Month: June 2023

Charming Worms

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Aristotle called them the ‘intestines of the earth’. Cleopatra declared them to be sacred and forbade Egyptian farmers from removing them from the land. Japanese religious lore has a story about them. Certain of the Shinto gods decided to create the world’s creatures from living clay; formulating, in turn, animals, birds, fish and insects. At each stage their creations asked: ‘What shall we eat?’ When they created Man, he was told to eat everything. Then, the gods noticed some small clay scraps that had been dropped and decided to create worms, which they instructed to live underground and eat soil – although they could come to the surface from time to time in search of anything they found edible.

These creatures are what we call earthworms. Archaeological evidence suggests that worms have been around for 600 million years. These underground creatures hardly made news or were subjects of serious scientific research. It was Charles Darwin who studied earthworms for 39 years, who reaffirmed the value of these lowly creatures when he said, “It may be doubted whether there are many other animals in the world which have played so important a part in the history of the world than the earthworm. Worms are more powerful than the African Elephant and are more important to the economy than the cow.”

Darwin’s observations, investigations, conclusions and pronouncements were published in 1881, six months before his death under the title The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms. Darwin estimated that an acre of mid-19th-century arable land, the result of centuries of gentle pummelling and fertilisation by farm animals and traditional toil by countrymen, contained 53,000 earthworms. He further calculated that, over the course of a year, the worms moved 15 tons of soil to the surface – a process known to agrology as bioturbation.

Many years later, in more recent times, when much of the soil surface has been degraded from the onslaught of chemicals and industrial agricultural processes, scientists have once again recognized that the presence and activities of earthworms have a dramatic effect on the soil habitat.

While eating the soil, the earthworm absorbs the nutrients it needs and casts off the rest. Under ideal conditions, earthworms are believed to eat and digest their entire weight in castings in a mere 24 hours. The nutrient content of the castings, which have gone through the earthworm’s digestive system, was found to have 5 times more soluble nitrogen, 7 times the soluble phosphorus, 11 times the soluble potassium, and 3 times the soluble magnesium plus a smaller amount of calcium. Most earthworms also mix the plant litter and organic matter into the soil, increasing the speed at which they decay and release nutrients into the soil. In these ways, earthworms recycle nutrients from dead plants and other soil organisms so that they can be used again.

Earthworms are also incomparable builders of soils. Their means of travel thorough the soil — pushing, tunnelling and eating their way through all kinds of organic matter. soil opens it up for the benefit of aeration and water seepage. The underground burrowing systems that they create increase the amount of water and air that reaches the plant roots and other soil organisms, helping their growth. Soil that has a good population of earthworms is always easier to work and plants seem to thrive in it. Thus earthworms have been given new sobriquets such as “farmers’ friends’ and ‘ecosystem engineers’.

Earthworms are getting their due. One of the quirky celebrations of these usually hidden-from-sight creatures is a festival held in some parts of England–the Festival of Worm Charming. While we know of snake charming and snake charmers, this one is certainly not part of a regular vocabulary.

Traditionally worm charming, worm grunting and worm fiddling refer to methods of attracting earthworms from the ground, mainly through creating vibrations on the ground.

Darwin was perhaps the first to study earthworm sensitivity or otherwise to light, warmth and sound. His experiments included placing lamps, candles and hot pokers close to them, blowing tobacco smoke over them, sounding a tin whistle and playing a piano close by and having his son play a bassoon loudly. He observed that it was only vibrations that caused them to become active.

Scientific experiments apart, using vibrations to bring worms to the surface has been traditionally used by fishermen to collect worms as bait. In recent years, this activity has taken the form of a competitive sport.

An International Worm Charming festival is held every year June in Devon in England. As with all competitions, this one has its rules and etiquette. 

The aim of the competition is to “charm” the earthworms to come to the surface of the soil by creating vibrations on the ground. Traditionally this was done by sticking a rod called a ‘stob’ (like a pitchfork) in the dirt and smacking it with a simple rod known as a ‘rooping iron’. This competition allows different ways of creating the vibrations—tapping the soil with feet, “twanging” the ground with a fork in the soil, but strictly no digging.

The wormers are given a 3×3 meter square of land to fiddle, grunt, and charm their way to championship glory by collecting more worms than anyone else.

Each teams comprises 3 members: a Charmerer, a Pickerer and a Counterer.

Once all teams have found their plot everyone is allowed to begin “Worming Up”. This is doing whatever you need to do to get the worms out of the ground without digging, forking or pouring harmful liquids onto plots.

“Worming Up” lasts for 5 minutes after which the competition really gets underway.

 15 minutes are allotted to all teams to get as many worms charmed out of the ground.

Any team or competitor caught cheating will be publicly humiliated and almost certainly disqualified.

The International Judges’ decision is final.

All worms must be returned unharmed to the ground after the competition.

The Worm Master presides over the Festival. The Official Cheat tempts entrants by offering them worms so that they can cheat. Old Father Worm Charming offers advice and guidance to would be worm charmers. Finally, there’s the International Judge who is the rule of law in all things to do with arbitration in worm charming disputes.

