Thursday, October 27, 2011
My STAG-DO day!!
In every humans' life there are some milestones which determine how far has that person come along in this life.Some dare to ignore the norms, some desperately wait for each one of them to take on.I belong to the latter case. Marriage is one such occasion where milestones from different perspective, be it religious, spiritual, economical, societal or biological all meet up. Here is mine coming up in a few days, and the good lads at work choose to celebrate it.
Some kept reminding me as if it was the D day and some on a pleasant note did mention that its going to be great life ahead, I tend to agree with the latter thought.To set the mood just right, my faithful collogues at work did throw me the stag party.
"Me" being me they had to alter the norms of a typical Irish stag party. All things had to be mellowed down by a factor of a million. That was exactly what I wanted as well. A very normal boring night out for them is a high adrenalin party for me.(standards vary for each individual). The entire team decided to go out on a bowling night to Stillorgan. Nothing begins here without the tradition of paying due respect to the Irish gods at the local pub. We back at home, do "Ganesh" prayer and here all starts with a "Guinness" prayer and I agree the latter formality is more fun.Three cars full of excited Lads all set in a pensive mood to out do each other at the game.
Three lanes to start with to sort out the best from each team and then to put the best, mediocre and the elite; in three groups. I belonged to the elite group. Dave, the chief organiser of such social events had the mots majestic way of bowling. which starts of with a gentle push of the bowling ball down the alley ending with a moonwalk. A few other who believed that muscle power is all what is needed, actually did prove the point.The bowling pins were running for the lives even before the ball got to them!!. Some who have spent much time testing software were in the same mode testing the strength of the bowling alley's wooden floor.
I was not that bad myself,but more than the score board, which read "BADASS" I enjoyed the humour of Brain and other lads. Thankfully humour was in abundance thanks to Dave convincing the leisure plex management to get our own Beers into the place. After a good few games, we decided to move on to the next most skill full game. The Bowling alley is some where I have been before, but a pool table is 'NOT'.I very well knew that I had no change of even getting the tip of the stick strike the ball, but divided into it. Apparently college lads spend most of their good academic time here on this game, so naturally everyone around me were very good at this. The only job I had was to sit and watch them play in awe. Few of them even snubbed me to get out of their way and wanted me to sit in some corner with the camera.
It truly is a skill full game and what puts me to shame is these guys play better when they are under the influence and me on the other hand....hmmmmm... lets not go there. It was well past 11 pm and what was too late for me is what was just a start for the rest. Hunger occupied most of our minds and we all headed to the big golden M to feast. Once done all hoped to the nearest watering hole. the McGowan pub. The theme was all Halloween in there. everyone settled in. A few of them prepared to leave and of all people I who was supposed to be the last man standing given that it was my "Stag-do" was the first legging to the exit. A few of the hardy ones were up just to drink for the sun rise.
None the less, This is my first, last and only Stag do which I loved the most. The gesture of my good mates here is what I appreciated the most. I had two outlooks now, one being the climax of my bachelor day has been marked for good the other now I look forward for the next celebration, for the last time if you allow me to indulge. "I definitely agree with the latter".
Friday, September 23, 2011
Back to Square One
Come September 1st 2011, it has been once year since I moved from Ireland to UK, but on Sept the 5th, 2011 I am back to Square one. The square where I started my life abroad back in early 2008. This beautiful square is Dublin. I moved back to the same work place where I was working earlier. I call it 'goodwill' some may say its 'luck' , what ever the reason may be I am really glad that I have moved back. Its true that this city is not as advanced as London, but still there is something warm about Dublin. It might be because I know this place so well that, its taken the place of my 'Home away from Home' spot. I must thank many of my ex collogues here who really have the heart of gold to make sure I get back here even after many unavoidable circumstances delayed me by two months. To add to my surprise I moved back into the very same house that I lived in when I left Dublin. Things could not fall into place better than this. My fond memories in Dublin was this is the place where i took to running. To celebrate my own arrival back to 'Home away from Home' on a Friday morning, i came across an entry ticket for a half marathon run in the magnificent phoenix park which I grabbed within a heart beat (impulsive is my middle name). Then my mind functioned after a few months delay, bringing a flashing Red Neon lit sign on my face, 'NO TRAINING!'. Its been two months since i ran and the max I have run is 6 km then. So how could I ever make a 22 km run then! 99% of me said, there is no way I cannot finish it, but some where in there the good side of me saud, give it your best.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Native Divine
The past sixty blogs of mine has so far been about my travels and the sights; but for the first time I am breaking the tradition. I do feel there is a stronger need to publicise or make aware of another tradition which has no written books, no schools,no training institutes to teach. Its an art form that has been passed down from generation to generation amongst a certain sect of people for the betterment of everyone in the village. Since childhood, on my month long vacations to my native in Kerala I used to catch a glimpse of such divine rituals that I now hold it close to my heart.
I must also confess that I am not a subject matter expert, but I can sure share my cherished memories. As I said earlier there is no literature about this art form hence I can share what I was told and what I had witnessed.
These rituals are normally held at the ancestral homes of a family. Each ancestral home houses the costume and weapons of the demi god of that respective ancestral home. The property of the god is well taken care off by the family members all year round. All family members across generations once an year pool to set up a fund to arrange for this ceremony. Its held so that family members can share their grievance to the lord and get solution from his/her holiness. It is also done to please the god and get to hear what he/she has to say to the family. So this ritual is the opportunity where the spirit of the demi god is invited into a human body and this Oracle becomes the bridge from the human world to the divine world.
There is no one common demi god; an unique demi god for each ancestral home is believed to take care of her children (all members of the family).
Offerings are made in produce and flesh. Each family bring their produce and poultry for few of the selective demi goods to be offered as sacrifice to prepare an elaborate meal for everyone in the village.
There is no invite list for such a ritual. All members of the family are required if they want to avoid the wrath of their mother Godess; villages also come around to pick up some spare blessings.
Normally in a ritual like this a single demi god is not summoned, a lord superior is also summoned who is a general lord for all people. You may say the manager god of the demi god. All gods do not behave the same.They have a distinct character associated with them and this goes for their elaborate costume as well. We have a very vocal and serious god (vishnu murthy),a comical god (kulliyan),agressive godess (chamundi) and and passive god and so on. Their nature of conversation and the tone makes a sea of difference even to the blind who are not able to visually make out the difference in the costumes and facial expression.
