Backyard designs

There was a time when I used to travel a lot, I mean a lot, but then a lot of things changed and for some reason I saw my travels getting reduced more and more. This of course greatly impacted my source of subjects for photography and it was making me increasingly restless and an outlet was desperately needed for expression through my camera. So we decided to take a short trip, one floor above to my terrace where I had managed to accumulate a few potted plants and have a view of some trees that peep out from between the multitude of buildings that seem to crop up overnight. I call this series the 'Backyard designs', though ideally it should be named the terrace designs.

Eco friendly Fireworks.....The pollutants covered the sky. It was Diwali and every firework as pretty as they were, were equally making the air un-breathable. These little ones were just a weed growing everywhere and invading the pots, but in doing so they made their own statement, bursting out like fireworks and yet being so Eco-friendly.

Summer showers - The sweltering hot afternoon was suddenly invaded by dark menacing clouds and as the warning thunders and lightnings announced their arrival the summer showers poured down with glory and glee leaving their mark everywhere. There were no complaints as the soil drank thirstily and the leaves bathed in the cool sprays.

The gentle curve of the spinach plant was decked up in the pearls from heaven as the lonely ant on its way home stopped by to quench its thirst against the evening sky.

Freshness brewed once again...

The last drop held on savoring a few more moments before it had to mix with the soil. The last drop was appreciated for just being, it was precious, and there was no doubt...

A silent conversation ensued in the evening among friends, exchanging the notes for the day as the sun bid goodbye, dragging behind it, the last few rays. It was time to let the night take over and the moon to rule the sky.

Alone in the spotlight....

A whiff of the gentle jasmine fragrance, intoxicating as the breeze carried it away to sweeten the world around it......

A windy afternoon...and none were spared, the leaves shook and rustled braving the impact, holding on the tree, being as brave as can be as the wind unleashed its fury in all its glory.

Hanging in there...

As the crow flies...

I think it rained...

Photographs and work by Tharangini is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License

A simple life in black and white

Is life really as complicated as it seems or is it just plain black and white and we add everything else in between just for our own entertainment. As much as we complicate life is it possible for us to equally simplify it and in doing so is it possible that we can realize life can be equally beautiful both ways. Photography has been more than just a passion for me, it has been something that has got me through some of the really crazy wacky times in life, a mode of expression and an escape route as well. This blog is dedicated to the simplicity of life, life in black and white, life without complications, life as beautiful as it is, no confusion....

In sync on a cloudy morning...

Looking for  a foothold to escape extinction....

The Dart...

Solitude amidst clutter...

The art of grace...

Hope grows...

The Langur Chronicles - 1 The tail held up high and proud, she gathered her young one in her arms, marching away, daring to disturb his game of chasing crows.The leader had summoned and it was time to move. So disciplined and well mannered they were that it was with a wistful wonder the thought crossed my mind, there is always so much we can learn from them....

The Langur Chronicles - 2 . Young and cool with a funky hairstyle, the style and the tail, spirited to the boot, yet when the call came there was no hesitation, no doubt. It was time to follow the troop..

The Langur Chronicles - 3. The tailless spirited young warrior of the troop flew across the walls, the loss of the tail not withstanding and definitely not diminishing any of the enthusiasm or energy in this young soul.....

The Langur Chronicles - 4. The young one, still playful and with boundless energy followed his family as fast as his little legs would help him leap across the rocks. Being left behind was not an option....

The mind and its mysteries, the thoughts, the confusion and the chaos. The beauty, the simplicity and the complexity. The clutter and the clarity. The State of Mind. Undecipherable.....

And a slight variation to end with How about a bit of white on black, the morning puff** to warm up the day... ** Smoking is injurious to health.

Photographs and work by Tharangini is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Bannerghatta - Breathing for Bangalore - A Film by Ashok Hallur & Padma Ashok

A human body, smoking a couple of packs a day, choking on it and yet miraculously managing to survive because the lungs are making an extra effort to keep supplying oxygen to the body. Now imagine our city choking under the pollution of the innumerable and more vehicles that are on the road almost 24 hours a day,  water-bodies turning into buildings overnight, trees making way for roads and basically struggling to breath and literally crumbling under this stress and yet surviving because of one patch of forest that is making an extra effort to supply oxygen to the oxygen starved city and keeping it going. 

