Ushering in the New Year...

What the future holds for us depends on what we hold for the future.

May all your days be beautiful and bright..

Keep your face to the sunshine,

Let a series of happy thoughts run through your mind.

They will show on your face.

Happy New Year !!

HAPPY NEW YEAR
H ours of happy times with friends and family
A bundant time for relaxation
P rosperity
P lenty of love when you need it the most
Y outhful excitement at lifes simple pleasures

N ights of restful slumber (you know - dont' worry be happy)
E verything you need
W ishing you love and light

Y ears and years of good health
E njoyment and mirth
A angels to watch over you
R embrances of a happy years!

As the new year blossoms,

may the journey of your life

be fragrant with new opportunities,

your days be bright with new hopes

and your heart be happy with love!

Happy New Year!

When you're lonely, I wish you Love!
When you're down, I wish you Joy!
When you're troubled, I wish you Peace!
When things seem empty, I wish you Hope!
Have a Happy New Year!

May the dawning of this New Year,

fill your heart with new hopes,

open up new horizons and b

ring for you promises of brighter tomorrows.

May you have a great New Year.

Boat Ride...

This Boat ride across the Galgibagh River is not pleasure.. but is a necessity...

If not for this Boat ride of less than Five minutes, these vilagers have to make a road trip of nearly 8 kms....

Kali River Sunrise

Sand-Mining Boats rest on the River Kali, as a crow flies just after Sunrise....

The Fort in Ruins at Mirjaan...

THE MIRJAN FORT

This fort is in the Mirjan village on NH-17, 10 km from Kumta in Uttara Kannada District.The Fort at Mirjan was constructed during A.D 1608-1640.

Excavation conducted at the site during the field season 2000-01 has unearthed a number of laterite structures of medieval period . The structural remains include a U shaped structure with a cloister all around.

Towards the west of the U shaped structures, a circular soakage pit constructed of dressed laterite stones and water tank connected with water carrier were exposed. Among the antiquities mention may be made of a unique gold coin issued in A.D. 1652 by the Portuguese Viceroy Conde De Sarzedas during the rule of JOAO IV. The other antiquities include canon balls, Chinese Porcelain, clay tablets with Islamic inscriptions. (Text Source - Yashaswipayana)

From the Deccan Herald -

The Mirjan Fort must have witnessed numerous battles, ghastly episodes of violence and the tears and joys of kings and their subjects. Today, this serene historical site reminds tourists of the glories of the past. The fort is situated on NH17, about 11 km from Kumta, on the way to the famous pilgrim and tourist centre of Gokarna. Situated in an area of over 10 acres, the laterite-stone-built Mirjan fort has broad steps that lead to the interiors of the fort, where the ruins make visitors ponder over the lost historical significance of the place. There is a reference to Mirjan in the records of foreign travellers like De Barros, Barbosa, Hamilton and Buchanan. Barros, in whose record Mirjan is referred to as Mergan, was under the rule of Vijayanagar kings. While in 1720 Hamilton referred to Mirjan as a small harbour famous for pepper, cussia and wild nutmeg, in 1801, Buchanan referred to it as Midijoy. The historical records that are available state that the place was under the governance of Gerusoppa rulers during Vijayanagara times. Soon after the fall of Gerusoppa rulers, Bijapur sultans are said to have conquered the place and Sharief-ul-mulk, the governor of Goa, is believed to have either built or renovated the fort here.Keladi queen Chennamma conquered the territories at a later stage.The number of wells (as many as nine) inside the fort, the routes connecting these wells to the outside of the fort and the canal works surrounding the fort make one infer that these waterways must have been used for ferrying. The fort also has traces of a secret outlet, entrance doors, an astounding darbar hall and a market place. The remains of some idols, believed to have been found in the fort, have now taken refuge under the shade of a big tree.