The Oracle (person in which the spirit of the lord resides temporarily) has a lot of preparation before he is willing to summon the lord into himself. It all begins the previous night where the team gather up and start preparing the costumes. These costumes are made from the tender top leaves of the coconut tree, threads from the plantain etc. The bright colours for the make up are all ingredients offered by nature. While the team works on the costume, a priest will prepare the sanctum where the performance will take place. This involves laying out the gear(chest plate) and weapons of the demi god.
Once the stage is set, the performer enters assisted by his team mates to the sanctum.The priest recites prayers while the performer meditates to enter into a trance like situation. His loud anklets build the tension as he shakes his legs and arms in frenzy. His team mates attend to the drums and clappers where the sound ambience is set. Pensive mood sets in the crowd gathered around in eagerness to witness a divine event of their beloved lord making an appearance via this human form.
Eventually the Oracle's expression says it all that he has been possessed. His dance begins to match the rhythm of the drum finally to break out with a language that is ancient. His words, expressions and vibrant movement clearly show that he is not himself any more.
Some of these Oracle do things that is out of the ordinary. For example run and fall into burning mound of charcoal. So reluctant to get off that he has to be pulled off from the amber glowing heap. I have once witnessed a demi god run fast and jump into a dried up well only to be pulled up by the villagers.
Nor are they hurt, Tired or back to normalcy. When possessed the oracle posses stamina that is super human. With the head gear weighing as much as themselves they go about dancing, chanting, singing and running for hours on end. Most of the time the oracle takes up chest plate of the gods that are made of brass and weaponry which is far from feather light. The performance normally ends with the oracle loosing conciousness or being helped by his assistants when he collapses.
During the limited time of his divine state members of the ancestral home approach him with grievances affecting them seeking for a possible solution. Some times the oracle himself speaks of incidents that are so secretive with only one person being aware of it. These are the moments when a non believer turns in. The god then speaks of any dissatisfaction he/she has had with the prayer offerings to him and suggests corrective measure. Most of the time a devotee who takes up the responsibility of fixing as per the guidelines of his holiness end up with satisfaction and his issues gone. Its a taboo to mock at the lords as they get easily upset and their wrath is not what is within tolerable limits. I have witnessed kids from cities who mocked only to face his anger and an year later they had to come back from Mumbai only to conduct this whole ceremony again to apologies and ask for forgiveness. No less torture of the unexplained kind would drive a family to part with such huge expense and laborious long journey.
One notable aspect that astounds me but at the same time annoys me is the sect of people who are only allowed to perform the ritual or play the drums are of the lower caste in the society. Shamefully called as untouchable class. I am perplexed by the fact that people of this so called lower caste are given the privilege of being the gods of the upper class and for that short duration when they perform they get all the respect!! This caste system is one aspect that I am ashamed off in our culture.
The irony of the situation of me writing the blog is I had paused midway for an hour to watch the live telecast of the launch of the Juno space probe which will rendezvous Jupiter 5 years from now. Its the largest deep space probe ever to be launched.
I as an avid science enthusiast who digs deep into the cause of every single occurrence in nature.Naturally I am supposed to find it hard to buy into the belief or superstition. But the truth is I think I have found the thin line which divides these two worlds and I am glad to be on the fence and look both ways and appreciate the true beauty what god has offered me to witness in this tiny lifetime of mine. On one side of the fence trillions are spent to find answers and yet not all have been answered on the other side far lesser has been spent in blind belief and not all answers are there yet. Folks on both grounds in an eternal 'Pursuit of Peace'. As far as my agenda for this insignificant life of mine is to try my best to preserve this rich art form for the next generation, wishing for the miracles of science and blessings of the lords to empower me.
For more pictures: http://goo.gl/rB3sc
I must also confess that I am not a subject matter expert, but I can sure share my cherished memories. As I said earlier there is no literature about this art form hence I can share what I was told and what I had witnessed.
These rituals are normally held at the ancestral homes of a family. Each ancestral home houses the costume and weapons of the demi god of that respective ancestral home. The property of the god is well taken care off by the family members all year round. All family members across generations once an year pool to set up a fund to arrange for this ceremony. Its held so that family members can share their grievance to the lord and get solution from his/her holiness. It is also done to please the god and get to hear what he/she has to say to the family. So this ritual is the opportunity where the spirit of the demi god is invited into a human body and this Oracle becomes the bridge from the human world to the divine world.
There is no one common demi god; an unique demi god for each ancestral home is believed to take care of her children (all members of the family).
Offerings are made in produce and flesh. Each family bring their produce and poultry for few of the selective demi goods to be offered as sacrifice to prepare an elaborate meal for everyone in the village.
There is no invite list for such a ritual. All members of the family are required if they want to avoid the wrath of their mother Godess; villages also come around to pick up some spare blessings.
Normally in a ritual like this a single demi god is not summoned, a lord superior is also summoned who is a general lord for all people. You may say the manager god of the demi god. All gods do not behave the same.They have a distinct character associated with them and this goes for their elaborate costume as well. We have a very vocal and serious god (vishnu murthy),a comical god (kulliyan),agressive godess (chamundi) and and passive god and so on. Their nature of conversation and the tone makes a sea of difference even to the blind who are not able to visually make out the difference in the costumes and facial expression.
The Oracle (person in which the spirit of the lord resides temporarily) has a lot of preparation before he is willing to summon the lord into himself. It all begins the previous night where the team gather up and start preparing the costumes. These costumes are made from the tender top leaves of the coconut tree, threads from the plantain etc. The bright colours for the make up are all ingredients offered by nature. While the team works on the costume, a priest will prepare the sanctum where the performance will take place. This involves laying out the gear(chest plate) and weapons of the demi god.
Once the stage is set, the performer enters assisted by his team mates to the sanctum.The priest recites prayers while the performer meditates to enter into a trance like situation. His loud anklets build the tension as he shakes his legs and arms in frenzy. His team mates attend to the drums and clappers where the sound ambience is set. Pensive mood sets in the crowd gathered around in eagerness to witness a divine event of their beloved lord making an appearance via this human form.
Eventually the Oracle's expression says it all that he has been possessed. His dance begins to match the rhythm of the drum finally to break out with a language that is ancient. His words, expressions and vibrant movement clearly show that he is not himself any more.
