Mridula Documentation Book by Art in Transit

ART IN TRANSIT

Name: Mridula Panda Project Name: Art in Transit Project Guide Name: Amitabh Kumar Arzu Mistry Abhiyan Humane Aastha Chauhan Shivani Seshadri Award Title: PSD (Public Space Design)- 2016

CONTENTS 1. Project Overview 2. Site Analysis 3. Why take this project? 4. Immersion Process 5. Project Direction 6. Conceptualization 7. Curatorial Process 8. Technical Package 9. Form 10. Prototyping 11. Acknowledgment 12. Bibliography

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Represents the chosen sites

Purple metro line- Bangalore The project Art in Transit attempts at understanding the dynamics of a city such as Bangalore, which is constantly developing and is in a constant state of motion, through the context of the ‘Metro Rail Transit System’. It aims to bridge the gap being experienced between the memory and nostalgia that people hold for the city, and the “fantastical” future that awaits Bangalore. The metro is being looked at as a platform to create an engagement between the commuters and the system through the medium of art and design.

SITE ANALYSIS on

Cu tat rk S

Vidhana Soudha Vi St dha at na io n So ud h

ion

High Court

Chinnaswamy Stadium

Cubbon Park

Google Maps- Cubbon Park The project currently has two metro stations as its intervention sites, namely “Cubbon Park” and “Vidhan Soudha”. The “Cubbon Park” metro station is located on one end of the Cubbon Park on Queens Road with close proximity to the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and one of Bangalore’s first apartment complexes, known as Mantri Altius. The “Cubbon Park” station has a commercial context to its location, and will most probably attract a combination of people who want to access the park, those who wish to watch a match

at the stadium, or those who work in the office buildings nearby. “Vidhan Soudha” station on the other hand has a more stately and prestigious context to it location as it is located on Dr. Ambedkar Road and is next to the Karnataka High Court and Vidhan Soudha. It is also in close proximity to the Karnataka State Pensioner’s Club and Institute of Hotel Management. Being surrounded by government buildings, “Vidhan Soudha” metro station will most probably be used more by the working classes, who always have a time crunch.

Canara Bank Entry

HAL entrance

Jet Entry

Chinnaswamy Entrance

Google Maps- Cubbon Park metro station entrances

Google Maps- Vidhana Soudha metro station entrances

WHY TAKE THIS PROJECT?

Being a Public Space Design student, the metro station provides the perfect platform for reaching out to people from different socio-economic classes.

sensitive to the needs of the masses while proposing our interventions. The metro stations can also be used for educational or informational purposes, by making the process inclusive for the commuter.

From what has been observed, people using the metro usually have nothing to engage with besides their phones, or friends that they are travelling with, thus providing an opportunity to propose interventions that can be used for entertainment purposes.

“Cubbon Park” and “Vidhan Soudha” are also the first underground metro stations in the city, allowing possibilities to play with the depth of the space.

This project teaches us as artists and designers to be

IMMERSION PROCESS 1. Three frames of entry : Transit as a Social Network Experience of Transit The City- Past, Present and Future 2. The City- Past, Present and Future : Ecology of the city Birds- Indicators of health of the environment Birds of Bangalore 3. Interviews : Mr. Arvind Venkatadri Mr. Guru Raj 4. Literature Study “Bird Sense: What It’s Like to be a Bird” Tim Birkhead “The Birdwatcher’s Companion” Malcolm Tait and Oliver Tayler

To give us different entry points for contextualising the sites, the project offered us three frame works through which we were supposed to create an outlook on the city. The three frame works are namely, “Transit as a Social Network”, “Experience of Transit,” and “The City- Past, Present and Future.” “Transit as a Social Network” allows the opportunity to view the metro station as a space for social interactions between the commuters. The aim of this frame work is to see how people from different socioeconomic backgrounds, of different age groups and

people with disabilities can be made to experience a space. “Experience of Transit” is an opportunity to explore the forms of transport in the city of Bangalore while analysing them through aspects such as memories, nostalgia, politics, displacement, etc. and how technology can be used as a form of intervention in such a space. “The City-Past, Present and Future” is a framework that allows one to explore the city in terms in what it used to be, what it is now and what it will be in the future. Names given to Bangalore have changed drastically over time ranging from “Garden City,”

