Aggressive Opinions

Paper on NPA recovery Model | Strategies for Recovery

2011-12-01T11:01:00.000-08:00

NPA Trigger Points and Recovery Grid

Abstract

The world economies were caught off guard at the shaping of USA mortgage and sub-prime crisis. Be it retail or corporate, all types of accounts were generating non-performing assets (NPA). In this paper, we have categorized different reasons that led to this turmoil by conducting a research on diverse live cases. With an aim to standardize the NPA recovery we have distinguished and differentiated the cases and proposed a grid which could be followed as a strategic tool by the lending institutions. Our analysis has been focused on corporate bad debts; however the solution and strategy developed is applicable for all forms of recovery.
This research and the findings, to our belief, will be very useful for lending institutions to adopt specific protocols for recovery of the NPAs in their books.

Keywords: NPA in banks, NPA collection, NPA recovery, Bad debts, NPA trigger points, Recovery grids, NPA strategy, NPL collection, NPA Grid, Recovery.

Contents
Abstract 1
1. Introduction 3
2. Literature Review 4
3. Case Research 5
1. Proprietary Company / Promoter Group 5
2. Personal Equity 6
3. Profit Margin/ Turnover 7
4. Business Grid 8
5. Industry of the clients 9
4. Discussion 10
5. NPA Recovery Grid 11
Collaboration: 12
Two Face Attack: 14
Silence: 15
Dead: 16
6. Conclusion… 18
7. References 18
8. Annexures 19

Authors - Manish Gadia, Anup Ray
If you need the paper kindly write to - manish.gadia@gmail.com

Sachin Tendulkar of Birding : Jamnagar

2011-01-03T07:33:00.000-08:00

I'll be emotional & philosophical in this post. Ill start off with the most common verse in bollywood - "When u want something very Bad, the whole of universe conspires u to achieve it". Jamnagar, since last 365 days has been on the back of my mind. Each time i will end up disappointed by birding in Mumbai, i would promise myself that my next trip would be to the best birding site in India i.e: Jamnagar and it should happen sooner than i think. Since i could not make it to Adesh Shivkar's Jamnagar trip due to convenience of dates, i decided to plan Jamnagar on my own. Meticulous that i am, i did my initial research and asked Jamnagar resident Mr. Manish Trivedi be my guide.

Jamnagar Landscapes

Day 1 - Dhicda Roadside (2:00 PM Onwards)
We took the only flight to Jamnagar, Indian Airlines. The shape in which airline is currently can be easily attributed to the service which it gives. After standing in the Mumbai Checkin queue for an hour we could finally managed to just sneak in the flight and reach Jamanagar at 12.00 Noon. We had high expectations w.r.t food at Jamnagar and overall i can easily say that Jamnagar food is not satisfactory. I would highly rate towns like Solapur w.r.t food, but sadly Jamnagar is rated way below on my food list. "Aaram (Gujarati Thali)" & "Madras (south Indian)" are the only two places serving good food when in Jamnagar. Coming back to Birding, we were amazed with the sites of lakes & ponds full of ducks & pelicans on the roadsides of Dichda & Century salt area. One can see ducks as far as eyes could see. Presence of ducks in Jamnagar roadside ponds can be directly proportional to presence of beer cans in Mumbai ponds. At certain places u cant see even water, as ducks and waders feed in enormous numbers.

Some Highlights -
- At the Airport approach road itself u can easily spot 10-15 painted storks close by.
- Common Teals, Pochards, Spot billed ducks, little grebes, Northern Shovelers, comb ducks, coots, Ruffs & stilts in huge numbers thriving together and easily spotted in large numbers. One need to really sit patiently for hours to ensure they come closer for photography.
- Godwits, shanks, Ibis (all types), stints, sandpipers, plovers, cormorants, darters in comparatively lesser quantities & spreaded out.
- We were shown the black necked stork nest with 1 chic by Mr. Manish Trivedi in this area.
- Flamingoes remained elusive with presence in Mumbai, but we found around 200 flamingoes here on one of the Dhicda roadsides. Wonder why they leave this beautiful region to come to dirty sewri in Mumbai.
- Dhichda as is mostly roadside birding, can be very dirty too. Roadsides of Jamnagar are not at all maintained properly due to virtually no cleanliness and non existent sanitation facilities. Also it takes lot of patience & time before ducks & other birds come close enough for photography.

Jamnagar Day 1

Day 2 - Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary (Morning & Noon) & Lake Lakhota (Evening)

Some Highlights -
- Spotted the lone nightjar in Khijadiya entrance road. Arrive before sunlight to see nightjars.
- 1000s of pelicans, painted storks, egrets, flamingoes & herons take flight from their night rest outs in Khijadiya. Various birding towers across Khijadiya gives amazing views of the flock flights.
- The best part about Khijadiya is the presence of water bodies at virtually eye level. This aids photography and gives breathtaking infinity views.
- Pied Kingfishers are found in plenty and one will get multiple chances of viewing the kingfisher's famous hovering & dive.
- Spotted the asian paradise flycatcher in one of the nature walks across in Khijadiya.
- A Single crake (cannot identify the kind) was sighted amongst various partridges.
- If theres water, there are ducks & coots and that too in numbers
- Mallard remained elusive but Great crested Grebes can be easily found
- Amazing closeups of herds of rosy & dalmation pelicans but not close ups of black necked stork
- We went to ship breakyard (15 Kms from Khijadiya) in search of Indian Skimmer however the Skimmer was not to be found. Later on we heard news that Mandar & Adesh Shivkar (of Nature India fame) have found 5 Indian Skimmers at Balchadi area. Too late for us. We had to goto Lake Lakhota.
- The rosy starlings hovering above lake lakhota is one scene which should not be miss in evenings. They have developed likings to the "Gujarati farsans like ghatiya etc" and when fed, 100s of starlings can empty the packet in seconds.
- Local population also feed ducks bread in lake lakhota, the same can give real closeups of ducks and their beauty can be admired.
- Raptors overall remained very difficult find in Jamnagar (except Marsh Harriers which are found in plenty). We did get closeups of black shouldered kites, brahminy & black kites.
- At Lakhota Lake : Though a birders conscience does not allow to do this - but one can keep farsans like Ghatiya very close (1 feet) and various gulls will come very close and pick up the food and go (in flight). Its a treat to watch gulls this close in flight

Jamnagar Day 2

Day 3 - Jamnagar Outskirts - Porbandar Area (Morning) & Narara (Late Noon)

Some Highlights -
- Jamnagar outskirts (places like Porbandar etc) are photographer's delight. Waders & ducks come real close and offer immense clicking opportunities.
Each & every color and feature of Common Teal, Pochard, Pintail, Crested Grebe, Coot can be admired at this close proximity at a location near porbandar.
- Atleast 400 Demosaille Cranes were sighted at a distance of around 15 feet.
So one can head to these destinations as against going all the way to Khichan in Rajasthan. Around 100 Common cranes were also sighted in flight here. This can easily be Crane capital of India.
- Narara is one of the very few places in India to see crab plovers. Because we didn't go during High Tide, Crab plovers were not to be found. Narara is waste of time, if gone during low tide.

In all around 90 species of Birds were sighted in 3 days. If i had spent another 2 days and visited areas like Charkala Salt plans, ranjit sagar dam, i could have easily hit the 150 species mark. Gujarat government, unlike most of the other Indian states is aiding birders by installing state of the art birding infrastructure at various places. Khijadiya is amazingly well maintained and clean. Jamnagar is indeed Sachin Tendulkar of Birding.

Jamnagar Day 3

(Link to the top 10 Pictures clicked at Jamnagar will be posted soon. Follow "Manish Gadia Photography" on Facebook.com)

Mumbai City - Aarey Cycling Track

2010-12-12T07:35:00.000-08:00

Following is a good 8-9 Km Trek (60 minutes). Please note since there are steep climbs involved it can be strenuous.

Guide to the Map (below) -

1) START - After paying the Aarey toll (from Goregaon side) take the immediate right (10 metres) and then immediate left. This is New Zealand Trail. Follow the trail. Go straight till New Zealand Hostel & circle the pond and then go back to Goregaon Toll Naka (or can extend the trail further till the beautiful Powai Lake).

If you are headed back to Goregaon Toll Naka, after 5-10 minutes you will come across Aarey Market where there are lot of small restaurants. One also can take a detour by taking left which comes post Chotta Kashmir Boat club. This detour will ensure you checkout the temple in between and avoid crowded aarey road.

MANISH GADIA PHOTOGRAPHY

2010-11-05T00:50:00.000-07:00

Click on Images to see bigger sizes of the Images. You will be redirected to Flickr.com where above image you can click the Zoom Icon (+) and see original sizes of the Images

ERADICATING THE CYLO MENTALITY AMONGST DEPARTMENTS IN BANKS

2010-09-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

Taking the Marriage of Personal Financial Services / Retail Division & Commercial / Corporate division to next step (Applicable for all BANKS as the structure is more-o-less the same)

Retail, Business Banking & Corporates are 3 divisions all banks have. How can we reduce Costs and Improve cross departmental sharing of leads and best practices?
The answer lies in taking the marriage of 2 departments to next level. "Dotted Line Mapping" may be used effectively for the same.

Example -
I am part of SME Factoring CMB business. We at Factoring are mapped to the Field Sales team. Mapping team to team, cluster to RM etc results in effective realisation of the leads generated. The mapping ensures the leads are lost in the processes and are effectively being followed up. A Dual way pressure ensures both the parties are on toes always. A bond is created which ensures good for both the teams.

We all know about the Retail - Corporate - Business referral programme where each lead submitted is rewarded monetarily through HSBC online system. Top Mgmt of HSBC is also keen to reap the success of marrying PFS & CMB (lead sharing). However i feel to actually derive the benefits and make it a long term proposition - "MAPPING RM to RM" is required.

E.g : - Let Each Team Leader in SME CMB (Corporate / Business Banking) be mapped to a Team leader in Retail selling Team. Once a month meeting will happen between the two where the month's business acquisitions / leads are shared with each other. Business coping can be done in the team meeting also where the field sales officer responsible for the same can give real time input of the probability of Retail or a Corporate sale. Thus each Team leader becomes one point of touch in Retail for Corporate / Business banking and vice versa. When given atleast 20% cross sales targets - this kind of mapping would do wonders for both the divisions.

