Bannerghata National Park

I was lucky to photograph these beauties at such close range at Bannerghata National Park, Bengaluru.

A beautiful place

There are so many beautiful yet unknown places in India. One nice corner I discovered during one of my adventures is Maredmally in Andhra Pradesh.

The rains had made it lush green and the heavily wooded hills and grassy plains promised adventure.

  I believe it is a tourist destination but few bother go there probably because of its remoteness.

I found it close to what nature can offer.

During the monsoon, East Godavari district can be as beautiful as God's own country. The abundant rains transform the landscape into shades of lush green.
Your heart leaps to celebrate the vast expanses of paddy fields, grasslands, and rolling hills. Brooks sprout out of nowhere, flow merrily for a distance and disappear again into the rain-soaked ground. Wild flowers in myriad hues of azure, bashful orange, subdued lavender, blazing red and yellow explode all over the countryside. It is one huge canvas on which nature has splashed its palette. Driving on the NH 214 from the port town of Kakinada, we descend into Narsipatnam where paddy sowing was in full swing. Women singing some folk songs were in the fields working in total coordination. The men were diverting the excess rainwater from the fields into channels that seemed to stretch till the horizon.

Election tours provide great opportunities to go to fascinating places and meet interesting people. Chasing candidates in the Naxalite-infested areas of Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh, I had some of the most memorable experiences.


The legendary 1000 Pillars Temple of Warangal.


Hot idlis and coffee at a roadside dhaba at Suryapet in Nalgonda district, on election tour.




A temple of the toddy-tappers in Naxalite area of Karimnagar.



Beautiful gardens dot the Suryapet-Khammam Highway. This is at the Palair Reservoir. (Right)


Belying his age this toddy-tapper in Jammikunta near Warangal is about to reach dizzying heights as he takes to a palm tree.


(Right) A toddy-tapper with a fresh pot of the heady stuff.




It is a great drive on the Suryapet-Khammam Highway. My driver was happy to let me take the wheel!!



Early morning mist over this small lake on Nalgonda Road.

Sun'N'Sea at Chirala

..we burnt some rubber on the highway to reach this place. On the way, we emptied a liquor store..well almost. Breezing through breezers, zipping on windswept roads, and making merry. Reached there almost midnight so it took some time to find the little guesthouse. as soon as i heard the sound of waves the weariness of driving 300kms disappeared. dumped my stuff in the room and ran to meet the sea and spent a long time chatting with friends, sitting on a boat on the shore. went to sleep at 3 am but i was up again at 5 as the first rays of the sun streamed in. It was a beautiful morning on the beach though a bit hazy. Spent two wonderful days here..

Take me out to the ocean,
Take me out to the sea,
Show me the foamy waves rolling there,
As I breathe in the salty sea air!

Take me out to the ocean,
Take me out to the sea.
Show me the currents and ocean tides,
Let me see where the seaweed resides!

Romancing the mighty Godavari

Sweet River, run softly till I end my song,
Sweet River, run softly, for I speak not loud or long
Yes, we'll gather at the river,
The beautiful, beautiful river --
On the bank of the river,
Washing up its silver spray,
We will walk and play,
All the happy, golden day.

This great bridge across the river
Nay it isn’t Brooklyn
Nor the Thames
It is the bridge across the Godavari
Mighty flows the river from underneath
Its waters clashing with the giant pillars
But it gushes forward on an unbriddled song
Whisper to the clear deep blue waters
The mighty Godavari will ask you to sail along
Underneath the bridge, there flows the Godavari





One small sandbar splits
the river, then it loops left,
and the river's silver
slips under the trees,
into the forest,

A lake's tryst with history

Hyderabad’s pride, the Hussain Sagar, one of the biggest man-made lake, is slowly losing its glory. With its placid waters getting polluted due to domestic sewerage and industrial waste being dumped in, citizens and tourists cringe at the stench from the lake. A walk on the otherwise beautiful necklace road on the banks of the lake is not possible without covering your nose these days. On the other hand, water hyacinth and other weeds are slowly taking over the lake.


In spite of well-maintained parks and gardens on the necklace road, the lake’s banks are an ugly site because of numerous `nallas’ spewing affluents and sewerage. The stagnant water on the banks has turned murky and is littered with plastic bags, water bottles and paper waste thrown in by careless tourists or citizens. A number of restaurants and hotels on the lake’s periphery dump solid waste in the lake.

The Hussain Sagar lake was created on the Musi river in 1562 by Hazrat Hussain Shah during the reign of Ibrahim Quli Qutub Shah. A `bund’which is now known as the Tank Bund was erected to check the Musi river creating this artificial reservoir to meet the water requirements of Hyderabad at that time. The original lake was spread across 24 sq kms. Now it has shrunk to less than half its original size.
Citizens groups, environmentalists and conservationists are campaigning vociferously to protect the lake and prevent further degradation.
That state government is making efforts to stem the rot and revive the lake but an ambitious project to restore it to its former glory is stuck due to mismanagement and bureaucratic red-rape as too many agencies are involved.

Meanwhile, the ugly sights and stench is starting to show as the number of citizens using the Necklace Road for daily walks and evening visitors has gone down drastically.

