Birds and bees

Have loved to take pictures of butterflies, animals/birds in the wild or just during our travels..Have come across some interesting ones and finding out the names of these winged creatures is equally fun

Black shouldered Kite

Malabar Banded Swallowtail

 Great Eggfly

Southern Bird wing

Indian Kite

Indian Bulbul

Indian Bulbul

Brahminy Kite

Pea hen 

White and black Egrets

Indian Crow 

Indian Black Drongo 

Spice trail in Goa : Sahakari Spice farm Ponda

Of the run of the mill Beach and bar visits in Goa, we decided to try something new this time. While we visited the St. Francis church in Old Goa, we went on to the Sahakari Spice farm, in Ponda.

Betel nut palms

Small brooks and rivulets run thro the farm

Naturally growing creepers on large trees

 

The read coffee seeds

Bananas always make me happy

The betel tree and how to check its age - by the lines on the tree

Little bridges over the water ways in the farm.. So Quaint yet sturdy..

 So thats what Nutmeg looks like

 My other tea favourite, lemon grass

Thats money plants which is growing into gigantic leaves on this tree

The Vanilla Orchid..so beautiful. Its an orchid

 Green peppers..look so beautiful

Well thats the tree most people would like, the Cocoa !

 The Cardamom flowers

The yummy lunch served in earthen pots and the coconut shell serving spoons..

Road trip to Goa, via Murudeshwar

Every year Goa is a trip we take via the North Karnataka road, Mangalore, Udipi-Murudeshwar-Karwar and then Goa. This year we stopped at Murudeshwar for a night(because we love this temple town) and then went on to Goa for a 6 day holiday.

Murudeshwar is simply beautiful and we have been there since a years. Here are a few pictures captured for posterity.

Whole Wheat Chapatis - Sheer wholesome goodness

My parents have followed a policy ever since I was a kid - if I was a little reluctant to eat something, they would make me taste it/try it at least once and then leave me to get addicted to the goodness of the food item(example beans, which I used to hate at one point). Basically, I  HAD to try it once, before I decide I dont want it.

Nothings' changed even today. My parents propagate good eating habits, and are keen promoters of whole grain foods. They would even today buy whole wheat grains and get it ground to flour at the local flour mill. 

Me? I buy the branded versions that call themselves wholewheat and wonder why it never tastes like my mom's phulkas. My mom would keep reminding me that getting wheat ground is the way to go, and that I should try it. I always made my excuses and kept buying the "blessing" brand and the "Dough boy" brand as well.

This september, my father visited us in Bangalore and brought with him some ground whole wheat from Mumbai.. I made the chapatis/rotis with this flour and I am addicted! The rotis/chapatis/phulkas are so soft. They fluff up beautifullly on being roasted on the fire. And are so tasty, that it can be eaten without any accompaniment! The ghee just melts on it and its good to go!

Mommy does know best!

Waste Segregation Drive - Bangalore

Bangalore has always been a little ahead of other cities when it comes to environment or civic sense - We have people setting up eco friendly residential complexes, lake adoption and cleanliness drives, flea markets like "Second to None" or 220 -which encourage to re-use, reduce and recycle, - just so many earth friendly projects that residents/citizens take up.

There is a drive to reduce and ban plastic bags in Karnataka. Example, if you go grocery shopping Bring Your Own Bag - BYOB or pay for a bag. Fantastic!

The more recent, commendable drive is that of WASTE SEGREGATION at Source. What it means is, reduce the garbage going to landfills, by segregating the waste at home, recycling what we can, re-using what we can(like compost) and so on.. This is such a wonderful method and would work if everyone put their minds to it.

A lot of literature from BBMP Waste reduction site, and from various "earth warriors" and one of my favourite people whom I started to follow for waste segregation,  Vani Murthy. (I subscribe to her updates on facebook) 
Here are some of the information on this matter :

BBMP's waste segregation picture that says it all.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/BBMP-Speak-on-Solid-Waste-Management/364261033651327

The one which most people need to pay heed to would be that of disposing Sanitary waste. 

Vani's page clearly tells us "All Sanitary waste(contaminated) has to be handed over daily along with your wet kitchen waste ,wrapped in a paper bag and crossed with a RED mark.(sanitary napkins ,disposable diapers ,bandages,used condoms, ear buds or any material contaminated with blood."Vani's page clearly tells us "All Sanitary waste(contaminated) has to be handed over daily along with your wet kitchen waste ,wrapped in a paper bag and crossed with a RED mark.(sanitary napkins ,disposable diapers ,bandages,used condoms, ear buds or any material contaminated with blood."

Garden waste needs to be segregated in the community itself as much as possible. 

For more information, follow The BBMP page on Facebook or Vani Murthy's page(she makes it sound easy peasy!) https://www.facebook.com/pages/BBMP-Speak-on-Solid-Waste-Management/364261033651327 and  https://www.facebook.com/vani.murthy

Be green and a conscious citizen. After all, we can cut down the garbage at our landfills, with such simple steps. Meantime, the fine for NOT following the BBMp waste segregation that starts on OCT 1st starts at INR 100 

Barfi

We went to watch Barfi this Saturday with mixed feelings. We all have friends whose opinions about a movie, usually match your own,and then there is the general mass hysteria of opinions leaning one way or the other from a popular/recent movie. Movie reviews didn't help much either. We decided to watch it anyway and it was totally worth the decision!