Mind map depecting Birds of Bangalore “Pensioner’s Paradise,” to “Garbage City” or even “Traffic City”. All these names suggest the nature of the city at a certain point in time. Bangalore as a city has a strong ecological connect taking into consideration names such as “Garden City” and “Lake City”. Within ecology, birds are indicators of the health of the environment and their disappearance is a wakeup call to how unfit our environment has become to live in.Under this framework we were required to choose a topic through which we would explore the Past, Present and Future of Bangalore. The topic

I chose to work with is “Birds of Bangalore,” as it provides a deeper insight into the ecology of the city such as the topography, climate and water bodies. To begin with, I collected data on all the birds of Bangalore, Resident, Migratory and Locally Extinct. The list comprised of 132 resident (breeding and non-breeding) birds, 72 migratory and 25 locally extinct birds. [2] Based on the list of birds, I studied the flora and topography of the city that provides habitat to these birds. Bangalore originally comprised of a dry deciduous forest and shrubs, which hosted certain species of birds. As people started migrating to the city, they brought along

Resident Birds

Non-Breeding Resident Birds

Locally Extinct Birds

Breeding Resident Birds

Migratory Birds

trees from other lands (fruiting trees and garden plants), which in turn invited newer species of birds to inhabit the city. With the agricultural boom came the rise of paddy fields and pulse fields, which took over the forest lands, but also invited newer bird species. The lakes and irrigation tanks of the city host the majority of migratory and water birds.[3] To expand on my research I interviewed Mr. Arvind Venkatadri, a faculty at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, who is also an avid bird watcher, and Mr. Guru Raj who is a batrachologist at IISc, Bangalore. The two interviews yielded very different

outlooks on birds. Since Mr. Arvind Venkatadri is a bird watcher, his input on birds and their disappearance from our immediate surroundings were influenced by childhood memories of the city. Mr. Guru Raj however shifted to Bangalore 13 years ago and has only resided within the IISc campus which is a diverse ecological pocket within the city where the birds were not affected by the development of the city. His relationship with birds however is linked to how the frogs of the city have been affected by development and how the disappearance or infiltration of birds might affect

Mind map depecting inferences from interviews frog populations. To gain a better understanding on birds, I focused on two books namely, “Bird Sense: What It’s Like to be a Bird,” by Tim Birkhead and “The Birdwatcher’s Companion,” by Malcolm Tait andOliver Tayler. Both the books have an educational value except their approach varies from one another. “Bird Sense” provides a scientific break down of the seven senses namely, sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell, magnetic sense and emotions. The technical break down of avian senses and comparing them to human senses helps create a better understanding of

the species, thus making them more relatable. “The Birdwatcher’s Companion,” is a book that provides information on birds through mediums such as poems, quotes, puzzles, limericks, puns, facts and statistics. While “The Birdwatcher’s Companion” is not as technical and scientific as “Bird Sense”, it has as much of an educational impact as the latter. It paves a path to move away from a traditional form of providing information and a way to retain a user’s attention by entertaining them while at the same time ensuring that they learn.

Diagram depecting habitats for Birds in Bangalore

Books studied for Literature Review

PROJECT DIRECTION

CONCEPT To understand chaos theory in the ecosystem where an unrelated human activity, no matter how small or large, eventually affects the birds in said ecosystem, which has adverse implications on human beings.

