Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Friday, November 16, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
My trip to the 7 hills
Driving above the clouds
Kailash??
Silence and peace personified
Trekking to the very edge
Riot of evening colours
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Monday, October 08, 2007
Avian sightings at SP
Common Sparrow(Panasonic Lumix FZ50 - ISO 100, 1/30s, F/3.7 at 89mm)
Coppersmith Barbet
(Panasonic Lumix FZ50 - ISO 100, 1/30s, F/3.7 at 89mm)
P E A C E
War and Peace
Serene.. When even time stands still
One with Nature - Manchinabele Dam( 17km from Bangalore)
Friday, September 21, 2007
A little birdie long gone
House Sparrow(Panasonic Lumix FZ50 - 1/250s at F/5.6 ISO 100, focal length 89mm)
House Sparrow(Panasonic Lumix FZ50 - 1/250s at F/4.0 ISO 100, focal length 89mm)
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Friday, September 07, 2007
High Spirits
( Panasonic Lumix FZ50 f/3.2 ,1/80s ,focal length 7 mm at ISO 100)
( Panasonic Lumix FZ50 f/3.2 ,1/70s ,focal length 7 mm at ISO 100) 
( Panasonic Lumix FZ50 f/3.2 ,1/70s ,focal length 7 mm at ISO 100)
( Panasonic Lumix FZ50 f/3.2 , 1/80s ,focal length 7 mm at ISO 100)
( Panasonic Lumix FZ50 f/3.2 ,1s , focal length 7 mm at ISO 100)
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Looking out...
Chameleon's basking in the sun - Manchinabele Dam(Panasonic Lumix FZ50 - 1/500s at F6.3 ISO 100)
Monday, May 28, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Tiger Tiger Burning out!!
Bannerghatta National Park - Bangalore(Canon S2IS, f/3.5 at 1/100 s focal length 919 mm)
William Blake(1757–1827) once wrote...
TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?
Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?
Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
Year 2007... The Bengal Tiger is on the verge of extinction.
Source:CNN-IBN
Posted Friday , May 25, 2007 at 08:20
New Delhi: The new census conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India is out and the results are not bright.
The census says that more than half of the tigers have gone missing in Central India in the last five years. Tiger numbers have come down by 61 per cent in Madhya Pradesh since 2002, 57 per cent in Maharashtra and 40 per cent in Rajasthan. The census puts the blame of decline in numbers squarely on urbanisation and poaching.
The study is based on a new methodology that the Wildlife Institute says is more accurate in estimating the tiger population. The findings that cover 16 of India’s 28 tiger reserves have been released after two years of monitoring, and cover 16 of the country's 28 tiger reserves. A final census is expected by the end of the year.
Read the full report Here
Learn more about the tiger Here
Get to know some interesting Tiger Trivia Here
The census says that more than half of the tigers have gone missing in Central India in the last five years. Tiger numbers have come down by 61 per cent in Madhya Pradesh since 2002, 57 per cent in Maharashtra and 40 per cent in Rajasthan. The census puts the blame of decline in numbers squarely on urbanisation and poaching.
The study is based on a new methodology that the Wildlife Institute says is more accurate in estimating the tiger population. The findings that cover 16 of India’s 28 tiger reserves have been released after two years of monitoring, and cover 16 of the country's 28 tiger reserves. A final census is expected by the end of the year.
Read the full report Here
Learn more about the tiger Here
Get to know some interesting Tiger Trivia Here
Monday, May 07, 2007
Topsy Turvy
(Panasonic Lumix FZ50 : f/4.0 at 1/640s , Focal length 88.8 mm. ISO 100)Mirror Image
I love this snap for the very reason that it protrays simplicity so well. What was an ordinary snap to click, ended up surprisingly well. I was playing around with this picture when i rotated it upside down accidently. To my surprise it was very difficult to separate the real image from the reflection. Although, with a second look you would realise that the actual flower is much brighter, the confluence of the sunlight on the still green water protrays a wonderful mirage like feeling. I also like the way the gentle morning rays of the sun fade out diagonally across the photo..almost as if the sun was shining its spotlight on this very beautiful flower.
Monday, April 30, 2007
If only looks could kill...
