Do birds fuck?...and other unrelated things..

Posted by Praveen

Ok. The title is n't an allusion to anything else. This post is exactly about what the title says.

And so, continuing from where I left off at the last post, after that encounter with tigers at Ranthambore and eating a truckload for breakfast, we set off to the Ranthambore fort. The fort is part of the Ranthambore National park. A bumpy ride through some not so dense forest took us to the really 'touristy' looking front gate of the fort. Guides jumped forward from all around offering to take us to secret passages which no one could ever reach. Braving this relentless assault, we started our way up the stairs. The fort looked more like a breeding ground for monkeys and a variety of birds.

And so, on a tree were sitting two parrots. Rest the pictures will tell…

courting...from a distance

Then they flew away and sat on a tree which had more branches and leaves

It all started with a kiss

and then some foreplay

and then he moved closer

and he's about to get on top..

self explanatory

self explanatory- 2

top gear

'climat'e change

some more lingering on top

"I hope no one has seen us"!

Ok.So at last I learned a lesson in biology, that birds do indeed 'fuck'.

And, back home after going through the net, I realised that many people had actually asked this question. Copying one from answer.com- "how does the sperm from the male bird get into the female? How can they have intercourse without any external male organs, such as a penis? The male's sperm, produced in the testes, passes to the cloaca where it is stored until copulation (act of sex). The female also has a cloaca that leads from the ovaries. The female bird unfans her tail, moves it to one side while the male climbs up onto her back or gets close to her. Their cloacas are pressed together and the sperm moves from the male to the female. This act is called a cloacal kiss...The sperm is stored by the female for at least a week, in some species over a hundred days. Then as each ovum from the ovary moves into the oviduct, it gets fertilized with the stored sperm, producing a clutch of many eggs, all with the sperm from that one cloacal kiss."

I hope all your doubts on avian sex are cleared!

Some of the other stuff that we saw at the fort

He stays alone in a small mosque like structure amidst a few burial mounds...Light peeps in through small holes at the top of the building and pigeons keep on flying around him..

chasing my own tail

Will Obama win in 2012?!

view through one of the small openings on the fort wall

battered...bruised..

Ra in a 'poser' mood :D

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On a tiger quest in Ranthambore

Posted by Praveen in India, North India, photography, Travel

And so, after almost 20 days, am back in Chennai. 5 days at home. 8-9 days of tripping around Rajasthan, Delhi and Varanasi. One week of field work in some villages in Kolar. It doesn't feel that great sitting in a room and staring at a screen after so many days of not reading newspapers and not logging on to the net.

It all started from the masterplan prepared by Darshan to trip North India in the chilling winter. And in came the shady bunch from college- Ra, Sid K, Vikram and Nikil. Depending on the Indian Railways completely, when trains were getting cancelled everyday due to fog, was a bit risky. But everything went perfect according to plan in the end. An epic 35 hour train journey took us from Madras to Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan. A kid who refused to stop crying and his equally naughty sisters made sure that none of us slept for a long time. We were on a healthy diet through that journey, rather we were constantly eating. From a huge carton of choco pies to local food from various stations digged out by Ra, our stomachs never really got any rest.

The fellow trippers, The shady bunch- Ra, Darshan, Sid K, Vikram...and Nikil is hidden somewhere!

The kids who kept us entertained all through the day...and sleepless all through the night!

At 3 AM the next day, we set foot on a freezing Sawai Madhopur. The immediate plan was to have a trip around Ranthambhore National park. It is not an easy task to get tickets for either the gypsy or the big cantor. Agents call the shots at the ticket counter. No outsider can go straight in and get tickets. Some tried and failed miserably. The lazy us went the agent way. Just past sunrise, we set out in our gleaming green gypsy. Before long, we spotted huge tiger footprints. Apparently, some tiger had walked through the place at 4 in the morning. Perhaps, for an early dump. We could see how excited Darshan was getting at the prospect of spotting a tiger. Now, he is the kind of guy who wears 'save the tigers' t-shirt and would be happy if he gets one for a life partner.

A gypsy traversing the Ranthambore National Park terrain

Tiger footprints

The dry grass looked golden in the early morning sun. We spotted huge vultures sitting on the branches of a dead tree and some others circling menacingly further away. The sight of deers evoked very 'cold' response from us, thanks to our proximity to the deer hub in IIT Madras and also due to the frequent tresspassing that they make to our own college. Parrots were also not in short supply. The driver reminded us that spotting a tiger is not so easy and all depends on luck. Everyone kept scanning the bushes for any glimpse of those stripes. Other gypsies and cantors were moving around in different directions, all with the same purpose of spotting the beast. Our driver took the gypsy to a hilly region, swtiched off the engine and seemed to be observing the sounds of the jungle. This activity went on for a few more moments when we all relaxed and stood up on the seats with our cameras. Suddenly the driver screamed, 'Get down' and soon we were accelerating down the slopes at top speed. More vehicles joined the same path from different directions. They all seemed to have telepathically suddenly got the exact location of the tiger.

who's there!?

