Pulikkali – Kerala

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Photo credits : R R Ranjith

Photo credits: R R Ranjith

Pulikkali, which means “tiger play”, is a popular folk art form, also known as Kaduvakali. This iconic Onam event is mainly practiced in the Thrissur and Palaghat districts of Kerala. Participants painstakingly paint their bodies like tigers and don tiger masks. (The process can take the entire day to complete with first the removal of body hair and then the application of multiple layers of paint.) The procession also includes men representing hunters. The best performers are chosen out of the hundreds of participants.  Continue reading →

Really, Karnataka?

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Forest near Daroji Sanctuary, Karnataka; photo credit: Santosh Martin

Forest near Daroji Sanctuary, Karnataka; photo credit: Seshadri K.S

We’ve stated before that our site is not dedicated to outrage, but we do make an effort to point out questionable environmental decisions by corporations and countries when we see them.

So when it came to our attention that the minister of tourism in the Indian state of Karnataka was spearheading a plan to create a zoo/wildlife safari within the buffer zone of the Daroji Bear Sanctuary we had to take notice. According to Santosh Martin, honorary wildlife warden for the region

The fragile ecosystem is home to critically endangered species of both animals and plants including pangolins, sloth bears, wolves, leopards, etc., which are classified as Schedule I by the WPA. This site is also a breeding ground for the Indian eagle owl, brown fish owl and possibly the blue tailed bee eater. More than 150 bird species have been documented in this area by naturalists which include the yellow-throated bulbul, painted spur-fowl, painted sand grouse, etc. Continue reading →

Hermes, Circa 1981

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In the avatar of a blacksmith, Hermes next caught my attention during the spring of 1981. I had never heard of a gap year, but as my freshman year of college was concluding the opportunity for passage came in the form of apprenticeship. I had started thinking, in Vourthonia two years earlier, that I was born into very good fortune, but somehow in the wrong century and the wrong language.

So the avatar’s greeting, in the form of a generous, simple man plying this old trade, was compelling. Some months later, after deciding I needed to connect that smithing experience to this old form of speaking and thinking, I found myself in the old market area of Athens, after a day with my tutor.  With me were two women, both my own age, one whom I knew well, the other not at all. Continue reading →

Cattle Race – Onam Celebrations

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Photo credits : R R Ranjith

Photo credits: R R Ranjith

The cattle race is one of the many charismatic Onam celebrations enjoyed by farmers during the end of the harvest season. A special 100 meter track filled with mud and water is created. The skilled drivers balance precariously on a modified plow while the pairs of bullocks charge through the farmland at hair-raising speed. Continue reading →

Historian Cross-overs

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Photo: Gyan Prakash. A clapper board for the film “Bombay Velvet”.

For anyone who has been following Seth’s posts on this site over the last couple years, there has been a notably strong dose of history in many due to his decision to focus his undergraduate studies in environmental history. Summer 2013–an archival deep dive quite distinct from his previous summers in the present reality of Galapagos, Nicaragua, India, Jordan, Chile, Croatia, Costa Rica, France–was spent in Ithaca, his first summer there since the series of summers 1992-1995 (birth year through toddlerhood, when his father was engaged in history-based doctoral dissertation research). Is there a DNA tracer for history appreciation?

This comes to mind reading Gyan Prakash’s account of his experience mixing history and film.  For the many readers of university age who follow Seth’s writings the reasonable question might be what he plans to do with that degree once he graduates.  We expect that in the coming months as he approaches graduation this will start popping up as a theme in his posts. What good is history? Consult Mr. Prakash for inspiration:

On July 28, I flew to Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, to join the filmmaker Anurag Kashyap,  the actors Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma, and a massive crew making the movie “Bombay  Velvet.” In 2004, drawing on my research on the history of Mumbai, I had written the outline for a retro film noir  aimed at capturing the momentous transformation of Mumbai’s milieu of jazz clubs and industrial society in the 1960s. Continue reading →

Action Capture

/ Sudhir Shivaram / 1 Comment

Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Bharatpur in Rajasthan

Each time I head into the field to photograph wildlife I watch their movements within the habitat patiently and then think about how best to tell that individual’s story. Frequently action is a dramatic part of it.

Shutter Speed is an important parameter of the “exposure triangle”. When photographing action you can freeze the image using a high shutter speed or can create motion blurr with slow shutter speed.

As a photographer you need to decide in advance how you want to capture the image, whether it’s a silky flow of water, panning shot, long exposure star trials, long exposure vehicle tail light trails etc. There is no one correct answer. Continue reading →

Bringing Biology to Life

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We may not be Science Geeks per se, but we’re clearly fans of that type of thing! Not to mention that some of “our own” being deeply involved in Citizen Science projects around the world…

So we say Kudos to the National Science Teacher’s Association for creating curriculum and publishing textbooks that are both real and engaging.