What a way to spend a sunny summer’s day! While India is known as the ‘land of snake charmers’, this festival may well lead England to be known as the ‘land of worm charmers’!

–Mamata

Desperately Seeking Women-Power

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The Global Gender Gap Report 2023 is out, and the news is not good for us in India. Well, if you are an untiring optimist who insists on seeing a glass with some drops of water in it as half-full, you will stop me and scold me. For after all, India’s ranking in the list of 146 countries which have been studied, has gone up 8 places, so that we stand at 127th, up from 135th last year.  

But for me, as I go through the report, I don’t know see how we can take any comfort from this. Even if we are to view ourselves in a comparative light, we need to pause and consider that Nicaragua and Namibia rank at 7th and 8th, compared to our 127!

The report measures gender gap on four major dimensions:  Economic Opportunities, Education, Health, and Political Leadership.

The first bucket, to quote the report ‘contains three concepts: the (labour) participation gap, the remuneration gap and the advancement gap’. The second bucket of Educational Attainment ‘captures the gap between women’s and men’s current access to education through the enrolment ratios of women to men in primary-, secondary- and tertiary-level education’. The Health and Survival sub-index provides an overview of the differences between women’s and men’s health by looking at sex ratio at birth, and the gap between women’s and men’s healthy life expectancy. The last bucket of Political Empowerment measures the gap between men and women at the highest level of political decision-making through the ratio of women to men in ministerial positions, and the ratio of women to men in parliamentary positions.

Courtsey UN Women Insta

If we look at India in terms of these dimensions, less than 30 per cent of women participate in the labour market. Women make up 89 per cent of workers in informal sector, which means they are probably underpaid, do not have job security or any other benefits, and work in unsafe, unhealthy and unregulated conditions. Less than 2 per cent firms in India have female majority ownership, and less than 9 per cent have females in top management positions.

Close to 30 per cent women report having faced gender violence in their lives.

We rank 117th in terms of percentage of women in Parliament and 132nd in terms of women in ministerial positions.

That is underwhelming in terms of performance and overwhelming in terms of the task ahead. A practical way to start may be by looking at the factors that are measured to arrive at the rankings. This can probably help a government, an organization and a community and a family work out specific plans and targets.

To get into the details of the employment and economic opportunities segment, the factors include:  labour-force participation (including unemployment and working conditions); workforce participation across industries; representation of women in senior leadership; gender gaps in labour markets of the future (including STEM and AI related occupations); gender gaps in skill of the future.

What might that mean for a government? Well, maybe setting targets or incentives/disincentives for public and private sector for employment of women? Importantly government must ensure workplaces, public spaces and transport safe, so that women are able to travel and work without fear. To a large extent, government does walk the talk on gender positions? Many of our Ministries and Departments are headed by women-bureaucrats; the largest public sector bank has been headed by a woman; we have women heading government research labs and scientific institutions, playing a part in our space and nuclear programmes, now full-fledged in the armed forces, etc. But doing this even more aggressively will set an example to the private sector.

What might that mean for a corporation? That they move forward from celebrating Women’s Day to taking a hard look at their policies, systems and culture to see how they can become truly inclusive employers.

What might it mean for educational and training institutions: That they don’t, by action or inaction, deny girls opportunities; that they counsel and encourage them to take up STEM courses and careers.

What does it mean for communities? That they examine their conscious and sub-conscious biases, and understand how these affect their actions; that they make the community safe for girls and women.

And most importantly, what does it mean for a family? That they don’t discriminate against girl-children; that they provide them opportunities; that they don’t belittle their aspirations and abilities; that they don’t deny them their rights; that they help them fight their battles and give them a winner’s mindset.

It’s a long, hard journey. If we aspire to be at least in the top half rather than the bottom half of the ranking,the journey has to begin with every individual—in our hearts, minds and actions, today.

–Meena

https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2023

Celebrating the Sun

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We have just crossed the Summer Solstice on 21 June. This is a major celestial event which results in the longest day and shortest night of the year in the Northern hemisphere. The word solstice is a combination of the Latin words ‘sol’ meaning sun and ‘stice’ meaning standstill. As the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher, till the movement of the Sun’s path north or south appears to stop in the sky before changing direction.

The summer solstice occurs when the tilt of Earth’s axis is most inclined towards the sun and is directly above the Tropic of Cancer. It officially marks the beginning of astronomical summer, which lasts until the autumn equinox falls on 23 September, when day and night will be of almost equal length.

In most parts of the Northern hemisphere winter is long, dark, cold, and harsh. Nature seems to slow down; the ground id frozen and often snow-covered for months, and many plants and animals go into hibernation mode. The spring season marks a slow awakening, with life starting to stir again. It is only around the middle of June that “summer” really sets in. In the days of yore, when people’s lives, especially agriculture, were closely linked with the cycles of nature, this ‘return of the sun’ was a time to celebrate the passing of the months of suffering and hardship, and the appreciation for the sun that would bring harvests.

