Bird Wise – Indian Golden Oriole

Golden Oriole 1.1

Indian Golden Oriole

Scientific name – Oriolus Kundoo

Listen to the calls of Indian Golden Orioles here!

Conservation status – Least concern

The male Golden Oriole is a bright yellow colour bird,  jet black plumage, and fully black wings. The picture above is of a juvenile male bird, can be known as the black patch around the eyes is missing which is found in an adult male bird.

As with many other birds, the female of the species is more dull-looking slightly greener in colour. Golden Orioles tend to be between 20 – 24 cm in height, have dark red eyes, and a fairly thick, pink beak that is curved slightly downwards at the end. The call is a screech like a jay, but the song is a beautiful fluting as heard in the link above.

Where are they found?

The Golden Oriole was properly named in the 18th century, it is said that the Romans could have been calling them Orioles as early as the 12th century. They are found throughout Europe and western Asia but also in parts of Africa. The Golden Oriole is a summer migrant which means it migrates north for the cooler summer climates, and flies back south to the tropics when the winter begins. The Golden Orioles is nearly always found in  parks, orchards and gardens. They spend majority of time in tree canopies where their distinctive plumage helps them to remain hidden from lurking predators.

How is their living like?

The Golden Oriole breeds in the northern regions during the summer months, where courtship involves them chasing one another from tree to tree. The female Golden Oriole builds her nest, generally in the fork of a tree out of plant fibers and stems, in the shape of a shallow cup.

She lays between 3 and 6 eggs which hatch after an incubation period of between 15 and 18 days, that is  conducted by the female. Once hatched, both Golden Oriole parents help to feed and look after their young, which will leave or fly away within 20 days. Golden Orioles usually live around 9 or 10 years.

The Golden Oriole is an omnivorous animal that primarily feeds on insects, fruits and seeds. The relatively thick, slightly curved beak of the Golden Oriole is the perfect shape for picking insects out of holes and plucking fruits off the branches.

The Golden Oriole also has wide, clawed feet which assist the Bird in holding onto the more tricky branches when it is trying to gather food. They also play a vital role in re-distributing the seeds from the fruits, throughout their native eco-systems.

Second in the series of Bird Wise is this Golden Oriole, check out the calls of the bird link for more pictures. All pictures have mainly been clicked before & during my exams in March 2016. Now this is how my study breaks look like! 😉

 

Bird Wise – Pied Myna

Pied Myna 1Pied Myna
Locally Called – Gursal, Ablak, Ablaki Maina
Scientific name – Gracupica contra
Conservation status – Least Concern, instead population on a rise!

Pied Myna is a contrasting black and white bird, with the upper parts, throat and chest being black and the cheeks, lores (areas between the eyes and the bill), wing coverts and rump being white. The bare skin around the eyes are orange to reddish. The bill is yellowish with a reddish bill base. Males and females look alike.

They produce a wide repertoire of calls consisting of whistles, trills, buzzes, clicks and warbling notes. They make well known for their outstanding ability to mimic human speech and imitate tunes.

Where are they found?

Also called as Asian Pied Starlings occur naturally on the plains and low foothills of the Indian Subcontinent (South Asia) and Southeast Asia up to 2,300 feet (700 meters) above sea level. These starlings typically remain in areas with easy access to open water. Their diet mostly consists of insects, worms, spiders, etc. and various fruits. Over the last decades, they have expanded their territories. Populations of them have also established themselves in Dubai.

They have also adapted well to urban living and are often seen in cities and villages, and are generally seen in small groups. In urban environments, they are becoming so abundant that they are considered pests by many human residents. International union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN, 2006) recently listed them as among “100 of the World’s Most Invasive Species”.

How is their living like?

The breeding activities have been recorded between March and October. As the breeding season commences, flocks break up and birds pair up, although several pairs may breed in the same vicinity. The courtship ritual involves calling, fluffing of the feathers and head bobbing.

The nest is placed on a large tree (often banyan, mango, jackfruit or rosewood) or in urban areas, on man-made structures. It is loosely constructed out of straw into the shape of a dome with an entrance on the side.

A clutch consists of 4 – 6 glossy blue eggs, which are laid one every other day. The incubation usually starts after the third or fourth egg has been laid. The young hatch about 14 to 15 days later. The female broods the chicks for about two weeks, with the female staying at the nest during the night. The chicks are fed by both parents until they fledge about three weeks later. One instance of inter-specific feeding has been reported – where a Common Myna fed a young Asian Pied Starling.