Seven dumb-bells, 50 iron bullets, coins and designed earth pots belonging to Sarpamallika dynasty were found during excavation at Mirjan fort in Kumata taluk, 120 km from Dharwad district of Karnataka. State archaeological department superintendent K Veerabhadrappa said here on Thursday that the dumb-bells, weighed 20 kg each, and the iron bullets were more than 500 years old. - Indian Express

From Aayirecipes.com :-

While growing up, Independence day and republic day of India were big occasions for all kids. There used to be preparations for the parade weeks before these days. On the big day, there used to be flag hoisting in our school early in the morning. Then our teachers would take us in a procession to a old fort in a nearby village called ‘Mirjan’. There, the kids of all neighboring schools would gather. The Chairman of the Mirjan gram(village) would hoist the flag and give a speech. They would distribute some sweets/candys to all the kids and we would come back to our respective schools. Ohh, I can’t explain how happy we used to be to get those sweets/candys, even though we used to eat like princes/princesses daily at home, those small pieces distributed on these days were a big treat for us. We also got to meet so many other school children, some of whom were very arrogant to talk and some were very friendly. I also remember, only 4+ standard(grade) children were taken to this fort because it was quite far and we had to walk all the way. More here...

More Links -
1. Archeological Survey of India - http://www.asi.nic.in/asi_exca_2005_karnataka.asp
2. http://golden-chariot.com/sites.html#13
3. Google Books - Shivaji and his times By Sir Jadunath Sarkar
4. http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/military/40679.htm
5. http://www.jstor.org/pss/1150031
6. http://karwar-ramdas.blogspot.com/

Hot-Air Baloon at Karwar Beach

The Capture-Earth Team had organised a HR Outbound Training for the Employees of Bosch and it was held at the Tagore Beach at Karwar as a Three-day Event, ending tomorrow. 

Though the Event was not publicized much, it became a Center of Attraction for the people of Karwar, who had come for a walk on the Beach.

People were watching the whole exercise of blowing the Baloon with Hot-Air from the Deputy Commissioner's Office Building, kids stopped pestering for Ice-cream, old folk were cleaning their glasses, the Baloon-sellers were temporarily out of business and had their quiet moments on the beach...

The Bosch Team members look on...

The traffic on the Highway had partially stopped....

But it was too windy for the Baloon to take off....

Godess Mahamaya takes a trip... Continued...

Continued from the earlier post... This collage explains everything...

Female Devotees (Married women), to appease the Goddess for favours, and sometimes to show their gratitude to the Goddess fro granting Favours/Blessings, do this special kind of dance with a wooden stand with "diya" holders(burning cotton-wicks in Oil in a earthen-containers) ...

Seems dangerous, but the ladies take slow and small steps, concentrating on the lamps... accompanied by the beating of drums and Shehnai (pipes)...

The Ambassador...

Ambassador, the Official "Government of India" car came much much before the Premier Padmini, and it continues to hold on.... Here are a few Ambassadors with the ubiquitous Red Beacon Lights....

The Hindustan Ambassador is a car manufactured by Hindustan Motors of India. It has been in production since 1958 without much modifications or changes and is based on the Morris Oxford III model first made by the Morris Motor Company at Cowley, Oxford in the United Kingdom from 1956 to 1959.
Despite its British origins, the Ambassador is considered the definitive Indian car and is fondly called "The king of Indian roads". The automobile is manufactured by Hindustan Motors at its Uttarpara plant near Kolkata, West Bengal.It is the most popular car in India and is perceived to be best suited to the harsh Indian terrain. Its iconic status was helped by the fact that it was the preferred means of conveyance of India's political leadership, including the Prime Minister of India, before they moved on[citation needed] to other luxury cars and SUVs. In 2002, then-Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee started traveling in an armored BMW 7i vehicle for security purposes. However, some prominent Indian politicians, such as Sonia Gandhi, continue with their preference for the Hindustan Ambassador. Source - Wikipedia

Premier Padmini

This restored Beauty belongs to my friend, and still runs like a dream..... without any modifications whatsoever...

