3 things I want to do this year!

1. Bungee Jumping

Superb video of Kern bungee jumping at Rishikesh!

2. Kayaking in white waters

Kayaking in the white waters of Rishikesh

 3. Sky Diving

My friend Shazia sky diving at Dubai with a fantastic view of Palm Jumeira!

My reading room :)

A sunny room..a large window that opens to green trees.. a cosy window seat.. and all the books I ever want to read in wooden shelves filled to the brim.. C'est la vie!

                                                              One day I will have my own space..                               Source: Pinterest

 

Staying in love

Some interesting words and facts

Some I had learnt in school and forgotten, some I discovered just recently :

• So I am an 'ailurophile' which is the word for cat lovers :). I think that is a really beautiful word!

• Group of cats is known as a clowder.

• An old female cat is called a grimalkin. So my Puchku will be a Grimalkin one day!

• Ethology is the study of animal behavior.

• Komodo Dragon is the heaviest living species of lizard in the world. And it is found in Indonesia. Komodo dragons are carnivorous. Its diet is very interesting. Mostly they eat carrion(carcass of dead animals), but they also ambush live preys like goats, large pigs or deers. It takes about 15-20 minutes to swallow a goat, but sometimes it attempts to speed up the process by ramming the carcass against a tree to force it down its throat(sometimes the ramming is so powerful that the tree is knocked down!). To prevent itself from suffocating while swallowing, it breathes using a small tube under the tongue that connects to the lungs. After eating up to 80 percent of its body weight in one meal, it drags itself to a sunny location to speed digestion, as the food could rot and poison the dragon if left undigested for too long. Because of their slow metabolism, these large dragons can survive on as little as 12 meals a year!

• Cane(also known as rattan) that is used for making furniture belongs to the palm family(Aracaceae)

• Vatican City State is a country(!) and the world's smallest by both area(44 hectares ~ 110 acres) and population(just over 800).Unlike other countries, citizenship of this country is not based on jus sanguinis(birth from a citizen, even outside the state's territory) or on jus soli (birth within the territory of the state).citizenship of Vatican City is granted jus officii, namely on the grounds of appointment to work in a certain capacity in the service of the Holy See. It usually ceases upon cessation of the appointment. Citizenship is extended also to the spouse, parents and descendants of a citizen, provided they are living with the person who is a citizen. Anyone who loses Vatican citizenship and does not possess other citizenship automatically becomes an Italian citizen as judged by Italian law.

• Goa was liberated from 451 years of Portuguese colonial rule only in 1961 when prime minister Nehru finally ordered the Indian Armed forces to take Goa by force. This military operation codenamed Operation Vijay involved air, sea and land strikes for over 36 hours on the 18th and 19th dEC 1961, in which 22 Indians and 30 Portuguese were killed. Portugal recognized the annexation only in 1975.

• Hummingbirds(family name Trochiladae) are among the smallest of birds and are restricted to the Americas from southern Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, including the Caribbean.

• Ice takes more space than liquid water(9% more), since it is less dense than water.

Enchanted woods of Anshi and Kulgi

I spent 5 blissful days in evergreen forest of Anshi Nature Park. No network, no newspapers, no TV, no elecricity and no contact with the outside world. Days were spent observing, learning and enjoying the serene forests of this region. Also went to the dry decidious forests of Kulgi and the moist decidious forest of Ulavi & Synthery. Nightfall would bring out the fireflies, the 'at times errie' jungle sounds and galaxies of stars and satellites. Early mornings, we would get out in the chilly weather to spot the birds which call out from the tree canopy with their whistling, knocking, metallic clanging, laughing, squealing and more such sounds they are capable of. Felt sad leaving it all behind on the last day and returning to our 'normal' lives. How I wish I normal life was back there in the wildlife, and everyday I could hear those sounds, see those sights and breathe only pure oxygen!

Anshi at dawn

Pavetta Indica

Ulavi

Strobilanthes ixiocephalus

Asplecias curassavica

Synthery Rocks 

Nymphaea lotus

Kulgi

Eriocaulon sp

Smiley :) :D ;)

I always use Smiley faces in every sms I send and in most of the mails I send. My husband has made it a trademark to sign his name on any greeting cards with a smiley. But does everyone know the origin of this  this popular yellow color smiley face with 2 eyes and a wide smile?  Read on for more information about it.
The Smiley Face was created by Harvey Richard Ball, a commercial artist from Worcester, Massachusetts in 1963 for a friendship campaign undertaken to ease the acrimony between the workers of two insurance companies following their merger. It was used in buttons, desk cards and posters and became a big hit. But Harvey Ball never applied for trademark or copyright of his work and earned just 45$ for his work!

You can read more about it here and here.

