Category Archives: Nature

Nature & the natural environment encompassing all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species.

Nature, Travel

So near to home, yet so far!

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I am coming to home in Ranchi on holidays from Baghdad. It was just like any other previous journey up to Delhi. I avoid reaching Delhi from 15 December to 15 January, as Delhi remains under thick fog blankets, during this time. But such thick fogs are very rare during this time.

As we were approaching Delhi while descend, the captain of the Etihad flight informed us of the fog/mist over Delhi sky and also said that the visibility was around 300m. When I came out of the airport at around 3.40am, the fog was quite thick. The cabbie also told me that it’s so foggy after more than 10 days and all these days were quite clear and sunny. May be these fogs came down to greet me!

But, the situation deteriorated as the dawn approached and the visibility worsen to less than 50m in the morning compelling the delay/cancellation of departures from Delhi airport and many international flights were diverted to Mumbai.

When I woke up after my nap, I found an email from Air India. They sent a new revised e-ticket with revised timing for the delayed departure. The new timing is 3.50pm! This thick fog and flight delays/cancellation/diversions are also headlines on the national news on TV channels.

It’s now reported in the news that flights have resumed at Delhi and I sincerely hope that there is no further delay. This last moment of unscheduled delay is killing. After an almost whole day-night journey, I am feeling too tired and sleepy. I just can’t wait to reach my home. It will be almost 33 hours from the time I left for airport in Baghdad and I would reach home in Ranchi. Ufff!

I am so near to my home, yet so far!

Nature

It rained again in Baghdad

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Since yesterday it rained in Baghdad. In fact, it rained whole night and it continued in the morning too. Continuous rains mean flooded roads in Baghdad. We started thinking that it may be a repeat of the 25th December rain, when the roads were so flooded that the Government of Iraq declared a public holiday – Rainy day! However, TBI functioned normally and served all the customers who dared to reach its branches.

Flooded street of Baghdad. Image by @prashantrao.

It was in the afternoon that the sky was getting cleared up and later we had a bright sunshine in the late afternoon. I am going on vacation and I was expected to get my exit/re-entry visa today. But, it’s postponed for tomorrow as it was raining in the morning. Tomorrow is the penultimate day and I was praying that it should not rain like last time and the Government declares a holiday. Thank God, it’s clear now and I hope to get my exit/re-entry visa tomorrow. I am a bit tense, obviously.  Well, this is the problem that I am facing because of this rain. I take pity on all my colleagues who came to the office in the rain and returned home through the flooded streets.

Nature

Tigers making a comeback

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Just came across this good news on National Geographic that tigers are making a comeback, thanks to strong government initiatives in India, Thailand, and Russia. There are six remaining subspecies of tiger that live in 13 Asian countries — a habitat that’s reduced by 93% from their historic range. Conservationists estimate that only 3,200 tigers exist in the wild.

Joe Walston, Executive Director for Asia Programs at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), praised the three countries for taking action to protect their tiger populations. The animals are endangered globally.

The Indochinese tiger – a subspecies growing in number

In India’s Nagarahole and Bandipur National Parks, for example, a combination of strict anti-poaching patrols, surveillance, voluntary relocation of people away from tiger habitats, and scientific monitoring have helped the big cats rebound to the point where they have saturated the two national parks.

In Russia, government officials are drafting a new law that makes the transport, sale, and possession of endangered animals a criminal offense rather than just a civil crime. This closes a loophole that currently allows poachers to claim they found endangered species like tigers already dead.

In Thailand, enforcement and anti-poaching patrols have been beefed up in the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary.

But these three success stories are rare bright spots for the endangered species, whose numbers continue to hover at all-time lows worldwide due to the combined threats of poaching, loss of prey, and habitat destruction.

Walston pointed out that saving tigers has other benefits also. He said:

“When we conserve tigers, we’re actually conserving a whole host of species that are maybe not as charismatic or iconic but are equally valuable and equally threatened.”

Via National Geographic

Nature, Technology

First dawn of 2013 in Baghdad; Facebook is pushing back photo to 2012

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I woke up at my regular time at 6.00am as I forgot to turn off the daily morning alarm, today being a holiday. Then I thought of seeing the first dawn on 2013. At around 7.00am, I went to the terrace to witness the first dawn and the first Sun of the New Year.