Premier Padmini was an automobile manufactured in India from 1968 to 2000. Premier Automobiles Limited, erstwhile flagship company of India's Walchand Hirachand Group, assembled Fiat's Fiat 1100 cars from the 1950s until 1997. The car ruled Indian roads for three decades (1955-1985). The Fiat 1100D based on the Fiat 1200 GranLuce Berlina debuted in India in 1964 with a 1,089 cc 4-cylinder engine.

Premier manufactured it at their Kurla, Mumbai plant until they sold majority stake to Fiat SpA in Sept. 1997. With minor modifications over the years, it was variously named Fiat 1100/103, Fiat Millecento, Fiat 1100-Delight, Premier President and Premier Padmini.

Numerous examples still abound as taxicabs in Mumbai. Many of these taxis now run on CNG for fuel economy. Along with the Hindustan Ambassador, it harks back to the socialist India of pre-liberalization, before the reforms program of 1991.

More Images of Premier Padmini - here

A Squirrel

This Tiny Little Squirrel wandered away from its mother, and was shrieking in Panic, when we found her/him.. The building in the background is the District and Sessions Court of Karwar, constructed in the year - 1856. Several families of Squirrels reside in the huge Banyan Tree opposite the Court building and this one was later taken by its mother to the top of the Tile roof of the District Court building,where in the gap between the tiles and the wooden ceiling, the mother Squirrel has made its home for its young one....

Godess Mahamaya takes a trip...

Carried by a huge band of devotees, in a anciant - specially designed palanquin with the temple dome on the top, Godess Mahamaya of Sadasivgad/Chittakula takes a trip.... This picture is taken during Her return journey....

The dome of the Palanquin is lit up wqith tiny light bulbs, powered by a small generator set, strapped to the palanquin at the back.... The set up is so heavy, it needs at least 20 men to haul it around....

All along the route of Her return journey, villagers erect entrances decorated with mango leaves, lights, etc and offer poojas at every 15-20 feet distance... And the group carrying the palanquin shuffles and changes, with new sets of shoulders.... And by the time the Godess reaches Her temple 4 kms away, its 3-00 am...

Waves at Sunrise....

Waves break at he Tagore Beach, just after Sunrise.....

Posting this picture after a long long break... After a long time gap between heavy rains 43cms in 36 hours, flooding all over the town, landslides at a couple of villages, 20 lives lost, 350 houses collapse, and more extensive collateral damage...

But life at Karwar goes on as usual... Seems like the dawn after the deluge..... And they say there is 2012....

Greetings to all !!!

Contrasting Colours - Collage of Rangoli-s

This was the best I could offer, for this October's Theme of Contrasts on the City Daily Photo portal.

This is a collage of Rangoli Designs that I captured here in Karwar, in the various festivals and fairs over a period of time.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

The Red Vespa

This beautifully restored Vespa was spotted and shot at Palolem, Canacona, Goa. The Owner/rider of the Vespa posed for me camera for a few seconds, and off he was gone...... Thank God , I had the presence of mind to shoot this picture....

Death of a Hump-back Whale

The whale, trapped in the sand, was noticed by the fishermen on Thursday evening itself. The high tide in the sea might have masked its visibility. It was thought that the whale might swim back into the sea during night. But low tide obstructed its journey into deep waters. As a result, the aquatic mammal developed high blood pressure, which proved fatal. People thronged the shore to have a glimpse of the mammoth animal.
Prof V N Naik of Marine Biology Department, Karnatak University informed the Forest Department about the whale.
The efforts of Gopashitta Range Forest Officer K D Naik to lift the 3-tonne whale from water, using ropes went in vain. The carcass was later extricated using a JCB during low tide, and buried in a 35 feet pit, after a post-mortem.
Professor V N Naik told Deccan Herald that a skeleton of a 40-foot long whale that was washed ashore in 1973 has been preserved in the University and the authorities concerned would be requested to donate the skeleton of Humpback whale to the science centre.
Whales have been classified as endangered species and they usually come near the shore either in search of food or when chased by sharks. Generally measuring 100 feet in length, whales are found at a depth of 200 to 600 meters in the sea. Hunting whales is an offence under Wildlife Protection Act. Source - Deccan Herald

