Extinction is Forever - Tiger backs Tiger

Whole country and cricket fans around the globe rejoiced when master blaster Sachin hit another test ton against New Zealand in this series. I was also looking forward for his TON and his each shot was just feast for eyes. Strange thing is today I felt more proud about when I read news about Sachin supporting Tiger conservation in India. In fact when he dedicated this hundred for tigers, he just raised his ranks in millions of hearts. He is leader, path maker, guide and friend to Indian team and there are plenty other reasons that whole Team India joined for the cause. When asked to him about this initiative he commented that this was decided by whole team before coming for this tour and hence you can see banner of ‘Extinction is Forever’ at Team India’s marquee.

You might get bit amused but I read news column ‘Earth’ in TOI which keeps me close to happenings in environment zone in India. Survey says at least 1 tiger per month is killed (or dies) and according to Wildlife Protection society of India just in 11 weeks of 2009, 17 tigers are found dead. If strict measures are not taken right away tiger extension is not far from today. For the figures the count of tigers in India at the start of this century (year 2000) was 40,000 which fall down to mere 1700 today at an alarming rate. I feel no odd if our coming generation will see another Steven Spielberg’s (or his successor’s) movie like Jurassic park where dinosaurs will be replaced by extinct tigers.

Here is tiger toll for 2009:
Mar 20: Bhadrawati, Maharashtra: Forest officials nab three persons with tiger claws and bones Mar 17: Corbett, UP: Infighting claims one tiger at Dhela Range

Mar 10: Corbett, UP: An aged 14-year-old male tiger found dead at Dhela Range

Mar 4: Kanha, MP: One tiger found dead near Daman village

Feb 26: Tadoba Andhari, Maharashtra: One tigress found dead

Feb 24: Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh: Man-eater tigress shot dead

Feb 16: Chandel, Manipur: Army seizes 16 kg tiger bones, two skulls and two paws during vehicle checks near Myanmar border.

Feb 13: Kaziranga, Assam: One tiger killed in infighting

Feb 8: Pilibhit, UP: One tiger found dead near Sharda canal

Jan 31: Kanha, MP: One tiger found dead near Auraicamp

Jan 21: Kaziranga: One tigress dead of suspected poisoning

Jan 19: Katni, MP: One fresh tiger skin seized

Jan 18: Kanha, MP: One tiger found dead

Jan 10: Kaziranga, Assam: One tiger found dead

Jan 5: Kaziranga, Assam: One tigress found dead

Jan 3: Kanha, MP: Two tiger cubs found dead

Jan 3: Kaziranga, Assam: One tiger found dead

Jan 2: Bhandara, Maharashtra: One tiger found dead

(Source: Wildlife Protection Society of India)

Rise for the cause. Support the wildlife. Help to save this forest beauty.

One less of the list

Skiing was one of the things on my ‘To Do” list until last Saturday and now it has jumped to another list ‘To Do it again’. Right now it’s a list topper on the second list. We were already late planning about skiing at the end of the season and we cancelled our plans when we enquired many skiing places just to find they are closed for the season. Unwillingly we had to postpone the plan by another a year but then my phone rang.
“Are you ready for skiing?” friend on the other side asked me.
“What a joke?” I exclaimed. “Don’t tell me now, that you called me in morning and told me to get ready.”
“Ya. So what are you doing now?” he asked.
“Just got up at 11 O clock and having my tea and bread. Its weekend and I am spending as it is supposed to.” I answered.
“OK just now Kaushal called. He enquired for the skiing place and they are open. In fact these are last 2 days for this season” he told.
“How far it is? And till when it’s open?” I asked just for more info.
“Its 2 hrs drive from here and they are open till 10 PM. So get ready. We will start at 2.” He cut it short.
“OK.” I said keeping phone aside.

