Black Swallowtail Butterfly Effect

Last week I had been to the nursery to pick up some flowering plants. The nursery sales guy was explaining to me the plants which require minimal maintenance and easy to grow. And this butterfly kept diverting my attention. As soon as I saw it settle down on a plant at a distance I left the guy who was halfway through his explanations. Tiptoeing I went behind the butterfly to capture it in my lens and I am happy to say that I did some good job this time. It is a Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) butterfly.

Click on this, the best taken by me so far… each and every spot on it is clear.
As I was writing this post I was thinking the chaos these butterflies can cause by mere flapping of their wings. The Butterfly Effect as defined in Wiki states that the flapping of the wings of a Butterfly at one place can cause a devastating effect elsewhere in the world.

The butterfly effect is a phrase which encapsulates the more technical notion of
sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory. Small variations of the initial condition of a nonlinear dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system.

It was Lorenz, a meteorologist who mathematically proved that minor disturbances in initial conditions of atmosphere can trigger disastrous effects elsewhere. In 1972 he presented a study entitled “Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly’s Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?” Amazing isn’t it and hard to believe too. Edward Norton Lorenz fluttered away from the world two weeks back on 16th April 2008. RIP Edward Norton Lorenz.

Why not apply this Butterfly Effect to our lives, not to create chaos but to create happiness. A positive Butterfly Effect, it is possible trust me. Someone begins with a good positive thought, it influences ten people. These ten people further influence ten each and the positive feeling gets propagated. Sounds familiar like the Pay It Forward Movement?

I am reminded of my boss from my employed days, having this ever cheerful mood. It used to kind of rub off on us too and the whole team environment used to be so pleasant. It is very important for the team leader to have that kind of charm. Before we speak we must give a thought what effect it will have on the other person. The tiny positive efforts you take will definitely snowball and give the big positive impact to those around you. A thoughtless word or action from you can make or ruin the other person’s day. Not possible to be sweet everyday I know, and then those are the days I expect others to take over the role of starting a positive Butterfly Effect.

Update: The Indian Cricket team is very much in need of The Positive Butterfly Effect. Harbhajan and Sreesanth are you listening.

For more Critters visit Misty Dawn's.

Synthetic Trees

Yet another Earth day has come and gone. Many raised their concerns, many sites brought out ‘to do’ lists and many organizations promoted lifestyles that contribute to a healthier planet. With each passing year the situation is deteriorating due to steady increase in level of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere. People from different walks of life are working round the clock to save the world from the imminent disaster.

Eminent scientists too have been toiling hard so that we don’t have to worry for the scarcities we may have to face in future by creating a man made climate. While a lot of research has gone in to how to curb emissions, a section of scientists is working at how to remove rather absorb the root cause. And one invention that has been in news for past few years is the Synthetic Tree. The basic idea of the invention is to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, combine it with minerals and then store it. Lime water is used to absorb the carbon and convert it to limestone. Have a look at the synthetic trees. Picture from: Earth Institute NewsArchive
How do they look to you, pleasant or horrible?


The idea was first proposed by Dr. Klaus Lackner. According to him, “If built to scale, synthetic trees could help clean up an atmosphere grown heavy with carbon dioxide, the most abundant gas produced by humans and implicated in climate warming.” His prediction was that “one synthetic tree could remove 90,000 tons of CO2 in a year - the emissions equivalent of 15,000 cars.” Or simply put it this way one synthetic tree could absorb 1000 times more carbon dioxide than a living tree. Won’t a forest look better?

Supporters for this project argue that developed nations alone cannot contribute to saving the environment. Developing nations like China, India and few more obsessed with their new found riches are expected to use more fossil fuels and fill the skies with more CO2. With no realistic solution in sight to keep the CO2 levels low, stakes and hopes are high on such Synthetic Trees.

Now imagine the new scenario with such trees in your streets. Imagine the phenomenal amount of energy that would be required to build something like this. What do we do with the huge amount of Carbon produced? Make pencils or diamonds as some ask?? Technological developments and products of wonder are fine to read, and blessing to use. But my head goes spinning vroooom to think such massive structures are going to replace our green trees. Rising CO2 levels is a crisis and demands immediate attention no doubt. Synthetic tree is a possible solution and an interesting idea too, yet there is a tinge of sadness as I write this post, no more picnicking under green shady trees for future generations.

