Island of the Dragons

The Myth of the monster

Dragons conjure up only one image – a fire breathing monster. They have been object of fantasy, folklore and mythology since time immortal. The word ‘dragon’, first entered the English language in the 13th century, derived from the Latin ‘dracōnis’ and the Greek ‘drakōns’.

My tryst with Komodo Dragon

But in real world, it does not spit fire, but a deadly cocktail of bacteria. When sailors saw this massive lizard like creature in some remote part of the world, they thought them to be real dragons. Around 1910, a specimen was captured and taken to lab for study. Scientists identified it as a unique species that most likely evolved in Australia, from a dinosaur called Megalania. It was named as Varanus Komodoensis. For hoi polloi, the fabled dragon got a name- Komodo Dragon.

Komodo dragons are endemic to eastern Indonesia and are currently only found on the northern coast of Flores on the nearby islands of Komodo, Rinca, Gili Motang and Nusa Kode.

Distribution of Komodo Dragons

The long travel

We have grown up seeing images of the Komodo Dragon in Nat Geo and Discovery. I knew that they exist in some remote island in Indonesia. Therefore, when I was taking my family to Bali for vacation, and to compensate for a missed annual trip to Corbett Tiger Reserve, I started exploring possibilities of how to see a dragon in Indonesia. The search led me to island of Labuan Bajo in the Flores region. It was about an hour and half flight from Denpasar Airport, Bali to the island’s airport, aptly named as Komodo Airport. I had booked ticket on Batik Air, directly on their site, as it was giving me decent baggage allowance. Hotel was booked through Agoda. A 12-hour flight from New Delhi to Bali via Singapore; immigration, and overnight halt at Bali, and then another 1 ½ hour domestic flight next morning brought us to Labuan Bajo in the Flores Region of Indonesia. The shortest travel to Bali from India is either via Singapore, or Malaysia or Vietnam. The travel time varies from 12 to 17 hours depending on layovers on the way. For me Singapore Airlines offered the shortest layover, and spending few hours in Changi Airport is never boring.

Ketut Mustika, my guide cum cab guy at Bali put me to his friend Frendo who run a travel agency at Labuan Bajo. The trip itinerary was planned over WhatsApp.

 

At Rengko Cave - a tranquil beach

Batu Cermin and Rangko Caves

On my arrival at Komodo Airport, we found a smiling Frendo waiting for us airport. As I had half a day to spare, he arranged a post lunch trip to Batu Cermin Caves and Rangko Caves. We had a free afternoon and, therefore it was a good option to utilize the time rather than dozing off at hotel after a long travel. Batu Cermin Cave, also known as Mirror Stone Cave is a series of limestone tunnels that rose from sea bed during volcanic eruptions over centuries. The formation was unique where we saw several fossils on the walls, including that of a turtle. The minerals on the walls of the caves shines when you throw torchlight on them. Getting to explore the entire area took some effort in that perspiring heat.

We than travel through hilly terrains passing several remote settlements, and finally arrived at a small fishing village. We were taken to Rengko Caves by a private boat. The boat left after dropping us off with a promise to return after an hour. On arrival, we found that the beautiful white sand beach to our own. There were not any other tourists. We spent some quality time on the beach as waited for the boat to arrive. Each of these scenic locations without any tourists offered us unforgettable experiences.

In the evening, we were taken to a restaurant named Taman Laut for dinner. The restaurant overlooking the bay and harbor, providing an awesome sunset view, was one of the best places to have dinner. We returned to this place for dinner on the second evening as well.  

 

Taman Laut, Labuan Bajo views

Cruise to the dragon land

Next morning we were picked up from hotel at the crack of dawn for onward transportation to harbor where our speed boat Red Whale-II was waiting for onward travel to Komodo National Park- a UNESCO world heritage site, created in 1980 to protect the sacred lizards.

After an hour of cruising, our boat arrived at the first stop - Padar Island. This island is understood to have few individuals, and hence is not considered for tracking the dragon. One is required to climb few steps up the hill to get awesome views of the surroundings. Just to remind you that the view Cabo de Rama in South Gao offers is almost equally stunning. India is also a beautiful country if you explore it the right way.