Summer Solstice is one of the most ancient of human festivals. For the early societies the longest day had both practical and religious significance. It was a fixed point around which the planting and harvesting of crops could be planned, but also marked the spiritual side of the shifting of the seasons.

Many traditions are linked to this celebration, especially in different parts of Europe. In Ireland celebrations date back over 5000 years. In ancient times, people all over the northern hemisphere would celebrate this time with games, stories and feasting, and lighting of bonfires. Since time began, fire has been regarded as a symbol of the sun and so large fires were lit on this occasion

In ancient Greece, the summer solstice festival of Kronia to honour the god Cronius, the patron of agriculture. It was a day when class distinctions were abandoned and masters and slaves celebrated side-by-side. A tradition still followed by some is to trek up to the peak of Mt Olympus on this day.

In ancient Rome, the festival of Vestalia celebrated Vesta the goddess of hearth and home and family on this day. During the week of Vestalia, only women were permitted to enter the Vestal temple, and a cake was baked using consecrated waters from a spring considered sacred. Even today Italians celebrate the solstice as a time of new beginnings. La Festa di San Giovanni is a festival observed with similar rites of water and fire as the ones performed in ancient times.

Many Native American tribes celebrated the longest day of the year with a Sun Dance, while the Mayas and Aztecs used the day as a marker by which to build many of their central structures, so that the buildings would align perfectly with the shadows of the two solstices, summer and winter.

In Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, the main pyramid at Chichén Itzá, known as the Temple of Kukulcan, is constructed in such a way that during the Summer Solstice the sun casts perfect shadows on the south and west sides so that it looks to be split in two.

Better known are the Neolithic structures at Stonehenge in England. There is still a mystery about who constructed these and for what purpose. One theory is that it was built to worship deities of the Earth and the sun. Stonehenge was ingeniously designed built to align with the sun on the solstices. On the summer solstice, as the sun rises behind the heel stone, the ancient entrance to the stone circle, the ascending rays of sunlight align perfectly with a circle carved in stone in the centre of the monument. Even today thousands throng Stonehenge on summer solstice to witness this breath-taking sight and join in the celebrations that include dance and music.

While June signals the start of summer in many parts of the Northern hemisphere, in a country like India, this is the peak of summer. In a large part of the subcontinent, the sun blazes and the earth is parched; in some parts it heralds the onset of the monsoon rains that will gradually move northwards, quenching the thirst of the soil and its inhabitants. While we celebrate the change of seasons with many different festivals, we do not traditionally celebrate summer solstice as a festival

However, in the last few years India had taken the lead in adding a new day of celebration on 21 June. This is International Day of Yoga Day to coincide with the summer solstice. The day was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2014, in recognition of the universal appeal of Yoga, owing to its demonstrated benefits towards immunity building and stress relief.

While yoga is a philosophy and science in itself, one aspect that struck me in the context of the summer solstice and the celebration of the sun, is the importance of Surya Namaskar or Sun Salutation in yoga. This is a set of a sequence of 12 yoga poses which provide a complete workout which has a positive impact on the body and the mind.

There are 12 mantras that accompany the surya namaskar postures, which praise the different qualities of the Sun God or Surya. These are:

Praise to the One:

Who is the friend of all

Who shines brightly and is filled with radiance

Who eliminated darkness and brings in light

Who is filled with brilliance and lustre

Who traverses the entire sky and is all-pervasive

Who provides nourishment and fulfils desires

The one with a golden-hued lustre

The one who shines with the light of innumerable rays

The one who is the son of the divine cosmic mother Aditi

The one who gives life

The one who is worthy of all glory

The one who is wise and illuminates the heavenly world.

While it is marked in different ways, and has different cultural contexts, Summer solstice is a reminder of the how vital the sun is for all life.

–Mamata

Sky-gazing

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A few weeks ago, when we were in the Western Ghats, the resort manager kindly set up a telescope in the evening. It was for the kids who were our co-guests, but ultimately it was the adults who hogged the eyepiece! It was amazing to see the craters on the moon; Mars and Venus; and sundry stars. And we were reminded once again of the fascination that the sky has always held for humans.

The conversation obviously took a turn towards raking up memories about telescopes. Techy-types among the group reminded us that the magnification power of a telescope essentially indicated the size of an object observed inside the eyepiece relative to the size of that object when observed with the naked eye. For example, when looking at Mars at 50x magnification, the red planet will appear 50 times larger than if one looked at it with one’s eyes.  Factors like light pollution, atmospheric turbulence, temperature, wind, and much more affect the viewing experience. When viewing conditions are bad, the view will be blurry, fuzzy, shaky and unstable.  That is generally why telescopes are set up in high altitudes: the atmosphere is thinner at higher levels, and makes for better viewing. Air quality is important for good observations because any particles in the air will reflect light–so higher altitudes work better in this aspect too. Also, telescopes need to be located as high above the clouds as possible. And of course remote areas have less pollution.

