Fakalufilufi

"One year of participation in this Dance class is equal to increase in one year of your life length" 

This is one of the many comments that follows this wonderful video. 

Don't know how this came up in my YouTube feed but this Tahia Cambet Dance is simply wonderful. 

  

It is the way it is choreographed that makes it appealing. There is yelps and shouts in between and it is an expression of joy in the Polynesian culture. 

The dance is choreographed to the music Fakalufilufi. (a song originally by Gabilou) The effect is not the same when you hear the music separately. Adding those stomping steps makes it more pleasant. (and maybe the yelping and shouting) 

Watch the video and you can judge for yourself. 

Somebody has also commented about the camera crew and the wonderful work done in capturing it. 

After watching the video I realised it is captured by one person and she was weaving herself through the dancers so that everyone was covered.  Swell job indeed.   

Some of the other comments on YouTube :

I thought it was impossible to find so many beauties of all kinds and grace in one video and yet .....

These girls are having so much fun !!! Love the song - great beat to dance to.

So much fun. I love it and want to be a part of this joyful class.

This class looks amazing and the women seem so at home and empowered by one another.

Shaking with style and grace. Now that is worth looking at and participating in.

Very cool. I love how there is so many different types of girls participating in Tahitian dancing. I am starting to see just how big this community is. 

This is so joyful. How can you not feel uplifted and happy when you watch these beautiful girls dancing.

Something soothing about the music and the dance moves, feels like sunset and wine.

I am a man, can I dance like that? 

Hahahah, very nice. This is why we from the Pacifics and native Americans have killer abs, because we don't twerk, we shake it with Elegance.

Thank you for reminding me how beautiful a real woman is.

This is amazing. The cool thing about this is, everyone is having fun.

(I know its a bleak picture that we are facing globally, but i am looking for things that will make us think positive, so smile and enjoy the dance)

Observations during isolation

When you are confined in the house, just looking out of the balcony can bring you interesting sights. What caught my attention was a pair of rose ringed parakeets trying their best to make their young one fly. 

They tried using different tactics including coaxing it with some extra feed. 

I saw one more family member joining in for some extra moral support. Finally all of them manage to push the young one off the edge of the bough. (you can see it in the video)

The booming sound came from my right side and it was the Bharadwaj (Greater Coucal or Crow Pheasant) who was responsible for it. He was hidden behind the leaves but I could see his body moving with the "coop coop coop" sound. 

The common Crow was all intrigued by the size of Bharadwaj. 

The female cuckoo sat on the next tree, probably on the lookout for a suitable nest where she can lay her eggs. 

There was a Black Kite perched high up stoically looking at all that was going on 

Meanwhile romance was up in the air (literally) where courting was in progress while balancing on a wire 

The Sunbird and his friends like to visit our garden as soon as I finish watering the plants 

They literally cavort on the leaves getting themselves all wet and then shake themselves dry. It is a daily routine I like to watch.

The Ashy Drongo was another regular in our area. This one saw me pointing my camera at her and she decided to take off 

This is a bee eater I suppose and is very quick in her moments 

I think this cartoon by Bath sums up the present situation.

 The Black Kite finally decided to call it a day and leave his perch. He must have been wondering about the change in the atmosphere with no honking and finding the air quality a shade better. 

Provisions and Lockdown

Going to the departmental store may be an everyday affair for many, but it may not be so in the present day circumstances.

Loved the fresh greens and so was the fruits which made the store look colourful. 

This store is well stocked but being new in the neighbourhood, people may not be aware of its existence and hence may seem deserted. 

At the entrance  all were checked for temperature and hand sanitiser was offered if required. A good way of making people aware of the seriousness of what the world is facing today. 

I was just thinking, the safest place in the world right now is to be with the Jarawas  in the Andamans. Social distancing at its best.  

Coming back to the store, apart from the veggies we bought some fish. 

Rohu is a fresh water fish and hence supposed to be very low on the mercury content scale.

Saw some red crab too and I was sure that it would have been delicious but I find eating crabs takes a lot of effort especially when it comes to separating the shell. 

Now to prepare the Rohu fish curry as per the recipe. 

Bird Watching

It is a good feeling when you are able to identify the birds around you. 

Had been for a bird walk this morning at Empress Garden (Pune) conducted by the Rupa Rahul Bajaj Centre for Environment and Art.  

The Indian Paradise Flycatcher was very elusive and I managed to get one shot of her long tail. 

Spotted many Grey Hornbills and what I observed was that they are always in pairs or in three.  

It was easy to spot the Ashy Drongo with his fork tail and most of my pictures turned out to be silhouettes. 

The white breasted waterhen is around waterbodies and is very shy, so had to take a video shot from far. 

The Black Kite was there in all her majesty and it was fun to watch the crow having a flying duel with the Kite.

The team gets excited when they spot and identify a particular bird. 

Kedar sharing some knowledge about the birds.

I have strung up the pictures and videos to make it into a small video.

Thanks to the bird walk, I now know that this is the purple sunbird who visits my terrace garden daily morning.

Hope to do more bird walks and spot more birds.  

Cycle Rickshaw

One of the mode of transport used in Jaipur is the Cycle Rickshaw. It is used mostly to transport goods. 

At times they do take passengers too but many are uncomfortable sitting in it at the thought of being pulled by another human being. Before starting the rickshaw driver pulls it by hand for a short distance to gain momentum.  

Another form of transport is the "tuk tuk"  

Here our tuk tuk driver was so confident of his driving skills that he was looking back and pitching his sales talk of the places that he could take us for a small fee. 

In case you are wondering about the horse on the road, he is probably waiting for the next customer in front of the shop where you get Horses and Elephants on hire.

Talking of elephants, from the top of Amer fort I saw the elephants plodding down the slope to get the next batch of tourists. It was tough for the elephants especially when going down hill. (see video) After reading about the elephants being tortured to "train them" I wonder why jeeps (with four wheel drive) are not used to transport the tourists. 

There is a large cooking vessel on top of Amer fort. Wonder what is the point of discussion here between the tourists and the guides. A good picture for a caption contest. What is your caption?