Post photo sessions, and souvenir hunting, the boat set off. Next stop was Komodo Island.

 

Image  source: www.komodo.indonesia.tourism.com

Tracking the dragon

On our arrival at the Komodo National Park, two forest rangers were assigned to our small group. Safety protocols were conveyed. It would be tracking of the dragon on foot. There was no guarantee of sighting as they are wild animal. We were to stick together as group with one ranger at front and another at back. Rangers were armed with a historic weapon – a tree branch with a fork at one end to protect us from any untoward attack by a dragon. 

Following the rangers command, we set out on a jungle trail in search of the dragon. As the trail progressed, my daughter Swathi said that it was giving a feel of Bijrani in Corbett sans Tiger. But excitement of encountering a predator was same. The added feel of Jurassic Park was thrilling.

To have the vantage position, I was with the leader of the track Habib.  Where are you from, he asked. I said - Mumbai, India. “Oh! Sharukh Khan. Have you seen him. I am a fan of him.” – replied an elated Habib. Hindi films and songs are quite poplar in Indonesia. He started singing a SRK song, which stopped abruptly with a hand gesture to stop. I looked up to see some melee in the group in front of us. A scared Komodo Dragon ran suddenly creating chaos of horrified tourists. We rushed to the spot only to see a glimpse of Komodo Dragon that ran away into bushes. It was like a poor tiger sighting that just ran across the road.

With the hope of a better sighting, we kept tracking ahead. After few minutes we came across a waterhole where a dragon had come to quench its thirst. Habib told that being a hot day, this dragon will spend some time at the waterhole. This was a mid-sized guy about 7-8 feet in size. It gave us ample opportunities to photograph before lazily disappearing into the forest. As few other groups had also arrived, the rangers were managing crowd professionally. Getting to see a Komodo Dragon in wild from such close quarter is going to remain etched in our memory for life. The possibility of coming back so far so see it again is near non-existent. I had one more thing to do ticked off my bucket list. Few more are yet to be ticked off. The journey continues.

Me and wifey for the customary photo with Komodo

On our way back to boat, we saw another small fellow resting under a tree. This one looked more of our regular monitor lizard.

The Komodo island is home to some 500 households who shares it with 1700 odd Komodos for centuries. The people of the area, known as the Ata Modo, believe that Komodo dragons are their siblings, born from the same spiritual mother. In the Komodo language, the dragons are called sebae (twins). Conservation efforts have resulted in displacement of the locals. Proliferation of tourism and ban on fishing has affected their livelihoods. Most locals survive on selling souvenirs to tourists which is not a booming business. I too bought a pair of miniature wooden Komodo fridge magnets. Tourists typically come here on a fully paid trip that includes meals onboard. Therefore, most locals are not earning too much from tourism. Ata Modo wants to live peacefully with dragons’ sans too much tourism. Conservation is always a paradox.

 

Snorkeling at Pink Beach

The trip continued for another stop at Pink Beach. The pink colored sand of the beach was another natural marvel. This exceptional beach gets its striking color from microscopic animals called Foraminifera, which produces a red pigment on the coral reefs. Snorkeling gear was provided by the boat. The water was crystal clear with excellent visibility.

My cuties ready to snorkel at Pink Beach

Swimming with Manta Ray

The final stop of the trip was for Manta Ray watching. Seeing the itinerary, I saw it probably is a gimmick. However, I found that several boats were actually trying to locate Manta Rays in deep sea. Once the boats located two huge Manta Rays; it was literally swimming with Manta Rays for those who dared to jump off. I could not overcome the mental block of jumping into deepwater, and continued watching them from the boat in Cystal clear waters. My daughter and wife who enjoyed the swim kept teasing of what I missed by not getting into the sea.

 

Manta Ray as seen from boat

Postlude

This part of Indonesia located to east of the Wallce Line, itself is a natural wonder. The imaginary Wallce Line is a faunal boundary line drawn in 1859 by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace and named by the English biologist T.H. Huxley that separates the biogeographical realms of Asia and 'Wallacea', a transitional zone between Asia and Australia. You find tigers and elephants to the west of Wallace line, and Komodo Dragon east of the Wallace Line. No one stopped them to cross the line by swimming across the sea during evolution.