Humans have been gazing through telescopes since the 17th century. The earliest existing record of such an instrument is a 1608 patent submitted to the Dutch government by a spectacle-maker called Hans Lipperhey. While the actual inventor of the refracting telescope is not known, Lipperhey was the one to file the patent. Scientists all over Europe were fascinated by the invention and many started their own attempts to come up with one. Galileo built his own version a few years afterwards, and started making his telescopic observations of celestial objects. The word telescope itself was coined in 1611 by the Greek mathematician Giovanni Demisiani for one of Galileo Galilee’s instruments, and translates roughly into ‘far-seeing.’

To most of us, the word ‘telescope’ probably brings to mind the Hubble, launched by NASA in April 1990 and still in operation today.  What we refer to as the Hubble Telescope is in fact a large, space-based observatory. It has been in operation for over 31 years, and in fact, its observation abilities have grown with time because new, cutting-edge scientific instruments have been added to the telescope over the course of the years through five astronaut servicing missions. It has made over 1.5 million observations over the course of its lifetime including seeing the collision of a comet with Jupiter, and has discovered moons around Pluto. It is truly one of the instruments which is shaping our understanding of the world.

Indians of course have always been fascinated with the skies, and down history have built different kinds of instruments to study the stars and other celestial objects. The observatories built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh of Jaipur between 1724 and 1734–the Jantar Mantars in Jaipur, Delhi, Ujjain, Varanasi, and Mathura being among the recent ones. 

India’s focus on space observations has continued into the modern era, with ISRO launching our first dedicated Space Astronomy Observatory—Astrosat–in September 2015. India’s biggest telescope currently is the 3.6m Devasthal Optical Telescope, a custom-built instrument of great complexity. Built in collaboration with Belgium and Canada, this telescope has the distinction of being largest telescope in India for the study of celestial objects at optical wavelengths. Devasthal is a district of Nainital, at a height of about 2,450 mt.

Women have had their share in these explorations. The ancient scholar Gargi (somewhere between 800-500 BC), engaged in questions about astronomy. In a dialogue with Yajnavalkya, she asks ‘what is that which pervades above the heavens, below the earth and in between the two (heaven and earth)’.

In the present day too, we have our share of astronomical stars (pun intended).  G. C. Anupama, the former Dean and Senior Professor (retired), Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) is a world renowned astronomer. She has served as president of the Astronomical Society of India (ASI), the first woman to head this association of professional astronomers.  She is a member of the Indian core team which is part of the international effort to establish the thirty meter telescope (TMT) in Hawaii, USA, as also the principal investigator of the project which led to the establishment of the 0.7m wide field telescope at Hanle near Leh in Ladakh, the world’s ninth highest site for optical, infrared and gamma-ray telescopes in the world.

Exploring the skies is fundamental to the human quest for understanding ourselves. And it can set children on a course to study the world around us scientifically. If you don’t want to invest in a telescope which may cost in the tens of thousands, if not in the lakhs, do check out DIY telescope kits, available for as little as Rs. 1000 (one such option available at https://scienceshop.vascsc.org/). Who knows, you could be starting some kid out to a journey to ISRO or NASA—if not the stars!

–Meena

A Millets Tale

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Once upon a time, in a forest far away there lived a young girl. The girl had lost her parents when she was just a baby, and she had no other family that she knew of. She continued to stay by herself, and grow up in the forest, the place that she knew as home.  But she had many friends in the forest. She knew all the trees and plants, and they gave her their fruit, seeds, and flowers, different ones in different seasons. She knew all the birds and animals that lived there, and could recognize them by their calls and pugmarks. She knew the springs where cool fresh water flowed, where she could wash, and bathe and drink from. And she also knew that by planting some seeds in the earth, before the rains, would lead to a small crop of plants that she could eat, some for their leaves, some for their roots, and some for the seeds as they ripened. The seeds were of many kinds, some tiny, some larger, and of many colours—pearly white, greenish grey, reddish brown, and many shades of yellow.

The girl in the forest grew up to be strong and healthy young woman. She also grew into a beautiful and graceful maiden. One day as she was walking through the forest, humming a tune, she heard an unusual sound. It was the sound of hoof beats. Most animals in the forest walked and ran on nimble feet, making hardly a sound as their feet touched the ground. This clip clop sound was not one that she had heard before. As the sound grew closer, the girl hid herself behind a tree and peeped cautiously and curiously. From the thicket there emerged a horse, and on the horse rode a handsome young man. The girl had never seen such a sight before. She could not resist stepping away from her hiding place to get a better look.

The rider was a young prince on his way back to his kingdom. He too had never seen such a beautiful maiden before. It was love at first sight! The prince got off from his horse and stood before the lovely lady who was looking at him with undisguised curiosity. She was so different from all the ladies that he met, ladies who acted coy, who dressed in expensive silks and velvets, and were adorned from head to foot in shining jewels. After all he was a prince, the king-to-be, and every maiden in the kingdom dreamed that she would capture his heart and, someday, become the queen.  