Other News sources -

Times of India, Daiji World (with Pictures), Hindu, Indian Express, Udayavani

Older Post on this - here

Responding to my fellow Blogger J.C. - Yes I was one of the fortunate few people who saw the whale and took the Pictures. The sight left me with immense Grief.

I remember a few years back, we, the members of the Karavali Youth Adventure Club (KAYAC), Karwar, had found a Nine foot long Injured and Dead Porpoise - like Fish on the Tagore Beach at Karwar, durng the Monsoons. We had informed the local Fisheries Department and had later buried the mammal. It was like burying one of our own kind....

Karwar Beach Clean Up

About 286 people, from all walks of life, got together at Tagore Beach, Karwar, on this September 19th, at 8-00 AM for Cleaning Up the Tagore Beach, and took part in the International Coastal Clean Up Day, called for by the Ocean Conservancy . Org.

The participants were from local Schools and Colleges, viz.,

• St. Joseph's High School (National Cadet Corps' Units)
• Hindu High School
• Bapuji College (National Service Scheme Units)
• Shivaji College, Baad
• Marine Biology University
• Karavali Youth Adventure Club (R)
• Sri Krishna Sports Club, Sadashivgad
• Rotary Club Seaside, Karwar
• Karwar City Municipality, etc.

B. S. Pai Co-ordinated the event, with Infra support from the Karwar City Municipal President Ganapati Ulvekar and his Councillors/Staff.

Dr. V. N Nayak of the Marine Biology University gave instructions and sensitized the participants on Ocean Pollution.

The Clean Up event went on up-to noon, and the Sun God favored the participants by taking cover under the Clouds.

My Earlier post on International Coastal Clean Up here...

P.S. - Suffered a nasty Crash, and formatting the pc wiped off many of my pictures... :-( sic..... so couldnt use the pc for 3 days.....

Stranded Whale dies at Devbagh Beach....

This whale got stranded last night, and got stuck at the Kali River estuary near Devbagh beach. Late night it was found dead by the local fishermen. This morning, the mammal was pulled to the shore, for examining the cause of its death, and for burying it....

More news on this Tomorrow...

Leaves of Grass - A Paddy Field

This picture of a Rice Field, with the crop standing, constantly reminds me of the "Leaves of Grass" of Walt Whitman.....

Lines from "Song of Myself"

"A child said What is grass? fetching it to one with full hands

How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he.

I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of the hopeful green stuff woven.

of I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,

A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt,

Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners,

that we may see and remark, and say Whose?...

And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves."

A Poem by Walt Whitman (His Life excerpt here..)

Leaves of Grass (1855) is a poetry collection by the American poet Walt Whitman. Among the poems in the collection are "Song of Myself," "I Sing the Body Electric," "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking," and in later editions, Whitman's elegy to the assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd." This book is notable for its delight in and praise of the senses during a time when such candid displays were considered immoral. Where much previous poetry, especially English, relied on symbolism, allegory, and meditation on the religious and spiritual, Leaves of Grass (particularly the first edition) exalted the body and the material world. Influenced by the Transcendentalist movement, itself an offshoot of Romanticism, Whitman's poetry praises nature and the individual human's role in it. However, Whitman does not diminish the role of themind or the spirit; rather, he elevates the human form and the human mind, deeming both worthy of poetic praise. (From Wikipedia)

What can be written of Walt Whitman that has not already been pondered or researched? The good, gray poet is an American literary icon. Leaves of Grass was his opus, his life's work. He originally published the collection of poems himself in 1855 and proceeded to submit anonymous reviews extolling the book's greatness to magazines and newspapers.
The ordinary becomes extraordinary in Whitman's perspective as he gladly and patiently passes that perspective on to his readers. He calls to them still :

"I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,
If you want me again look for me under your bootsoles... " (Source Here)

The Entire Leaves of Grass can be read here.

