The city of Kashi is filled with temples, big and small, old and new. There are temples at every corner, and you never know where you will stumble upon a small shrine. There are idols beneath what remains of trees (there are hardly any trees any more within the core area of the city), there are saffron covered forms resembling deities which seem attached to walls, an especially incongruous sight when the idol itself appears to be old, while the wall is evidently new…. And there are surprisingly large temples rising from what appear to be a bunch of houses. The city is sometimes colloquially said to be as old as time, and some of the shrines and temples are said to date back to times unknown, at least the deity itself, if not the structure. Not much remains of the ancient structures anyway. The city has seen more than its fair share of good and bad times. It has seen the heights of grandeur, and the lows brought about by destruction. The city that exists today has grown so haphaza...
Here's an interesting event being held in Mumbai - the Earth Mela, 2010! I am planning to take Samhith along for part of it.... Here is their full schedule. All those of you living in Mumbai, try to make it for a while.... If anyone would like to come along with me, please do drop me a line! There is a registration charge of Rs.175/- per day, and the activities listed seem quite interesting..... Waiting to see what it is like...
Earth Mela 2010 – April 24-25 (7am to 6pm)
at Maharashtra Nature Park Society
Central Theme: Biodiversity – In with UN's International Year of the
Biodiversity
Day 1 - April 25th Schedule (Sunday)
Time Activities
7:00am Registration Desk Opens
7 am – 9 am Cycle Rally (12km)
9 am – 10 am Breakfast for Volunteers
Biodiversity
Day 1 - April 25th Schedule (Sunday)
Time Activities
7:00am Registration Desk Opens
7 am – 9 am Cycle Rally (12km)
9 am – 10 am Breakfast for Volunteers
10 am – 11am Inauguration (Registration starts at 9.30am)
11am – 12 pm Film Screening
11am – 12 pm Film Screening
1. Papiroflexia (Short Film) 3min
2. The Climate Change Mystery, by CERE (Short Film) 23min English
3. SPROUTS by UnlimitedIndia 2min English
4. Hard Rain by Mark Edwards 20min English
2. The Climate Change Mystery, by CERE (Short Film) 23min English
3. SPROUTS by Unlimited
4. Hard Rain by Mark Edwards 20min English
12pm – 1pm Lecture
Important Trees for Cities & Rare Indigenous Plants of India ,
by Dr. C S Lattoo
1 pm – 2 pm Film Screening -------- (Lunch)--------
Finding Nemo,
Walt Disney Pictures, Animation Feature Film, Hindi
2 pm – 3 pm Film Screening
1. Diminishing Resources
By Himanshu Malhotra and Sabina Kidwai (UK Environment Film Fellowship)
16min English
2.Once there was a Purple Butterfly by Sonya V. Kapoor
(UK Environment Film Fellowship), 12min English
3.Mi MasaBoltoi 8min Marathi
3.Mi MasaBoltoi 8min Marathi
3 pm – 4 pm Film Screening
Nagarahole : Tales from an Indian Jungle by Eco Media
(Shekhar Dattatri), 53min English
4 pm – 5 pm Key Note Lecture:
`Himalaya ' – Then & Now…
Mr. Harish Kapadia, Mountaineer & Writer
5 pm – 6 pm Film Screening
BBC Natural History Unit, 50min,English
11 m – 6pm (Whole day activities)
- Adventure Sports Activities – Rock Climbing,
- Kids Activities – Face painting, poster painting &
Paper/Mache making.
- Photo Exhibition: Indigenous and rare species of flora and fauna
- Stalls & Exhibition of eco-friendly products and life-style ideas
– Matsya Crafts, Hide-Out, Daily Dump, Indian Adventures, Ecoexist,
RUR, BNHS, UTMT, Baker's Street, Excel Industries, Learning Fantasies,
SPROUTS…
Day 2 - April 25th Schedule (Sunday)
Time Activities
7:00am Registration Desk Opens
7am – 9am Nature Trail led by Dr. Parvish Pandya
9am – 10am Breakfast for Volunteers
10am – 11am Film Screening
The Private Life of Plants: Episode1: Travelling
by BBC 50min,English
11am – 12pm Lecture1:
Urban Biodiversity Research and Role of Communities
by Ms. Ovee Thorat (20mins)
Lecture 2:
Lecture 2:
What's Biodiversity for? by Anand Pendharkar (20mins) Good for Kids & Adults
12pm – 1pm Film Screening
1. The Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan, 4 min English
2. Dreaming of my Clean Creek by Enviro-Vigil, 15 min English
3. Goa
1 pm – 2 pm Film Screening (Lunch)
2 pm – 3 pm Film Screening
Gaaz, call of the Ocean by Arti Kulkarni 50min Marathi/English
3 pm – 4 pm Film Screening
Planet Earth : Great Plains by BBC, 50min English
4 pm – 5 pm Guest Lecture :
Why do we need leaders in the field of Ecological Conservation?
Dr. Sudhakar Solomon Raj, Reader, Wilson College
5 pm – 6 pm Film Screening
Born Free by James H. Hill
Feature Film, 95min English
10am – 6pm (Whole day activities)
- Adventure Sports Activities – Rock Climbing,
- Kids Activities – Face painting, poster painting &
Paper/Mache making.
- Photo Exhibition: Indigenous and rare species of flora and fauna
- Stalls & Exhibition of eco-friendly products and life-style ideas
– Matsya Crafts, Hide-Out, Daily Dump, Indian Adventures, Ecoexist,
RUR, BNHS, UTMT, Baker's Street, Excel Industries, Learning Fantasies,
SPROUTS…

wow.. sounds nice.. im sure there will be a write up, once u guys are back.. waiting for that and the photos :)
ReplyDeletewow.. sounds nice.. im sure there will be a write up, once u guys are back.. waiting for that and the photos :)
ReplyDeletewow
ReplyDeleteenvy you
hope yu have a great time
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