Bannerghatta - Breathing for Bangalore brings into focus the one lung space near Bangalore the entire city is dependent on for its daily dose of breathable air. Despite the city fast closing in on its fringes and no other lung space to support the city to this extent the Bannerghatta forest range continues to breath for the city, keeping it alive.
An effort by Padma Ashok and Ashok Hallur brings to light the every aspect of this beautiful piece of forest and what makes it so indispensable to the garden city that is fast losing all its gardens and greens. 
The effects of these can be seen and felt in our daily lives with a drastic increase in the temperatures and decrease in the rainfall that is making it very clear about the direction in which we are headed.

Bannerghatta, after being declared a protected area in 1971 has been the home for many diverse species right from the tiniest of the insects to the gentle giants- the Asian Elephants while continuing to maintain its rejuvenating  pristine beauty that comes from the  various flora of the forest.  

This however does not come without its share of daily challenges in the form of poaching, farming in the forest fringes, exploitation of the forest produce and all these resulting in increasing man animal conflict, the decreasing forest space leading the animals directly towards the human habitats, the challenges are many , yet there are those who care and strive to keep this vibrant ecosystem alive and functioning.  The link between each species , between every prey and predator and between them and us is extremely delicate as well as immensely intricate and important. The slightest disturbance to this balance will very well lead to the domino effect and is definitely going to impact the human world too. 

While the forest watchers and officials face the challenge of keeping the elephants and gaurs from straying into the villages everyday, it also becomes the moral responsibility of every citizen of Bangalore as well as all areas surrounding Bannerghatta to ensure that this oxygen factory remains healthy and thriving if we have to benefit from it in the future too. It is also our responsibility to reduce the stress on this forest area by developing  a lot more. 

Though the tree plantations have their role to play, the importance of maintaining the indigenous varieties is immense to ensure the conservation of biodiversity of these forests. 

Bannerghatta is more than just a holiday spot. This forest is working very hard for us and there a few people who are working very hard to keep this forest alive while we benefit from its daily supple of oxygen to this choking city. Isn't it our responsibility too to do our bit? What we need is maybe another revolution, a tree revolution and tree revolutionaries to ensure Bannerghatta does not stand alone and vanish into the oblivion. 

Bannerghatta - Breathing for Bangalore brings to us all this and more in the most precise and crisp manner  with all benefits, problems and solutions and will hopefully inspire many more to join towards making an effort to help the forests thrive. If the forests thrive, we thrive.

A few images and a small clipping from the film. It is set to be released soon. Do watch.

Kalasipalaya - A Debate

It was with great indignation, upon reading the news that 24 trees were going to face the axes for a new bus terminal at Kalasipalaya, that we (Vijay Nishanth [ you can contact him on Vijay@vruksha.com] and myself) set out to document the trees and almost 8000 of parakeets that roost in those trees despite the obvious mess and pollution and indescribable noise levels all around. We had to make 3 attempts to get all the details. With the kind cooperation and the support of a local temple priest we managed to get access to the temple roof and a rather shaky metal scaffolding from where we had a vantage point and view of the entire place.

One side barren... other side with sparse disappearing greenery....

It was immediately obvious to us that the trees that would face the axes were the only ones in that entire area, taking in the pollution of almost on a rough estimate 500 buses and innumerable other vehicles. It was also extremely difficult to even imagine as to how all the parakeets came to roost there despite the pollution.

Shimmering dust in the evening light...

One of the home to the 8000 parakeets...

and un-breathable air...

By 5:45 pm the families started returning home. First it started in small batches and then we were surrounded by parakeets all around.  The fading light and the sun against us permitted only some really pretty silhouettes in the evening, but the sight was incredible. The trees were soon full and very surprisingly the noise of the traffic actually drowned in the parakeet calls.

Roosting time

Dark shapes outlining the branches 

and a couple against the brightly lit temple premises....