To The Legendary Captial Of Kakatiya Kingdom

I wanted to be here since I was a child when I read the awe-inspiring history of Kakatiyas. After so many years I was discovering the legendary capital of Kakatiya Kingdom_ Warangal. It is a city that found its way into Marco polo's travel diaries !
The legendary city was once the capital of the Kakatiyas in the 12th to 14th centuries.
The once glorious Warangal Fort near Hanamkonda now lies in ruins. But the towering gateways carved out of single stone leading to the fort are testimony to Kakatiyas' architectural prowess. There is the Thousand Pillared Temple which is another example of the intricate Kakatiya architecture.

2005 Tsunami: basic insticts work in death zone. 2006: What sea destroys, rains restore it.

POINT CALIMERE,TAMIL NADU, JANUARY 11, 2006: What was once the stuff of legend has been comprehensively demonstrated on the ground in this wildlife sanctuary. Cold statistics and matching eyewitness accounts tell the rest of the story.
Forest officers of the Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary at Kodaikarai, some 65 km from Nagapattinam, say that 8 to 10 minutes before the giant tsunami waves crashed into the sanctuary, all the guards standing in observation towers saw the same spectacle: Virtually every animal, including droves of black bucks, spotted deer, wild boar and jackals, dashed towards higher grounds and stood there—like students at a school assembly.
The staff made a physical inspection and found only one wild boar dead. Probably it was sick and could not make it.
There are 2,200 animals of various species at the sanctuary and all of them are safe.
Among the animals that sensed the danger and fled were 1,800 black bucks, 250 spotted deer, 40 feral horses, and a number of wild boars and jackals which inhabit the 321 sq km sanctuary.
Even the guard at the lighthouse nearby saw the animals suddenly run inside the sanctuary. Birds__flamingoes and migratory ducks—also flew away before the waters came. They returned an hour later and started feeding as if nothing happened.
The lowlands have been totally ravaged by the sea water forcing the forest department to close down the sanctuary. Forest officials said rainwater harvesting systems, fresh water ponds and water holes have been inundated by sea water, rendering them useless.

The sanctuary is closed for public. The receding water has deposited a lot of mud which has not yet dried and it is almost impossible to enter the sanctuary. Only guards take rounds to make sure the animals are safe.
The biggest threat was faced by black bucks which stay close to the sea. Although the other animals were deeper inside, even they made a dash to higher grounds.
They are still staying away from the sea and fortunately for them, the small water holes inside the sanctuary have not been touched by sea water.
The sanctuary is famous for its 40 wild horses. Although the waters have receded, they are still seen grazing on elevated grounds and hillocks.


A YEAR AFTER TSUNAMI
The sea destroys wildlife habitat, rain restores it
KODIA KARAI, DEC 22, 2006, A YEAR AFTER TSUNAMI: The heavy rains in Tamil Nadu may have made life miserable for those living in the rehabilitation camps. But they have come as a blessing for the Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary at Kodia Karai.
Last year's tsunami deposited 40 cms of mud across the sanctuary's grasslands, destroying the prime habitat area of the park's main species—black buck and spotted deer. However, heavy rains in the past two months washed away the mud, and the landscape has become green once more, to the utter relief of forest officials.
The Point Calimere sanctuary, a kilometre from the sea shore, comprises about 20 sq km of grasslands and mangroves that provide a habitat for several species of animals and birds. It has 2,000-odd black bucks, 250 spotted deer, 56 feral horses, and 600-800 wild boars.
Eight minutes before the tsunami struck last year, the animals instinctively bolted from the coast and found safety on higher grounds. So, despite the fury of the waves, only one wild boar died. However, the tsunami destroyed the grasslands and rendered all the fresh water pools saline.
The animals survived, but with the habitat of the black bucks and the deer destroyed, the Forest Department was forced to close the sanctuary.
The tsunami deposited 40 cm thick mud in the affected areas of the sanctuary. The mud flats lay in prime grazing habitat areas. But to everyone’s joy, the heavy rains in the last few months—which have caused untold misery for other tsunami survivors—washed away these mud flats and the grasslands are back.
The park's rainwater harvesting systems, fresh water ponds and water holes were inundated by sea water. But with the grassland back, the department is working to restore the water supply. The forest department constructed a large rainwater recharge well to tackle salinity ingress. The heavy rains have also helped in forming a fresh water cushion. Many parts of the sanctuary are now inundated with ankle-deep fresh rain water which will rejuvenate the groundwater table and grasslands.
The Forest Department feared that the black bucks would vanish because they prefer grasslands near the coast. The animals did stay away from the coastal grasslands till the rains washed away the mud. With the grasslands regenerating slowly they have returned and are now found in their usual habitat.
The tsunami also inundated the Point Calimere bird sanctuary where thousands of flamingoes and other migratory birds visit every year and roost in the shallow waters. Many birds flew away after the tsunami but this year they are back in the thousands.
About 16 species of birds have already arrived, including about 20,000 flamingoes, a number of gull-billed terns, whiskered terns, gray pelicans, teals, curlew sandpipers and black-tailed godwits.