Report on Photowalk & Workshop on World Photography Day at Puttenahalli Lake

In 1826, a French inventor called Nicephore Niepce made the first photograph, using a pewter plate coated with bitumen, and exposing it to the sun over eight hours. In 1829, Niepce and French artist, Louis Daguerre, developed an improved process that came to be known as Daguerreotype. In 1839, the French government purchased the patent from Daguerre. And on August 19th, 1839, the French government released the Daguerreotype photographic process to the public for free. That is why this date is considered the beginning of the era of Photography.

PNLIT celebrated the World Photography Day at Puttenahalli lake by conducting a workshop and photowalk. The event was led by SK Srinivas, who by his own definition, is a serious amateur in photography. He has been a PNLIT volunteer for the last ten years, and has captured many memorable moments at the lake in his camera.

Here is what the participants had to say about him and the photowalk !

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Recently, a friend of mine forwarded the announcement of a Photowalk & Workshop to be conducted at Puttenahalli Lake on Aug 19th. World Photography Day.  I had been looking to attend just such a workshop for many days so I quickly registered for it. Another attraction was that the event conducted by PNLIT was free of cost and open to all!

The photography expert Mr. SK Srinivas (Srini) and PNLIT events coordinator Sapana were cordial and welcoming. Srini began by asking how well each of the participants were acquainted with photography. Most of us were early beginners. We spent a good amount of time learning about the basics of photography and the technicalities of different types of cameras. This was no doubt very useful but it also meant that out of the two hours, the time we got to spend on actually photographing the birds and knowing how to spot them got reduced.

Srini also talked about how human activities are damaging Bangalore lakes, their ecosystems and the fauna dependent on them. We were fortunate to have the right venue for the photo workshop.  Puttenahalli lake, JP Nagar is indeed a "hidden gem" as described by the participants and I fully agree.

We are grateful to Srini and the organisers for this opportunity. I would request him to conduct more photography related events  for participants with different levels of skill. This will help us to become better nature photographers.

-Osama Ansari
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On the occasion of World Photography Day (Aug 19) about 20 of us met at Puttenahalli Lake in JP Nagar 7th phase. The objective was to be given a few basic lessons on photography and how to plan and execute good photos by Mr. SK Srinivas (Srini).

Srini is a photography and wildlife enthusiast and has immense knowledge on cameras, photography and taking great shots.

We were greeted by a light drizzle which would have been otherwise welcome after a long dry spell but threatened to wash out the workshop. Srini started with the history of photography and how it has evolved over the ages from camera obscuras (pinhole cameras) to mirrorless DSLRs. He then explained how good photography is fundamentally about camera optics and explained how to manage trade-offs among aperture size, shutter speed and ISO settings and that practice makes perfect.

We then walked around the lake which was full of water and had plenty of aquatic birds as subjects to practise our newly acquired knowledge and dispersed by about 11 am after a group photo.

-Srivastha Yajaman

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Thank you,

-PNLIT

Pic credits - Arathi Manay

Remembering the Lalbagh Legend - Mr. Vijay Thiruvady

We are deeply saddened to say that in the passing of Mr. Vijay Thiruvady yesterday, 1 Aug.2023, we have lost a dear friend and the city, a renowned botanist and historian.  

We had the good fortune of establishing contact with him sometime in 2013 when Mrs. Shanta Ramachandran gifted us a book, Heritage Trees written by her brother, Vijay Thiruvady. She lived in the vicinity of the lake and was a regular visitor to Puttakere. Later when Mr. T S Srinivasa, one of our tree experts, published a pocket book titled Discover Garden Climbers we thought it would be good to organize a book release function since we were growing climbers at the lake. Mr. Thiruvady readily agreed to do the honours. Photos of this event held in Jan 2018 are attached, link to the report is here. 

Mr. Thiruvady, was Trustee, Bangalore Environment Trust, who conducted Green Heritage Walks in Lalbagh, Imperial Colonial Walks in Cubbon Park and Military Heritage Walks at the MEG&C. His mesmerizing stories and anecdotes made these a memorable experience. Our Editor, Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Kutty who had gone twice on the Green Heritage Walk (which ended with breakfast at MTR), interviewed him for Ripples, our bi-annual newsletter. The Tree Walker appeared in the July 2020 issue. 

For more than 30 years, Mr. Thiruvady had been collecting the letters and documents of his grandfather, Dr K S Krishnan, the renowned physicist who together with CV Raman had discovered the Raman Effect. One of these letters was a signed appeal from Albert Einstein!  Mr Thiruvady sent a photo of this with the news that he had just handed over these memorabilia to NCBS. To hear of his demise only four days later was indeed a big shock. 