Happiness

Recently I read this news article Andy Goh is Singapore’s Happiest Person. Andy Goh a 35 year old engineer in a Singapore Engineering Company is nominated by his colleagues for his unwavering cheer and ability to inspire similar sentiments in others. His secret is: “A lot of times, happiness is not just money and stuff, so you've got to count your blessings: health, family, friends, helping other people.” Read rest of the story here: Stressed Singapore welcomes happiest person.

This set me thinking:

Am I happy person or am I not?

For a long time I was in a dilemma. Certain things in my life put me in top of the world and there were other things which left me feeling low. And like me many others too are not fully happy. We all are in the never ending pursuit of happiness. Our everyday activities are oriented towards that goal of finding pure happiness and contentment.

How many are truly happy and content with the money and material they earn. There is something beyond the rush for money that actually makes us happy. For achieving that state of happiness we need to train our mind a bit and mold our way of thinking.

I strongly feel if we adopt the following attitudes, they can lead us to happiness. First and foremost accept life the way it comes. Life may not move as per our plans. It may give us sudden jolts by way of accidents and incidents. We may be forced to pause and ponder but let us not halt ourselves there. I don’t mean to say we should not make any plans at all but let us not spend major part of our waking hours just to make plans. It is when we put in so much time and effort in chalking out plans and then these plans are not successful that disappointments run high.

So how do we face the unexpected developments in our life? There is the saying “Whatever happens, happens for the best.” There must be something else etched out for us in life, some bigger purpose, some bigger role. These disappointments and jolts are minor hurdles that we have to overcome.

Secondly we must try and enjoy each and every passing moment. “Is it really possible?” we feel many times. What if we are forced to listen to a boring lecture, how do we enjoy the moment? For this we have to clear our mind of opinions like: this is boring, this is against my wish. The more we embrace such moments with an open mind more are our chances to be happy. Keep the mind like a clean slate, with no prefabricated opinions, and then each passing moment will be a blissful moment.

Finally we must learn to be content with what we have. The more we want, more will be our despairs and woes. Competition with neighbors, colleagues or even with our relatives can cause only misery and self pity. Of course hungry stomachs cannot give us happiness, but hoarding too is not the solution. These are few principles I try to follow in my life. Of course this is not The Mantra to happiness nor is it a comprehensive list.

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." - Helen Keller

Tagged

I am tagged by Lakshmi.

1. Last movie you saw in a theater?
Chak De

2. What book are you reading?
It is vacation time now. The last I read was Sanskrit textbooks of Grade 6.

3. Favorite board game?
Chinese checkers

4. Favorite magazine?
Outlook traveller

5. Favorite smells?
smell of earth after the first rains

6. Favorite sounds?
My daughters’ laughter

7. Worst feeling in the world?
Loss of a near and dear person

8. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?
What do I cook today

9. Favorite fast food place?
Mc Donald’s

10. Future child’s name?
N.A.

11. Finish this statement. “If I had lot of money I’d….?”
Not able to decide… may be donate a part of it in charity, then for traveling to various parts of world, then… I am confused

12. Do you drive fast?
yes

13. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?
No

14. Storms - cool or scary?
Cool

15. What was your first car?
Maruti 800

16. Favorite drink?
A big cup of warm tea with lime and ginger cordial stirred in.

17. Finish this statement, “If I had the time I would….”?
I would love to catch up with some sleep, then some books and music.

18. Do you eat the stems on broccoli?
yes they are tasty try them

19. If you could dye your hair any color, what would be your choice?
it better be black

20. Name all the different cities/towns you’ve lived in?
Rajkot, Trivandrum, Bagdogra, Bangalore

21. Favorite sports to watch?
Badminton

22. One nice thing about the person who sent this to you?
Lakshmi’s innocence and her ability to appreciate the little treasures of nature… I also love the way she welds her pen.

23. What’s under your bed?
Lot of unused stuffs.

24. Would you like to be born as yourself again?
yes

25. Morning person, or night owl?
Morning

26. Over easy, or sunny side up?
Sunny Side Up

27. Favorite place to relax?
My own bed

28. Favorite pie?
Mushroom and cheese

29. Favorite ice cream flavor?
Vanilla

I tag Maddy, Swarna and Celine

Painted Storks at Kaggaladu

Kaggaladu was in news few weeks back. Read here: Kaggaladu in the news once again.
Every year in the months of November and December many water bodies around Bangalore play host to various migratory birds.

That was good reason for us to drive out seeking the visual delight of the nesting migratory birds. So last Sunday we left for Kaggaladu which is 130 kilometers from Bangalore. Getting out of Bangalore was difficult, the usual traffic jams. Once out of the Bangalore city limits the drive was smooth. It is a straight drive on NH-4 till Sira and then a diversion to Kaggaladu. The village is 13 kilometers from Sira.

