Archana – Page 32 – Spice of Life!

16/04/201821/07/2020

N for Netflix

Welcome!

We are with the 2018 April AtoZ Blogging challenge and its my fifth attempt. For those who missed it, here is the link to my Theme Reveal post. Do the alphabets still stand for the same things we learnt about in Nursery school?

Its day fourteen and the alphabet is N.

Usually, N would be for Nest. Right? Yet today, the first word that this alphabet reminds me of is Netflix!

Do I hear you laughing? I guess, for a fifty something doting mother and mother in law, Netflix is a perfect alternative to watching cliched TV serials.
Before I proceed, let me assure you that this is not a sponsored post
😉

I had been hearing about this for quite some time but I guess there is time for everything. As they say, when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

Just as we found that TV channels had nothing interesting for us, we explored Netflix. Ofcourse it meant having to first get a fast broadband. Looking back I am not sure which came first, Netflix or broadband (till then we managed on dial up connections).
Now we barely watch the telly as Netflix allows us to watch movies and shows both old and new.

I have enjoyed many Netflix Original shows like The Crown, Narcos and House of Cards and also several old movies … When displaced from this screen, there is always the old TV to go back to. Or the phone.

So which is the idiot box?

Do you watch Netflix? Which is your favourite show?
Tomorrow is the alphabet O and I wonder whats in store!!

14/04/201821/07/2020

M for Magnet

Welcome!

We are with the 2018 April AtoZ Blogging challenge and its my fifth attempt. For those who missed it, here is the link to my Theme Reveal post. Do the alphabets still stand for the same things we learnt about in Nursery school?

Its day thirteen and the alphabet is M.

As far as I remember, we were taught that M was for Monkey. I have had my encounters with this species when we stayed in Tezpur but I shall save that for another day. Currently, the most relevant M word is Magnet. Specifically Fridge Magnet.

Over the years, I had seen a few of them stuck on fridge doors but what really got me hooked (or should I say attracted?) is the sight of my friend’s double door refrigerator which was totally covered with magnets. Of all shapes, sizes and colours. A wonderful collection of places they had visited.

That’s when I too began to specifically look for fridge magnets. Secretly maybe I wanted to match my collection with hers but I know I have a long long way to go. I have purchased some great magnets but some spots have absolutely nothing. In that case, I end up making my own.

These magnets are perfect mementos – easy on the pocket, easy to carry and daily reminders of a wonderful holiday. Not to mention being the envy of all visitors to our home 😉

Magnet collectors are called memomagnetist – something I learnt from a magazine cut out sent to me.

Here is my collection. A few friends have said I need a new fridge to accomodate these! I think there is plenty more space…

Here are a couple of magnets that I have made.

A magnet that I have made for a significant occasion in our life

Yet another one I engineered….

I have heard that magnets cannot be stuck on modern refrigerators – especially the side surface. Some of my friends have ended up making a metal frame to stick their magnets. I guess I will cross that bridge when I reach there…

So what kind of mementos do you collect on your travels? Do magnets figure in your shopping list?

We are almost half way through the blogging challenge and at the end of week two. I hope fatigue is not setting in …

See you with my next post with the alphabet N.
Cheers!

13/04/201821/07/2020

L for Lion

Welcome!

We are with the 2018 April AtoZ Blogging challenge and its my fifth attempt. For those who missed it, here is the link to my Theme Reveal post. Do the alphabets still stand for the same things we learnt about in Nursery school?

Its day twelve and the alphabet is L.

Today I will go with the traditional, age old teaching of L for Lion.

The Asiatic Lion whose sole home presently is the Gir National Park in the state of Gujarat in India. According to the 2015 census mentioned on the website, there were 523 lions which was said to be a comfortable figure.

Spot the lioness sitting behind the trees in the distance

We were lucky to see this pair walk right past our vehicle. To tell the truth, I was a little scared too!

And here is video of the same pair

Panthera leo persica (which is their scientific name) is smaller than the African lion and has a longitudinal fold of skin along stomach. Further, ears of the male lions in Gir are visible as they have a less thick mane compared to their cousins from Africa! Here is wonderful National Geographic article about lions.

They face threats as their habitat is slowly breaking up (as jungles are cut off) and poachers. Several efforts are on to help protect this great animal!

Have you visited Gir? Have you seen the Asiatic lions?

The next alphabet is M and and Is M still for Monkey? I think not… Hope to see you again tomorrow.
🙂

12/04/201823/09/2021

Golden Leaves (ThursdayTreeLove)

My tree for today stands out green in the dry deciduous jungle .. its quite inconspicuous otherwise and easy to miss unless one looks carefully.. Its the Apta tree .. In Maharashtra, family members exchange Apta leaves on day of Vijayadashami or Dusshera. Going by the botanical name of Bauhinia racemosa, it belongs to the Caesalpinia family (Gulmohor family). I have seen it growing on the Pune hills but not in the city itself.