Benefits -
- A Bank becomes both personal & business banker to the client
- Leads will not be lost in processes
- A news business acquisition will hold much more Total customer value & thus more revenues
- Eradication of current cylos - PFS, CMB etc etc. A Bank becomes ONE as to current MANY

LISTEN TO CUSTOMER = COST REDUCTION

2010-09-20T07:51:00.000-07:00

LISTENING TO EXISTING CUSTOMERS: RECOMMENDED FIRST WAY TO CUT COSTS or DRIVE SALES

-Are Corporates listening to Customers in India?
-Do they take feedback about the product sold and implement the correction actions?
-Are Indian Corporates smart enough to do cost reduction by having a simple “Customer feedback implementation Team” rather than paying huge sums to consulting companies? -Why do most of surveys target new customers and not existing ones?
- Why spend on Marketing when it can done at reduced costs?
- Is Marketing just push and not pull?
- Why spend on TVCs & Print Media when word of mouth can be used?

I often make it to a point to write to Corporates if I am dissatisfied by the service / product. An evaluation on replies / complaints filed and responses post that is as follows -

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CASE 1) BANKS

Banks in particular are very good in complaints of Corporates. MNC banks like HSBC and Standard Chartered has laid down process to handle the same with escalation levels clearly defined. A proper Customer complaint lodging channel exists on websites for Corporates. However the situation is opposite in retail banking channel, there are still millions of credit card related complaints pending for reverts.

Conclusion :
Corporate – Satisfactory
Retail – Highly Dissatisfactory

Note -

Firstly, i feel the marketing campaigns in the year 2007-08 were fabulous and made various Banks, brands, to be remembered amongst the clutter.

Due to the exceptional times (Year 2009), I feel generic brand 'MNC BANK' has taken a hit. E.g: Banks have exited cases, which we had booked just 3-6 months from the start date of relationships. Various banks took decisions like stopping various businesses/ products in their umbrella.

I understand that the same was done considering a larger view of the market, however the notion that "MNC Banks wont support corporates in times of crisis and only PSU Banks acts as a pillar then" has now been engraved in the minds of good customers.

I feel a real micro level connect is needed (specially with the lost customer base) rather than only print or media campaigns. Listening to grievances of customers and acting on the same is one of the steps recommended (though it will cost the respected division a lot). A other way to look at it is, listening to them probably is a better way to invest the marketing funds now (as India comes out of recession).

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CASE 2) HOTELS

An Email to a Hotel (I stayed here for a Night)

Dear Sir / Madam,

UTan resort follows a very very rigid policy of throwing out customers sharp at 11:00.

When someone comes to Utan in the evening at 7:30 PM on a friday nite and next day they ask for a late checkout by 1:00 PM. It should be given as i have been frequent at UTAN and not all customers come in by 11:00. So to say BLUNTLY NO to loyal customers for the same and be rude with them on PHONE is not advisable.

Utan is a good property run by a very rude receptionist.

Rgds,
Manish Gadia

Reply I received from UTan -

Dear Manish,

Hi ! This is Dr. Gopal, responding to your suggestion.
Thank you very much for conveying your feelings which are respected.

Let us put our problem to your consideration. We have limited no. of rooms & our main occupancy is on Saturdays & public Holidays that gets booked well in advance. therefore we are not able to oblige our Friday check-in guests with this request as next day(e.i. Saturday)'s guests start arriving & we are commited to their check in time. However if you book for any other night than Friday,saturday (Public holiday eve), I assure you we will be able to extend to you late Check out. Alternatively if you choose to extend your stay by one more night we can give you discount for the first night which you came in late.

I am personally very sorry for the rudeness any of my staff at the reception has shown towards you or anyone else. I personally will look into it.

Regards,
Dr.Gopal

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Email sent to another resort which was not replied yet (it’s been 8 months)

Jagbir,

I stayed in your resort last to last Friday Night. It was a Horrific stay. With AC not working, zero cleanliness, Flush not working, shady bedsheets / curtains, later service. One of the worst places in Mumbai.
U-Tan resort in close proxmity is just 600 rs costlier but 10 times better.
I demand full refund.

Rgds,
Manish Gadia

Conclusion – Mixed Feeling

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CASE 3) CARS

Sir / Madam,

I had bought CIVIC 1.8 AT in the month October (2007) from Linkway Honda (Goregaon East). During the said period, there was a scheme whereby i was entitled for a free stay in certain Resorts / Hotels. I have emailed & written to the following address manytimes (PO Box 9207, New Delhi 110092, India), however nothing happened.

I have contacted the dealer LINKWAY also, but all they have to say is "This is HONDA's scheme not theirs, contact HONDA". As a buyer of relatively expensive model of your company, i stand now after 2 years highly disssatisfied. There is no proper consumer re-adressal forum. I am entitled for some offer & i should get one.

But till now all my phonecalls etc have not been heard.
I have intentions of highlighting the same to various AUTO publications for the non receipt of the offer.

Requesting once again to give the resort booking which i deserve / or give me necessary reimbursement.

CC:- HONDA JAPAN, HONDA INDIA

P.S: - Please be assured, i didnt commit any mistake in filling the offer form & the same was submitted on time.

Response from HONDA – No response as yet. The Dealer Linkway called just to say sorry, however no action. I also want to give valuable feedback on Honda Civic as a vehicle, however I have no contact with Honda nor can I find any Internet site where I can lodge my feedback.

CONCLUSION – Highly dissatisfactory.

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CASE 4) CINEMAS

The following complaint was lodged on PVR’s website. No response yet (its been around 4 months already).

Dear Mr/Ms. Customer

Greetings from PVR Cinemas !!!

Your complaint has been registered and a case with Case ID: CAS-34686-V3T4ST was opened against your complaint.

Case details are as shown below:

Case ID: CAS-34686-V3T4ST

Case Type: Feedback

Customer's Comments::

I and my friend are regular at PVR. But this time we have decided we will not goto PVR anymore. It all started with one movie (name of which we forgot. I think it was werewolf), we went to a screen in PVR goregaon. The volume of the movie was sooo sooo low that we had togo and complain to the management. Post that we went to PVR goregaon 2 more times and now again yesterday for "HOT TUBE MACHINE". May 01 2010 06:15PM The movie quality and the sound quality was soo soo bad that in all it was a very bad experience. PVR doesnt deserve to cheat us with 250 rs and then give us worst quality in the world. We demand PVR to refund us our 1000 Rs (250 Rs each for 2 Movies). Please refund the same as we are genuine customers. More importantly work on Screens like AUDI 4 at PVR Goregaon etc etc. They are very very bad.

Our representative named: PVR Customer Support is working on this case. We are glad to serve you.

Regards,

PVR Customer Support

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An Email was shot to another Cinema chain operator

Dear Sir,

I am a regular visitor of Movietime cinemas HUB - Mumbai and would like to bring the bad food situation exisiting at your theatre.

Recently i went to see Ishqiya at the multiplex and bought sandwiches and rolls (Veg, Chicken). Post eating the same, both me and my friend

felt vomitty. The entire cine going experience was screwed up because of that. Normally people prefer eating at Mcdonalds then to eat at Movietime cinema as the food quality is very very bad.

Requesting you to please look into it as it is coming from a loyal customer of Movietime.

Rgds,

Manish Gadia

Movietime staffs are better in taking care by replying to the complaint. They promised an action. But it’s been almost a year and things have not changed. Movie time still serves the worst food in the cinema category.

CONCLUSION – Highly dissatisfactory

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CASE 5) Courier

The following complaint was lodged on Accord Global’s website. We got telephonic response but the undelivered courier has still not reached (its been around 2 years already)

Hello,

My AWB - 1000349066

I have sent a Greeting Card through you to a UK address. It has been over 10 days and i am still figuring out where my greeting card is.
I have called Accord Call Centre and had a chat with one lady over 10 times (022 - 32664550). Every day she confirmed me that the shipment is happening, but it has not happened as yet. I had told 100 times to Mr. Pawan (9987671102) and that Call Centre Lady to deliver the same to neighbor etc if no one it at the address, but till now they seem to just laying eggs.

I plan togoto Consumer Forum with strictest of action to be taken against owners of accord Global. Kindly send me details of partners of your company so that an action can be taken against them.

Rgds,

Manish

CONCLUSION – Highly dissatisfactory. Lost Package and no accountability. No Refund. No Claims paid.

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One of the Finest Overnite BIRDING trail near Mumbai City - Phansad

2010-07-26T01:51:00.000-07:00

TRIP PLAN: BIRDING ROADTRIP

DESTINATION – ALIBAUG – KASHID - PHANSAD – MURUD GRANDPRIX (source - Mumbai Nature Guide by Sunjoy Monga, personal experiences, blogs)

DAY 1

5: 00 AM - Depart from Mumbai towards Alibaug by Car

ROUTE –

8: 00 AM – PITSTOP 1: - DHARAMTAR CREEK BRIDGE - 3 KM From Vadkhal Jn (after Pen, the junction where left road continues as Mumbai – Goa Road) - 5 Mins Pitstop

8:15 AM – PITSTOP 2: - POND WITH HERBAGE 1KM post Poynad

Karlekhind Jn – Saral – Rewas Creek edge – Mandwa – back to Alibag via Kankeshwar and Kihim - 5 Mins Pitstop

9: 00 AM - PITSTOP 3 – KANAKESHWAR TEMPLE HILL (on the Alibaug - Mandve Road)

Take a slight detour (3km to be exact) from Chodi village to the holy Kanakeshwar Temple (close to Kihim). The climb up to the temple of about 700 steps shouldn't take more than 45 minutes. This is called as Alibaug’s Very own mini silent hill station -2 Hours of amazing Trek and Birding Experience

11:00 AM: PITSTOP 4 - DHOKAVDE POND - 5 Mins Pitstop (end of Alibaug - Mandve road)

11:30 AM: PITSTOP 5 – AKSHI BEACH - But first reach Ramdhaneshwar near Alibaug for a Raptor watch before Akshi Beach- 15 Mins Pitstop

12:30 AM: PITSTOP 5 – REVDANDA BRIDGE- 5 Mins Pitstop

1: 00 PM: PITSTOP 6 – MAHUA FARMS RESORT / SEA SHELL RESORT (Near Phansad)- 3 Hours Pitstop for Resting & Lunch

3: 30 PM: PITSTOP 6 – MURUD FORT AND BEACH - Evening snacks at Murud Beach. Visit Fort “Janjira” for Wader and Raptor watch. Back to Resort.

