Take Away from Incy the Spider

Remember the story of Incy , the spider?

If you don't this should help-

Incy Wincy Spider
Climbed up the water spout
Down came the rain
and washed poor Incy Out
Out came the sunshine
and dried up all the rain
So Incy Wincy Spider
Climbed up the spout again

Be it the 90's or the 2000, ever wondered why a selected set of poem are always taught to toddlers?
Until I was lost over my cup of coffee, trying to sip in the unexpected October rains glancing through the square frame of my grill, Incy jumped out of my sub conscious into the realm.

It revealed to me that this simple nursery rhyme carried a lot of thought process with it. As toddlers, these were our first few words in Language and I believe that our ancestors had foresight to have these as one of the primitive poems of  our childhood.

May be they wanted to imbibe in us the value of never giving up., that no matter what the winds of tide do change,and that hope and patience will make every miracle possible

But you know what the struggling part is ? The gestation period from Rains to Sunshine.

It holds tremendous power to keep us from climbing that wall. It confuses, maddens and makes you cry. Nobody ever defined the time period where the power moved from the Rain God to the Sun God. Only if we had technology to do that! Sigh :(

However, what I could co-relate that day was that the cycles do change.

The rains made Incy, the spider stronger, wiser and ready- mentally as well as physically.

Imagine, had he succeeded in the first try, he might have been tarnished by his ego or ahm as they mention in the puranas, therby,blocking his further growth. Rains gave him his thoughts and Sunshine, the medium. Both played a pivotal role there.

The rhyme might have ended there.
The cycle did not and Hope certainly did not!
May this never ending notorious cycle give the Incy in each one of us the hope and will to go and....
Climb that Goddamn Wall....

'Don't you Quit...'

Breaking through the glass ceiling

'Imagine you are walking on the street and nature suddenly decides to show all her might with heavy rain showers. Immediately you unzip your shoulder bag and take out that three fold umbrella you meticulously remembered to carry. You open the umbrella that is now a barrier between you and the rain drops. Volla! You independently saved yourself from getting wet!',  humored a old friend of mine over a phone conversation last night, trying to convey that I am a pure breed of feminist. (pun intended)

Honestly, till internet gauged over 50% of my time, I had absolutely no idea that the ideology my grandmother, my mother , my aunt have been propagating and following was a historical universal movement. Several years after the movement the diluted versions of this ideology came in which made the term more anti men than pro women.

It has never been a mandate for the women in my family to know basic culinary skills. It is only when they stood responsible for themselves, did they try their hands at cooking.

FYI :  I am still not allowed to enter the kitchen , not because of liberal reasons because right from my grandmother to my own mother staunchly believe that 'll do more damage than any good. Infact after tasting the food I volunteered to cook one odd day, my dad tried to convince my mother saying, 'Its okay darling, daughters in our family were never good at home skills, she'll learn it with time'.  Although the latter part of that sentence was a cover up for my mess.

Lets face it, as soon as the term feminism, liberal movement, freedom, equality, etc are coined we close the book,.Because, hey,  it is too much to grasp for in the already fast paced stress loaded lifestyle.

My colleagues at work literally had to tell me to stop going overboard after Hillary Clinton's nomination as the first female presidential candidate.I crazily followed the  headlines and since then my mind has been pondering over 1 simple question.

Who is stopping us? Men, society, orthodox cultures, government,lack of opportunities...???
May be, may be not! What is still  keeping us from breaking the glass ceiling after so many reforms?

Read this below :

' What an inappropriate dress, Such an attention seeker'

' Oh no doubt she's got a promotion, she is the Boss's favorite'

'Isn't that lipstick too loud?' 

'Women Rights activist,( Read : Feminist) so typical'

'Late night parties, Short dresses....suspicious'

'You cant cook, what will you do when you get married?'
'Don't you need to be home taking care of your kids?'
'You are too old to do that'

Ladies take a bow! One of the biggest factors that has still kept us struggling from breaking the glass ceiling is the lack of support from our female counterparts. Our crab mentality is perhaps the biggest hindrance to our growth till date.

Competition is healthy but pulling each other down is NOT.. and condemning the same bold actionable  you appreciated the prime time celebrity for , now also, executed by your female counterpart is utterly disgraceful.

Feminism is more about us before anything else. It is  about those collective mindsets day- in-day-out that play a vital role in shaping us.

Its about time we draw the maturity line and proactively support every Woman in our circle. Then be it about your 50 year old house-maker Mom's crazy startup idea or about embracing your friend who prioritized her career before her wedding, or the next door neighbor who quit her job to give her kids the parental care they required or simply about being that hearing aid your friend requires you to be,during her emotional turmoil.

You don't need a femi-nazi banner for all this.You don't need to carry the weight of complicated ideologies. It is the simple doings that often bring about changes.
By gone's are by gone's. Across storms and bad weathers we managed to sail perfectly, now that the winds are changing,  lets propel ahead together.