Spotted Owlet
(Panasonic FZ50 - ISO 100, 1/400s at F/3.7 , focal length 88.8 mm)
(Panasonic FZ50 - ISO 100, 1/400s at F/3.7 , focal length 88.8 mm)
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
One of those days
Its been so long since i actually wrote on this blog. I was on the super fast train from Chennai to Bangalore yesterday evening. It was my first time on the Shatabdi Express and i was kind of excited! The first thing you notice on this train is the Air Conditioner. It was nice and cold inside, such a welcome break from Chennai's sveltering heat.
I looked around searching for seat 25. All around i saw this bunch of people who looked like the wannabe prim-ah-proper type.They all had a book , some were talking about page 3 parties..They were dressed to kill. Some were plain bored and just stared at all ppl walking by..Some had latops, using it to type arbit things in MSWord..you get the point! Little did I care. :)
I finally found my seat. There was this HUGE gentleman sitting on seat 26. He mustve been 6' 7" atleast. I felt like a minnow sitting next to him. For once , i wasnt proud that I was 5' 9" and a half :). This guy was busy reading a book. One closer look and i realised it was a travel guide, containing roadmaps of all the important cities in India. The way he was intently examining the map, I thought this guy must be working on Geo-Informatics or he must be a surveyor or something of that sort.
Anyways, I settled down in my seat and stared outside at the black darkness that was fast enveloping us. The rain clouds loomed large and i could hear thunder. Global warming was starting to take its toll. I thought about how 2020 would change the geography of all our coastal cities. How animal species would die and new ones would be formed. We are actually seeing evolution in front of our eyes..albeit in fast forward mode because of man's activites. I wondered if dinosaurs felt the same way when they saw meteors strike the earth. Amidst all this, I heard a voice call out "Shoftware eh?".. I turned around and it was my gentle giant neighbour (GGN). He was flashing a very friendly smile. I muttered ,"Sorry?" . "You shoftware engineer eh?". I said ,"Yes".
GGN: "You from Bangalore eh".
Me: "Yes".
GGN: "Shoftware big in Bangalore eh?".
Me: "Yeah it is"
GGN: "In shoftware big mental tension(holding his head)...big money".
Me: "Yeah the money is good"
GGN: "Why you Shoftware...only for enjoyment eh?".
Me: "You can say so" (a little irritated)
GGN: "Which company? Infosys eh?"
Me: "S A P"
GGN: "Yess A P eh?"(I think he had never heard the name before)... "In Shoftware Infosys top eh?
Me: "Yes"
GGN: "Next top?"
Me: "Wipro,then TCS"(not wanting to even take the trouble to explain services from product companies)
GGN: "Me own decision.. Rice mill business in Vijaywada..no Shoftware decision"
Me: "Thats nice"
GGN: "In business big effort , big money... small effort, simple money"
Me: (what is simple about it??) "I know"
GGN: "Your good name ?"
Me: "Anoop"
GGN: "Anu?"
Me: "Anoop.. A n o o p"
GGN: "aah.. o o p"
Me: "whats your name?"
GGN: "Ramanujam Reddy"
Me: "You visiting Bangalore?"
GGN: "Cousin's house.. You c my height big..So no clothes in Vijayawada"
GGN: "Size 48,49 get in Bangalore eh?"
Me: (Rolling my eyes..size 48, 49 of what??!!)"Of Course we do"
Me: "Why dont you go to Hyderabad? Isnt it closer?"
GGN: "Bangalore top.. no Hyderabad"
Me: (amused) I know..
I was then served some yummy hot samosas. It had started raining heavily outside and i could see flashes of lightning. The samosas tasted good. Reddy didnt touch his food. He waited for me to finish and then asked "Spicy eh"? I said, "Not at all"
Reddy: "Spice not good"
This was the first native of AP i met who didnt like spicy food!
Anyway i finished my snack and pulled out my IPod and decided to sleep,listening to some nice music. Reddy became immediately interested seeing my ipod.
Reddy: "What is that"?
Me: "Its an mp3 player"
Reddy: "Sony eh?"
Me: "No , Apple"
Reddy: (Laughing)" You didnt get Sony eh?". "Sony the best, next Pil-ips"
Me: "No Sony showrooms near my house"
Reddy: "This real small eh?"
Me: "Yes it is the ipod shuffle"
Reddy: "How cost eh?"
Me: "4500 rupees"
Reddy: "How much store?"
Me: "1GB"
Reddy: "hmm.." "Where do you put the CD?"
Me: "I transfer songs from the computer"
Nods after some thinking.
Reddy: "How much per CD?"