DAY TWO

6: 00 AM: PITSTOP 7 - PHANSAD WLS TREK

Start early morning for Trek at Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary

Visit the Grassland patches and Waterholes (Gunyacha Maal, Chikhalgaan & Phansadgaan) Chikhalgan and Phansadgan are perennial water sources and are also filled with insect & birdlife)

Visit the Sacred Groves (near Supegaon - a great place to see some birds that like to inhabit the fringe of the forest) visit the Periphery of forests .

The Open Grasslands or Mals -the forest suddenly gives way to open grasslands in small pockets through most of the Sanctuary, these make great spots for seeing good fly-pasts and viewing Mammals (though mainly at night).

6:00 PM: DEPART FOR MUMBAI

AAREY MILK COLONY BIRDING TRAIL

2010-07-20T07:58:00.000-07:00

This trail can be covered by a Car or on foot. However Car / 2 wheeler would be needed to cover the entire trail in a given morning. Around 125 species of Birds has been recorded at Aarey. I have also found out that invariably every species of bird has a prominent place in Aarey where chances of spotting them are very high. For E.g: Oriental magpie robbins can be spotted easily at Panchavati Gardens, parakeets & kites near Aarey guest house, Baya Weavers in Green Tunnel Lane, Vultures and other raptors at the Carcass point, pied starlings on Bald Hill etc. The most common bird of Aarey has to be Cattle egrets (and rightly so). Aarey is a good Birding destination both in morning and in evening. The Top 14 points at which sightings of Birds of Aarey are high has been listed in the Map below (relate each point with number and details given below map). Around 10 minutes can be spent at each point. Watch out for snakes & reptiles on the trail. Stay clear from them.

(Disclaimer – I’ve prepared this blog in a hurry. Please ignore the grammatical errors. Over due course, I shall proof read this :) (Regret the bad map quality. I am in process of creating the image in photoshop to enhance the clarity. If someone volunteers todo that it will go long way in helping us)

(Click on Image to Enlarge the Image or access the PDF version of the Image by CLICKING HERE )

1. The Birds Playground: The Aarey Welcoming Trees

Location - After paying the Aarey toll (from Goregaon side) take the second right and then immediate left. Walk for 100 meters. This area is denoted by large trees extending from a small temple till further 300-400 mts parallel to the road on left hand side.

These huge trees at the entrance may be one of the noisiest sections in whole of aarey. This site can be termed as bird’s playground. Mynas, Doves, koels, bulbuls, cuckoos, crows, drongos etc are at play here.

2. The Small Hillock

From the playground site walk further inside Aarey. You will cross 2-3 small living huts the and then cattle-feed growing land on the right hand side. You will also cross 1 small bridge. There will be an immediate left turn. Do not take the left, walk straight. Pass the Buffalo shed on right and cross the small bridge number 2. Just after that on the left hand side there is a small elevation, which can be easily climbed. This is a great hiding point. Once can sit on the small hillock without being spotted by birds. This hillock overlooks a small pond. Eurasian thicknee, White breasted hen (good chance), Pond heron (almost everytime), Greater coucal (almost everytime), Egrets (everytime), Kingfishers can often be sighted here. Birds continue their chirping in this section also. Often you will hear lot of birds (copper smith barbarets, robins, mynas in particular on the neighboring trees).

One can go on the other side of the pond and after 100 mts of walking (in the dense trees) and come out in an open field. Here one can easily sight oriental magpie robins, leafbirds etc. Greater Coucal nests can also amongst trees during the walk. Note - Crows can be very menacing in this section.

Caution – This site can be filthy but the efforts may be worth it J

3 & 4. The Green Tunnel Lane:

Turn back from the Site 2 (Small Hillock) and take the left you missed earlier. The lane is so called as trees on both the sides almost covers top of major section of the lane. In middle of the lane, there are couple of coconut trees on the right hand side where lots of Baya Weaver nests can be found hanging. Towards the left hand side drongos, doves, prinias can easily be sighted (mostly on the electric wires).

5. Chotta Kashmir Pond / The Bald Hill and the approach road:

From the Site 4, keep moving towards temple and reach main aarey road. Take the right and reach Chotta Kashmir Pond. Kingfishers, Cormorants, domesticated ducks / geese, gulls can be found in and around the Chhota Kashmir Pond during wee hours.

Post birding session at Chotta Kashmir, come back on the main Aarey road and cross the chhota Kashmir pond car park (just ahead) and after 200 meters walk, there is a small left. This is the approach road towards the bald hill. On this road, one can spot bathing cisticolas, bulbuls, prinias, fantails, ioras, petronias etc (just out from chotta Kashmir pond). Cars cannot go up to the Bald Hill. Just when the straight approach road is about to turn auto left, park your car at that point. Immediately in the front (towards right side), there is a walkable dusty road which goes further right and finally to the top of small hill (not visible in monsoons though). This hill is Bald Mountain.

Bald Hill is so called, as the top of the hill is plain area with only some patches of trees on the circumference. Huge number of Asian Pied starlings and common mynas can be found on this plain area of the hill. On the peripheral trees, number of Kites and egrets can easily be spotted. This area in evening can be a photographers delight. (Note - The hill cannot be accessed in monsoon as the road, which leads to the hill, gets covered with vegetation). Watch out for snakes and other reptiles here.

6. Tribal Area Lane:

From Site 5, come back on aarey road and reach the main aarey junction (aarey market). Take the right towards Aarey Nursery. There would be a 5 mins long drive on this road, cross the tribal village, drive a bit and park the car. The huge field on left handside will yield good sightings of many birds specially orioles, doves & Weavers.

7. Egret Park:

Drive straight from site 6 to reach site 7. One can find maximum number of egrets in this location, courtesy of a huge buffalo shed. To see the number of egrets can be quite a sight.

8. Base of Swimming Pool Mountain:

This is where the swimming pool mountain starts (the mountain has a man made swimming pool on top). Cars have to be parked near the shed and it usually takes 2 mins of walking from the park towards the mountain to reach Site 8. This area can surprise a Birder. In the evening swifts and bats fly at very low altitude. Mongoose & snakes can often be sighted here. This place has a bit of squeakiness associated to it.

9. Carcass Point :

Carcass of dead buffaloes are disposed here. This attracts vultures and other raptors. This is the best place to spot last remaining vultures in heart of the city (very rarely sighting though). Cars have to be parked on main road and one has to walk on this branched road. 9 out of 10 times one will also find a spotted dove here. Biggest of Aarey eagles can be found here.

10. Panchavati Garden:

This place can also be called as Oriental Magpie Robin Garden as huge number of magpie robins can be sighted here. One can just sit on the benches kept and wait for robins to come close. This area may soon be destroyed as it has been given to Force 1 Commandoes to set up a base. Save Aarey Milk Colony Facebook community is protesting the same.

11. Lotus Pond (only in monsoon):

The last remaining pond *with herbage) gets filled up in only in monsoon and is dry otherwise. Ducks, Grebes, jacanas have been sighted here during monsoons. However the sighting of these birds is very rare.

12. Aarey Guest House Hill:

This is a 5-7 minute steep climb in car to reach Aarey Guest House. Parakeets can be easily spotted next to Aarey guest house. Further up next to wireless tower once can find number of Kites hunting. This is a restricted access lane however walkers and birders should have no issues in traversing throughout this area. Cameras may not be permitted here. Peacocks were found in this area at one point of time (sadly no more). Very Rarely racket tailed drongo can also be spotted here. The peace and tranquility, which exists in this area, is unparallel. This is one of the last remaining untouched places at Aarey.

Note – The site has only one entrance. It cannot be approached by any other road.

13. Aarey School :

From Site 12, head back on the main Aarey Road. At Aarey Junction (Aarey market) take a right and then second right. Follow the map and reach Aarey school. Leave the road and enter the bushes right next to Aarey School gate. Since this area being slightly at high altitude and overlooking a slope downwards, also the bushes here are generally dry (non monsoon), large number of birds can easily be sighted here. Parakeets are very prominent at this place.

14. Powai Lake :

An awesome end to the Aarey Trail. The long powai lake promenade is now redone which traverses the half of lake’s circumference. Terns, kingfishers, ducks, egrets, Herons, gulls, cormorants, kites, plovers, stilts, flamingoes (rarely) and other waders swarm this lake.

Note - Boating may start soon which will affect the birding here.

(COMING SOON - PICTURES OF EACH SITE)
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BIRDING TRAILS : KARNALA - URAN ROAD - NAVI MUMBAI TALAWE - 5th JUNE 2010

2010-07-18T10:07:00.000-07:00

These 2-3 Birding sites can be combined for a good Long Birding Morning. Unfortunately because of widespread destruction at URAN, the same cannot be recommended as a standalone site anymore.

NAVI MUMBAI TALAWE SITE MAP - (immediately next to TS Chanakya Building on Palm Beach Road, Vashi)

(Red dot indicates the 2 opposite Talawe sites. The small pond on the opposite side of Navi Mumbai Talawe also can yield good bird sightings)

Karnala Bird Sanctuary Map
(The best Birding site in Karnala is just next to Rest Houses (Some Birds are kept in Cages here) at the Entrance of the Sanctuary. There are benches placed overlooking the forest. Atleast 45 Mins should be spent here. I would recommend taking 2-3 trails which branches out from this site where Cages are kept. One should not climb the hill or go deep in the trail just be in circumference of this Main Site (Cages).

Note - Uran map is not given as one just has to drive on the Uran Road / Jasai area and keep looking for ponds on either sides. The earlier established big ponds are destroyed now.

