.
.
 |
| Click on the picture to view properly! |
Friday, August 21, 2015
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Elephants, Elephants And More Elephants!
I had been to Srilanka last week with my friend Shail Mohan, Dr.Meena Kumari and her daughter! This is the first time I am going out, out of the country tour without my family and I enjoyed it a lot! It was fun roaming around with WOMEN friends, taking care of just myself (!) in another country! Srilanka looks just like our Kerala, but is cleaner and with less population. People seemed to be soft natured too and I liked the sing-sing tone of their language, whether it was Sinhalese or Tamil.
Our flight was one hour late on the first day and so we could not see much activities of the elephants like milk feeding, bathing etc. We reached Colombo and from there on our way to Kandy (night halt), we had lunch and then reached this Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage at 4.30 pm. It was only one and a quarter hour flight time from Chennai to Colombo! It was as if we were going to Hyderabad from Chennai! The elephants were returning from bathing. It would have been fun watching them taking bath. But....hmmm...Have a look at them esp. the one month old baby elephant walking in the front! Slowly, I am getting used to taking videos!
 |
| Elephants are returning after having a bath in the river Ma Oya..we were late reaching this place and so, missed them taking bath! |
 |
| They looked very disciplined...going in a row! |
 | ||
| This elephant orphanage is in a large area of 25 acres with 48 mahouts for taking care of them! |
 |
| Elephants were seen inside this enclosure! |
 |
| Many baby elephants were with their mothers...a separate enclosure was there for just baby elephants... |
Now, to wikipedia for more information about this Orphanage. First, when I heard the name 'orphanage', I didn't like it. Then from wiki I came to know how people here are taking care of them...really great work.
The orphanage was established to feed, nurse and house young elephants found abandoned by their mothers. Young elephants sometimes fall into pits and ravines in their quest for water during drought period. Other orphans have been displaced from their wild habitat by development projects or have been found abandoned before weaning, diseased or wounded.
The elephants are fed in their stalls. There is very little food they can gather from the premises of the orphanage except some grass. Large quantities of Jack fruit, coconut, sugar palm tamarind and grass brought in daily, form the bulk of the elephants food. Each adult animal is given around 250 kilograms (550 lb) of this green matter per day and around 2 kg (4.4 lb) from a food bag containing rice bran and maize.
More than twenty-three elephants were born from 1984 to 1991. In 1998 there were fourteen births at Pinnawala, eight males and six females, with one second generation birth in early 1998. Since then till early 2012, 84 more were born at Pinnawala.
I had seen many elephants together at Vaikom's Seeveli but here, too many were there.
Thank you, Shail for taking me with you, here! I will never forget this experience!
.
Edited to add on 19th Aug.'15: My friend who accompanied me during our Srilankan trip, has written about how many hurdles we crossed before travelling to Srilanka along with beautiful pictures! Have a look!
.
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Happy Independence Day To All Of Us, Indians!
.
Hear this song and you forget all the draw backs of our country, people and feel proud of ourselves! Whatever it is, we are definitely marching forward every year!
I always get goose bumps when I hear this song and our 'Vande mataram' song.
SWATANTRATA DIWAS KI SHUBH KAAMNAAYEIN!
Hear this song and you forget all the draw backs of our country, people and feel proud of ourselves! Whatever it is, we are definitely marching forward every year!
I always get goose bumps when I hear this song and our 'Vande mataram' song.
SWATANTRATA DIWAS KI SHUBH KAAMNAAYEIN!
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Amazing Force Of Water Has Created This Natural Wonder!
.
I read this quote somewhere recently and then decided to write about the Grand Canyon immediately...I had been postponing it for sometime now! Now, the quote:
A soft nature of a person does not mean weakness.
Remember: Nothing is softer than water, but its force can break the strongest of rocks...
This is what has happened here in the Grand Canyon! The force of water of the Colorado river had cut through the rocks and flown everywhere. So many shapes and sizes in the rocks can be seen now!