First dawn of 2013 in Baghdad

I posted the picture on my Facebook and changed the time to 7.00am. Later I found to my utter surprise that the photo is dated as 01 January 2012! I tried to edit the date to 2013. But that was not possible as the drop down list does not have 2013! So, my most recent picture is pushed back by one year. It seems that for Facebook, 2013 is yet to arrive. This I did not expect from Facebook.

I tweeted this failure and also put this as a status update on my Facebook. I checked Twitter and found that there were other people also who have tweeted on this failure of service. Now, I am waiting for Facebook to fix this so that I will then correct the date of the picture on the timeline.

2013 is the first year after 1987 to have all different numbers. We wish happy New Year to all the readers.

Nature

Heavy rain in Baghdad ~ Santa’s gift?

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I woke up today to a cloudy morning. Little did I think then that it would rain so much in Baghdad today. Later in the morning, it started with a light drizzle and then slowly it turned into a good rain. It rained for almost entire day continuously. It’s even raining now as I am writing this blog post.

It’s good to see rain in Baghdad as it rains occasionally here. I always think of India when it rains here. It helps me to connect to my country, my family in my thoughts. Baghdad is generally not equipped for rains. There are water-loggings at many places due to inadequate sewage system to carry the rain waters, causing bottleneck.

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To avoid inconvenience to the public as most of the main roads are blocked due to heavy rains today, the government has declared a public holiday in Baghdad tomorrow. Dr. Lubna Naji tweeted a nice post rain anecdote.

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Pictures of flooded streets were sent to me by my friend Rafeef. These flooded roads with stranded vehicles remind me of Kolkata or Mumbai roads after torrential rains during monsoon seasons.

The other major casualty is the satellite TV channels. Many of the channels are down due to bad or no signals. Some of the channels are running but with lots of disturbances and pixeling, which makes TV watching a pain.

Despite all these inconveniences, I like rain.

26 December 2012

The Iraqi Meteorological Organisation reported today that 6.75 centimetres (2.56 inches) of rain fell in Baghdad yesterday, which its chief said was the highest such figure in 30 years. The heavy rain spurred the government to declare today a national holiday, the fourth time this year it has been forced to do so because of bad weather. The other three were due to heat during Iraq’s boiling summer.

We however went to office today because of our annual closing of books. All our staff members attended office today despite all odds. In fact, our bank branches were open and provided complete customer service during the day.

Nature, Religion, Science

Winter Solstice 2012

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Today is the winter solstice and the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s all due to Earth’s tilt, which ensures that the shortest day of every year falls around December 21. Some predicted that today would also mark Earth’s doomsday, thanks to a longstanding rumor that the Maya calendar ends on December 21, 2012.

Even without an apocalypse, the solstice has been an auspicious day since ancient times. Countless cultural and religious traditions mark the winter solstice; it’s no coincidence that so many holidays surround the first day of winter.

Even without an apocalypse, the solstice has been an auspicious day since ancient times. Countless cultural and religious traditions mark the winter solstice; it’s no coincidence that so many holidays surround the first day of winter.

The solstices occur twice a year (around December 21 and June 21) because Earth is tilted by an average of 23.5 degrees as it orbits the sun—the same phenomenon that drives the seasons.

Being the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice is essentially the year’s darkest day, but it’s not the coldest. Because the oceans are slow to heat and cool, in December the seas still retain some warmth from summer, delaying the coldest of winter days for another month and a half. Similarly, summer doesn’t hit its heat peak until August, a month or two after the summer solstice.

Winter Solstice’s Christmas connection

Scholars aren’t exactly sure of the date of Jesus Christ’s birthday, the first Christmas.

“In the early years of the Christian church, the calendar was centered around Easter,” George Washington University’s Yeide said. “Nobody knows exactly where and when they began to think it suitable to celebrate Christ’s birth as well as the Passion cycle” — the Crucifixion and resurrection depicted in the Bible.

