Sinai Sunset

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In Egypt, under Ptolemy II, a road was built linking Marsa Alam and Edfu and is still in use. Tourists wishing to travel on this route used to do that in convoys until the recent past, and probably still do.

Taxis needs to take prior permission from the relevant authorities before transporting tourists.

I travelled on this road from Marsa Alam to Luxor one warm evening last year.

These are some shots of the sunset viewed from the desert road along the Sinai.

SWF: Himalayan Mana

This is the first time in quite a few years in summer that I am not able to make a journey to the Himalayan mountains. As I went through some old pictures in my albums, I had fond memories of some previous trips, and am posting these two pictures for this week's Skywatch.

Mountains of Mana based at a height of over 10,000 feet

These two pictures (re-publishing the first) were shot on an early morning walk from Badrinath to Mana village before the sunrise.

Set in a scenic valley, this rustic village of Mana shuts down in winter for 6 months or so as it gets snow-bound with sub-zero temperatures. Mana is situated at a height of 3,200 meters (over 10,000 feet) above main sea level.

It is presumed that it was in this little Village that the sacred Indian texts of the Vedas and Purans were supposedly compiled. The famous epic, the Mahabharata, is also believed to have been composed in one of Mana's caves, the Vyas Gufa.

The inhabitants of Mana in the Himalayan mountains are mainly Indo-Mongolian tribals. It is the last village on the borders of Indo-China region.

Mana Village women on their way to Badrinath for work
(photograph shot at 6:21 am)

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World Environment Day

How long does it take for plastic to decompose?

I guess no one knows for sure, but it is presumed that plastic does not begin to decompose in a landfill for at least 1,000 years and in certain types like styrofoam, it is estimated that the decomposition process can last up to a million years!

Thankfully, use of plastic is being minimized in many places now, some countries have restricted use of plastic bags and a few cities have also banned it. I am also guilty of carelessly discarding chocolate wrappers everywhere in the past but not anymore since I have taken Ecology and Tourism seriously.

~~~

Hemkund is a popular pilgrimage site for people of the Sikh religion. It is accessible only by foot from Ghangaria and is situated in the lap of higher Himalayan mountains at an altitude of 4,200 m (13,770 feet) from the sea level!

Here are some pictures taken while on my way to Hemkund after my trek to the Valley of Flowers. It was a misty day.

Himalayan Brahmakamal (Saussurea obvallata)

Himalayan Blue Poppy (a species of Meconopsis)

In the pictures above are two rare plant species. The first is the much revered Brahmakamal and the other is the Himalayan Blue Poppy.

Now look at this picture:


In this photograph is seen a raincoat irresponsibly discarded in the lush green valleys of the Himalayas!

Many pilgrims make a day trip to the Hemkund gurudwara to and from Ghangaria during the tourist season and, not mentioning other litter, I came across quite a few pieces of plastic raincoats discarded along the way to Hemkund Sahib. Pathetic.

At this rate, how long can our biodiversity last?

~~~

Today is World Environment Day. Though we should respect the environment we live in everyday, June 5 every year is highlighted to stimulate awareness of our environment and calling out for some public action to save our planet.

What did you do or intend to do to contribute on World Environment Day? I’ve put up this blog post. You could write a post too, or:

• Dispose of garbage responsibly
• Avoid littering
  
• Use public transportation as far as possible
• Use recycling facility if available
• Conserve water
• Conserve electricity
• Not disturb wildlife
• Plant a tree
• Respect nature

The list can go now, but I'll stop. I’d love to hear how you contributed in your own little way.

~~~

As I am about to publish this post, I see a person outside my window carelessly discarding a cigarette butt on the ground.

Cigarette butts are not bio-degradable due to the presence of cellulose acetate, another form of plastic, in them. These filters can leach toxic chemicals and persist in the environment like other forms of plastic. Studies have pointed out how cigarette butts pose a threat to wildlife. Cigarette filters have been found in the digestive system of birds, fish, whales and other marine creatures who mistake them for food!

It is no wonder that despite mounting efforts, the loss of world's biological diversity is continuing at an alarming rate!

On this World Environment Day, let us strive to become responsible human beings of Planet Earth.

~~~

Gulmohar

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Passing through a village in Maharashtra...

Villagers leading an animal...


While another is busy digging into the soil...


And the mayflowers are in bloom...

Mayflowers
Botanical name: Delonix regia

Mussoorie's Halls of Dust

From Ruskin Bond's Mussoorie Diary in Outlook India magazine dated 17 May 2010:

"I first saw Mussoorie in 1940, when I was six years old,” I told Gautam, who is twelve. “I didn’t know you were so ancient,” said Gautam. “A bit of history,” said his sister Shristi, all of fourteen. “And what were you doing here when you were six?” asked brother Siddarth, now sixteen.

...

So I told him how the old Mussoorie once had six cinemas, right up to 1980, and now of course, there wasn’t a single cinema left in town. One by one they closed down—put out of business by television, DVDs and the entertainment tax. The halls are still there, locked up because the law prevents them from being used for anything else. Rows of empty seats gather dust while the silver screen grows green with mildew. You may not see the ghosts of Robert Taylor and Errol Flynn, but you might well meet the ghost of Arthur Fisher, who, for most of his adult life, was the proud projectionist at the Picture Palace—which is at the other end of Library—in Mussoorie.