We started at 2:10 and drive couple of hrs on highways and local roads before we reached at skiing place. It was Alpine valley resort at the neighboring state of Wisconsin (http://www.alpinevalleyresort.com/index2.php). Checking at the packages and the equipments we finally decided on those and rented skis. When I put on those ski boots it was the same feeling as if I am waking on moon (though that’s also in my ‘To Do’ list). It was around 5-7 KG of weight and it was so stiff that I can hardly bend at my ankles. We did some initial photo shoots for our skiing portfolios and then headed towards mission impossible. After I learned some basics from my friends I achieved a milestone of being able to stand with skis on my feet. I went up with the lift and then started my first expedition of the day. After managing to come to the slope properly it was all automatic and against my will. I couldn’t control my self and the skis, no matter what tactics I was trying. I fell umpteen times with my legs twisting and curling along my body and I swear I was never before in those haphazard shapes in my life.

Getting up from the ground level was exactly the same difficult as it was easy to fall down. The first slope ride I did was almost sitting on the skis and falling at least 3-4 times till I came at the bottom of the slope. I thought of giving up but then saw a small kid doing skiing excellently with his sister and I later came to know that his sister was just 6 yrs and he was mere 4 yrs age. Shame on me. Again I went for 2nd ride and now the guy there told me some tricks to bend knees inside to slow down and those sort of things and I found that once you started skiing you will just forget all those tricks and its just a panic situation. It’s almost the same feeling when you are on roller coaster with the difference here you are doing it alone and there’s nothing to hold. I suddenly felt that there’s something wrong with earth and it has suddenly increased its gravitational pull exponentially.

Since it’s an end of the season the snow had turned into ice and when we hit against it, it was serious business. I became firm believer of the idiom ‘try and try until you succeed’ when I managed skiing the whole slope without falling at all. Difficult part now was to put sudden brakes once you are at the bottom and this part I never did correctly. If I want to apply brakes or stop I have to fall down there and there was no way. Hopefully in my next expedition I will succeed at this. Even after taking complete day rest on Sunday, I didn’t felt like coming to office on Monday so I availed a sick leave. It was wonderful experience and we enjoyed a lot with snaps and videos. Seeing at the videos now I feel like: “Yes I can do it….”

Here are some snaps to share.

On the way to Alpine valley resort

My legs tangling around me

My first milestone achieved

See I am struggling there and this kid is enjoying skiing with both hands free

We, sharing a moment

Mission Accomplished

Me by me

I travel places. I travel paths.
I gather dirt, I gather warmth.

Blues of water vies with blues of the sky for the originality of the blueness and no one really win. Battle is ON since centuries and will be ON another stint of centuries to follow. Like just a passerby I passed many, like a cozy shelter I rested at many, what differs is just everything; each and everything in its own gradient, own bounds. Some more some less in tones but really it differs in everything.

Lead the things, sway with winds,
get flooded, feel empty in vastness;
and many more shades to follow,
many more grudges to swallow.

Raving my boat with the tide and resting at anon barren land with my anchor dropped loosely in a shy wait for another blow and start un-destined voyage again, leaving things behind. A gentle hiss of breeze, razing fire in woods, sails tied to the dock with those steel chains, sovereignty of the tiny weed flower in endless pasture I gather it all.

I gather it all and move along. I move along.

How do you know spring is stepping in?

Though there is an official start date for spring as March 20 or March 21st almost every year, you can absolutely trace the silent foot steps of spring approaching towards you looking at your surroundings. As per the astronomy is concerned this date is considered when sun is exactly above the equator and due the fact earth is rotating around the sun this phenomenon occurs twice a year. The term is ‘Vernal Equinox’ and this equinox differs in date for southern and northern hemisphere of earth; the other date being September 22nd every year. In layman’s language we can call it a time when nights and days are almost same duration. So how do you know spring is stepping in without thinking about dates and calendars?

At home:
- Thicker blanket sheets on bed feel unwanted and thinner ones are dearer now.
- Sun peeps quite early from your bedroom glass window and tries to wake you up bit early.
- You can straight away get up happily (study differs from person to person and situation to situation) and move your window drapes and bedroom is flooded with bright warm light. Windows are open all most all the day.
- Morning tea makes you fresher than it used to and you don’t have to struggle a lot to make kids ready for school.

At office:
- Faces shine bright with more depth in daily greetings of ‘Good Morning’.
- You start your work fresh but with half of your mind wandering outside.
- Talks about spring fill your ears and vacation plans fill your calendars (Of course, keeping budgets in mind).
- Almost 99.09 % meetings start on time with discussion on ‘spring season and related things’ as ice breakers.
- You start from office on your usual time still you feel that you have reached home earlier. Day light makes its effect ultra distinctive.

