Old Magazine House, Ganeshgudi- The Bird Paradise!

Bathing Beauty- White rumped Shama at Old Magazine House Ganeshgudi

A peaceful place where one can relax body and mind, little birds sing for you! Do you love birds? Just birds? No craze for tigers, no rushing safaris! Only colorful little winged wonders- birds and butterflies. The place is Old Magazine House in Ganeshgudi, Karnataka, India.

Finally a peek into the mighty Himalayas ...

Couple of months ago (though I am blogging about it now) I went trekking in Himachal Pradesh. The plan was to bird watch all along the path. And I added 70 new pics to my GALLERY. Yey! Okay, where did I go? First part was to trek up to Kareri Lake in the cradle of Dauladhars mainly looking for birds. And the second part was to reach Kaza and trek to 5 villages of Spiti Valley. Ohh! reaching Kaza-the base camp, itself was an adventure for the solo-first-timer with not much of info. The thrid part was, birding and wildlife viewing in the mountains of Kibber- Huff huff! Kareri Lake, though not too high above 10,000ft, was a refreshing trek amidst thick forest and boulders higher up. So more of bird life too. Big hairy Himalayan langurs were so beautiful. Their hair thick-long-straight-silky naturally worth considering for an expensive shampoo advertisement. And heeeee! spotted and photographed the shy Himalayan Monal. Thanks to my guide Arvind Sharma based in McLeodganj who is not only patient with his clients but also is a bird expert in Kangra Valley.

Roti and Rice, are they so different?

For the last 30 years or so I am traveling to North and Western Indian states and always I travel in Indian Railways. Every time I meet people from different parts of India. And every time people talk about the differences in the cultures, food, clothes etc. Most of them feeling superior than South Indians. I ignore such talks. Couple of months ago I heard a woman from one of the Western States whining relentlessly about the difficulties she is facing in Chennai. Her problem was that people of Tamil Nadu are dark in color, they wear lungi, even rich people! They eat rice, idly and Dosa sitting on the floor, they eat with hands. They always speak tamil. They don't have rich culture like North or Western states of India. Really? I am not from Chennai, still I don't agree.

The ancient Seat of Learning- Nalanda

The icon of Nalanda Temple-3

The private mini bus was jam-packed to the last step. I could only see through the window, the outside world looked big and green. The sights of rural Bihar were not much different from that of Uttar Pradesh. I was heading south from Patna towards Nalanda to visit the ruins of Mahavihara of ancient Kingdom Magadha. 90KM south of the capital city Patna, this place of importance is much visited by tourists as well as Buddhist and Jain pilgrims. From the minibus I was the only one to get off. I was surprised to see the ruins crowded with tourists, probably because it was a Sunday. In comparison, ruins at Vaishali were deserted and devoid of tourists!

1200 birds of India

Oriental White Eye at Khijdia Bird Sanctuary Gujarat

(CLICK HERE for the entire Photo Gallery)

A decade-and-a-half ago I was a bird enthusiast. It was my passion to identify birds. I even bought a then expensive zoom lens. But, soon I started with trekking and there was nothing else I thought of doing on weekends. When trekking I got the craze of waterfalls and then the waterfalls photography. I enjoyed watching wildlife including birds on the way though. Exclusive birding trips were long forgotten. Binoculars and zoom lens were left deep inside the closet. With the world travel and backpacking India trips I left behind the heavy camera gear and taking bird pictures was a forgotten story. I bought a high end point-and-shoot camera instead. Now, my trekking trips are stopped due to some mysterious illness. Recently, I was lazily browsing nothing in particular and found some articles on birds interesting. I was shocked to know many species of birds in India have found their place in the endangered list. It is very sad to know the very common birds are going uncommon. That info kind of rekindled the passion for birds in me! Thought if I don't see them now then I may not see them anytime later!

The relic stupa at Vaishali and the Asoka pilar at Kolhua

Canopy over Relic Stupa

To move in and around Patna city you will have to catch private buses and there is a separate stand for private buses- Mitapur. I got off from the shared autorikshaw and was nervous to see the dusty place with hundreds of old battered buses parked. It is insanely crowded place with bus drivers screaming to get passengers into their buses. I got into one of those numerous buses which would drop me near Vaishali. The bus driver and front seat passengers were kind enough to ask me the purpose of my visit so that they can drop me at the nearest cross road to my destination. After passing some green pastures of rice fields, banana groves I reached the outskirts of Vaishali. The bus stopped on the highway and I had to walk about a KM and half to reach the places of interest. There were no autorikshaws or cycle-rikshaws near the bus stop. One of the very few people sitting in the small tea stall there asked me what was I doing there. I told him about my interest. He stopped a passing motorcyclist and ordered him to drop me at the Relic Stupa! I was hesitant but the person insisted on taking a ride instead of walking all the way.

Backpacking India Part IV- In search of 1200 birds of India!

Map courtesy: Internet

Well, I am back after taking a long break from blogging. Many reasons for the break! First, I was sick with every bone and every joint in my body severely complaining :( After taking rest for a couple of months I was fed up of the walls around me. I fed up of liking, sharing, commenting the FB posts on Intolerant India, life inspirations, profile and cover pictures etc. I had never thought I would some day take interest in being active on Facebook. After suffering all the frustrations of being stuck in between four walls I decided go out no matter what! And I went travelling resisting the pain. Felt great indeed! I feel partly my pain is evaporated!