Me: "CDs are available real cheap nowadays"
Reddy: "Where to buy"
Me: "Apple Store, Koramangala"
Fishes out a pen and paper. Starts to write..
Reddy: "Koramanla eh?"
Me: "Koramangala"
Reddy: "Koorramanla eh?"
Me: "Kora-man-gala"
Reddy: "Korraamannla eh?"
Me: (Started to sound like the king fisher ad) "Give me the piece of paper"
I then wrote" IPod Shuffle - The Apple Store,Forum, Koramangala"
Reddy: "Apple is the area eh?"
Me: "No its the brand. Koramanagala is the area"
Reddy: "Forum is the company eh?"
Me: "No thats a mall"
Didnt think he understood.
Me: "Forum is a shopping mall which has the apple store where you can buy the shuffle"
Reddy: "Why shuffle called eh? "Because you shuffle eh?"
Me: "Smart!" -I whispered to myself.
Reddy: "Do you get big shuffles also eh?"
Me: "Yes"
Reddy: "7-8 thousand eh?"
Me: "9-20 thousand"
Reddy: "What difference eh?"
Me: "Capacity"
Reddy: "How many songs in shuffle eh?"
Me: "250"
His eyes light up and he broke into a huge grin.
Reddy: "250??! Big Big!!..Large Scale!"
Reddy: "Where get small CD for shuffle?"
Me: "You dont need a small CD. You transfer from the computer"
Reddy: "CD easily available eh? Or only in Apple store eh?"
Me: "You can copy from any normal BIG(gesturing with my hand) CD into your computer. From there connect a wire to your shuffle and copy"
Reddy: "Oh! Simple eh?" Big grin..
Reddy: "In Bangalore, which shop good eh for size 48-49?"
Me: "Lots of shops...go to MG Road"
Reddy: "Good eh?" "Available eh?"
The TC comes and asks for the ticket. I fish out my e-ticket. After the TC leaves, he becomes extremely interested again! Oh no! There goes my peaceful sleep.
Reddy: "Internet booking eh?"
Me: "yes"
Reddy: "credit Card eh?"
Me: "yes"
Reddy: "Safe eh?"
Me: "Yes"
Reddy: "My friend credit card..30,000 lost" "Number out means..gone"
Me: "Not really"
Reddy: "Once you give number ..gone ..anything can happen eh...railway ppl can take all money"
Me: (Lost for words)
Reddy: "You still internet booking eh?"
Me: "Yeah i am brave"
Reddy: Laughs.."Shoftware ppls..brave"
Reddy: "I safe..counter booking ticket"
Me: "thats good"
Now i really wanted to sleep. I plug in my ipod and close my eyes. 5 min later, i see him poking me and saying "E-ticket". I reach into my wallet and hand him my ticket. He searches every nook and corner for the credit card number and then when he doesnt find it, he grins saying , "Safe!!"
Me: "Yeah" . Reminded me of the Hollywood movie speed! :)
He then gets back to his maps. I saw him examining the city of Ranchi..and then he moved to Mumbai..
Dinner was served.
He finished dinner and then went back to his maps. I have known people to read novels, newspapers, magazines, letters even... but an atlas in the train??!!! that too for 2 hours...it was beyond me...
I then dozed off a little,thinking about global warming again! I was woken up by a loud announcement saying the train would be 25 min late . I was irritated that "The" Shatabdi was late. I didnt know why people paid so much for this train. It was so bad.. The curtains and seats were ordinary. There was no real difference to the AC compartment of any other normal train. And like any other train it was late too! Just that we got food for free and had a real friendly guy to serve it. I went back to my reverie..mustve slept for 2 hours or so..
I woke up to the announcement that we were at Bangalore Cantonment. I turned around and saw that Reddy was wide awake. Probably hadnt slept a wink. He was staring blankly at the ceiling.
As the train entered Bangalore station, I was so frustrated that we were so late. It was 11 in the night and it was pouring like mad. I got up to pick up my bags. Reddy did the same.. Before leaving he turned around and said.. "Train early eh? 20 min soon.. Shotobadi ..real good eh?"
