Green Day - Sapling Plantation Event by Cuddalore Team of Chennai Trekking Club - 4 Sep'16

 
We a group of nature loving people under the tag "CTC Cuddalore" organised  Green Day on 4 September 2016.

 

This initiative is part of Chennai Trekking Club's Ainthinai's efforts to create more spread of green on our Mother Earth.

 







 

We planted tree saplings inside the premises of St. Joseph's School, Manjakuppam,  
Cuddalore.

 
Mr.Sairam is a retired  forest dept official;  

 

 
He provided us saplings for this plantation drive. He has been developing tree saplings and providing them to people who are into planting sapling as a social activity. He provided 60+ tree saplings for free. It was a great support for us.

 

 

Before organising this, we invited people who are new to the fold of CTC, but are already experienced in nature activities. We got some vital inputs from them. Firstly they guided us to Mr.Sairam; secondly they advise us to do the digging of pits the previous day itself, thirdly it should be in a gated premises to avoid damage due to cattle.

The students of the St. Joseph's school had already dug the required pits in the designated place. It was a great help for us. Usually digging of pits for tree plantation takes up a hell lot of time. But since it was done the previous day itself, the tree plantation day was a cake walk. Nearly 50 saplings were planted within one hour. 

While everyone  removed the plastic bags and planted the saplings into the pits, one person (yours truly ofcourse) segregated away the plastic bags to avoid plastic debris polluting the places nearby. But there were sufficient plastic garbage found strewn around and we removed a total of 2 KGS of plastic garbage from the vicinity.

 

After the plantation work was over, Mr.Sairam gave an expert talk to us on his knowledge.

Some points shared by him are as follows...

In ancient times, deforestation is less and trees were more in numbers. Now more of people have lessened the space available for trees to grow. So it's important for us to plant and develop trees. It's like tending an infant to grow up.

Many animals inside forests are not getting enough food / fodder and are coming out into human habitation. People are now realising it and opine that blunders are being done by humans.

Tips for good saplings...
 
Sow the seeds, examine the sprouts which come out healthily. Select them for sapling plantation

Pit size should be larger, like 1.5 Cubic feet for our place/town - Cuddalore.

If done in rocky area, go for 3 cubic feet pit or 1 cubic metre pit.

Have farm yard manure/ fertilizer inside the pit for the sapling to get healthy and grow stronger.

Have red soil if you can get it.

The importance of taking deep pits is for trees to help their roots to go deeper and help them grow faster

The first important thing is that main root should go deeper and earlier. So make the pits as deeper as possible.

Sapling (seedlings) should be of 3 or 4 feet or more height while we sow. This helps in the  plant being tolerant to its new place of living and lessens probability to cattle attack.

Sapling with the soil should be handled with care, like an infant. Do not allow shock. That will kill the plant.

Do not water abundantly. That will kill the plant. Better to have wet as well as dry condition.Water it only if you find the tree is showing unhealthy symptoms due to want of water.Watering to be done only when needed. Excess watering is a kill.

Protection of plants is a necessity. Many types of tree guards are available. Just three poles and a chicken mesh is a simple and cost effective protection for a baby tree.

There is a misconception that  roots of trees will damage adjacent building. This is not true for most instances. We are having modern system for construction. Piling type of construction methods are there. These methods are insulated against any damages due to tree roots.

Three poisonous species tree are
Veli Karuvel maram
Parthenium
Neyveli Kattamanei

We had a great experience in gaining knowledge from him....

 
We had few snacks and the green warriors dispersed from the place with satisfaction. 

 

At last we found that we had extra saplings, we then went back to Mr.Sairam's home

 
And we gave the saplings back to him, so that it will be sent to a next social activity by himself.

 

We were awestruck to see that Mr.Sairam Sir is pruning up so many saplings at his home.
 
A day well spent...

Link to the photo album:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1569682533341617.1073741831.1536145966695274&type=3

FB page of CTC Cuddalore wing is : https://m.facebook.com/CTC.Cuddalore/

Chennai Trekking Club website is http://www.chennaitrekkers.org/

The fever called photography spreads to my kids

Once upon a day, while on a evening visit to the Silver beach in Cuddalore, I did the above silhouette of my elder kid Suriya jumping up while the sun is setting in the back ground.

Ever since I did those shots --> story here;  came back home; did a preview of the clicks  on my home PC, my younger kid Lokashyam takes cue of the shots. I sensed his inquisitiveness.


After a few months, we went to the beach. The sun was setting then, but I was not in a mood to do photography, instead wanted to sit on the sand and enjoy the breeze. But, little Lokashyam pesters me to do some clicks with him in the frame. He himself shows the place, a little away from the place we clicked earlier. This place was little swampy with back waters in the background.