Two vultures sitting on a dead tree.

Couldn't get any clear shots of vultures cos of them being against the light.

And, at a clearing, all the vehicles stopped. Everyone was craning their necks quietly. Some morons still kept on chattering and shouting. Before long, we saw HIM walking from behind a tree. It was a calm relaxed walk without caring for all the human noise around him. He seemed to say 'I own this place'. Soon, another giant followed. The driver told us that this guy is the first one's son. He too walked just like his father. It all finished in less than a minute as they disappeared into the woods. We later gathered that the two of them were lying peacefully on the road when an over enthusiastic group tried to get a little too closer. They were later seen justifying their action with the comment that "This is the first time in six trips that we are getting to see the tiger". No wonder they didn't get to see it earlier! Darshan was probably a little unhappy at not being able to flash his 'save the tiger' t shirt due to the chilly weather.

Here goes the tiger series...Not anything great photographically. But seeing them in their own backyard was something else!

Having seen the tigers a bit earlier than expected, the rest of the safari was relatively uneventful, except if you are the type who thinks that 10 monkeys sitting on an electric tower is an event. We also spotted a Nilgai and some unknown birds. The chill had begun to subside by then. As we got back from the forest to the town, the first thought was on how to satiate our hunger. With that aim, we attacked(literally) a small 'Bhojanalaya' near our hotel. For the next one hour, the two guys at the Bhojanalaya did more work than they ever did in their lives, as we kept on ordering for more and more. In the end, the billing was so complicated that they apparently brought in a man who looked like the 'village mathematician' to solve the riddle. Last heard, the old men had closed the shop and is tripping in South India to exact revenge.

Nilgai

Its electric!

The small Bhojanalaya which ran out of the year's stocks after our attack

After this destruction, we went to Ranthambore fort and did a short trip of the town, more on which will come in the next post...

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From Chennai to Mullaperiyar

Posted by Praveen in Kerala, Mullaperiyar dam, Politics, Tamilnadu

The two lane road from Dindigul district in Tamil Nadu to Kumily, the border town in Kerala, is around 140 kms long. In this stretch, I could notice a marked difference from the barren lands which characterised most parts of the highway from Chennai till Dindigul. Paddy fields were visible all around on both sides of this rather narrow road. Halfway through this road, we entered Theni district which shares its border with Kerala. The variety of crops increased even further. Vast sugarcane fields, corn fields, vineyards, banana plantations and a myriad other cereals and millets, many of which I failed to identify.

Some glimpses of the prosperous Theni district

The rain poured intermittently. A bike trip spanning 600 Km one way, when the meteorology department had already given a prediction of ‘heavy rains all over south India for the next 48 hours’ , slightly bordered on the insane. It did not help matters either that we were travelling in a bike that was meant for short city rides only. But, this did provide us with the luxury of stopping at each of those fields and see for ourselves what is being cultivated and where the water was coming from. Yes, the water, flowing out from a dilapidated 115-year-old dam situated in another state.

An agricultural family near Dindigul

Corn fields in Cumbum, Theni district

The story of Mullaperiyar dam is now familiar to everyone. Or, so we think. In my interactions with random people in Chennai, I realized that the massiveness of this issue is confined to the borders of Kerala. Most of them were unaware of even the basic facts or believed the Sun TV version of it. They do not know the fact that the engineer who built the dam way back in 1895 gave it a life span of 50 years. They do not know that it was built with surki and that currently it has a crack running through its full span. They also do not know that it is situated in a highly seismic zone and a quake above 6.0 in the Richter scale can bring this dam down. And, it is this realization that led two of us to travel down to the place, study the issue and spread the message. Let’s get back to the journey.

Cumbum and Gudalur are the last villages on the Tamil Nadu side. After this, the road starts winding up. The air gets misty. Kerala is situated on the other side of these hills. As we neared the Kerala border, we came across the penstock pipes of a hydro electric power generation plant at lower camp. This is the Periyar power plant, where Tamil Nadu generates electricity using the Mullaperiyar water. The original deed was signed in 1895 with the agreement to use the water for irrigation purpose alone. And, here we have a full fledged power plant. Tamil Nadu had tried to get permission from Kerala for the power plant in the late 40s. But when they saw that support was hard to come by, they started work on the power station in 1955 without waiting for the permission. According to the data presented in Sasidharan Mangathil’s book on Mullaperiyar, Tamil Nadu is now generating 100 crores worth of electricity from Mullaperiyar, whereas Kerala is paid just 7.75 lakhs.

By the time we reached the border, it was well past 12 noon. The border check post was still hidden in the mist. We got into the first shop at the border to ask for directions. There, few people were discussing three small quakes (measuring around 3 on the Richter scale each) that happened near the dam that morning. According to the Kerala Government, the Mullaperiyar area has experienced 22 earthquakes of around 3.0 in the richter scale since July this year. The Tamil Nadu Government has alleged that this is a gross exaggeration and claimed the number to be not more than two. But I could see from the ground that these reports of earthquakes were not fake. These are people who experienced it firsthand. The tension in the atmosphere was palpable.