This young woman was clad in the simplest of garments, but her skin and hair shone like silk, her face exuded a glow that came from within, and her limbs were lithe and strong. She stood erect and fearless before the young man, innocent but self-assured.

The prince was sure that this was the woman who would be his wife. He spoke gently to the maiden, but put forth his proposal. The young girl was also taken with the young man. She had no idea about kingdoms and kings and princes, and no dream or desire to live in a palace and be a queen. She liked the young man for what he was. And she was of an age when she felt that she was ready for adventure. She said yes!

The prince and the maiden returned to the palace, and were wed. With time the bride settled into her new life and role. She learned to wear the finery, and the manners of royalty. But she could not easily relish the meals that were served. Every meal was like a feast. There were many kinds of bread made from the finest refined flours, numerous dishes rich with oil, butter and spices, and the widest array of sweetmeats laden with sugar and ghee. These were prepared by the finest chefs in the land. The new bride had never, in her simple life in the forest eaten such heavy food. Her body could not digest the extravagance of seasonings and ingredients.

After some time the young woman found that she her body was changing. She felt lethargic; without the energy that she once had to walk long distances, climb trees, work with the soil—digging, planting, tending, harvesting. Her once sinewy limbs were no longer as strong as they once were, and she was becoming plump like the doves that cooed in the courtyard. Her taste buds were satiated; they no longer relished the overpowering deluge of flavours.

One day the young royal sneaked out of the palace in disguise. She went to the local market. As she walked around she saw the heaps of fresh vegetables and fruits and pictured these as she had once seen them, hanging from the branches, and growing from the soil. She came to a grain merchant’s shop and there she spotted the familiar seeds and grains that had sustained her in her days of living in the forest. She realized that these were what her body had been craving. She got these different seeds packed and returned, still incognito, to the palace.

Back in her luxurious surroundings, the queen-to-be got some of these seeds roasted and started having them for breakfast. The kitchen staff was taken aback. These were what poor people ate. How can a rich and royal personage want to eat such humble cereals? But their duty was to do as they were instructed.

 One day her husband found her eating her breakfast of multi-coloured seeds and wanted to know what they were, and why she was eating them. She said that for her these were as precious as pearls, because these are what had sustained her in her childhood and youth. It is these staples that had given her the nutrients and energy that she needed to stay healthy and active. She requested that henceforth, these seeds should become a part of the royal menus. As a royal prerogative she gave these “poor man’s” seeds their names.

The ‘pearls’ were called Bajra, Jowar and Cheena. The ones that were in different shades of yellow, green-grey, red-brown, that reminded her of the colours of the forest were named Kangani and Kakun, Kodo and Proso, Ragi and Kutki, Kuttu and Rajgira.

And so it came about that these poor man’s seeds became a part of the royal kitchen and diet. The queen-in-making devised new recipes and dishes where these could be tastily used, and the chefs added their own touches to these. The ‘pearls’ proved their value. The palace residents began to feel lighter, healthier and stronger.

Time passed. The young bride became the queen, and in time, she and the king also passed on. As with the cycle of change, there were later generations that went back to the rich cuisines that once signified wealth and status. With that came also the effects on people’s health and well-being.

 Until one day a newly-married princess discovered, among the dusty tomes in the palace library, a book of recipes of the ‘pearl seeds’.

We have come full circle again.

Celebrating Millets!

–Mamata

A Windy Day

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Is it windy outside? Not really! Then why this piece? Well, it is in anticipation of Global Wind Day, a worldwide event that is marked annually on 15 June. It is ‘ a day for discovering wind energy, its power and the possibilities it holds to reshape our energy systems, decarbonise our economies and boost jobs and growth.’

Fair enough!  Today, winds are gaining huge importance because of their potential to add to the basket of energy sources—a clean energy source that will help mitigate climate change challenges. It is because of this promise that wind power has grown rapidly since 2000, Global installed wind generation capacity has increased by a factor of about 100 in the past two decades. In 2021, the total wind generation capacity globally was 830 Giga Watts. India is proudly at Number 4 position in the world, with an installed capacity of 40+ GW. And there is still a long way to go, with estimated potential for wind in India being 200 GW.

Just to double back, what is wind? Put simply, it is the the movement of air relative to the surface of the Earth. Winds play a significant role in determining and controlling climate and weather.

And how is electricity produced from winds? Basically, it is by converting the kinetic energy of air in motion into electricity. Wind rotates rotor blades of a turbine, which converts kinetic energy into rotational energy. This rotational energy is transferred by a shaft to the generator, thereby producing electrical energy.

Windmills
Domestic windmills are not common but I saw this somewhere near Mandya, Karnataka

So yes, wind is a harbinger of hope for the future.  Though maybe not without its own issues. Wind energy can obviously be produced only where the winds are strong and fairly sustained through the year—and there are not too many places like that in the world. Through the day and through the year, wind intensity changes, so that wind energy is not generated throughout—it is an intermittent source.  And of course, winds can be unpredictable, so the generation cannot be assured.  Wind turbines are noisy and also change the landscape drastically. Wind energy potential is highest in remote places, which makes investment in transmission lines and related equipment essential. They also have impacts on local biodiversity and even migratory birds. While the cost of producing wind energy has come down in the last few years, and it is a competitive source, technology and R&D have to progress further so that costs may be brought down.