The wet mud there presented a slippery surface. Had a hard time to walk past this place. My little kid walks before me a bit faster out of his eagerness, so that he is in position for that silhouette. In the midst of all this, he skids on the slippery surface. I was walking five feet behind him, at a bit slower pace. I can't walk faster and reach him. If I try to go past him and catch him, I too may fall down .

A little astonishment for me is that, he stands up on his own, takes some more  steps to move further near the water. He once again falls down. I am helpless. I could not control him either. I was particular not to shout at him, because doing so, may spoil the evening and the photo shoot that is gaining a momentum goes off as well. But, I silently watch him walk, of course with mud on his back which had made him dirtier.

After a little of confusion, he takes a spot and stands. This time, my elder kid Suriya goes near him and we ensured the little one, stands at a place which is not slippery.

Lokashyam then checks on me; I get my camera out into action; I need to spell out One, Two and Three so that he jumps up in action; and the silhouette gets composed.

And here are the memorable shots that we made.

 I could realize that he could not jump off higher.

I had a little doubt, if he is having pain due to the fall he had.

Got a little satisfaction that I could have this frame to satisfy him. So, I negotiate with him to finish the exercise. I still had a fear. Would he be suffering from pain due to the fall?

Now, he gets satisfied that some good has come out of my clicks. He then comes near me as my elder kid Suriya, calls me for doing a shoot for him.

 As Suriya is past 8 years old, he can jump higher. I do not have any fear either.

 Also I am accustomed with him and am tuned with his rhythm.

A shot well taken !
So, I am satisfied of having done some good shots for him to relish.

The thing to be kept in my mind is that, these two kids have a plan in their mind and it should have come in the frame I clicked. So, if I am not clicking right, I would be forced by them to spend some more time doing the same exercise during the next visit to this beach.


Now, Lokashyam, after seeing all the jumps made by Suriya, call me for a re-take.

He has fine tuned his jumping style a bit. Caught the above picture and am sure that he is satisfied with the shoot.
And I am satisfied that this little dangerous exercise concludes.

Inquisitiveness had made him dirtier. But, I am not complaining.



You never achieve success unless you like what you are doing. ~ Dale Carnegie 

So, I am liking all these happenings!!
Come what may...
And these life time clicks are a memory that got chiseled that day...

Sunrise Walk at Cuddalore Silver Beach

Anbudan Saravanan, Raja Subramanian Sir and yours truly went to Cuddalore Silver Beach today morning for a sunrise walk at the sea shore - Silver Beach, Cuddalore.

Strolled to the south end of the beach, sat on the dunes and had lighter moments for a couple of hours and came back. 

Most of the people of our town are connected online thru facebook / email groups. I have many online friends from my town, over the past nearly a decade, but we never had a moment to interact offline. A thought came over a discussion last week when I was conversing over the phone with Anbudan Sharavanan. We felt that we are missing something and its direly needed that we meet offline.

So, we met today, with Raja Subramanian Sir joining us to share his golden experiences. 

Why a morning and that too on a Sunday?

Firstly, today a second sunday morning was a magic when most of the folks would be home bound to their native town - Cuddalore (second saturday);
Secondly, morning being synonymous of the beach being less of crowd was so awesome to enjoy;
Thirdly, the dawning sun gave some mesmerizing moments which is a rarity and unexplainable - you need to go and experience to realize.

Couple of friends missed this walk since they were pre-occupied.

If you too are missing on this meeting, and living around Cuddalore, join us during the next Second Sunday 12th May'13.

Photograph Memories with Silhoutte

Got lucky to silhouette my elder son Suriya up in the air. Its really hard to achieve because the sun needs to be eclipsed by him while he is still up in the air and the camera shutter needed to be clicked at that luckiest Milli second.

A feeling of contention... My wife has now learnt the art of making silhouettes. Though I have done silhouette photography earlier, this is the first time i got silhouetted myself by the click of my better half. A photo to make into the memory along with my kids in the frame.

Camera: FujiFilm JZ300 (P&S)
Place: Cuddalore Silver Beach
Date: 26 Jan 2013 

With Former President of India Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam - Another Social Media Initiative kick starts

 Dr.APJ.Abdul Kalam launching the FaceBook FanPage "Plastic Free Cuddalore"

"Plastic Free Cuddalore" has been the social media initiative by District Collector Mr.Rajendra Ratnoo IAS.

Today it was launched by Former President, Mr.APJ.Abdul Kalam in the presence of Disctrict Collector Mr.Rajendra Ratnoo IAS, Deputy Collector Mr.Veera Raghava Rao IAS and Actor Vivekh at the Collector's Camp Office.

Yesterday I got the call from the collector to work out the modalities on the online part of this campaign which is bound to make the Cuddalore district a garbage and plastic free district. 

