Good bye Peace group !!

Another year is over for me at Mirambika. For two years we had Baren bhaiya as our class teacher, now we will have some one else.

Peace group so far has been my best year in Mirambika, thanx to Brainy (Baren bhaiya) & to all my other teachers & my dear friends

During our Annual day we sang Incomplete, by Back Street Boys

Empty spaces fill me up with holes
Distant faces with no place left to go
Without you within me I can't find no rest
Where I’m going is anybody’s guess
I tried to go on like I never knew you
I’m awake but my world is half asleep
I pray for this heart to be unbroken
But without you all I’m going to be is incomplete
Voices tell me I should carry on
But I am swimming in an ocean all aloneBaby, my baby
It’s written on your face
You still wonder if we made a big mistake
I tried to go on like I never knew you
I’m awake but my world is half asleep
I pray for this heart to be unbroken
But without you all I’m going to be is incomplete
I don’t mean to drag it on, but I can’t seem to let you go
I don’t wanna make you face this world aloneI wanna let you go (alone)
I tried to go on like I never knew you
I’m awake but my world is half asleep
I pray for this heart to be unbroken
But without you all I’m going to be is incomplete

Thanx Brainy & a song for you !!

Birds in Mirambika Campus

In school we are in the process of making a book about trees in our campus. We also decided to make a list of birds in our campus.

I spend a few days trying to take snaps of all the birds which live in & around Mirambika. The list is an impressive 50 plus varieties !!
1. House sparrow

2. Indian Mynah

3. Blue Rock Pigeon

4. Large Grey Babbler

5. Red Vented Bulbul

6. Rose Ringed Parakeet

7. Collared/Ring Dove

8. Brown Dove

9. Indian Robin

10. Hoopoe

11. Red Wattled Lapwing

12. Purple Sun bird

13. Magpie Robin

14. Pied Mynah

15. Brahminy Mynah

16. Koel

17. Tailor Bird

18. Ashy Wren Warbler

19. Indian Wren Warbler

20. Roufous Wren Warbler

21. Franklin Wren Warbler

22. Copper smith

23. Green Barbet

24. Brown Rock Chat

25. Tree Pie

26. House Swift

27. Black Kite

28. Green Bee Eater

29. Wagtail

30. White Breasted King Fisher

31. Shikra

32. Peacock/fowl

33. Black Drongo

43. Red Whiskered Bulbul

44. Spotted Owlet

45. White Eye

46. Grey Horn bill

47. Green Pigeon

48. Golden Backed Woodpecker

49. Yellow Fronted Woodpecker

50. Grey Partridge

51. Common Hawk Cuckoo

52. Golden oriole

53. Cattle Egret

54. Red Breasted Fly Catcher

55. Black Red Start

56. Lesser White Throat

57. Small Minivet

58. White Throated Munia

Fernando Torres top 10 goals

Here is a video of some of Fernando Torres's best goals

My favourite footballer

Fernando Torres

My favourite footballer is Fernando Torres. Its just his excellence with the ball, his awesome speed and his fearlessness in football & the way he played recently against Manchester united was just too good. He's an awesome player...........

AND I WISH TO PLAY LIKE HIM

Liverpool 4. Man U 1 !! Yippie

It was the big match day.
Liverpool vs Manchester United.
I am an absolute Liverpool fan,
add that to the fact which is: i just hate Manchester United.
Football can be awesome when Gerrard & Torres play together
& when they weave their magic.
But Man U scores first.
I get tense, i start fearing the worst.
I am almost watching the match from under the chair !
But i hope for the best !
Then what unfolded was unbelievable
First Torres does his famous turn & pile drives one in at the 28th minute
Awesome goal, as usual with his awesome speed
That goal puts me back on my chair
Then Gerrard slams one in,
that was 44th minute
a Hi5 with nana,
now i am on my feet
Then Aurelio stuns every one in the 77 minute with a stunning left foot free kick.
Poor Vaan de Saar (the only player i like in Man U) could only watch.

In the 91st minute Dossena, scores one more & rubs in salt to the wound !!
Awesome !
Hi5 with nana again !!
Liverpool: 4
Manchester United: 1
Then to top a perfect evening of soccer, i got to see Arshavin doing his magic, by scoring two goals, as my other favourite team, (even though they are struggling this year) Arsenal won 4-0.