India has committed to producing 140 GW of wind energy as part of its climate ambitions.

But for us in India, winds are not important just for their energy potential.  Lives and livelihoods here have always centered around the monsoon winds—which bring or don’t bring us our rains. The monsoon–a periodic wind in the Indian Ocean and southern Asia—is our lifeline. The summer monsoon usually happens between April and September and bring us our heavy rains. The winter monsoon, which lasts from October to April don’t bring much rain as far as India is concerned. The English word monsoon comes from the Portuguese monção, but ultimately from the Arabic  (mawsim, “season”). 

So all the more reason to understand the role of winds in our lives, and mark Global Wind Day!

And a fun fact to end with:

Ramakkalmedu, also called God’s Own Hill-station, in Idukki district, Kerala, is the windiest place in India and one of the windiest places in Asia. Throughout the year the wind speed here is around 35 km/hr. Located at a height of about 3500 feet, the place is home to–what else–a wind energy farm with a capacity of 12.5 MW!

–Meena

Planet Ocean Explorer: Jacques Cousteau

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8 June is celebrated as World Oceans Day. Oceans cover the majority of the earth. In fact, it has often been said that our home should be called Planet Ocean rather than Planet Earth. But compared to terrestrial ecosystems, oceans are still less studied and understood. Scientists are continuing to explore and discover unimagined treasures in the marine world.

One man who understood before others did, how critical our Water Planet is to our survival and who dedicated his life to learning what lay deep in the marine waters, and opened up these hidden treasures for the world, was Jacques Cousteau.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau was born on June 11, 1910 near Bordeaux, in France. He learned to swim when he was just four. When he was 10 his family moved to New York for two years. It was at a summer camp that Jacques first learned how to go diving and snorkelling. He continued to snorkel after the family moved back to the Mediterranean city of Marseilles in France.

In 1930, at the of age 20, Jacques Cousteau passed the tough exams for the French Naval Academy where he trained for two years before spending a year at sea. In 1933, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and spent most of the next two years sailing the world’s seas. In 1935, Cousteau started training to become a naval aircraft pilot. He had almost completed his training when, in 1936, he was involved in a near-fatal car crash. His right side was paralyzed and he had multiple fractures in his arms. This ended his dream of a career in flying. Cousteau underwent months of physical therapy, and spent a lot of time swimming in order to strengthen his fractured arms. He was not satisfied with skimming the surface of the water, he was curious to know what lay deep below. He started diving deeper with a pair of improvised swimming goggles and was amazed to discover the beauty of the sea-floor. He decided that he would make diving his life’s work. He also re-joined the navy as a naval gunnery instructor.

As he attempted deeper dives, Cousteau was frustrated about the limited amount of time that he could remain submerged. The only equipment available for divers then was the Self-contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) that had been invented in 1926.  In 1943, Cousteau met Emil Gagnan a French engineer and together they experimented to develop a device which had compressed air cylinders that would enable divers to remain underwater for a longer time. Thus the diving regulator or aqualung was born, co-invented and patented by Gagnan and Cousteau. Cousteau immediately incorporated the new device into SCUBA apparatus. It gave him exactly what he needed. He could dive freely and stay under longer without the previous cumbersome equipment.

After the war ended, Cousteau began underwater research for the French Navy. In addition to this he also used the new equipment for underwater archaeology work to study the wreck of sunken ships.

In 1951, Cousteau took scientific leave from the Navy and began his own sea expeditions. Cousteau shared his plans to make undersea film documentaries with wealthy British philanthropist Thomas Loel Guinness. Guinness bought an old car ferry and leased it to Cousteau for a token 1 franc a year. Cousteau named the ship Calypso. Cousteau and Calypso would, not too far in the future, become popular names for TV audiences all over the world. But before the ship could become functional, it needed equipment and crew. Cousteau begged for government grants and pleaded with manufacturers for free equipment.

To raise more money, Cousteau and Frédéric Dumas co-authored a book The Silent World, about their pioneering adventures in SCUBA diving. Published in 1953 the book was an instant hit, and has continued to sell; to date it has sold over 5 million copies. In 1956, Cousteau released his first colour movie documentary, also called The Silent World. This was the first time that common people had a peep into a hitherto unimagined underwater world. Today we have access to incredible footage of the marine environment through numerous channels, and with the help of highly sophisticated technology. Cousteau’s film was the first to bring glimpses of this world onto TV screens. The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1957.

Cousteau’s film inspired a lot of people to take up deep sea diving and explore the ocean depths. This also led to a rise in the demand for SCUBA equipment, especially the aqualung.