I became familiar with the name 'Grand Canyon' long back, in VCR days from watching the movie 'Mckenna's Gold'. I was amazed looking at the grandeur of the rocky area. But never thought that I would visit the place one day. We keep on watching this movie again and again...my husband's favourite. The song from the movie is here. You can see the rocky desert clearly in the song. The song is my son's favourite, he was in school then!
Now, to the Wiki link:
The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,093 feet or 1,857 meters).[1] Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. While the specific geologic processes and timing that formed the Grand Canyon are the subject of debate by geologists, recent evidence suggests that the Colorado River established its course through the canyon at least 17 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River continued to erode and form the canyon to its present-day configuration.
We went there by tourist bus. The guide had shown a film clip of the Grand Canyon before reaching the place. Still, I never expected this amazing scenery. When we reached the place, we were tagged in our wrists and for $200, we were picked up by the helicopter. This was my first helicopter ride. I was a bit nervous in the beginning. But once I started watching the scenery and clicking them, my fear was gone! The amazing scenery was overwhelming!
The machine went in between rocks, went down and up...great experience. Later on I came to know that this is a smooth rocky area. We were taken by bus later...half an hour drive to the Eagle rock, which was breathtakingly beautiful!
After the chopper ride, we were taken by boat on the river for half an hour. We could watch the rocks closely! The river flowed smoothly without much movements. The water was 10-15ft deep in the middle of the river, the boat woman said! The chopper had dropped us near the bank and the boat took over for the ride for half an hour and brought us back. Then we were taken to the Eagle point by their bus!
Lunch was included in the fare. We had Greek Veg. salad, potato chips and an orange plus water bottle! We had lunch at a dining area...a hut-like beautiful area. We saw many sparrows! Some sea gulls too! Black bigger sized crows which are called Raven here, were seen...many were there.
I think this tour will stay in my memory for the great Grand Canyon rocks and the helicopter ride! I admire the Colorado river too which flows so silently now but had created this Canyon here with its force from the past millions of years!
.
I read this quote somewhere recently and then decided to write about the Grand Canyon immediately...I had been postponing it for sometime now! Now, the quote:
A soft nature of a person does not mean weakness.
Remember: Nothing is softer than water, but its force can break the strongest of rocks...
This is what has happened here in the Grand Canyon! The force of water of the Colorado river had cut through the rocks and flown everywhere. So many shapes and sizes in the rocks can be seen now!
I became familiar with the name 'Grand Canyon' long back, in VCR days from watching the movie 'Mckenna's Gold'. I was amazed looking at the grandeur of the rocky area. But never thought that I would visit the place one day. We keep on watching this movie again and again...my husband's favourite. The song from the movie is here. You can see the rocky desert clearly in the song. The song is my son's favourite, he was in school then!
Now, to the Wiki link:
The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,093 feet or 1,857 meters).[1] Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. While the specific geologic processes and timing that formed the Grand Canyon are the subject of debate by geologists, recent evidence suggests that the Colorado River established its course through the canyon at least 17 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River continued to erode and form the canyon to its present-day configuration.
 |
| The Eagle Point at the Grand Canyon (Arizona, U.S.). The rock in the centre resembles an eagle with its wings in the flying posture! This is the best area in the Canyon...the shapes are amazing! Click on the picture to have a good view pl. |
The machine went in between rocks, went down and up...great experience. Later on I came to know that this is a smooth rocky area. We were taken by bus later...half an hour drive to the Eagle rock, which was breathtakingly beautiful!
After the chopper ride, we were taken by boat on the river for half an hour. We could watch the rocks closely! The river flowed smoothly without much movements. The water was 10-15ft deep in the middle of the river, the boat woman said! The chopper had dropped us near the bank and the boat took over for the ride for half an hour and brought us back. Then we were taken to the Eagle point by their bus!