Protect Okhla Bird Park

This is what Anand(uncle) Arya of Delhi Bird Group has written :

"........... As you are aware that Okhla Bird Park & Wild Life Sanctuary (OBP-WLS) is a Protected Area and home to almost 400 species. More than 100 species found here are known to breed in the area. The number of birds can exceed 25,000 at the peak of migration in winters. Such a rich diversity is generally not found at most places and that too in a very small area. Nairobi is the other known place to show a very high concentration of bird species. OBL-WLS is under serious threat of being destroyed in double quick time because of a massive construction project that has been undertaken by the Government of Uttar Pradesh just adjacent to the eastern boundary.

I, along with another resident of my sector, have filed a petition with the CENTRAL EMPOWERED COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT CONSTITUTED BY THE HON'BLE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA. (CEC)

I NEED SUPPORT.

A Petition has been uploaded here.

It would add to significant level of support and be heard more loudly at the CEC if there are more than 500 person showing their support..............."

So dear readers; please do sign the petition !

Now i am waiting for the Peregrine Falcon, but there are many other visitors......

On our balcony we have a small bird feeder, a small bird shelter (gifted by my maasi) & lots of water for the birds to drink & bathe.

The birds which frequent to peck at the food are Babblers, which comes & does knock, knock, knock at our window panes, Sparrows, Pigeons, Mynahs, Brahminy Mynahs, Magpie Robin’s, Bulbuls & Crows. Sometimes even White Eyes, Hoopoes, Green Bee Eaters & Tailor Birds come. Infact yesterday there was a pair of Flame Back Woodpeckers, which came to peck away.

Now that we have some nice flowers growing sometimes the Purple Sun bird also makes an appearance trying to put its long beak into the flowers to get some nectar.

Sometimes a Tree pie makes an appearance, it has a habit of making a big announcements about its arrival, sits on a wire opposite my house, makes different loud calls, then comes to check out the feeder & drink water.

Crows have a crazy habit. If they happen to pick up something big then they like to soften it up, so they throw it in the water & leave it there for an hour or so & then come back to eat it. Once they dropped a dead frog also !!

Now that we have some yummy tomatoes growing on the balcony some monkeys decided to come & taste it, which is OK by me, as long as they leave something for us & do not bite me, but they must have tried to drink water or something & in their frantic jumping they broke the clay pot where we keep water !! (sigh!!)

Pigeons always have a bath in pairs, which looks cute. Sometimes a Barbet makes quiet appearance, to have a bath & drink water.

A Shikra has also started to come to have its bath, then sits on a tree near by to preen itself. Keeping an eye for some lizards on the balcony for a after bath tasty snack !!

Though there are a lot of resident Black Kites, they have not yet decided to come & sit on my balcony. So with the Owlets, this one is sleeping on a neem tree outside my kitchen window.

Luckily for me the person who works in my house also has a keen eye on birds, so usually she is the one who calls me out jaldi idhar aao !! Horn bills also pass by the house many a time.

A couple of years back this Crested Serpent Eagle had come for a "night stay" in the park

opposite my house, but it was hounded out by the resident kites & crows. Also when this Honey Buzzard who comes & sits on a tree opposite. there is usually a huge raucous by all the local dadas !!

'Though Its been a long time since i've seen a Kingfisher outside my house.

I was hearing about a lucky soul living in Jasola who has a Peregrine Falcon coming & sitting outside the window & entertaining all the residents there with its predatory skills.......woh !! That would be some sight.

i hope it comes outside my window also !!

History of Bird Illustrations in India

I attended an illustrated lecture on The 'Bird Book' in India by Bikram Grewal.
The presentation was unique and interesting on 'Birds in Literature and Art'. Starting from the early historical paintings to present day photography.

It covered the Mughal period, the Babar nama, Jehangir nama, the Tuti nama, the (East India)Company School, the early works of Jerdon, Loten, John Gould, Edward Buckley, Murray and A.O. Hume (the father of Indian ornithology), through British, Dutch and French bird-paintings till the publishing of contemporary modern guides.

The talk was illustrated with a slide show of some rare lithographs and paintings, especially the one in Jehangir nama with a Saurus Crane also Ustad Mansur's illustration of the Dodo & also of Abu al Hassan!!