Our first aim was to visit the dam, the success of which we never truly believed in. After long talks with forest officials and calling up some others, we realized that getting anywhere near the dam is impossible. And so, we set out to visit the protest venue in Chappath and to meet the locals living in the areas close to the dam. A board hung in front of the protest venue read ‘1801’. The Mullaperiyar samara samithi (Mullaperiyar protest council) began its protest movement for a new dam exactly 1801 days back. It is an apolitical movement started by the people in the border villages of Idukki. Prof C.P.Roy, the man who started this movement says, “We are ready to give more than enough water for Tamil Nadu. We are just begging for our lives. We want a new dam here.” This sentiment is shared by most of the people in these areas.

A local farmer stands in front of the Mullaperiyar protest venue in Chappath. The board reads '1801', the number of days since the protests started

The protestors

The protest venue

One thing that surprised me was the number of Tamilians sitting at the protest venue demanding a new dam. Curious to know their take on the issue, I started talking to some of them and surprisingly they had harsh words to convey to Jayalalithaa and Vaiko. Majority of those living in Peerumedu, Devikulam, Munnar etc are Tamils. “Jayalalitha says she cares for the lives of Tamils. So what about Tamilians like me living downstream this dangerous dam? What about our Malayali brothers and sisters? ,” asks S. Daniel, a supervisor at a corn estate in chappath village, one of the places that will be affected first if the Mullaperiyar dam breaks. Daniel’s father Selvaraj was one of the lakhs of Tamilians who migrated from different parts of Tamil Nadu and settled in the border district of Idukki many decades back.

One of the Tamilians whom we interviewed. He has been living in Idukki for the past many decades. He has harsh words for Jayalalithaa and Vaiko (with English subtitles)

There are no hate speeches or violent slogans here, only a populace living under constant fear of a massive flood. From tea shops to Government offices, the subject of discussion is just the same. Mini, a medical shop owner here says, “My daughter finds it hard to sleep at night. Elders in our locality take turns to sleep at night. Everyone is living under the fear of being washed away in sleep.” Her daughter celebrated her 6^th birthday by joining the relay fast at the protest venue in Chappath.

There have been allegations from various quarters that the media and politicians in Kerala are creating a mass hysteria with ulterior motives. But the people in these areas refute any such suggestions. “We have been living under constant fear since the 1970s. Our voices started going outside only recently,” says Shaji Joseph, one of the protestors. The fears have also led to small scale migrations. According to an employee in a tea plantation here, some of his former co-workers have left this place after selling off their meagre properties.

The Mullaperiyar protestors speak..about their protests, about the history of the issue. (No subtitles...Too lazy to add!)

The protestors talk about migration from the area and other issues

Contrasting with this hysteria is the nonchalance or rather the lack of awareness about the problems related to the dam, in the border districts of Tamil Nadu. Even those who are aware see this as Kerala’s trick to deny them access to water. When asked about Kerala Government’s written promise to give same amount of water from the new dam, Murugan, a farmer in Theni said-“It is hard to trust such assurances from politicians. Our lives depend on that water.” It is true. Without this water, they will all starve to death and it’s natural that they react in anger when there is a question on their livelihood. It is up to the activists and politicians on either side to come together and educate the masses on the true situation of the dam. And then arrive at a solution that will save the lives of Keralites and at the same time safeguarding the livelihood of the Tamilians.

The water level indicator at the Thekkady side of the Mullaperiyar reservoir

As aspiring journalists, we are told to be balanced in whatever we report, even if it involves your personal interests. But, after studying the facts in this case I can see only a lopsided balance, which is not because of the conflict of interest of being a Malayali myself, but because the realities of this case are so. Besides Mullaperiyar, Kerala is giving water to Tamil Nadu through many other dams like Siruvani, Neyyar, Parambikkulam etc. Even when the decibel levels rose on the Mullaperiyar issue, for not once did Kerala think of cutting off water from these dams.

Some voices from the streets of Chappath, Idukki district

According to the precautionary principle, in any given scenario when lives are stake any decision taken should be to save those lives. This should take precedence over all other factors. But even considering all these facts, the construction of new dam is not going to be an easy task (even if Tamil Nadu agrees to it) since the area is biodiversity hotspot consisting of the Periyar tiger reserve.

PS- The situation has grown worse in the two weeks since I made this visit. The border districts on both sides are simmering with angry protests. And, some sections of the media are trying to milk this situation by planting false stories like this, and some others (CNN IBN & NDTV) stoop down even further by spreading it without checking facts. The full page Ads in National newspapers by Jayalalithaa was severely criticised by Supreme Court yesterday. Both states were also asked to be restrained in their opinions related to the dam. Hope better sense prevails and both states reach a settlement for a new dam.

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