Kadambari Devarajan (Posts about india)http://kadambarid.in/categories/india.atom2022-06-15T07:59:29ZKadambari DevarajanNikolaThara Ticket at the (Probably) Thakara Theatrehttp://kadambarid.in/wildlife/powai_lake.html2016-02-10T23:56:14+05:302016-02-10T23:56:14+05:30Kadambari Devarajan<section id="thara-ticket-at-the-probably-thakara-theatre">
<h2>Thara Ticket at the (Probably) Thakara Theatre</h2>
<p>There is a little shed on a tiny sliver of land jutting into the lake. I am no metallurgist, so excuse me if I take it to be
made of tin, or <em>thakaram</em> as it is called in Tamil. That paints a nicer picture for the romantic in me, you see. This shed is
unlike any other, or so I tell myself. It is an amphitheatre where such drama unfolds, the likes of which even Bollywood
could not have seen. So pardon me for calling dibs on a permanent seat on the floor. The <em>tharai</em> ticket, as we Tamilians
like to call it, used to be the cheapest ticket at the local cinema, typically on the floor, right in front of the screen, and
affording the spectators (usually children) the simple pleasure of squatting, and the supreme luxury of erupting in a
raucous jig at the slightest excuse. Sadly, this disappeared with the advent of multiplexes, aerated drinks, and airconditioning,
not necessarily in that order.</p>
<p>Anyway, this little tin shed on the Powai Lake has played host to romances, tragedies, thrillers, mysteries, and
everything in between, but with some serious twists. Firstly, the actors are not always human. And secondly, it is all
spontaneous and impromptu, kind of like improvisational stand-up comedy – the blink-and-you-shall-miss kind of
action that goes against the theatre norms of scripted films, re-runs, show-timings, and advertisements. The kind that
one is unlikely to ever find on torrent sites and DC++. Lastly, it is always, always free (as in “free beer”).</p>
<figure class="align-center">
<img alt="/photos/thara_ticket/4_c.jpg" src="http://kadambarid.in/photos/thara_ticket/4_c.jpg">
<figcaption>
<p><em>An osprey with its catch</em></p>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As you may have surmised by now, I am a happy resident of a campus by the lake. And it is not just any old campus,
mind you. I live inside the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay campus. And, consider myself privileged to
stay here - a little haven within the bustling metropolis of Mumbai, a tiny island (metaphorically speaking) that is cut
off from the city's concrete jungle, fumes, pollution, famed commutes, and crowds. It is nicely ensconced between the
breathtaking (and crocodile infested) Powai lake on one side and a hillock worthy of picnics on the other. What is more,
it shares borders with the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) – borders and fences that the numerous wonderful
residents of the park frequently disregard! There are even notices warning folks to not venture into certain areas that are
prone to, say, a stray leopard that wandered in from its home adjoining the campus. During the rains, tracts transform
into miniature rainforests, replete with leopards and langurs, pittas and pangolins, macaques and magpie robins.
So in this case, the adage 'good fences make good neighbours' can be left to rust unburnished. For here, there is scope for
osmosis, for the city's green lungs to breathe, for good neighbours to evolve and learn to co-exist. How much fun is a
neighbour who does not visit, share, interact or borrow? How can a neighbour be good if there is no interaction? For
good neighbours come into existence not when fences go up, but when walls crack, crumble and fall.</p>
<p><a href="http://kadambarid.in/wildlife/powai_lake.html">Read more…</a> (11 min remaining to read)</p></section>The Restaurant at the Edge of the Reefhttp://kadambarid.in/wildlife/andamans.html2014-03-02T00:57:12+05:302014-03-02T00:57:12+05:30Kadambari Devarajan<section id="the-restaurant-at-the-edge-of-the-reef">
<h2>The Restaurant at the Edge of the Reef</h2>
<p><em>"Island biogeography, I'm happy to report, is full of cheap thrills. Many of the world's gaudiest life forms, both plant and animal, occur on islands. There are giants, dwarfs, crossover artists, nonconformists of every sort. These improbable creatures inhabit the outlands, the detached and remote zones of landscape and imaginability, in fact, they give vivid biological definition to the very word "outlandish.""</em> - <strong>David Quammen</strong>, The Song of the Dodo</p>
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<img alt="/photos/andamans_c/island1.JPG" src="http://kadambarid.in/photos/andamans_c/island1.JPG">
<figcaption>