Packed lunch was offered onboard on our way back. The pain of coming this far was worth every penny spent. 99% of tourists to Indonesia crowds Bali, leaving only 1% coming this far. The nature, environment and beauty are therefore preserved and are still pristine. Give it a thought if have at least 3 spare days and willing to spend a few more bucks.

Our Transport - the Red Whale-II in cystal clear waters

How to reach:

From Delhi I had used Singapore Airlines flight to Denpasar Airport, Bali, with stopover at Singapore. This was the shortest flight of 12 hours. Other options available on Malayasian Airlines and Viet Jet. No direct flights. Price varies from INR 55k to 60K INR. And travel time varies from 12-18 hours. I bokked on cleartrip.com after checking all sites.

From Denpasar, Bali to Komodo Airport, Labuan Bajo was booked directly on Batik Air site. Batik and Lion are sister airlines. This is a domestic flight. Return tickets to Bali costs around INR 14-15K. Pl understand that Indonesian currency IDR is very confusing as everything is quoted in thousands, like 500 Thousands.  So if they say 100, then you need to understand it is 100000. Easy conversion is that INR 500 is approximately IDR 100000.

Your tour operator at Labuan Bajo will arrange for all transport and sightseeing. I paid IDR 750000 per person to Frendo that included airport pick up & drop, local half day sightiseeing and full day trip to Komodo Island by speedbaot with meals.

Where to Stay :

I had booked hotels through Agoda. I had stayed at Luwansa Beach Resort. It is bit far from city centre, but has access to a private beach and pool. There was no time to use the pool. Even the beach was 
accessed only once during out 2 night stay. It has an in-house restaurant, but we had dinner at Taman Laut. Frendo arranged for drop at restaurant for dinner at our convennience which was great service. You can look to stay at city center.

Lovely ambience of Luwansa Beach Resort at Labuan Bajo

What is Electric plugs for each country?

Good piece of info for international travellers. Last time I went to Singapore, I could do without charging anything. So I bought a adaptor for Malaysia, my next destination. I was just checking whether this would work at Thailand, my next destination. I found the answer as NO from this article.

What is Electric plugs for each country? - Definition from WhatIs.com

Economic slowdown hits Indian tourism industry

Temperature in Delhi has been slowly rising in last few days and is currently slightly above comfortable range. February normally sees maximum number of tourist because of the pleasant temperature. But this year number of foreign tourist arrival has seen a negative growth. The global economic slowdown, coupled with the Mumbai terror attack had dealt a back breaking blow to the tourism industry.

Ministry of Tourism compiles monthly estimates of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) and Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE) on the basis of data received from major airports. Following are the important highlights as regards these two important indicators of tourism sector.

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs):
· FTAs during the year 2008 were 5.37 million as compared to FTAs of 5.08 million during the year 2007. Therefore, in spite of global financial meltdown and terrorist activities, number of FTAs has increased in 2008 as compared to 2007. UNWTO has predicted a growth rate of 2-3% for international tourist arrivals in the world during 2008. Therefore, Indian Scenario (growth rate of 5.6%) is much better than world scenario.
· The number of FTAs in December 2008 has risen to 5.22 lakhs as compared to 5.21 lakhs in November 2008.

Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE) from Tourism in Indian rupee terms and US $ terms :
· FEE during the year 2008 were Rs. 50730 crore as compared to Rs. 44360 crore in 2007.
· FEE in US $ terms during for the year 2008 were US $ 11747 million as compared to FEE of US $ 10729 during 2007. The lower growth rate in 2008 as compared to 2007 may be mainly due to lower growth rate of FTAs in 2008 as compared to 2007 and exchange rate variation.
· FEE from tourism in December 2008 were Rs. 5083 crore as compared to Rs. 4935 crore in November 2008 and Rs. 5079 crore in December 2007.
· FEE in US $ terms during the year 2008 were US $ 1046 million as compared to US $ 1005 million in November 2008 and US $ 1287 million in December 2007. The decline in the FEE in US $ term during December 2008 vis-à-vis December 2007 is mainly due to the foreign exchange variations in these months.

