Kodaikanal upland villages bore a lot of grasslands and sholas around them, providing a great feeding ground for cattle. So, sheep rearing is a natural habit; and to enhance the custom, the Central Government has established a sheep farm in a village called Mannavanur to produce wool from the sheep.
Recently, I watched a video on youtube on the real purpose of the wool produced here: Sheep farm set up after India's defeat in the war with China in 1962. The main reason for the loss in the war was the cold that prevailed at the India-China border. Indian soldiers couldn't bear the cold because of the lack of woolen cloths available at that time, and keeping that in mind, the government brought the sheep farm on the 1340 acres of rolling grasslands at an altitude of 2000 meters MSL.
I visited a part of the grasslands during one of my trips to Kodaikanal in 2009 - that time, I came close with a herd of sheep from the farm. A little boy was driving those sheep, and they were simultaneously grazing the ground (heads-down like new brides) and kept moving that way.
I captured the sheep (in the picture above) in 2019 on the roadside near Poombarai. One of the scenic villages of Kodaikanal, on the way to Mannavanur. A rope and bell tied to the neck of the sheep show it belongs to a villager, and the sheep was munching on cabbage leaves from a sack left beside.
The sheep was cute and dirt as well and smelled not good. Its fur was a tangle, perhaps because of that, because it smelled, or due to the munching of cabbage. Anyway, it cooperated with shots.
The sheep in the farm produce wool once a year, and every year in March, the sheep goes through fur removal after growing enough of the same. After removing, the fur transports as a raw material to a place (I forget) where the fur collected from elsewhere goes into the process of making woolen blankets for soldiers defending the country against cold.
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| The view of the sheep farm and sheep enclosures |
Each sheep produces 1 to 3 kg of fur each year, but in the process, they are halved. The Sheep farm (Southern Regional Research Centre) in Mannavanur is a regional center of the Central Sheep & Wool Research Institute, a premier Institution of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. (source wiki)
The first bird I shot from my first time stay at my uncle's woodhouse in Thandikudi, near Kodaikanal, was the Crested serpent eagle. The bird of prey came very close, perching a tree in the backyard of the woodhouse, and I shot the bird from the balcony that overlooks the coffee plantation and wild vegetation.
I already stayed at Thandikudi twice then and have seen the serpent eagle in one of my trips, but that was the first time I encountered at the close, and the bird was looking for prey - perhaps a little bird that was flying around. The bird flew later with a great swish-swash of its widespread wings.
My uncle constructed the woodhouse and cottage in late 2015 in the coffee estate he bought lately then, and we have been visiting the property (Smokey Haven) since 2016 until pandemic blocked any course of travel. Glad I hold many photos from the trips to the property to unfold any time to travel back in memories and thus a moment shared with an eagle.
The Crested serpent eagle is a medium-sized bird of prey found in forested habitats across tropical Asia. Like its broad wings (with which it flies over the forest canopy), the bird's range is widespread across Asia, with variations within itself; some treat several of its subspecies as separate species. The bird with long feathers on the back of the head (apart from having a look of a large head) give them a maned and crested appearance, and hence feeding on snakes often, gave them their name and are placed along with the snake eagles in the subfamily Circaetinae. (source wiki)
Foxes and Jackals have become an endangered species in our Indian subcontinent, and I remember seeing a Jackal (in wilder) only once in the Kodiakkarai scrub forest, aka Point Calimere. I have been to many wild forests, but nowhere I could see a Fox or Jackal. It seems the foxes have almost lost their habitation, and who could be responsible for that other than us, the human beings?
Man hunted foxes/jackals for their skin and flesh - believing to have medical values is used in traditional medicine is one of the reasons for the foxes to disappear from the forest. And those who hunt foxes are called Narikuravar (fox tribe) in southern India, and they sell things made of fox body parts, esp. they make necklaces with fox tooth hanging.
But they stopped hunting fox/jackals after the Indian Wildlife Conservation Act (1972 as amended to 2005) forbids the hunting of all wildlife; they were prohibited entry into the forests; thus took alternatives such as selling beaded ornaments to survive. But beyond that, habitat loss is the main reason for the fox/jackal to become endangered. The conversion of grassland habitat to agriculture, industry, and increasingly bio-fuel plantations have drastically affected its population.
There is an attitude of comparing fox/jackal trickery and ingenuity with people among us, who are very sharp, specific, and self-centered. There's a famous story of The Fox and Crow told in various versions (and ours was "granny's vada"); to praise the trickiness of fox, but the moral of the story was to never deceive anyone cunningly for our benefit and don't believe everyone's word.
