yet again ... getting lost ... then enjoying self-discovery ...

Grand Delusions A Short biography of Kolkata Indrajit Hazra Aleph Book Company 2013 Me The first 6 years of my life in Calcutta have ensured that I remain positively biased for the rest to follow. To this day I am a Flury’s fan; such that the Flury’s counter in Hyderabad is one reason that encourages me to brave the evening traffic. Some lines we read stay with us; for some reason or for no reason. This I read a long ago, don’t remember where but has stayed on since –‘ During the late 1960’s and early 1970’s in Calcutta we had nothing to do and the whole day to do it in’ . Coming to this book - After a longish while read a book where I was keen to absorb all that the page I was then on had to offer and simultaneously was also anxious to read the next page. I wanted to go quick but ensure that I miss nothing as well. Cover Book reviews Khaleej Times The Indian Express Bookgeeks.in Five interesting and random lines from the book.  ...

The Book Butterflies  On the Roof of the World ~ A Memoir ~ Peter Smetacek Aleph Book Company 2012 The Cover A snippet from the book. The interesting thing is that the leaf mimics not only have a shape and a wing pattern that resemble leaves, but they even behave appropriately. If an Oakleaf, or a Peacock Pansy ( Junonia almana ) is disturbed, it will dash into a thicket, where it will either settle on a twig in the shade or on the ground amid dead leaves. There it will keep very still until it is satisfied that the danger has passed. If the danger, in the form of a lepidopterist or a bird, follows up, it will wait until the hunter has got quite close, keeping up the deception as it sits among the leaves. While one is searching, there will be a sudden flash of orange and blue, or orange in the case of the Pansy, and the butterfly will be off at high speed before dashing into another bush. This strategy is called flash coloration. The idea is tha...

 ~  A Note of mine that finds place in JBNHS 110 (2); May - August 2013 ~ ~ Many thanks to BNHS ~ ~ Images and video are from Mizoram but not mentioned in the note ~ THE HOOLOCK GIBBON HOOLOCK HOOLOCK IN SAIHA, MIZORAM, INDIA: HISTORICAL RECORDS, RECENT SIGHTINGS AND CONSERVATION ISSUES Introduction The Hoolock Gibbon Hoolock hoolock occurs in the westernmost extreme of the distribution of the 16 gibbon species currently recognized (Geissmann 2007; Kakati et al. 2009). Its range between the Brahmaputra and Chindwin rivers encompasses three countries – Bangladesh, India, and Myanmar (Groves 1967). It is the only ape represented in the Indian subcontinent (Geissmann et al. 2009). The species has been on the list of the World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates since 2006 (Walker et al. 2007), with the global population estimated to be about 5,000 animals, of which 2,600 to 4,450 are in India (Choudhury 2006; Molur et al . 2005) and about 200 in Bangladesh (Ka...

Silences Silences as if meander and beacon Far amidst pleasant empty shades A sleight of thought As if brings forth sunlight Am I at the cusp of change in life? ** Chalte Chalte Din me aasman ke khulepan ko mehsus karna Raat me animesh ho ke taare dekhna ~ dekhte rehna Kabhi shaant rehna Kabhi saanate ki awaaz ko sunna ~ sunte rehna Baaithe baithe kho jana Chalte chalte in sab ko apne me sametna ~ chalte rehna Bas chalte rehna ~ **

Across the Chicken Neck – Travels in Northeast India Nandita Haksar Rainlight RUPA 2013 Share some snippets from different parts she moved along – some on account of their pertinent questions and some my bias towards forests. Some words that describe the book Pluses Well-researched, gives a feel of the region, puts forth facts without fear ~ Minuses Amateurish at points, too much of 'I' factor, can do with editing ~ Nagaland Around me I see many tourists, Indian and Western, furiously taking photographs of the cultural troupes. What strikes a discordant note is that all the hundreds of photographers and tourists, not a single one bothers to pause and speak to any of the dancers. No one seems to want to hear their stories, to share their concerns, or to understand the difficulty of keeping alive a culture which has lost much of its meaning under the onslaught of organized religion. I am also disgusted by how the officers of the Indian s...

The Rivered Earth Vikram Seth Hamish Hamilton an imprint of PENGUIN BOOKS 2011 Reviews in HINDU and World Literature Today Poem reading by Vikram Seth A book which, to me, brings out the essence of 'passion' and 'talent' ~ Two poems I loved - more - from ‘Songs in Time of War’ Thoughts while travelling at Night Light breeze on the fine grass. I stand alone at the mast. Stars lean on the vast wild plain. Moon bobs in the Great River’s spate. Letters have brought no fame. Office? Too old to obtain. Drifting, what am I like? A gull between earth and sky. Spring in the Time of War The state lies ruined; hills and streams survive. Spring in the city; grass and leaves now thrive. Moved by the times the flowers shed their dew. The birds seem startled; the hate parting too. The steady beacon fires are three months old. A word from home is worth a ton of gold. I scratch my white hair, which has grown so...

The Mammals of North East India Text, line drawings and maps by Anwaruddin Choudhury Gibbon Books and The Rhino Foundation for Nature in NE India Supported by Forestry Bureau, COA, 2013 Book launch Getting the book Snippets Pieces (neither connected nor complete) from each of the 3 sections (Introduction, Systematic list and Taxonomic descriptions and Species likely to occur) are shared below to give a glimpse of the spectacular diversity of the region that is brought out by the publication.  Attempt is made to eek dollops from multiple species in the section (Systematic list and Taxonomic descriptions) to bring out the wide array of aspects covered. Introduction Review of Literature In the 1940s and 1950s literature continued to be scanty. Some of the works on mammals holding good information on NE India were Pocock (1940), Parsons (1941), Prater (1948), Ellerman & Morrison-Scott (1951), Shebbeare (1953), Gee (1956), Khajuria (1956) a...

Kestrel On 20/10/2013 I saw 1 Common kestrel ( Falco tinnunculus ) from my room at Ritz Hotel in Aizawl. I saw it for about 20 minutes, as if protecting itself from rain. It sat in a ledge on the top floor, yellow claws and the black tips of the claws were clearly visible as was the yellow on the beak. Its posture was slightly different from what I have seen on the telephone towers at Saiha ; possibly because of the location. I noticed that the tail was not long (this came out since 2 wagtails came and perched about 10 – 15 feet away from it – albeit little higher – and helped comparison). It was not affected by the wagtails and their calling, only once in 20 minutes I understand it called, initially it was positioned perpendicular to me i.e. I faced its side with its head to my right and it twisted its neck with ease to as if look at me without being perturbed by my presence, the manner in which it moved its neck reminded me of the Spotted Owlet  ( Athene brama ) owl I...

NEPED and FES ’ joint actions to build on the existing Community Initiatives on Conservation across the state had us at Benrue ( Peren, Nagaland ). Primary objective of the week was to interact on mapping of Community Conserved Areas(CCA) boundaries . Benrue, however, as the directory of Important Bird Areas (IBA) and experience of friends who had visited earlier suggested was a very special dot on the ornithological map of not only the state but also the region. But the time our week-long trip came to an end we had come across species ranging from the tiny Naga Wren Babbler ( Spelaeornis chocolatinus ) to the Grey Sibia ( Heterophasia gracilis ) ( the numbers in which we saw it made us wonder on its being rare and a trigger species for the IBA ); Black Eagle ( Ictinaetus malayensis ) looked down upon us as we walked the boundary while the Himalayan Griffon Vulture ( Gyps himalayensis ) came to have a closer look as we had tea and I understand I also saw the Yellow-t...