Mr. Vijay Thiruvady, 21 July 1941 - 1 Aug. 2023

RIP Sir.

PNLIT Team

Puttenahalli Lake Upstaged by Tripod and Friends - Report on the book launch

Tripod Finds a Friend and Other Stories by Dr. Roopa Satish and Anitha Murthy was released by Usha Rajagopalan at Puttenahalli Lake on Saturday July 22^nd.

The interactions between Usha, the authors and the audience were engaging and never ending! It was indeed so absorbing that no one paid heed to the drizzle that started when the discussion was underway. Each one simply picked up their chair and shifted to the gazebo. For once, the star of the event was not the lake but Tripod and its authors.

 

Read below some of the feedback we received on this event and the book. The first by a 13 year old who’s clearly a Harry Potter fan!

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Meeting a wildlife veterinarian who can speak …... hm..mhm.. PARSEL TONGUE!!!
 -- Just an attempt to make it spooky (I hope it was) --

So, ignore everything that is spooky. Now let me tell you that there’s an endangered animal known as the “Tripod”. Tripod? What’s that? Read on to find out!

It was an exciting day, filled with happiness and a day filled with “chirps” all along the Puttenahalli lake, as I stood in front of a gathering of wildlife enthusiasts, curious readers, and writers. Here is what I learnt from the conversation between Dr. Roopa Satish, Ms. Anitha Murthy, and Ms. Usha Rajagopalan:

• I got to know about the Red Eared Slider invasion in the lake.
• I got to know a lot about the amazing patients whom Dr. Roopa Satish has rehabilitated at the Bannerghatta Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center (WRRC).
• I heard this astonishing tale of her giving CPR to a snake. Yeah! That was when I found out she knew Parsel tongue.
• I got to know a lot about the snake bites and also got helpful tips to save the mother snake at my apartment complex from people who want to kill it.
• I finally found someone who could help me save a Rose-ringed parakeet that was caged and beaten up by her owners.

For now, I look forward to reading the book and knowing more about wildlife to achieve my dream of becoming an owner of all types of pets and also be a forest officer. Lastly, I found out there were 2 lovely dogs in the lake that like to interact with everyone.  Thank you PNLIT (Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust) for such an eye opener session and a learning opportunity.

 

By V. Ramanujam, 13 years

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Tripod Finds a Friend and other stories by Dr Roopa Satish and Anitha Murthy is not an ordinary book. It is a squeeze of the life experience of a Vet and her bubbling passion for wildlife. The subtext of the book is Stories of wildlife rescue and rehabilitation. They are heartwarming and at the same time revelatory for city dwellers like me. We also got to know about many faceless unknown champions who are driven by their passion to save wildlife and create shared and safe space for non-human species.

 

Did you know that in our urban vicinity we have animals like Slender Loris, Pangolin, and Fox? How would you distinguish a Turtle, Terrapin and Tortoise? You might have spotted a Civet cat and Mongoose but mentioned them interchangeably without a second thought? Thanks to our commercial celluloid projections and popular beliefs, do you think of snakes as reptiles, slithering and dangerous for human beings? What is the difference between poisonous and venomous?

 

We learned these and more in a mesmerizing interaction with the authors. Dr. Roopa Satish enthralled the audience, kids and grown-ups alike, with her animated storytelling, dark humour and sometimes narrating the harrowing experiences in a lighter vein.

 

It was good to see how young readers in the gathering seemed to understand the subject matter better than adults. This is a positive sign that our civilization will progress forward along with the doomsayer's prediction of the climate crisis and global warming.

 

This book is well-written, and tightly edited but it deserves better print quality. I hope the authors will take care to correct the text alignment and fonts in the next edition. Nonetheless, such shortcomings did not make the stories any less interesting. Soon after the book was released and discussions began, the sky opened up and mother nature showered her blessings. Kudos to Dr. Roopa Satish and Anitha Murthy for bringing out such a wonderful compilation of real stories from the wild. Such stories need happy endings.  Let the world of Tripod, Mooshie and their ilk educate and create greater awareness among us, and make us sensitive and responsible humans.

By Gautam Saha

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I attended a book launch on July 22nd of Tripod Finds a Friend, and other stories co-authored by Dr. Roopa Satish and Anitha Murthy. I am a sucker for children's books, and Tripod... is not only beautifully written - thrilling, compassionate, with a touch of crime - it is filled with fun-facts and learning. One learning I had from the book was about "imprinting" - never touch a baby wild animal with bare hands, or cuddle it (no matter how much affection you feel for it) because you transfer your germs onto it and it may not be accepted back by its clan and this can be disastrous for its survival.