Some of these Oracle do things that is out of the ordinary. For example run and fall into burning mound of charcoal. So reluctant to get off that he has to be pulled off from the amber glowing heap. I have once witnessed a demi god run fast and jump into a dried up well only to be pulled up by the villagers.
Nor are they hurt, Tired or back to normalcy. When possessed the oracle posses stamina that is super human. With the head gear weighing as much as themselves they go about dancing, chanting, singing and running for hours on end. Most of the time the oracle takes up chest plate of the gods that are made of brass and weaponry which is far from feather light. The performance normally ends with the oracle loosing conciousness or being helped by his assistants when he collapses.
During the limited time of his divine state members of the ancestral home approach him with grievances affecting them seeking for a possible solution. Some times the oracle himself speaks of incidents that are so secretive with only one person being aware of it. These are the moments when a non believer turns in. The god then speaks of any dissatisfaction he/she has had with the prayer offerings to him and suggests corrective measure. Most of the time a devotee who takes up the responsibility of fixing as per the guidelines of his holiness end up with satisfaction and his issues gone. Its a taboo to mock at the lords as they get easily upset and their wrath is not what is within tolerable limits. I have witnessed kids from cities who mocked only to face his anger and an year later they had to come back from Mumbai only to conduct this whole ceremony again to apologies and ask for forgiveness. No less torture of the unexplained kind would drive a family to part with such huge expense and laborious long journey.
One notable aspect that astounds me but at the same time annoys me is the sect of people who are only allowed to perform the ritual or play the drums are of the lower caste in the society. Shamefully called as untouchable class. I am perplexed by the fact that people of this so called lower caste are given the privilege of being the gods of the upper class and for that short duration when they perform they get all the respect!! This caste system is one aspect that I am ashamed off in our culture.
The irony of the situation of me writing the blog is I had paused midway for an hour to watch the live telecast of the launch of the Juno space probe which will rendezvous Jupiter 5 years from now. Its the largest deep space probe ever to be launched.
I as an avid science enthusiast who digs deep into the cause of every single occurrence in nature.Naturally I am supposed to find it hard to buy into the belief or superstition. But the truth is I think I have found the thin line which divides these two worlds and I am glad to be on the fence and look both ways and appreciate the true beauty what god has offered me to witness in this tiny lifetime of mine. On one side of the fence trillions are spent to find answers and yet not all have been answered on the other side far lesser has been spent in blind belief and not all answers are there yet. Folks on both grounds in an eternal 'Pursuit of Peace'. As far as my agenda for this insignificant life of mine is to try my best to preserve this rich art form for the next generation, wishing for the miracles of science and blessings of the lords to empower me.
For more pictures: http://goo.gl/rB3sc
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Nationality of God: Keralaite
I have a new formula, a new blog initiation hurdle is directly proportional to the volume of experience which is intended to be shared. Lessons are learnt from experience; the past one month has been such a wonderful vast experience for me that when my fingers touch the keypad to write a blog,then its like deer caught in the headlamps! Don't know what to do! I Spent quite some time editing the photographs and finally decided that its time for me to sit down and clear out the channel from my memory unit to the output unit (fingers).
I flew to my home city Bangalore on June 17th, just to spend a day there and got going to my native place, Kasargod which is the northern most tip of Kerala. The drive through the western Ghats which are soaring mountain terrain adorned with thick jungles by the grace of the torrential monsoon was magical. I had undermined Monsoon all my life and now after 29 years is when I realise its full potential. Rains that nurture life does show its fury. Some times the rains are so heavy that I had to stop my car even if it has its wiper at full speed because the windscreen is a wash with gallons of water.
I have never seen life in its full splendor ever so much before. Forest flora and fauna take a life of their own.The noise of the creatures with the thunderous noise of torrential streams made me appreciate the true beauty of this god blessed country.
Even when it comes to fruits or vegetable, running to the Tesco's is not an option at all. Food is what is grown around us. Nature offered us more that 5 types of fruits and numerous vegetables right in the plantation that we lived in. No food has ever been more tasty than the food we produce.
.
I visisited many temples in the district, each one having a different level of serenity and godliness to it. Out of it the most impulsive visit was to a temple called Kukke Subramanya which is deep in a jungle. A 100 kilometre drive to this place made me feel that its worth the effort.
. With the lords divine blessing the journey continues. Another hair raising experience I had was a visit to a temple where I was part of a ritual to offer prayers to a god who takes care of any hurdles in life. I was sitting for close to an hour next to a priest who spent a good part of one hour earlier to decorate the place with rice,leaves,lamps and Vermillion and Turmeric powder. Just watching him perform this would make even a non believer into a religious chap. He chanted away uttering my name many a times fully engrossed with different hand movements. I did feel sanctified and blessed by the end of the ritual.
Another memory that I cherish the most was the visit to my ancestral home. The home that gives me the Initial 'K' in my name. This is the home that ties down several generations of my humongous family who has the Initial K (Karicheri). The house is where the demi god of our household; 'Korathiamma' resides. I visited this home with utmost humbleness praying for her blessings.
. This home is several hundred years old and regularly elaborate ceremonies have been performed to keep the Godess happy.Its the mothers' who carry the blood line for us,that means I am the end of the road, but my sister will take the initial forward to the next generation and so on.
My home in Kerala is in the middle of arecanut and coconut plantation, which is hard to get to place but great to live in place. Water so pure that if flows unadulterated through the thick jungles forming swelled up streams are mush better than the Evian water you pay for. Trees all around giving you the purest of dust free air makes you feel to relaxed. I used to get the bang for the zero buck I have given to be here. used to take a shower at a tiny waterfall everyday.
Nothing else felt so refreshing and my mind was always reluctant to get off that stream. The plantation floor was thick with many wild plants growing to make the best of the rain and the slender rays of the sun. It did give me a feeling that we as humans are sharing this rich planet with so many other creatures who can rightfully claim the same space as theirs. Alas if they don't have a will, but none the less they can stay on. I enjoyed meeting the guests of this undergrowth. The vividity of the shapes and size, colours and pattern amazes me.I witnessed snake many times but hardly had my camera with me on those occasions, so once I decided to capture some of these respected creatures and in a matter of ten minutes spotted two of them.