Harvey Ball posing with his creation. Photographer: Michael Carroll

Harvey Ball: “Never in the history of mankind or art has any single piece of art gotten such widespread favor, pleasure, enjoyment, and nothing has ever been so simply done and so easily understood in art.”

In 1999, he started the World Smile Day  :). Since then it is celebrated on the 1st Friday of every October  in his hometown Worcester and all over the world. The idea is that for atleast one day each year, everyone should forget politics, geography and religion and devote their day to smiles and acts of kindness.

"Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile"!

After his death in 2001, the "Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation" was created to honour his name and memory. The slogan of the Smile Foundation is "improving this world, one smile at a time." The Foundation continues as the official sponsor of World Smile Day each year.

Wish I lived here..

Source: xenianova.wordpress.com

Alas I don't and its not even a real house! It's actually part of a Hobbiton movie set that was created for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

It is built on the Alexander farm in Matamata, NZ in the year 1999 and a great deal of hard work, capital, time (almost 10 months) and mindblowing imagination went into converting this traditional sheep and beef farm into director Peter Jackson's vision of the Hobbiton Town. Once the filming was over, the set was not maintained by the farm owners, their grazing cattle took over and it became a total mess. However when Peter Jackson returned to film the prequel to the movie, his company entered into a joint venture arrangement with the owners of the Alexander farm to allow movie fans to visit the newly constructed film set of The Hobbit :) Thanks to this initiative, public is open to this set property and can experience the magic of this enchanting place!!!

I am not even a 'LoTR' fan but this place is high on my list of 'places to see'. I can even imagine little dwarfs , pixies and tiny fairies coming alive in the night and living their secret life while we sleep :) WOW!

Visit this to get more information on this place.

Gudde da bhoota undu

In our childhood, every year during summer vacation, we would look forward to Bhoota Kola at my grandparents' house in Mangalore. Dancers in makeup and costumes made of coconut leaves, flowers and other paraphernalia would dance to traditional music in front of our house which would be lit up in bright lights. The whole village would be present for this event.
This is an annual ritual where the two bhootas or 'guardian spirits' of our house 'Kallurti' and 'Kalkuda' are worshipped in this unique manner; dancers get 'possessed' and communicate with the members of our family while in 'trance'.
As 'city' kids, our reactions varied from 'mesmerized to questioning to unbelieving' and now its of 'acceptance' that some things are beyond our understanding.
This video was shot by my brother. It tries to demystify the myth around this ancient 'worship ritual' and ponders over its future.

For more information on Bhoota Kola, go here.

So how many do you know??

We see them everywhere! We see through them most of da time! But if you are from Mumbai and you read the papers.. you should be able to identify all of these!

Popular logos and not so popular ones! Let me test you :)

First the EASY ones!!

Now some NOT SO EASY ones..

These are NOT SO HARD either! Can you identify them?

Now some HARD ones!!!

Got all?? For answers you can mail me!



Why I run...



                                              So simple it is..      Source: http://pinterest.com/



From here to Timbuktu

Why does 'Timbuktu' conjure up images of a faraway fictitious place? How many of us really know where Timbuktu is actually located? What about its past and present?

I didn't know anything about this place either so did a little research on Timbuktu (now known as Tomboctou) and found pages and pages filled with information about this place. Never imagined there could be so much history or civilization associated with this place!

So out here, I have tried to give you a glimpse of this place and tried to unravel the mystery of how “Timbuktu” became a metaphor for distant unknown or non-existent places.



                                                                    Timbuktu's Walls                                 Source: Wikitravel.org

 Where is this place actually???

Timbuktu is located in the West African nation of Mali and it is situated 15 km north of the Niger River on the southern edge of Sahara desert.



Source: Lonely Planets

 What does 'Timbuktu' mean?

Timbuktu is believed to have been founded in the 5th century by a nomadic group called “Tuareg Imashagan” who used to wander the Sahara desert in search of grazing lands for their animals. During the dry seasons they would camp by a place a few miles away from the Niger river, where they dug a well. Whenever it started raining in the desert they would leave their heavy goods with an old Tuareg women called Tin Abutut who stayed at the well. In the Tuareg language, Tin Abutut means "the lady with the big naval". With the passage time, the name Tin Abutut became Timbuktu. 





Source: Wikipedia



In addition to this, there are three more possible origins to the name of Timbuktu that have been discovered. You can check them out here.

And then what???



 As you can see in the following map, Timbuktu happened to be located on the cross roads of several trade routes. It linked black Africa below the Sahara Desert with Berber and Islamic traders throughout North Africa, and thereby indirectly with traders from Europe.