We knew however one more visit would be necessary to get these birds in good light or at least enough light to be able to see them well. But as we said our thanks and goodbye to the temple priest we heard another side to the story too. This area, the 1st one to get electricity in all of Asia was still the most filthiest place. The roads, the footpaths all dumped with garbage, stink all around and how did people even live there? He was glad that at last something good is happening to that area. We knew then that we had to cover both sides of the story.
Early next morning the 1st stop was anyways for the parakeets and this is what we saw.

Probably more parakeets than leaves on the trees.

and then some more....

And so many more....

Well now that you get the idea... we had another area to cover and this is what we saw...

The ground realities....

What is behind the buses stays behind the buses...

Plastic Delicacy....

and the freshest of flowers of course....

Can food get any more tastier than this? 

How much more sacred can this get?

We understood that this area needed development and there was no denying that, but the trees in this area were the only one to take in all the poison and clean the air to whatever extent they could besides of course being the home for these really strong heart parakeets. So where is the solution? This place needs both CLEAN and GREEN... Is there any option to achieve both? Can there be alternate greening? These people deserve cleanliness. The temple priest had a valid point by wanting the area near the temple to be clean. The vendors who spend their day in the filth in an effort to make a living deserve a better place, but we also need the trees to compensate for the pollution and all the poison in the air from what is possibly one of the most congested and polluted areas of Bangalore... So you tell us cannot development and environment go hand in hand instead of being in eternal combat with each other?

The threatened species of trees are : Rain tree, Copperpod, Peepal , Eucalyptus species

This small poem was written by me more than a decade ago,. I do not remember which indiscriminate chopping of our green friends led me to pen this, but for some reason I did not share it then.

However nothing has changed over the last few years, with trees continuing to be the silent victims. I suppose this poem will very much echo the sentiments of all the tree lovers worldwide.


IF ONLY TREES COULD RUN

Wouldn’t it be really nice…

If all our trees could run and save their lives.

From the axes and machetes and the wrath of the human race.

The blind murders of our green friends, such disgrace.

Can we create the rains?

So essential for growing our grains.

Can we recreate nature’s beauty?

That our trees endow upon us in such great bounty.

Can we create fresh air to breath?

Can we produce food for all to eat?

The birds and beasts are fast becoming extinct !

When are we going to sit up and think?

Of the consequences we are well aware..

Yet we choose to close our eyes.

Wouldn’t it be really nice…

If all our trees could run and save their lives.

Do we have all the answers for the children of tomorrow?

Can we tell them that the natural calamities

Are results of our destructive activities.

Can we offer them a solution

For the all around pollution.

Will it be too late when we realize finally,

We cannot cut our trees indiscriminately.

Since we fail to analyze….

Wouldn’t it be really nice…

If all our trees could run and save their lives.

Tharangini Balasubramanian

Photographs and work by Tharangini is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

The story of the new generation urban Koel

He was a hungry child sitting on the edge of a delicate looking branch mouth wide open and calling constantly. Mrs.Bulbul appeared looking pretty much harassed and weary with a big caterpillar she had scooped from somewhere. Anything to make him stop crying. "Good lord" she said " How did you grow to be so big? "  as her head almost disappeared into his mouth while feeding him.  "It is all your dad's fault" she muttered as he looked equally harassed trying to get food for the two more hungry heads yelling from the nest. "I told him to lay off the fatty diet he was on, he never listens". " I hear you wife"  he yelled. "This big fellow is all because of the bread you have been hogging on from the last house on the road. I told you they were up to no good. Now see what you've to handle". But Mrs.Bulbul had already left to find more food for her big hungry child. "How did I even survive laying such a huge egg? Ouch!!!!" she thought to herself as she looked for more food while glancing at the last house on the road for some of those tasty bread they left out. Today there was none. the crows must have gotten there earlier. However, she was glad to have her husband's help in feeding the smaller kids while the larger one was her's to handle. They were after all the Bulbul family and this was the first time they had been nestjacked by the neighborhood Asian Koels, but they were too busy feeding the hungry mouths to realize that. It always happened to someone else. This she was hoping would be the last trip of the day before her brood went for their nap. She wanted to find something really special for her big hungry child she had in a weird way grown very fond of. She felt protective of him and hoped he would be ok with her other regular sized kids. "Wait" she thought to herself. "Is he really a he or is he a she. He looks so different." But her thoughts were interrupted by the grasshopper that was to become her kid's next meal. After her last trip of the day, she sat beside him on the branch to roost. He was still too young, but he might just squish his siblings if he tried to fit into the tiny nest. So as Mr.Bulbul babysat the Bulbul kids, Mrs.Bulbul sat next to Big-Happy. That's what she decided to name him. For some reason other than being always hungry, he just seemed to be Happy and Big-Hungry sounded plain rude.