. The wonderful attitude of folks from Kerala are they understand we all creatures must co exist. It so happened once that on a journey to a relatives place through the jungle in the thick of the night a python was crossing the road and no one panicked, all waited for it to pass on not even discussing about the incident. If everyone agrees to the fact that we all share the same space and we gain mutual respect, then this beautiful planet of ours would brim with more unfathomable life forms only to appreciate it.
The high light of this trip was a life changer for me, this is the trip that has finally tethered me down. The trip that finally made me meet my life partner. The traditional arranged marriage process was quick where I hardly had a glimpse at her for 10 minutes and got to hear less than 100 words from her and I had to decide if that is the person I am going to spend the rest of my life with. For such a critical decision, things happened in a humble fashion.Engaged I am.I am glad things turned out the way they have and now I realise the effect of all the rituals and offerings to all the lords. The Lord knows what I need.My prayers have been answered. My Ashitha.
For more pictures: http://goo.gl/m0kIj
I flew to my home city Bangalore on June 17th, just to spend a day there and got going to my native place, Kasargod which is the northern most tip of Kerala. The drive through the western Ghats which are soaring mountain terrain adorned with thick jungles by the grace of the torrential monsoon was magical. I had undermined Monsoon all my life and now after 29 years is when I realise its full potential. Rains that nurture life does show its fury. Some times the rains are so heavy that I had to stop my car even if it has its wiper at full speed because the windscreen is a wash with gallons of water.
I have never seen life in its full splendor ever so much before. Forest flora and fauna take a life of their own.The noise of the creatures with the thunderous noise of torrential streams made me appreciate the true beauty of this god blessed country.
Even when it comes to fruits or vegetable, running to the Tesco's is not an option at all. Food is what is grown around us. Nature offered us more that 5 types of fruits and numerous vegetables right in the plantation that we lived in. No food has ever been more tasty than the food we produce.
.I visisited many temples in the district, each one having a different level of serenity and godliness to it. Out of it the most impulsive visit was to a temple called Kukke Subramanya which is deep in a jungle. A 100 kilometre drive to this place made me feel that its worth the effort.
. With the lords divine blessing the journey continues. Another hair raising experience I had was a visit to a temple where I was part of a ritual to offer prayers to a god who takes care of any hurdles in life. I was sitting for close to an hour next to a priest who spent a good part of one hour earlier to decorate the place with rice,leaves,lamps and Vermillion and Turmeric powder. Just watching him perform this would make even a non believer into a religious chap. He chanted away uttering my name many a times fully engrossed with different hand movements. I did feel sanctified and blessed by the end of the ritual.Another memory that I cherish the most was the visit to my ancestral home. The home that gives me the Initial 'K' in my name. This is the home that ties down several generations of my humongous family who has the Initial K (Karicheri). The house is where the demi god of our household; 'Korathiamma' resides. I visited this home with utmost humbleness praying for her blessings.
. This home is several hundred years old and regularly elaborate ceremonies have been performed to keep the Godess happy.Its the mothers' who carry the blood line for us,that means I am the end of the road, but my sister will take the initial forward to the next generation and so on.My home in Kerala is in the middle of arecanut and coconut plantation, which is hard to get to place but great to live in place. Water so pure that if flows unadulterated through the thick jungles forming swelled up streams are mush better than the Evian water you pay for. Trees all around giving you the purest of dust free air makes you feel to relaxed. I used to get the bang for the zero buck I have given to be here. used to take a shower at a tiny waterfall everyday.
Nothing else felt so refreshing and my mind was always reluctant to get off that stream. The plantation floor was thick with many wild plants growing to make the best of the rain and the slender rays of the sun. It did give me a feeling that we as humans are sharing this rich planet with so many other creatures who can rightfully claim the same space as theirs. Alas if they don't have a will, but none the less they can stay on. I enjoyed meeting the guests of this undergrowth. The vividity of the shapes and size, colours and pattern amazes me.I witnessed snake many times but hardly had my camera with me on those occasions, so once I decided to capture some of these respected creatures and in a matter of ten minutes spotted two of them.
. The wonderful attitude of folks from Kerala are they understand we all creatures must co exist. It so happened once that on a journey to a relatives place through the jungle in the thick of the night a python was crossing the road and no one panicked, all waited for it to pass on not even discussing about the incident. If everyone agrees to the fact that we all share the same space and we gain mutual respect, then this beautiful planet of ours would brim with more unfathomable life forms only to appreciate it.The high light of this trip was a life changer for me, this is the trip that has finally tethered me down. The trip that finally made me meet my life partner. The traditional arranged marriage process was quick where I hardly had a glimpse at her for 10 minutes and got to hear less than 100 words from her and I had to decide if that is the person I am going to spend the rest of my life with. For such a critical decision, things happened in a humble fashion.Engaged I am.I am glad things turned out the way they have and now I realise the effect of all the rituals and offerings to all the lords. The Lord knows what I need.My prayers have been answered. My Ashitha.
For more pictures: http://goo.gl/m0kIj
Saturday, June 11, 2011
The Natural history Museum
There has been more than 50 posts on my blog so far, but almost all of them has been regarding places that I have visited i.e. a city or a county but for the first time here I am writing a blog about a single place in a large city. A single monument open to public which perplexed me for that fact that how could such a well run, super interesting place be run for free!. Then I remembered about my salary slip and got to know how. I feel its worth it now. I have spent more than 14 hours at the natural history museum in two sessions in-spite of which I still feel I could put another 7 more hours and learn new things from this fantastic place. The welcoming sight of a large dinosaur skeleton sets the mood for the sights that one will cherish later on. 
This museum has been here open to public since 1835 and the Dinosaur has been greeting visitors for more than 100 years. That speaks about the heritage of this monument. The museum has various sections like Dinosaurs, Human life, Geology, Insects and many others, each one better than the other. Its not just a museum, but there are many scientists, palaeontologists,entomologist and archaeologists working here at the lower floors where there is a labyrinth of shelves stocked with fossils and bones.
I started with the Dinosaur exhbit and what amazed me the most was the Animatronic Dino's there. I can imagine how enthralled the kids will be at the sight of these Dino's that moved and made noise because I was. The ambiance was set to take us to the Jurassic era. Most of the atrifact there did speak about the non commercial story of Dinos that is generally not depicted in movies. For example herbivore Dino's has pebbles in their belly to help grind food and the chicken does the same! Here is a video to give you a glimpse of what I saw.
