Photo Credit: John Mason
Bird of the Day: African Village Weaver – Female (Kakum National Park, Ghana)
Photo Credit: John Mason
Festival Of Kerala- Thrissur Pooram (April 21 , 2013)
Photo Credits: Ramesh Kidangoor
Thrissur Pooram is the grandest of festivals in Kerala, filled with elephants decorated with headdresses, beautifully crafted parasols, decorative bells and ornaments. The atmosphere is set by the ensemble of panchvadyam and pandimelam; the riveting orchestras dominated by percussion. The fireworks display in the early hours of the day following the pooram will rival shows held anywhere in the world. The Thrissur Pooram takes place every year in the Vadakkumnathan temple. Continue reading
Documentary: Shunte ki pao! (Are you listening), the life of a family of climate refugees in Bangladesh
When introducing his documentary at the Paris International Documentary festival, Cinéma du Réel, director Kamar Ahmad Simon said to the audience: “Thank you for being here. I will be back at the end of the screening to discuss the film with you. I’d like to know your opinion and to answer any questions you may have, whether you liked the film or not, so I can go forward and progress.” If I had to sum up the response from the audience and jury it would be something like: “Please keep going. We’ll follow.”
Click here for the trailer of Shunte Ki Pao ! (Are you listening)
Rakhi and Soumen are a beautiful couple, they are young, in love and are the happy parents of little Rahul. You could say they have it all. That’s if their region of the coastal belts of Bangladesh had not been wiped out by the tidal in 2009. Rakhi and Soumen are climate refugees. A couple among almost a million homeless, stranded under the open sky on an ancient dyke. They now live in a small village named Sutarkhali. Rakhi and Soumen were from the middle-class, today three years after the tidal, they buy fruits by the unit, fish for their meal and line-up on neverending queues for food aid. And life goes on. Shunte Ki Pao ! (Are you listening) is not about disaster, it tells how people build a life afterwards. Continue reading
Cooked By Pollan
A new book by one of our go-to food writers in a publication new to us:
The following is an excerpt from Michael Pollan’s Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation, out from the Penguin Press on April 23.
As I grew steadily more comfortable in the kitchen, I found that, much like gardening, most cooking manages to be agreeably absorbing without being too demanding intellectually. It leaves plenty of mental space for daydreaming and reflection. One of the things I reflected on is the whole question of taking on what in our time has become, strictly speaking, optional, even unnecessary work, work for which I am not particularly gifted or qualified, and at which I may never get very good. This is, in the modern world, the unspoken question that hovers over all our cooking: Why bother? Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Indian Cormorant with catch
Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, Bangalore
Lost and Found In Ghana
White-necked Picathartes – Photo Credit: David Shackelford Rockjumper Birding Tours
In March we’d introduced the White-necked Rock Fowl in our Bird of the Day series, and then neglected to tell the full story behind this charismatic bird. Shame on us! But better late than never I’m happy to share it now.
West Africa’s Upper Guinean forest block stretches along the coast from Sierra Leone to Ghana, and along with the Congolian forest block is considered a biodiversity hotspot. Up until the mid-1960s-early 1970s it is believed there were at least 200-300 breeding pairs of the endemic white-necked picathartes in Ghana alone. But up until 10 years ago there hadn’t been reports of the bird for nearly 4 decades, leading conservationists to believe it eradicated from the region.
Our colleague John Mason from the Nature Conservation Research Centre (NCRC) in Ghana has provided us with this fascinating story:
Efforts to locate rockfowl were not successful until 2003, when a research team from Louisiana State University, working in collaboration with NCRC and WD, re-discovered rockfowl in Ghana. A single individual was mist-netted and one breeding site was recorded in the Subim Forest Reserve. Subsequently the Ghana Wildlife Society located two additional colonies near this first site. Continue reading
The Darien Gap, Panama
Remarkably, a second article in the same issue of the New Yorker devoted to one of our favorite topics–the wonders of nature. Click the image above to go to the source. The first one we linked to is by one of the magazine’s most distinguished writers, and we are pleased to encounter the author of the following for the first time:
The Pan-American Highway runs sixteen thousand miles, from Anchorage to Tierra del Fuego, with one significant interruption: an expanse of rain forest along the border of Colombia and Panama. The road ends abruptly on the Panama side, just north of a national park, and picks up again as a dirt path, sixty miles southeast, in Colombia, in the floodplain of the enormous Atrato River. The region in between, which spans two coasts with jungles and mountains and a confounding web of rivers, is known locally as the Tapón del Darién—the Darién Plug—for its seeming impassability. Continue reading
Uthralikavu Bhagavathy Temple – Kerala
Photo Credits: Ramesh Kidangoor
Uthralikavu is a Devi temple surrounded by paddy fields near Thrissur. The Uthralikavu Temple Festival is one of the most popular temple celebrations in central Kerala. The annual pooram festival is conducted by three villages near by. The temple is dedicated to Goddess Sri Rudhiramahakali. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: African Emerald Cuckoo (Mole National Park, Ghana)
Swept Away
The “Three C’s” on our banner are more than words. They solidify into reality and action when people with similar views and interests reach out to us after reading them. This is what happened recently when Jennifer Harrington, a Toronto-based illustrator, writer and graphic designer introduced herself to us. Her collaboration with illustrator Michael Arnott on an eBook and animated short film versions of the The Spirit Bear and other stories is aimed at educating children about conservation while entertaining them at the same time.