Cousteau officially retired from the French Navy in 1956 with the rank of Captain. He continued to make underwater documentaries, exploring different facets of the marine environment. His films, and his pioneering work, won many awards. Jacques Cousteau became a familiar name for TV audiences in the 1960s and 1970s.

His work also created a new kind of scientific communication. The simple way of sharing scientific concepts, which characterized his books and films, was soon employed in other disciplines and became one of the most important characteristics of modern TV broadcasting.

Cousteau was more than an inventor, explorer and documenter of the oceans. He inspired generations of marine biologists, teachers, explorers, divers and others for whom the oceans became a personal and professional passion. He was also an activist, and advocate for respectful protection and conservation of the ocean and its resources. In 1973, along with his two sons and Frederick Hyman he created the Cousteau Society for the Protection of Ocean Life. The Cousteau Society continues its mission of exploring the seas, establishing protected areas for endangered species and advocating for the silent world which cannot advocate for itself.

Cousteau believed that people protect what they love. And he made it his life’s mission to create that love for Planet Ocean. Jacques-Yves Cousteau died age 87 of a heart attack on June 25, 1997 in Paris.

When Cousteau first discovered and shared the wonders of the ocean in the 1950s, plastic waste was relatively manageable. Today the oceans are threatened as never before with the issue of plastic pollution with an estimated 8 million tonnes of plastic entering the ocean annually. It is estimated that by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean.

The theme of the recently celebrated World Environment Day (5 June) was Beat Plastic Pollution. The theme of World Oceans Day (8 June) is Planet Ocean. This is a good week to remember Cousteau who gave us the first glimpse of this wondrous planet. 

–Mamata

Don’t Stick Out!

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That is surely the mantra of the Stick Insect! Known for one of the most effective camouflage strategies in Nature, the stick insect resembles the twigs among which it lives. It belongs to the order Phasmatodea, which includes the other master camouflaguer, the leaf insect. In fact, the name Phasmatodea derives from the Greek word phasma, meaning an apparition, phantom, or ghost.

The order Phasmatodea has over 3000 species in all—but how can one be sure, when many of them may be so well-hidden that they are impossible to detect!  India has about 150 of these species. These creatures are related to grasshoppers, crickets, and mantises.

We were recently in the Western Ghats, where we encountered a beautiful Stick Insect. About 6 inches in length from the forward-legs to the tip of the body, it rode on a friend’s leg for a part of our walk through the wilderness.  Going by stick insect standards, it was a only a moderately sized one, given that these insects range in length from the half-inch-long Timema cristinae of North America, to the 13-inch-long Phobaeticus kirbyi of Borneo. The latter measures over 21 inches with its legs outstretched, making it one of the world’s longest insects. Female stick insects are normally larger than their male counterparts. They are usually brown, green, or black, but some are brightly-coloured or striped. Some have wings. All continents except Antarctica have stick insects, though they are most abundant in the tropics.

The stick insect, also called the walking stick, spends most of its time up on trees, munching on leaves. When it senses a predator such as a bird approaching, it practically freezes, blending with the twigs and branches around it. In fact, studies suggest that some species have honed the ability to mimic the motion of twigs swaying in the wind to deceive even particularly observant predators. Stick insects are largely nocturnal and spend most of their days lying motionless on or under plants, and only coming out at night to feed. Unfortunately, the stick insects’ defences are not effective against bats which hunt by echo-location rather than sight, and these may be their most dangerous predators.

Even though their camouflage is extremely effective against most predators, they have several other tricks up their sleeves. Some species have evolved to release foul-smelling chemicals to deter predators, while others can secrete a liquid that temporarily blinds their enemies.  Even if a predator spots a stick insect, it usually grabs a leg, which is the most prominent part of the insect. But that doesn’t bother our insect too much, because many of the species can detach the leg and scramble away—only to grow back the lost limb later.

And these master-tendencies start even at the egg stage! The females of some species lay eggs that look like plant seeds. This puts off carnivorous insects from eating the eggs!

Some of the stick insect species are today endangered, and the numbers of some are falling—thanks largely to habitat destruction and pesticide use. Another threat to these gentle insects is collection for the pet trade. Carausius morosus, the ‘common’ or ‘Indian’ or ‘laboratory’ stick insect, which has its origins in India, is one of the species of Phasmatodea often kept as pets by schools and individuals.

Alas, however well a creature has evolved to protect itself against natural threats, there is little protection against humans!

–Meena

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Cycle Away!

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It has been a long ride for the bicycle. The simple two-wheeled means of transportation that does not burn fossil fuels, causes no pollution, is easy to maneuver and nifty to park, with the added nobility of having numerous health benefits has been around for almost two centuries.

The earliest avatar was in the form of a contraption called the ‘draisine’ invented by a German baron Karl von Draisin 1817. It was a “running machine” which had two wheels but no pedals, and no steering mechanism, and needed to be propelled by the rider pushing his feet against the ground.

But the bicycle as we know it began to evolve several years later. In 1861 French inventors Pierre Lallement, Pierre Michaux, and Ernest Michaux worked on creating a bicycle with pedals, but still no brakes. This was called a velocipede.