The love between a deaf mute protagonist and an autistic girl is a story well told. They could have well been people with normal motor skills and still the love story could make sense. The locales, scenery are just breathtaking. Darjeeling looks so beautiful - that we made a quick note to self "Must make Darjeeling one my next vacation". The colours, the greenery, the subliminal messages(Charlie Chaplin cutout, during the Chaplinesque run from the police) and cheeky but clever brand placements(Murphy, Goodriche), were things one will remember. 

Every shot, every frame seem to have been composed with a great deal of thought -such beautiful cinematography. 

The Characters stay with you long after the movie. It reminded me a little of the 1984, award winning Tamizh movie starring Pratap Pothan and Radhika - Meendum Oru Kaadhal Kathai (a love story between a mentally unwell couple)

Thankfully Barfi was not all preachy like say a Taare Zameen Par, which had movie goers in tears for most scenes! 

I especially loved the simple logic of - "Love something? Go get it". Awesome and bold, to show a woman leaving her loveless marriage to a controlling husband for a beau. 

I love movies where not everything is explained and a lot is left for the viewer to interpret. Its intelligent, and creative - a bit like reading a book, leaving a lot to imagination. Barfi is must watch, at least once..

Kids not allowed

I saw a recent post which is something quite close to my heart, badly behaved kids in India in restaurants, cinemas, trains/flights and the like.. 

http://mumbaiboss.com/2012/09/14/kids-are-not-all-right/

I did wonder if this list exists for Bangalore restaurants. Would love to have a decent meal in an upscale restaurant without brats running around or ill equipped parents shouting out "Bunty, idhaar aaao betaaa' or plain being indifferent.

We once saw a "hyper kid", at a Pizzeria. He was running amok and creating such a racket on various tables with the cutlery and the ceramic plates, I wondered if he was the "owner's kid", untill one of the waiters tried to politely ask the child to stop. Then the mother slowly looked up,( like it was such an effort, or maybe she looked as to why the noise stopped) and the father brought him back to their table. Until then the family ate silently like that kid was not even theirs! No apologies to management or fellow patrons, whose experience was ruined, just because someone didn't follow good parenting !

Worst example would be, people with "brats" who visit homes and these kids run about, touching and picking up fragile stuff! One parent told me "You need to child proof your house" I wanted to say "Buddy, you need to HOUSE proof your child!". Btw we weren't able to speak a single sentence without the brat butting in!

As Scott Adams suggests via Dogbert's Clue for the Clueless, it might just be ok to send a "Champagne and Vasectomy courtesy of table 9"!

RIP Dr. Verghese Kurien

One man, one dream, one reality. Thats the story of the Milk Revolution in Gujarat. very beautifully showcased by Shyam Benegal in the 1976 movie Manthan.

Today Dr. Kurien passed away at the age of 90. I play this song in his memory, as a nation mourns the passing of a stalwart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Borj8EIkNRk 

Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning on my Computer : Cleared my computer of old songs/photos/programs I never used/listen to and got 15GB space and much better speed. *Super happy*

Spring cleaning on old email ids like Yahoomail and Gmail, found some old emails that were still floating like usual "snopes candidate rumours", the "COKE can wash the toilets" email, the "send this to 7 people email", the darwin awards, and so on..

Also earlier last week, did some spring cleaning on FaceBook. Cleaned out- some "friends" - I have no idea who they are, Never met them nor interacted(the ones with 4 mutual pals where one feel pressurised to accept the "request"), "gaming contacts", "Likes"/pages on FB that I didnt even know I liked/or why. One of them that I "Unliked" was Dr. Manmohan Singh! Sir, you did not survive the spring cleaning...All others can heave a sigh of relief!

Spring Cleaning at home : Cleared out a huge bagful of accessories, junk and stuff that I haven't used recently and wont be using again. The domestic help went home thrilled!

And of course some discarding/organising/sorting of clothes and I have a whole SHELF empty in my wardrobe, yes a whole SHELF! Happy and decluttered. Here's my Martha Stewart moment, as I get some drawer organisers (thanks to Howard's Storage Solutions)

My next target is to clear out atleast one more drawer, this month! De-cluttering is bliss..

C'mon Oprah, do some home work..

 I think its a valid question, how do Americans eat Pizzas, Hotdogs tacos, falafels? Also makes one wonder who is the Target Audience for this show ? 

http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/you-still-eat-with-your-hands-oprahs-magical-mystery-tour-of-india-385494.html#.UA_dgNfABwA.facebook

While there is a school of thought that even questions, should Indians worry about stereotyping ? Oh yes we do, we are one of the most sensitive people, probably second only to Conservative Muslims around the world asking for apologies for everything/every joke that is Indian..Had we not given the story importance, wonder if it would have been so much talked about..

http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/left-right-centre/oprah-s-remarks-on-india-should-we-care-about-how-the-west-stereotype-india/240591?pfrom=home-topstories

Dark Knight Rises

Loved Dark Knight Rises ! Loved it. Deserves to be seen again. Background score was just amazing. I have been watching reruns of the prequels just in anticipation of this one..And please don't miss Mehrangargh Fort (JOD) even if for a glimpse..

Also the Meme's on Bane are super funny!