My other Picture Posts of Rice/Paddy Fields - here, here, here and here.

Butterfiles.....

Shot this picture in a Garden..... I didnt know what to caption this picture, so I Googled Poems on Mating, and this is the First Best one that I found..... A Brilliant poem !! which very well suits this picture, I believe....

Mating by David Herbert Lawrence

Round clouds roll in the arms of the wind,

The round earth rolls in a clasp of blue sky,

And see, where the budding hazels are thinned,

The wild anemones lie

In undulating shivers beneath the wind.

Over the blue of the waters ply

White ducks, a living flotilla of cloud;

And, look you, floating just thereby,

The blue-gleamed drake stems proud

Like Abraham, whose seed should multiply.

In the lustrous gleam of the water, there

Scramble seven toads across the silk, obscure leaves,

Seven toads that meet in the dusk to share

The darkness that interweaves

The sky and earth and water and live things everywhere.

Look now, through the woods where the beech-green spurts

Like a storm of emerald snow, look, see

A great bay stallion dances, skirts

The bushes sumptuously,

Going outward now in the spring to his brief deserts.

Ah love, with your rich, warm face aglow,

What sudden expectation opens you

So wide as you watch the catkins blow

Their dust from the birch on the blue

Lift of the pulsing wind—ah, tell me you know!

Ah, surely!

Ah, sure from the golden sun

A quickening, masculine gleam floats in to all

Us creatures, people and flowers undone,

Lying open under his thrall,

As he begets the year in us.

What, then, would you shun?

Why, I should think that from the earth there fly

Fine thrills to the neighbour stars, fine yellow beams

Thrown lustily off from our full-blown, high

Bursting globe of dreams,

To quicken the spheres that are virgin still in the sky.

Do you not hear each morsel thrill

With joy at travelling to plant itself within

The expectant one, therein to instil

New rapture, new shape to win,

From the thick of life wake up another will?

Surely, and if that I would spill

The vivid, ah, the fiery surplus of life,

From off my brimming measure, to fill

You, and flush you rife

With increase, do you call it evil, and always evil?

Source

Karwar Beach - International Coastal Cleanup

There is a four kms. long beach in Karwar city. It has become dirty due to throwing of waste plastic and other non organic material. So also the Sea throws up a lot of things as there is a ocean going vessel port nearby.

Whether you live near the coast or thousands of miles inland, we are all connected to the ocean. It drives and moderates our climate, it helps provide the water we drink, the air we breathe, and much of the food we eat. The ocean also absorbs much of the pollution we generate. And trash that falls from our hands is one of the most pervasive pollution problems facing our world's ocean.

But it doesn't have to be…keeping our ocean free from trash is one of the easiest things we can do to help protect it.

In partnership with organizations and individuals across the globe, Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup engages people to remove trash and debris from the world's beaches and waterways, identify the sources of debris, and change the behaviors that cause marine debris in the first place.

Join us this September 19th : Sign up for a Cleanup near you and get involved today!

Tweet me here - http://bit.ly/7wQhJ

Chariots in B&W and Color

Two Temple Chariots, big and small, Old and new, in a Temple Garage....

H is for Highway...

The National Highway no.17 connecting Mumbai and Kochi, Kerala, 1296km long, runs through Karwar, across the Kali River... More about the Highway here..

This picture is for the ABC Wednesday Round-3 theme..

Clouds on the Mountains

The Clouds have descended on Karwar, trapped by the Western Ghats, and it has been raining since 22nd August, almost non-stop...

Guess the Heat/Radiation generated by a Power Plant 40 kms East of Karwar, repels the Clouds from moving Inland towards the East....