The Apta tree possibly grows just upto 5m tall and its characteristic feature is the bilobed leaf shaped like the hoofs of a cow.

When folded the leaflets cover each other perfectly as you can see in the video below. Infact, its this very feature that has given the genus Bauhina – to honor the twin botanist brothers Johann Bauhin and Casper Bauhin.

Flowering of the Bauhinia racemosa is in the months of February – May and here is an image of its flowers.

I am not sure of the exact origins of the practise of exchanging Apta leaves. These days, people have to buy the leaves which means rampant defoliation of all trees with such bilobed leaves like Kanchan. Those who cannot distinguish between the different Bauhinia species end up buying the other leaves. End result, the trees suffer terribly.

A ‘cousin’ of this species, the Kachnar is quite common as a roadside tree and in gardens. I am sure you will have noticed its flamboyant pink blossoms. Next time, notice its bilobed leaves too and remember the ‘golden’ leaves of Apta!

I am joining Parul’s #ThursdayTreeLove37. Do head over to see some amazing trees from around the world.

12/04/201823/09/2021

K for King

Its day eleven and the alphabet is K.

K is for King. As in the guy who wears a crown and sits on a throne.

Can something else also be called a King? The Lion is said to be the King of the jungle. Recently I had posted a Ficus Bonsai that was displayed in full royal style.

Today I have yet another candidate for the post of King.

Its a 250 year old Ficus tree that is growing at the Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden in Kolkata. The 1786-founded garden has a vast collection of lovely old trees. The main attraction is the Great Banyan (Ficus benghalensis) that is supported by thousands of roots and is spread over five acres. Despite its loss of the main trunk in 1925, the Banyan is still ‘growing’ . The authorities have had to increase the protective perimeter built around it as the tree ‘walked’ eastwards!

Here are some images of The Great Banyan.

It stands on thousands of supporting roots

This video will give take you straight to this great tree..

I am sure you will agree that this candidate is highly suitable for being called the King!
🙂

11/04/201821/07/2020

J is for Jungle

Its day ten and the alphabet is J.

The earliest memory of what the alphabet J stands for is a Jug.

However, I would like to talk about another J word .. Jungle. I guess this is not surprising considering my interest in Field Botany.

No, I will not talk about how fast and extent of jungles that we are losing to ‘development’ but instead I would like to give you some glimpses of a few forests. India is rich in natural heritage and there are reserve forests and sanctuaries across the length and breath of the country.

A naturalist once told me, “No two forests are the same. Each one has its own beauty and must be enjoyed for what it has to offer.” I had asked him which forest is better – Tadoba or Pench or Kanha.

Then, I had not really understood what he meant but now that I have managed to tick off a few forests from my bucket list, I can truly appreciate what he wanted to say.

Here are some images …

I have always loved trees and plants but I think this ‘nature walk’ in the Dubare Forest really set me off on my current path. It was quite scary to walk on those paths considering that we had to wear anti-leech socks and had to keep totally quiet as there were wild elephants around…

That was when made it a point to add trips to Jungles to our holiday lists.

The Sal forest in the Corbett National Park has a beauty of its own especially when the trees break out into fresh foliage. The landscape takes another dimension when you know it is the home of the Tiger.

Driving through the towering Shorea robusta trees

The Gir forest is home to the Asiatic Lion and some amazing trees as well. Here is a dramatic white ghost like tree which is the Sterculia urens .

Yet another totally different jungle is the mangrove forest of the Sunderbans. Looks innocent and forbidding simultaneously. Tourists are not allowed to step inside. A single day trip is not sufficient to admire this amazing ecosystem that protects our coastlines from hurricanes and storms even as it yields important forest produce.

View of the mangrove island from the boat

The jungles of Gir, Tadoba, Pench, Nagzira, those in the North Eastern states and in the hills of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have a different terrain and beauty.

Many forests and sanctuaries offer accommodation either outside the Park limits. Each region comes into its own depending on the flora and fauna that lives there. A visit can be planned depending on what one wants to see or admire or study. Permits are required and in most cases, they can be acquired in advance online.

This is a teeny tiny introduction to forests without being boring or bookish!

Folks, what does J remind you of? Jug? Jungle? Jalebi?

🙂

10/04/201821/07/2020

I for Ink

Welcome!
We are with the 2018 April AtoZ Blogging challenge and its my fifth attempt. For those who missed it, here is the link to my Theme Reveal post. Do the alphabets still stand for the same things we learnt about in Nursery school?

Its day nine and the alphabet is I.

I for Ink. Ink Pens.

We began writing in school with a pencil. Among the other perks of growing up to middle school was using the ink pen. The fountain pen as it was called brought its own set of difficulties. It often leaked and the stain was quite difficult to wash off. Preparing for exams meant we had to take extra pens as it not possible to refill ink from the bottle at the examination centre.

Chelpark was the brand of choice and the colour was invariably Royal Blue. I know that other colours were available but Royal Blue was the only one in our home.