Based on the research conducted, I initially proposed two design directions, both of which would help educate the general public regarding birds and their importance in balancing the ecosystem. The two design directions are as follows, •To create a play on the word Migration and use it to study the “migration” of birds from the minds and memories of people. When birds were more commonly available within our societies, people developed local names or signs that would depict the birds they saw. However, with the widespread disappearance of birds from urban

settlements, people no longer relate to these birds or the local names that were appointed to them. •To understand the chaos effect in the ecosystem where an unrelated human activity, no matter how small or large, eventually affects the birds, the effect of which eventually has adverse implications on human beings. To choose which design direction to proceed with, I collected the narrative of 10 bird species within India that have been directly or indirectly impacted by human activities. After studying the narratives, I

Flow chart showing narrative of vultures chose to proceed with the second proposal which is to study chaos theory. The 10 narratives are as follows: 1.Vultures: Status: Critically Endangered Importance: Called ‘Nature’s Custodian of Cleanliness’. They ensure that no decaying carcass is left lying around in the countryside, thus preventing the spread of diseases or epidemics. Decline in Population: Farmers resorted to using a veterinary drug called diclofenac (anti-inflammatory drug) for their cattle. While the medicine was beneficial for cattle, when the carcass of the cattle

injected with diclofenac was consumed by vultures, it became poisonous. The vultures that consumed the poisoned carcass died of kidney failure. Diclofenac lead to the drop of vulture population by about 90%. Effects of decline in vulture Population: In the absence of vultures, the population of scavengers such as dogs and rats increased, which can lead to outbreak of diseases such as rabies. Farmers are now required to bury their cattle or burn the carcass. Since that increases cost, farmers have resorted to dumping the carcasses in rivers, thus contaminating our water sources.

Flow chart showing narrative of the Great Indian Bustard 2.Great Indian Bustard: Status: Critically Endangered Decline in Population: The greatest population of Great Indian Bustard was recorded in Bikaner and Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi launched the Indira Gandhi Nahar Project, which would construct irrigational canals throughout the dessert area to enable cultivation. With the construction of these irrigation canals came advancement in agriculture. The Great Indian Bustard is a large ground nesting bird which resides in short grass grasslands and lays a single egg every year. With the cultivated lands

taking over grasslands, the habitat for the Bustard started to decrease. The irrigational canals cause a shift in agricultural practices. The Great Indian Bustard relies on monsoon crops such Sorghum and millet, but with the availability of water, farmers switched to cash crops such as sugarcane, grapes, cotton, etc. The pesticides used for these cash crops had a detrimental effect on the reproduction cycle of the Bustard. Another reason was that cultivation meant that farmers had lands to graze their cattle on. The cattle would stomp on the birdsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; egg, preventing reproduction.

Flow chart showing narrative of sparrows 3. House Sparrows: Status: Least Concern Importance: Sparrows are called the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Snow Leopardsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of the urban ecosystem. The health of high altitude habitats is determined by the population of Snow Leopards. Similarly, the health of an urban settlement is determined by the number of Sparrows present. Decline in population: Several factors have led to the decline of Sparrow population in cities. Sparrows lead a symbiotic relationship with human beings, which mean that sparrows depend on human beings for their survival. Rapid urbanisation has pushed

sparrows out of our lives. The first change we made is that we now buy packaged, peeled grains. Earlier people used to buy grains directly from the farms and would feel them at home. Upon peeling the larvae and skin that used to be discarded was used as feed for the sparrows. The newly constructed buildings lack nesting spots for Sparrows. Older buildings used to have cracks and nooks that provided nesting spots for Sparrows. The electromagnetic radiation from telephone towers injures sparrows and hinders with their reproduction cycle. Effect of decline in House Sparrow Population: Loss of sparrows could contribute to rise in diseases

Flow chart showing narrative of the Black necked Crane among human beings. With sufficient number of birds, the population of mosquitoes stays lows. With the decline in bird numbers, mosquito population increases, thus increases diseases such as dengue, malaria, etc. The decline in sparrow population also shows that the air pollution level in urban areas has crossed the danger level. Since sparrows rely on grains as food, the fact that they refuse to eat our grains now shows that the grains are extremely pesticide laden. 4.Black Necked Crane Status: Vulnerable