There is also a superstition in India that waking up on a fox face or hearing a jackal howl means good things will happen. And there are much folklore, mythology, and literature relevant to the jackal's cunningness and religious beliefs. So whatever it is, preserving a dying species is everyone's duty, and those living around the forest need to be more responsible, emphasizing the same.
The golden jackal I shared here was shot at Amirthi Zoological Park, near Vellore. The Park has a nice set of dens, that too a colorful one - paintings of trees resembling the walls of the kindergarten - covered by a partial dome-like cage. When we visited, a lone jackal was roaming outside the dens - there are two separate dens, what I guess was there must be at least a pair of jackals - right now, only one is available.
The Golden Jackal, believed to be a social animal that lives either as pairs or packs like wolves, is native to Southeast Europe to Southeast Asia. Comparatively, a small size wolf, "the jackal possesses shorter legs and a shorter tail, a more elongated torso, a less-prominent forehead, and a narrower and more pointed muzzle. The golden jackal's coat can vary in color from a pale creamy yellow in summer to a dark tawny beige in winter."
"The genetic studies indicate the golden jackal expanded from India around 20,000 years ago, towards the end of the last ice age. Golden jackals' habitat in valleys and beside rivers and their tributaries, canals, lakes, and seashores feed on foods ranging from fruit and insects to small ungulates." (courtesy wiki)
A couple of crows have built a nest in the Rain Tree right outside of the balcony. 2 months back, I saw a crow nest on the Indian Tulip Tree next to the Rain Tree, and the nest was rest on the treetop so I could only see that too not clear for the eyes or cam lens. But I'm not sure it was the same nest rebuilt here because once the crow started building the nest, the other one disappeared, which I didn't notice after the new one.
The crows are always there, either sitting on the nest to brood or maintain a watchful distance. The parenting crows are friendly with us, unlike early, hitting the head when coming out into the balcony when nested. Perhaps, because these crows see us daily or old residents of the neighborhood, despite picking up titbits from the leftover dog food on the balcony, one crow used to venture into the living room to seek food for its chicks.
Another day I was eating something, and the crow came perched on the stool nearby in a gesture of asking for food, and the compassion in me couldn't stop dropping down pieces of food to the floor next to the wheelchair was picked up by the crow. We have a couple of dogs, and they always sleep on the balcony but never did they scared crows unless irritated, and for us, they are annoying sometimes when pooped on the clothes that are left for dry on the balcony rail. But for this reason, alone, we couldn't stop leaving food for crows.
My mom captured the nest (pic above) from the balcony above us showed the chick's partial underparts. But seeing her shooting nest, the crows flew in and covered the chicks, and thus she couldn't capture a clear picture of the nest. I think the chicks would get the wing to fly in a few weeks, but so far, its wide-open red beak alone is visible for me.
On the edge of life
looking for
a glimpse of light
to let fly
or fall.
P.s. the silhouette is a pigeon, from its usual viewpoint - an apartment top, a few houses from ours.
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| Kodaikanal lake on a cold evening. |
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| A beautiful private boathouse along the Kodaikanal Lake. |
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| A couple enjoying their boat ride in the lake. Glad motorboats are not allowed in the lake to keep it clean. |
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| The road that goes around the Kodaikanal Lake for about 6kms |
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| Cycling is one of the favorite activities for anyone who visits the Kodai lake, and you see some guys enjoying their ride around the lake. This is a candid shot I captured from inside the car. |
There wasn't a trip to Kodaikanal complete without coming
around the Kodaikanal Lake - the most favorite place in Kodaikanal. Taking a
drive around the lake is a favorite pastime for me whenever I visit Kodaikanal, and I also love spending time on
the lake sipping on hot tea. The star-shaped lake is one of a beautiful
artificial lake converted from a natural marshland, and it still retains its
original despite the lack of cleanliness. Hope you like the lake photos I posted
here.
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| Lake in thick mist and rain during a monsoon day in July |
The neighbor's garden opposite to
us is not flourishing as before, and the neighbor hasn't spent much time
gardening, but how can we anticipate a son, who lost his father less than 2
months ago, to do active gardening? But the weather wasn't that kind enough for
plants to flourish or flowers to bloom.
The flowering pot plants have
changed positions where I couldn't take photos of the few bloomed hibiscus
despite the interrupt in wires and grown branches of trees. I see the red and
yellow hibiscus bloomed more among the fewer blossoms of hibiscus, and all are
replaced as facing the neighbor's house, perhaps because watching flowers can
give some solace to the hearts and forget someone who lived for 94 years is not
easy.