 |
| This photo was taken from the helicopter we travelled by! You can see another helicopter also in the picture! |
 |
| It is really amazing watching these rocks! |
 |
| We went by helicopter first and the ticket included boat ride too! You can see other boats too! |
 |
| The famous Colorado river! The colour of the water was brown everywhere. You can notice the green growth on the rocks! |
 |
| This was taken from the boat! It was mid afternoon when we were here and the weather was quite hot! Click on the photos to have a better view! |
 |
| Looks like small small temples! |
 |
| The river becomes narrow here. |
 |
| The hollow is scary! We could have gone for a skywalk. It is an artificial projected platform where the floor is transparent and we can see the depth/floor of the canyon here! |
 |
| Another angle at the Eagle point. People were going near the edge and taking photographs. We didn't have enough guts. Look at the vegetation even on the dry rocks. California has got drought now for the past 4-5 years. Still... |
 |
| The dining area. Many sparrows were there for eating bread crumbs and other food particles! |
 |
| A little bigger sized crows which are called Raven were seen here! |
.
Saturday, July 25, 2015
I Know More About My Mother Tongue, Tulu, Now, Which Is A Very Rare Language !
.
I read this post of a student of my friend, Usha Pisharody! She is a young girl but is capable of expressing herself so accurately. Here, it is!
I go through the same feelings when I hear people speaking in Tulu, which is just a colloquial language. No script is there now. It is all gone. People write Tulu in Kannada script. It is spoken by a few percentage of people in Mangalore, Southern part of Karnataka (Dakshina Kannada). I am from Udupi, Mangalore and my family speaks in Tulu. Even in my family many sons and daughters are married into Kannada speaking families and so only some of them speak Tulu. Kannada has become the main language. Tulu is dying very fast. We have got a special sing song pattern, people say so! Tulu is also spoken in different accents in different towns of Mangalore itself! Kundapura people and Udupi people speak entirely different types of Tulu! Brahmins speak a separate Tulu.
I remember seeing a book in Tulu. But I don't remember how the script looked like. My grand father was running a printing press and he had a few books in Tulu.
Suddenly I thought of looking for it in the net...God, this post has introduced me to the nuances of my own language! Wikipedia says:
Separated early from Proto-South Dravidian, Tulu has several features not found in Tamil-Kannada. For example, it has the pluperfect and the future perfect, like French or Spanish, but formed without an auxiliary verb.
The above link says that Tulu works are available! Great! I have to look for it!
Mangaloreans are making Tulu movies. Street theatre is famous in Tulu language. Light music and folk songs with Tulu lyrics are there. Tulu people are famous for their sense of humour, I am told! I am not one, sadly! And, the Yakshagana in Tulu is very famous! I remember watching them on the streets from midnight till early morning. The wiki link has got interesting details of this dance/song form.
The Tulu speaking coastal Karnataka area was called Tulu naadu during the Krishna Deva Raya rule.
Another interesting anecdote about Tulu in Wiki:
The region was also known to the Greeks of the 2nd century as Tolokoyra. The history of Tulu would not be complete without the mention of the Charition mime, a Greek play belonging to 2nd century BC. The play's plot centres around the coastal Karnataka, where Tulu is mainly spoken. The play is mostly in Greek, but the Indian characters in the play are seen speaking a language different from Greek.
I am becoming more familiar with my own language now!
Tuluvas (as Tulu speaking people are called) have a saying: "Oorudu nanji aanda paardh badkodu". A loose translation would be: "If it's tough at home; run away and survive". Tuluvas are true to this character and have migrated to other places in great numbers. Early migration was to neighbouring regions like Malabar (now Kerala), Mysore kingdom, Madras Presidency ( Tamil Nadu now - areas like salem, attur, chinnasalem, thiruvannamalai, villupuram, vellore, chennai and perambalur). The large scale migration of Tulu speaking people from undivided South Canara district to other provinces (regions) of India happened during World War I, but there is no concrete materialistic evidence to prove.
Many people from my family have migrated to many places esp. to Madras (Chennai), like us. Our town, Udupi is famous for hotels. Udupi hotels are spread all over the world. My family came here to Chennai in 1962. Father was a Hotelier. We studied here, so our colloquial Tulu has got Tamil influence. Another branch has gone to Trivandrum and their Tulu is with Malayalam accent!