I got to finish the FanPage and made it ready this afternoon. Very much proud that this initiative was launched by the most noblest man of India, the former president Dr.APJ.Abdul Kalam.

It was really a proudest moment of my life time to stand next to such an eminent personality as my social media initiative gets launched into the online world.

The FanPage could be reached at PlasticFreeCuddalore. Please subscribe to that page and keep tune to the interesting happenings in the pipeline which is going to make the district a clean and green one in the near future.

With District Collector Mr.Rajendra Ratnoo - Social Media Initiative kick starts

Yesterday, with District Collector Mr.Rajendra Ratnoo, IAS, at his place.  We have launched the FaceBook FanPage "Rebuilding Economy and Ecology of Cuddalore" 

Cyclone Thane has caused a major devastation to the Cuddalore district. Major initiatives have been taken up by the government to rebuild the ecology and economy of this Cyclone battered coastal district. This fan page would be sharing the learnings / experiences acquired through the Rebuilding / Rehabilitation initiatives taken up by the District administration.Specific updates with respect to this "Post Thane" efforts would be taking its place in this Page. 

With a public page coming out, it would be a treasure trove of information in the days to come. These archives would be a gold mine of information to the needy. A cross platform like this where public could give their voice / opinion would get across the interested people to get involved and add value in bringing up good for the district in the days to come.

Glad to be part of this initiative at the instance of the District Collector. Stay tuned to hear more about the good things happening in Cuddalore. Have a visit to the FanPage here.

Photographic moments

Yesterday, a Sunday evening, went to the cuddalore beach with my friend Vasanth. Vasanth is a colleague of mine, a budding photo hobbyist and has done a Diploma in Cine Direction. Months ago we went and did long exposure shots of moving vehicles at the Beach road when the dusk was approaching.

This time when we went for a stroll there were too much of crowd. We went walking to the South most end of the beach where it was less of crowd and one can get to see the Sun setting down. It was a perfect evening with the sky being clear.

Did a portaiture as well a silhoutte with Vasanth as the subject. There was no photoshopping rather a water mark.

Camera: FujiFilm JZ300 (P & S)
Place: Silver Beach, Devanampattinam, Cuddalore

Bharathanatya Arangetram at Cuddalore

Getting a chance to witness an event like Bharathanatyam would be of too little probability for me. These classical events do happen at temples during festivals and that too some what a crowdy one with little chances to feel the real bliss.

But on 26th Feb, there happened a Bharathanatya Arangetram at the Subburaualu Thirumana  Nilayam in my town Cuddalore. The event was a perfect one, with the big hall filled to its capacity and the audience maintaining stoic discipline while enjoying the event. Seven little girls performed their Arangetram. Rendering of the music by the stalwarts did add the perfect touch to the event. The stage lighting was perfect and gave the enough ambience needed for such a classical event. 

Some pics here...

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This event was conducted by the Annai Subbammal Natyalaya in Cuddalore. Though I am yet to know where this dance school is situated, got to know their number to be 9443285376. Should call them up and get to know of any similar events organised by them in the future. Should never miss it.
More photos of the event are available at my FaceBook page here. 
Photos published here were of minimized resolution to augment the bandwidth constraints. In case you need full resolution pics, please buzz me at 9944945559.

Went with my wife to Cuddalore Beach at 9.30 p.m.

You will know me that I love going for a stroll on the sands of the Cuddalore Silver beach often. So far I used to get to this beach usually during the evenings. I remember going to the beach was at the most being at 8.30 p.m.

But, today was bit different. Went to shopping with my wife to buy her a pair of sandals and some groceries . 

Tomorrow is Maasi Magam festival and Cuddalore beach will be witnessing a gala with temple idols of Gods brought here and ritually bathed. So, today evening the beach would be having some small crowd in view of the festival tomorrow. Going to this beach at this odd hour at any other day is not advisable. But, today its different since people will be around awaiting for the dawn to witness the festival

 

After finishing the shopping itinerary, tipped to my better half for a trip to the beach. Got surprised with the nod from Gayathri. 

We went there at the odd 9.00 p.m. and had a stroll of the small shops which were to be closed in another hour. Walking past the shops and getting into the sand was too nice a moment with cool wind making an awesome flow.  After strolling bare foot on the cool sands happened to sit and take in some fresh air. After some time we were lucky to witness fireworks show happening at Cuddalore Old Town which is some 5 kms south of this beach.

Wished to pass an hour there. But to be vetoed of my two children and family awaiting at home for us to return, we made the hard decision to go back home.

Hey you beach, see you soon with a lonely trip past 10.00 p.m. next time. You made my heart and mind get a refreshing moment.

