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Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Mar 26, 2014 22:35:12 GMT -8
Apparently the dominant sect of Islam in India is the Sufis. Or maybe that's just for Andhra Pradesh.
I had to go look in to Jewish sects in India that were ethnically Indian (or whatever the proper terminology is these days) because the gentleman that sells Marissa pearls has a great big beard with very short mustache and what appear to be payor (forelocks, though they aren't as prominently curled as many more traditional Jews might). Oh, and his name is Naim, which I'm fairly certain is a Jewish name.
Looks like the name is just generally middle eastern in origin. The list of notable Naims on Wikipedia included several prominent Muslims as well.
Still curious. I should also note he was not wearing a yarmulke.
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Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Mar 26, 2014 23:23:12 GMT -8
View from the club lounge window. Apparently just 20 years ago, this was mostly farmland and scattered villages. I might do a land use analysis of the area using GIS to see how big the difference is. If I ever get bored enough. Attachments:
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Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Mar 26, 2014 23:31:20 GMT -8
In the middle, behind the buildings but before the tree-covered hillside, you can see a patch of green. That was formerly known as Hidden Lake, because it was at the heart of a dense forest that was cleared to build all this stuff. The reason it is green is that it is completely choked with water hyacinth (probably the only thing living in there now). We see buffalo there on the shore most of the time when we pass it. We saw a cow the other day that looked a bit like it was a cross between a buffalo and a Guernsey dairy cow.
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Mar 26, 2014 23:57:49 GMT -8
Like, wild buffalo? That's creezy. How do animals like that get to be in a city with bonkers traffic and no wildlife corridors? Has the whole family of them been living within a few blocks of there since roads went up? What do they eat? Or are they domestic?
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Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Mar 27, 2014 0:09:22 GMT -8
Feral buffalo are EVERYWHERE in India but slightly less so here in Hyderabad. Some are semi-domesticated, we've seen one enclosure/pen for them in one area. They are not herded, so much as left to their own devices. I'm not really clear on the ownership situation. Usually when we see them, they are eating garbage along the street, but perhaps the lake ones eat the hyacinth. I do not know for sure.
The stereotype of India having "sacred" cows running all over the place is close to accurate, though less so in this big city. When Marissa was in Delhi, she saw a lot of cows and buffalo eating out of trash bins, as well as goats. We see a fair number of goats here, but they are usually attended. In one town (Delhi, Agra, or Jaipur) the owners let the goats run the streets to eat garbage and weeds, then the goats come home at night on their own.
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Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Mar 27, 2014 0:15:28 GMT -8
And Guernsey was not the breed I was thinking of. It looked like a cross between a buffalo or zebu (domesticated buffalo) and a Holstein (generic black and white dairy cow). Once I got that right, my Google search gave me the impression that the mix is most commonly used for scientific research.
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Mar 27, 2014 0:42:06 GMT -8
mang, u must let us know if u see a goat in a sweater or human garment. Apparently it's a thing to do from the middle east thru to India.
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Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Mar 27, 2014 1:27:29 GMT -8
Haven't seen any of that. As an aside, Wikipedia tells me that "Chairman Kaga" made his acting debut as Jesus in a stage production of Jesus Christ Superstar. The more you know...
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Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Mar 27, 2014 9:03:26 GMT -8
The meds are working to keep the fever at bay, minimize the aches and pains, and hopefully the antibiotics are doing what they do too. We're hoping to go to KBR Park in the morning to get some bird pictures.
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Mar 27, 2014 14:43:41 GMT -8
Nice. I can't wait.
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Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Mar 27, 2014 20:55:28 GMT -8
I'm sorry, but you must wait longer. There were a dozen signs outside the park that said "NO CAMERAS OR BINOCULARS - VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW". Then we saw one inside the park that said "Photography without the proper permit is not allowed". So apparently there is a permit that can be had. I'm going to get on the internet and see what I can identify from memory.
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Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Mar 27, 2014 21:04:06 GMT -8
We did see the back of another kingfisher flying away from us as we approached. There were peafowl and lots of silly little ground squirrels. We saw one smallish lizard that was moving too fast and too far away to identify.
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Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Mar 27, 2014 21:10:24 GMT -8
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Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Mar 27, 2014 21:14:59 GMT -8
There was a little guy putting together some sort of hanging nest, mostly out of paper (plastic?) scraps and possibly feathers. We did not get a good look at the bird before he took off, but the nest looked something like this (the page I linked this image from did not identify the bird).
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Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Mar 27, 2014 21:25:14 GMT -8
They have a lot of REALLY little birds here. Like hummingbird sized, but they don't really hover or dart like hummingbirds do.
There was a bluish bird with a yellow breast that we saw a few of, but I have had no luck in identifying him yet.
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