What would take one hours of reading to understand will just take a few minutes to understand with the exhibits, I must admit that I went though this section twice.
. The next section was marine and animal life. As I walked in this massive hall my jaw dropped at the sight of a full size model of a giant blue whale! the largest living creature ever to be on Earth ( yes even Dino's were not this big).
The skeletons of these large mammals overhung the models giving a very good perception. There was loads I learnt from this spectacular place. For example a whale uses 90% of its lung capacity compared to a human which is 15%.Whale milk is made of 45% fat as to a human milk which is 5%. This is for the offspring to gain weight as quickly as possible but as an infant it already weights 3 tonnes! There is an illusive whale that lives around the Antarctic which has a fairytale unicorn kind of horn and one in 500 of these beautiful creature called Narwhal has 2 of them.The use of this point long horn is not to poke and intimidate fellow mates but to use it to direct the sound waves!
Many of you reading this might have seen innumerable pictures of whales and wondering where is the lips of a whale and how does it ever open it.
Hope this picture on the left explains.
One more interesting fact i learnt was that 80% of the space in the head of a sperm whale is a tank filled with wax. It solidifies the wax and warms it to make it liquid to me a buoyancy tank. So that its easier to float or Dive!
The yellow section over the skull is the bulbous Wax tank.
The rules of nature sometimes feels so unreal that the largest creature on earth only feeds on the smallest. zooplankton and phytoplankton, using not a super sharp canine teeth that we imagine large monsters to have but humble comb like tooth to filter the water from its food.
As I wanlked further to see more I let the child in me do the thing it likes the most. Draw. Here is my attempt.
Going further I explored the insect section where the fabulous world of insects which is so critical to the ecology was exhibited with large scale models telling a story to remember. For example a one cubic feet of earth on a forest surface is on average home to 3000 types of insects which is a testimny to the fact that till this very day insectologist discover hundreds of new species in the jungles of papua new guinea and amazon.
On my second session of the following weekend I was lucky enough to participate in a live seminar about bats in the museum where a member from one of the bat clubs had come to share knowledge about Bats. I did get the chance to have some bat poo on my hands to grind them to fine dust just to make the point that its not slimy!. I also learnt that Bats are extremely clean creature because they have to fly hence they groom themselves well, but not they don't clean their toilets at all which is good because their poo is an extremely good manure.
Bats on an average live for 30 years which totally took me by surprise. That is long for such a small and active creature. The common belief that bats are blind was dispelled and their hearing capability was far superior to us was reinstated. I did get the opportunity to see a live bat and to even touch it. I was the only adult amongst the kids standing tall to do this, I am not shy in hiding my excitement.The kids and I walked with the same grin on the smile thinking "Bats are super Cool"
The next section was about mineralogy. This was a bit on the technical side because there was thousands, I kid you not thousands. A section called the Vault housed some of the most expensive stones like rarest of rare diamonds and Lunar rock samples along with some asteroids and meteorites. On every single sample the chemical composition was mentioned which did not much good for me but the colours, vibrance, texture one them facinated me.
. I came to know that most of the asteroids that made it to earth surface are nothing but chunks of Iron in purest form. The crystalline structure on a the cross section is what scientist study to understand how the raw materials for the creation of our home was even before earth formed. yes they are all much older than our own Earth!
All in all the, no matter where I go the museums are still hold the number one places on my places to visit list, not that it kills time, but when you walk out the doors you walk out with more information than what you had when you walked in.That too for FREE!
On the lighter side of things I did travel to east ham with my mates to see the Indianess of this part of the metropolitan city and I did see it evidently. It looked like a street right from India. I did head to my favourite south Indian restaurant, 'Sharavana Bhavan' which was also here to enjoy a mouth watering pancake called 'Masala Dosa'.
. Followed by the supposedly hilarious movie 'hang over part two' at the O2 arena.
. I also got the opportunity to witness a brazalian samba dance group. The beats and the hip shaking beautiful girls did make me stay ans watch for a few minutes.
For more pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150269311729540.371011.651679539&l=a44216004a
This museum has been here open to public since 1835 and the Dinosaur has been greeting visitors for more than 100 years. That speaks about the heritage of this monument. The museum has various sections like Dinosaurs, Human life, Geology, Insects and many others, each one better than the other. Its not just a museum, but there are many scientists, palaeontologists,entomologist and archaeologists working here at the lower floors where there is a labyrinth of shelves stocked with fossils and bones. I started with the Dinosaur exhbit and what amazed me the most was the Animatronic Dino's there. I can imagine how enthralled the kids will be at the sight of these Dino's that moved and made noise because I was. The ambiance was set to take us to the Jurassic era. Most of the atrifact there did speak about the non commercial story of Dinos that is generally not depicted in movies. For example herbivore Dino's has pebbles in their belly to help grind food and the chicken does the same! Here is a video to give you a glimpse of what I saw.
What would take one hours of reading to understand will just take a few minutes to understand with the exhibits, I must admit that I went though this section twice.
. The next section was marine and animal life. As I walked in this massive hall my jaw dropped at the sight of a full size model of a giant blue whale! the largest living creature ever to be on Earth ( yes even Dino's were not this big).
The skeletons of these large mammals overhung the models giving a very good perception. There was loads I learnt from this spectacular place. For example a whale uses 90% of its lung capacity compared to a human which is 15%.Whale milk is made of 45% fat as to a human milk which is 5%. This is for the offspring to gain weight as quickly as possible but as an infant it already weights 3 tonnes! There is an illusive whale that lives around the Antarctic which has a fairytale unicorn kind of horn and one in 500 of these beautiful creature called Narwhal has 2 of them.The use of this point long horn is not to poke and intimidate fellow mates but to use it to direct the sound waves!
Many of you reading this might have seen innumerable pictures of whales and wondering where is the lips of a whale and how does it ever open it.
Hope this picture on the left explains.One more interesting fact i learnt was that 80% of the space in the head of a sperm whale is a tank filled with wax. It solidifies the wax and warms it to make it liquid to me a buoyancy tank. So that its easier to float or Dive!
The yellow section over the skull is the bulbous Wax tank.