Eastern churches traditionally celebrate Christmas on January 6, a date known as Epiphany in the West. The winter date may have originally been chosen on the basis that Christ’s conception and Crucifixion would have fallen during the same season — and a spring conception would have resulted in a winter birth.

But Christmas soon became commingled with traditional observances of the first day of winter. Early church leaders endeavored to attract pagans to Christianity by adding Christian meaning to existing winter solstice festivals.

“This gave rise to an interesting play on words,” Yeide said. “In several languages, not just in English, people have traditionally compared the rebirth of the sun with the birth of the son of God.”

Via: Nat Geo

Nature

Unique Darjeeling Tea

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Among connoisseurs, few teas surpass a good Darjeeling. The smooth and mellow taste commands a premium price, and the name itself evokes a bygone era when the British first introduced Chinese tea plants here in the Indian foothills of the Himalayas. Darjeeling Tea is widely and universally acknowledged to be the finest tea, because its flavour is so unique that it cannot be replicated. Connoisseurs will assert that without Darjeeling, Tea would be like Wine without the prestige of Champagne.

In a decision this year, the European Union agreed to phase out the use of “Darjeeling” on blended teas. Now, just as a bottle of Cognac must come from the region around the French town of Cognac, a cup of Darjeeling tea will have to be made only from tea grown around Darjeeling.

Darjeeling tea is India’s treasured Geographical Indication and forms a very important part of India’s cultural and collective intellectual heritage. The European Commission has registered Darjeeling Tea as a Protected Geographic Indication (PGI) product — the first commodity from India to get such a tag. The status implies that the brew produced only in Darjeeling can be sold as Darjeeling Tea in the European Union countries.

Under international law, Geographical Indications mean indications which identify a product as originating in the territory of a member, or a region or a locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the product is essentially attributable to its geographical origin.

The uniqueness of Darjeeling as a place certainly seems beyond dispute. On clear days, the white peaks of Kanchenjunga, the world’s third-highest mountain after Everest and K2, floats over the hilltop city like an ethereal fortress.

Elegant Kanchenjunga

Beyond the noisy clamor of the city, many of the steep surrounding foothills are carpeted with tea estates, some planted more than 160 years ago when a British surgeon found that tea bushes thrived in the region’s alpine setting.

Tea Garden

Nature

It’s raining in Baghdad

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It’s raining in Baghdad since yesterday. The sky is overcast since yesterday morning. The rains have brought down the temperature of Baghdad. It’s nice to have cool, raining weather in otherwise dry, hot climate here, with a couple of winter months.

Dark clouds are seen over the unfinished Al-Rahman Mosque in Al-Mansour, Baghdad

This reminds me of Ranchi, where we normally have many such weeks during monsoon season. I relish piping hot pakoras with whiskey when it rains. Here, I am only managing with cognac and missing the pakoras.

Art, Culture, Festival, Nature, Religion

Karma – A tribal festival of Jharkhand

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Karma is one of the most popular festivals of Jharkhand. This festival falls in the month of August/September (Hindu month of Bhadrapad). It is a festival celebrated by the Oraon, Baiga, Binjhwari and Majhwar tribes of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

The name Karma is drawn from the name of a tree “Karam”. The branch of  the Karam  tree  is  carried by the  Karma dancers and  is  passed  among  them  with  singing  and  dancing. This branch is washed with milk and rice beer locally known as Handia. Then it is raised in the middle of the dancing arena. All worshippers dance for whole night in the praise of the “Karam”. The ritual starts with the planting of the trees. The dancers form a circle and dance with their arms around each other dancer’s waists.

The branches are garlanded on the next day. Offerings of flowers, rice and curd are made to them. Red coloured baskets filled with grains are placed before the branches. Barley seedlings are distributed among the young people, who wear it on their heads. The branches are worshipped and their blessings sought. As per the legends of Karam Devi, she is believed to be the goddess of wealth and children.

During the dance they pass the branch of the tree, the men leap forward to a rapid roll of drums, while women dance with their feet moving in perfect rhythm to and fro.

Karma Dance is also one of the oldest dance form in India. This dance form is common to the many ethnic groups of India.

Happy Karma to everyone!