Trees
Me: Today I went hiking. It was awesome.
Friend: enna animals paatha?
Me: animals kammi thaan. they run away if they hear us coming. But i saw various trees, vegeta....
Friend: animals ey paakaliya.. free ya udu..
Trees are the biggest underdogs the earth has had. Most of us are more concerned about preserving the existence and preventing the extinction of animals, while we ignore that trees are part of this eco-system too - in fact a MAJOR part. Now I don't want to sound like a tree-hugger, but it should have become painfully obvious by now that the so-called "natural" phenomenons like global warming (and hence hurricanes), earthquakes (and hence tsunamis) are caused due to deforestation and other reasons.
Why is that we don't pay much attention to trees?. Maybe they do not possess the kineticism of animals. Maybe it is our presumptousness that they don't possess defense mechanisms. Perhaps for these reasons and more, we take trees for granted.
Sahara was once a forest.
Florida is fortunate enough to have some well preserved vegetation of various habitats. This post is dedicated to some of the great personalities I have met in some of my travels/hikes.
Clarity in nature. I have tried to capture the ridges and the spines of the branch. It's not every day I see a clear (almost) blue sky during "summer" in Florida. But, he he.. this scene has been immortalized now!.
--..--..--
Tree of life - Disney's Animal Kingdom (Orlando, FL). This is a man-made tree and is the center-piece in the theme park. It is truly spectacular to look at from a distance. But wait!. As you approach, you can start discerning various animals (what an irony!) carved out in the tree. Check out this site for more on the tree of life.
Oh, by the way, this tree featured in the movie "The Lion King", and incidentally also on my profile photo.
--..--..--
Open competition. This image is very much like what the world is like. Open competition, fighting for space, rat race, dog-eat-dog world.
--..--..--
Dignity in defeat. Don't let the angle fool you. This guy is seriously big. And he still holds his fort. Like a trophy monarch in a democrazy.
--..--..--
Yaanaikum adi sarukkum. Irony again!. Ravages of a previous hurricane.
--..--..--
Farewell my friend!
--..--..--
Friend: enna animals paatha?
Me: animals kammi thaan. they run away if they hear us coming. But i saw various trees, vegeta....
Friend: animals ey paakaliya.. free ya udu..
Trees are the biggest underdogs the earth has had. Most of us are more concerned about preserving the existence and preventing the extinction of animals, while we ignore that trees are part of this eco-system too - in fact a MAJOR part. Now I don't want to sound like a tree-hugger, but it should have become painfully obvious by now that the so-called "natural" phenomenons like global warming (and hence hurricanes), earthquakes (and hence tsunamis) are caused due to deforestation and other reasons.
Why is that we don't pay much attention to trees?. Maybe they do not possess the kineticism of animals. Maybe it is our presumptousness that they don't possess defense mechanisms. Perhaps for these reasons and more, we take trees for granted.
Sahara was once a forest.
Florida is fortunate enough to have some well preserved vegetation of various habitats. This post is dedicated to some of the great personalities I have met in some of my travels/hikes.
Clarity in nature. I have tried to capture the ridges and the spines of the branch. It's not every day I see a clear (almost) blue sky during "summer" in Florida. But, he he.. this scene has been immortalized now!.
Tree of life - Disney's Animal Kingdom (Orlando, FL). This is a man-made tree and is the center-piece in the theme park. It is truly spectacular to look at from a distance. But wait!. As you approach, you can start discerning various animals (what an irony!) carved out in the tree. Check out this site for more on the tree of life.
Oh, by the way, this tree featured in the movie "The Lion King", and incidentally also on my profile photo.
Open competition. This image is very much like what the world is like. Open competition, fighting for space, rat race, dog-eat-dog world.
Dignity in defeat. Don't let the angle fool you. This guy is seriously big. And he still holds his fort. Like a trophy monarch in a democrazy.
Yaanaikum adi sarukkum. Irony again!. Ravages of a previous hurricane.
Farewell my friend!
Labels: wanderings
posted by tt_giant at
7:14 PM
20 Comments:
Nice Post.
Kind of reminds me of a passage from 'Sphere' - where 'Beth' claims that rarely do people consider trees(or plants for that matter) as lving things.
By
///slash\\\, at September 05, 2005 7:56 AM
Murali: Thanks man. Hope our outlook about trees changes.
--..--..--
Slash: Thats true!!. Also, when Ellie Satler (the paleobotanist) in Jurrasic Park "whinges" about people's ignorance of plants.
Gosh!. Crichton overlaps several characters..
By
tt_giant, at September 05, 2005 8:13 AM
deepak, trees are part of nature.
if humans try to preserve it, then it will be destroyed..
we better let it uncared..
we have ramadoss, here , who takes good cares for trees in tamil nadu.
By
KRTY, at September 05, 2005 9:25 AM
true, we never bother about trees, its only animals etc, but trees play a ery vital role in preserving our planet, that is ignored most often, and appreciating trees takes some effort!
