BATTY ABOUT BATS

As dusk falls and bird calls die down, the air is rent with another kind of cry - shrill, high pitched and inaudible to the human ear. Slowly, shadowy forms rise into the night sky. With slow, languid movements of their massive leathery wings they fly in search of food.

The very word bat conjures up images of blood sucking, gruesome vampire like creatures. An image that has stuck in our minds thanks to lore and negative publicity given, to these mostly harmless creatures by the media.

Bats have roamed the earth since it’s nascent stage for nearly 55 million years. Not all bats can be classified as blood suckers (vampire bats). The vampire bats are found only in certain areas of Central and South America.

Their harmless cousins the fruits bats seen across the world, play a major role in sustaining our ecosystem. The fruit bats assist in cross pollination and seed dispersal (up to 60,000 seeds in one night) without which, our forests would become genetically weak, lack diversity in plant species, and would eventually die out. Fruit bats are also excellent controllers of moths and mosquitoes.

In urban areas, fruit bats can be found in tree hollows, roofs of houses, telephone poles, and hanging on to hi- tension wires.

The flying fox is a type of bat unique to the Australian continent. These particular bats use sight, and not smell to navigate. There are 7 types of flying foxes in Australia. The largest and most common among these are the Grey Headed Flying Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus). These are mostly found along Australia's east coast, from Rockhampton / Queensland in the North to Melbourne/ Victoria in the south.

Easily identifiable by their grey head (fox like and hence the name) and rusty brown fur around their neck, these bats are extremely mobile. They often fly over 50km in a single night in search of food. Camping out in eucalyptus trees, rainforests and mangroves, the flying foxes enjoy feeding on fruits, flowers, nectar and pollen from a wide variety of native trees like banksias, fig trees and tea-trees.

At around 3 years of age, flying foxes attain maturity. They have a gestational period of six months and give birth to a single baby during October/November. The youngsters are born fully furred and drink milk from their mothers teats located near her wing pits. The off spring is totally dependant on their mothers for about 4 to 5 months before they learn to forage independently.

One of the major threats facing flying foxes today is, loss of habitat and feeding areas. Often considered as pests by farmers they are subjected to wanton killing.

Harmless by nature bats play an important role in our eco diversity. So let us make an attempt to eradicate our long held prejudices against them.

Pictures Courtesy :gutenberg.org

batplants.co.uk

A KALEIDOSCOPIC VIEW OF PUNE - PART 1

Early morning outside NIBM Institute














Pitman's Institute

Center Street

Shivaji Vegetable Market

HATHIMS

As the incense smoke curled and danced, and prayers spiraled upwards, time stood still inside the Babha-jan Dargah. Opposite the dargah was another slice of heaven in the form of a charming old bookshop called Hathims.

Hathims is a second hand book shop filled with books that are salvaged from its sister concern Mustafa Scrap Shop. Mohammed an effervescent 85 year old mans the bookshop.

Hanging out with its more admirable neighbors comprising cloth shops and jewellery stores Hathims is easily miss able except for one distinctive feature. Its cobalt blue wooden shutters, which stands in stark contrast to the surrounding cityscape.

Located in one of the numerous back lanes that dot Pune, Hathims is frequented by office goers stopping by to pick up an old issue of Readers Digest or Time magazine, school children browsing through Tinkle comics or knots of college girls giggling over a sizzling Mills and Boons book.

Every conceivable inch of the shop (that includes the floors) is crammed with books. On long white wooden shelves, which hug the walls, are arranged the novels. The hardbacks find pride of place in a small glass topped counter. An ante room adjoining the main shop is filled with magazines.

A rusted rickety chair, that doubles up as a footstool helps one to browse through the upper shelves. Although requiring the balance of a tight rope walker, you often came across a gem as you dangerously swayed on the chair.

All the while, like an absent minded professor, Mohammed flits around his shop, stopping only to give the books a quick dusting. Bent with age he is always willing to dazzle you with his friendly gap toothed smile which makes a trip to this humble bookshop all the more worthwhile.

Hathims is among the last few stalwarts of old Pune which soldier on, as the burgeoning city stamps out all things of its glorious past and reinvents itself as a glitzy new metropolis.