Trip report by my companion Petros

List of birds observed

1. Little Cormorant
2. Indian Pond-heron
3. Eastern Cattle Egret
4. Great Egret
5. Intermediate Egret
6. Little Egret
7. Eurasian Spoonbill
8. Lesser Flamingo
9. Lesser Whistling-duck
10. Indian Spot-billed Duck
11. Black Kite
12. Crested Serpent-eagle
13. White-eyed Buzzard
14. Purple Swamphen
15. Black-winged Stilt
16. Red-wattled Lapwing
17. Rock Pigeon
18. Greater Coucal
19. Brown-headed Barbet
20. House Crow
21. Large billed Crow
22. Common Myna
23. Paddyfield Pipit
24. Common Iora
25. Common Woodshrike
26. Black-hooded Oriole
27. Black Drongo
28. Ashy Drongo
29. Greater Racket-tailed Drongo
30. Ashy Prinia
31. Plain Prinia
32. Red-whiskered Bulbul
33. Common Tailorbird
34. Oriental Magpie-Robin
35. White-rumped Shama
36. Indian Black Robin (Indian Robin)
37. Indian Pitta

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE IMAGES or FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW -
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171003&id=536552549&l=89102ff86e

AIROLi CREEK - BIRDING TRAIL - 3rd July 2010

2010-07-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

(This trail may be destroyed by the time you would try to go as a "International Consulate Enclave project is being constructed here - on the exact Birding Trail. Check the WikiMapia link by Clicking Here or follow this link - http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=19.1411545&lon=72.9865122&z=15&l=0&m=b&search=IDEB)

AIROLI CREEK - is often touted as one of the best Birding sites 'IN' the city of Mumbai. You dont have to travel far as the creek is easily accessible. Unfortunately rapid real estate construction is happening on one side of Airoli Creek which will impact birding in this area. What remains to be seen is whether the Birding reservoir would be completely destroyed like erstwhile Mecca of Mumbai Birding - URAN.

(Red dots indicate the Birding Trail. One can also get down from the bridge and have a look for birds below the Airoli bridge)

List of birds observed (prepared by companion Petros Isaakidis)

Little Cormorant
Little Heron (Striated Heron)
Indian Pond-heron
Cattle Egret
Grey Heron
Intermediate Egret
Little Egret
Lesser Flamingo
Black-shouldered Kite
Black Kite
Brahminy Kite
White-breasted Waterhen
Red-wattled Lapwing
Common Black-headed Gull
Spotted Dove
Alexandrine Parakeet (Aarey)
Asian Koel (Aarey)
Greater Coucal
White-throated Kingfisher
House Crow
Large-billed Crow
Common Myna
Asian Pied Starling
Little Green Bee-eater
Eurasian Golden Oriole
Black Drongo
White-throated Fantail
White-browed Fantail ???????????????
Greater Short-toed Lark
Zitting Cisticola
Grey-breasted Prinia
Ashy Prinia
Plain Prinia
Red-vented Bulbul
White-eared Bulbul
Yellow-eyed Babbler
Oriental Magpie-Robin
Indian Robin
Red Avadavat
Scaly-breasted Munia
Black-headed Munia

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE IMAGES or FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW -
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171003&id=536552549&l=89102ff86e

TREES PLANTED AT AAREY : VARIOUS INDIAN TREES

2010-07-05T00:37:00.000-07:00

(source - wikipedia)

1) Gulmohar / Delonix regia is a species of flowering plant from the Fabaceae family, noted for its fern-like leaves and flamboyant display of flowers. Often grown as an ornamental tree and given the name Royal Poinciana or Flamboyant, it is also known as Gulmohar (Hindi and Urdu), KrishnachuRa (Bengali), Malinche, and Tabachine, and one of several named the Flame tree. The species was previously placed in a genus Poinciana, named for Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy who is credited with introducing the plant to the Americas. The tree's vivid red/vermilion/orange/yellow flowers and bright green foliage make it an exceptionally striking sight.

The Royal Poinciana is endemic to Madagascar, where it is found in the Madagascar dry deciduous forests. In the wild it is endangered, but it is widely cultivated elsewhere. In addition to its ornamental value, it is also a useful shade tree in tropical conditions, because it usually grows to a modest height but spreads widely, and its dense foliage provides full shade. In areas with a marked dry season, it sheds its leaves during the drought, but in other areas it is virtually evergreen.

2) Rain Tree / Albizia saman is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to the Neotropics. Its range extends from Mexico south to Peru and Brazil, but it has been widely introduced to South and Southeast Asia, as well as the Pacific Islands, including Hawaii. Common names include Saman, Rain Tree and Monkey Pod (see also below). It is often placed in the genus Samanea,[1] which by yet other authors is subsumed in Albizia entirely.

Saman is a wide-canopied tree with a large symmetrical crown. It usually reaches a height of 25 m (82 ft) and a diameter of 40 m (130 ft). The leaves fold in rainy weather and in the evening, hence the name Rain Tree and 5 o'clock Tree (Pukul Lima) in Malay. Several lineages of this tree are available e.g. with reddish pink and creamish golden colored flowers.

3) SAPTAPARNI / Alstonia scholaris (Apocynaceae, commonly called Blackboard tree, Indian devil tree, Ditabark, Milkwood pine, White cheesewood and Pulai; syn. Echites scholaris L. Mant., Pala scholaris L. Roberty) is an evergreen, tropical tree native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Alstonia scholaris is a small tree that grows up to 40 m tall and is glabrous. The bark is greyish; branchlets are copiously lenticellate.
The upperside of the leaves are glossy, while the underside is greyish. Leaves occur in whorls of 3-10; petioles are 1-3 cm; the leathery leaves are narrowly obovate to very narrowly spathulate, base cuneate, apex usually rounded; lateral veins occur in 25-50 pairs, at 80-90° to midvein. Cymes are dense and pubescent; peduncle is 4-7 cm long. Pedicels are usually as long as or shorter than calyx. The corolla is white and tube-like, 6-10 mm; lobes are broadly ovate or broadly obovate, 2-4.5 mm, overlapping to the left. The ovaries are distinct and pubescent. The follicles are distinct and linear.

4) Haldina cordifolia, syn. Adina cordifolia, also known as Kadam or Kadamba in Hindi, is a flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae, the sole species in the genus Haldina. It is native to southern Asia, from India east to southern China and Vietnam.

It is a deciduous tree that can grow well over 20 metres high. many people think the flowers are insignificant individually but are very pretty when they bloom together in balls with a circumference of 2 to 3 cm. They are usually yellow in colour often tinged with a shade of pink. Kadam is at its blossoming best during winter. The bark of the tree acts as an antiseptic.

5) Parijat / Nyctanthes arbor-tristis (Night-flowering Jasmine) is a species of Nyctanthes, native to southern Asia, from northern Pakistan and Nepal south through northern India and southeast to Thailand.
It is a shrub or a small tree growing to 10 m tall, with flaky grey bark. The leaves are opposite, simple, 6–12 cm long and 2–6.5 cm broad, with an entire margin. The flowers are fragrant, with a five- to eight-lobed white corolla with an orange-red centre; they are produced in clusters of two to seven together, with individual flowers opening at dusk and finishing at dawn. The fruit is a flat brown heart-shaped to round capsule 2 cm diameter, with two sections each containing a single seed.
The natives of Chhattisgarh are aware of medicinal uses of all parts of Parijat. They use the seeds in treatment of Bavasir (Piles). Daily one seed with water is recommended as treatment. This treatment is continued up to complete cure. The seeds are crushed and aqueous paste is prepared. The patients suffering from piles are advised by the natives to apply fresh paste externally on piles, along with the internal use of seeds. This treatment is simple and very effective. In treatment of gout, the natives use the decoction of Parijat flowers. This decoction is given up to one week during the time of attack. As treatment, it is given up to one month in a year. The natives of Sarguja region use the leaves of Parijat in many ways. In treatment of dry cough, the leaf juice with Shahad (Honey) is given internally. The aqueous paste of leaves is used externally in treatment of skin related troubles specifically in treatment of ring worm. The natives of Bastar region, prepare a special herbal oil by boiling fresh leaves in Sarson (Mustard) oil and use it externally in treatment of same troubles.
Parijat appears in several Hindu myths. In one myth, which appears in Bhagavata Purana, the Mahabharata and the Vishnu Purana, Parijat appeared as the result of the Samudra manthan (Churning of the Milky Ocean). In another myth, Parijat was brought to earth by Krishna from Indra's garden.

In Hindu mythology, there is a story involving Lord Krishna about a parijat and Krishna's two wives, Satyabhama and Rukmini. Satyabhama wanted this "Parijat" tree from the Heaven to be planted in her garden. Rukmini too, took a fancy to the flower. Krishna, wanting to keep both his wives happy, planted this tree so that the flowers fell in Rukmini’s garden while the tree remained in Satyabhama’s garden.[citation needed]
The tree was planted in the garden of Indra, the Lord of Heavens. Even as Krishna stole a branch of the tree he was spotted by Indra. However, Indra desisted from placing a curse on Krishna since he was an incarnation of Vishnu. Still, Indra put forth a curse on the stolen branch that it will never bear fruit even though the flowers may bloom on the tree. Since the day the tree was planted at Barabanki (the wives' garden), it flowers but does not reproduce, because it has no seeds and the branch cannot take root.

6) Couroupita guianensis / Kailashpati, whose common names include Ayahuma and the Cannonball Tree, is an evergreen tree allied to the Brazil Nut (Bertholletia excelsa), and is native to tropical northern South America and to the southern Caribbean. In India it is growing for the past two or three thousand years at least, as attested by textual records, hence it is possible that it was native to India also. It's part of the family Lecythidaceae and grows up to 25m in height. The Cannonball Tree is so-called because of its brown cannon ball-like fruits. The majority of these trees outside their natural environment have been planted as a botanical curiosity, as they grow very large, distinctive flowers. Its flowers are orange, scarlet and pink in color, and form large bunches measuring up to 3 m in length. They produce large spherical and woody fruits ranging from 15 to 24 cm in diameter, containing up to 200 or 300 seeds apiece.