Well... this post has introduced myself to my language! I speak Tamil at home, since my husband is a Tamilian. My sons know a bit of Tulu to speak (I should have taught them...they had been asking me to!), but understand it very well. I get the opportunity to speak Tulu with my side of the family members. Maybe I was nostalgic while writing this post.
I forgot to write this: Aishwarya Rai, Shilpa Shetty, Sonali Bendre, Sunil Shetty....oh there are many Tulu speaking people in Bollywood!
.
I read this post of a student of my friend, Usha Pisharody! She is a young girl but is capable of expressing herself so accurately. Here, it is!
I go through the same feelings when I hear people speaking in Tulu, which is just a colloquial language. No script is there now. It is all gone. People write Tulu in Kannada script. It is spoken by a few percentage of people in Mangalore, Southern part of Karnataka (Dakshina Kannada). I am from Udupi, Mangalore and my family speaks in Tulu. Even in my family many sons and daughters are married into Kannada speaking families and so only some of them speak Tulu. Kannada has become the main language. Tulu is dying very fast. We have got a special sing song pattern, people say so! Tulu is also spoken in different accents in different towns of Mangalore itself! Kundapura people and Udupi people speak entirely different types of Tulu! Brahmins speak a separate Tulu.
I remember seeing a book in Tulu. But I don't remember how the script looked like. My grand father was running a printing press and he had a few books in Tulu.
Suddenly I thought of looking for it in the net...God, this post has introduced me to the nuances of my own language! Wikipedia says:
Separated early from Proto-South Dravidian, Tulu has several features not found in Tamil-Kannada. For example, it has the pluperfect and the future perfect, like French or Spanish, but formed without an auxiliary verb.
The above link says that Tulu works are available! Great! I have to look for it!
Mangaloreans are making Tulu movies. Street theatre is famous in Tulu language. Light music and folk songs with Tulu lyrics are there. Tulu people are famous for their sense of humour, I am told! I am not one, sadly! And, the Yakshagana in Tulu is very famous! I remember watching them on the streets from midnight till early morning. The wiki link has got interesting details of this dance/song form.
The Tulu speaking coastal Karnataka area was called Tulu naadu during the Krishna Deva Raya rule.
Another interesting anecdote about Tulu in Wiki:
The region was also known to the Greeks of the 2nd century as Tolokoyra. The history of Tulu would not be complete without the mention of the Charition mime, a Greek play belonging to 2nd century BC. The play's plot centres around the coastal Karnataka, where Tulu is mainly spoken. The play is mostly in Greek, but the Indian characters in the play are seen speaking a language different from Greek.
I am becoming more familiar with my own language now!
Tuluvas (as Tulu speaking people are called) have a saying: "Oorudu nanji aanda paardh badkodu". A loose translation would be: "If it's tough at home; run away and survive". Tuluvas are true to this character and have migrated to other places in great numbers. Early migration was to neighbouring regions like Malabar (now Kerala), Mysore kingdom, Madras Presidency ( Tamil Nadu now - areas like salem, attur, chinnasalem, thiruvannamalai, villupuram, vellore, chennai and perambalur). The large scale migration of Tulu speaking people from undivided South Canara district to other provinces (regions) of India happened during World War I, but there is no concrete materialistic evidence to prove.
Many people from my family have migrated to many places esp. to Madras (Chennai), like us. Our town, Udupi is famous for hotels. Udupi hotels are spread all over the world. My family came here to Chennai in 1962. Father was a Hotelier. We studied here, so our colloquial Tulu has got Tamil influence. Another branch has gone to Trivandrum and their Tulu is with Malayalam accent!
Well... this post has introduced myself to my language! I speak Tamil at home, since my husband is a Tamilian. My sons know a bit of Tulu to speak (I should have taught them...they had been asking me to!), but understand it very well. I get the opportunity to speak Tulu with my side of the family members. Maybe I was nostalgic while writing this post.
I forgot to write this: Aishwarya Rai, Shilpa Shetty, Sonali Bendre, Sunil Shetty....oh there are many Tulu speaking people in Bollywood!
.
