Tree Musketeers !!

“The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago. The next best time is right now!”

~ Confucius (551-479 BC) – Chinese teacher, philosopher and politician.

Confucius uttered this saying more than 2000 years back when the world had better green-coverage than right now. I wonder what he would’ve said– seeing the tree-coverage of the current world!

Certainly, unless we pursue trees like we follow religion, we will not be successful at conserving them. ‘Van Mahotsav’ – celebrating trees in India was launched with the same fervor by Shri Kanhaiyalal M. Munshi, the Union Minister for Agriculture and Food in 1950.

Van Mahotsav is celebrated for a whole week each July during which time, the Forest Departments, among other environmental organizations, corporates and even individuals, plant lakhs of saplings of different plant-species all over the country. Organizations spread awareness through various media about the importance of trees on this planet. The first thing you can do to protect the trees and the environment is to stop using plastic in all forms. Then find a small spot around your home to plant a tree-sapling of your choice and water it daily. Then urge 5 of your friends to do the same. Imagine if all of us were to become ‘Tree Musketeers’ and protect and take ownership to grow more trees? We’d be doing ourselves a big favour.

Van Mahotsav is a quiet tree-revolution in progress. Either you participate directly by getting involved in tree-planting this July or you be right where you are and spread awareness via your computer. Blog about it or send tree E-cards to your friends and colleagues. All this commotion around trees is bound to have a positive impact on all sometime soon.

Another interesting thing that we could do is visit the lovely Forest Reserves, Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks where there is abundance of trees. Obviously, the amount we pay towards the entry fee (though not much) to these places is used for their conservation. This way we also get to see the wildlife that lives hand-in-glove with the forests.

Among all the places that you would find trees in, the Central Government  ‘Protected Areas’ are by far the best places in India which are home to some of the common as well as rare plant species – all clustered together. Some of the popular Tree Haunts (Protected Areas) to visit in India for inspiration or for sheer joy are:

1.    Sundarban National Park – West Bengal.

2.    Kaziranga National Park – Assam.

3.    Jim Corbett National Park – Uttarakhand.

4.    Gangotri National Park – Uttarakhand

5.    Great Himalayan National Park – Himachal Pradesh

6.    Indravati National Park – Chhattisgarh

7.    Simlipal National Park – Orissa

8.    Nagarhole National Park – Karnataka

9.    Buxa National Park – West Bengal

10. Pench National Park - Maharashtra

Pix courtesy: Premabhakti.wordpress; sreyas-mg.blogspot; worldlandtrust; love-theearth.blogspot; twitsnaps.

Singing oarsmen of the war-boats.....

100 feet long war-boats and 100 singing oarsmen in each boat will set River Pamba on fire this July.

That is what the Champakulam Boat Race is all about. Originally designed for Wars, these boats are currently keeping the Kerala boating heritage alive through boat races and water carnivals. The Champakulam Boat Race shall officially open the boat-race season in Kerala.

Kerala’s oldest and most popular and much awaited snake boat race – ‘Vallam Kali’ will grace Kerala’s third longest river – ‘Pamba’ which is also regarded as the Southern Ganges – ‘Dakshin Ganga’. Champakulam is a village in Alapuzha District in kerala and is said to be the rice bowl of Kerala – being a part of Kuttanad. River Pamba flows through the middle of Champakulam village. Alleppey (Alappuzha) – titled ‘the Venice of the East’ - is just 16 kms northwest of Champakulam.

‘Moolam Nakshatra’ of the Malayalam month ‘Midhunam’ is when this 500-year old Boat Race tradition would be held – it falls on the 3^rd of June in 2012. The ‘Rajapramukhan’ Trophy would be awarded to the winning team.

Elaborately and intricately decorated boats and water-floats will fill up River Pamba this day. ‘Vanchipattu’ – the song of the Oarsmen which facilitates rhythmic and coordinated movements of rowing the boats is an interesting aspect of the thrilling boat race – ‘Chundan Vallam’ Race. Hundreds of locals and tourists flood the Pamba River banks to watch and cheer the boats in one of the most exciting sports events in the country.

Champakulam Boat Race is not your regular run-of-the-mill leisurely race. It takes months of practice and stamina-building to row this war-boat – much less win the race. It’s a high-energy race which is found intriguing by most foreigners who witness this race that they even try their hand at it post the race. This truly tests your fitness levels.

Pix: Keralatourism.org; Vembanad Lake.blogspot; alleppeyboathouse.com;

Choose your Cruise on River Brahmaputra....

You will fall in love….all over again.

You will wake up in a different place every day.

You are constantly moving from one place to the other without lifting a finger.

You can laze laze laze all you want.

You will visit some far-flung and fascinating places.

You will be surprised by the most unexpected natural elements.

And if you care you will also steer a ship on the river.

Welcome to River-Cruising on the Brahmaputra – the floating-hotel-ride of a lifetime!

Not to take away the element of surprise from it but let me whet your appetite and warn you of what you could be missing.

World’s largest river-island – Majuli; pink playful Dolphins; Wildlife Safari in the Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park and tons more – all aboard a river-cruise-liner- ship!

