A Paradise called "Ranganathittu"

Grey Pelican

On the last week of March, i had been to my mother's native village for its annual festival, locally called Jaatre. The photographs taken during the festival got wide viewership and appreciation among my maternal aunts and cousins. On demand, i had to get a few snaps printed for distribution among my aunts. 

Snowy Egret

So i went to G.K.Vale to get a few snaps printed. People working at G.K.Vale Jayanagar are very warm people. Since i am a frequent visitor there, almost everyone who works there know me by face. 

I ordered prints of a few snaps. I was told that it will be ready in 30 minutes. I was contemplating about buying a 200 or 300 mm (focal length) lens. I had asked my cousin Pavan in Singapore to find out the costs there. Quickly, i messaged pavan for an update. To my surprise, i learnt that the lens were costlier in Singapore. 

So i went around G.K.Vale store and asked for a lens catalogue.  I was shown a 55-200 mm lens. Since i knew the guy there, he let me take it out and shoot a few snaps outside. I was very impressed by the lens. I asked for a 300mm lens. He did not have an open piece of that. So i took the box piece, studied it and instantaneously decided to buy it. Fifteen minutes ago, i had no idea of buying a new lens. After the lens, i had to buy a bag to carry the lens. 

By this time, my photo prints arrived. The lady in the store (Latha) remarked ; had they delayed delivering the photographs by another 30 minutes, i would have brought a new camera itself. 

I cycled back home with my new toy, a 55-300 mm Nikon lens. 

Exited by the new toy, i started wondering how and where to experiment it. I first thought of shooting the moon but realized that i had given the tripod to a friend. From nowhere the thought of Ranganthittu flashed to my mind. Ranganathittu is about 135 Kms from Bangalore on the Bangalore-Mysore highway.I asked my cousin sham pavman if he wanted to join me for some "Bird watching" on the Sunday and he said "I will be ready with the car". 
My native place is Mysore and i have been living in Bangalore for almost 29 years now. I must have made innumerable trips to Mysore. But unfortunately, i had never been to Ranganathittu which is on the way to Mysore.

Cattle egret

I "Googled" and i found out that it was not the ideal time to go to Ranganathittu. The Internet gyaan said that the best time is between May  and October. However, we decided we will go ahead. It was a good decision. Ranganathittu turned out to be a paradise. Intuition always works !!.


Sham Pavman was on the dot at 0515 hours on Sunday, the 15 April 2012. We drove on the uttarahalli road to join Mysore Road. We had our breakfast at Kamat Lokruchi (Coffee was surprisingly bad). We drove from there straight to Ranganathittu bird sanctuary.  Memories of the many bike rides to Mysore flashed across my mind as sham pavaman cruised along in his Fiat Punto along the highway passing Channapattina, Maddhur and Mandya. 

We were at Ranganthittu at about 0800 hours. We set up our cameras and wandered around for a while searching for "Birds". Soon we were joined by another photography entusiast Mihir Baxi, a resident of Mumbai and an avid traveler and photographer. We roamed along the periphery of the lake without much luck with the birds. We could see quite a few painted storks at a distance. But it was elusive from our camera. We then climbed up the elevated view point to try our luck. Though , still unlucky with the birds, we could spot a few crocodiles lazying around. 


We then decided to take a boat ride in the lake. Three of us managed to squeeze into the boat with many others. I was sitting on the edge with a back pack. Mihir took a strategic position putting his legs on either side of the wooden seat. Well aware of the 70 odd crocodiles in the lake, sitting on the edge, i set my camera to the right settings. I put the camera to the continuous shoot mode (burst mode), set the right aperture and shutter speed. It was a bright clear day and exposure was not an issue. 