TTG, Ive tagged u, visit my blog for details.
By
ada-paavi!!!!, at September 05, 2005 9:48 AM
Yeah..Lord Crichton also said that global warming is crap and all environmentalists are crazy ;) Read State of Fear.
By
Maverick, at September 05, 2005 9:51 AM
Keerthi: Ramadoss maratha vetuvaaru.. avar magan sutru soozhal and sugaadhara amaichar!
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Vatsan: tagged a!.. adhuku naa yosikanume.. seri.. will do it soon..
--..--..--
Maverick: Well.. one of the characters in the book may have been like that.. but crichton will always make sure the guy who keeps making presumptous statements is made to eat humble pie or is eaten by a dino!..
By
tt_giant, at September 05, 2005 2:46 PM
Deepak... nice fotographs.. and suitable captions.. lucky to be in the 'greener' part of the country.. :)
By
Anonymous, at September 05, 2005 5:25 PM
Nice pics tt. Very true indeed. Somebody once told me that IIT Madras is almost 2 C less warmer than Chennai. I don't know how much of that is true now - as they have cut down so many trees for building two other hostels.
By
Kasthuri, at September 05, 2005 9:02 PM
GP: Thanks man. adhisayama 270 ashtom??. lets see.
--..--..--
Srini: 2 degrees hotter?!. I liked it when I passed through IIT/Anna univ. Guess that is also going to be another memory for me!
By
tt_giant, at September 06, 2005 6:04 AM
LOL-d reading your initial dialog!
You are right (about trees being the underdogs) to an extent. One of my relative bought a house with a backyard full of trees. Recently I heard that they cut down most of the trees b'cos yard cleaning was becoming a huge hassle during the fall season!
But I have heard that in Germany if you cut one tree, you have to plant 2-3. And I also heard about our own Ajit recently involved in 'maram nadudhal'!!
By
Me too, at September 06, 2005 1:16 PM
Nice post and good pics. Yes, trees are indeed an integral part of our so called taken for granted ecosystem and environment.
In Chennai, due to the recent coming up of flats, apartment complexes etc- can't imagine the rate at which trees are being cut. Yet, the term "Singara" Chennai.
By
mitr_bayarea, at September 06, 2005 2:08 PM
Aparna: :-). Welcome back.
The act of planting 2 trees when one is cut does not end there. It has to be taken care for atleast some time. All we see is an arasiyalvaadhi or cinema actor planting a tree. I hope they "touch-base" and follow up with it!.
I myself have not planted a lot.. but atleast, I have not destroyed one.
--..--..--
Mitr: "Flats" Chennai thaan. oru veedu irundha yedathula 50 flats vandha, ground water epidi varum?
By
tt_giant, at September 06, 2005 5:46 PM
Check out this 'The Economist' article
related to your concern.. vanishing of trees in amazon region.
By
Ram C, at September 06, 2005 10:01 PM
what u say is so true ttg,i mean take even discovery or national geographic..they focus mostly on animals and water species.this post reminds me of a hilarious incident.one of my classmates kicked a tree in our school and our principal made him say sorry to it!and he really said,"sorry tree"!
nice pics btw.bayangarama oru sotarenga polla iruke!!!
By
Siddharth, at September 07, 2005 1:47 PM
Ram: I could only read partially. Maybe its a premium site. But yea, some studies say that the amazon rain forest may vanish in less than 100 years.
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Siddharth: I salute ur princi!..
oor suthradhu - enna panradhu.. irukkum bodhu thaane panna mudium?. Maybe if I have to go to some other place which has nothing like this, then I would feel I may have missed something..
By
tt_giant, at September 07, 2005 2:52 PM
deepak, Tagged !!! (ha ha ha !!)
By
KRTY, at September 07, 2005 6:41 PM
Hey Deepak..Nice post..though we have 365 days summer here in chennai..a small ride to raj bhavan road and sorrounding areas will give u some nice relief..courtesy the huge banyan trees there..people feel the importance of trees only when they r made to suffer in hot sun..y raj bhavan..take our saidapet..remember those big coconut trees waving at us constantly and giving some nice breeze..I really love those days when we spent our time sitting on 'thinna' enjoying that breeze and chatting...
By
BoldTaurean, at September 08, 2005 6:15 AM
Keerthi: double tagged.. seri.. my next post will be it.
--..--..--
Boldtaurean: Those were the days!.
By
tt_giant, at September 08, 2005 7:36 AM
yes deepak..those were the days when w we used to go to besantaalvaar and play .. come home..eat nicely and sit outside and talk..play carroms along with RG..mmm.. hope we can repeat that in November..
By
BoldTaurean, at September 08, 2005 8:59 PM
Boldtaurean: Sure will do.
By
tt_giant, at September 09, 2005 10:11 AM
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