The best laid plans ...

Just when we don't want a shower, it rains and how! Last week we'd requested BBMP to remove the Salvinia Molesta, growing in front of the slum side. It was prevented from spreading everywhere by the alligator weed, another invasive weed which, thankfully, spreads less profusely than the dreaded Salvinia. The contractor was supposed to begin work soon after Diwali. Yesterday at around 3 p.m., while we were inspecting the Salvinia infested area, it began to rain sending us scampering for cover to the Gazebo. We were joined by a few others and our volunteer teacher, Mr. Ramakrishna Rao shifted the class to the security cabin. His two students are preparing for the 12th board exam and cannot be disturbed on any account. 

The rain continued and our 12 foot long level marker which was a good foot or more above the water, submerged. Within an hour, the Salvinia side too went under water. Now there's just a thin strip of alligator weed acting as a barrier! Our plan to remove the Salvinia manually was well and truly scotched. Perhaps we should revise our plan and get the Salvinia weevil from Trichur! Not for nothing did poet Robert Burns say that the best laid schemes of mice and men/often go awry. 

The photos show how the water level increased after yesterday's shower, post the last major shower on 6th October.

Usha

6th Oct 2014

25th Oct 2014

6th Oct 2014

25th Oct 2014

6th Oct 2014

26th Oct 2014 (Pic: Geetha Srikrishnan)

Lake update

The birds are definitely less in number this year and it is worrying us a great deal. The lake has clean rain water, level is fairly good, as deep as 12 feet or more at places. The 3000 fingerlings we'd introduced last Sept. have multiplied and can been seen at times especially around noon just below the surface of the water. 

The resident birds, though few, are constantly perching on the different dead trees we'd planted in the lake bed,  From Jan. 2014 many more new species of birds were spotted at various times and yet, the total number has not gone up. Bird experts tell us to be patient. We are trying very, very hard to follow their advice!

Too often in the recent months, the rainfall was just enough to water the plants, but the rain today evening has increased the level considerably. Since it poured while we were present, we had the pleasure of seeing the water gush in from the inlets. This year several of the trees have started maturing and flowering. The latest is the Shisham (Dalbergia Sissoo) in the viewing deck. This is the tree adopted Anjana and her friends by giving to PNLIT the money Anjana would have spent on Dussehra. This Haldi kumkum tree  is flowering profusely. It is a mild fragrance that is attracting a number of bees. Read more about Shisham here.

One dilemma that we faced was with a Champak Tree sapling (Michelia Champaka, Sampige in Kannada)  we'd planted in July. Its new and tender leaves are a favourite of the Tailed Jay caterpillar and the leaves are full of these fat, green creatures! Do we save the tree or let the caterpillar become butterflies? We decided on the latter and left them alone for, after all the tree will sprout new leaves. In any case, this is the way of nature, isn't it? 

Deepavali greetings to all!

Usha

Bird Watch Update - Black-headed Ibis

The Black-headed Ibis is a common enough bird in India and can be seen in large numbers at Ranganathittu sanctuary. However, it was a first time visitor to the Puttenahalli Lake and was spotted today morning. 

As if escorting it around, was an Egret. The pair made a delightful sight, the Egret all white and the Ibis with its coal black head, neck and legs. For more info see the wikipedia link here. 

Mr Gopinath Subbarao, a neighbourhood resident, dropped in at the lake after hearing about the new visitor and he caught these beautiful sights of the birds in action. Visit the lake and see if you can spot the Black-headed Ibis yourself!

On the divine and the rain

If Dussehra 2013 was unique for PNLIT with a South City resident replicating Puttenahalli Lake in her Golu, this year it was a lady from Brigade Millennium who took us by surprise. Mrs. Anjana Shivakumar wanted to donate to PNLIT, the money she would otherwise have spent on gifts for her guests invited for Haldi kumkum! 

What better celebration can there be of Mother Nature than by taking care of a lake? Mrs. Shivakumar and her 40 friends chanted Lalitha Sahasarnama invoking the Mother Goddess. When it ended, she announced that she was giving Rs. 5000 to PNLIT towards nurturing the lake. We hope at least some of them (and many of you, readers) would follow her example and donate to the upkeep of the lake. 

To reciprocate her thoughtful, indeed unique, gesture, PNLIT has "gifted" her and her friends with a tree, a Sheesham , more popularly called Indian Rosewood. What's special about this particular tree is that it was brought from Golden Temple, Amritsar when our fellow trustee Arathi Manay last visited the shrine. It therefore occupies the pride of place in the viewing deck. We are renaming this tree "Haldi kumkum tree" for a year and shall soon put up a board to this effect. 

Haldi kumkum tree (Sheesham)

PNLIT's Dussehra celebration was a small, simple affair confined to one day - Ayudha Puja. Not surprising since we have a whole array of garden equipment and tools!