At the book launch event, it was an absolute pleasure listening to Dr. Roopa Satish speak. Her passion for her work (which is as niche as it can get) and her compassion for all things living, including snakes and humans, is palpable. She shared many interesting anecdotes, and facts, about human animal interaction, which had everyone in the audience captivated and wanting to know more.

 

Anyone who is looking for their next guest speaker at a corporate event, I would highly recommend inviting Dr. Roopa Satish i.e. if she can drag herself away from performing intricate surgeries on terrapins or mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on cobras!

By Lalana Zaveri

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Picture credits - SK Srinivas and Nupur Jain

Event Report of Family Fun Gardening Day @ Puttenahalli Lake, J.P Nagar, on June 3rd 2023

"Bringing the community together" gardening session happened at the lake today (Saturday, June 3rd). It was a great start to a sunny day in a beautiful place. A snakebird (darter), a purple heron, a grey heron and many small and mid cormorants were out and about. Maybe a large school of tiny fish was the reason for these large birds' diving sorties. Privy to all this was a 3.5 yr old, who enjoyed this and more while raking with his tiny hands!

The young child had come with his parents to the gardening session as he loves to de-weed. In his kindergarten he is incharge of de-weeding so here he was! Unfortunately the soil was hard, so we couldn't de-weed much and turned our attention to raking the fallen leaves in the garden and the lake entrance. For an hour he was immersed in raking with his parents and had to be told to take a break.

With kids like him around, it is heartening to think that our natural resources could have a chance of a safe and flourishing future.

We invite you to bring your children next month. Let them have fun and learn to care for nature.

Pic credits : Ramu ( PNLIT gardener) and Meena ( PNLIT volunteer)

Warmly,

-Sapana

PNLIT Event Coordinator

Musical evening organized by PNLIT and Sargam on March 11th at Puttenahalli Lake, JP Nagar - Event Report

A musical afternoon was held yesterday, on 11 March 2023, at the Puttenahalli Lake organized by SARGAM, a group of singing enthusiasts from South City together with the PNLIT. The program held at the Gazebo was a live singing of mostly film songs to Karaoke tracks on the theme of Water bodies and Birds.

With Bala from South City setting the mood and tone with a flute recital, the vocalists followed, enthralling the discerning and appreciative audience which grew bigger as the evening progressed. The 31 singers presented solos and duets in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and English. Considering that all were amateurs, there were many young people who sang really well but the seniors were not outdone either. 

As much as the singers were good and kept the audience interested, the ambience made it all even more magical. The atmosphere was friendly and informal and with the beautiful Puttenahalli Lake in the background it was a very enjoyable afternoon. There was a gentle cool breeze blowing across from the West to East right across the lake which made for a very comfortable afternoon indeed. Any apprehension one might have had about sitting out in the open - the mercury is definitely climbing in Bangalore as it would in mid March - was quickly dispelled with the zephyr that very kindly decided to grace the event. SARGAM members and the singers from the neighbouring Brigade Millennium, Adarsh Rhythm and Brigade Palm Spring apartments made the most of the occasion. 

Addressing the gathering, PNLIT chairperson Ms. Usha Rajagopalan spoke about how the lake came to be revived and how it had grown with support from the community and assistance from BBMP. In order to hold public events, PNLIT had had the Gazebo modified slightly to open it up as a stage, she said. She  welcomed the idea of using the premises for such community events and urged the gathering to strengthen PNLIT's efforts with nurturing the lake. 

On the whole the event turned out to be a very pleasant and enjoyable afternoon for the audience and participants alike. Thanks to PNLIT the lake is now a community asset that provides a home for a variety of flora and fauna along with being a lovely clean lung space for morning walkers and a great venue for community events.

By
V.Srinivasan
Mr V.Srinivasan is a resident of South City and also a member of SARGAM.

Here are some beautiful moments of the event captured by our lake photographer Mr. SK Srinivas -  https://photos.app.goo.gl/R5wd8fiK1zyn9nis9

Picture credits - Ramu ,our lake gardener

An unexpected visitor to Puttenahalli Lake, welcome praise!

We are delighted to learn that Mr. Ravish Kumar, the renowned journalist and Magsaysay award winner, had visited our Puttenahalli and Sarakki lakes recently for a story on how Bengaluru is taking care of its lakes. The video went live yesterday and within 24 hours has been viewed by over 3.5 lakh viewers! 