7) Desi badam / Terminalia catappa is a large tropical tree in the Leadwood tree family, Combretaceae. The tree has been spread widely by humans and the native range is uncertain. It has long been naturalised in a broad belt extending from Africa to Northern Australia and New Guinea through Southeast Asia and Micronesia into the Indian Subcontinent. More recently the plant has been introduced to parts of the Americas. Common names include , Bengal almond, Singapore almond , Ebelebo, Malabar almond, Indian almond, Tropical almond, Sea almond, Beach Almond, Talisay tree, Umbrella tree, Abrofo Nkatie (Akan) and Zanmande (creole).

It grows to 35 metres (115 ft) tall, with an upright, symmetrical crown and horizontal branches. The Terminalia catappa has corky, light fruit that is dispersed by water. The nut within the fruit is edible when fully ripe,tasting almost like almond. As the tree gets older, its crown becomes more flattened to form a spreading, vase shape. Its branches are distinctively arranged in tiers.

8) Putranjiva is a plant genus of the family Putranjivaceae. Along with Drypetes (of the same family), it contains mustard oils as a chemical defense against herbivores. The ability to produce glucosinolates is believed to have evolved only twice, in the Putranjivaceae and the Brassicales.

The rosid family Putranjivaceae is composed of about 210 species of evergreen tropical trees distributed into 4 genera. Members of this family have 2-ranked coriaceous leaves, which, if fresh, typically have a radish-like or peppery taste. The flowers are fasciculate and usually small, and the fruits of these species are a single-seeded drupe crown by the persistent stigmas. This family has its origin in Africa and Malesia.

9) Bahava / The Golden Shower Tree (Cassia fistula see below for other names) is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to southern Asia, from southern Pakistan east through India to Myanmar and south to Sri Lanka. It is the national tree of Thailand.
Cassia fistula is widely grown as an ornamental plant in tropical and subtropical areas. It blooms in late spring. Flowering is profuse, with trees being covered with yellow flora, with almost no leaf being seen. It does not grow well in dry climates. Growth for this tree is best in full sun on well-drained soil; it is drought- and salt- tolerant, but will be damaged by even short spells of freezing weather. It can be subject to mildew, leaf spot and root diseases.

In Ayurvedic medicine, Golden Shower Tree is known as aragvadha ("disease killer"). Its fruitpulp is used as mild laxative, against fevers, arthritis, vatavyadhi (nervous system diseases), all kinds of rakta-pitta (bleeding, such as hematemesis or hemorrhages), as well as cardiac conditions and stomach problems such as acid reflux. The root is considered a very strong purgative, and self-medication or any use without medical supervision is strongly advised against in Ayurvedic texts.

10) Manilkara zapota, commonly known as the Sapodilla, is a long-lived, evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.[1] It is grown in huge quantities in India, Pakistan, Mexico and was introduced to the Philippines during Spanish colonisation. The fruit has an exceptionally sweet malty flavor. Many believe the flavor bears a striking resemblance to caramel. The unripe fruit is hard to the touch and contains high amounts of saponin, which has astringent properties similar to tannin, drying out the mouth.
The trees can only survive in warm, typically tropical environments, dying easily if the temperature drops below freezing. From germination, the sapodilla tree will usually take anywhere from 5–8 years to bear fruit. The sapodilla trees yield fruit twice a year, though flowering may continue year round.

11) The Ashoka tree (lit., "sorrow-less") (S. asoca (Roxb.) Wilde, or Saraca indica L. ) is a plant belonging to the Caesalpiniaceae subfamily of the legume family.[1] It is an important tree in the cultural traditions of the Indian Subcontinent and adjacent areas.
The Ashoka is a rain-forest tree. Its original distribution was in the central areas of the Deccan plateau, as well as the middle section of the Western Ghats in the western coastal zone of the Indian Subcontinent. The Ashoka is prized for its beautiful foliage and fragrant flowers. It is a very handsome, small, erect evergreen tree, with deep green leaves growing in dense clusters.
Its flowering season is around February to April. The Ashoka flowers come in heavy, lush bunches. They are bright orange-yellow in color, turning red before wilting.
As a wild tree, the Ashoka is a vulnerable species. It is becoming rarer in its natural habitat, but isolated wild Ashoka trees are still to be found in the foothills of central and eastern Himalayas, in scattered locations of the northern plains of India as well as on the west coast of the Subcontinent near Mumbai.
There are a few varieties of the Ashoka tree. One variety is larger and highly spreading. The columnar varieties are common in cultivation. It is also used for medical purposes. The asoka tree is considered sacred throughout the Indian subcontinent, especially in India and Sri Lanka. This tree has many folklorical, religious and literary associations in the region. Highly valued as well for its handsome appearance and the color and abundance of its flowers, the asoka tree is often found in royal palace compounds and gardens as well as close to temples throughout India.
The asoka tree is closely associated with the Yakshi mythological beings. One of the recurring elements in Indian art, often found at gates of Buddhist and Hindu temples, is the sculpture of a Yakshi with her foot on the trunk and her hands holding the branch of a flowering ashoka tree. As an artistic element, often the tree and the Yakshi are subject to heavy stylization. Some authors hold that the young girl at the foot of this tree is based on an ancient fertility symbol.
The asoka tree has a symbolic importance in Buddhism. Queen Māyā of Sakya is said to have given birth to the Buddha under an asoka tree in a garden in Lumbini. According to tradition, the queen walked in the garden until she came to an ashoka tree to take a rest. Then the tree magically bent down for her and she grasped a branch. At that moment the Buddha emerged from her right side.

AAREY MILK COLONY PLANTATION - 27th JUNE 2010

2010-06-30T09:37:00.000-07:00

YOU ARE STILL MAROONED :-) THE FAB 10: BEST BIRDS

2010-06-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

In continuation to my earlier article .......

(Do post your comments in the end of the article)

Situation 2 -

You are stuck in Island for long and you get to take only 10 species of Birds. Which ones would you like them to be?

Rule –

1. You have shelter, food etc etc. You have list down your ‘Top 10 birds’ entertainment / beauty wise only as in your Top 10 birds of all time.

My call on a list like that is as follows. I like to call it ‘The Fab 10’. ‘Fab 10’ stands for birders pinnacle, the best 10 birds across continents with beauty as the only parameter.

(Note – In this ‘Fab 10’ list, birds are not in any particular order)

1. Indian Peacock / Peafowl

Truly a National Bird.

Prominent in many cultures, the peacock has been used in numerous iconic representations, including being designated the national bird of India in 1963. The peacock, known as Mayura in Sanskrit, has enjoyed a fabled place in India since and is frequently depicted in temple art, mythology, poetry, folk-music and traditions. Many Hindu deities are associated with the bird, Krishna is often depicted with a feather in his headband, while worshippers of Shiva associate the bird as the steed of the God of war, Karthikeya (also known as Skanda or Murugan). In Buddhist philosophy, the peacock represents wisdom.Peacock feathers are used in many rituals and ornamentation. Peacock motifs are widespread in Indian temple architecture, old coinage, textiles and continue to be used in many modern items of art and utility. In Greek mythology the origin of the peacocks plumage is explained in the tale of Juno and Argus. Charles Darwin wrote to Asa Gray that the "sight of a feather in a peacock’s tail , whenever I gaze at it, makes me sick!" as he failed to see an adaptive advantage for the extravagant tail which seemed only to be an encumbrance. Darwin tried to develop a second principle of "sexual selection" to resolve the problem.

Adult peafowl can usually escape ground predators by flying into trees. Leopards are however able to ambush them and in some areas such as the Gir forest, peafowl are common prey. Foraging in groups provides some safety as there are more eyes to look out for prey. They are sometimes hunted by large birds of prey such as the Changeable Hawk-eagle and Rock Eagle-owl. Chicks are prone to predation. Adults living near human habitations are sometimes hunted by domestic dogs or by humans in some areas (southern Tamil Nadu) for folk-remedies involving the use of "peacock oil".

2. Black Necked Stork

This bird shows the beauty of BLACK as a color. The Black-necked Stork, Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It is a widespread species, which is a resident breeder in southern Asia and Australasia, from India east to New Guinea and the northern half of Australia. In Australia, it is also given the common name Jabiru in Australia. It is spectacularly plumaged. The head, neck, wing bar and tail are jet black, with the rest of the plumage white. Sexes are identical except that the female has a yellow iris, while the male's is brown.

3. Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher

If you have to see numerous shades of blue, black, pink, orange, yellow, red all in one, theres no better bird then Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher. The Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher also known as the Black-backed Kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca) is a species of bird in the Alcedinidae family. Small red and yellow kingfisher, yellow underparts with bluish-black upperparts. This is a widespread resident of lowland forest. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Republic of India, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. The preferred habitat is small streams in densely shaded forests.[3] In southwestern India, it begins to breed with the onset of the Southwest Monsoon in June. The nest is a horizontal tunnel up to a metre in length. The clutch of 4-5 eggs hatches in 17 days with both the male and female incubating. The birds fledge after 20 days and a second brood may be raised if the first fails. The young are fed with geckos, skinks, snails, frogs, crickets and dragonflies.

4. Scarlet Macaw

The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) is a large, colorful macaw. It is native to humid evergreen forests in the American tropics. Range extends from extreme south-eastern Mexico to Amazonian Peru, Bolivia and Brazil in lowlands up to 500 m (1,640 ft) (at least formerly) up to 1,000 m (3,281 ft). It has been widely extirpated by habitat destruction and capture for the parrot trade, but locally it remains fairly common. Formerly it ranged north to southern Tamaulipas. It can still be found on the island of Coiba. It is the national bird of Honduras. The Scarlet Macaw can live up to 75 years in captivity, although, a more typical lifespan is 40 to 50 years

5. Red bird of Paradise

Red Bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea rubra, also Cendrawasih Merah), is a bird-of-paradise in the genus Paradisaea, family Paradisaeidae. An Indonesian endemic, the Red Bird-of-paradise is distributed to lowland rainforests of Waigeo and Batanta islands of West Papua. This species shares its home with another bird-of-paradise, the Wilson's Bird-of-paradise. Hybridisation between these two species is not recorded but is expected because it is recorded for many other birds of paradise. The Red Bird-of-paradise is depicted on the front side of 1992 edition of Indonesia 20000 Rupiah banknote.

6. Blue Bird of Paradise

The Blue Bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea rudolphi, is a medium-sized with a bluish-white bill, dark brown iris, grey legs, broken white eye-ring and bright blue wings. The male is adorned with violet blue and cinnamon flank plumes and two long ribbon-like tail feathers. The female has a chestnut brown below.