Nice moments at the Silver Beach in Cuddalore

The picturesque beach in my town Cuddalore often gives me the charm and its just a 15 minutes bike ride from my home. Named Silver Beach, it is the second longest beach on the Coromandel Coast and one of the longest beaches in Asia. [[Wikipedia]]
Ofcourse its my quick destination to get a chillax and beat my boredom.


Nice photographic moments while I was there at Cuddalore beach.


Gaze at it, beat the boredom.




The reflecting evening golden rays from the Bay of Bengal making the charm..




The golden dusk.

Hope you enjoyed my clicks.

Airtel gives me a frustrating rollercoaster drive

I bought a postpaid mobile connection 4 months back from Airtel. I wanted to change it into prepaid for which I was told at the local Airtel shop (Customer Relationship Center) at Cuddalore that usually this change can be done after three months of activation of the number.

Here is a callous chronology I had with Airtel whenever I approach them for migrating my post paid plan to a prepaid...

End March'09 (3rd month of its activation): Airtel shop (Customer Relationship Center) tells "Network updation is in progress and migration to prepaid can not be done".

Around 6April'09 (well past 3rd month of activation): Airtel customer care executive at call centre tells “You can migrate to prepaid plan after April 16^th”

Then I decided on 21April09 to go to the local Airtel shop to convert my post paid connection into a prepaid one. To confirm that whether I could go ahead with the migration process on that day I called the customer call centre...

6.00 p.m. on 21April'09: Airtel customer care executive at the call centre tells “You CAN migrate to prepaid plan today. Please go with your passport size photo, a proof of your identity and a proof of your address, pay a migration fee of Rs.150 and within 9 Hours your prepaid connection will get activated. If in case of difficulty in getting the work done, please call customer care from the phone kept at the Airtel shop (Customer Relationship Center) and we shall help you out and get the work done. ”

So I arrived at my local Airtel shop (Customer Relationship Center) at 7.30 pm. The story is different here. They simply told that it is not possible in the first six months and since my mobile connection carries a fancy number, it can be done after one year. I then told them of my conversation with the call center executive and then asked them for calling from a phone kept there. But they simply told that that such kinda is not possible. May be such a phone does not exist for true!! Now I called the call center executive from my mobile phone and there awaits another kind of story for me.

7.40 p.m. on 21April'09: Airtel customer call center executive tells “You CAN NOT migrate to prepaid plan. It can be made only after 1May'09”

Just within 2 hours I get two different responses for the same query which frustrated me. I was quite dumbfounded to know that such is the callous way in which a call center of Airtel works and makes me run pillar to post. Is this the way they are supposed to serve a customer. Now I wanted the call center executive to connect me to his superior.

Now he puts me on waiting while the pre recorded voice plays. The prerecorded voice tells out that "Network updation is in progress, some of customer services will not be available till April 14^th". Oh man the date is now April 21^st.

After waiting for more than 3 minutes one person may be customer call center manager responded to me.

I explained to him the whole thing and made it clear that I am not satisfied with the different kind of information being given to me and making me to run like a fool. Now he confirms that my plan can be converted by May 1^st for sure.God only knows when I will get my connection migrated to prepaid plan. May be another call center manager will tell another type of story that I need to wait for another date. Let me wait for 1 May'09...

Returned home after a very bad spending of my evening time that too with my wife and toddler. Though I visited their website to express my grievance through online, I got dumbfounded that there is neither an email-id nor a feedback form to do so.

What a pathetic customer support?

Update as on 12 June’09: After delaying myself to forget those bad experience, I after a long tome went to ACRC. Now I got informed that migration from postpaid to prepaid will be done between 1st to 10th and not today. So I need to come on 1st of next month.

Google Bus at my town Cuddalore

The Google Bus, an initiative of Google to educate the off line Indian public on the benefits of internet had made its visit to my town Cuddalore. I have been following the itinerary of this internet bus for quite some days and awaiting to have the real experience.



Today evening I was returning from my office to my destination, the Cuddalore bus stand. While I alighted from my town bus, got to see this internet bus parked just opposite to me. Hey, this high tech bus coming to the place of the common man, that too in tier 3 town.


Check the curiosity in the eyes of the little ones at bottom left corner of the above pic. Yep, Google's initiative to educate the common people who may have lead a life without the knowledge of internet if not for this initiative by Google.


Had the chance to have nice moments with these people from Google. They recorded a short video of my pep talk inside this bus. May be it will get published on their youtube channel. If it happens, a separate post is here for you to have a feast. Hope that I have not messed in my talk.


People are quite curious of the new kinda stuff happening in the town.


The innovative bus has its own power generator and it can work anywhere, anytime with 100% internet connected through satellite network.





Some people who gazed from the outside were averse to get inside the bus. But the googlers convinced them with stressing that its free to go inside the bus.
Corporates of this kinda, turning to the less travelled path, is bound to mine precious benefits be it for them as well as India.