I never get hungry while studying nor is mobile a distraction for me as food and tech exist in my life because of their necessity. My study table is right next to our french window and so the sound and view of these beautiful birds becomes my distraction. Pied Myna is just the start, stay tuned many more Birds coming up in this series of Bird WIse

5Ws and 1H of Self-Growth

Who?

The answer is you, one needs to have the will to change and become a better person. Here in the context of being a stronger person emotionally, the zeal to be stronger. You should feel that yes, I have to be stronger than this; I can’t feel sad or broken every other day. I have to know how to deal life without certain people I want in it, and with certain people I do not want in it. If there is such a will to be stronger, look forward to the next step.

What?

It is basically how one can take charge of situations that are emotionally challenging and come out victorious in it. One needs to give self sometime, time to the situation, to take emotional charge of it. So, if one is sure of having a growth emotionally, then should be ready to have ‘self-time’ or ‘me-time’ regularly. If that is asking of too much, do not go the next steps.

When?

For a better understanding of situations, this self-time should be given daily. Doing anything that you like, doing it alone, this makes a difference to the mind and how it functions, and therefore should be done on regular mostly daily basis.

Where?

Where ever on earth but has to be alone, this different from being lonely. Making and drinking a coffee, going for a walk etc. It can be anything, but has to make you feel peaceful and talk to your inner-self.

Why?

Sometime into this process of self-growth and giving ‘me-time’ on a daily or regular basis the question ‘why’ is not surprising. This process of self-growth helps to be a better person than one was, also helps increase ‘emotional quotient’ which is now a days a big thing than ‘intelligent quotient’.

How?

One needs to grow from within more than physically, this can happen only when sometime is given to understand one’s faults and weakness and build on it. A regular check of your self-growth can do wonders to become a better person. The only purpose to focus on self-growth is to be better and stronger emotional person than one was before.

Try to give yourself time on a regular basis and observe the positive changes. Do let me know if you try and what worked for you.

 

Emotions are Offline

In a train journey during a college industrial visit I just popped a question to my friend

‘How did your relationship began? Who said it first?’

One friend’s answer lead to curiosity of another and a chain of questions and answers followed until almost the entire class got involved in the discussion.

‘It was just a plain text message’

‘He didn’t say it but sang a song so even I didn’t say it but replied through a song’

‘We said it together like the text messages reached exactly at the same time’

And so many more stories of the ultimate confession for a feeling for someone special in our teens were discussed. The thing I noticed was the first time feelings said were through texts, calls or in meet ups and later on whatsapp texts and fewer skyped. The way emotions got conveyed is so heavily influenced by the technology available.

The good old ways of writing letters, waiting in a line to connect a call on a public telephone booth, waiting for calls to connect on the landlines etcetera. I remember I wished to write and receive letters from my first love, we wrote and coordinated through phone to get it exchanged from my building’s letter box despising the entire purpose of wait for a letter yet maintaining the hand written expression of feelings. That is how difficult it gets to express feelings in the style of a different technological era.

However I feel the advancements in technologies has decreased part of emotions and feelings, now by swiping left and right you decide your date. Your heart hardly plays a role and your brain’s decision in few seconds tells you with whom to go out for. Yes over the years society evolves and lot of changes occur in the way relationships work but my problem is the speed. The speed at which one decides to date someone and break off with someone is making it difficult for the feelings to survive, fights over changing status after being in relation and even sharing passwords is a huge discussion when topics to talk should be intended to know and understand the other. The part of the virtual world in the relationship complicates the emotional aspect of it.

Recently the known television star committed suicide due to issues with her boyfriend, I remember a few years back a famous film actress do so for similar reasons. When emotions and feelings go offline and communicating relationship issues goes haywire such results are seen. For me the ultimate secret to have a healthy relation is to understand how to romance with time, the time you get with your loved one. To try and attempt to know the other person’s likes and dislikes in real life rather than the things of the virtual world. As much as the internet and the digital age eases ways to communicate it complicates ways of expressing oneself.

If we consider movies depicting the way the society is then I belong to the time of the movie Sirf Tum, a very rare unusual love story of being in love with someone without ever meeting them but falling in love with the letters exchanged. However hard one may try, this kind of love story is difficult to survive in this digital age. A movie I watched last night made me feel so, that this is the age of speedy relations where the two lead stars just fall in the love entirely got conveyed on social media and shows complications in surviving such relationship. Such movies make me feel like an alien to this age where I still like to write to convey what I feel, thanks to postcrossing.com that my faith in writing still exists. May be this exactly why for the last couple of months I have been writing letters for my friends on Birthdays, Farewells and have been unable to give it to them due to this detachment I am feeling inside me!