The Blue Bird-of-paradise is endemic to Papua New Guinea. It is distributed to mountain forests of southeastern New Guinea. ITIS recognizes only one subspecies, but additional subspecies margaritae and ampla have been described. The male is polygamous and performs a breathtaking courtship display. But unlike all other Paradisaea species, he performs solitary with attending female nearby. In display, the male hangs from a branch upside down. The black oval with red margin at the centre of his chest is rhythmically enlarged and contracted. His violet blue plumes spread out in a fan, swaying its body back and forth while the central tail feathers form two impressive arches down to either side. Throughout his performance he vocalizes softly in a low but harsh vibrating voice.

Regarded by some ornithologists as the loveliest of all birds, the Blue Bird-of-paradise was discovered by Carl Hunstein in 1884. The scientific name commemorates the ill-fated Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria.

Due to ongoing habitat loss, limited range, small population size and hunting in some areas for its highly prized plumes, the rare Blue Bird-of-paradise is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

7. Goldies Bird of Paradise:

The Goldie's Bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea decora is a large, approximately 33 cm long, olive-brown bird-of-paradise. The male has a yellow and dark green plumage with a lavender grey breast, yellow iris and grey colored bill, mouth and feet. It is adorned with large crimson ornamental flank plumes and two long tail wires. The male is distinguished from other Paradisaea species by its lavender grey breast plumage. Unadorned female has an olive-brown plumage with cinnamon-brown below.

Endemic to Papua New Guinea, the Goldie's Bird-of-paradise is distributed in the hill forests of Fergusson and Normanby Island of the D'Entrecasteaux Archipelago, eastern Papuan Islands. The diet consists mainly of fruits.

The name commemorates the Scottish collector Andrew Goldie, who discovered the bird in 1882.Due to ongoing habitat loss, limited range and overhunting in some areas, the Goldie's Bird-of-paradise is evaluated as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

8. Pink Flamingoes

Flamingos often stand on one leg, the other tucked beneath the body. The reason for this behavior is not fully understood. Some suggest that the flamingo, like some other animals, has the ability to have half of its body go into a state of sleep, and when one side is rested, the flamingo will swap legs and then let the other half sleep,[citation needed] but this has not been proven. Recent research has indicated that standing on one leg may allow the birds to conserve more body heat, given that they spend a significant amount of time wading in cold water. As well as standing in the water, flamingos may stamp their webbed feet in the mud to stir up food from the bottom.

Young flamingos hatch with grey plumage, but adults range from light pink to bright red due to aqueous bacteria and beta carotene obtained from their food supply. A well-fed, healthy flamingo is more vibrantly coloured and thus a more desirable mate. A white or pale flamingo, however, is usually unhealthy or malnourished. Captive flamingos are a notable exception; many turn a pale pink as they are not fed carotene at levels comparable to the wild. This is changing as more zoos begin to add prawns and other supplements to the diets of their flamingos. Alice is invited (in 'Alice in Wonderland') to play a game of croquet with the Queen and the rest of her subjects but the game quickly descends into chaos. Live flamingos are used as mallets and hedgehogs as balls

9. Osprey

A Jet White Raptor. The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is brown on the upperparts and predominantly greyish on the head and underparts, with a black eye patch and wings.

The Osprey tolerates a wide variety of habitats, nesting in any location near a body of water providing an adequate food supply. It is found on all continents except Antarctica although in South America it occurs only as a non-breeding migrant.

As its other common name suggests, the Osprey's diet consists almost exclusively of fish. It has evolved specialised physical characteristics and exhibits unique behaviour to assist in hunting and catching prey. The sexes appear fairly similar, but the adult male can be distinguished from the female by its slimmer body and narrower wings. The breast band of the male is also weaker than that of the female, or is non-existent, and the underwing coverts of the male are more uniformly pale. It is straightforward to determine the sex in a breeding pair, but harder with individual birds. Ospreys usually mate for life. Rarely, polyandry has been recorded

10. Humming Bird

King of Small birds. These birds represents the beauty which lies even in smallest of birds. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings 12–90 times per second (depending on the species). They can also fly backwards, and are the only group of birds able to do so. Their English name derives from the characteristic hum made by their rapid wing beats.Hummingbirds drink nectar, a sweet liquid inside flowers. Like bees, they are able to assess the amount of sugar in the nectar they eat; they reject flower types that produce nectar that is less than 10% sugar and prefer those whose sugar content is stronger. Like the similar nectar-feeding sunbirds and unlike other birds, hummingbirds drink by using protrusible grooved or trough-like tongues.Hummingbirds do not spend all day flying, as the energy cost would be prohibitive; the majority of their activity consists simply of sitting or perching. Hummingbirds feed in many small meals, consuming many small invertebrates and up to five times their own body weight in nectar each day. They spend an average of 10–15% of their time feeding and 75–80% sitting and digesting.

Hummingbird flight has been studied intensively from an aerodynamic perspective using wind tunnels and high-speed video cameras. Among the better-known North American species, the average lifespan is 3 to 5 years. By comparison, the smaller shrews, among the smallest of all mammals, seldom live more than 2 years. Hummingbirds are restricted to the Americas, from southern Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, including the Caribbean. There are between 325 and 340 species of hummingbird.

(As on today i have just seen 2 of the 'FAB 10' - Peacock and Flamingoes. Gearing for the rest 8 - black necked stork and oriental kingfisher in particular as they are residents of India)

BIRDS LIST : 1) MAROONED ON AN ISLAND

2010-06-01T11:14:00.000-07:00

(REQUESTING YOU ALL TO COMMENT WITH YOUR TAKE / SUGGESTIONS/ YOUR BIRDLIST ETC ON THIS ARTICLE – Scroll below to Comment or press the Comments Link below)

This Article is taken (edited and modified) from the following Yahoo group threads by Praveen J (paintedstork@gmail.com) and by me. Also the pictures used are taken from Google Images. Numbers are purely denoting series and not ranks i.e. within the list there are no specific ranks given.

Source:

Threads

Link 1 – http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/keralabirder/message/10

Link 2 – http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=64834

Situation 1 -

You are stuck in Island for long and you get to take only 10 species of Birds. Which ones would you like them to be?

Rule –

1. You can’t eat the Birds

Job K Joseph replies (modified for the article): -

1. A Bengal Florican – It is amazing to watch specially the gait.

2. A Brown headed stork-billed kingfisher. I like its call very much. Very sweet to ears like a music

3. A Swan for me to feed during the day.

4. A tame cockatoo to keep me company in my make-shift hut

5. A hunting falcon to give me some meals

6. A rooster to wake me up and give warning signals

7. A hen – Eggs are tasty

8. An ostrich - bigger eggs are tastier

9. Racket-tailed drongo - more for the price of one?( hear animal

Sounds)

10. A hummingbird - Let it contribute to pollination.

Special birds featured in Discovery's new show - LIFE

2010-05-30T00:03:00.000-07:00

(Source - wikipedia)
1) Humming Bird:

Hummingbirds drink nectar, a sweet liquid inside flowers. Like bees, they are able to assess the amount of sugar in the nectar they eat; they reject flower types that produce nectar that is less than 10% sugar and prefer those whose sugar content is stronger. Hummingbirds have long lifespans for organisms with such rapid metabolisms. Though many die during their first year of life, especially in the vulnerable period between hatching and leaving the nest (fledging), those that survive may live a decade or more. Among the better-known North American species, the average lifespan is 3 to 5 years.

2) Ethiopian lammergeier

The Lammergeier or Bearded Vulture, Gypaetus barbatus ("Bearded Vulture-Eagle"), is an Old World vulture, the only member of the genus Gypaetus. It breeds on crags in high mountains in southern Europe, Africa, India, and Tibet, laying one or two eggs in mid-winter which hatch at the beginning of spring. The population is resident. The Lammergeier has been successfully re-introduced into the Alps, but is still one of the rarest raptors in Europe.[2]

Like other vultures it is a scavenger, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animals. It usually disdains the rotting meat, however, and lives on a diet that is 90% bone marrow. It will drop large bones from a height to crack them into smaller pieces. Its old name of Ossifrage ("bone breaker") relates to this habit. Live tortoises are also dropped in similar fashion to crack them open.

3) Red Billed Tropic Bird

The Red-billed Tropicbird, Phaethon aethereus, also known as the Boatswain Bird is a tropicbird, one of three closely related seabirds of tropical oceans. It occurs in the tropical Atlantic, eastern Pacific and Indian Oceans.The Indian Ocean race of the Red-billed Tropicbird, P. a. indicus, was at one time considered a full species, the Lesser Red-billed Tropicbird from Pakistan and the western Republic of India.

The Red-billed Tropicbird breeds on tropical islands laying a single egg directly onto the ground or a cliff ledge. It disperses widely when not breeding, and sometimes wanders far, including an amazing record from Great Britain. One has recently been found in eastern Nova Scotia, Canada. They feed on fish and squid, but are poor swimmers.

4) Frigate Birds

The frigatebirds are a family, Fregatidae, of seabirds. There are five species in the single genus Fregata. They are also sometimes called Man of War birds or Pirate birds. Since they are related to the pelicans, the term "frigate pelican" is also a name applied to them. They have long wings, tails and bills and the males have a red gular pouch that is inflated during the breeding season to attract a mate.

Frigatebirds are pelagic piscivores which obtain most of their food on the wing. A small amount of their diet is obtained by robbing other seabirds, a behavior that has given the family its name, and by snatching seabird chicks. Frigatebirds are seasonally monogamous, and nest colonially. A rough nest is constructed in low trees or on the ground on remote islands. A single egg[citation needed] is laid each breeding season. The duration of parental care in frigatebirds is the longest of any bird.