<p><em>Your average tropical island</em></p>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Islands around the world are special places for many reasons. With their unique floral and faunal compositions, and a high degree of endemism in species, they are live laboratories to watch evolution in action. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are no exception. They have a wealth of wildlife that is largely unexplored, not unlike parts of the vast coastline of mainland India. The rocky and sandy inter-tidal coasts, mangroves, coral reefs, and deep sea harbour multiple habitats for unusual creatures, all fascinating and beautiful. These habitats interact intimately with their organisms and are intricately connected with each other, frequently with cascading effects and unforeseen consequences on associated life. A walk on the beach is a lesson on life and adaptation. The mangroves are amphitheatres for waders, juvenile fish, and marine invertebrates, alike. The coral reefs are odes to diversity and complexity, and lessons on the fragility and interactivity of systems. The deep sea holds secrets and mysteries unsolved, as one ventures farther from the seashore. "Cheap thrills", as Quammen puts it, include the dolphins and dugongs, sharks and rays, tropical fish and marine invertebrates. This is an attempt to recollect some experiences from the islands, and hopefully introduce the uninitiated to some of these habitats and their creatures great and small.</em></p>
<p><a href="http://kadambarid.in/wildlife/andamans.html">Read more…</a> (32 min remaining to read)</p></section>Bombil Fryhttp://kadambarid.in/wildlife/bombil.html2013-08-06T23:38:45+05:302013-08-06T23:38:45+05:30Kadambari Devarajan<section id="bombil-fry">
<h2>Bombil Fry</h2>
<p>"We are famous for our live crab", the restaurant manager proclaimed with a smile. "We show the crab to the client, before cooking it to perfection, however they wish", he added. I was at an Oriental speciality restaurant in posh south Bombay, for a survey I was conducting as part of a class project. Each of my classmates went to different regions of coastal India in an attempt to understand the current trends in seafood consumption in south India. We were trying to answer questions like: which are the seafood hotspots in the country, where is the seafood coming from, is there a broad pattern of customer preference for each region, how much of a 'locavore' is the average (sea)foodie, and what is on a typical menu at a restaurant serving seafood. And this was the third time I was encountering "live crab" in two days, incidentally at a restaurant serving south Asian cuisine. Was this a coincidence?</p>
<figure class="align-center">
<img alt="/photos/fish/fish_served_sc.jpg" src="http://kadambarid.in/photos/fish/fish_served_sc.jpg">
<figcaption>
<p><em>At a popular seafood restaurant in Mumbai</em></p>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://kadambarid.in/wildlife/bombil.html">Read more…</a> (9 min remaining to read)</p></section>Desert Dynamicshttp://kadambarid.in/posts/travel/banni.html2013-06-30T23:38:45+05:302013-06-30T23:38:45+05:30Kadambari Devarajan<section id="desert-dynamics">
<h2>Desert Dynamics</h2>
<p>With an area of more than 40,000 sq. kms., Kutch is unquestionably the largest district in India. It is in the north-western part of the state of Gujarat in India, and beyond the upper borders of the state is the country of Pakistan. The land, its people, and their culture are shaped and moulded by the extremities of the area and the climate. They lie at the confluence of different cultures and these influences exist today for all to see, in the clothes, traditions, food, lives, and beliefs of the people. It is a unique landscape for where else in the world can you find a desert ecosystem with three distinct seasons (summer, monsoon, and winter), pockets of which transform into wetlands for a third of a year, is pretty much an island surrounded by two Gulfs and a salt desert, and for a few months in a year metamorphoses into the largest grassland in Asia.</p>
<figure class="align-center">
<img alt="/photos/banni/sunset.JPG" src="http://kadambarid.in/photos/banni/sunset.JPG">
<figcaption>
<p><em>Desert sunset</em></p>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://kadambarid.in/posts/travel/banni.html">Read more…</a> (38 min remaining to read)</p></section>An Inordinate Fondness for ... Butterflies!http://kadambarid.in/posts/travel/coorg.html2012-10-15T13:10:45+05:302012-10-15T13:10:45+05:30Kadambari Devarajan<section id="an-inordinate-fondness-for-butterflies">
<h2>An Inordinate Fondness for ... Butterflies!</h2>
<p><em>"I turned to the teeming small creatures that can be held between the thumb and forefinger: the little things that compose the foundation of our ecosystems, the little things, as I like to say, who run the world." - E.O. Wilson</em></p>
<p>A few months ago, I went on a hike with my extended family in one of the many wonderful State Parks that dot the state of Texas. By the end of the short, two mile trail, I received the comment - "You know, we are usually through with the trail in half hour or so!" We had taken about four hours to complete the same trail, all thanks to my birding. Just for perspective, a half mile or less stretch took our class of fifteen students more than 3 hours, when the focus shifted to the 'teeming small creatures', on a field trip for our course on Invertebrate Ecology. With that shift in scale, when one stops to look at every little thing that is best seen with a magnifying glass, time shifts in scale too, me thinks.</p>
<figure class="align-center">
<img alt="/photos/coorg/pillmill_sc.JPG" src="http://kadambarid.in/photos/coorg/pillmill_sc.JPG">
<figcaption>
<p>Pill Millipede</p>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://kadambarid.in/posts/travel/coorg.html">Read more…</a> (11 min remaining to read)</p></section>