Bee -eater in the web of a giant wood spider

Read more about this photograph at
http://indianwildlifeclub.com/blog/blog-details.aspx?bid=905

An appeal through visuals to recycle our solid waste responsibly

"Mother earth is a temple, not a dustbin" screamed a notice board in a tea shop at Varkala beach, Kerala.  The plastic, thermocol, Styrofoam etc which we so carelessly throw away, finally lands up in the ocean, carried by rain, rivers etc.

The short video I put together on World Oceans Day,  portrays the simmering anger of the oceans through the incessant beating of the Dhol.

Watch it at
Oceans and Us
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXDcWYK9_oI


When I write "plastic" and hit the search button on  http://IndianwildlifeClub.com, I get a few pages of results.  Here are a few random one liners from those results, which sum up our plastic malady.

"Major cause of floods was Mumbai’s plastic bags choking the city’s drainage system."


"Storm-water drains choked with ubiquitous plastic carry bags are partly responsible for Mumbai's woes."

"The Maharashtra government announced the decision to ban the use of plastic bags across the state after reviewing the situation."

"A landmark 1990 study by the research firm Franklin Associates—says
 Plastic is not biodegradable, it litters our waterways and coastal areas, and has been shown to choke the life out of unsuspecting wildlife."

"The leather-back turtle feeds almost exclusively on jellyfish and cannot distinguish between plastic bags and jelly fish"

Fish and sea birds have been choking on plastic litter

And now, we have the Bengal tiger holding up a plastic cement bag left out near a water hole, as if to ask what am I supposed to do with this?

Watch this terrible episode we were witness to at the link

Sharmilee, Virat and Pandit - Corbett National Park 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkea2m2gJow

Let us empower the rag picker who helps recycle bio-degradable waste.

If we go by road to Corbett National Park, you have to pass a place called Kashipur.  Here, for miles at a stretch, we see plastic gunny bags, just like the one our tiger is carrying.  These are filled with more plastic and more bio degradable stuff.  They seem to be piled on the road sides for ever awaiting disposal/recycling.

Empower the waste recycling factories and give them visibility before we drown ourselves in plastic waste.

Ikebana by Ohara school from Gurgaon

Exhibition of Ikebana by Ohara school from Gurgaon 

 Ohara School emphasizes seasonal qualities, natural growth processes, and the beauty of natural environments.

Ohara school of Ikebana specialises in bringing nature scenes to homes. With most people in urban areas living in multi -story flats with limited living space, it is all but easy to forget the beauty and happiness that natural landscapes provide.

 Learning Ikebana or flower arrangement where only real flowers and drift wood, seeds etc are used is a release for the creative aspirations of many a housewife. Collecting the materials which bring in harmony, which express the beauty of colors and arranging them as per the requirements of Ikebana is an art as is seen from the many arrangements pictured here.

Materials are arranged as if they are piled up in low flat containers with a wide surface area of water. It includes the Color Scheme Moribana, which expresses beauty of color, and the Landscape Moribana, in which the beauty of natural scenery is represented.

Traditional Method
This is a technique to express the beauty of scenery using limited materials, and arranging methods prescribed for these materials while observing their natural growth. This is a type of arrangement in which natural landscapes are represented in the limited space of flower containers.

Realistic Method
This is a technique to express scenic beauty by understanding the natural growth, environment, and the seasonal aspect of the material, and by mixing in the subjectivity and impressions of the arranger.

Wildlife and nature around us