And guess what.. So many of us already do that.

Lets transition into a better tomorrow, and shatter right through that GLASS CEILING.

Time to blend in.. Happy Monday.

Imperfect Perfections

I am a one of those complete social media freaks who checks  her phone every 15 minutes for facebook,snapchat,instagram updates. The other day as I rushed to office, like I always do I realized I forgot my cell phone at home. I had to reach office without scavenging facebook timelines, liking silly posts or worst I couldnt even listen to music. To top it, I gloriously forgot to carry a book too!

I figured why my father carried the daily newspaper when travelling to work. It kept him occupied during the dreaded journey from Andheri to Churchgate. My Goregaon located office is still a bliss! Those 30 minutes in the rickshaw turned out to be my me time. I decided to have conversations with myself and turns out, life without facebook isn't really that boring.

You must have surely come across those check lists on social media where they tell you how dreadful it is being in your early twenties or what you should do before you hit 30 or get married,etc.And we all read it and shared it, because hey,  it related to one fact or other in our to-achieve something race and we ended up linking to our daily pandemonium!

So is it really that bad? Two sides of the coin they say. There is that darker side with career confusions, job hunts, sudden responsibilities, bill payments,future plannings and what not..
 And then there is that other underrated or less talked about side.. the brighter one which  only talks about tricks and trips sadly, where infact there is so much to it....
The 20-40 gang is the right chemical mix of time, money and energy, and a concoction of these three leads to wonders,as the history has it!

It has the zeal and zest to learn new things, master them, pursue hobbies, travel, switch jobs, start a start-up, study,cut your hair short, break up/make up...
Doth the soul say..

Globalization I believe gave us way more advantages than it did to our parents. You can royally fail, because you have all the right too, have those heated conventional versus non conventional career discussions with your parents, and then meet your friends for a drink later to vent it all out just to know that we are all sailing on the same river, maybe on different boats.

So unlike Carrie Bradshaw's monologue in SATC, I do not meet my girlfriends over breakfast every day, or have dinner with them every Saturday, to discuss every cranky thing happening, but yes coming form the digital generation they know  the reason behind sudden 'I am so confused' or 'I love you so much' ( Its either post drinking or extra thinking symptoms)

Movies and Novels injected the perfect youth into me so much that I forgot that sometimes laughing when you fall down is a better choice than cheering to fake joy, that sometimes it is a wonderful stroke of luck when the needed is not served on your plate, maybe it is trying to teach you some patience.In the long run curve, as someone once told me , some may succeed early,some later but the summation of all the parameters always tallies. As they say, 'Waqt waqt ki baat hai'...

Perfections aren't myth, they are for real. They just didn't tell you that is a continuous process and the gestation period takes a bit too long at time..that as Marlyn Monroe put it 'Madness is genius and Imperfection is beauty'

So lets embrace the good, laugh it out, because after the last crystal of sand has fallen, the hour glass does turn upside down again... right?

Happy Sunday Folks :)

Bharatpur : My first Birding Trip

Boarding Paschim Express from Bandra Terminus was nothing less than a movie scene. The last minute paparazzi, running across streets of Mumbai and finally being able to board the train just 7 minutes before the scheduled time...and that’s how my journey towards Bharatpur began.

Accompanied by Mario sir, Sameer and Vishakha; all wildlife enthusiast and keen travellers, I decided to gift myself my first birding trip! Bharatpur, the eastern gateway to the royal state of Rajasthan as they call it, was dotted on the map.

A chilly night converted into a foggy morning and a thick layer of fog greeted us 'Good Morning' as we alighted at Bharatpur Junction.

Steamy hot potato curry and kachori (Stuffed muffins), at mere price of Rs.5 at station, a breakfast that treated our stomachs with the much needed warmth! We boarded a local transport towards hotel, which was around 1 km away from the station. A quick fresh up, heavy Breakfast and the brigade were all set to witness the magnificent Keoladeo National Park.

Before I tell you about our experience at Bharatpur here's some good to know information about it.

Bharatpur is a small district towards the east of Rajasthan. Geographically, it is closer to the city of Agra than the city of Jaipur. Their lifestyle is more inclined towards U.P than Rajasthan. The major attraction in this district is the Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary. This used to be a hunting reserve for the members of the then Royal family and the rights of hunting were reserved only to the family members and special guests of the Royal family.

The natural depression in the area over the years was converted into a lake body. The water from the River Chambal was used for this purpose. This developed a natural habitat and attracted a lot of Migratory Birds. In the year 1932, Lord Linthingou had a record of hunting around 4312 ducks in one day. There is a wall inside the sanctuary where they've craved all the hunting records right from the 1800's. This site was later bought under certain environmental laws and has been now declared a UNESCO world heritage site.

Lake Body

After paying an entrance fee of Rs.75 for Indian citizens, you will find a board which mentions the Government approved rate for hiring guides and cycle rickshaws.

We hired two cycle rickshaws and a guide and set our foot to the land of birds, landscapes, rapters,mammals and much more!