1870 saw the invention of the Penny Farthing bicycle. The name came from the design in which the wheels resembled two coins–the penny and the farthing, with the front “penny” being significantly larger than the rear “farthing”. The pedals were on the front wheel and the saddle was four feet high, making for a rather risky ride.

It was in 1885 that John Kemp Starley, an Englishman, perfected the design for a “safety bicycle” with equal-sized wheels and a chain drive. New developments in brakes and tires followed shortly, establishing a basic template for what would become the modern bicycle.

The bicycle became a symbol of affluence, especially in America. Bicycles were expensive, and cycling became a leisure activity for the rich. In fact it was the cyclists who initiated the Good Roads movement in America, especially in the countryside where roads used for horse carriages were rutted and not conducive to a smooth bike ride.

Interestingly, there was not a big time gap between the introduction of the “safety bicycle” and the development of the first automobiles. And the early German inventors like Gottlieb and Daimler used not only cycle technology, but also several components of the bicycle in the manufacture of the automobile. Soon cycle manufacturers became automobile manufacturers in France, Germany, and the U.K. They drew upon and further developed, products, production techniques, materials, innovations, and tooling originally developed specifically for cycles.

Today bicycles are seen as relics of a less-technologically advanced era, but in fact they were at the cutting edge of industrial design in the last quarter of the nineteenth-century. But while innovations continued in the field of motor cars, the bicycle receded in the background. Cars became the new status symbol and cycling came to be seen as a proletariat activity, something you did if you couldn’t afford a car.

The bicycle also played a significant part in the early days of the Women’s Movement. In the late 1880s women took to cycling, an activity that gave them freedom of mobility, independence and self-reliance in a period when they were largely housebound.

Nothing personifies this sense of liberation better than the story of Annie Londonderry.

Source: annielondonderry.com

Annie Cohen Kopchovsky, a Latvian immigrant who had married and settled in Boston, announced on June 25 1894, that she was going to ride around the world on a bicycle. She was 23 years old, and the mother of three small children. Her husband was a devout Orthodox Jew. Annie had ridden a bicycle for the first time just a few days before her announcement.

Furthermore she informed that she was doing this to win a bet for $10,000. The bet was between two Boston merchants that no woman could circumnavigate the globe on a bicycle.  Annie said that she would cycle around the world in 15 months, starting with no money in her pockets. She would not only earn her way, but also return with $5000 in her pocket.

Annie turned every Victorian notion of women’s roles on its head. Not only did she abandon, temporarily, her role of wife and mother, but for most of the journey she rode a man’s bicycle attired in a man’s riding suit, and carrying a small revolver.

Annie was a complete antithesis of the coy domesticated female. She was a shrewd self-promoter, and master of public relations. She even adopted the name Annie Londonderry when The Londonderry Lithia Spring Water Company of Nashua, New Hampshire became the first sponsor, by giving $100 for her journey. Annie continued to cash in on the glamour and novelty of her journey by renting space on her body and bicycle to advertisers, selling photographs of herself, and making guest appearances in stores along the way signing souvenirs, delivering lectures and giving newspaper interviews which she embellished with colourful tales of her adventures.

Annie’s trip had its share of detractors and disbelievers. There was speculation about how much truth there was to all her colourful tales. Annie returned to Chicago on 12 September 1895, 15 months after she had set off. She came back with $3000 dollars that she made on her travels. The newspapers described her global adventure as “the most extraordinary journey ever undertaken by a woman.”

For Annie the journey was more than a test of a woman’s ability to fend for herself. The bicycle was literally her vehicle to the fame, freedom and material wealth that she that craved. For the emerging women’s movement, Annie as well as the bicycle became a symbol of emancipation.

Today the uniqueness, longevity and versatility of the bicycle, which has been in use for two centuries, is being celebrated once again. In recent times, when the world is literally choking from exhausts from fossil fuel and traffic congestion from motorised transport, the bicycle is being promoted as a simple, affordable, reliable, clean and environmentally fit sustainable means of transportation, fostering environmental stewardship and health.

The return to the bicycle movement was started by Leszek Sibilski in 2018 by a sociology professor and cycling and physical education activist who lobbied to bring the importance of the bicycle to the international stage and pushed for a day that could highlight this. Sibilski also advocated for integrating cycling into public transportation for sustainable development resolutions.

In response to the growing momentum of the movement in 2018, the United Nations General Assembly, declared 3 June to be celebrated as World Bicycle Day.

The day encourages stakeholders to emphasize and advance the use of the bicycle as a means of fostering sustainable development, strengthening education, including physical education, for children and young people, promoting health, preventing disease, promoting tolerance, mutual understanding and respect and facilitating social inclusion and a culture of peace.

In an age of the power of social media to promote such days, this is a good time to remember how, in a much earlier time, Annie Londonderry single-handedly “promoted” the bicycle. She would have been a perfect “Influencer” for World Bicycle Day!

–Mamata