Painted Stork

Our Boatman Lokesh set the boat afloat and it cruised ahead in the almost stagnant waters. Little ahead, even before we could notice the squeaking sound of the oars , we could hear the chirp and sounds of the pelicans and storks. Shutterbug in me was just overwhelmed to see so many birds with such bright colours hovering above my head. They were moving fast. I had to focus properly and shoot. 
I was shooting fast moving subjects for the first time. I quickly rechecked the settings and started shooting as if there was no tomorrow. Lokesh, Sham and Mihir were just as excited. All of us were pointing some or the other exciting bird to the rest of us. Thousands of shutters opened and closed within minutes. I was still sitting on the edge of the boat (I was the heaviest in the camp). Lokesh, looking at my excitement , advised me to get down and make myself comfortable in the available space. It was a good advice. I am just an amateur swimmer and was in no mood to confront the crocodile :).


The boat ride was just for 15 minutes. Though we could see many beautiful and huge birds, we were hungry for more.The shutterbugs in us was urging for more. So we decided to engage the services of Lokesh exclusively for three of us. Lokesh was very kind and he accepted. He agreed to take only three of us in a boat for 30 minutes all along the lake. 

Pied Kingfisher

So we started again. This time, each of us got a separate seat and just the right position we wanted. However, the pelicans and storks did not slow down for us. So here we were, three enthusiasts and a great boatman. This time lokesh took us in a different direction. Apart from flying birds we could see birds nesting, birds feeding their children and the open billed storks fetching material for the nest. Hundreds of shutters opened and closed in minutes. 
It was an absolute treat for the nature lover in us. We could spot the spoon billed stork, The snowy egret, the Asian egret, the grey pelican, the white pelican, the Asian open billed stork, the cattle egret, the Brahminy kite, the Black cormorant, the black headed ibis, the black egret and many others. The painted storks were in plenty. We could capture them  flying, landing, fetching water and drinking water.
But the prize catch was the "Pied Kingfisher". Our boatman lokesh was also excited seeing the pied kingfisher. The elusive kingfisher generously posed for the photographs.  

We sailed around appreciating the beauty of nature and the creativity of the creator. We were overwhelmed by the volume of such beautiful creatures and the proximity at which we could see them. 

It was then time for retreat. We sailed back talking to lokesh about the birds, its habitat etc. Lokesh was generous  in sharing his experience. But for lokesh, we would have missed a fascinating journey into the world of birds. 

Open Billed Stork

After about half an hour of journey into the wonderful world of birds, we reached the banks of the lake. Still awestruck, we exchanged our cameras. After a quick round of appreciation of photographs, we headed towards the cafeteria. Over a cup of juice and masala dosa, we saw the photographs in the small LCD display of our cameras. By that time Mihir had sent us Facebook friend request. 

Black Cormorant

After bidding good bye to Mihir, myself and Sham started from Ranganathittu towards Kokkare bellur. Kokkare Bellur is about 13 kms off the highway in the Malvalli taluk of Mandya district. 
Though this was my first visit to Ranganathittu, i had been to kokkare bellur quite a few times. I have invariably touched kokkare bellur on each of my bike trips to Mysore/Coorg. 
Like always, Kokkare bellur did not disappoint us. There were hundreds of painted storks soaking in the sun. We could find some pelicans and a few Brahminy kites. By now, we had almost run out of memory in our cameras. However we managed to take a few pictures of the Kite and the Pelican. 

Black Egret

It was almost 1400 hours and we were terribly hungry. So the Next stop was "Shivalli". It is one of the famous restaurants on the Bangalore-Mysore highway. Like me, many of my friends who have traveled with me on this road are fans of hotel Shivalli (Earlier called Shivalli MTR). It was started by by childhood friend Girish(I was a child when he was doing his engineering in BMSCE. He used to stay in the hostel below our house in Basavanagudi). So each time i meet Girish at Shivalli, it is a nostalgic trip to my childhood days. 
We met Girish at Shivalli. He accompanied us for lunch. After the awesome "Ginger juice", we headed towards Bangalore. I took a much needed nap while Sham zipped through the highway. We were back home by 1630 hours. 