I looked around searching for seat 25. All around i saw this bunch of people who looked like the wannabe prim-ah-proper type.They all had a book , some were talking about page 3 parties..They were dressed to kill. Some were plain bored and just stared at all ppl walking by..Some had latops, using it to type arbit things in MSWord..you get the point! Little did I care. :)
I finally found my seat. There was this HUGE gentleman sitting on seat 26. He mustve been 6' 7" atleast. I felt like a minnow sitting next to him. For once , i wasnt proud that I was 5' 9" and a half :). This guy was busy reading a book. One closer look and i realised it was a travel guide, containing roadmaps of all the important cities in India. The way he was intently examining the map, I thought this guy must be working on Geo-Informatics or he must be a surveyor or something of that sort.
Anyways, I settled down in my seat and stared outside at the black darkness that was fast enveloping us. The rain clouds loomed large and i could hear thunder. Global warming was starting to take its toll. I thought about how 2020 would change the geography of all our coastal cities. How animal species would die and new ones would be formed. We are actually seeing evolution in front of our eyes..albeit in fast forward mode because of man's activites. I wondered if dinosaurs felt the same way when they saw meteors strike the earth. Amidst all this, I heard a voice call out "Shoftware eh?".. I turned around and it was my gentle giant neighbour (GGN). He was flashing a very friendly smile. I muttered ,"Sorry?" . "You shoftware engineer eh?". I said ,"Yes".
GGN: "You from Bangalore eh".
Me: "Yes".
GGN: "Shoftware big in Bangalore eh?".
Me: "Yeah it is"
GGN: "In shoftware big mental tension(holding his head)...big money".
Me: "Yeah the money is good"
GGN: "Why you Shoftware...only for enjoyment eh?".
Me: "You can say so" (a little irritated)
GGN: "Which company? Infosys eh?"
Me: "S A P"
GGN: "Yess A P eh?"(I think he had never heard the name before)... "In Shoftware Infosys top eh?
Me: "Yes"
GGN: "Next top?"
Me: "Wipro,then TCS"(not wanting to even take the trouble to explain services from product companies)
GGN: "Me own decision.. Rice mill business in Vijaywada..no Shoftware decision"
Me: "Thats nice"
GGN: "In business big effort , big money... small effort, simple money"
Me: (what is simple about it??) "I know"
GGN: "Your good name ?"
Me: "Anoop"
GGN: "Anu?"
Me: "Anoop.. A n o o p"
GGN: "aah.. o o p"
Me: "whats your name?"
GGN: "Ramanujam Reddy"
Me: "You visiting Bangalore?"
GGN: "Cousin's house.. You c my height big..So no clothes in Vijayawada"
GGN: "Size 48,49 get in Bangalore eh?"
Me: (Rolling my eyes..size 48, 49 of what??!!)"Of Course we do"
Me: "Why dont you go to Hyderabad? Isnt it closer?"
GGN: "Bangalore top.. no Hyderabad"
Me: (amused) I know..
I was then served some yummy hot samosas. It had started raining heavily outside and i could see flashes of lightning. The samosas tasted good. Reddy didnt touch his food. He waited for me to finish and then asked "Spicy eh"? I said, "Not at all"
Reddy: "Spice not good"
This was the first native of AP i met who didnt like spicy food!
Anyway i finished my snack and pulled out my IPod and decided to sleep,listening to some nice music. Reddy became immediately interested seeing my ipod.
Reddy: "What is that"?
Me: "Its an mp3 player"
Reddy: "Sony eh?"
Me: "No , Apple"
Reddy: (Laughing)" You didnt get Sony eh?". "Sony the best, next Pil-ips"
Me: "No Sony showrooms near my house"
Reddy: "This real small eh?"
Me: "Yes it is the ipod shuffle"
Reddy: "How cost eh?"
Me: "4500 rupees"
Reddy: "How much store?"
Me: "1GB"
Reddy: "hmm.." "Where do you put the CD?"
Me: "I transfer songs from the computer"
Nods after some thinking.
Reddy: "How much per CD?"
Me: "CDs are available real cheap nowadays"
Reddy: "Where to buy"
Me: "Apple Store, Koramangala"
Fishes out a pen and paper. Starts to write..
Reddy: "Koramanla eh?"
Me: "Koramangala"
Reddy: "Koorramanla eh?"
Me: "Kora-man-gala"
Reddy: "Korraamannla eh?"
Me: (Started to sound like the king fisher ad) "Give me the piece of paper"
I then wrote" IPod Shuffle - The Apple Store,Forum, Koramangala"
Reddy: "Apple is the area eh?"
Me: "No its the brand. Koramanagala is the area"
Reddy: "Forum is the company eh?"