[Source: Ministry of Tourism & TOI]

Cancellations / Diversions of trains to New Delhi wef 06.09.2008

Train services to Delhi, specially to New Delhi station is going to be severely affected between Sept 5 and 15. As I have read in the newspapers, 62 trains will be cancelled, 50 diverted and 126 will be terminated short. Some of these train will be terminated short as far as Kanpur which is another 5 hours journey to Delhi by train. If you are traveling during these dates, then you are in for a shock. What is more troublesome is that information on trains getting affected is not available on any of railway official sites. All one can gather is piecemeal information from various websites. I managed to find the press release on the Northern railway site which is reproduced below :

Quote:
+++++++++
Press Release REMODELING OF NEW DELHI RAILWAY STATION 19/08/2008
In order to enhance train operational facilities at New Delhi railway station, Northern Railway will be carrying re-modeling work involving installation of the New Route Relay Interlocking with 1278 routes . For this purpose, New Delhi Railway Station will remain Non-interlocked from 06.09.2008 to 14.09.2008. The complete remodeling of New Delhi Railway station would involve installation of New Route Relay Interlocking (1278 routes) largest on Indian Railways. This Relay Room will be in place of existing British System (RRI) Route Relay Interlocking (690 routes). There would be additions and alternations of 125 routes in existing Delhi Jn. SIEMENS PANEL and Relay Room. Yard remodeling of triangle area of Delhi yard on New Delhi end, dismantling of 34 turn outs, 2.6 Tkm track 53 masts/posts, and foundation, leading out releases, making & formation earthwork, ballsting, casting of 16 foundations, erection of masts/posts, linking & insertion of 21 turn outs, 1.85 Tkm track and signals telecommunication and OHE works would be done in the remodeling work. There would be 33% increase in platform handling work at New Delhi Railway Station after the remodeling work. The bottleneck in Sadar area would be removed and there will be 6 lines in place of existing 3 at Sadar Bazar end of New Delhi Station making independent corridor for reception and dispatch of trains to and from Delhi Jn./Delhi Kishanganj, Subzi Mandi and Delhi Sarai Rohilla stations. Two additional lines on Tilak Bridge end will be connected with New Delhi Yard. Thus there will be 6 lines between New Delhi & Tilak Bridge in place of 4. There will be 2 Island platforms at New Delhi Railway Station, thus making a total 16 in place of existing 12 Platforms. In view to carry on the remodeling work at New Delhi Railway Station 62 trains will remain cancelled, 126 trains will be terminated short of destination which will originate from there and 50 trains will be diverted to run on alternative route for the period from 5 th Sep. to 15 th Sep. 2008.
+++++++++++++++

Unquote:
What is still bad is that there is no list available on the trains getting affected. You will have to keep a watch on the Northern railway site for further announcement, if any. These are :

NR Home Page and

NR New Press Releases

Apparently all these upgradation is being done keeping in sight the Commonwealth Games in 2010. I had also come across a ministry press release informing that platforms of New Delhi Railway Stations are being made compatible to 24 coaches. Platforms No. 10, 11 and 12 at New Delhi Railway Station are already compatible for 24 coaches trains. Works on seven platforms i.e. platforms No. 3 to 9 have been planned to accommodate 24 coach trains. Twenty four pairs of trains are presently running with 24 coaches.

Searching for this piece of information on train rescheduling, I came across two useful sites, supposedly put up fans of Indian Railway.
1) Indian Railways News
2) Indian Railways Fan Club

The Indian Railway News site had caught my attention. It is a very informative site with links to many railway related sites. Hats of to the person who has took all the pains to put up the site and maintain it.

Costlier air travel : UDF at HIAL and BIAL airports

More bad news for domestic air travelers. Not only taxes have gone past 3000, you will also have to pay an additional amount as UDF (User Development Fee) on flying out of Hyderabad, and soon from Bangalore as well. The Civil Aviation ministry has given approval for collecting a UDF of Rs.375/- per person for domestic passengers traveling out of the new GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL). However exact date of collecting UDF from domestic passengers have not been announced, but likely by August end. International passengers have already been paying Rs.1000/-(or USD25) as UDF since 11-June-2008.