Painted storks are one of the six species of Indian storks. They migrate from colder regions to different parts of India for favorable climatic conditions for breeding and for food. These storks follow different nesting patterns in different parts of India.

In north India nesting begins in August and early September. It is just after the summer during southwest monsoon. But south of Hyderabad nesting begins after November. That is during the north-east or winter monsoon. Nesting is abandoned if monsoon fails.

At Kaggaladu the birds have built nests on just four Tamarind (Tamarindus Indica) trees. Of the four only one tree was dotted with large number of birds. Other trees had just two or three birds.
The mother bird spreads its wings to protect the chicks from the direct heat of the sun. We saw this bird standing there like this for the entire half an hour we spent there.
This was in another tree.
I was at a disadvantage here because the birds were perched high up on the trees and me at ground level. I couldn’t get closer shots than these. Please click on them to see enlarged image.

My daughters were thrilled to see weaver birds’ nests there, which they had seen only in pictures.
My younger daughter was after me to take the snaps of the hens and cocks there. She was so attracted to them and now she is peeping over my shoulder to see if I am posting a snap of the hen or not. Quite understandable, these city bred kids can be fascinated by such birds too.
On the way back we were blessed with this sight of egrets on a roadside tree. Click and enlarge to view.

Nomophobia

Actually this article: Nomophobia is the latest stress: Study amused me. Nomophobia: the fear of being out of mobile contact. NO MObile PHOBIA is termed as NOMOPHOBIA. This new phobia is sweeping across the continents of the world like plague. Statistics are that 13 million Britons are already suffering from this phobia i.e. 53% of the mobile users. Indians too may not be lagging behind.

Strange but true; man makes his own chains and today he has got entangled in them to such an extent that survival with out these chains has become near impossible. So now we have the new affliction of the 21st century. Stress levels shoot high at the thought of loosing the mobiles. Men and Women have actually admitted experiencing feelings of anxiety for reasons like running out of battery, or having no network coverage or loosing their phones and in the process loosing all their precious contacts.

A couple of decades back did we have this junkie? Didn’t we all survive then? Mobile phones are convenient no doubt, but technology had meant us to be the masters and not that we become the slaves of these gadgets. The need of the hour is to practice calmness, meditate, just let be. Draw the line to distinguish between being at work and being away from work.

Avoid this phobia by carrying a charger with you, keep a record of the contact numbers, have an alternative contact number and see to it that your near and dear ones have this number. You can also store all your contact numbers at ZYB.

My problem is a mild form of this nomophobia especially when we are traveling in an unknown land. Otherwise I can survive well without this device. But I for sure have this nowebphobia, if there is a term like that. I can’t imagine life without internet connection which my friend Raji recently experienced. I also have these odd fear of waking up and not getting Google services anymore. How will my daughters complete their projects? Can it be called nogooglephobia ??

Ruby-Spotted Swallowtail butterfly

I spotted this beautiful butterfly while waiting outside my daughters’ drawing class. It was flying on one side of the road one minute and the next minute it was on the other side of the road. How I wished it would sit still… and just as I was praying hard, I was granted a shot. Few moments of bliss. My outstretched hands clutching my camera were beginning to ache as I approached it slowly and clicked at it from every possible angle. (It must have been an odd sight because I did hear the drivers standing at the roadside commenting and laughing to themselves.)
Seeing the prints at home, I discovered that one of its tails was missing. It is the Ruby Spotted Swallowtail. The Swallowtail species have two tails at the rear which are mistaken as antennas by the birds. The bright red spots in iridescent blue in the rear, fools the birds into believing them as eyes. Some bird must have pecked at this butterfly’s tail end, but it is still alive! Ruby-Spotted Swallowtail
Scientific name: Papilio anchisiades
Family and subfamily: Papiliondae
Phylum and subphylum: Arthropoda
Class and subclass: Insecta

More Swallowtail pictures here.

Strange are the nature’s ways. She has given such tiny insects the means to protect themselves from their natural enemies. Some of them mimic scary animals to frighten the predators away. Click on this: How a Monarch Butterfly protects itself.I tried to get closer to capture just its body but it fled before that. I cursed myself for having got greedier.

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls a butterfly." - Richard Bach.

Other Intersting Links:
Indian Butterflies
Butterfly Corner
Children's Butterfly Site