Dying Trees Shrinking Lakes- Sounding A Death Knell

Chirping birds, swaying palms, gentle breeze and colourful dawn.

Morning walks sure energise you. But when you see many old trees dying and the lake shrinking, you feel anguished, sad and angered- all at the same time. The other day I observed hundreds of Babool (acacia) trees in Yapral Lake dying a slow death.  Am sharing few pictures taken a year apart at the same spot around the Lake. See for yourself the damage and destruction that mankind is causing to the environment. If we, human beings, don't mend our ways, it may be too late. Just too late!

Baya Weavers make their nests on Babool trees. With the trees gone, where will the weaver birds make their nest?

And many other birds thrive on the greenery. Will we see such birds in our neighbourhood in future?

Another major waterbody which lost half of its area is the Kolleru Lake in Andhra Pradesh. It acts as the flood balancing system between Godavari and Krishna rivers. Do see the maps and the pictures in our story below:

Kolleru Lake- constantly encroached over 30 years!

The floods of 2015 in Chennai were also caused by encroachment of the flood banks of Adyar river which flows through the city. You may browse our story below:

Chennai Floods Man Made

Similarly, the flooding of our house in Secunderabad in Oct 2020 was caused by encroachment and blockade of free flow of rain water which existed for centuries. See the damage it caused in the story below:

Flood Fury

Ghumakkad has been highlighting environmental degradation through our picture stories. Like-minded folks who care for the environment, may browse the following stories:

Beat the Plastic Pollution - World Environment Day 2023

Only One Earth - World Env Day 2022

Reimagine, Recreate Restore - How to restore the environment? World Env Day 2021

Mutualism by Nature - how few species are dependent upon one another

Shrinking Urban Lakes- Impending Disaster

What Can We Do? - Practical things to do by individuals

Let us not turn a blind eye towards environmental degradation of any kind.

Thanks for browsing. Every person counts in this battle to save the environment.

      -Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ Secunderabad/ 26th Oct 2023

#environment #deforestation #saveourlakes #ghmc #encroachment #everypersoncounts #yaprallake #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #savethetrees #greenearth #treesareourlife #pollution

Sketching At Eight

When did you start sketching and painting? May be when you were around three or four! Yes, but when did you have a website of your sketches? And when did your sketches start trending on social media? Perhaps, for most of us, never.

Here is the story of an eight-year-old whose sketches will floor you! Just hang on. Let us first talk to Naman who lives in USA.

Hi Naman, how did you start sketching and painting?

Because I was always bored, I started sketching. I did do painting for a bit with Udemy. And then I started to not like it and then I started sketching instead.

Which was your first sketch or drawing?

 Oh, I remember. My first drawing was a person with no hands and no feet and it looked really weird.

What do you like to sketch more? Scenery, animals, flowers, faces, cartoon characters or other objects?

I mean I like to sketch people more than landscapes. I like to sketch objects more than flowers or animals. But my fav sketching thing would probably be people. 

Can you share a few of your sketches?

Yes, I can. Here are a few of my sketches.

How do you feel when you finish a sketch or drawing?

Proud! I feel happy. Sad, because it was fun sketching it and now it's over. Frustrated when it looks bad. Sometimes, I feel it needs a little more editing or erasing. I look at my sketches from far away.

Which is your favourite sketch?

The Messi one! I worked on it for like five days, I had to go back and edit it like multiple times. It's my favourite because Messi is my favourite soccer player. It looked the way I wanted it to look. Some of my strokes which I didn't like, actually made the sketch look even better.

How much time did you take to complete the Messi sketch?

I took about five days and worked for about an hour or two each day.

Apart from painting and sketching, you must also be playing some games like soccer, taekwondo etc. What do you like the most?

Apart from sketching you mean, I like TKD (taekwondo) the most because it strengthens my body and my brain. It teaches me things like self control and integrity. It tells me not to give up even if things are very hard and also because Bhaiya (elder brother in Hindi) does it too. So, I can have fun with him.

Which is your most recent sketch?

My most recent sketch was a practice of a haunted house that is made in a 2 point perspective view. I made it at Ichen Art Academy. Not at home. 

At home, my most recent sketch is a Lego Ninjago series. I made some Lego Ninjas.

For Naman anytime is art time! 

Thank you Naman and all the best for your future sketches. Do share your sketches once in a while.

That was a guest story from Naman, the eight-year-old artist.  Naman has his own website, which can be accessed here. Do follow and like his creations. It will encourage the child prodigy. Naman also happens to be our grandson.

Postscript 14th Nov 23: Naman created a card for Armed Forces Veterans and sent it to his grandpa i.e. Ghumakkad. It was an instant hit with so many Veterans in India. See his imaginative design below:

Other Guest Stories

Ghumakkad encourages guest stories on our blog. Some of our previous guest stories are listed below. Just click to browse.

Who says children don't read books?  We generally blame the internet and digital devices for distracting the children from reading books. But this story of three siblings (11,13 and 15) shows that children continue to love books! (2023)

Coyote Gulch- Hiking In A Stream written by then 10-year-old Nikhil, our grandson (2018)

Ironman In The Family - a first hand account of Ironman 70.3 completed by our son Ankush. Read when he says "And my legs died"! How did he revive? (2022)

Fallen But Not Forgotten - Remembering our War heroes by Trixie Asirvatham from Bengaluru. Read about the Armistice Day and its history through a poignant picture story. (2017)

Women Hiking In Water by Akanksha, our daughter. Daring story of a hike in waste deep water by four young mothers all by themselves! (2019)

A Squirrel Comes Home by Rohini Tiwari a Nature lover from Coimbatore. Fascinating account of rescuing a baby squirrel and how it adopts the rescuer's home! (2020)

Winning The Hearts Of People by Abhishek Singh. Interesting story of how Indian Army helps the villagers in far flung borders of Arunachal Pradesh in north-east India. (2018)

Male Showstopper by Koushik Gopinath a wildlife photographer. Get close to the Tigers of Ranthambore with Koushik's lens. Superb photography. (2018)

Maya The Tigress of Tadoba - From Ranthambore Ankush takes you to Tadoba, Maharashtra where Maya the tigress rears her cubs. Feel the glory of the jungle.

Why Kodaikanal? by Ansh (then 14) and Nikhil (then 11) our grandsons. They describe the attractions of Kodaikanal through their pictures and story.

Ladakh: Shades of Heaven on Earth - breathtaking pictures by Abha and Akanksha who visited Ladakh with their families in Aug 2022.

After seeing all these guest stories, hope you are charged up to share your story. Your story can be on any subject as you saw above- from wildlife to travel to pets to hiking to sketching and so on! Do reach out to us on hbindia@gmail.com . We learn from each other as our logo below shows.

Thanks for browsing.

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta and Akanksha Bhargava/ Secunderabad and California/ 15th Oct 2023

#Gueststory #sketching #painting #eightyearoldartist #creativity #imagination #takewondo #grandchildren #children #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #2pointperspective #namanbhargava