Mounting taxes has already made air travel less lucrative then what it was a year ago. In fact airline passenger has registered a negative growth in last one year. Because of this, some airlines have refused to collect UDF as part of ticket cost. This may result in passengers queuing up at GHIAL to pay UDF. Something similar is being planned for BIAL at Bangalore. I had traveled to the BIAL recently. Traveling to the airport 50 km away from city itself is a headache. After traveling for at least an hour and half, one will have to queue twice -- first check in and then may be a second time to pay UDF.

Out of Rs 225 collected currently as passenger service fee (PSF), the airport operator receives Rs 80 for maintaining public amenities at the airport. The UDF is meant to enable the company to bridge the gap between the admissible expenditure and admissible revenue as estimated. This is to be reviewed every two year.

Read more on this at Economic Times.

When ATM did not dispense

Sometimes back State bank of India (SBI) use to run a television commercial which boast of SBI having the largest network of ATMs in India. The corollary to this is that SBI also has the largest number of non-working ATMs in India. My experience says that whenever you are in desperate need of cash, you will find the nearest SBI ATM out of order. This happens at least 7 out of 10 times. We can propose an addition to the Murphy’s law on this.

It was the first week of May when I was frantically trying to withdraw money from my various bank accounts to make advance payment for the flat I was purchasing. One evening I went to the SBI ATM, very close to my office to withdraw money. As few more people were waiting, I decided to withdraw 20K in one go. The machine made few clicks and ticks after I made necessary entries. The sound of counting followed. Then it tried to dispense. To my horror the notes got stuck in the outlet for dispensing money. The guys who were waiting behind me also saw it. In desperation, I tried to pull out whatever amount I can. I had 30 sec to do so before the machine takes it back. The notes I could pull out counted only 8500. The rest of the notes were actually inside the machine and could not be pulled out. 30 sec was over by then and the machine took it back. I could here the sound of counting again when the money was taken back. My first impression was that the notes were old / used notes and therefore got stuck while dispensing.

I was in shock for a moment. I had probably lost 11500. Checking around the cubicle, I found two phone nos. which is to be contacted in case of any problem. After trying a few times, one of the phones answered. I explained him the incident. He told me that SBI ATM machines are not capable of dispensing 20000 at one go. They have put up signs or instructions about this in some ATMs. The same could not be done at all ATMs, one of which is the one I had used. He advised to check whether the money has been debited from my bank account. I had checked and found that 20K has been debited. He then told me to contact the CAC Branch with transaction slips of the ATM.

I went to the CAC Branch located at ITO the next day. CAC stands for Cash Administration Cell. It was a small office with only one person available when I visited. He accepted my application and informed me that the concerned person has gone on outdoor inspection duty. Money will be refunded after reconciliation. He also gave me the branch phone nos. and told me that it may take upto 10 / 15 days for reconciliation.

What followed was a long wait. Several phone calls made to the CAC Branch had the answer that reconciliation could not be done because the concerned is still busy. One day a new fellow picked up the phone and told me that he is not aware of my application. This probably was the guy I was looking for. Then I realized that I should have sent the application by post or courier to produce a proof of submission instead of handing over in person. My impression was that my application which I personally handed over got misplaced (or may be thrown into dust bin, whatever may be). I wrote a reminder seeking an early redrerssal failing which I proposed to approach banking ombudsman. I know about banking ombudsman, but do not know how to approach that authority. I found out only after threatening to take action. Anyway, 5 days after that letter, I had received a phone call which made few enquiries. The gentleman told me that money would be credited back to my account by next day.

The money indeed arrived next day. It took more than two months. But I got back my 11500.

There are few lessons to be learnt from this incident:

1) Never try to withdraw more than 10000 at one go from any ATM.

2) Avoid transaction if the ATM is unable to issue transaction slip. You do not know when you may need the transaction slip.

3) Even if you submit a copy of application / incident reporting by hand or in person, always
send a copy by post / courier so that you can produce a proof of submission.

You can find more information on Banking Ombudsman in India from the RBI site.