The Black Necked Crane is a migratory bird with only 10 migratory nesting spots in the world, two of which are located in India. Both the breeding spots are located in remote areas of Arunachal Pradesh, namely Sangti and Zemithang. The wintering stretch for Black Necked Crane in Zemithang valley is relatively small, adding up to only 3 kms. On April 19th, 2015 the Nyamjung Chhu dam project was approved by the government of Arunachal Pradesh. During the court case, the lawyer representing the dam project claimed that the number of birds coming in during winter were too little, thus are not important enough to stop

Flow chart showing narrative of Siberian Crane development. Since the Buddhists consider the Black Necked Crane a sacred bird, they await its arrival every winter. The Buddhist monks have protested the building of the dam as they feel that if the birds disappear, their culture will disappear. Black Necked Cranes usually nest in wetlands and feed on insects, small amphibians and plant roots. Areas where they have adapted to cultivation of land, the cranes feed on barley, oats and buckwheat. The population of Black Necked Crane in Bhutan is also threatened since they have changed their agricultural style to grow cash crops. Thus the birds relying on fields of barley and buckwheat have

disappeared in search of new feeding grounds. 5.Siberian Crane Status: Critically Endangered Bharatpur National Park also known as the Keoladeo Ghana National Park used to be the nesting ground for 350 species of migratory birds every year. The endangered Siberian Crane was amongst one of those species and would visit the bird sanctuary in a flock of 100s. The winter of 2002 spelled misgivings though when not a single Siberian Crane turned up and none has turned up since. In 2003, a drought hit

Bharatpur National Park hard and has since left the Park devoid of birds. Ghana canal used to be the watering source for the park and would draw water from the Ajan Dam, which was built on the confluence of the rivers Ghambhir and Banganga. When individual dams were built further along the two rivers, the state government refused to sanction water to the park due to water politics. With the decline in rainfall, Bharatpur is now a dry arid land with no water, vegetation or fish. Siberian Cranes are now a part of Bharatpurâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s past with more migratory birds avoiding the park. Since there is no prey, even the raptors have disappeared. Affected along with

the birds are species such as the fishing cat, otters and turtles. The death of Bharatpur has however finally impacted mankind and people are finally beginning to realise the gravity of what they have done. The groundwater and bore wells have dried up, leaving neighbouring farmers without a source for water. With a lack of tourism that Bharatpur used to pull in, the city has lost its source of income. 6.Oussudu Lake Bird Sanctuary: Oussudu is a bird sanctuary located near Pondicherry and is home to thousands of migratory

Flow chart showing narrative of Lapwings and resident birds and mammals, most of which are endangered. On the outskirts of the sanctuary resides a nomadic tribe called Narikoravas, who make a living by selling the meat of the endangered birds found in the reserve. Some of the birds they sell are, Great Egrets, Purple Moorhens, Spot billed Pelicans, Grey Herons, Openbills and black headed Ibis. To catch the birds the tribal hunters sprinkle a banned pesticide called Endosulfan onto the water plants, thus killing any animal that drinks the water and the aquatic life. The local villagers do not realise that by consuming the poisoned meat, they

endanger their own lives. With the local government refusing to take action, the numbers of birds in the sanctuary are steadily decreasing and the decline of the sanctuary might affect migratory patterns of the birds in the region. 7.Red-Wattled and Yellow-Wattled Lapwings: Status: Least Concern Lapwings are ground nesting birds that lay their eggs between grass and rocks. Being slightly large birds, standing at a height of 35cm, they need large open grounds to soar over. While they are still more commonly found that birds like sparrows due