Black headed ibis 

It was a very memorable warm summer Sunday on the banks of river cauvery. We had spent half a day in a different world of colourful flying creatures. 
Shutterbugs in us had a very satisfying, rather a thrilling day. I was thrilled when i saw the snaps on the computer. 
It was just a perfect Sunday. 


Before i sign off, the next encounter with the world of animals will be at Kabini in the early weeks of June. 


Some pictures of the trip are here

Beauty is in Presence not in Possession

Last year, just before summer , i brought a Jasmine sapling (ಮೂರು ಸುತ್ತಿನ ಮಲ್ಲಿಗೆ)  from Lalbagh (Bangalore) and planted it in my garden. It was a small sapling, and by summer, few jasmine buds started appearing on it. Excited by seeing the buds, i brought another sapling from a local nursery and planted it during summer. Within a few days jasmine buds started appearing on that as well. 

Since both were small saplings, not many flowers blossomed last year. However, we could see a few flowers in them throughout the summer of 2011. 

Outside the house, on the side of the road, i have planted Nerium (ಕಣಗಳು) , Hibiscus (ದಾಸವಾಳ) and Champak (ಸಂಪಿಗೆ) plants. Nerium was planted long back while the Hibiscus and Champak were planted just last year. While Hibiscus and Nerium have grown well and flowers have started to blossom, the champak has not grown well. The road side cattle are not allowing the champak tree to grow. 

Nerium

Nerium, Champak and Hibiscus are relatively maintenance free. They grow in relatively less fertile soils. Champak tree grows tall while the nerium spreads fast. So they are good choices to plant on the road side. Champak flowers have a fantastic aroma. In fact , the fantastic fragrance of Champak flowers attract snakes. 


By early monsoon of last year, i decided to buy a new car (Ford Figo). Since the new car was wider than the previous car (Wagon R), i had to widen the drive way to accommodate the new car. I had two choices, one was to sacrifice the garden which apart from two jasmine saplings also had chrysanthemum (ಶಾವಂತಿಗೆ)  , hibiscus (ದಾಸವಾಳ ), Broccoli, Tulasi and few other flowering plants. The other choice was to sacrifice the grill and a portion of the extended portico to accommodate the car. Out of love for these plants (i had planted them), i decided to demolish the extended portico. It was an expensive decision. I had to repaint the front wall, fix an additional door for safety. But it was worth it. There was no point in harming those plants. 


Jasmine plants are more than an year old now. Its mid summer now and everyday morning, i can see many blossomed flowers on the plant. There will be at least three to four hibiscus flowers and quite a few nerium flowers on the plants outside the house. One feels happy to see these flowers early in the morning. (We could see many Nerium flowers in December-January season). 


But the sad part is, no one wants to see the beauty on the plant. No one wants to leave the beauty in peace and enjoy its presence. For a few morning walkers who pass in front of my house, their day starts by plucking the nerium and hibiscus flowers in front of my house. They not only pluck the flowers, they go to the extent of reaching far off flowers by bending the branches of the plant. They do not realize that they are harming the plant and damaging the branches which left otherwise would show up with more flowers in a few days. 


Inside the compound, my mother does not leave any jasmine flowers. By 7 :30 AM, all the flowers will be plucked. 


Is it just human attitude that we cannot see beauty as it is? Or are we so myopic that we are handicapped to appreciate beauty in its natural form. Why is there an urge to possess beauty. Agreed that the flowers will be used for worship (pooja).  But why should the flower be plucked and put at the feet of the lord in a closed hot room? That flower will dry up and fade away in a few hours which otherwise would have smiled on the plant for a at least a few more days. 


Is beauty only there to be possessed or competed for? Is it not there just to be enjoyed? What is beauty? What is the role of beauty? 


Beauty is grace of god. Grace is in presence not necessarily in possession. Possession is arresting beauty. Beauty must prevail and transcend beyond materialistic human urge for possession. 


I am signing off  by quoting Nobel laureate Rabindranath tagore ; 

"Love adorns itself; It seeks to prove inward joy by outward beauty"