DSLR so that he can take over this one! Of course, I wonder how long it will take him to get bored of this and set eyes on the DSLR!!!

Thanks Indrani, for pointing out that this was a cricket, not a grasshopper!!

Memorial to a loved Pet

Anu — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 03:00:00 +0000

I was wandering with Samhith around Gulab Bagh, the huge garden where the Udaipur Zoo is located. We had time to kill before we could catch the bus which would take us back to Mumbai, we had checked out of our room, and Shankar had already flown back the day before. Having so much time on our hands, but hesitant to wander into lonely places, we tried to stick to the well marked paths, at the same time trying to avoid the crowds thronging the park. Following a butterfly, we moved away from the well trodden path, and suddenly, right in front of us was a marble edifice. Curious, we moved closer, and both of us were stunned!

It seemed to be a tomb, but what was surprising was that it was the tomb of a dog – surely must have been a loved pet to merit such a beautiful marble tomb in the middle of a garden! I wondered who built the tomb, and when, but there was nothing marked on it, and no one there had any idea.

Have any of you seen this? Do you have anything to add? If so, please leave a comment, and I will update this blog.

Eye of the Peacock

Anu — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 03:00:00 +0000

We have seen plenty of peacocks – both in the wild as well in zoos. At the Udaipur Zoo, the birds were peacefully having their siesta, and were totally unconcerned about all the ruckus around them. As we passed by the peacock enclosure, one of them looked up and cast such a disdainful glance at the spectators who were trying to rouse some of the sleeping birds, that I just had to take a pic!

Rufous Treepie

Anu — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 03:01:00 +0000

Here is another bird we have seen before, but never managed a decent shot – the Rufous Treepie.

It is quite a conspicuous bird, with its distinctive colour and tail. It was rather a surprise to learn that it belongs to the crow family!

We saw this bird at Chittorgarh.I was busy photographing the monuments, when a sudden movement caught my eye. I turned, and having the camera in my hand, started clicking away. This seemed to surprise our driver, because he called out to me, “Madam, aap kahan photo nikal rahe ho? Tower toh wahan pe hai!” (Madam, what are you photographing? the tower is there!) The sound was enough to scare the bird away, but thankfully I had enough shots to keep me happy!

More than just Coochie Coo!

Anu — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 03:00:00 +0000

It was hardly meant to be a birdwatching trip, but we saw more birds than expected. Yes, many of them were common ones, but we saw them in uncommon positions, many of them either courting, or mating! These Eurasian Collared Doves at the Nehru Park on the Fateh Sagar Lake were oblivious to the tourists as they went about their business during their breeding season.

As I clicked these snaps, for a minute, I actually hesitated, extremely conscious of the fact that I was the intruder here!