22 June 2010

Snake...Snake..Snake inside the house!

I was preparing my dinner at night yesterday. My room mate enters the kitchen searching some vessels and she moves out silently and calls me out. Without questioning I walk out and she says there's a snake down in the kitchen, let's run out of the house. Without looking here or there, we just run out of the house, intimating the owner that there's a snake. We run towards the security and the security wouldn't believe. How a snake will enter your house? He asks me, did you see the snake. Well, I din't see the snake. But my room mate says, she feels like she saw a snake like creature. The security ignores again, but we approach the watch man nearby and told him the same. A neighbour along with the watch man, enters the house, they search entire kitchen and not able to find the snake. But my room mate, is somehow not satisfied and she is not willing to enter the house without confirming there's no snake.

We called the snake catcher Hariharan (9886357110, 9880072276) who stays at Marathahalli. He says, he is partying with his friends and he will come only if we see the snake again.

We entered the house, not much exploring any part of the house. Scared if the snake comes from anywhere inside the house. And then, I somehow thought i'll have my dinner and my room mate again calls me from the kitchen. She went to drink a glass of water and the snake was trying to find way to go out. This time, I too was able to see the snake. Yes, I believed there's a snake inside in the kitchen. Seeing the snake, I thought it is a Rat Eater snake. And my room mate left a sigh of relief and says "Thank God! I'm not a fool". For some time, she thought she might have visualized about the snake.

We approached the watch man again. He was sleeping, and said let's look at it tomorrow. What do we do whole night and the snake is inside. We called Hariharan again and he says he's sleeping and won't be able to come. We browse for all contact numbers of snake catchers around Sarjapur Road. We find a contact Privthvi K and o luck. The number does not exist. Trying hard to find a contact nearby Sarjapur road with no luck, we find a number from the adventure group and he suggests to a person called Jayaraj.

We called Jayaraj, he was awake and seemed to be enthusiast when we told him there is a snake in our house. He assured he would come, but it would take around 45 minutes. We agreed and until the snake catcher arrived, the Watchman and the house owner was guarding the snake. By then, they had told it seemed to be a cobra which was hiding in the corner.

In an hour or so, the Snake Catcher arrived. He had 2-3 snakes which he had caught yesterday. He directly entered the kitchen, took out his torch. Torch was must in case if the power goes off when he catches the snake, it would lead to snake bite to any one of us. As he spotted the snake, he said it is a spectacle cobra. He caught the snake in few seconds time. Bravo..Awesome!!! He caught it's tail and got it to the hall. The snake was jumping up hissing on the snake catcher. He bravely, put the snake inside the cloth bag. Relieved for a moment. We paid 750Rs to the snake catcher. All went back to their homes.

Now, what do we do? We did not get the courage to go back and sleep inside. We sat there for sometime and decided to take our blankets to the terrace and sleep off there. Trying to sleep, chill breeze at the terrace, looking here and for any crawling creatures. We were just waiting for the dawn. What an experience!

Jayaraj says that he has caught the snakes even in the 4th or 6th floors. Snakes can crawl through the stairs, it can be inside the boxes when we shift some things, it could have been in the car or bike and entered the house. It can just enter through your main entrance. So, be careful, keep the doors closed, keep the house neat - away from cockroaches or rats, during rain the snakes come in searching for warm place. Above all, don't harm them if you harm then they will also harm you in return. If you find them, just call the snake catchers, they'll be available at least some of them. 

Contact Details:
Jayaraj Bannerghatta - 9342596704

Hariharan Marthahalli - 9886357110, 9880072276



No pics for this post. We were so scared to take pics.

9 May 2010

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's day mom. Your the best person in the world. Today, what I am is just because of you. You have supported me every time. You knew when I was wrong and when I'm right, when to scream at me and when to support me.

Love you always!

Happy Mother's Day! May all of you mothers out there have the most blessed day ever.

26 April 2010

Say NO to Plastic Bags



Yesterday, I was shopping at the Total Mall and I was in the queue for my billing. I was unsure that I would be going for shopping groceries or somehow it skipped my mind to carry my grocery bag!

I was done with the billing and I was all set to come out with 3-4 PLASTIC BAGS. Somehow, I felt ashamed as a couple behind me, started screaming "NO PLASTIC BAGS PLEASE, HELLOOOOOO NO PLASTIC BAGS PLEASE! WE HAVE GOT OUR OWN BAGS!!!". There are people who take the effort to carry their own bags, whenever and wherever they go. I really appreciated the couple there.

As I walked out from the second floor, I could see a man who had filled two bags (Cloth Bags) full of groceries. I felt happy to see at least two people carrying their own bags and made their contribution in saving the planet earth. Hats off to such people!

At the same time, I felt sad for not carrying my bag with me. 

 P.S: They are my shopping bags in the picture.


23 April 2010

Plastic roads in India. Will it work?


India’s first Plastic waste road has been built in Bangalore!

On the eve of Earth Day 2010, I was watching the earth day special documentary on reducing carbon emission - "Cutting Carbon Footprints" - in National Geographic Channel. A documentary that reminds all of us that we have a moral & social responsibility to planet Earth, and that we have to do our best to reduce carbon emission & leave a healthy planet for generations to come.

What caught my interest in this documentary is about a wonderful project that is occurring in Bangalore. A company is Bangalore has begun to add shredded plastic waste to road-laying materials. This morning I was browsing regarding this subject and I got to know some pro's and con's on this project.

What are the benefits of Plastic roads?
A company by the name of KK Plastic Waste Management Co. has begun to add shredded plastic waste to road-laying material (asphalt).
Plastic roads can better handle the pressure of incessant traffic and, most importantly, the harsh sun, pounding rain and other quirks of Indian weather.
More importantly, these "plastic roads" make use of tons of plastic waste. It is handy in disposing the tons of waste plastic that Bangalore’s residents produce daily.
Bangalore alone generates roughly 40 tons of plastic waste each day, or enough for about 25 miles of road. The project is off to a great start - so far 800 miles of sturdy city roads have been built, and the city has been rid of 4,000 tons of plastic waste.
Fortunately, rag pickers (trash collectors who are some of the poorest people in India) are paid to find plastic trash.
Shredded plastic binds the road material, cutting down on the need for constant repair. Since plastic is water resistant, there is less damage during heavy rains which account for the bulk of the damage to roads.
This project has allowed roads to become sturdier, plastic waste to be reduced, and it has proven to be a great way to employ people.
So far, the plan seems to be working.

What is not being considered is the degradation of plastic materials into smaller particles overtime. What happens when particulate plastic matter ends up in our water supply and is ingested by animals and human beings. Have you looked at research on this. Is anybody paying attention? Plastic as we all know does not degrade and the evidence is in our oceans whereby marine life is being heavily impacted by presence of plastics particulate matter.

Are we are creating another environmental disaster ten years down the lane?