Articles by Deepa Mohan

A message from Sangeetha Kadur:    Hello, "GREEN SCRAPS" , Nature journaling workshop !! We are happy to announce yet another exclusive "GreenScraps" workshop this Summer 2012!   April 30th to May 4th, at Lalbagh For all the details about the workshop, click here   If you need to know more about the workshop, please call the numbers;  Sangeetha: 98868 12598 Shilpashree: 92414 49073     The registrations are limited to just 12 participants. With best regards, Shilpashree & Sangeetha Kadur -- http://sangeethakadur.blogspot.com/   ⊕

BCIL ZED Foundation conducted an International Sparrow Conference on 20 March, to raise awareness about the fall in the House Sparrow population in Bengaluru. 20 March is celebrated as the International sparrow day. As part of the conference there was a panel discussion on the birds, held at the Xavier Hall of St. Joseph's College, Lalbagh Road. Poster displayed outside St.Joseph's College. Photo: Deepa MohanThe first to speak was Dr. Abraham Verghese, of the Indian Institute for Research, who touched on how, several decades ago, places like Rajaji Nagar were just open land helping sparrow population. He added that several…

As you walk about in Bengaluru, you might often pass several reptiles without seeing them. Though it is not common to see snakes, they are sometimes sighted, and strike terror into our hearts usually, even if they are non-poisonous. Pic: Deepa mohan But apart from the snakes, lizards are a kind of reptile that we see very often, and which are very helpful in keeping the insect population down. The House Gecko or the lizard in the house, that we don't like to see at all, actually eats cockroaches and other insects. Some of the other reptiles we see are…

An effort to bring the House Sparrow back... Today is World Sparrow Day, and I too will be taking part in a panel discussion on the topic of these lovely, perky birds, that suddenly seemed to vanish from the Bangalore urban scene. click here to see the schedule for today.However, they do seem to be making a comeback lately, and that is probably what I will mention during the discussion this evening.I'd posted some time ago about the "Building-a-House" Sparrow:http://deponti.livejournal.com/467396.htmlAnd, from the same area, posted this video of a sparrow and the rear-view mirror:I do love sparrows, and was grieved, a…

Another visit... I went to Lalbagh on Friday evening, because a friend wanted to try out the 300mm prime lens. I've not often been to Lalbagh in the evening, and was freshly amazed at what one can see and observe, in spite of many more people being there than in the morning. Apart from the sights and sounds....were the smells, that cannot be replicated, at the present state of technology. The air was redolent of the scent of the entire lane of Sampige (Champa, Shenbagam)...Michelia champaca, belonging to the Magnolia family, says the scientific mind...but my mind was thinking of how the…

 At Casa Ansal, on Bannerghatta Road, opposite Shoppers' Stop, residents are deeply unhappy over their inability to do anything about the illegal garbage dump that seems to have come to stay, right against their compound wall. "The tip was in one of the side roads of the Mini Forest," says Suresh, the manager of the apartment, "where it was at least on common property." Then, for no known reason (though the residents opine that it was at the behest of the house-owners on the two roads of the Mini Forest), the garbage dump was shifted to the side wall of the Casa…

 When I heard that "Stories in a Song", created by Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan, was going to be staged at Ranga Shankara, I was very keen to see what it would be about; because it promised something new. Both performances were sold out!The performance had been staged earlier, when it was created for Arpana, for the Baajaa Gaajaa music festival at Pune in 2011.It is very interesting to watch a practically new genre of theatre...one in which the music takes the centre stage, instead of being an accompaniment and an accent to the main performance, as it usually is.…

Nature is sometimes only as far away as one's window! Here's the view from an apartment balcony: I can see four kinds of trees. Pic: Deepa Mohan One can see the roads and transport and one can also see four different types of trees in the picture.Framing the photograph at right and left, are some of the most common trees in India, the coconut palm. What a wonderful tree it is, with every part of it being useful to us...the palm fronds used for thatches, brooms and pandals for auspicious occasions; the coconuts being useful as one of the few…

Today..An email from my young friend Anvitha Satish, whom I often exchange emails with...Just felt like sharing this with u.... :) I had told you that a teacher helped me in saving the black kite. That teacher not only told about the kite story in the assembly one day but also said it to her friend Meera. Meera is a wildlife conservator and she came to my school today. She is really passionate about saving forests and wild animals. She shared her experiences in the wild and showed many beautiful pictures of tigers, birds, snakes, leopards, gaurs, bears and many…

 Everyone feels festive, and rather generous, on an auspicious day...and many people like to tap into this vein of generosity. Here's the itenerant with his decorated cow...she walks through the streets on festivals like Sankranti (in fact, this was taken on Ekadasi day, on the 4th of March...the 11th day after the new moon)....calls out to householders that good times are coming. The cow is trained to nod its head to every rhetorical question that her  owner asks ("Is prosperity coming to this house? Will happiness rule in this place?") and when the children come running out to see the colourful…