The vanishing act

'Extinct' till now, had been a word meant to be used only in relation to the prehistoric times.
We have grown up learning that the Dinosaurs were extinct long ago, that DODO was a bird that lived long ago and so on.
It didn't ,then, evoke any feelings similar to that I feel while I encounter these terms today. While reading those lines in the textbooks of high school classes the only feeling that played in the back quarters of my mind was that of curiosity as to what they would have been like.
Today,we all know that there are only 1411 tigers left in the world to be saved,thanks to MS Dhoni!.The figure is slightly exaggerated it seems.But what difference does it make.They are endangered, nonetheless.
Tiger, a slightly familiar name amongst the lot, I guess.
Ever paid your ears to all those other names in the list-The Giant Panda, Lion Tail macague,the Nilgiri tahr to name just a few from among the ever increasing list.
We have been aware of this for a long time,it seems.
But what happened in the meanwhile is the appearance of some new names in the list and disppearnce of some, not names but the creature itself, without even giving a slight hint.Even before their names could apear in these lists,they have vanished.

Tigers,leopards,civets, dolphins.Does the names ring a bell.Too common, too familiar, right?I am not naming the animals I know.These are some of those many unfortunates on the brink of extinction.It is they who evoke that disturbing feeling.
They are too familiar, too close to us to be endangered.
Perhaps we took them too much for granted.
It feels like a dear friend,a close relative,a long neighbour is going away, for the good. Never to be seen again, no emails, no calls.Literally, about to be vanished from face of the earth!
I can give you 2 more disturbing names.Parrots and sparrows.Even more disheartening,isn't it?They were our next door neighbours.

And did you ever realize the fact that Vultures are no longer around.Warning bells rang for quite some time.These scavengers,it seems, have feasted their way to extinction according to a latest report. A toxin in the foodchain has taken its toll on them.

Now how do we explain to the next generation what those creatures that circle on and on in a battle scene in the movies are.

The prominent question that remains is who is next.

All our natural resources,animals, plants will disappear right under our noses and we wouldn't have noticed it.We would have been too busy to realize that things we have grown up with are no longer around us.
For the next generation they would just be fossil remains or photographs or history.Perhaps they would just become part of bed time stories for the kids to come arousing their curiosity.

"Once upon a time, there used to be this small thing called parrot.It was green in colour....".And then how will we describe green?

Tip Tip Barsa Paani............................

Monsoon Dhamaka
--------------------

The Monsoons

Across mountains and deserts,
I come to you,
To shower my love onto you
To drench you in my love

Across oceans and seas,
I come to you,
To rest my heart in your palms.
To present myself to you

Happy Monsoons!!!!

The Swiss Experience...

I am at a loss of words as I attempt to describe the mesmerising Schweitzer land. It’s like trying to describe a beautiful dream that I had seen. I may never be able to phrase it aptly to depict it in its entirety. I hope my words can convey at least a little of the magic it has bestowed upon me

The snow capped Alps and lovely cows grazing on lush green meadows.. This is the picture of Swiss I had always had in my mind . Not to mention the beautiful cow bells(Yes!Of course it's the DDLJ influence on my imagination)

When i got to visit the country last year,it was indeed a dream come true.

Thrill filled my heart as a cool breeze blew across my face at the Zurich airport. I was about to walk the lanes of my dreams, as they say, under blue skies and amidst green grass.
But what lay before me was even more beautiful than my dreams………
Beautiful landscapes, mountains cloaked in snow and vegetation, serene lakes and chirpy glacial streams...

They were all a treat for my hungry senses. I was in the heart of nature and it touched a chord deep inside.

Like a sweet melody , like a beautiful painting , the magic remains alive in me, even long after its experienceI felt I were inside a painting. Bright and vibrant colours greeted my eyes everywhere.The vegetation varyied in shade from green to yellow to brown and then from pink to purple to red. The autumn weather had waved its magic wand all around..
The cool breeze that blew carried the tinkle of the cowbells .

The Alps could be seen towering above from all sides,with the snow and the clouds nearly undistinguishable on the top. They reminded me of an undaunted warrior. a saviour, a protector , a guardian.
The streams like small kids, ran about singing their own songs, finding their way through rough rocks with the same ease as flowing on velvety meadows, perturbed by nothing and simply enjoying their being.
The lakes were more or less like an elegant lady, well mannered, calm and stylish.
The sky , very dynamic and active, like a poised gentleman.
WellKnit transportation and well organised information centres made the journey even more convenient and enjoyable.

From Zurich airport, we took a train and came to interlakenInterlaken is a beautiful place locked between the 2lakes, the Thuner see and the Brenner see.

On the first day, we went around interlaken partly on foot and partly on bicycle.We then visited the ThummelBach falls. A unique combination of 10 cascade waterfalls.The place, like
the rest of Swiss, is a valley within the Alps, lush green grass sprawled all over with small streams meandering through.
The next day we visited Niesen.One could take the world's longest stairway to reach
the top. We , though, preferred to take the rail track that lay parallel. As we went higher and higher,even higher above the clouds, we could also see the staircase winding its way up.Wilhelmwil is a beautiful place near interlaken.Here we took a mountain train to explore around, a reminder of the bygone days and it carried us amidst the pine covered alps
On the third day we visited the JungFrauHoch.Power and the pride of having it, that’s the feeling
Jung FrauJoch instilled in me.What pleasure to be on top of Europe! 3494m above sea
level! To be in the snow and ice, at -1.5degree C and with snowfall and rain drenching you!
It seemed to me the sun was fighting to penetrate the thick fog, and the snow seemed equally determeined to reflect every ray back. The friendly quarrel together with the whiteness of the snow gave the ambience a divine aura.The JungFrauHoch had much more to offer.We took a train from Lauterbrunnen to the JungFrauHoch which travelled through the alps.At the top we walked through the icecaves,It was like walking through a freezer.On top of the Hoch is also present a museum of beautiful animal carvings done in ice

My final place of visit was Muren. First a train journey to Lauterbrunnen (The places and the scenes were by now very familiar but I could not still take my eyes or mind off them) and then a cable car to the top of the mountain.

Interlaken also had some exciting games to offer,like
paragliding,bungee jumping etc.And how could a travellogue about swiss end without a
mention of the swiss chocolates.Hmm!!the taste still lingers.Need I say more???

And all of you shopping fanatics like me, you get to buy the best and the most beautiful watches here.
Switzerland has been a very lovely experience

For some snaps....