How the wolves changed Yellowstone National Park

I read about the process of 'Trophic Cascade' for the first time in a Kannada daily very recently.
Trophic Cascade- a phenomenon which changed the flow of river and eventually the whole eco-system in the Yellowstone National Park, USA.
Detailed information about this phenomenon can be gone through here:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1669736/trophic-cascade

As I searched for more information on this process, I became more curious about it.
One can only marvel at how the entire ecological system can be balanced or imbalanced through Trophic Cascade.
It was just an introduction of wolves at the Yellowstone National Park- one can say.
But those wolves changed the course of a huge river in turn bringing back the balance of America's first national park which has world's largest collection of natural geysers.

With the re-introduction of wolves into this park, the population of deer came down who ate up almost all the vegetation of the park. Also, the deer started avoiding certain areas of the forest in the fear of being attacked by the wolves. This, in turn, regenerated the trees in just a few years.

With the re-generation of trees came a variety of birds. The wolves also killed the coyotes. This raised the population of rabbits and mice. Hawks' visits became more frequent as they wanted to hunt the rabbits and mice. Bear population too rose as there were more berries available because of the regeneration of shrubs.

But a major breakthrough arrived when they changed the course of a river flow. As the trees grew, the soil erosion came down which in turn formed more pools. The rivers started flowing in a set direction.

So, these wolves not only changed the eco-system of Yellowstone National Park but also the geography of the park.

Coincidentally, a very similar program was broadcasted in the Discovery channel wherein the animal species in the Canadian forests helped indirectly in the out growth of magnificent trees. Trees which would last for almost 500 years!

Major changes can be brought about in the eco- system with the introduction of such minor changes!
If only all these lessons could be learned by everyone in saving our entire ecology.

ಅನಾವರಣ

I really like this new serial 'Anavarana' aired at ETV Kannada.
It's dialogues are good, it's story is bounded in reality and it's not about a boy-girl relationship nor about never ending saas- bahu saga.
In today's episode, one of the characters speaks about getting bored so easily with life to her grandmother and her granny reasons and figures out the possible reasons.
She says, your childhood (referring more to the present time) has not had taste of playing outdoor games, but only of computer games; has not lost games with friends and peers but with machines so on and so forth.

I was instantly reminded of the interview that I'd seen weeks back with Daniel Goleman.
He said human brains are wired to have conversations with other individuals face to face and to have a social relationship by physically being present. They are not meant for making connections virtually. Virtual world seems good for some time and later the mind yearn for face to face connections, you are left with nobody around and you become a loner.

Coming back to my serial, one small experience grandmother shares with her is: she learns making upma from her mother. She tries it out in her mother's absence. It turns out to be good, she is happy for herself and the father who will taste it. The next time it turns out be bad, she cries. Her grand-daughter stops her saying why worry about that in this present age when you get ready made mix not just for upma but all the dishes and more over who has the time to spend on preparing a simple dish like upma.

Their conversation gets carried away to all such detailed topics of everyday life, conflicts between the past and present generation and ends for the day. Waiting for the next episode (if my daughter allows me to watch).

ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರ 'ಕವಿಮನೆ'

It came as a very unexpected visit, yet how eagerly i wanted to peek into the abode of Kuvempu- 'Kavimane' as it is called. Situated just 18kms away from Theerthahalli (shimoga dist.) amidst the Western Ghats and the skyscraping arecanut trees, Kavimane speaks of a tradition, of aesthetic sense and of architectural marvel of olden days.

A 2 storey building which nestled about 45 people then takes one to a journey of olden and golden era. The intricate carvings on the pillars and the wooden window grills is one of its kind.

Major part of the house is turned into a memorial containing Kuvempu's books, awards, letters etc., One beautiful yet important letter which I read from there was the letter from the poet ಬಿ.ಎಂ.ಶ್ರೀ where he apologizes for not being able to attend Kuvempu's wedding. I did want to take a photograph of the same but "No photography inside the house".

One regret that remains is having missed our visit to 'Kavishaila'- the place which inspired him to write.

Here's the photo of Kavimane from outside:

It's funny the way Kannada movie advertisements are posted in news papers...
After the title, they always want a caption in English...
And to describe a hero they need English words such as 'power star', 'crazy star', 'challenging star', 'hatric star' and so on...
In the end they speak of saving Kannada language.