When Mario sir mentioned to me that the Bird Sanctuary at Bharatpur is so scenic that you could actually sit there and write poems, My plan was to absorb in all the vibes of the place and capture landscapes through my lens. Being accompanied by keen photographers was an added advantage. But the trip took me by surprise and I got lucky to try my hands on a 70-300 zoom lens.

In action

Day 1 (22nd Jan) was the jackal day. The light was not apt for photography; the fog hadn’t given the sun rays a chance to peep in. Yellow footed pigeon, spotted owlets and jackals was our first treat.  As soon as Sameer spotted a jackal, he stepped down from the cycle rickshaw and positioned himself to capture them through his lens. We followed his footsteps. It turned out to be a herd of Jackal who were running and chasing each other.

The jackal treat

Vishakha was instantly in a jubilant mood as soon as she sighted 'healthy jackals' as she called them. In her excitement, she gave photography a miss and stood there with her hands folded as if she was praying and eyes adoring the wildlife. The look in her eyes corresponded to that of a toddler when watching his favorite superhero!

I was told, 'Gargi you should remember all these names by the end of the day', with a meek look I nodded. Of all the birds I remember, Ashy prinia gave us a tough time. This little restless wonder wouldn’t care to sit for more than 2 seconds on a twig, hence making even a record shot impossible.As the day progressed the light, just right, had set in.

Northen Pintail

We heard the Saras Crane call and sat there to see the Tallest flying bird, the symbol of togetherness and marital virtues, Alas! We were fortunate to see them dancing on the second day. It’s a thing of beauty, I must confess.

Sarus Crane

Our last treat for the day was witnessing the pied kingfisher take his signature dive into the water body. He had been waiting on twig for long, observing and just as he sighted his food; he dived vertically down, his bill pointed towards the ground to capture fish. Flawless diver!

White Pied Kingfisher

Day 2 (23rd Jan) was the francolin chase and my favorite - spotted deer day! We chased the francolin amongst twigs for over an hour, and just when he made his way out of the shrubs, he was too close to be captured through Sameer's zoom lens. Mario sir however was successful in this venture.

The chase

This was the first time I was so close to wildlife and I fell in love with spotted deer. On our way back, we spotted two female deers crossing the road. I jumped in excitement. This was my time , to be the child. As we moved ahead, my head turned backward, eyes still hovering around..I noticed a stag ( a male deer) crossing. Immediately I requested the cycle rickshaw fellow to stop. The stag crossed the road, and when in the bushes, as if he knew that I was watching , turned back and stood still over a minute. We had an eye to eye moment there. He had huge antelopes, almost magical. I couldn't take my eyes of him. As weird as this may sound but to me it was like a Disney movie. Even  as we marched ahead he was still there. That moment I was lost, completely. That happiness was indefinable.

Although I could capture a female spotted deer on the last day

Now I knew why Vishakha face glowed when she saw the jackals. Bharatpur taught me that the universe really reckons. Your sincere wishes do come true. Patience is the key! Nature is an excellent teacher..

Day 3 (24th Jan): There were two defining moments on the 3rd day! We had been waiting endlessly to see the Siberian Ruby throat, a small bird with a ruby spot on his neck for over an hour and that beauty obliged. It came, and it stood, giving us the needed time to capture his aura in our lenses. The wait was worth it. We celebrated it; like having won a battle ; over a nice cup of tea at the canteen nearby

Siberia Ruby Throat
P.C : Mario

Bharatpur delivered more than expectations. Our birding quota was almost done. It was time to leave.As our cycle rickshaws made their way back to the main gates, we heard the jackals howl again. To make the most of the last moment, we got down and chased them through our lenses. And just then, like it wanted to be photographed, it came and stood right there, in front of us, like he knew. That I believe was Sameer’s moment.

Birds @ Bharatpur

Bar Headed Goose

Painted Stork : The natural posers

We sighted around 90 birds that included orange headed thrush, common hoot, shikra, babler, greater egret, lesser whistling ducks,storks, northen pintail,and so many others along with mud turtles, spotted dears, wild boar, neel guy, peacock, bar headed goose, jackals and picturesque roads, a complete package! 

Orange headed thrush

Greater Egret

Bhraminy Starling

I had absolutely no clues that birding would be such an enthralling experience, that so many defining moments would serve the answers to my long lost questions. They stay etched in my memory. Nature teaches you a way of life; it has crafted everything so beautifully, distributing its magic in all living beings. Perfect manager there!

To know this beauty,you must and I urge, witness it...you must celebrate it! Travelling so far has given me sheer joy and peace. From the pristine beaches of Goa to the Snow clad mountains of Himachal, from the paradise flycatcher in the Bhimashankar Jungle to Siberian Ruby Throat at Bharatpur, nature always left me spell bound.

         
                 Go... Travel! Savour the raw... As they say every place has a story to narrate..
 You are in for a treat, aren’t you? :)