Big-Happy before he became famous, taking a break.

"Good Morning Mamma" Big-Happy said as Mrs. Bulbul almost fell off the branch. Wow, those were his first words. "Good Morning son.." His crying voice that had sounded so much like a crow's voice giving Mrs. Bulbul quite a few nightmares, had suddenly turned into a pleasant sweetness. " Mamma, I am big now, let me help you get some food for all of us" Big-Happy said. Before she could react, neighboring Aunty Bulbul  saw Big happy and said "Oh goodness so it is true, you have been nestjacked" . "I've been what???" "Nestjacked, you silly, haven't you heard? " "I've no idea what you are talking about, have you been visiting 'those flowers' again? talk straight" " Ok ok... I've been talking to the local Mynas. They have been watching you. Your's is a rare case. It happens more often with the Mynas. This fellow is not your child. He is an Asian Koel kid" Big-Happy was not very happy to see Aunty Bulbul.  But she was the morning local news after all and there was no avoiding her.  He could barely understand what she was saying but his mamma was looking positively worried. After a few minutes she came to Big-Happy and said "Ok son... I guess you've been adopted. It is official. But then don't you worry about it. You will continue to be my son". Well that was one mystery solved, Big-Happy was happy he was not a freak of nature in a Bulbul's world. Mrs. Bulbul was happy she could eat as much bread as she wanted from the last house down the road. She was not responsible for the egg from which Big-Happy was born and Mr. Bulbul could continue on all the fatty diets he wanted. Aunty Bulbul was more than a bit disappointed. She did not deliver the news to see relieved faces, so she left to collect more juicy gossip for the next day's local news. One day as Big-Happy and Mrs. Bulbul were getting back  from foraging, he was a quick learner and a fast flyer, his brother and sister were just getting their final flying lessons, they saw Grandpa Koel perched on a branch quietly observing all the voracious youngsters from the last breeding season around him. All the other birds had come to accept the unusual bonding between Mrs. Bulbul and her son Big-Happy who was always there for his mother. There was also a bit of jealousy and maybe a few To-let boards for Koels going up in a few nests. If the new generation of Koels was going to be like this, they all wanted to have their share of one. The crows looked a bit confused. "Has our work been outsourced to the Bulbuls?, are the  Koels laying off crows?"  But Big-Happy was oblivious to all  the commotion he was causing. He just wanted to help his mamma the way she had taken care of him. "Go talk to Grandpa Koel" she said. "He will be able to tell you more about being a Koel than anyone else, he has been around a long long loonnnngggg time". He did look that way. So Big-Happy went and said " Good Morning Grandpa, can you tell me all about being a Koel?"  "Sing, have fun, distract the crows when your wife wants to lay an egg in their nest, Sing, Have fun". said Grandpa. "That's it? but then why is my mamma a bulbul? what about building nests? raising kids?" Grandpa laughed "Now I've finally seen it all" he said. " Kid, you are a Koel,  Koels do not build nests and raise kids and your mamma is a Bulbul because your Koel Mother missed the Egg laying class in school. She did not know the difference between a crow's nest and a Bulbul's nest. Now Goodbye" .