Ayudha Puja

Every drop of rain that falls sends our hope soaring. How much of it will enter the lake is the first question that comes to our minds. The rain last evening was no different. Today morning we went to the lake to check the level against our own personal markers (a stone sticking out of the water, distance between a dead tree and the edge of water, etc.) At first glance it did indeed seem that the level had gone up considerably from the last such downpour on Sept. 25th. Two of the dead trees we'd planted in the lake bed were now standing in water! The water had not yet circled the base of the island but yes, the two ends had come a little closer. Compared to this time last year, however, the level is far too low! 

After the rain, Oct 6, 2014

After the rain, Oct 8, 2013 (a year ago)

The birds were not many too - only a pair of Spot Billed Ducks, a few Common Coots and the Swamp Hens. Just when we were sighing over the low water level and the few birds, there was a flash of bright green over our heads! Ah ha! A Barbet? Just that sight was enough to elevate our morale. We certainly hope that the divine will shower more rain and send more birds flocking to our lake in the coming months!

Usha

Story telling event - this day, last week

A week has sped by but the story telling event we had on Sept. 6th in collaboration with The Storywallahs is so vivid in our minds as if it took place, well, today.

The day was murky from morning and when it began to rain at around 2 p.m., we were relieved. If it rains now surely it won't during the story telling. We reached the lake well in advance, set out the registration counter and ... it rained. We took the table to the gazebo, wiped it dry and cleaned the seats just as sky cleared and the first of the early birds began to come in from 4 p.m. 

The programme began promptly AND with a full house. Kids, kids, kids everywhere but where were the story tellers? The children lined up and we set out to locate Nupur Aggarwal and Parvathi Om. The search was quick and the children "pulled" them out of the lake. Like Pied Pipers, Nupur and Parvathi led the kids to the Gazebo singing and coaxing the reluctant ones to sing along. 

The children sat on the floor of the Gazebo, parents on the benches, others stood outside but all eyes were on the dynamic duo, Nupur and Parvathi. Then began the best part of such events - seeing the story tellers and listeners get swept into the narrative. The artists were in full form. The kids didn't look here or there.

Suddenly a child burst into loud tears. He was so caught up with the action that he had bit his thumb a too hard! We swooped him away to our "office" to administer first aid. 

It was a small cut by the base of the nail but it was enough for a drop of blood and bigger drops of tears! We pacified him but his cries grew louder. He managed to blurt out why - he wanted to find out what happened to the Generous Crow!

The next story was a Punjabi folktale, Kaka and Munni. Kaka was also a crow but such a wicked fellow! He was out to steal Munni, the sparrow's eggs. Tension mounted in the kids and it seemed as if they held their breath even as their eyes grew wider.

The story telling event was turning out to be exactly how we wanted - transporting the children into a world of imagination. It was time for the next segment - paper craft. All was well ... or so we thought forgetting the biggest child of all - Rain God! He decided that it was time to make an appearance and how! 

We tied a tarpaulin between two pillars. The story tellers didn't stop, the children moved closer to them. Parents sitting on the benches got up and stood behind the kids, shielding them. Adults standing outside opened their umbrellas and blocked the rain further. It was magical, truly heart warming sight. No wonder it feels as if it happened just moments ago!

One of the parents, Mithun Prabhu took "126 photos, which i finally cut down to 81 as couldn't cut it down further seeing innocent cute little ones photos and some of their enthusiastic parents."  

You can see more photos here and here.

If you want any of these photographs please email Mithun <mithunp@yahoo.com> / Nupur Aggarwal <nupur.aggarwal@hotmail.com>. 

Thanks to The Storywallahs who make learning so much fun through storytelling. 

You are welcome to send yours or your child's comments to Nupur and to us 
<puttenahalli.lake@gmail.com>. 

Best

Usha

Free Home Appliances Repair Skill Development Training Program for Youth

A good opportunity for those who have finished Std 12 and interested in vocational training.

Labournet is starting a new skill development course next week.

Name of the course :  Home Appliances Repair Training 

Qualification:   12^th  Pass  onwards , ITI passed or failed  and  any Graduate

Age: 18 Yrs- 30 Yrs

Course Fee: free

Course duration: 50 days = 200 hours 

Total intake: 60 students (male/female)

Certification: Bajaj Electric and NSDC

Course will take place in the Gottigere Center, Banerghatta

Two batches possible (morning and afternoon batch).

For more information, please contact Mr Rajakumar, Manager

LabourNet

25/1-4, 19^th  A main , 9^th Cross

2^nd Phase , JP Nagar

Bangalore -78

Mobile : 7204072558

Email: rajakumar@labournet.in

About Labournet

We would like to introduce LabourNet as a social enterprise that creates sustainable benefits for workers in the informal sector by taking an end to end solution that is focused on plugging gaps in the eco-system. These workers constitute 93% of India's workforce. Our aim is to reach  a million workers by 2017. We work with the industry to define occupational standards for job role and define industry relevant training program.

