Nature: Ducks Fight in Bird Valley Park

When I visited Bird Valley Park in Pune recently, I witnessed a curious scene. You can check out my pictures of the lake-park and ducks here in my previous post. Coming back the incident; here is the sequence of events which unfolded: 

The lake has both complete white and spotted brown type of ducks.

(Above) Two brown ducks were swimming and enjoying in the lake

(Above) Suddenly a group of white ducks rushed towards them

(Above) More white ducks joined them and they started confronting the brown ducks as if there was going to be a gang-war

(Above) The brown ducks were threatened and one of the brown ducks, perhaps the male, is seen coming in front of the other duck which was perhaps female and it appeared as if he was trying to protect her. But the brown ducks were completely bullied. All ducks were also making noise. 

(Above) After a while, it was all fine. The white dominating ducks were calmed down after having made their point and in a few minutes swam to a different area. 

I do not know exactly what transpired among those ducks. But clearly the white ducks were united as a group and the brown spotted ducks were a separate team. There was certainly a tension between these two groups which did not turn into a full fledged street (lake) fight and no one was really harmed. Perhaps the white ducks sent a message to the brown spotted ducks. Was it a fight over territory which had food? Most likely. The white ducks also appeared much bigger in size and were stronger; giving them an edge. 

After this incident, I am left wondering that perhaps racism is not really a human trait; is it? Perhaps even among some animals and birds, folks are treated differently based on their "color". 

"Birds of a feather flock together" - is an old saying; how could I forget? 

A curious incident indeed. 

- Rahul Tiwary | Pune | March 2019

Travelogue: Bird Valley Park in Pune

Bird Valley Udyan (Park), is a wonderful lake-park in Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune. You can find it on Maps here. Here are some of the pictures taken during my visit:

(Above) Status of Chhatrapti Shiva ji Maharaj fighting a lion with bare hands; at the entrance of the park

(Above) Scenic view of the lake and area around it

(Above) Visitors enjoying boat ride. There are two types of boat: motorized which will take you around come return along with others; solo ride (smaller boats) which you need to drive by paddling yourself. You can roam around personally and with privacy on the boat and then return within a time limit. 

(Above) Beautiful ducks in the lake. You can feed the ducks by throwing cracked corn or other allowed items and they will readily grab and eat

(Above) A white duck dives

(Above) Hello! Anyone inside? :) A duck is inside the ripples. 

(Above) People roaming around the lake in solo boats

(Above) Ducks would do the talking

(Above) Why are you hiding mate? Dipping inside the water to bring out food!

(Above) Ducks of all colors

(Above) Natural beauty

(Above) At far distance; you can see a demon-like mascot oozing out water from his mouth

(Above) Want to say something? Reaching out!

(Above) I loved this duck the most; he is standing tall on two legs as if he is a small man or boy! 

(Above) Sculpture of a large eagle at one end of the lake

(Above) Sculpture of workers at the main entrance of the park

(Above) Outside the main gate

(Above) People coming out of the park

(Above) I could find an old bird; her feathers have all fallen. I am not sure if she was sick; but she was along with the healthy birds and hence I could sense that she should not be sick. Thankfully she was only one of her kind and there were no other suffering birds. 

A few general suggestions: 

The park's opening time is 12 PM to 7 PM. It is really a nice place to visit in the evening; but you must have 1-2 hours to enjoy properly.

Entrance fee for the park is only Rs 10 per person. There is parking available near the main gate and it appears to be free. 

You can take your camera or phones inside and there is no restriction or fee. Boat rides are of course charged. 

You may need minimum 2 hours to enjoy the visit properly. Main attraction of the park is the lake and its boat ride. Even if you choose not to ride the boats; you may stand or sit near the lake side and enjoy watching the ducks and the scenery. 

There is a walking path all around the lake; it must be long stretch (may be 2 km). If you decide to follow the path; you should be prepared to find some couples sitting there in objectionable state (PDA: public display of affection); hence be prepared to ignore or else do not go much further and return to the area where ducks are and boat platform sooner.

This is a wonderful lake and park and a must visit for all if you like waterbody and ducks. 

- Rahul Tiwary

Television: Game of Thrones: Season 5

Finished watching Season 5 of Game of Thrones on Star World; which his airing all previous seasons of the series as a precursor to the final Season 8 which starts on April 19. Three things made our remarkedly. 

