The Shenbaga Devi Falls trail in Tenkasi is one of few very pristine areas in Tamil Nadu. Thanks to the entry being restricted by (if I remember correctly) the Ecological Survey of India, the area is very rich in its biodiversity (plants, insects, birds, that you don’t get a chance to see outside, all within [...]
Site: Velapar Murugan (வேலப்பர் முருகன்) Map: +9° 51′ 2.40″ N, +77° 35′ 54.00″ E, 500m. This is located en-route to Theni from Madurai city, past a township called Aandipatti. There is also a small road side rest-stop/temple – DharmaSastha (தர்மசாஸ்தா) located here along the way, at 339m. We got a generous helping of piping hot [...]
I caught this procession of folks in the distance, on the way back from a visiting a remote rural temple. They are going to the local Kali temple. Usually this is done on every powarnami (full moon day). But this one is special, as it comes right after Navaratri celebrations. They’re carrying mulai-paari (முளை பாரி; [...]
Bird watching, just a one day venture with the local kids. Something that started unplanned in an attempt to get a shot of some absolutely loud birds that wake me up at 4am (with a “snooze feature” – they start again around 5am), without fail, every day, year in year out. Here they are, some [...]
“This year we had a good monsoon season.” The sort of thing my parents (in India) would say when I call them. If you live in interior Tamil Nadu (or for that matter interior anywhere), you don’t have to be a farmer, to feel the anticipation, anxiety, and the prayers of the people for the [...]
Next time you reach for a shiny red apple think again. The apple in the photo was originally shiny red. What you see is the effect of just soaking it in water for 1/2 hour. At first I thought it was the water, so I did the same using filtered water, got the same result. [...]
There was a time when spirituality and nature were interconnected, not just on paper, but in practice (see Nature). I went about searching for such an environmental/spiritual organization… and found just what I was looking for – ProjectGreenHands. It turned out to be the efforts of an organization that I was made familiar with couple [...]
Have you ever stopped to think about where all those disposal ballpoints end up? Would you even dare to count the number of ballpoints you’ve lost? I’ve seen tens of packs of ballpoints being restocked in the supply cabinet all the time where I work. Where do they all end up? landfills obviously (or in [...]
Well after spending two hours yesterday evening shopping for a winter jacket, I thought I had found the right one – a Dockers 100% wool jacket. I happily bought it. Then it occurred to me, what exactly happens to the sheep when the wool is extracted? is it as simple as giving them a haircut? [...]
I just rented An Inconvenient Truth on DVD.I expected more from the movie, i.e. more material to be presented. But whatever it presents, it does so strongly and it gets the message across to the masses. There’s nothing new about global warming, but this film puts global warming as a front-page concern, rather than something [...]