Overall I feel the virtual world living is decreasing the understanding of living in reality and is in a way complicating expression of emotions and feelings. For good or for bad only time and more advancements shall tell.

 

 

Goals for 2016

What was it you loved doing as a kid? How long is it you did it again? By things I mean skating, cycling, running etc.

I feel I lived my entire 2015 in December alone because I got back to doing what I loved as a kid. Dancing Bharatnatyam, Running flat races, Trekking, Acting and also Writing.

The true joy is to give oneself time and do these things that make you happy and this is my ultimate goal for the next year.

(Glimpse of my goals below 😉 )

 

 

Keep going, don’t stop writing: DBC Pierre

A conversation that inspired and enlightened me at the Tata Literature Live 2015

I saw him walk by as Mumbai’s heat kissed each part of his face and dropped down at the garden of Experimental Theatre, NCPA. His honesty at the previous session dragged me towards him to appreciate it.

‘You are one of the few authors, who carries his heart on his sleeves’

‘oh really, thanks for appreciating’

‘A session by Susan Laidlaw yesterday has made me go back and began again my unfinished novel’

‘Oh! That’s great, I am not that disciplined, a writer, but the secret… is keep going and never stop writing’

‘Can you give me some advice on how to make my book better?’

‘There is actually a formula to make a book-page-turner, I mean if they’d give me a book and pen at the previous session, I would put the formula down’

I grabbed this opportunity and DBC Pierre wrote for me on my notepad, explained to me with examples, now in some shade of Experimental Theatre garden.

Obviously what he wrote in my notepad is my little secret.

Thank You, Susan Laidlaw for taking me back to to my unfinished novel and Thank You DBC Pierre for being such an inspiration not only as a writer but as a human being. And as promised, I shall complete my book and have a big thank you written for both my inspirations on my first page. Thank You, Tata Lierature Live for making conversations with such amazing authors possible.

Charlie and A Smile

“Why am I so small? Why can’t the rain drops that make me wet tell me their proper address? Why don’t they ever speak to me?”

I overheard this as I sat on the plank near the bridge.

“I wish I could just walk over the sea and touch the horizon. I wonder if I could move somewhere and find a place without a horizon.”

I felt my inner voice was being echoed as I have always wished to touch the horizon line and find the house of raindrops. I turned around to look who it was, but found no one.

Something poked my ankle; “my name is Charlie, if at all you are looking for me.” It was the same voice I heard just now.

Charlie was a small flower in the grass. It looked like the wheat or maize grain shown in biscuit or flour advertisements. It was deep green at the bottom and highlighted yellow at the top. I put my fingers over it to greet a hello. Charlie was entirely made of tiny seed stuck together to look like a wheat grain. These seeds were so soft; it reminded me of a pussy cat.

“I know I am awesome but you may take your hand away now and introduce yourself.”

“Oh, sorry, I am Sarah, and really you think you are awesome? Liar, you were complaining not even a minute ago of why you are so small…”

“Oh you heard it, but that is all what I think of me inside me. To you or anyone else I would always say I am awesome!”

“We both are so similar, I think the same. Whatever I may think of me to everyone I say I am awesome and even I wish to touch the horizon and go to the house of these raindrops pouring over me. But tell me why where you complaining of being small?”

“Look at you and look at me. I am not even the size of your palm. I wish to move to places but I am stuck here since I am born. Look at the colour of my tips, it is faded to yellow. I am an old grass flower. Apart from making few close friends I have done nothing.”

“Who are your close friends?”

“Two butterflies, a spider and one huge frog.”

“Oh, wow”

“No, nothing is so good with these close friends. We do have a lot of fun when together but they hardly come to meet me.”

“Don’t be sad Charlie; I am your new companion.  Just be happy for the life you have within you and the moments you have cherished so far.”

“It is easy to say so…”

“No it is not. Charlie every day I feel and wish at least one thing I do not have. But one fine day I realize there is no point in doing so and then again back to square one. The wishes and wants never end. There is a lot I want to achieve. Sometimes it is just okay to smile and feel proud of what we are.”

“You said I am like you which means even you have complaints and unfulfilled wishes?”