Me: "No thats a mall"
Didnt think he understood.
Me: "Forum is a shopping mall which has the apple store where you can buy the shuffle"
Reddy: "Why shuffle called eh? "Because you shuffle eh?"
Me: "Smart!" -I whispered to myself.
Reddy: "Do you get big shuffles also eh?"
Me: "Yes"
Reddy: "7-8 thousand eh?"
Me: "9-20 thousand"
Reddy: "What difference eh?"
Me: "Capacity"
Reddy: "How many songs in shuffle eh?"
Me: "250"
His eyes light up and he broke into a huge grin.
Reddy: "250??! Big Big!!..Large Scale!"
Reddy: "Where get small CD for shuffle?"
Me: "You dont need a small CD. You transfer from the computer"
Reddy: "CD easily available eh? Or only in Apple store eh?"
Me: "You can copy from any normal BIG(gesturing with my hand) CD into your computer. From there connect a wire to your shuffle and copy"
Reddy: "Oh! Simple eh?" Big grin..
Reddy: "In Bangalore, which shop good eh for size 48-49?"
Me: "Lots of shops...go to MG Road"
Reddy: "Good eh?" "Available eh?"
The TC comes and asks for the ticket. I fish out my e-ticket. After the TC leaves, he becomes extremely interested again! Oh no! There goes my peaceful sleep.
Reddy: "Internet booking eh?"
Me: "yes"
Reddy: "credit Card eh?"
Me: "yes"
Reddy: "Safe eh?"
Me: "Yes"
Reddy: "My friend credit card..30,000 lost" "Number out means..gone"
Me: "Not really"
Reddy: "Once you give number ..gone ..anything can happen eh...railway ppl can take all money"
Me: (Lost for words)
Reddy: "You still internet booking eh?"
Me: "Yeah i am brave"
Reddy: Laughs.."Shoftware ppls..brave"
Reddy: "I safe..counter booking ticket"
Me: "thats good"
Now i really wanted to sleep. I plug in my ipod and close my eyes. 5 min later, i see him poking me and saying "E-ticket". I reach into my wallet and hand him my ticket. He searches every nook and corner for the credit card number and then when he doesnt find it, he grins saying , "Safe!!"
Me: "Yeah" . Reminded me of the Hollywood movie speed! :)
He then gets back to his maps. I saw him examining the city of Ranchi..and then he moved to Mumbai..
Dinner was served.
He finished dinner and then went back to his maps. I have known people to read novels, newspapers, magazines, letters even... but an atlas in the train??!!! that too for 2 hours...it was beyond me...
I then dozed off a little,thinking about global warming again! I was woken up by a loud announcement saying the train would be 25 min late . I was irritated that "The" Shatabdi was late. I didnt know why people paid so much for this train. It was so bad.. The curtains and seats were ordinary. There was no real difference to the AC compartment of any other normal train. And like any other train it was late too! Just that we got food for free and had a real friendly guy to serve it. I went back to my reverie..mustve slept for 2 hours or so..
I woke up to the announcement that we were at Bangalore Cantonment. I turned around and saw that Reddy was wide awake. Probably hadnt slept a wink. He was staring blankly at the ceiling.
As the train entered Bangalore station, I was so frustrated that we were so late. It was 11 in the night and it was pouring like mad. I got up to pick up my bags. Reddy did the same.. Before leaving he turned around and said.. "Train early eh? 20 min soon.. Shotobadi ..real good eh?"
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
Flora again
Begonia in bloom - garden at home(Lumix Fz50 : f/3.2 at 1/100s , ISO 100)
Lal bagh(Lumix Fz50 : f/3.6 at 1/800s , ISO 100)
Lal Bagh(Lumix Fz50 : f/3.6 at 1/640s , ISO 100)
Flowers from my garden at home(Lumix Fz50 : f/3.2 at 1/160s , ISO 100)
Monday, February 12, 2007
The king of good times
Alcedo atthis - Common Kingfisher (Small Blue Kingfisher)(Panasonic Lumix FZ50 : ISO 100, f/4.0 at 1/80s)
Common Kingfisher (Panasonic Lumix FZ50 : ISO 100, f/4.0 at 1/100s)
The Small Blue Kingfisher is just a little larger than a sparrow and is usually seen close to water. It flies with rapid wing-beats just above the water level. This tiny Kingfisher can be spotted at the Sankey, Lalbagh and Hebbal lakes in Bangalore.
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