FROM HOUSE CROW TO PAINTED STORK..( just a technical title to show off my new skill..lol)

The day I met Aditya at CCD, I never thought I would be spending my Sunday mornings birding. Being a Mumbaikar, the only bird I knew was crow. It had no fancy title like house crow. To be quite frank I never thought knowing lot of birds(along with their names and features) means so much to birders. Last month got introduced to the bible of birders -Pocket Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. Every birder has their bible and binoculars with them. Here I was with no book and binoculars. The second thing about birding was to not to talk. The hush tone was a bit too much for me to handle.. At first I could not locate the bird and then the colour..Identification was never on my agenda…I never paid attention to the white belly or white patch on the tail…

Now the point is if it was not my liking why did end up at Sinhagad valley on Sunday morning. And what is the point of writing this…The answer is- I read couple of months back that spending time together is what matters and not always doing the things which I love. Sunane mein bada accha lagata hai..karne mein thoda mushkil…I took months..lol..but phirbhi decided to try it out..The smile on Aditya’s face mattered the most. Soon started enjoying it. My funda is I observe and enjoy their colours (still not very keen on their names)..The strange part is I started noticing birds now..pagal lagati hu eklehi trees stare karate..par usme bhi majja hai..So, the blog is for anyone who was not interested in birding and may want to give it a try.

As all birders do, I have also made list of birds. Here it is(tadka marake..lol…):

1.    From my house balcony

1.    Coppersmith Barbet-(It has been declared as Mumbai Bird)

2.    Red-whiskered Bulbul 

3.    Grey Hornbill

4.    Asian Koyal (Male and Female)

5.    Oriole ( I call it taxi. As the name suggest it is yellow and black)

6.    White Throated Kingfisher - it is not the one on the logo of NDTV Good times. It is Common Kingfisher on the Logo. Even the name suggests common, I could not c it.

7.    Drongo- It is my favourite bird. Very easy to indentify. Don’t have to look at colour or size. Just look at the long forked tail. Bingo u can identify Drongo.

8.    Greater Coucal

9.    Laughing Dove.

2.    Bhigwan

1.    Greater Flamingo - The lead actors of the show at Bhigwan are Flamingos. Pretty birds. Don’t like noise. The fact is they get the pink colour by eating algae. The little one are blue in colour and slowly get the beautiful pink colour.

2.    River Tern- River tern is fast and beats the Sea Gull in catching fish.

3.    Sea gull- is little plum but never gives up. Gull could catch some fish.

4.     Ibis- usme bhi there is black Ibis, Black headed Ibis and Glossy Ibis. I like black headed one. It looks like it is wearing a pretty furry  white short dress.

5.    Spoonbill- as the name suggests it has spoon like bill. Very interesting to c.

6.    Brahmny ducks
7.    Painted Storks- Never thought that I would be in love  with them. Not very pretty in appearance like lesser flamingos. But storks have 5 colours- white, black, pink, yellow and green. My rating for painted storks in 5 stars. Got to bighwan and catch them in action. Don’t forget to carry popcorn. Coz once u are there surrounded by storks u don’t wanna to go home. Just like esselworld tag line(esselworld mein rahunga mein ghar nahi nahi jaunga mein)..

8.    Sand piper.

9.    Pondya(pond heron)

10.  Brahmny Kite.

11.  Grey heron

12.  Egret- How can I forget  egret. It has long neck.. looks very classy. Has a striking yellow feets..

Would keep on exploring more birds. Do share ur experience too.

SPEAK UP

Had felt horrible abt the gang rape case…had cried(it might not be the ans to the issue but tears just could not stop)..was shocked when some said that these cases are pretty common. What is so special about this one..it just shows that we r not bothered about it and used to it..our mind recognizes it as bad news and moves on..shocking but true..

I thought of writing abt my own experience to help someone to gather courage and Speak UP..It takes courage to do it. atleast talk about it..

I had just cleared tenth standard exam. I had always been surrounded by good men. And I always travelled with friends or relatives ..never alone..i still remember the day, time and place. It was 7 in the evening and I was coming back from dadar…I took an auto and reached the station…I had to cross the flower market to reach station..The lanes were small there was hardly any light. My innocent mind did not allow me to think that someone may actually was trying to touch me..I assumed it was bcoz of crowd. Being a girl the sixth sense helped me but the space did not allow me to move an inch.. I somehow could speak up or even look at the guy..i was the only girl there surrounded by guys…I just ran as fast as possible..but it did nt end there I was travelling by train for the first time..did not know where to go and was confused. Could not ask for directions.. coz I did nt want to give the guy the impression that I was lost and scared… somehow read all the indicators and saw my train reaching the platform..as I was walking down ,the guy again tried to come close..that time, the very moment I was furious and just pushed him far away..i never knew I could do it..

I got in the train and started crying..i was happy that I resisted..i might not have something outrageous…but did something about it..thought of telling someone about it..but the place was just nt right to ask for help…

What was the reason to put it on paper something personal..it is just that these things do happen and nobody talks about it..i had heard some of my friends say that when they have been teased, they should have spoken up..feel bad about it later..We have been always told to suppress out thoughts and ignore it.. the lamest excuse is we cant change it…I agree we cant change the mindset in one day..but the other person should know that this behavior is absolutely not accepted and just get lost..

2012- so many years have passed after the incident, but I still get the shiver after I speak up.. I was travelling with my friend to sangli..and the bus had an accident and we had to change the bus..The new bus was already reserved by some people..( potla rakha matlab jagah mera)..this reservation system was used..Had to resist it..and to my surprise nt a single person in the bus took my side. Here I was fighting alone with a guy for almost half an hour…the guy was pretty furious…but I was strong on my grounds..The guy gave me ugly look and sat next to driver. It was getting dark..i was getting scared… my mind was constantly focusing on the guy, what he must be thinking..will he take revenge…

The incident might be small as nothing happened..but it just made me stronger…

I just hope that whenever u c someone being teased or molested…Do SPEAK UP..It can small thing..being supportive helps..maybe it can save someone’s life..