Bird Race 2011

It was dark all around and a fine mist creeped into my vision, as I drove down the road, attempting to reach Velachery station at 5 in the morning.It was Bird Race 2011 and we had just started.

My teammates were a mixed bunch. A guy studying Zoology in Loyola, Asiem. My bird race teammate from last year, Pritika, and of course our captain Hopeland, (yes there were a LOT of 'hope' related jokes that day =D ), a birdwatching God =D

We started from the station and walked till the Pallikaranai Marsh, all the while scanning the skies and surrounding trees/marsh for birds of any sort. The first birds we sighted were Little Cormorants flying in the sky, Cattle Egrets and Moorhens.We tried peering into a dumpsite to spot what we could, but we were rudely interrupted by a bunch of guys who apparently owned the land (how someone could own a bit of the marsh and also the garbage stumps me. I wanted to tell them that the garbage was probably ours, but decided not to when one particular man couldn't stop glaring at us.)

We then continued walking down the road along the Marsh and spent atleast an hour trying to spot various wading birds, especially the Plover which Hope spotted in a minute and I took ages to find (The face that he can identify birds just by glancing at them is amazing! He can do that even down to what precise species the bird is, based on a little ring around it's eye or some sort of thing).

We then went on to spot Godwits, Ruffs, Ibises, Kingfishers, Pelicans,Black Kites, Red-wattled Lapwings and Black winged Stilts galore!(all you non-bird watchers definitely missed something!) The marsh is such a beautiful place and only once you notice the variety of birds there,do you realize how sick humans must be to destroy such a place with all our garbage.

Back to the story. We went on to spot some 40-50 odd species of birds in that area. We spotted a Gull out there, far away from the sea, too!

After a few hours of walking around we decided to move on and caught a bus to Nanmangalam Forest. Located in Medavakkam, a little bit from Tambaram, this place has a relatively undisturbed forest.

We slyly entered the forest and trekked up a little hill. The climb was quite tough as we had to climb through thorny bushes and crawl on rocks, all the while looking out for birds and also making sure that we didn't step on a snake or anyother creature underfoot. When we finally reached the top the only bird we sighted was a Kestrel, a large bird of prey, and that too somewhere far off. We were all pretty dead by then, but with only a few more hours of the race left we had to trudge on.

We walked around a few more hills, went into a few
quarries and spotted a few dozen birds. Shrikes, Bulbuls, Koels, Crow Pheasants, Larks and Robins were some that we saw. (My memory is not brilliant enough to recall the precise species =P).

By that time we had walked around in the heat so much, that we had run out of water, and all of us had a few dozen thorn scratches all over our arms and faces.

We got out of the place and took a small break, re-hydrated ourselves and went to MCC located in Tambaram. That campus is so much cooler and shaded (phew) when compared to Nanmangalam.

The first bird we saw was a Shikra, perched right at the entrance to the college. We walked a bit and saw a Brainfever Bird (called so 'cause of it's call that sounds like 'brainfever'. Listen carefully next time). Hope spotted many birds that eluded us. No surprise there.

A few Pittas and Paradise Flycatchers later we had walked half the campus (maybe around 20 kms since morning) and we were DEAD! However, Hope gave us hope (lame I know) by pointing out a Black-naped Oriole that doesn't exist anywhere else in Chennai.The bright flash of yellow spurred us to move on and we did.

Hope and I also waded through the paddy fields, in the campus, looking for Snipes (the Greater Painted Snipe is another bird present only in this area).Just as I turned my head, a Snipe flew past my head and I missed it =( But luckily I spotted a few more just a bit later =)

We then headed back, and on the way, when we stopped at a water body, we saw a checkered keelback coiled on a branch that was halfway submerged in the water. Such a beauty!

