Inter Institutional Greens Quiz 2009

A quiz competition, named Inter Institutional Greens Quiz 2009, will be conducted by Greens on the World Earth Day April 22, at YMCA Hall, Thiruvananthapuram. Employees of Central / State Government departments, public sector undertakings and nationalised / scheduled banks can participate. The contents will be based on nature, environment and life science. Those wish to participate should contact in the following numbers before April 18:

S. Rajendran Nair - 9446356734
K. Saji - 9495408922
K. Muraleedharan Nair - 9447817206
B. Harikumar - 9447025389

The Hindu's report on 'Haimavatha Bhoovil'

Himalayan ponderings

‘Haimavatha Bhoovilude’ was a grim then-and-now statement of receding glaciers, denuded hills and lost charms of the Himalayas

Photo: G.R. Rajeev

Nature watch ‘Haimavatha Bhoovil’ captures the many faces and phases of the Himalayas

It will be a while before the sun tears away the cloak of snow spread out on the Himalayas. As summer blazes ahead, the magnificent heights and the cavernous rocky overhangs will break out of the wintry haze. Then, hikers of Greens, an environmental collective of Secretariat employees, will wait for pleasant weather in the latter part of the year for the ascent.

In the previous years, their backpacks on the way home had rolls of used film. Last week, the yield of some of those films were exhibited at the Museum Auditorium, at an exhibition titled ‘Haimavatha Bhoovilude’ (In the Himalayan terrain).

The photographs shot in the crisp mountain air, not overly raw or of the finest professional quality, compress well the majesty of the mighty mountains and life in that rarefied climes in multidimensional prints. They were all developed from film and not airbrushed.
Study in contrasts

Some yellowing prints go back more than a decade and when the same vistas appear in more recent photos, a grim then-and-now statement of receding glaciers, denuded hills and lost charms strike gloom. So the grainy old prints have richer content.

The Gomukh Glacier shot in 2003 is vastly different from that snapped in 1999. Most other Himalayan glaciers and rivers seem to be losing their way, and Greens did well to include a footnote on the doom playing out in the mountains.

Then, there are the yak and the mithun, that seem to be hanging on despite the changing terrain. But snaps of the placid Dal Lake and the giggling flowers of Gulmarg bring back cheer.

A shot of the confluence of the Bhagirathi and the Mandakani at Devprayag has a shimmering, racy quality to it. Most unfamiliar were the photographs of Arunachal Pradesh. The hikers have gone deep into the villages and portrayed life there. Stupendous snaps of Ladakh and Leh seem to be the prized collections.

Some photographs have fixed their focus on Hindu rituals at Rishikesh and Varanasi. On the way out of the hall was a collection of photos that prick the seemingly impervious nature of the mountains. Greens has not got the bright flowers identified, but these are sparkling and colourful.

G.R. RAJEEV

Read the original:
http://www.hindu.com/mp/2009/03/05/stories/2009030550390400.htm