I was thrilled when I was gifted a pen which had a sort of pump attached to the nib. This made refilling easy and clean. Then a few years later, we got cartridges of inks that we just had to affix below the nib. This eliminated the need for a ink bottle.

I remember using ink pens for my Class X exams but just two years later, ball point pens were making their presence felt. My pencil box had one just as a ‘back up’. Soon these ball pens took became the writing equipment of choice. They lasted for longer than ink pens and were not messy. I think they won on the price front too.

I was happy that my daughter used a fountain pen when in school and the Chelpark bottle again had a place of pride on her study desk. However like me, it lost the battle to new fangled Gel Pens.

The green pen on the extreme right is a fountain pen.

I think, my handwriting was much better with a fountain pen as compared to the ball pens.

Today, we hardly write. Everything is either on the computer/laptop/smartphone. People voice-record lectures which does away the need to take notes. Students take photos of the notice board so there is no need to write down any time table. Shopping lists are on various apps.

Ink pens are slowly getting redundant. The only time we use it regularly is to sign cheques or fill pay-in slips.

Do you use a fountain pen?
Do share your thoughts!

09/04/201821/07/2020

H for Horse

A Mule is the offspring of a male donkey and female horse (wisdom from Wikipedia). I have never really given much thought to this animal till I went on the Hampta Pass trek. On that trip, the mules were the most important part of our support team as they carried all our bags, tents and other logistical materials.

The unsung heros

In fact, our trek was amazing because of these silent mules that plodded along never protesting. Here are some images with my thoughts …

Every morning, the mules were assembled and then sacks loaded up for the journey

The mules always started after us and easily overtook us every single day. They could easily and quickly navigate the moraine unlike us two-legged creatures!

At the end of the day, they were left free at the campsite.

This glorious looking place was a very challenging descent from the Hampta Pass to Shea Goru campsite.

These silent hardworking heros made our trek the wonderful experience that it was. I simply had to dedicate a post to them!

Cheers!

07/04/201821/07/2020

G for Grass

Welcome!
We are with the 2018 April AtoZ Blogging challenge and its my fifth attempt. For those who missed it, here is the link to my Theme Reveal post. Do the alphabets still stand for the same things we learnt about in Nursery school?

Its day seven and the alphabet is G.

G is for Goat. That is what I distinctly remember being taught.
But then, goats eat grass.
And grass was one of my theme ideas. So I sort of took the liberty and replaced the goat with grass.
🙂

Grasses belong the Poaceae family which a very large and very economically important family of the plant kingdom. Important because this family provides the staple foods that we eat, material for construction etc. Grasses are found almost everywhere and are generally annual or perennial in nature. My teacher cautioned me that grasses can be properly identified only when they grow flowers and that too using a hand lens or under a microscope. Which means, many of the grasses I have seen will remain unnamed..

Not to worry folks, this will not be a botanical post.
Here are some of the beautiful grass flowers.

And do watch out for them the next time you go out for your walk!

Oplismenes

Lophopogon sp

Chloris sp

Chrysopogon sp

Apluda sp

Themeda sp

Pennisetum sp

Setaria sp

This is just a glimpse into the great world of grasses..

Tomorrow is our first holiday of the blogathon. We return on the 9th with the alphabet H.

Cheers!

06/04/201821/07/2020

F for Fitbit

Its day six and the alphabet is F.

Well, I had learnt that F is for Fan but currently for me, F stands for Fitbit! And its great Fun!

That’s right… The activity tracking, bluetooth enabled device that counts footsteps, heart rate, sleep pattern etc.
😉

My first one was actually a hand-me-down when our daughter changed the Fitbit she used. Seeing how much I enjoyed the device, dear daughter and son-in-law gifted me brand new one for my birthday!

🙂

Hence, I have taken up the #2019in2018 challenge that I had read about on Twitter. What is it? Quite simply it entails having to stroll/walk/run/sprint 2019 kms in the year 2018. Sounds intimidating right? Actually its not considering it is spread over 364 days and 52 weeks. Simple Math breaks it down to a very doable daily or weekly target. I can happily I can report that I am on track as of now.
Wish me luck folks!

Even at the risk of sounding like an advertisement for wearable health trackers (and there are several brands in varying price ranges), I can confidently say, that I totally enjoy my Fitbit. I am quite addicted to analyzing my sleep pattern, heart rate, activity patterns. If I end up sitting continuously I get a gentle tapping on my wrist to remind to walk around to complete my 250 steps per hour. That will hopefully reduce the sedentary phases during my day.
Cool!

Of course, it is possible to customise weekly goals and alerts so one just has to figure all the options on the app. It even puts up fun messages when a goal is achieved Yay!!!

Aaannnd… my activity tracking wrist band also shows the date and time!

Since I began with F for Fan.. I will not disappoint you…
Here is an exotic folded paper fan that adorns my home…

We are almost at the end of the first week of AtoZ. How are you holding up folks? A holiday is coming up and I plan to use it to catch up on blog hopping.
Cheers!