“Observing the life cycle of monarch butterflies and following their remarkable migratory journeys between Canada, the United States, and Mexico … 

“Tracking climate change by recording the dates of first leaf, flower, and fruit of local trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses …

“Discovering which bird species migrate, where they go, and when …

“Exploring life cycles and population dynamics of frogs, toads, and other animals in nearby ponds … Continue reading →

Onam – 2013

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Photo credits : Ramesh Kidangoor

Photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoor

Once upon a time an Asura King Mahabali ruled Kerala, he was dearly loved by this country and was known to be a just and wise ruler. His story is recaptured in the popular folk song:

When Mahabali ruled the land
Everyone was equal
Happily they lived
Danger befell none
There was no falsehood or fraud
And no untruth

Continue reading →

Hermes, Circa 1979

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OdesLPLabelAt Easter time, 1979, my mother and I traveled back to Vourthonia. Musical soundtrack can accompany an occasion in life, just as in film. Vangelis, in collaboration with Irene Pappas, had just released the soundtrack for that visit.  Click the image to the left to read a bit about the album; better yet find the music and listen.

The lamb had been over the fire since morning, and was now on the table. Feta, salads, and the best olives in the world were there too. That music was playing from the open doors of an old VW Beetle parked near where we were sitting–my mother, many villagers, and me. That god gave safe passage. Continue reading →

Common Acacia Blue Butterfly

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Common Acacia Blue Butterflies are seen in and around the Periyar Tiger Reserve and are found across South India and North East India up to 1200 meters. The are active from March to November, primarily in deciduous hill forests . Continue reading →

Herpetologist Confidential

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Thanks to the scientific journal Nature, the history-biology continuum is alive and full of intrigue as the story below shows (click here for a podcast related to the same story):

Before leaving for the Philippines as an undergraduate in 1992, Rafe Brown scoured his supervisor’s bookshelf to learn as much as he could about the creatures he might encounter. He flipped through a photocopy of a 1922 monograph by the prolific herpetologist Edward Taylor, and became mesmerized by a particular lizard, Ptychozoon intermedium, the Philippine parachute gecko. With marbled skin, webs between its toes and aerodynamic flaps along its body that allow it to glide down from the treetops, it was just about the strangest animal that Brown had ever seen. Continue reading →

Winter Arrivals

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An exhausted winter arrival

Yesterday I encountered the first Brown Shrike for the season at Daroji Bear Sanctuary, near the town of Hampi, Karnataka.

For me, the appearance of the Brown Shrike is an indication of the winter migrants arrival. In previous years my first sightings have been in October, but they’ve arrived earlier this year.

I saw and photographed 2 individuals. One was totally worn out, probably because of the long, tiring migration from as far north as Siberia. Continue reading →

Onam Celebrations – 2013

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Photo credits : Ramesh Kidangoor

Photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoor

Kerala is a land of celebrations and Onam in particular transcends regional and religious profiles. Of the many festivals that are celebrated here, Onam is the most spectacular event of all. It celebrates the return of King Mahabali, who sacrificed his life to save his people but is said to visit his subjects annually at the harvest time. Continue reading →

Charisma & Conservation

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The video above stands on its own, worthy of a few minutes, but it brings to mind the role of charisma in conservation. We find it easier to worry about large, iconic species. Some creatures are brought back from the brink of extinction, only to experience the same fear and hatred, or worse, fate that brought them to that brink in the first place.  The editorial below, from today’s Guardian, reminds us that the uniquely human form of charisma called celebrity plays its own role, raising interesting questions.  Why celebrate not vultures and their mostly unknown guardians? Adam Welz has a few relevant thoughts:

My last post was about the need to reduce demand for rhino horn and ivory in Asia to stem Africa’s current poaching crisis. This week my inbox bulged with photos of mega-celebs trying to do just that.

Actor Edward Norton filmed a couple of public service announcements in New York on Tuesday to raise awareness of the illegal ivory trade, and yesterday Prince William, David Beckham and basketball player Yao Ming got together in London to film another brace of spots about rhino and elephant killing. The ads will go out this year as part of campaigns put together by the nonprofit WildAid, working in conjunction with other organisations. Continue reading →

Citizen Science in Belize – Update – If You Can’t Beat’em, Wear’em

/ Phil Karp / 24 Comments

Lionfish spine earrings crafted by Palovi Baezar, Punta Gorda, Belize. Credit: Polly Alford, ReefCI

In earlier posts about my volunteer experience in Belize with ReefCI, I talked about the lionfish invasion that is threatening coral reef and other marine ecosystems throughout the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and Southern Atlantic Seaboard of the United States, and noted that, at least for the foreseeable future, human intervention, particularly the establishment of a commercial fishery for the species, appears to be the only solution to keep the invasion under control.

I mentioned the idea of lionfish jewelry as a possible way of increasing the economic return to fisherfolk who may otherwise be reluctant to go after lionfish given the difficulty of catching them (the fish must be harvested by spearing or hand netting rather than through traditional methods such as lines or nets). I’ve been pleased to learn that at least one artisan in Belize has picked up on the idea, using some of the lionfish spines that I collected while I was there. She has already crafted some beautiful earrings (see photo above) and is working on other jewelry items as well as decorative mirrors. Elsewhere, jewelry crafted from lionfish tails and fins is being sold online, and through a retail outlet in Curaçao.  Continue reading →