The Electric Picture Palace, to give it its original name, opened in 1912, the year electricity came to the hill station. One of the country’s earliest cinemas, it survived for well on ninety years. Longer than Fisher, a poor Anglo-Indian who rests in a pauper’s grave in the Camel’s Back cemetery.

...

Today the vast hall is almost empty, just a handful of solitary roller-skaters looking as though they would rather be elsewhere. What happened to roller-skating? There was a time when every youngster wanted a pair of roller-skates. “Would you like a pair of skates?” I asked Gautam. “No way,” he said. “But you can get me a laptop.” That says it all, I suppose.

The simpler pleasures have given way to play-stations, sophisticated video games, personal computers and the internet. Even filmstars must learn to twitter. Politicians would be wise not to."

~~~

Reading the above, I could visualise well the dilapidated state of the Picture Palace that Ruskin Bond was referring to for I was in Mussoorie in August last year.

I went through my almost 9 months old photographs and came across a few of the Picture Palace that are referred to above.

Of course, Mussoorie is not just about the dilapidated Picture Palace. Mussoorie, to begin with, is a hill station with beautiful views of the Himalayan mountains.

Like so many others, I too am a fan of Ruskin Bond (born 19 May 1934 in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, India). With subtle humor and quiet wisdom, his literary style brings out the kid in me. What I admire most about him is his unlimited enthusiasm, respect for people around him, and his deep love for nature, especially the Himalayan flora and fauna. I have not read all his books but in the few that I did, it is wonderful to read about his love for living in harmony with nature.

Though he lives in Landour since the 1960s, I was informed by the person in the photograph below that almost every Saturday, Ruskin Bond drops by at the Cambridge Book Depot. I spent just a few days in Mussoorie but did not have an opportunity to meet him.

Ruskin Bond is 76 years old today. Happy Birthday young man!

SWF: Sundown

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Sunset viewed from Mahanavami Dibba, Hampi

Dec 2009

SWF: Bahrain WTC

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I've just got back from a trip to Bahrain. This tiny nation is one of the more popular destinations in the Middle East. It was good to spend some days in Bahrain. With its authentic Arab heritage and relaxed culture, I experienced how the place lives up to its reputation for being modern and liberal.

As usual, I've come back with quite a few pictures.

Here are a few pictures of one unique landmark of Bahrain: the Bahrain World Trade Center.

Capturing the evening sky, I shot these two pictures when I was seated in a taxi that took me to Manama while it stopped at a traffic signal:
The next was shot when I was walking towards the Diplomatic Area:
The day light was fading rapidly after sunset when I started to shoot these pictures:
These sail-shaped WTC towers are designed to funnel wind through the gap to provide its acceleration through the turbines. It is said that this has the potential to generate electricity to the equivalent of providing lighting for about 300 homes annually.

Happy Skywatching.

SWF: Sunset in the Himalayas

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One of the most satisfying
experiences I know is fully to
appreciate an individual in the same way
I appreciate a sunset.
When I look at a sunset...
I don't find myself saying,
'Soften the orange a litle more on
the right hand corner,
and put a bit more purple along the base,
and use a little more pink in the cloud color...'
I don't try to control a sunset.
I watch it with awe as it unfolds.
~ Carl Rogers

Cheerful children in Mussorie....
appreciating them just as they are

Following my previous post, am going to share here a few more pictures of the glorious sunset in Mussorie:

Softly the evening came.
The sun from the western horizon
Like a magician extended
his golden wand o'er the landscape;
Twinkling vapors arose;
and sky and water and forest
Seemed all on fire at the touch,
and melted and mingled together.
~ H.W. Longfellow

SWF: An Evening in Mussorie

Located at a height of almost 7,000 feet above sea level, and through pine filled trees on hill slopes, scenic Mussorie commands some magnificent vistas of the extensive Himalayan mountain ranges.

I had the pleasure of viewing the changing colors of the sky while on an evening walk on the way back from the Company Bagh.

These are a few shots of early part of the sunset that evening, and the colors subsequently changed to much deeper shades of red and orange. I shall post some more pictures of the same sunset in another post.

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SWF: Pear Blossoms

Came across these pear blossoms while on a road journey from Nainital to Bhimtal.

Spring is a beautiful season, isn't it?

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SWF: Mommy

January 2010. It was my second trip to Ooty in Tamilnadu. For hill station standards, Ooty was sadly getting more and more crowded over time.

I took a bus to Coonoor expecting the place to be peaceful and quiet, but the town was not to be so. However a few miles out of town, it was beautiful! Walking through the tea estates and checking out a few hiking trails around Coonoor kept me cheerful for the next few days.

These pictures were shot near Dolphin’s Nose Point, 10 km from Coonoor town. The vast expanse of the lush green Nilgiri hills and its valleys, waterfalls, the flora and fauna captivated me. I was attracted to Catherine Falls in the far distance and went hiking there next day but that is another story...

Someone rightly said:
“Biology is the least of
what makes someone a mother.”

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