DuckDesk

Cafe in Kabristan

Lucky restaurant in Ahmedabad is one of the extraordinary cafes where you find the opportunity to feast with the dead. This eatery has developed from the burial ground (kabristan). Maybe than dislodging the graves to clear a path for his cafe, proprietor Krishnan Kutti chose not to eliminate them and rather made guest plans for his eatery by setting tables at the space accessible between the graves.

More often than not dead individuals are identified with “Phantoms” and “Detestable Spirits”, Places identified with dead individuals are regularly allude as miserable, disastrous and now and again “Unfortunate” however the New Lucky Restaurant in Ahmedabad will astound you. It comprises of 26 graves altogether.Servers here adorn these graves with new blossoms every day in the wake of cleaning them and offer their appreciation. They accept that regarding the perished is critical thus they take the necessary steps to safeguard these graves. Spooky right! Be that as it may, this doesn’t trouble the clients resulting in these present circumstances place, they spend extended periods in the eatery and feast with the deads.

Teej 2021

Hindus will be celebrating the auspicious festival of Hartalika Teej on Thursday, September 9, this year. The festival falls on the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi and is celebrated one month after Hariyali Teej. Hartalika Teej is marked on the Shukla Paksha Tritiya of the Bhadrapada month of the Hindu Calendar, which continues from August to September. It will be celebrated with full fervour in Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand.

Indian mythology tells the story of how Goddess Parvati’s father wanted her to marry Lord Vishnu. However, she wanted Lord Shiva to be her husband. Therefore, on the day of the marriage, Goddess Parvati’s friends helped her escape to a dense forest to avoid the wedding with Lord Vishnu. There, she prayed to Lord Shiva, and eventually, he recognised her devotion and appeared before her. He accepted Parvati’s plea to marry him and eventually tied the knot with her. It is believed that Lord Shiva had accepted Goddess Parvati on the day of Hartalika Teej.

Women celebrate Teej to worship Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva, the symbol of love, devotion and faithfulness, to wish for a happy married life and their partner’s health and prosperity. Married women wake up early in the morning, wear new clothes, perform the puja with all the rituals, and observe a nirjala (without water) fast on this day. Women also recite the story related to Teej and end the fast by doing aarti and distributing prasad. Unmarried girls also observe a fast on Hartalika Teej to wish for an ideal and loving partner.

A Man Called Ove

Grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door.

Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbor from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness

What did they know about waking up on a Tuesday and no longer having a purpose?” is a question Ove asks himself, when after 40 years of marriage, he finds himself jobless and alone. It’s been his wife Sonja, who’s always been the buffer between himself and the world.

But can you blame him? Instead of the order and predictability he craves, what Ove is witnessing around him is: “A shed-load of men with elaborate beards, changing jobs and changing wives and changing their car makes. Just like that. Whenever they feel like it.”

Ove has very definite, perhaps rigid beliefs about right and wrong too whether it’s the proper way to make coffee or the brand of car to own (only a Saab). Ove sees the world in black or white while his wife was “colour.”

“He was a man of black and white. And she was color. All the color he had.”

The book deals with dark subject matter at times, when Ove can see only one way out of his loss and loneliness. Depression among the elderly or people dealing with the loss of a partner is a very real problem that too often goes undetected.

However, Ove’s repeated efforts to find a resolution to his situation lose their impact for me. I got it the first time. On the other hand I became so attached to Backman’s character that I broke a “rule” of mine and skipped to the end to make sure Ove was still there too.

Fredrick Backman is an Excellent author.

At end I want to be like Ove and at the same time I don’t want to be like him.

Air pollution

From @nowthisearth: A new report finds that air pollution is killing people at a faster rate than smoking, car crashes, or HIV/AIDS. Prof. Michael Greenstone at the University of Chicago and his colleagues developed the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI), which looks at the death rates in certain areas compared to their respective levels of air pollution. The research shows that people living in polluted areas have a higher propensity for heart and lung problems, which has been cutting short the lives of billions of people by up to 6 years.

Coal is the source of the problem in most parts of the world, said Greenstone, via The Guardian. ‘If these [health] costs were embedded in prices, coal would be uncompetitive in almost all parts of the world.

The report says residents in India are the most adversely affected by air pollution, with the average citizen losing an estimated 6 years off their lives due to it. In China, air pollution can cut off an estimated 2.6 years from an average resident’s longevity.

JEWELS OF THE PLANET- AFRICA’S BIG FIVE

If you’ve gone on an African safari, chances are you’ve heard of the Big Five, the must-see list of iconic megafauna.

These animals are still hunted today, but a shift toward tourism has also made seeing the Big Five an “awe-inspiring” goal for any safari-goer

Lion

The African Lion is the second largest cat in the world the Tiger being the largest. Lion’s are social and live in groups called a Pride.A Lion’s roar can be heard as far a way as 8 km. A prides territory can extend as far as 260 square kilometers.The thick mane of a male Lion safeguards them from fights. Female Lions primary job is to hunt and care for their young. Being smaller and slower they hunt together contributing to their successful rates.

African Leopard

Are one of the African Big 5, they are primarily nocturnal animals. They are not social and prefer to live a solitary life. Agile and are superb swimmers. They can leap up to 6 meters, they will usually take their prey into trees where they are more protected from other predators. Leopards can run up to 57 km/h.

Gestation period of 90 to 105 days with a litter of 1 to 6 kittens. Cubs will suckle for 3 months and kept hidden for up to 8 weeks. Leopards have the largest territory of all the big cats.

African Elephant

Can live up to 70 years in the wild. They are the largest of all land mammals, and can spend up to 16 hours a day eating. They consume between 300 two 500 pounds of food per day. They have bad eyesight however the largest brains in the animal kingdom. Males will only leave the herd at the age of between 12 to 15 years.

Elephants can give birth every 3 to 4 years and the gestation period is 2 years

Rhino

The White Rhino or Square Lipped Rhino is the largest of the 5 Rhino species. The large square lipped mouth is used to graze. They are also the most social of all rhino species. Originally mistranslated from dutch to English the wide rhino was named white rhino. Commonly known as a crash of Rhino’s. Female become sexually mature at the age of 6 years. Males 10 to 12 years. Gestation of 16 months.

Buffalo

African Buffalo have incredible sense of smell compared to that of their eye sight and hearing abilities. Buffalo will travel through water due to the fact that Lion’s don’t like to get wet. When herds travel the younger or weaker will stay in the center of the herd as a protective measure. Buffalo are seriously aggressive if injured and hence the fact that they are one of the African Big 5.

Where Are the Best Places to See the Big 5?

Chobe National Park in Botswana
Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe
Amboseli National Park in Kenya
Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa
Etosha National Park in Namibia
Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya
Serengeti National Park in Tanzania