1. Cersei Lannister's dangerous with the High Sparrow and Faith Militants: Even before knowing the final fate; Cersei's solicitation of High Sparrow and his 'faith militant' group raised serious doubts over her decision. Hardline religion becomes fanaticism and has the toxic power to destroy common sense and decency everywhere and in all times. Cersei should never have empowered the Faith Militants. But in her blind hatred of new queen Margaery; Cersei did not see what she was doing. She was also mad due to her power and she never imagined that anyone could touch her. But her decision to empower the Faith Militants came back to haunt her and in the end she was proven to be an utterly incompetent and short sighted person who did not know how the world works; forget about any proper method of ruling over the kingdom.

Picture: Cersei and High Sparrow: The twain should not have met

2. Stannis Baratheon's insistence on going forward and his unfortunate end: Stannis Baratheon is a character which really intrigued me. I had to search and read about this character more. I first noted him when he stormed into the Wildings and protected Night's Watch against the wildling invasion. That was really impressive. Stannis stood like a real king. When he met and negotiated with Jon Snow, we could notice more elements of his character. When Jon Snow did not agree to his offer to legitimize him and becoming officially a "Stark"; and to be appointed Lord of Winterfell; Stannis did not take offence and accepted the setback with maturity and grace so uncommon in other characters. 

Picture: Stannis Baratheon, "The Iron Throne is mine by right. All those that deny that are my foes."

It appears surprising why Stannis forced his army to march forward no matter what the consequence was; and in the end when his wife and troops desert him, he still persisted in having the war. Before going for war, everyone knew that there was very slim chance of his army winning it; given that his army was half destroyed in the snowfall and fire and half had deserted him with horses and arms. I liked his explanation for his decision - winter was coming and if he returned to the Castle Black, it would mean he and his army would get stuck there and could meet a horrified end at the hands of the White Walkers. And if he returned, he would be remembered in history as a king who gave up. He put his bet on his ability to fight; given that he was a proven military commander.

Picture: Stannis Baratheon: A man of war

The way he was killed by Brienne of Tarth was disgraceful; the way she announced verdict against him for his role in Renly's death appeared farce. Brienne of Tarth is a character I have never liked in the GOT. Look at her logic: Brienne was loyal to Sansa Stark; Sansa Stark was held captive and being tortured by Ramsay Bolton; Stannis had raided and attacked the Boltons; and yet when Brienne gets an opportunity she kills Stannis who was indirectly helping Sansa Stark? If Brienne of Tarth had a little brain she could have found out that Stannis Baratheon was a friend of the Starks; he respected Jon Snow and had just saved Jon Snow's life and while attacking Winterfell he was indirectly helping Sansa Stark. Roose Bolton had murdered Robb Stark; and if this Brienne of Tarth was really loyal to the Starks she should have helped Stannis Baratheon in defeating Roose and Ramsay Bolton. But no; all she had to do was to keep hiding until Stannis' army was destroyed and then pop up and kill him after declaring him guilty of murdering his own brother (although it was Melisandre's doing). 

Still, in his death Stannis evokes a kind of 'respect' for him.

3. Jon Snow and his decisions leading to his assassination: As mentioned above, I believe Jon should have accepted Stannis Baratheon's offer and he should have secured legitimacy and position of Lord of Winterfell. But he put his bet on his people who failed him. He should have realized that the crowd at the Wall were no thinking or educated folks and most were criminal in character. He should not have put his faith in them; a little bit of skepticism does not hurt. In the end, the way Jon Snow was murdered during Mutiny at Castle Black was an utterly shocking event. 

Picture: Jon Snow; proving "youth is wasted on the young"

Season 5, near the end, appeared to be much intense and true to the image of Game of Thrones. 

- Rahul Tiwary

Related Posts: Game of Thrones Season 6

Television: Facing: Saddam Hussein on National Geographic

I watched "Facing: Saddam Hussein" on National Geographic on the television recently. I have searched and found this on YouTube below:

I remember when Iraq had invaded Kuwait in 1990. I was young at that time but I still have memories of watching the news on TV in the evenings on DD1; the scenes of nights lit up by anti-aircraft missiles being fired. 

I was in 2nd year at engineering college when the US was attacked and WTC twin towers were destroyed in year 2001. I remember how in our hostel news broke out in the evening and everyone watched the news with horror on the common room television. And then the US attached Iraq and in year 2003, Saddam Hussein was captured. 

At my college we used to have debates in the class on this topic whether USA was right in attacking Iraq. Curiously some folks were anti-USA and they insisted strongly that USA had no right to attack Iraq even though they accepted the killings and human rights violations that Saddam had done. I could not understand them at that time.