Kannada Matrimony!

A recent mail which i received about 'finding the right girl' for marriage:

ಹುಡುಗಿ
ಬೇಕಾಗಿದ್ದಾಳೆ
ಇರಬೇಕು ತುಂಬಾ
ಸಿಂಪಲ್ !

ನಕ್ಕರೆ
ಗಲ್ಲದ ಮೇಲೆ
ಬೀಳಬೇಕು
ಡಿಂಪಲ್ !

ಅವಳ
ತಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇರಬೇಕು
ಪುಟ್ಟ ಪ್ರೊಸೆಸರ್
ಇಂಟೆಲ್ !

ಅವಳ
ರೂಪ-ಲಾವಣ್ಯ ಕಂಡು
ಬಾಯಿಬಿಡಬೇಕು
ಪಕ್ಕದ್ಮನೆ ಅಂಕಲ್ !

ಅವಳು
ಸ್ನಾನಕ್ಕೆ ಹಚ್ಚಬೇಕು
ದಿನಾ ಸೋಪು
ಸಿಂಥಾಲ್ !

ಅವಳ
ಅಂದ ಹೊಗಳುತ್ತಾ
ಕವಿಯಾಗಬೇಕು
ಮೆಂಟಲ್ !

ಎತ್ತರದಲ್ಲಿ
ಅವಳಾಗಿರಬೇಕು
ರಾಜಸ್ತಾನದ
ಕ್ಯಾಮೆಲ್ !

ಅವಳ
ಗಲ್ಲ ನೋಡಿ ನೆನಪಾಗಬೇಕು
ಕಾಶ್ಮೀರದ ಸಿಹಿ
ಆಪಲ್ !

ಅವಳು
ಬೀದಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದರೆ
ಕಾಮೆಂಟ್ರಿ ಹೇಳಬೇಕು
ಇಯಾನ್ ಚಾಪೆಲ್ !

ಮುಖದ ಮೇಲೆ
ಇರಲಿ ಒಂದೇ
ಒಂದು ಹರೆಯದ
ಪಿಂಪಲ್ !

ನಮ್ಮ ಪ್ರೀತಿಯೆಂಬ
ಧರ್ಮಕ್ಕೆ ಅವಳಾಗಬೇಕು
ಗೀತಾ-ಕುರಾನ್
ಬೈಬಲ್ !

ಅವಳು ಪ್ರೀತಿ
ಮೆಚ್ಚಿ ನಾ ಕಟ್ಟಬೇಕು
ಇನ್ನೊಂದು
ತಾಜ್ಮಹಲ್ !

ಎಲ್ಲದಕ್ಕೂ ಮೊದಲ
ಅವಶ್ಯಕತೆ
ಅವಳಾಗಿರಬೇಕು
ಸಿಂಗಲ್ !

ಇವಳೇನಾದರು
ನಿಮಗೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕರೆ
ನನ್ನ ಅಡ್ರೆಸ್‌ಗೆ ಮಾಡಿ
ಈ-ಮೇಲ್ !!

Parva

Have been reading Bhyrappa's Parva n it's amazing...
I had never known the story of Mahabharatha so well as i do now 'coz of this book.
It's the magic of Bhyrappa again.

One more Bhyrappa's tale...

I just finished reading one more S.L.Bhyrappa's book- "Nirakarana"...
Though the title attracted me a lot and at the same time even the prologue but it wasn't such a good book altogether...
First thing that influenced me to read that book was the fact that it was Bhyarappa's and the next factor was the plot- the protagonist deciding to give his children off for adoption because of the fact that he cannot look after them or rather there is no one (a wife) at home to look after them...
But this process of selling off the chidren gets over within just 25 pages of the book...
Next comes his quest for realising the ultimate truth and his theory of detachment for which he goes to Himalayas only to realise that he is not capable of doing it...
That part was really boring indeed, i can imagine that protagonist's condition there in the himalayas!!!
When reading that part itself was so boring being there actually could be unimaginable...
At the end though, the story comes back to his children and his return to the normal human life discarding the life of a 'Saadhu'...
Whatever, it was an exceptional story....Cannot be termed as completely bad or completely good.