Just About Everything

Great Indian Bustard Birds of Desert National Park, Rajasthan It often surprises people to learn that birdwatchers go to deserts, hot, and cold ( Ladakh ) places in search of birds. The habitat, it seems, can't be sustaining bird life. In actuality it is quite the opposite!  A large number of species of birds are found all over Rajasthan like Larks, Wheatears, raptors including Vultures. Most of these birds are not colourful as they must camouflage themselves from predators. The Great Indian Bustard (image on the top left) is one of the critically endangered birds in India owing to hunting and loss of habitat. The habitats that these birds thrive in are dry grasslands, semi-desert regions, and scrubs. One of main reasons, for the Great Indian Bustard's reducing numbers in this region and in all parts of India, is because the earlier semi-desert lands have got transformed into farmed areas because of irrigation. These bird pictures are from the Desert National...

Items from Kalibangan site In continuation to my earlier post on Kalibangan , here are some more old pictures of the pre-harappan and harappan site from the Archaeological museum in Kalibangan, Rajasthan, India. Picture of the original site after excavation at the museum Picture of the original site after excavation at the museum Picture of the original Kalibangan site after excavation at the museum Picture of the original site now Picture of the original site now

Terracotta Bullock Cart Kalibangan in Rajasthan, India, is the site of one of the most ancient civilizations in India. Dated even before the Harappan culture, this site in Kalibangan is perhaps one of the earliest proof of ancient civilization in India. A settlement dating back to pre-harappan and Harappan civilization was unearthed way back in 1962 by Dr. A Ghosh of ASI, in Kalibangan in the Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan. Kalibangan happens to be one of the major sites of the Indus Valley Civilization that was in existence around 2400-2250 BC. After completing the excavations, it was established that there were two settlements Pre-Harappan (2400-2250 BC) and Harappan civilization from 2200 -1700 BC. The archaeological museum in Kalibangan has many interesting items recovered during excavations. These pictures are from the Archaeological museum. How to reach Kalibangan? The nearest railway station is in Bikaner, Rajasthan. You can hire a car or drive to Kalibangan f...

Demoiselle cranes, Khichan Tucked away in a rather remote area of Rajasthan is a village called Khichan. Khichan is not a place that usually features in a tourist's list. It is one of those off-the beaten destinations that is well-worth visiting though. You will likely hear of this place from birding enthusiasts, in fact  that is how I came to know of  Khichan. My  cousin Soma, who is an active birder told me about the existence of this place. She went there last winter and clicked some awesome pictures. Khichan is a must visit if you wish to witness quite an unusual sight. Would you like to see hundreds of Demoiselle cranes in one place? Khichan is where you can witness this amazingly beautiful and unusual sight. Flocks Demoiselle cranes Khichan Demoiselle cranes Rajasthan, India This migration has been happening since a very long time.The locals have helped in conserving and protecting this area. The cranes are fed grains every day and that i...

December, January, and February are the most happening months in Kolkata. The city is on a high, with music festivals, book fair, and a whole lot of other activities. After all, at Kolkata we only get to enjoy three months of winter and that is when the weather is at its best behaviour. Come summer almost everything wilts under the heat and humidity, and the city pretty much reaches its lowest low as far as festivals and fairs are concerned...I don't want to think of summers just now; even though winter is almost gone, I am still hanging on to it. I wish winter would stretch for six months at least. Kolkata and music go hand in hand. I think a huge percentage of Kolkatans enjoy good music. I wonder why we don't have more bands playing in Kolkata. Just like Baul music there is something deeply spiritual about Sufi music. A group of performers,who performed at the festival, are known as Manganiyars, and they are from Rajasthan. Some of the top Sufi performers performed at th...

I just got back from a rather hectic but wonderful trip! We had a very packed schedule; we wanted to pack in as much as possible in a week. We were traveling almost every night! Our first stop was Delhi. North India is much more easily accessible from Delhi, in the sense that the distances are less, overnight journeys by train can get you to Rajasthan and Punjab easily. We saved a lot of time that way. Our first destination was Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan. Ranthambore National Park is in Sawai Madhopur District of Rajasthan state. By road One can get to Jaipur within less than 4 hours, the usual route is from Jaipur to Tonk and then Sawai Madhopur. The distance by rail from Delhi is around 362 kms. We boarded an overnight train to Sawai Madhopur. The park is at the junction of the Aravalli and Vindhya hill range. It covers an area of Approximately 400 sq Km. Rantambore was a wildlife sanctuary in 1957 and 1974. It earned the status of a National park in 1981. We had organise...