The rules of nature sometimes feels so unreal that the largest creature on earth only feeds on the smallest. zooplankton and phytoplankton, using not a super sharp canine teeth that we imagine large monsters to have but humble comb like tooth to filter the water from its food.
As I wanlked further to see more I let the child in me do the thing it likes the most. Draw. Here is my attempt.
Going further I explored the insect section where the fabulous world of insects which is so critical to the ecology was exhibited with large scale models telling a story to remember. For example a one cubic feet of earth on a forest surface is on average home to 3000 types of insects which is a testimny to the fact that till this very day insectologist discover hundreds of new species in the jungles of papua new guinea and amazon.
On my second session of the following weekend I was lucky enough to participate in a live seminar about bats in the museum where a member from one of the bat clubs had come to share knowledge about Bats. I did get the chance to have some bat poo on my hands to grind them to fine dust just to make the point that its not slimy!. I also learnt that Bats are extremely clean creature because they have to fly hence they groom themselves well, but not they don't clean their toilets at all which is good because their poo is an extremely good manure.
Bats on an average live for 30 years which totally took me by surprise. That is long for such a small and active creature. The common belief that bats are blind was dispelled and their hearing capability was far superior to us was reinstated. I did get the opportunity to see a live bat and to even touch it. I was the only adult amongst the kids standing tall to do this, I am not shy in hiding my excitement.The kids and I walked with the same grin on the smile thinking "Bats are super Cool"
The next section was about mineralogy. This was a bit on the technical side because there was thousands, I kid you not thousands. A section called the Vault housed some of the most expensive stones like rarest of rare diamonds and Lunar rock samples along with some asteroids and meteorites. On every single sample the chemical composition was mentioned which did not much good for me but the colours, vibrance, texture one them facinated me.
. I came to know that most of the asteroids that made it to earth surface are nothing but chunks of Iron in purest form. The crystalline structure on a the cross section is what scientist study to understand how the raw materials for the creation of our home was even before earth formed. yes they are all much older than our own Earth!
All in all the, no matter where I go the museums are still hold the number one places on my places to visit list, not that it kills time, but when you walk out the doors you walk out with more information than what you had when you walked in.That too for FREE!
On the lighter side of things I did travel to east ham with my mates to see the Indianess of this part of the metropolitan city and I did see it evidently. It looked like a street right from India. I did head to my favourite south Indian restaurant, 'Sharavana Bhavan' which was also here to enjoy a mouth watering pancake called 'Masala Dosa'.
. Followed by the supposedly hilarious movie 'hang over part two' at the O2 arena.
. I also got the opportunity to witness a brazalian samba dance group. The beats and the hip shaking beautiful girls did make me stay ans watch for a few minutes. For more pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150269311729540.371011.651679539&l=a44216004a
Thursday, May 26, 2011
My move to Mainland
My approach to this post is different, because since the time I moved over to mainland leaving behind my favourite Emerald Island lot has happened. I have seen a lot and my faithful camera has done the duty of logging it. I had to take down all the pictures off it to remind me off all the places I have been to, the views I have seen and the experiences I enjoyed with my mates.
This time I am going to take a look at the snaps and gather my thoughts and pen them down ( type on keyboard).
To start with I did participate in a run at Maidenhead which I am absolutely proud off. A 16 kms run through wood land and mustard fields in 1 hr 28 min is something that I will be proud off for a long time.
Did a couple of 5 k park run at Reading which I enjoyed even more, because the competitive spirit in me wants me to do better every time.
Then came the day to go to London, called upon my long time friend Pradeep who moved recently to London. My childhood friend/Best mate with whom I live came along to the Science Museum. I must say they did not share the same level of enthusiasm that I had for Science and machinery, none the less they were no spoil sports. The museum was half a mile long and it had three floors, Honestly we could cover only half of it in 4 hours. The warm welcome of Rocket engines and the replica of the Moon lander was enough to get my heart pumping.
Some of the older generation Russian rockets which had more than 16 tiny rocket motors just showed how advanced they were decades ago. I realised India even in the 21st century are plagued by failures in getting a single rocket motor working. Not to sound pessimist, but I hope soon we can catch up and be at the fore front of the Space frontier. The very sight of the Mercuy re entry module just showed how courageous those early astronauts were to bet their lives on engineers who put them in a metal shell which would plummet down from a height of 200 kms only to be heated to searing high burning temperatures during re-entry. They counted on a layer of Cermaic burning away beneath a capsule to save them. If they get the maths wrong about how thick it must be then every one would have been cooked inside!
The museum had various sections based on different themes, one of them was about how the miraculous brain works. There were games set up which deceived the Brain. we Had fun playing around with that for a while; fascination soon dropped which is usual. Our attention span is immensely low. Wonder why the Brain does that? If we could offer 100% focus on a task; speaking for the Human race we all could have achieved much more. Is that the difference between an armature and a genius? Could be !
We grabbed a quick Lunch with a stunning desert and went straight back into the Museum, guess Food was what was on our mind all the time. The next section was for the planes and the marvellous crafts that always have fascinated me. From the bell helicopters to the Harrier Jump Jets. There were many engines from the yester years on display. A cross section of the 747 was what amazed me the most. From a distance the shell looks so thin that its hard to believe that , that wafer protects us from minus 44 degrees, 900 miles per hour wind which one quarter Bar air pressure; read that as certain death !
Late evening, we walked about Wataerloo to catch a good view of the Millennium bridge, There was a public art work on display where poems from around the world in all languages were recited and left hanging on strings. It was interesting. The thought of letting paper planes aiming towards the sky did bring up the imagination that the poem for world peace if really did take off and impregnate the thoughts of the ill minded people, then the world would surely have been a much better place, alas, that's not the case. But I do have the freedom of wishful thinking.
After our walk headed to a Anand's favorite pub for a Drink, only to be put behind a barricade by the Firemen. The neighbouring restaurant had a minor fire break out. Persistence paid off and they let us through to get the only drink I am capable of consuming, a Cider.
My next tour was to the imperial war museum at Lambeth. Greeted by the biggest cannons I will ever see. the shells were as tall as me which can spit those out hundreds of kilometres away.The word "Massive" suits perfect now!