For me, it was a simple case. Saddam was a violent dictator having killed thousands of men and he should be punished. USA was world super power and if USA had decided to channelize the world community and bring Saddam to the books; so be it. But the boys insisted, "what right the USA has to attack another country?" I said that suppose the USA sat and did nothing; then they would all be crying that no one bothers about the dead and tortured people in Iraq and why no one did anything. But when USA does something, they are crying injustice!

At that time I was young and had not seen all kinds of men. At that time I did not know that not all men sought "solutions" to problems. I did not know that many people love problems and they want to remain incapable of doing anything. All they want is someone or something to put the blame on. So in this case, they just wanted to blame the world community with doing nothing about Iraqi people; and for that they did not want the world community to do anything! George W. Bush changed everything by acting bold and decisive, like Americans are famous for. 

This documentary shows many new aspects to the war. I agree with the portion where it appears that Saddam Hussein had vastly underestimated the power of American armed forces and when he said that US Air Force would never act as a deciding force in that "kind of war"; he was actually acting foolish. It seems Saddam had turned too over-confident and arrogant and arrogance is known to make people do foolish things. 

Although the documentary does not touch this topic; but I think the disaster in Iraq and rise of ISIS in particular did not directly happen due to Saddam's ouster. It happened due to wrong foreign policies by George W. Bush's successor Barack Obama who was bent on proving his worth about his "Nobel Peace Prize" and being too favorable to the Middle East countries, he made a mess of the original US plan in Iraq. 

This is a great documentary and a must watch for all. Saddam was no ordinary dictator and the future generations who were not born during the years of his atrocities would not be able to understand his fury completely. 

- Rahul Tiwary

Internet: How to Cancel LinkedIn Friend Request Sent to Someone

Here is the quick process to cancel or withdraw a friend/connection request you sent to someone on LinkedIn:

Go to: My Network --> Manage All --> Sent --> Select --> Withdraw

- Rahul Tiwary

Photos: Figurines

Beautiful figurines kept at a lunch arrangement in office:

- Rahul Tiwary 

Television: Game of Thrones: The Childish Khaleesi Thread

These days, Star World is airing older seasons of Game of Thrones (GOT) as a precursor to the final season 8 of GOT which is going to be released in April'19. I watched a few episodes of Season 4 recently on Star World. One curious thing I observed was that how out of place this whole "Khaleesi" business looks like in the overall scheme of GOT!

The initial part of the story where Daenerys Targaryen goes on to become Khaleesi was really captivating. But post that, this whole bringing up of "dragons" in the GOT world and also the way she is shown ruling her kingdom with a compassion and care (which is so much lacking in all characters of GOT); makes her fall out of the GOT scheme of things and it just appears "weird" watching her. 

First, Daenerys Targaryen's character played by Emilia Clarke looks too childish and she does not age at all as we go along. She was from a royal household and had to undergo a lot of atrocities before and after becoming Khaleesi. But if you look at her face even when she is Khaleesi, it still shows same innocence and child like cuteness which came natural to her. Where is any sternness or ruthlessness reflecting anywhere on her face? She looks pure as ever. I don't think this is by design; it appears to be rather Emilia's inability to portray this character properly. I know Khaleesi is supposed to be a good queen and hence she must not look evil. But some grey appearing on her face would make it more natural. 

And not to forget, Khaleesi's white hair looks too artificial. I know that all of Targaryens' hair is silver-white. But only Daenerys Targaryen (aka Khaleesi)'s hair looks like a "wig". This could have been improved upon. 

Picture: Fake Hair Alert

Then I wonder what was the necessity to bring in the "dragons". Come on, GOT is not a child fiction or a fairy tale! Is it that GOT makers wanted to attract some juvenile audiences and hence brought in Khaleesi and her dragons to appeal to the younger age audiences? Or is it that dragons were supposed to be an out of the box power she was expected to have in order to come out strongly? We know there were several other options including magic or some supernatural powers which could have been attributed to her; instead of this compulsion of bringing in the dragons! 

Picture: Childish Dragons of GOT

Because of the dragons, GOT looks like a cheap commercial Chinese movie. It was not worth it.

Now, in the Season 4 episodes I watched, Khaleesi can be seen attending to her citizens in her court and granting them their wishes. She also bothers to speak out "Send the next one in" herself every time; tirelessly. She is always compassionate, noble, tired and agreeable. She is pained some times at people's demands, appears to be swallowing her own disagreements, but always ending up granting them their wishes, no matter what wrong they did in the past. This looks like a kind of cheap "popularity" that she is aiming at. But it is not. It appears that GOT makers were confused and did not work much on how to make her character "humane" while still keeping her as a "GOT character". And while all other threads of stories appear to be gripping and intense, whenever Khaleesi appears on the screen, the pace of the story comes down immediately and GOT turns real "boring". I never thought GOT could be boring; so thanks Khaleesi for doing this. 