Understanding that we couldn't do much more and that time was running out (we had till 6.30 pm to report back with our final bird count), we caught a train and then a bus and reached our final destination. Our bird count turned out to be 116 and we were optimistic about bagging some sort of prize. Unfortunately the winning team spotted 120 birds! We were a green team(meaning that we used only public transport for birding) and we thought that we might win a special mention for that, but THEN
we forgot to mention that we were a green team on our logbook and so,lost out.

But that's alright.The day was brilliant and I learnt so much! Compared to last year (where I had to captain a team and I know NOTHING about birding) this year was so much more fun, interesting and also so damn tiring. When I got home I didn't really care that I was a wreck after walking around so much, as I knew that Bird Race 2011 was memorable and always would be =)

Metamorphosis of thought

Lately, I've been given too much information on marriage, sex and childbirth.

Just like every other 'participant of dating' , after a heartbreaking encounter, I decided to mend my broken heart and bruised ego by becoming very cynical. I believed all men were pathological liars. I believed they were after only one thing, and we all know what THAT is. I believed that they did not respect women. They did not respect women with an opinion. That marriages were made in hell.They bring out the worst in people. People marry the wrong partners and crib about it throughout the marriage. It makes even the most rational of us, sit back and take the abuse. Men do not believe in fidelity. Their hormones do not give up on them like ours. Their penis has a better sense of direction than their minds. Quite literally.

Babies are a nightmare. They drool , they spit, they poop, they have runny noses, they poop some more. They keep you up all night and day. They grow up to resent you. They tell you they are right and you are wrong. They want to rebel. They want to defy everything you say. By the time they grow up and gain their common sense back, it's time to get rid of them by getting them married. :|

Studying developmental biology, general psychology ,animal behaviour AND attending value ed classes on marriage, it's difficult NOT to have a change of opinion!

We learnt how every cell in the embryo, if even slightly moved out of place can affect the foetus. How many couples suffering from infertility issues go through a roller coaster ride to get a baby. IVF is a very expensive procedure and even then, chances of getting a baby are very slim. Adoption is not a very easy option either. Then you think about so many women, who throw their fragile new-born babies in dumpsters, lay them on railroad tracks and the like. Whether they are suffering from Postpartum depression or the extremity of poverty, it is definitely chilling to know this happens almost every day. Female foeticide not only occurs in the rural areas but also in the so-called 'high class' society of the country. I do not understand how doctors who have the incredible power to save lives end up destroying them in exchange for some damned green paper they have enough of!

Then there are the cases of women having unprotected sex and becoming pregnant. Unsafe abortions performed by people who are not skilled enough can lead to complications. The likelihood of having babies with genetic disorders seems so high, but the human body is so marvelous! How the embryo undergoes different stages of development seems so miraculous and to have a healthy truly seems like a blessing!

Education really provides a platform for an individual to look at natural processes and traditional concepts through the light of rationality and sensitivity. Cynicism should be removed from our thoughts and replaced with optimism! If the key to success is hard work, then the key to happiness is definitely positivity!

so, stop telling yourself only delusional people in love get married and have babies! It may have it's up and downs, but everything else we can encounter isn't a piece-of-cake either, right?

You can be positive and still have your head on your shoulders!

Love,

Cookie monster( Exhibit A)