The number of planes and the anti aircraft guns, the Tanks, the heavy Artillery, The submarines, U-Boats,The clandestine Enigma machine, The mock up of the Atomic bomb was some what awesome and discomforting at the same time. Each of the machinery there were engineering marvels.Epitome of human genius, but it took away the lives of Millions across Europe and Japan. Especially the V2 rockets that the Germans used in hundreds against London and the Atomic bomb gave me the shivers up my spine.
The most agonising part was what I was not allowed to photograph. it was three floors of the holocaust memorial.It was the same feeling that I experienced when I was at the memorial at Berlin. The injustice done to several millions and the 6.6 million lifes that were taken off this earth for no reason shows how cruel Humans can be. It brings me to shame to call myself as a human. A tiger kills to satisfy hunger, but a human kills to satisfy ego. What strikes me is that our great nation, India has faced nothing like what Europe has faced. Not even a fraction. The wars and the massacre they have seen is epic!. Just imagine if we were ruled by the Germans and our peaceful protests and hunger strikes would mean nothing to the Nazi's.They would not only willingly allow us to kill ourselves but might even assist. Our victory was not wholly because of us, it was because the Empire shared the values of a sane person. They respect freedom because they have seen what it means back at home. For the British the Germans had put the razor sharp sword right up to their necks for them to realise its importance and then let us have it.
The following weekend came my good Friend, Prajakta from Pune. I was more than happy to play the host and take her around the city along with Pradeep. we headed to the Greenwich and many shopping malls. Girls do love them more than anything else.
Pradeep and I did let her cook some good Pune food for us and had a good time chatting away. We once went to Windsor as well to take a look at the Queens place, only to be 20 minute late, but none the less I happened to meet a girl who time travelled from 16th centry but who still uderstood the value of one pound to stand next to me for a second.
The past month has treated me well with the British summer being delightful. I am thankful to the Lord that I have some good friends who have stood by me,and some who withstood me! The one background score that's in my head is 'Make hay while the sun shines'
For a whole lot of Pictures
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150254340454540.365923.651679539&l=e64c356af8
This time I am going to take a look at the snaps and gather my thoughts and pen them down ( type on keyboard).
To start with I did participate in a run at Maidenhead which I am absolutely proud off. A 16 kms run through wood land and mustard fields in 1 hr 28 min is something that I will be proud off for a long time.
Did a couple of 5 k park run at Reading which I enjoyed even more, because the competitive spirit in me wants me to do better every time.
Then came the day to go to London, called upon my long time friend Pradeep who moved recently to London. My childhood friend/Best mate with whom I live came along to the Science Museum. I must say they did not share the same level of enthusiasm that I had for Science and machinery, none the less they were no spoil sports. The museum was half a mile long and it had three floors, Honestly we could cover only half of it in 4 hours. The warm welcome of Rocket engines and the replica of the Moon lander was enough to get my heart pumping.
Some of the older generation Russian rockets which had more than 16 tiny rocket motors just showed how advanced they were decades ago. I realised India even in the 21st century are plagued by failures in getting a single rocket motor working. Not to sound pessimist, but I hope soon we can catch up and be at the fore front of the Space frontier. The very sight of the Mercuy re entry module just showed how courageous those early astronauts were to bet their lives on engineers who put them in a metal shell which would plummet down from a height of 200 kms only to be heated to searing high burning temperatures during re-entry. They counted on a layer of Cermaic burning away beneath a capsule to save them. If they get the maths wrong about how thick it must be then every one would have been cooked inside!
The museum had various sections based on different themes, one of them was about how the miraculous brain works. There were games set up which deceived the Brain. we Had fun playing around with that for a while; fascination soon dropped which is usual. Our attention span is immensely low. Wonder why the Brain does that? If we could offer 100% focus on a task; speaking for the Human race we all could have achieved much more. Is that the difference between an armature and a genius? Could be !
We grabbed a quick Lunch with a stunning desert and went straight back into the Museum, guess Food was what was on our mind all the time. The next section was for the planes and the marvellous crafts that always have fascinated me. From the bell helicopters to the Harrier Jump Jets. There were many engines from the yester years on display. A cross section of the 747 was what amazed me the most. From a distance the shell looks so thin that its hard to believe that , that wafer protects us from minus 44 degrees, 900 miles per hour wind which one quarter Bar air pressure; read that as certain death !
Late evening, we walked about Wataerloo to catch a good view of the Millennium bridge, There was a public art work on display where poems from around the world in all languages were recited and left hanging on strings. It was interesting. The thought of letting paper planes aiming towards the sky did bring up the imagination that the poem for world peace if really did take off and impregnate the thoughts of the ill minded people, then the world would surely have been a much better place, alas, that's not the case. But I do have the freedom of wishful thinking.
After our walk headed to a Anand's favorite pub for a Drink, only to be put behind a barricade by the Firemen. The neighbouring restaurant had a minor fire break out. Persistence paid off and they let us through to get the only drink I am capable of consuming, a Cider.
My next tour was to the imperial war museum at Lambeth. Greeted by the biggest cannons I will ever see. the shells were as tall as me which can spit those out hundreds of kilometres away.The word "Massive" suits perfect now!
The number of planes and the anti aircraft guns, the Tanks, the heavy Artillery, The submarines, U-Boats,The clandestine Enigma machine, The mock up of the Atomic bomb was some what awesome and discomforting at the same time. Each of the machinery there were engineering marvels.Epitome of human genius, but it took away the lives of Millions across Europe and Japan. Especially the V2 rockets that the Germans used in hundreds against London and the Atomic bomb gave me the shivers up my spine.
The most agonising part was what I was not allowed to photograph. it was three floors of the holocaust memorial.It was the same feeling that I experienced when I was at the memorial at Berlin. The injustice done to several millions and the 6.6 million lifes that were taken off this earth for no reason shows how cruel Humans can be. It brings me to shame to call myself as a human. A tiger kills to satisfy hunger, but a human kills to satisfy ego. What strikes me is that our great nation, India has faced nothing like what Europe has faced. Not even a fraction. The wars and the massacre they have seen is epic!. Just imagine if we were ruled by the Germans and our peaceful protests and hunger strikes would mean nothing to the Nazi's.They would not only willingly allow us to kill ourselves but might even assist. Our victory was not wholly because of us, it was because the Empire shared the values of a sane person. They respect freedom because they have seen what it means back at home. For the British the Germans had put the razor sharp sword right up to their necks for them to realise its importance and then let us have it.