“Yes I do”

“So Sarah, can you promise to be happy forever? Can you promise me of never complaining? Can you promise me of being forever satisfied of what you are? If you can do so, believe me even I shall never ever complain about anything.”

“Charlie, it is human nature to be never satisfied of anything. I can’t promise you of being satisfied forever… but I can surely promise of being happy. Instead whenever I shall feel sad and totally lose all hopes over anything in life I shall simply say Charlie and smile.”

“Great idea I shall do the same, I will scream Sarah and a smile.”

I do not write much of fiction but I wrote this one for an assignment in college. I actually have applied the principle this piece talks about and it works. Hope you all liked it as well.

Back-Stories

‘Imagine your own character. Feel it. Then create a back-story of it, by asking Who What Why Where and How. Then be clear and confident of your character and just perform it without fear of anything at all. When on stage you have co-actors, try and understand their back-story and try to respond accordingly. If you are able to do this, you shall have a successful performance.’

This is the advice I got from one of my seniors during drama class. But as I am used to finding another meaning to everything, even this made a different sense to me.

If you imagine yourself, you know your back-story, you can feel it.  If you know who you are, what you want, where and how far are you from your goal at the moment and how to achieve it.You just have to go and perform it without the fear of anything at all. And while you do this you shall have your friends, classmates, family as your co actors and companions. If you can understand their back-story and react accordingly, you are sure to succeed.

I could relate this bit to many real life incidents. Kindly comment and tell me if this made sense to your realities.

An Opinion

Prejudice is an opinion not based on reason or experience. It is an unfair behavior based on such opinions. This is what the dictionary tells me. But I feel it is way beyond this…

‘Do you have some water?’ a lady in burqa asked

‘No’ the lady in sari said

The lady in burqa left to get down from the train. And after sometime, this lady drank water from her bottle. She discussed with her friends why she would not ever help a lady in burqa.

This incident that I saw last week is still fresh in my mind. But there are so many of them. Many such incidents proves how me people in trains, on roads or at functions have Prejudice towards this community. I fail to understand why. There are Christian terrorist troops in the west, shocked? Did not know about it? Go Google it. There are Hindu Babas getting fame for the wrong reasons lately, but do we hate them or their community? Why would we, we are too busy to hate the terrorists we know and in turn have a strong socialized hatred towards the entire community.

The lady who did not offer water discussed all the bad experiences she faced with people of that community. I am not here to discuss religion, I am humanistic. And from my perspective there was no fault of the thirsty lady. I believe no one or no religion in this world is perfect. I believe to rejoice the good values from each and leave the rest. But as a humans we always end up enjoying the faults of others.

Psychologist McGuire says that parental influence on a kid is so huge that family can be termed as Total Institution. If a parent has prejudice towards certain community, the child will develop it too. So we need to be more careful of what we say or do in front of a kid.

We have always heard that half knowledge about something is more dangerous. So I feel one should try to understand the entire history of a religion or of a community they hate and then have an opinion.

Copy-Right?

WHAT is happening?

It was recess time in my grade 6 class. My friend was absent, so for a change I sat alone. As I ate from my lunch box I saw Anish enter the class. He smartly handed over some money to the ranker Rohit and left. I wondered what was it for. Rohit told me he gets paid from Anish to show him answers in exams. I was shocked! Someone made money out of copying in exams…

WHY is it happening?

The root cause of copying in an exam lies in the disinterest of children to study. There is no love for studies created. There is a fear of failing, traumatizing us. This small fear leads to an extent of making money out of it.

As a human once we figure out a simpler way of doing something we do not go back to the tough one. My friends who have got used to this bad habit give stupid explanations and make up stories to satisfy their guilt that they are not doing wrong. It is also passed on from a generation to the next.

Exam is not that an old phenomena. But copying in an exam has definitely been passed on from current generation to the future. I have noticed school children of grade 6 or 7 making chits in train. These kids awkwardly hid it in their socks, ties etc as they discuss how their brothers and sisters did it.

Suggestions to curb it

The solution is to kill the root cause. The way things are taught should change. Children should love what they study. This is not easy in a country where making people literate is the first goal. But it is not impossible either.

To be honest and morally right may not be simple to teach to a school kid. But to make him love what he studies is. A teacher shouldn’t horrify students with the things that shall follow if he is caught copying instead show him how fun can it be to study.

Many teachers ignore students who copy even in Board exams. Actions should be taken against them. Because of such teachers children even began making money out of this act.

On an individual level one should try to be morally right.

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