P.S- my opinion on men hasn't changed much though! =P

Superstitions

Superstitions.I've been wanting to blog about them ever since some crazy person told me that I shouldn't get pet turtles, 'cause they'd bring bad luck to the house. Whoever thought of that must be really dumb. Or psychotic. Anyway, I thought I'd give a list of superstitions my family's told me about/follow. I personally don't believe in any of them (sorry ma =P)
1. If a cat goes past you, you're doomed- Poor cats. Especially the black ones. What can they do if their fur is that colour? STOP blaming them for the shit that you land up in!
2.Never walk underneath a ladder- This is probably one of the lamest superstitions. How a ladder would bring you bad luck beats me. Except if you're really clumsy/unlucky and the ladder falls on you of course...
3.You always have to take a bath after you go for a funeral- Apparently there are a gazillion microbes that float around at funerals. But everyone seems to forget that the body is in a freezer box for god's sake! And it's not like we aren't exposed to so many other things that could kill us, ALL the time! Maybe my disbelief in this superstition stems out of the fact that I'm just plain lazy :|
4.Cutting your nails/hair on a Friday/at night/any auspicious day is unacceptable- In the olden days this made sense, as there was no light and anything could fall anywhere, into your food too. But now with electricity it's just bloody obsolete. And it's not like God's going to strike me down with a bolt of lighting if I cut my hair on a Friday. He/She,if God exists, but let's not get into that here, has way more important things to do. Trust me on that.
5. You can't enter a temple if you have your period-Why is that? Since when did a natural process,occuring in your body, have to do with God? Why is it that women are treated as untouchables during this time, when they suffer so much anyway? Also we have to take a headbath after 4 days of agony, to cleanse ourselves. Ha. Cleanse ourselves like we're some dirty creatures? It's weird how so many superstitions connect to God.
6. If a lizard falls on you it's either good/bad luck depending on where it falls-Haha. There's actually a whole book on what it means if a lizard falls on different parts of your body. Jobless people.
7. Seeing a fully black crow indicates bad luck (Oh no! Not again!)- They're called jungle crows and they mean you no harm!
I'm not going to ramble further on the million other superstitions that people tell me about. But please, they're called superstitions for a reason! And oh, don't you dare blame my turtles for any calamities that may befall you! It's just your luck!

Let's talk about sex, baby!

That catches everyone's attention, doesn't it? From inquisitive children, to older men and women, the topic of sex never gets old! Or, the act apparently. I was reading this book, The stranger beside me by Ann Rule. It was the very chilling account of Ted Bundy's life. The notorious serial-killer, raped and murdered countless number of women in many states across America. He was a necrophile too, finding pleasure in sodomizing and bludgeoning his victims to death. All his victims were very attractive,young women falling in the age group-18-25 years. Two-three of them were even minors. The most disturbing part of all this was that he,Ted Bundy, was an extremely charismatic,young man , who studied law and psychology(!). To use the act of sex as a tool of violence scares me. The fact that men find this pleasurable even more so.How do they find excitement seeing a helpless woman/child and attacking them ferociously for sexual gratification? Do they really get pleasure from the act or the feeling of power ,terrorizing the innocent? Does varied pornography really play a role in the twisted minds of these psychopaths like how Ted Bundy stated, few hours before heading for the electric chair?

The next day, I watched Brokeback mountain. One of the most beautifully-made romantic dramas I have ever watched. I was always a little uncomfortable with homosexuality. I though it was bizzare for men to be romantically involved with other men and women with other women. But nevertheless, I never disrespected them. What they did in the privacy of their lives was their business. Who was I to judge?But after watching Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal ,their incredible on-screen chemistry, play out the roles of their lives, I was highly impressed and mildly surprised. I did not find any of the intimate scenes 'disturbing' nor 'disgusting'. In fact, I thought the bond they shared was as beautiful as the rest of the movie. That's when I realised sex isn't just sex. It's not sleazy, it's not vulgar, it's not perverse. It's an art, it's natural, a physical expression,a strong emotional interpretation. It's sad to see people look at sex as merely an animal instinct. Even some animals share life-long bonds with their mates. I wish people would see the beauty of making love( as corny as that sounds) rather than desire 'casual sex'. Sexual starvation outweighs emotional starvation in today's world! I don't know how people can 'connect' physically if not emotionally. Sex maybe overrated, I wouldn't know, but love isn't and that I would.
Lots of 'lowe'
A very sentimental Cookie Monster.

And that is me =D

The real Cookie Monster

Cookie Monster's a poet, wouldn't you know it?

We're riding his bike,
the wind in my hair,
he looks at me,
an evil grin he does wear,

I get my bottom to the front,
And face him with my chest,
He gets turned on
and we begin to undress,

He takes his hand off this baby
and we begin to f@(#
Oh no! Too late,
we get hit by a truck!