to the presence of undeveloped plots of land, they are fast disappearing from the urban setting. Due to development and urbanisation, large amount of lands have been cemented and evened out to either build roads, pavements or buildings. Since the birds cannot nest on even cemented land without grass, they are â&#x20AC;&#x153;migratingâ&#x20AC;? to the outskirts. 8.Common Myna Status: Least Concern Mynas are among the bird species that have learned to adapt to urbanisation and have been able to sustain their population in the cities. Since they are insect

eating birds and also they pollinate some fruiting trees, the species were introduces to countries such as Australia, Canada, Hawaii, Madagascar, etc. However, mynas are extremely aggressive territorial birds and have managed to chase away the native bids of the countries they were introduced to. They have taken over so much of other birds habitats; they have been enlisted as one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most invasive species. They also heavily damage crops and pastures, thus affecting other creatures of the ecosystem besides native birds.

Flow chart showing narrative of Lesser Florican 9.The Lesser Florican Status: Endangered The lesser Florican that had gone locally extinct in Bangalore was re-discovered in 2012 after a century, at the Hesaraghatta Grasslands. The Hesaraghatta grasslands are important for the region as they act as catchment area for the nearby lakes and rivers. The Bangalore Development Authority however has decided to begin afforestation of the land as they wish to develop Bangaloreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ecology. Reckless afforestation is one of the results for lack of habitat for the Lesser Florican, as they cannot nest in wooded areas. The grasslands are also used

for other purposes such as testing of vehicles and equipment testing by army units and the shooting of films, all which are harming the grasslandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ecosystem by scaring the birds away or crushing their eggs by mistake. 10.Blue Rock Pigeons Status: Least Concern The population of pigeons started rising in urban settings with the introduction of television in India. Along with the television came antennas that were rooted on the terraces of homes. These antennas proved to be perfect nesting spots for

Flow chart showing narrative of the Black necked Crane pigeons and they came swooping in to take over the skies. Deemed “sky rats”, pigeons tend to nest in colonies and chase away other birds that might be nesting close to their territories. The rise of pigeon population is also said to be one of the reasons that sparrows have fled from cities. .I chose to take forward the narrative of vultures. Vultures are essential to our ecosystem because they are known as the “Natural Custodians of Cleanliness”. They ensure that no carcass is left decomposing in the open, thus preventing an outbreak of diseases. In the early 90s, a new

veterinary drug called Diclofenac came into use as an antibiotic for cattle. However, when the cattle dies and becomes carcass for the vulture to eat, Diclofenac becomes poisonous for the birds as they don’t produce the enzyme required to break down the drug. The loss of vultures led to a rise in other scavengers such as rats and dogs which in turn increased the risk of rabies. Indian lost 99% of its vulture population within a decade.

CONCEPTUALIZATION

1600+ Pandas; Paulo Grangeon; 2008; Paris I conducted a couple of literature studies to help influence my form. The first literature study is an installation called “1600+ Pandas” by French artist called Paulo Grangeon. The installation initially consisted of 1600 Papier Mache Panda bears to represent the 1600 pandas remaining in the world. The artist exhibits the pandas in commercial centres of cities around the world to draw attention to the small number of panda bears left in the wild and to increase conservation efforts. Since then, as the number of pandas has gone up, the artist has added those many panda bears to the installation.

Another literature study I conducted is called the “Sun Bird” by Tim Laursen. The installation is of a large metallic flying bird which is solar powered and works with a hand crank. The installation was made to provide education on renewable energy and the mechanism is left visible to indicate how a complex system can be made to use less energy by simply using solar power. To convey the “butterfly effect” in an impactful manner, I chose to make my form interactive for the commuters. I chose to create a kinetic installation which would work only if a commuter interacted with

Sun Bird; Tim Laursen; 2015; Massachusetts it, and if no one played their role in the interaction, the installation would remain unaffected, to signify human impact on the environment. While initially I planned on using taxidermy vultures as my installation, I chose to instead recreate the bird out of another material to reiterate the fact that these birds are not easily found in our environment anymore. Taking inspiration from the “Sun Bird” I chose to create the vultures out of metal and have them powered by triggers which would need the commuters’ interaction to make the birds function. The triggers were meant to be used as on and off

switches to signify “positive” and “negative” human activities. The shape these triggers were to take was of large playful looking syringes with the plungers acting as switches. The installation they controlled was of multiple forms of vultures suspended from the ceiling. The “on” switch would make the birds “fly” while the “off” switch would make the vultures droop down to signify death. The form was taken to be too literal and needed to be abstracted.