His report is on the plight of water bodies not just in our city but in the country as a whole. He talks of citizen activism in Bengaluru and talks at length of the many challenges that one has to confront in order to save a water body. Indeed! Ask us about these challenges and obstacles! 

While he has not mentioned PNLIT by name, he speaks about how 'chintit' residents in the area have adopted Puttenahalli and are working with the municipality to save and take care of it. Walking around the lake and seeing how it is being maintained seems to have  impressed him enough to invite people coming to the city to visit Puttenahalli (at about 9 min 40 sec) and understand how important lakes are. He goes on to say, "Yeh jheel jo hai aapko sheher mein hone ka maksad deti hai." 

Wow! He may not have taken our name but our 'talaab' did the talking with the fountain playing, birds flying all over, ripples in the water and early morning walkers. 

Once again, our deepest gratitude to all our many well-wishers, government departments especially BBMP (Lakes), CSR partners, knowledge experts and above all you, our donors and volunteers. Together let us make the lake thrive and grow from strength to strength. 

In gratitude,

PNLIT team

Report on Bioblitz at Puttenahalli Lake, Feb 19th, 2023

The morning of 19th Feb was as warm as it has been for the past few days. Bangalore is warming up and everywhere trees are shedding their leaves. It was no different at the Puttenahalli lake where I was with some others, for a bioblitz event. The event coordinator, Sapana briefly talked about the journey of the transformation of the lake - from what it was to what it is today.

Naturalist and PNLIT volunteer Kaustubh Rau led the walk and began by asking us to take a close look at anything that seemed interesting. And indeed there were so many little details that caught the attention of each of one of us be it the colour or the variegations of leaves, the shapes of flowers, the busy and fierce weaver ants, spider web with egg and cocooned prey in it, a leaf with some insect eggs on it, the pattern in which the branches of a tree were arranged, the names of the different trees and how or why they were named so or the different water birds with their distinct calls. All these observations led to further questioning and learning not only pertaining to flora & fauna but connected to other areas of history, geography, and economy.

With PNLIT Trustee Nupur joining us, the commitment and sense of ownership were evident when she and Sapana spoke about certain trees. How many of us will have such stories to share? I wondered. We, the participants, were lucky too to get these few hours to stop thinking of our own lives and observe the world and lives of our co habitants at the lake. I hope to come back and see the changes that happen during the different seasons.

Thank you for this experience.

Archna, J.P Nagar

Pic Credits: SK Srinivas and Aishwarya S

Report of Family Fun Gardening Day at Puttenahalli lake, JP Nagar, Feb 4th @ 9:30am

We had 4 young kids and 4 adults taking part in this month's Family Fun Gardening Day at Puttenahalli lake. The youngsters were excited to see different types of leaves and insects around them, while we adults - who raked, trimmed and added manure to the plants - enjoyed their innocence and remembered our own childhood days!

Here is what one of the participants has to say:

The gardening activity along the banks of the Puttenahalli lake this Saturday (4 February 2023) took me back to my roots for a few hours - to our ancestral home in a remote island in the Sundarbans surrounded by lush green and waterbodies. It brought back memories of those wonderful days of innocence, when I was closer to nature and often overwhelmed by its sheer beauty. I felt like one of those little ones who had joined us -- curious and excited about our surroundings. And I felt very happy from within. I am glad that I took part in the activity.

Thank you to the entire team of PNLIT that is driving this initiative. You are doing an incredible job of improving our environment and making our world a better place to live. I look forward to joining you in future activities. Thanks again.

---Supriyo, a resident of South City

Thank you,

Sapana

PNLIT Event Coordinator

(Pic credits - Ramu, PNLIT Gardener)

February Family Fun Gardening Day at Puttenahalli Lake JP Nagar

"Bringing the community together" gardening session at the lake will happen on 4th Feb 2023 (Saturday).

The first Saturday of every month is open to you to exercise your green thumb; to introduce your children to gardening; to work together with your family; to de-stress; to discover the small pleasures of plants; to be one with nature, and more.  

Make the most of your neighbourhood lake. Join us on Saturday, 4th February between 9.30 a.m. and 11 a.m. for the Family Fun Gardening Saturday.

No registration required. Just come and enjoy nature!

PNLIT Newsletter-Jan 2023

Dear friends, 

Let's begin the New Year with some exciting articles and news from our lake in this issue.
Click here to view the newsletter:

We look forward to your comments, and suggestions. We welcome your technical help too!
Do write to the Editor to <ripplespnlit@gmail.com>
Happy reading!

Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Kutty
Editor, Ripples
PNLIT