On streets:
- In lunch break walk, you are crowded with more number of people around you and you sense like streets are amplified in their densities per square yards.
- You see more pairs of hands occupying cameras and people posing with their light and colorful jackets.
- Huge glass shopping windows on side walks getting redecorated, repainted, revamped and geared up to display their new spring arrivals.
- Diners are sitting in their extended corridors in open air enjoying their brunch with refreshing aroma of just brewed coffee in china pots.
- Reflections from the building facades are dazzling on your open eyes and you feel need of sun glasses.
- At late afternoons, the same diners get set for their new customers for early boozes with crispy French fries.

In train:
“Good morning. How are you?” a lady greets to another.
She smiles “Good. Thanks to the weather.”
First lady expresses like she has hit the jackpot. “You know what, I am seeing a little yellow nosed beaked birdie around my windows these mornings and it is trying to get in.”
“Oh really” with slight interest on face.
“Ya. I think the bird wants something from my house and Bunny, my elder dog keeps following and playing with it. The bird then peeps at another window and Bunny chases it.”
“Wow” says another.
“Ya. I am not sure what it exactly wants and there is really nothing but our nice little brown lamp over our dinning table. It’s oval and I think the birdie is seeing it to make its nest for the season”.
“Possible.”
“Ya. I am so exited. Bunny is also going out on the grass to play and children are moving out in our back yard. It clearly says its spring here”.
“Yes. That’s true.”
“So true and delightful.”

…………………and they get busy in their never ending talks, gossips with their wide array of subjects not necessarily correlating with each other..

Fire and Peace

This winter was horrible. Actually every Chicago winter is, and in the downtown temperature figure is always deceiving to what it actually feels. Sole culprit is the wind factor. It adds to the chill so much that if weather forecast (appreciating their efforts for precision ) shows you 30 F you can actually feel it as 3 F. It’s exactly as misleading as the little * for conditions apply on you new credit card APR letter. There’s whole world of IF’s and BUTs hidden in diminishing microscopic font under the term ‘Conditions apply’.

Weather is getting better now and we are apparently approaching towards spring. I and my colleagues in office decided to go for a daily short walk after our lunch. (It really doesn’t take any extra brain to know the reason. Sitting at one place in office was growing tummies all over.) We walked near the Chicago city hall as it was just few blocks away from my office building. Chicago city hall built in 1911 is a beautiful building with exceptional pieces of sculpture along all the sides (Need more info? You can get it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_City_Hall). Richard J. Daley Center is just adjacent to the city hall and it has big open space which always holds some kind of fair in summers. You can see a famous massive steel sculpture ‘The Picasso’, a gift to Chicago city by renowned sculptor Pablo Picasso. Few feet away I found a small iron fenced fire and many pigeons warming their bodies against the flame. It must have been feeling cozy like sauna bath, warming their bodies in this cold weather and the snap below shows that they were really enjoying it.

Chicago City Hall Pillars

Kids playing around the pigeons


Warming up

I thought it’s really an ironical situation. We consider pigeon as a symbol of peace (I am not sure whether only white pigeon is considered as a symbol of peace or any colored. Anyway I’m not talking about color distinction or racism.) and fire is considered as rage or turbulence since ages. Here I was seeing both together and it was really deceptive to the eyes. I compared this scene to the situation with Pakistan. They are shouting aloud “We are peace loving nation” but on the other hand they are doing these humiliating activities all over the globe. Recent attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore was pinnacle of this terror acts and more astounding was the statement coming from one of the Pakistan ministers that India can be suspected to be involved in this attack. Wow that was really thoughtful of you Mr. Minister. Despite of whole bunch of proofs, the long denial of the fact that the terrorists in Mumbai attack were Pakistan nationals shows how serious you are fighting against terrorism. Media has traced Kasab’s house, interviewed his parents, checked with some near ones to him, found other ID cards claiming his Pakistan residence ship and yet you are never bothering to term them as ‘Non State actors’. Few bunch of fowl heads sitting in government and misguiding people in the name of religion and jihad, what are you trying to achieve? It’s time to get in your senses at least now. It is not going to help anyone, not now and not in future.