Author Archives: rgeeta

Nectar robbing is not always a bad thing!!

Posted on November 27, 2015 by rgeeta

My colleague, Rajesh Tandon (pdf) and his students Vineet (lead author) and Chandan have found that in Tecomella undulata (Bignoniaceae) in Rajasthan, India, sunbirds “rob” flowers of nectar i.e., do not pollinate the flowers they drink from, because they are too … Continue reading →

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The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection

Posted on November 24, 2015 by rgeeta

The Origin of Species was published on 24 November, 1859 Like Dislike

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IAAT conference 2015, University of Calicut, Kerala

Posted on November 23, 2015 by rgeeta

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Hurricane Patricia, Mexico

Posted on November 15, 2015 by rgeeta

From a colleague in Mexico “The communities in Jalisco, Mexico, are still in ruins following the >300 km/h winds of Hurricane Patricia. There are supposedly nearly 10 million dollars in government funds available to help clean up and rebuild. 3 … Continue reading →

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LTC, DU, AI/IA (DEL-MAA-DEL)

Posted on November 1, 2015 by rgeeta

LTC DU AI/IA DEL (Delhi) MAA (Chennai aka Madras) Thanks to a couple of my colleagues, who regularly remind me about leave travel concessions, blocks and so on, I have so far availed of this benefit about three times in these past six … Continue reading →

Posted in Dilli o Dilli, Life is like that only, Red Tape aka Governance | 2 Comments

Painters of the orange wall

Posted on October 31, 2015 by rgeeta

This relates to the Saga of a wall The second painting job was done by Pappu and his wife. From Rajasthan, both were tall, long-limbed and with beautiful faces — sharp-featured, large-eyed, with that kind of Somali/Ethiopian beauty (do these peoples share … Continue reading →

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Saga of a Wall or, Is this what they call மாயா?

Posted on October 11, 2015 by rgeeta

Two years or so after moving in, the framing is done, nails inserted into the wall and finally the pictures are up on the wall. Very pleasing indeed and all is well with the world. Phew, at last, I don’t need to … Continue reading →

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Climate changes, flowers decline, bees start foraging short flowers…tongues shorten

Posted on October 10, 2015 by rgeeta

Miller-Struttman et al. 2015. Functional mismatch in a bumble bee pollination mutualism under climate change (Abstract). Science 349: 1541-1544. Alpine plants with long tubed flowers are pollinated by long-tongued bees. In this paper, Dr Candace Galen and her collaborators use a combination of historical and … Continue reading →

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Giraffes and their necks

Posted on October 8, 2015 by rgeeta

The standard story of how the giraffe got its long neck may not be as straightforward as we usually think of it (or teach it) — a continuous increase in neck length, reaching the incredible length we see today. There is … Continue reading →

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It’s बिसाहड़ा गांव, Bisahda Village, not Bisara/Bishara/Bishada/Bisada

Posted on October 3, 2015 by rgeeta

Bisara village? Bishara? Bishada? Bisada? Bisahda? When the Hindi press clearly knows that it is बिसाहड़ा गांव (Bisahda Village), why should the English press find it so difficult to get it right? (not one source did, from what I could see ) … Continue reading →