bengaluru

  For those of us who are fortunate enough to live close to the ever-disappearing lakes of Bangalore, the onset of the rains bring with it a special chorus sung during the night. I am sure everyone is familiar with it. It seems that the perpetuators of this chorus are as joyous as we are for the arrival of life-giving rain. Each new shower of rain is welcomed with a fresh bout of calling. The unseen voice is that of the Indian Bull Frog. The Indian Bull Frog is an integral part of the ecosystem of any pond, well or…

The Ambalipuralake rejuvenation work has progress very well, as mentioned earlier. Purple Heron at Ambalipura Lake. Pic: Rajesh Rao. Yesterday, Rajesh Rao, a resident of the adjoining Trinity Woods, spotted a Purple Heron, and says, "So nice to see the birds coming back!"Meanwhile, the grass has grown very rapidly in the lake, and apparently it can cause the lake to dry up by december if we just let them grow. Rao says if the deep end is cleared, new grass will not grow as there is two foot of standing water.So residents are planning to work this Sunday and clear…

How many of us realise that they might be a bloodsucker at large in our gardens? Don't panic, this is just our Common Garden Lizard (Calotes versicolor) which most of us mistakenly call ‘chameleon'. During the breeding season the head, shoulders and parts of the foreleg of the males turns bright scarlet and this is how they have acquired this rather 'derogatory' name - Bloodsucker. The Chameleon is a totally different species, well-known for its ability to change colour to match its surroundings. The Common Garden Lizard. Pic: Vikram Nanjappa The Common Garden Lizard is the most common Agamid lizard…

I am fortunate to live on Cookson Road in east Bangalore. It is well-shaded with an excellent density of roadside trees. My apartment block is in a cul-de-sac and my immediate neighbor is a lady well-known for having the best garden in the city .In front of her bungalow (the last few remaining in the area) is a Lantana bush which is visited by a lot of butterflies, one of which happens to be the Common Banded Awl. The Common Banded Awl belongs to the family of butterflies called Hesperiidae, commonly known as Skippers. This is the third largest family…

Roadwidening. Who thought that such a term would come into being and cause such a brouhaha here in Bengaluru. Anyways - the protests, the government and BBMP going back and forth on suspending roadwidening, TDR (Transfer of Development Rights) notices being slapped, red marks on the wall - all this has been talked about over and over. Now here's something new to swallow. Sources in the BBMP recently told Citizen Matters about 23 roads that are being widened. This is not part of the list of roads that are stuck in a High Court case. These are roads of newly-added…

The Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus) is named after ‘Brahmin', the highest Hindu caste, ‘Hali' the Greek word for 'salt', ‘Astur' - Latin for hawk and ‘Indus' the river from which India is named (which now happens to be in Pakistan !). Also called ‘Garuda' in Karnataka, the vahan or vehicle of Lord Vishnu the Preserver. However the name that most often comes to my mind when I see one is the Ice Cream Cone Bird. Anyone familiar with the bird will know why. Use of pesticides and pollution of lakes in Bangalore pose as threats to birds like this Kite.…

Where is the world's highest motorable road? And the nectar of seabuckthorn (better known as Leh berry)? In Leh, Ladakh, obviously! As many of us know, recently, terrible landslides and flash floods devastated this exotic part of India. Some of us have heard, seen and read heart rending accounts of the resulting death and destruction. And probably want to reach out to the people there. Feeling the same, a group of five friends in Bangalore, namely, Manjari Ranasaria, Christina Daniels,  Lakshmi Karanth, Swathi Chaturvedi and Mayur Jain pondered about various ways to do that. Not wanting to ask people for…

If you are a parent who wants her child to do activities that require her to think and use her imagination, you've probably scoured the market for suitable craft kits. Yes, there's a lot of stuff available but after a point, most seem similar, with instructions that are often hard for kids to follow. It was the search for safe activities and crafts for their kids to do, that drove sisters Anu Parthasarathy and Rupa Vijendran to launch craft kits for children that are not only easy to make but also introduce them to traditional techniques like Channapatna woodwork, terracotta…

Every evening when I walk my dog near Cookson Road (in north Bengaluru) where I live, I see at least four species of butterflies, hear/see five species of birds and of course spot the most commonly seen wild mammal - the squirrel or the three-striped palm squirrel. All this when I am not even looking for wildlife! The three-striped palm squirrel is one of the most commonly found 'wild' creatures in Bengaluru. Pic: Vikram Nanjappa Surprised? Yes, urban areas like Bangalore have a wealth of wildlife. Unfortunately, people living in cities are often unaware of their 'wild' co-habitants. One will…

Note from Ramesh Sivaram:Yesterday, some of the long time residents of Sarjapur Road, Lakshmish and Rajgopal of Swami Vivekanada Sevaabivruddi Samaste, a local NGO based in Kaikondrahalli, and Rajeev Manikoth, another long time resident from nearby Shubh Enclave, planted bamboo saplings at the islands inside Kaikondrahalli lake on Sarjapura Road and Ambalipura lake (adjoining Trinity Meadows and Mantri apartments). Tree planting. pic: Ramesh Sivaram. We are happy report that the saplings planted earlier in the kaikondrahalli island are all doing well. Tree planting. pic: Ramesh Sivaram. ⊕