Although sounding like a character out of Native American legend, the ghost or spirit bear actually
come from a small community of bears called Kermodes, which are a subspecies of black bears. Kermode bears may be black or white, but they all carry the recessive gene for white fur. 10% of Kermodes will fully express the recessive gene, and will be born with white or cream-coloured fur. Continue reading
Shravanbelagola – Jain Temple, Karanataka
Photo Credits: Ramesh Kidangoor
Located strategically between the two hills of Chandagire and Indragiri near Hassan, the picturesque hill town Shravanbelagola is a renowned site for Jain pilgrimages. This Jain temple was built in 983 AD by Chandragupta Maurya, the grandfather of the Great Ashoka. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Northern Flicker
Tompkins County, NY
If You Happen To Be In Ithaca
Not sure what to do this upcoming Earth Day? If you happen to attend Cornell University here’s a suggestion: If “Nature never stands still”, taking an interdisciplinary approach toward her recovery and restoration seems like a logical step.
We especially like the circular nature of choosing Dr. Kareiva to give the 2013 Iscol Distinguished Environmental Lecture. Kareiva received his PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Cornell University in 1981 and after serving on the faculties of Brown University and University of Washington he is now the Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy. Continue reading
Flavours Of Kerala – Halwa
Photo Credits: Ramesh Kidangoor
There is no written history as to when Halwa first came to Kerala but considering that it appears where Arab culture took root in matters of cuisine, this sticky sweet must have its origins in the Middle East. While Halwa is also native to many other parts of India, what is essentially different about the Kerala Halwa are the basic ingredients used. In other regions either wheat paste or white flour with sugar forms the base; here it is rice flour with jaggery, with the addition of cardamom, nuts and occasionally grated fruit or vegetable. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Grey Plover (Mole National Park, Ghana)
Mural Paintings – Kerala
Photo Credits: Best of Kerala
Kerala is heralded as one of the leading states in India with a good collection of Murals. Dating back to the 8th century, the paintings are highly valued for their aesthetic composition and techniques. The temples and palaces of Kerala are custodians of many notable Mural works depicting Hindu Gods and Goddesses.
Continue reading
Witnessing the Devi Temple Festival
Photo Credits: Mr. Vijay Mampilly
It’s amazing how often dreams have become reality during my trip to India as a Raxa Collective Management trainee in Thekaddy! In Ghana I have seen religious tribal festivals and seen pictures of the Indian versions in magazines and movies. But it was incredible to have the firsthand experience of seeing devotees as more than masqueraders or people in carefree disguise.
The Devi Temple festival procession–beautiful, colourful and sometimes slightly otherworldly–passed right in front of the Cardamom County entrance gate. I was thrilled to see hundreds of people dressed up in festive mood, joyfully drumming and dancing in convoy following the Devi Shrine toward the gates of the Periyar Tiger Reserve. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Verditer Flycatcher
Lalbagh Botonical Gardens, Bangalore, Karnataka
For Your Consideration
If you follow American popular culture, and care about race relations, you may find this piece interesting:
In a recent article on the lack of ethnic diversity on American television, the critic Emily Nussbaum paused from pondering the absence of blacks on TV — the usual complaint against homogeneity — to note the sudden ubiquity of South Asians. “Black and white are not the only colors of diversity,” she wrote, and listed roles accorded to desi actors in The Office, Parks and Recreation, Community, Smash, The Big Bang Theory, Whitney, and The Good Wife. Continue reading
7th Annual Thekkady Flower Show
Thekkady Flower Show
The 7th Annual Thekkady Flower Show took place from 9th to 15th of April 2013. Although the numerous flowers on display were the main attractions tourists could also enjoy and learn about local cuisines, traditional art forms, classical dances and tribal medicines. Continue reading
Organikos 