Wise old Grandpa Koel

Big Happy sat next to Grandpa Koel as he snored and thought for a while. He then flew to Mrs. Bulbul and said "Grandpa Koel asked me to learn to build a nest from you".  Mrs.Bulbul's mouth opened wide. The Mantis she had caught for lunch hopped away with a second lease of life. This is not what she expected of Grandpa Koel. She would have to have a word with him tomorrow. But Mr. Bulbul who was now comparatively relaxed reacted rather positively. "I've got just the thing for you." he said. "I've used this all my life and now seems to be a right time to hand it over to you" as he handed over a well worn copy of "Nest Building for Dummies" to his gleeful adopted son. Mrs. Bulbul was changing all sorts of colors much to excitement of the local bird watchers and photographers. She would be the star of their facebook page that evening.  Grandpa Koel could wait. Her husband would be the one at the receiving end tomorrow. Big-Happy was very very happy and excited as he read, pondered, devoured, digested every word in the book and started building prototypes and models. The other Koels around looked at him wearily. "Hope this is not a new trend." After all we are supposed to "Sing, have fun, distract the crows when your wife wants to lay an egg in their nest, Sing, Have fun". But Big-Happy had no friends in the Koel world and was lost in his world of building nests, perfecting them, giving them roofs, nurseries, food storage areas, play areas, kid proofing the corners as a sweet voice above him said "what are you doing? " He saw the most beautiful bird he had ever seen with voice that was as sweeter than the sweet bread from the last house on the road.  "Who are you? " he asked . "I am a koel' she said. "But I am a Koel and you do not look like me, nor like old Grandpa Koel sitting on that branch" "I am a girl, you silly, did you not go to the Koel school? now tell me what are you doing." "Well, Girl Koel, I am building a nest." "My name is Soft-Flight and Koels do not build a nest we Sing, have fun, you distract the crows when we girls want to lay an egg in their nest and we Sing, Have fun". He rolled his eyes, uff what is with all the singing and having fun, he had work to do. But she was so beautiful and he was a bit curious about her, so he said " Hey, would you like to see my prototype of nests, you can then judge for yourself ." "Hmm Interesting" she thought while glancing around for the nearest exit and mentally scolding herself for walking into this one. But her curiosity of a Koel who builds nests got better of her.  "So which one is yours'" she asked glancing at all the various nests of all shapes and sizes all over the tree.  "All of them" He said. "I've been practicing." "But they are all occupied" she said "Yes, been renting them out, and that on top" he said pointing to the most grand looking nest of all, "that's the one I made for my mamma and dad". "I'll be back" she said as she took off to clear her head and possibly pinch herself a bit to return to reality. All this was so way off from what they taught at the Koel school, "Sing, have fun.........." so simple and this fellow had to turn the whole Koel world upside down? But she did return, she was curious and as she saw more and more of what Big-Happy had created, broken the tradition, she was impressed and soon Big-Happy was more happy as Soft-Flight joined him in making nests.

Soft-Flight, she appears so suddenly out of nowhere.

Oh yes not to forget, all the bird watchers and bird photographers were having a field day. Koels building nests, now that was something huge.  "Who are these people? " asked Soft-Flight to Big Happy. "Not sure" he said.. "but they seem to have no where to go and they keep the crows away. Maybe we can build them some nests after we are done with ours." Finally Big-Happy and Soft-Flight had their own nest perfected and ready. Mr & Mrs. Bulbul were impressed and rather proud. Aunty Bulbul was turning a pretty shade of green with envy as the bird watchers desperately tried to look up the bird books to figure out what species she belonged to. Mr. Bulbul had the perfect housewarming gift for the young Koel couple - Raising Kids For Dummies- as Big Happy and Soft-Flight officially became the first Koel couple to build a nest and raise 3 beautiful kids. So what next for Big-Happy and Soft-Flight? Last I heard they were touring the country conducting workshops for a new generation and breed of Urban Koels. Aunty Bulbul still has a To-let board in her nest. Mr & Mrs Bulbul are enjoying their retirement and the tasty bread from the last house in the road. Disclaimer - The events, birds and people depicted in the story are totally absolutely and completely ficticious, all existing only in my mind and imagination. Any and all similarity to any Koel, bulbul, Mynas, Crows, person, living or dead is purely coincidental and frankly a miracle. No offense to any photographer ,bird watcher or entrepreneur is intended in any manner ( me being all three, I should know). If you have had the patience to read through all this, I salute you. If not, then you may have not reached this sentence, so it does not matter. Dedicated to all the Koels and Bulbuls all over for entertaining us with their sweet melody.

Photographs and work by Tharangini is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.