The following weekend came my good Friend, Prajakta from Pune. I was more than happy to play the host and take her around the city along with Pradeep. we headed to the Greenwich and many shopping malls. Girls do love them more than anything else.
Pradeep and I did let her cook some good Pune food for us and had a good time chatting away. We once went to Windsor as well to take a look at the Queens place, only to be 20 minute late, but none the less I happened to meet a girl who time travelled from 16th centry but who still uderstood the value of one pound to stand next to me for a second.
The past month has treated me well with the British summer being delightful. I am thankful to the Lord that I have some good friends who have stood by me,and some who withstood me! The one background score that's in my head is 'Make hay while the sun shines'
For a whole lot of Pictures
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150254340454540.365923.651679539&l=e64c356af8
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Visit to Manchester
It was not a Trip that I had planned for. It was a work related trip and thought why should it just be work. I had to start work at my new employers on a Monday so on Saturday I got to Manchester. Stayed over at a very good hostel deceivingly named Hilton Chambers. None the less it was top notch in every way.Stayed in on Saturday and brought a magazine that I always wanted to; Top Gear and spent time reading it.
Sunday Started off well, With my new Camera's first assignment I walked into the City.
The first stop was Picadilly gardens which was just a stones throw away from there I stayed. It must an acre of free space with many statues and water fountains. People going about and some street performers showing off their skill. Walked though the high street into some of the streets where buildings since 1800 stayed tall.
The Town hall was by it self was a Victorian master piece,
it was unfortunate that it remains closed on weekends. The in headed to the Manchester Art Gallery. The place was so unique that for the first time I did see a Art Museum where visitors were encouraged to create some work of their own. I did give it a try and quickly doodled a still art and coloured it. I felt like a kid and loved the feeling. Manchester was once famous for its pottery and there were many exhibits of them.
The one show where I was not supposed to take any pictures was an expo by the famous abstract art creator Anish Kapoor. Honestly I have never been so amused so much by works of art. I stood there watching his creation for several minutes. Its so engrossing that the viewer becomes a part of the art. Makes one think and ponder. Never has an Art work touched me so much. There was a video room where a documentary about this legendary artist was put on and I spent 40 minutes watching this.
The next stop for anyone who visits Manchester is the Old Trafford stadium. the Temple of the Manchester United Club. Its more than 100 years old and adorned with many of the legends of the great game of foot ball.
I had to pay a 13£ for a stadium tour fee and it was well worth it. The stadium had 76,000 seats and its the largest privately held stadium in the world. The quality of the seats and the ground were immaculate. What surprised me was the way the Club treated its fans who are disabled.
They had special seats and it was given away free for every match for them. Recently when Man U played a match in Russia all its disabled fans and their carers were taken free of cost to Russia. All 300 of them!.
The Man U stadium also has a chapel and during seasons each day at least 5 weddings take place in this iconic stadium. Some of the boxes here are so expensive that It would be my lifetimes earnings to have a go at. We were taken to the Directors rooms and Team managers office. The high light was the players changing room which really felt surreal to me. All these top end players come to that room to change. The kind of treatment they get is amazing, for such expensive players its worth it. Even the most average player gets 40,000 pounds a week!. In the changing rooms during half time they only get a banana and a chocolate jaffa cake, nothing more. I had a good opputrunity to sit next too Owen's and Rooney's T-shirt for a snap.
Out side the stadium I did notice a lot of young and old folks like up to participate in the X factor audition. I would have easily spent more than 3 hours in the stadium and its museum. Headed back to my accommodation to collect upon the thoughts that I gathered on my short sight seeing in Manchester.
For more pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=336777&id=651679539&l=41f8fc94a9
For a video of the players changing room:
Sunday Started off well, With my new Camera's first assignment I walked into the City.
The first stop was Picadilly gardens which was just a stones throw away from there I stayed. It must an acre of free space with many statues and water fountains. People going about and some street performers showing off their skill. Walked though the high street into some of the streets where buildings since 1800 stayed tall.
The Town hall was by it self was a Victorian master piece,
it was unfortunate that it remains closed on weekends. The in headed to the Manchester Art Gallery. The place was so unique that for the first time I did see a Art Museum where visitors were encouraged to create some work of their own. I did give it a try and quickly doodled a still art and coloured it. I felt like a kid and loved the feeling. Manchester was once famous for its pottery and there were many exhibits of them.
The one show where I was not supposed to take any pictures was an expo by the famous abstract art creator Anish Kapoor. Honestly I have never been so amused so much by works of art. I stood there watching his creation for several minutes. Its so engrossing that the viewer becomes a part of the art. Makes one think and ponder. Never has an Art work touched me so much. There was a video room where a documentary about this legendary artist was put on and I spent 40 minutes watching this.
The next stop for anyone who visits Manchester is the Old Trafford stadium. the Temple of the Manchester United Club. Its more than 100 years old and adorned with many of the legends of the great game of foot ball.
I had to pay a 13£ for a stadium tour fee and it was well worth it. The stadium had 76,000 seats and its the largest privately held stadium in the world. The quality of the seats and the ground were immaculate. What surprised me was the way the Club treated its fans who are disabled.
They had special seats and it was given away free for every match for them. Recently when Man U played a match in Russia all its disabled fans and their carers were taken free of cost to Russia. All 300 of them!.The Man U stadium also has a chapel and during seasons each day at least 5 weddings take place in this iconic stadium. Some of the boxes here are so expensive that It would be my lifetimes earnings to have a go at. We were taken to the Directors rooms and Team managers office. The high light was the players changing room which really felt surreal to me. All these top end players come to that room to change. The kind of treatment they get is amazing, for such expensive players its worth it. Even the most average player gets 40,000 pounds a week!. In the changing rooms during half time they only get a banana and a chocolate jaffa cake, nothing more. I had a good opputrunity to sit next too Owen's and Rooney's T-shirt for a snap.
Out side the stadium I did notice a lot of young and old folks like up to participate in the X factor audition. I would have easily spent more than 3 hours in the stadium and its museum. Headed back to my accommodation to collect upon the thoughts that I gathered on my short sight seeing in Manchester.
For more pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=336777&id=651679539&l=41f8fc94a9
For a video of the players changing room:
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