We also assist the companies in filling their ranks with personnel with the industry relevant skills. We have four methodologies to enable this:

Establish and run Livelihood Centers across India to empower people in rural areas / Tier 2 & 3 cities with vocational skills at the grass root level. Along with access to world class training and skilling solutions, unorganized sector workers get identity and financial inclusion by registering with these centers. The workers employed by LabourNet are also assured of insurance and social welfare and this improves their quality of life significantly.

Consulting and Managed Services for the informal sector

Employment and work enablement by ensuring linkages with the job market for all our stakeholders

Enterprise skill enhancement by providing onsite training (domain specific skills, soft skills and behavioural management) to existing informal sector workers.

Bird watch update - Black-crowned Night Heron

The worry about not raising enough funds to meet our annual maintenance expenses of the lake was wiped out temporarily at least today evening with the sighting of a new-for-me bird - the Black-crowned Night Heron. 

How obligingly he sat on a pipe in the water, hunched shoulders, sharp, long beak and red eyes, turning this way and that as if posing for my camera! You can read more about the bird and hear recordings of its call here. 

If you are bringing your child for the story telling on Saturday evening, be on the look out for this Night Heron.

Usha

Literacy Day - Story time, Fun time!

PNLIT is happy to announce a unique story telling + activity event for children.

Let your children listen to TWO exciting stories:

The Generous Crow

Kaka and Munni. 

The story tellers are Nupur Aggarwal and Parvathi Om from the reputed The Storywallahs!
http://www.thestorywallahs.com/

And hey!! That's not all. Let your kids engage in delightful paper craft with our experts!

All this fun for only Rs.100 per child. Admission restricted to 50 kids only. 

Hurry! Register NOW! A free gift from PNLIT awaits your child!
To register, please sms Nupur 9886629769/ Sapana 9880554136 or email puttenahalli.lake@gmail.com.

Date: Saturday, 6th September, 2014

Time: 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Venue: Gazebo, Puttenahalli Lake

Occasion: International Literacy Day

Lake Surprises

The lake never ceases to surprise and delight us. Usually it is a new bird that we spot in the water or flying around, doing a recce. The water level rising gives us another high. Trees shooting up, especially during the rainy season. A new flower, butterfly, dragonfly, an insect never seen before, a snake crossing the path.... the list goes on but this is about the Water Lily. 

We'd planted pink water lilies at various places in the lake late last year and watched with delight when they caught on and started flowering. Our ecstasy turned to agony when a Common Coot decided to build its nest right in the middle of the water lily! Sure enough, it killed the plant with its nest, the eggs hatching, the chicks going all over the leaves and the flowers. We could do nothing but watch the lily die, its end hastened with the onset of summer evaporating the water in just those very spots where we'd planted the lily. 

Oct 2013, Pink Water Lily (Pic: Usha Rajagopalan)

Monsoon began. The rains are still not as much as last year but the level has improved and two clusters of water lily sprouted near the viewing deck. Hmm.. We didn't remember planting any there but perhaps we were wrong. We waited for the familiar pink flower. Today it bloomed and what do you know? The flower is not pink in colour but white!

Aug 2014, White Water Lily (Pic: Nupur Jain)

Usha

Puttenahalli Lake finds mention among Karnataka's 15 ideas

From today's Independence Day issue of The Times Of India newspaper:  

"Independence Day is not just about looking back and saluting the people who won us our freedom. It is also about looking ahead at forces that are shaping our futures and at ideas that can bring long-lasting change."

TOI looks at 15 ideas from Karnataka that it believes have "freshness, innovation, the ability to be scaled and replicated, and potential impact".

  

Happy to see Save Bangalore Lakes Trust and the lakes movement as one of the 15 recognised ideas. And noteworthy that PNLIT/ Puttenahalli Lake finds mention in two places. The epaper can be seen here. 

PNLIT and Puttenahalli Lake are surviving because of your support. In case you have not yet contributed to PNLIT's donation drive, details are below. Let us work together to make this "idea" a truly sustaining one.

**********

PNLIT's annual expenses are approximately Rs 6 lakhs. The trust account is audited and income tax returns since inception have been filed. For information on PNLIT's MoU with BBMP, please see here. 

Donations may be made in cash, cheque or by direct remittance. Donations are eligible for income tax exemption, u/s 80G of the Income Tax Act (50% deduction from taxable income). 

Donations in cash or cheque (in favour of "PNLIT") may be given to any of the PNLIT trustees. 

Details for direct remittance -

Branch name: State Bank of India, RBI Layout, Bangalore 560078 

Savings Account no: 31209228099 in the name of "PNLIT" or "Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust"
MICR Code: 560002090
IFSC Code: SBIN0004408