Jim Corbett: the legend

Jim Corbett is a legend in Kumaon. He had left his footprint all across Kumaon saving lesser mortals from the jaws of man-eater tigers. Come to Ramnagar and you will feel the legend. The word Corbett had to be there somewhere in the names of any hotel, resorts or restaurants. Affectionately called the Carpet Sahib by local villagers, he seemed to be equally popular or may be better known than the father of the nation in this area. We had read about him in school, probably in class VII. It felt great to be at Arundel, his house at Kaladhungi which is now a museum run by the Corbett National Park. On our way back, we got the opportunity to travel by NH121 that runs right through the national park.

The Corbett Museum, Kaladhungi :

This is Arundel, the winter home of the Corbetts located at Kaladhungi. It is on the Kashipur -Bazpur - Haldwani road. Corbetts used to live in Nainital during summer and came down to kaladhungi during winters. A shortcut to Nainital starts right infront of the house. Nainital is just 32 km from this point and we travelled by this road to Nainital.

The house is located on a spreawling 10 acre complex. There are two seperate houses located close by. Few of Corbett's belongings are on display. In one section, there are some paintings depicting his life. The museum remains open upto 5 pm in summer. The gate fees charged is 5 rupees for adult and 1 rupees for child. It is managed by the forest deptt.

If you are a Corbett fan, you should not miss this. There is a luxury resort named Corbett Camp Jungle Lore very close this museum. But honestly speaking, this place is very far away from the actual Corbett National Park, around 30 km. The visit had renewed my interest in Jim Corbett. I came across many stratling facts whcih were not available in our school book. I had compiled a brief on the life of Jim Corbett which I share with you. If you are planning a visit to the park, you should know about this great gentleman.

The life of Jim Corbett (1875 - 1955) :
He was born as Edward James Corbett on 25 July, 1875 at Nainital. His father Christopher William Corbett had left military service and moved to Mussorie in 1858 where he got the job of postmaster in Mussorie. There he met Mary Jane who also had moved to Mussorie after lsoing her husband in the sepoy mutiny of 1857. They got married on Oct 13, 1859. Therafter he was transferred to Nainital in 1862 (and it took almost a month for the family to relocate). Jim lost his father when he was just 6. He wrote about how his mother Mary Jane had to struggle to bring the children up. They in fact had very large family. Jim’s parents had a total of 14 child of which 8 were from their wedlock and 6 (3 each) from there first marriages.

His brother Tom used to take young Jim into jungle for hunting for food. It is Tom from whom he leaned the first lesson in hunting. Growing up with the jungles made him a master of the jungles. Corbett started with a catapult to shoot down birds. He got his first gun, a double barreled muzzle loader, from his cousin Stephen Dease as a gift. Stephen wrote a book on birds of Kumaon and Jim collected more than 100 specimens for him with his catapult. He shot his first leopard when he was just eight. His reputation grew fast in Kumaon and received his first request to track a man-eater in 1906. The first man eater he killed was the Champawat Tiger in 1907. Between 1906 and 1941, he had slayed ten man-eaters in different parts of the Kumaon region of Uttaranchal.

Corbett was not just a hunter. He was a naturalist. He loved the wild and respected the big cat. He never killed a tiger for money or fun. He killed only the man-eaters to save lives. He was affectionately referred to by the locals as Carpet Sahib who would search jungles with inhospitable terrains for days in the trail of that eluding man-eater tiger. The combined total number of people killed by the man-eaters Corbett hunted exceeded 1500. The Champawat tiger itself had killed 436 documented victims. Similarly, the man eating leopard of Rudraprayag (see the photograph), killed in 1925, had 114 victims to its name. Deeply pained at the growing number of hunters and destruction to wildlife, he campaigned for the need to preserve the wildlife and devoted his later part of life for this purpose. He helped create the Association for the Preservation of Game in the United Provinces, and the All-India Conference for the Preservation of Wild Life, and he established India's first national park, inaugurated in 1934 in the Kumaon Hills as the Hailey National Park. This has been renamed in his honour as the Corbett National Park. In later part of his life he also took to wildlife photography.