Pick a month between October and March, pack light and pack right with imperatives and prepare to set sail aboard a ship for a few days with these pointers in mind:

Ø  Set your expectations right – know what to expect:

o   There would be 15-30 other passengers on the Ship. You can expect foreigners too.

o   Most ships would be double deck with living quarters below and a canopied open deck above with reclined beach chairs for lazing around and for sightseeing. For photographing some great sights along the way, you must park yourself here. It’s a great place to hang out at sunset with a bottle of chill beer or wine or both!

o   The ship would stop at few prime places where you’re expected to get off and explore the locale on foot or on elephant-back. You would have few opportunities to shop. Keep cash handy.

o   As you would be going into thick forests of the National Parks and even do shore-excursions of walk-throughs of villages, you must carry mosquito and snake repellent, and carry two pairs of footwear – one for the ship and the other for trekking on land in villages or in forests. Umbrellas, caps, sunshades, sun block, first-aid kit are imperatives.

o   River waterways are calmer than ocean cruisers. These river-ships being smaller than ocean-liners won’t have casinos but most ships have in-house cultural programs. You have the liberty and choice to do whatever you please. Bring board-games or a juicy book. Or just park yourself on the deck and soak in the cruise, the ambience, the river and the scenery and mingle with your co-cruisers.

o   Food menu would be limited to a pre-set list of dishes. Obviously as Assam is tourism-centric, you can count on food being good. Some cruise-lines offer barbeque dinners on islands.Most river-cruise-ship stock a good bar onboard.

o   There would be insightful information given by the tour-guide atop the deck when he addresses the whole tour-group.

Ø  Carry a camera with wide angle lens and zoom lens on a tripod stand and remote clicker to plant your camera firm and click pictures without having to look through the eye-piece each time. Also find a way to connect the camera to your laptop so you can see your images on the big screen right away as they’re being clicked. Don’t forget your binoculars.

Ø  Take domestic travel insurance. What if you need it on the trip but you don’t have it?

Ø  Know the terrain you’re about to tread:

o   Its river all the way people – with occasional stopovers on land. So motion-sickness folks please excuse.

o   Explore the world’s largest river-island – Majuli Island.

o   Thick riverine forests of Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park inhabited by wildlife such as the single-horned Rhino, Tiger and Elephants.

o   Historically religious sites of Hajo and Vishnath.

o   Tribal Village tourism of Assam.

o   Tea garden-treks.

Ø  The first rule of ‘CHOOSE A CRUISE’ – be aware of the whole itinerary from start to finish with the details mentioned above so that you choose the cruise you want to be on and you don’t face any rude shocks on the trip. The second rule – let go, relax, live for the day and live it up. You paid for it!

Pix courtesy: Telegraph.co.uk; Lonely Planet; brahmaputrarivercruises; elephantsafari.wordpress, GoHoto Blog.

Woof! This Hyderabad Traffic

Three years back i.e in the year 2009, we got shifted from Mumbai to Nizam,s city Hyderabad, as my husband got transferred to this city. When the transfer order came, we all were very thrilled to move away from the city which never sleeps, thinking that we will lead a much comfortable life in Hyderabad.

For the same reason we searched for a house which was close by to our work place and my daughter’s school and as the lady luck was in our favor, we got the place suiting everyone’s need. First few days were fine when we were at home, but to my dismay when we came out on the roads of Ameerpet and Begumpet, we found inhuman traffic on the roads.

The first jolt I got when I caught an argument with an auto driver, as he was asking exorbitant money for a very short distance and I asked him to put meter on, he bluntly refused, which turned my head on and I walked to my destination, cursing the auto drivers and Hyderabad as a whole. For me it was very new because in Mumbai we never faced any problem with the auto drivers or Taxi drivers as everyone puts the meter on when the passengers get in.  This everyday’s tiff with the auto drivers made us buy a car immediately.

The second jolt came when we took the car out on the road, facing the Hyderabad traffic in real sense, by becoming a part of it. Our brand new car got a first scratch from a speeding bike brushing the left side of the car, as he overtook our car from the left side, while turning left on Greenlands Road near Paryatak Bhavan Begumpet. After many incidence like this, we have become very cautious driver and especially with the bikers. Most junction of Hyderabad you will find chaotic traffic without any rules and regulations with or without traffic police. I have seen a traffic police running after a motorbike as he jumped the signal; in the mean time many of them did the same as the signal was left unmanned, which usually doesn’t happen with Mumbai police, as the traffic police is very strong there. Drunken driving being a serious crime, Hyderabad have started with breath analyzer test on the drivers of the vehicle in the night time, but to my surprise they are leaving the culprit with the vehicle to be driven by them again by collecting small amount of fine from them. The police even stop their operation after 12 midnight but the people who go for a party or after office hours drinking session usually come on the roads after 12’ o clock, so according to me it is not serving the real purpose. The same operation in Mumbai is taken very seriously and which is going on there for several years. If a person gets caught by Mumbai police for drunken driving, his/ her driving license is immediately taken into the custody of police and depending on the severity, the person may lose the right of driving forever and the operation is active throughout the night as per the news in newspapers.

The third jolt came, when I wanted to cross the road from under the Somajiguda Flyover to other side of the road to go to Kalaniketan. To cross that narrow road of few meters breadth, I had to wait for around 15 minutes to look for the vehicles which are coming at little slow pace and when I dared to cross the road I had to raise my left hand to the vehicles for some mercy from the drivers. This is not the only point in Hyderabad where crossing the road by the pedestrians is nightmarish, you will find this situation everywhere in the twin cities, as there are no options for the pedestrians to use the road. Though you will find zebra crossing nicely drawn on the roads, for the pedestrians to cross the road but there are no signals to stop the flow of traffic going straight especially in the three lane junctions, this is not the case with Mumbai. In Mumbai you will find signals even in the highway, for stopping the fast moving traffic for a minute or two, so the walker can cross the road easily. Along with all these there are no footpaths on the road sides for the pedestrians to walk safely.

So it is my humble request to all the residents of Hyderabad, to abide the rules and regulations of traffic while driving on the roads, which will certainly reduce the traffic chaos in the city and above all it will reduce the number of road accidents, which has increased tremendously in recent days. I would also like to request Hyderabad traffic police to take care of the pedestrians too along with smooth flow of traffic on the roads, especially while crossing the roads.