Map showing the main trans-Saharan caravan routes in around 1400. Also shown are the Ghana Empire (until the 13th century) and 13th – 15th century Mali Empire. Note the western route running from Djenné via Timbuktu to Sijilmassa. Present day Niger in yellow. Source: Wikipedia

Timbuktu was quickly converted to Islam and became an important centre of Koranic culture with some 25,000 students attending the University of Sankore and numerous other schools present then. Scholars, engineers and architects from various regions in Africa rubbed shoulders with wise men and marabouts (Muslim religious leader and teacher) in this intellectual and religious centre and it attracted travelers from far-away countries.

Meanwhile some famous authors like Leo Africanus and Shabeni wrote some tall tales about Timbuktu’s fabulous wealth which prompted several European explorations to that West Africa. As quoted below:

Thus its relative inaccessibility combined with folklores of its immense wealth and knowledge gave it a fabled status and it began to be used as a metaphor for exotic, distant lands.

Several empires ruled and lost Timbuktu, starting with the Mali Empire followed by the Tuaregs, the Songhay empire, the kingdom of Morocco, Arma Pashalik , Maccina empire and so on.

The rise..

The Askia dynasty of the Songhay empire led Timbuktu to its Golden age through their efficient administration and flourishing commercial centres.

The decline..

Several rulers ruled this city over the next hundred years and their follies along with increasing desertification of the city led to marginalization of Timbuktu in the several trade routes which gradually lost its strength.

Source: Brent Stirton

What about Timbuktu now???

Now Timbuktu is an impoverished town and rapidly undergoing desertification which has made UNESCO to add it to the list of world heritage site in danger.

Some gyaan about Timbuktu as it is now..

So why should you go to Timbuktu now???

Timbuktu is not for everyone. You will either love it or hate it!!

Some go because of its intriguing and glorious past and the thrill of visiting a famous ‘ancient’ destination. Some visit to see the old sand structures and the endangered Timbuktu manuscripts which are still preserved.

Some of the main attractions are:

The three main mosques, mainly the Djingareiber Mosque (built in 1327) which is the oldest, largest and the most impressive of all. The Sankore Mosque (built in 15th century) and the Sidi Yehia Mosque (built in 1441) are at walking distance to it. (However they are closed to non Muslim visitors since 2007.)

Heinrich Barth house: Museum with a few old photos and artefacts

Grande Marche: 2 storey structure with a great view of Timbuktu, selling souveniers.

Timbuktu Museum which is also close to the original Buktu well from where the place derives its name!

Flame of Peace: A monument commemorating the end of the Tuareg uprising in the mid 1990s.

You can explore the distinct architecture of the place with its narrow streets and alleys with mud brick houses and also the communal bread ovens. You can also go on Sunset tours on camel back in the desert surrounding Timbuktu. Or do desert camping in the Sahara and experience a nomad’s life. Sounds awesome to me!!

Al Qaeda is a serious threat in Timbuktu so visitors need to be careful around this place. But I do not feel that that is any reason to not visit a place!

How to get there?

Timbuktu is difficult to get to and lives up to its fabled reputation of being far and difficult to access..
Best time to go is during the Festival in the Desert in Essakane, traditionally held in January or you can also try and catch the festival, Curee Salee in Ingall, Niger across the border(usually in the last 2 weeks of September).

There are several international carriers (Kenya airways, AirFrance, Lufthansa, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Jet Airways, British Airways, Royal Air Maroc) which fly to Mali’s capital Bamako which is a whopping 438 Miles away from Timbuktu.

The cheapest return ticket that I got for Mumbai - Bamako - Mumbai is 49001 INR which is quite reasonable :)

Ironically for a desert town, the most common way to get to Timbuktu is by boat down the Niger river. If you are going in the dry season and there is no boat service available, then you will have to take an uncomfortable but exciting 3 day bus journey to Timbuktu. You also have the option of old Russian planes that fly to and fro to Timbuktu from Bamako.

You can get more information on the travel options here and here.



A boat navigates the Niger river at sunset near Timbuktu, Mali.

After reading this post, I think you have learnt enough about Timbuktu to make a decision if you want to see it or not. I sure would love to someday..:-)

References:

http://www.timbuktufoundation.org/history.html

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/119

http://www.history.com/topics/mali

Cats Vs. Dogs (Infographic)

Source: Online School for Neatorama.com

Happy pictures :)



Small boy from a small village called Nakhind in Maharashtra

 

Pagoda flower (Clerodendrum paniculatum) clicked in Mangalore




Colgate Smiles is spreading bright and happy smiles!

 

somewhere in Maharashtra, clicked from the train

 

an evening in Mangalore

 

Emerald Gecko - Clicked my my friend Balram in Andaman




pretty girl in Leh




Love the green and black spots on the yellow leaf



View from Lohagad fort during monsoons