Corbett was also a keen entrepreneur. After schooling, he joined the services of Bengal and North Western Railway at the age of 17. After few years he left service and started his own business. He had acquired a company called FEG Mathews & Co. for carrying out his business. He also started a large farm in a village near Kaladhungi. The farm is located in a village called ‘Chotha Haldwani’ is now a tourist spot. He owned many houses in Nainital where the Corbett household were settled. Corbett family had an established real estate business in Nainital which Jim carried forward. In fact his mother was said to be the first real estate agent of Nainital. Corbetts had a house in Kaladhungi where they lived during winters. It was built by his father.

Jim Corbett had also served in the army and took part in 4 wars. He had raised a battalion of Kumaoni locals and took few of them to fight in France in 1917. In 1939 Corbett volunteered to take part in the WW-II and trained allied soldiers in jungles survival in Burma. But the stress took a heavy toll of ageing Corbett. He had infected both Typhoid and Malaria during this period. After recuperating, he started penning his hunting stories. His first book, The Man-Eaters of Kumaon (1946), turned out to be best seller and has been translated into more than 30 languages., The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag (1948), and the Temple Tiger and More Man-Eaters of Kumaon (1954). He finally retired to Kenya with his sister Maggie (Margaret Winifred) in 1947. He had a special bond with Maggie among all his siblings right from his childhood. There he took up farming and continued to write. He died there of heart attack in 1955.

Want to know more. This site on Jim Corbett put up by Corbett Study Group had a very detailed description of Corbett’s life.

Story of the Bicycle

Lance Armstrong had brought a dream end to his cycling career by winning his 7th Tour de France title on 24th July, 2005. The tour is an ultimate test for a cyclist’s skill, ability and endurance. Watching Armstrong in television had aroused my interest on bicycle. The cycles they use for normal riding cost at least $3000 a piece. The cycle used in time trial stages cost at least $10000 a piece. The costliest cycle was used by team Phonak in time trial stages, which is believed to be worth $20000 a piece. Our cars are not that much worth. What a piece of machine these will be to ride. I stumbled upon a nice bit of information as to how the machine in question – the Bicycle was invented. Though some form of bicycle had been reported in 19th century itself, the credit actually goes to Karl Drais, the German inventor for inventing the bicycle. Read on.

In the year 1816, extreme weather conditions were experienced across the world due to the Mount Tambora volcano eruption. This massive eruption in Indonesia in April, 1815 killed nearly a lakh people and threw so much ash into the atmosphere that the average global temperature dropped by 3 degrees. There was no summer in Europe in 1816. This led to poor harvest and prices of horse oats had increased so much that Drais got into thinking of replacing the horsepower with manpower. So he developed the first bicycle, the velocipede. This machine was in fact a four-wheeler driven by a treadmill or cranks attached to the rear axle. They were designed for two; a servant pedaled at the rear while the owner steered and supervised the operation from the front. He demonstrated this piece of machine in his hometown Baden on 12 June, 1817. This however did not catch the fancy of masses and so he diverted his attentions to other inventions.

However, prices of oats kept rising and Drais once again had to get into the idea of a machine to replace horses. This time he developed a two wheeler bicycle that indeed used the key principle of modern bicycle: balance on two wheels. This machine was called the Draisine. The Draisine pioneered other features of today's bicycle. It had brass bushings - elementary bearings - in the wheels to cut friction, and its frame of well-seasoned ash weighed only 20 kilograms, making it as light as a modern bike. This also had a brake though not that effective. He won royal support for this machine and was granted a kind of patent in Baden. However, some people in Britain and the US pirated his idea and got copies developed by them patented by different names. In Britain it was called the Hobby-horse. However, these copies did not have any brakes and so resulted in many accidents. Further, balancing act on two wheels was a new concept which people found difficult to adopt. This disillusioned people and a campaign against velocipedes was started. A change of guard in his home state Baden also saw a campaign by Drais’s enemies starting a campaign to malign him by trying to prove him as mad. He lost the royal favor and eventually died penniless in 1851. His idea of replacing the horsepower by manpower went a long way.

Want to know more about bicycles. Read on this link Bicycle