Picture: Khaleesi: the good and boring queen

Even Khaleesi's servants are so boring. She has a maid called Missandei (portrayed by Nathalie Emmanuel) who looks like a college student. She stands tall as if she were a queen herself. And she would never have got that kind of hair without a modern saloon. Then there is Grey Worm (role played by Jacob Anderson) with his expressionless and Barack Obama like face. Both servants are as boring as their Khaleesi. 

Picture: Missandei and Grey Worm: Two avoidable characters

Apart from Khaleesi's story thread, all other threads are very gripping. I am also liking the Star World's Game of Thrones series, since it does not show too much of violence and objectionable scenes. Still, the intensity of the story is well maintained in these episodes. From Season 4, just imagine the fight between the Mountain and Oberyn Martell and how tragically Oberyn gets killed. 

- Rahul Tiwary

Hinduism: How Can Hindus Eat Meat on Holi

Someone asked how could non-vegetarian Hindus eat meat on the day of Holi festival. Is the festival not supposed to be religious in nature and hence non-veg food should be avoided? That is a fair question and we should think about it. 

First of all, vegetarians and non-vegetarians folks exist in all religions. India and Hindus have a diverse society. Different sets of Hindus can practice different practices and are still Hindus. This aspect of Hinduism can become confusing to those with Western ideological influence. But, it can be understood with time. Hinduism is not an exclusivist or a rigid religion - it allows its practitioners to follow different 'paths' and still work towards the same 'goal'. Therefore, one should never be surprised to find two Hindus, one vegetarian and one non-vegetarian, and both trying to say how their habits are good and as per their religion. So we shall leave it at that. 

Eating habits are personal choices and influenced by several factors like cultural, regional, economic and market driven. I believe along with a lot others that vegetarianism is much better option and must be practiced by all as much as possible. At the same time, when I find non-vegetarians, I do not ridicule or call them evil. 

In general, even non-vegetarian or meat-eating Hindus avoid eating non-veg food or meat on the days of religious festivals. A lot of them also do not eat meat on some specific days of the week which have religious significance - e.g. Tuesdays or Thursdays. 

Now, coming to Holi. The festival of Holi is not a 'one day' event. It spreads over several days depending on the region and local cultural. But most important and popular days are two. One day of "Holika Dahan" on which Holika is symbolically burnt as a symbol of all things evil and bad burning and only the truthful and pious surviving. This is done in the evening or night time. The next day after the Holika Dahan night is called "Rang Utsav" or even Dulheldi and some other names depending on the region. On this day, celebration is made with "color". This is why Holi is called "festival of colors". 

Like most other Hindu festivals, the timing of Holi festival is "scientific". Holi marks the "spring" season and is popularly called "festival of spring" (Vasant Utsav). The festival signifies the arrival of spring, the end of winter, and a festive day to meet others, play and laugh, forget and forgive, and repair broken relationships. The festival also celebrates the beginning of a good harvest season; given that India was an agrarian society. 

The day on which people celebrate it with color; is the day of unhindered enjoyment and fun. This is essentially "unrestricted". On this day, there is no boundary of rich and poor; educated and illiterate; fair skinned or dark skinned, or elders and youngers. Everyone is "same" on this day. Symbolically, after face is painted with color, no one can identify the other and hence all become one and equal. This is why Holi is called festival of communal harmony. There is no surprise that Holi is not only celebrated by Hindus alone but by people from other religions in India as well. 

Now, on this day, the non-vegetarian Hindus prepare special non-vegetarian dishes and enjoy. This is very similar to the fact that the vegetarian Hindus prepare special vegetarian dishes and enjoy. "Pua" is a special delicacy and "dahi vada" is another one; especially prepared on this day. No one looks at such food prepared to treat family and guests as "vegetarian" or "non vegetarian" food. Whatever is the food, it must be best on this day.

Now coming to the specific question about "how meat can be cooked on the day of a festival". First of all, Holi's Rang Utsav day on which color is played; no special "religious" pooja or other religious practices are followed. Holi is not a typical religious day to "pray" and "worship". It is rather the day to celebrate life. Therefore, this "vegetarian" or "non-vegetarian" differentiation between food is not a valid question at all on this day. We should leave it as one's personal choice to eat vegetarian or non-vegetarian food on this day too.  

Happy Holi to all! 

- Rahul