5) Bower Birds

The catbirds are monogamous and raise chicks with their mate, but all other bowerbirds are polygynous, with the female building the nest and raising the young alone. These latter species are commonly sexually dimorphic, with the female being more drab in color. Female bowerbirds build a nest by laying soft materials, such as leaves, ferns, and vine tendrils, on top of a loose foundation of sticks. They lay one or two eggs, which hatch after 19 to 24 days, depending on the species.[1]

The most notable characteristic of bowerbirds is their extraordinarily complex courtship and mating behaviour, where males build a bower to attract mates. There are two main types of bowers. One clade of bowerbirds build so-called maypole bowers that are constructed by placing sticks around a sapling, in some species these bowers have a hut-like roof. The other major bowerbuilding clade builds an avenue type bower made of two walls of vertically placed sticks. In and around the bower the male places a variety of brightly colored objects he has collected. These objects — usually different among each species — may include hundreds of shells, leaves, flowers, feathers, stones, berries, and even discarded plastic items, coins, nails, rifle shells, or pieces of glass. The males spend hours arranging this collection. Bowers within a species share a general form but do show significant variation, and the collection of objects reflects the biases of males of each species and its ability to procure items from the habitat, often stealing them from neighboring bowers. Several studies of different species have shown that colors of decorations males use on their bowers match the preferences of females.

6) Red Knot

In the breeding season the Red Knot has a circumpolar distribution in the high Arctic, then migrates to coasts around the world from 50° N to 58° S. The exact migration routes and wintering grounds of individual subspecies are still somewhat uncertain. The nominate race C. c. canutus breeds in the Taymyr Peninsula and possibly Yakutia and migrates to the Western Europe and then down to western and southern Africa. C. c. rogersi breeds in the Chukchi Peninsula in eastern Siberia, and winters in eastern Australia and New Zealand. Small and declining numbers of rogersi (but possibly of the later described piersmai) winter in the mudflats in the Gulf of Mannar and on the eastern coast of India. The recently split race C. c. piersmai breeds in the New Siberian Islands and winters in north-western Australia.C. c. roselaari breeds in Wrangel Island in Siberia and north-western Alaska, and it apparently winters in Florida, Panama and Venezuela. C. c. rufa breeds in the Canadian low Arctic, and winters South America, and C. c. islandica breeds in the Canadian high Arctic as well as Greenland, and winters in Western Europe.

Birds wintering in west Africa were found to restrict their daily foraging to a range of just 2–16 km2 of intertidal area and roosted a single site for several months. In temperate regions such as the Wadden Sea they have been found to change roost sites each week and their feeding range may be as much as 800 km2 during the course of a week.

7) Birds of Paradise (Papua New Guinea Birds)
(source - Nat Geo)

The birds-of-paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae of the order Passeriformes. The majority of species in this family are found on the island of New Guinea and its satellites, with a few species occurring in the Moluccas of Indonesia and eastern Australia. The family has forty species in 13 genera. The members of this family are perhaps best known for the plumage of the males of most species, in particular highly elongated and elaborate feathers extending from the beak, wings or head. For the most part they are confined to dense rainforest habitat. The diet of all species is dominated by fruit and to a lesser extent arthropods. The birds-of-paradise have a variety of breeding systems, ranging from monogamy to lek based polygamy.

8) Clarks Grebe (see the video)

Clark's Grebe (Aechmophorus clarkii) is a North American species in the grebe family. Until the 1980s, it was thought to be a pale morph of the Western Grebe, which it resembles in size, range, and behavior. Intermediates between the two species are known.

Clark's Grebe is black-and-white, with a long, slender, swan-like neck. It ranges in size from 22–29 inches (56–74 cm). Among its distinguishing features is its bill, which is slightly upturned and bright yellow, whereas the Western Grebe's bill is straight and greenish-yellow. It shows white around its eyes, whereas black appears around the eyes of the Western Grebe. The downy young are white, not gray.

MY NGO - SAVE AAREY MILK COLONY getting Media Coverage

2010-05-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

GIVING BACK

2010-05-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

AGGRESSIVE OPINIONS SUPPORTS - WORLD MIGRATORY BIRDS
AGGRESSIVELY IN TOUR-DE-MUMBAI : SUPPORTING "SAVE AAREY MILK COLONY MOVEMENT"

AGGRESSIVELY SUPPORTING - WOMEN'S COLLECTIVE NGO - "APNE AAP"

The Bird House Project

2010-04-29T10:38:00.000-07:00

As Part of My NGO - "Save Aarey Milk Colony FACEBOOK community", we are launching World's first - BIRD HOUSE PROJECT today.

BIRD HOUSE PROJECT - CLICK HERE

SAPLING PROJECT - CLICK HERE

ME MYSELF & ONLY ME

2010-04-02T04:52:00.000-07:00

Just don't have anything to Blog on at the moment so thought of writing about myself,
my daily routine, my extra curriculars.

Sports form a very important part of my daily routine. Sportsman spirit, consistency, persistence and hard work are some values I have learnt through playing and watching sports. I was regular with badminton earlier and have participated in various inter college level tournaments. In last couple of years I have taken up squash and have become good in it. I am a member of a sports club, where I have access to swimming pool, tennis etc. I go regularly for adventure holidays indulging in activities like trekking, rafting and rock climbing. I have completed now 10 treks of varied levels across India from western India’s highest peak to the giant 10,000 Sq Ft trek in Himalayas. I am planning to complete the International scuba diving certification in coming summer from Thailand.

Back in 2006, I had a full fledged greeting card website up and running - www.funnywebpages.net. At the peak it was ranked in top 10 visited websites on search engine hitbox.com. The same was offloaded due to the financial and time constraints. I am working on the same to bring back the site 'live' again. I use to be a freelance website designer and have developed various corporate websites. Currently I am also working on a research paper analyzing wrong moves by MNC Banks to cope up with recession at Micro level. I plan to submit the same to various management journals. Some articles posted on my blog also have been published by HSBC Journals for staff circulation.

I always keep a book handy with me for reading. In a city like Mumbai where most of the time goes in travelling, a book is a valuable company. I enjoy management biographies a lot. Biographies of imminent personalities like Konosuke Matshushita, Jack Welch, Lee Iacocca etc have inspired me a lot. Lately I have started reading fiction – mostly by young authors. Other than this I have subscribed couple of Auto, business, adventure related monthly magazines which keeps me updated on my interests and trends. In my quest to learn a music instrument, I am now on my stage two of my guitar learning classes.

Regular community work has always been close to my heart. I believe what I do can make a difference. Since 2001 I have been involved with World Wild Fund as a “Panda Passport Holder”, now reaching the Level 4 status (level 4 indicating a long term and strong supporter). I have participated in their numerous online campaigns in the form of writing to various world bodies and governments to act on environment related emergencies. “Saving Indian tigers” and “Saving Australian Reef” are some of the examples of the same

PHOTO ALBUMS

2010-03-06T00:39:00.000-08:00

Click Here
This is where i will update all the Bird Pics taken during several BIRDING Tours I have gone for and will go in the future.

Click Here
Pics of Mumbai Cyclothon 2010 where i represented my founded NGO - Save Aarey Trees
(search for - "Save Aarey Milk Colony" on Facebook)

Click Here
Pics of Mumbai Marathon where i represented NGO - Apne Aap Womens Collective

Click Here
Pics of My Adventure Trip to Kolad. On my Facebook account you will find more pics of
other adventure trips.

HIGH, SHOCK, LESSON

2010-03-04T08:14:00.000-08:00

For a large number of people around the world the period 2008 - 2009 - 2010 will go down as years of contrast.

Year 2008 -
In 1952 War-ravaged Japan takes off on a spectacular growth path that sees its economy grow at an average of 9.6 per cent per annum for the next 19 years. South Korean strongman Park Chung Hee signals a commitment to an export-led model of growth. The seeds are sown for a remarkable expansion that sees the Korean economy growing at an average of more than 8 per cent per year between 1962 and 1989. In 1990s A huge new economy, China, joins the group. Come 2007 and India had arrived. The Indian economy had recently been notching up some of the highest growth rates in the world and year 2008 was the ultimate flight stage. All the indexes were at Peak. There was a roar in the market which was never seen before. I achieved my career best performance till date in the midst. We entered the year 2009 with double the enthusiasm and optimism. However it’s fair to say that 2009 will go down as easily the most interesting, harried, stressful, and memorable. We were not prepared for what was in-store for financial industry.

Year 2009 -

As we entered 2009, the world mood was somber, the macro economic environment bleak, deflation a real threat, the outlook for asset prices poor and regular news about banks falling. Closer to home in India, the most important Bombay stock exchange was at 10,000 (much below the highs of 2008 which was 20,000). In the days that followed, we learned about the Satyam fraud (India’s Enron like Fraud) post which much soul searching was done by India Inc and us players in the financial services industry. Further globally, Iceland became the first country to default on its obligations; Fortress, a listed hedge fund, saw its stock price down 96%; and the US announced a contraction in 1Q 2009 GDP. It all looked bleak and actually quite scary.

My department had borne the brunt of the global economic slowdown in the form of impairments. With a strong will, we started to confront the tough times. We operated in an industry that is arguably the worst hit. The history of sporting comebacks is replete with stories of great successes and abysmal failures. For every Bjorn Borg (who made an entirely forgettable tennis comeback 8 years after retiring) there is a Lance Armstrong (who overcame cancer to come back and win the Tour de France 6 more times). A Leader’s inherent talent is of little consequence without his team backing him in every step that he takes. I see an interesting analogy here to our business. Luckily we had a Lance Armstrong in form of our department head that not only stood by the department but also turned the tables around.

Year 2010 – The last 2 years are ones which I won’t be able to forget. They have shaped the way I think – “Fly high with feet firmly on ground”. It was like a reality check - to develop more on strengths and work on eliminating any weak links. The 2 contrasting years have taught me a lot at both ends – personal & business. At the personal front, I have learnt to celebrate success and at the same time accept defeats. Four qualities which lead to success in both 2008 & 2009 were discipline, focus, perseverance & enjoyment. It’s very important to have fun in what one does, without which one can never give the best. The recession has provided a moment to step back and contemplate, to come to a truer understanding of life lessons like that happiness is not derived from material things - "Most people really don't need bottled water". At business end, a company should not just be profitable but be strong as well, growth cannot come at the price of compromising basic fundamentals. The fact that cohesive units / teams can win all battles was reinforced in me.