Visualisation1- Vultures

Form Studies

Scale down prototype for form

Mechanism 1 prototype- Disc+roller mechanism (Scaled down)

Mechanismm 2 prototype- Piston (Scaled down)

Material exploration for plumage (Scaled down) Papier Mache, Sunboard, GI wire, Aluminium foil, Clay.

CURATORIAL PROCESS

To curate our individual projects within the two sites, “Cubbon Park” and “Vidhana Soudha”, we were given four themes to divide ourselves into. The four themes were namely, “Aesthetics and Aspirations,” “The Traveller,” “The Otherland,” and “Participatory Networks.” “Aesthetics and Aspirations” deals directly with the city of Bangalore and its aspects including, language, identity of the city, its ecology, history, etc. Our interventions would have to be linked directly to the city. “The Traveller” as a concept deals with the relationship between transience and the traveller.

The aim is to think about the city being in constant motion and how that affects the traveller and the landscape of the city. “The Otherland” as a concept deals with introducing a fantastical and whimsical world into the underground space and disconnecting from the outside world. “Participatory Networks” as a concept aims at engaging the community in activities involving the city and the projects would be crucial to the peoples’ participation. The theme I chose to place my project under was “Aesthetics and Aspirations” as my project dealt directly with the ecology of the city. The site I chose

Micro site- Cubbon Park Concourse to work on is Cubbon Park metro station as its opening leads directly out into Cubbon Park, which is an important ecological pocket in the city. Since my research started off with the birds of Bangalore, I chose to work with the vultures of Bangalore. As a group we decided to divide the theme into two sections, “The Constructed environment,” and “Ecology.” How we curated these two sections is by placing the projects dealing with “constructed environment” in the outside space and in the transition spaces leading underground, and the projects dealing with “ecology” underground, as that space is the most disconnected from the natural

world. Based on this curation I chose the concourse space in “Cubbon Park”.

Vantage Point from Platform 1

TECHNICAL PACKAGE Micro Site

Cubbon Park Floor Plan (Not to scale)

MICRO SITE FLOOR PLAN

Name: Mridula Panda

Scale- 1:150

Project Name: Art in Transit

Dimensions: Feet and Inches

Faculty Name: Shivani Seshadri

KEY Pillar

Pillar

Installation

Escalator

Micro Site : Floor Plan (Includes intervention)- Not to scale

Micro Site : Section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (Includes intervention)- Not to scale

Micro Site : Section BBâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (Includes intervention)- Not to scale

FORM

Reasons for form change

Kinetic Rain; Singapore Airport; 2012 The final form proposal was to have a large number of hand-made feathers suspended from the ceiling whose movement would be influenced by human movement. I chose to make the triggers involuntary to show that not everyone is aware of the impact of their actions on the environment. The feathers in this case symbolise the vultures and would drop down dramatically when the triggers are tripped by the commuters. The triggers in this case would be motion detecting sensors. The inspiration for this form comes from the kinetic sculpture â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kinetic Rainâ&#x20AC;? at the Singaporeairport terminal.