I didn't take any photos of the
neighbor's garden in the last two months, or I need to check the camera to see
if I have missed downloading any photos into the laptop; anyhow, I like to
share some photos of the hibiscus I shot in March. So here it goes…
Btw. The lockdown and the situation with covid keep promising as cases of covid continue to reduce across the country, as well as in our state; the lockdown may last few more weeks with slight relaxation, but perhaps a week later.
It was a refreshing sight of yellow; though it wasn't a large landscape of yellow, I never got to see a marigold field of this much. And it was a great divertissement from the regular and boring sights of the highways and there's also a patch of mixed colors of an orange and yellow and yet un-bloomed bed of dark orange or red marigold.
It seems it was the dam water that made flourish the marigold. Though the marigold bloomed on both sides of the road, the view towards the backwater (2nd pic above) is scenic, and the blue sky and the sunny day made it glowing. Aside from that, a kind of white wildflowers bloomed in the barren lands, but still, I doubt whether they are wildflowers or a kind of cultivated flowers.
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| Field of white wildflower |
The field of flowers stretched only for a few km on the east bank of the reservoir, and it seems only the land around the dam is fertile, unlike its dry northern part where we drove along before drawing away to Puducherry. This reminds me of the rose fields I saw around Nagalapuram, at the border of Andhra and Tamil Nadu, had Pichatur Dam as its source.
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| The bed of red marigold ready to bloom |
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| The Indian raintree with fresh tender leaves after the shedding process since winter leaves. |
Grinning at me, like a degree holder
Succeeding the hard times of winter
And shedding leaves to regain a green cap.
The sun was shining brightly,
Contrary to the deep blue sky
The raintree lit a smile tenderly
despite being rough in tendency.
I want to cut off one of its trunks
For being an obstacle to the touching
breeze
And views of my neighbor's rebuilt garden,
its different shades of green garnishes.
With few brush-like blossoms
And hanging down of dry pods
Makeup the tree, to shimmer,
Like a new bride of summertime.
P.S. Guys did you notice? I changed the template of my blog, but it wasn't quite a change, as I just retained the size and design of the blog content and sidebar; I chose the travel theme as background with simply an open book to the left side. I also changed the header after a long time with an image I capture from the pretty White Town (French colony) in Puducherry.
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| The view of the house shot from the 3rd floor of our house (by my mom) and the garden view was blocked by the Indian tulip tree before the flood and rain. |
Due to the rise
of the road, the house and the garden went down, though they raised the
driveway, long back, the garden remained to the low level.
The house
belongs to a 94-year-old retired wing commander, and he maintained the garden
until he was active, and later his son took over the onus. I see he inherited
the interest in gardening from his father, and he even overtakes his father in
bringing a lot of flowering plants to the garden. The Nivar cyclone that hit us
on Nov 26th (the same day of my brother’s wedding) had flooded their house and
garden, and the extended rain had further worsened the situation.
I think it's the passion that kept him in the recovery mode of the garden, and man, no one would have spent like him in bringing back the garden when the situation for priorities are different. He had dumped many truckloads of rubble and fertile soil to uplift the garden and the works were going on for weeks before he got back his beautiful garden.
I watched the entire progress of the work from the balcony and also the hall, as our door and the window opens up overlooking the garden; I entertained by the elegant work of the
gardeners from the nursery in the next compound. I saw the fall and rise of the
garden, and I'm glad he decided to give life to the garden instead of giving
up.
I have crossed the Veedur Dam
several times when going beyond Villupuram on the GST road or NH 45 (or NH 138
according to Google maps), and I could only see a piece of the bank of the
4.5km long dam. I mostly took this national highway for long trips, as it is a prime road led to the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, and thus I never had
time to stop to look at the dam as we need to cover long distances in travel.
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| The entrance arch to the dam |
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| The 3 Tainter gates |
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| The view of the dam park and car parking |
The total height of the concrete dam
is 32 feet, and the earth dam is 37 feet; and among the 4.8 km long earth dam,
only 430 feet is a concrete dam. Besides the 9 spillway shutters, there are 3
Tainter gates - a type of radial arm floodgates used in dams and canal locks to
control water flow - which is something I find new. The dam has two little
parks, one at the entrance of the road, beside the archway, and another close
to the dam provides some nice shadows to the visitors and play area for kids.
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| Driving down to downstream area through the shadowy park area |