I see years to come as opportunity to learn from our mistakes, to rise from the fall

INDIA - PROBLEM OF PLENTY

2010-03-04T07:41:00.000-08:00

Does the doomsday theory hold water? With the kind of news that is hitting the newsstand on daily basis, the answer to my mind is - "MAY BE". From a vehement "NO" I have changed my stance to "MAY BE". Due to the World economic turmoil, The lay-off scared employee set are at faceoff with opportunity cost, be it in terms of low or no bonus, which was a important salary component, or be it in terms of no salary hikes inspite of a high inflation.

Consider this Percentage increase in price data compilation from various ministries of government -

Food products: average price increase of 3.43% (in 2007) to 22.55% in January 2010.
Food commodities: 5.60% (in 2007) to 19.42% in January 2010.
Foodgrains: 6.27% (in 2007) to 17.89% in January 2010.
Pulses: 2.14% (in 2007) to 45.62% in 2007 in January 2010.
Dairy products: 6.08% (in 2007) to 12.87% in January 2010.
Eggs, fish and meat: 6.38% (in 2007) to 30.71% in January 2010.
Sugar: (-)14.69% (in 2007) to 58.94% in January 2010.
(source - rediff.com)

Absorb this: Iceland, Greece and Dubai are already walking on razor sharp edges with Greece being told to sell its islands to reduce mounting debt. Sultans are already eyeing the eponymous "Acropolis". Germany is touted to bailout Greece but Germany itself is facing the worst ever recession (post war). As I write, I hear Spain, Italy & Portugal are slated to join the Island selling club. USA's economy playing hide and seek with a "W" level growth & degrowth is not helping either. Google may be surely eyeing buying a part of Venice to set up a Google resort. 10% budget deficits are talk of the town.

And now absorb this - Nick George use to earn 60000 Indian rupees in 2008 with a five Lacs bonus and now in March 2010 still earns the same with 1 Lac bonus. Nick George use to send his child in a SSC board school but due to education competitiveness now sends his child to a ICSE / CBSE board school having 200% more fees. He has a demanding wife and life, both of which he cannot compromise. Weekends still has to be happening to put brain into proper gear for coming week.

Average Weekly Expenses of Nick George -

Child Fees - 800 Rs
800 Cc Car Weekly installments - 800 Rs
Petrol expenses - 1000
Core Food Bill - 1000
Amnesia Night Club Entry - 2000
2 Vodka Shots - 300
2 Beer Pints - 300
Sunday Brunch - 1000
Holly / Bolly Wood blockbuster ticket cost - 1000
Travel Expense extrapolated /week basis - 1500
Shopping Expense extrapolated /week basis - 500

Around 40,000 rupees from salary are already accounted for, in the expenses above. If Nick George happens to be a migrant from a countryside town to a metropolis in India; he will surely contemplate going back to his MOTHERLAND, with around 3000 Rs of weekly installment towards owning a small nest in metropolis. And if Nick George has dependents, he surely will look for rapid job movements to make his salary touch 75000 Rs in hand at least. (IN HAND salary is the right way to talk to employers these days; As much as 50% of the salary can be variable and in these times variable salary is never paid). Nick George's earlier option to find a job abroad is routed out because of the word "W" earlier stated. Even abroad on last country 1,00,00 Indian students went USA to study in the year 2008 and around 30,000 to UK.

The irony is luxury car manufacturers have rolled out considerably higher number of models this year vis-à-vis earlier years. Though Indian Salary levels have increased, but the kind of population base our country carries, we will always be amongst lower strata in the Human Development Index. Even in upper middleclass levels too much education is leading to too much competition and lower salary base. An African returning to his country also can negotiate salary equivalent to the one he /she would get in say a pound dominated country like "United Kingdom", sadly but Indians can't.

Bottom line - For salaries of Indians as a whole group to rise (taking all classes of Indians) and match salaries of European or even other Asian counterparts, a "TAB" on population needs to be put. Population and salary are always on a seesaw and problem of plenty is the pillar. With every inch of land in metros are being carved into residence space, 25 lacs of vehicles in a 50 sq.km space metro cities, Indians will have to reach Moon soon. This problem is paramount for 'India', above all the fiscal deficits issues, above selling its Islands, and also above Growth. Fundamentals have to be tightened first to create a robust platform for long term growth.

INDIA - A DIFFERENT TAKE

2010-01-29T10:45:00.000-08:00

Ever wondered what will you tell to your foreigner friends about 'India'? They all are aware of Indian culture, elephants, spirituality, Information Technology, poverty, slums blah blah blah blah. So what will you say - different? At HSBC, I encountered such a situation, when i was popped the question by a management trainee from one of the CIS countries on secondment. This is what i think i should have told him, rather than the usual cliche / famous stuff about our country. There's so much to say than the usual basics.

I described India to my foreigner friend as a "voyage of contrast". He will experience co-existence of an avant-garde star hotel, surrounded by slums; production facility of Mercedes Benz in the same compound as the indigenous Tata Nano (world’s least expensive car). India is where human density per square foot is among the highest yet it is the only hope for Asia's wild cats, where same sex relationships are now legalized even though society opposes opposite sex relationships between people from different castes.

I would introduce India's thousands years old culture, which still influences the life and habits of her people. My friend can expect to find a cow roaming freely on Indian roads and people touching the sacred beast, seeking blessings. A brush with our rich heritage would reveal over 1500 dialects. Add to this a population of over 1 billion today, and that gives an idea of different languages in which communication takes place.

My new-found friend's Indian experience would get complete on indulging in food, travelling and Cricket. Indian cuisine is as diverse as its culture, geography and climate. While travelling includes adventure in backwaters, snow-mountains, wildlife, beaches and desert, the immediate way to connect to any Indian would be to talk about the sport, Cricket. I would advice my friend to start his voyage in India by visiting a temple. One should not be surprised if he finds idol of a cricketer or an Indian movie actor sharing space with Gods.

ORGANIZATIONS NEEDS ROCKET SINGHS

2010-01-24T06:58:00.000-08:00

ORGANIZATIONS NEEDS ROCKET SINGHS

When I joined Landmark Group Retail (lifestyle) post my MBA, retail was at a nascent stage in India and I saw an opportunity to exponentially grow with the industry. I wanted to start my venture -a country-wide franchisee company. The idea was to start with a few small franchisee outlets and as momentum builds, I will move on to take multiple regional master franchisees.

I prepared a business plan for owning franchise of sales-cum-service workshops of a 2-wheeler company – ‘Bajaj Auto’, did my primary and secondary research for project report to be submitted to the company and banks at later stage. Bajaj accepted my plan but agreed to proceed after I had finalized a property and closed the financing deal with banks. Selecting property required numerous visits and continuous coordination with agents, but my six-day work routine (Sunday mandatory working) at Landmark made these tasks challenging. Real estate prices were on pinnacle at that time (they still are) and demand far exceeded supply in land-locked Mumbai, so, to close any property deal one had to respond very quickly. Concentrating both on my professional career and proposed personal entrepreneurial venture was becoming difficult.

Finally, I decided to concentrate on my profession and dropped the business idea. I had worked hard to secure bank finance and convince the Bajaj team but failed to see the project through at the last stage. With proper time management I would well have been on my way towards my career objective. I learnt valuable lesson in ‘multitasking / time management’ from the experience.

Having learnt lessons and plugging all the gaps, the entrepreneurial fire started burning again when I joined HSBC; An organisation can reap benefits of inculcating a quality of entrepreneurship in employees by giving them enough freedom and room to take their own decisions and to do whatever one can to the benefit of the organization with adherence to the fundamental rules. Infact now I proudly call my self an ‘Entrepreneur in HSBC’ ,as the term holds a broader meaning for me than just someone who is having something of his own. World economies and industries are reeling from the financial crisis, business leaders are struggling to survive and growing means operating on a different plane altogether; this is the time to use entrepreneurship within an organization as the only effective ammunition to combat the same. I am an entrepreneur if I get things done, I am an entrepreneur if I ward off bureaucracy, I am an entrepreneur if I think out of the box and bring something different to the table, I am an entrepreneur if I stand beside my customer and also have guts to take a difficult call. I am an entrepreneur if i have my own way which gives better results, I am an entrepreneur if i can come up with a better way of doing things then just to follow a herd.

Its time for all Rocket Singhs to fly!!!

GREEN ADVENTURE

2010-01-24T06:52:00.000-08:00

Green Adventure

Trekking Western India’s one of highest peak – ‘Rajmachi’ was my first appointment with not just adventure but also nature. We were a group of 5 enthusiasts, all first-timers with respect to ‘trekking’, to add to that, I had fear of heights. Though the trek was only for around 8 hours to and fro, steep climb, rocky way, trekking in night, unaware of the correct path and non availability of fresh water made it very difficult. While trekking, to make things easier, I decided to not look down or back. It is human nature to do something, what one decides not to, especially if one fears it. And I did it! I looked down and bang!!! my head started spinning. I lost control and tumbled like the fabled nursery rhyme character - 'Jack'. Luckily my friend supported me. Dizzied and ready to give up, I decided to wait till my other friends returned from the peak. However, something struck me inside and I decided to continue. Adversity had brought the best in me. In the end, I not only completely ended my fear of heights (hopefully) but I also found one of my biggest passions – Adventure. I have now completed around 10 treks of varied difficulty levels. Attitude of never giving up, consistency, persistence and crossing all limits are some of the values I have learnt through these activities. More importantly I have come to respect nature’s beauty which lies hidden. It was only for ‘trekking’ I could explore all the serene unexplored places and get a quick change from the polluted, traffic ridden lives of Mumbai city.

It will be a shame if each one of us do not contribute or give our due back to the environment. Even an hour per week dedicated to save the environment will make a difference. Recently I have started my own facebook community (Save Aarey Milk Colony) to protect one of the last remaining green patches of Mumbai city – ‘Aarey milk colony’. Development has taken a heavy toll on Mumbai gardens with most of it completely wiped off. The intention behind this community is to save the last remaining green area from real estate / government related encroachments and deforestation. We have got support from another NGO working towards the same endeavor and joint efforts are now being planned.

By working for a greener tomorrow, I guarantee you a sense of satisfaction in fulfilling a moral compulsion.

(I Support SAVE OUR TIGERS http://www.saveourtigers.com/ Do you?)