The Sqaure Wave; Reuben Margolin;

PROTOTYPING

Installation Elevation - Not to Scale

Installation Plan- Not to scale

Installation 3D Rendered Model- Not to scale

Components of Cam Shaft

Cam SHaft assembled

Cam Shaft + Hinged Supports

Prototype Assembled

REFLECTION

The ultimate aim of my project was to raise awareness about the impending doom to the birds in our ecosystem, but I wished to do so without putting the stigma of education to it. I have managed to do so regarding the most endangered bird species in our country, namely the vultures. While I have exprimented with a number of mechanisms to achieve my outcome, I have not been able to produce a fully functional prototype. I have however learned a lot from my final mechanism and have developed sufficient inferences to make the final installation work. I have taken a risk by

stepping out of my comfort zone and experimenting with a form I am not familiar with. I might not have suceeded, but I believe that learning comes from failure and I wish to eventually succeed and put up an installation that showcases my concept.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to thank our faculty members, Amitabh Kumar, Arzu Mistry, Abhiyan Humane and Shivani Seshadri for helping me mould my concept and for pushing me to realize my true potential.

and a friend, Rahul Paniker, who also helped me figure out mechanisms for my kinetic installation along with guiding me through the physics and maths of the system.

Among my peers, I would like to thank Abishek Daniel for helping me with understanding mechanisms and the science behind them. Mr. David and Mr. Prasad from the Srishti workshop were of great help to me while assembling my final mechanism. I would finally like to thank my father, Mr. P Panda

BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. A Field Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent: Krys Kazmierczak (Pica Press, UK, 2000) 2.

The Birdwatcher’s Companion: Malcolm Tait and Oliver Tayler (Robson Books, Great Britain, 2005)

The Book of Indian Birds (Twelfth Revised and Enlarged Centenary Edition): Salim Ali (BNHS, Bombay, 1996)

Common Birds: Salim Ali and Laeeq Futehally (National Book Trust, New Delhi, 1967)

Water Birds: Ranjit Lala (Rupa Co., New Delhi, 2006)

India Through its Birds: Zafar Futehally (Dronequill Publishers Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore, 2007)

Annotated Checklist of The Birds of Bangalore: Joseph George (Bangalore, 1994)

Birds of Western Ghats, Kokan and Malabar: Satish Pande (BNHS, Bombay, 2003)

Bird Sense: What It’s Like to be a Bird: Tim Birkhead (Bloombury Publishing, Great Britain, 2012)

10.

Chaos: James Gleick (Vintage, London, 1987)

11. “Research-Vulture Project,” last accessed February 4, 2016, http://bnhs.org/bnhs/index. php?option=com_content&view=article&id=135&Itemid=522.html. 12. Hitesh Kamaliya, “Great Indian Bustards in Peril,” Sanctuary Asia (2010): accessed February 4, 2016. http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/magazines/features/9260-critically-endangered-why- the-great-indian-bustard-might-need-a-captive-breeding-programme.html 13. Anjan Dandapat et al., The case of the disappearing House Sparrows, (Haryana: National Dairy Research Institute, 2010), 97-100. 14. “Dam Lawyers don’t ‘Understand this obsession with the Black-necked Crane’,” Sanctuary Asia, accessed on February 7, 2016, http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/magazines/conservation/10080dam-lawyers-dont-understand-this-obsession-with-the-black-necked-crane.html.

15. Neha Sinha, “Will the Black Necked Crane go the way of the Siberian Crane,” Sanctuary Asia, accessed on February 7, 2016. http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/magazines/conservation/10069-will-theblack-necked-crane-go-the-way-of-the-siberian-crane.html. 16. “The Death of a Wetland,” Sanctuary Asia, accessed February 7, 2016, http://www. sanctuaryasia.com/component/content/article/99-blogs/2128.html. 17. “Living Nature Dead Meat,” Sanctuary Asia, accessed on February 8, 2016, http://www. sanctuaryasia.com/magazines/conservation/9124-living-nature-dead-meat.html. 18. “Common Myna,” Wikipedia, last modified February 7, 2016, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Common_myna#Effect_on_ecosystems_and_humans.html. 19. “Keep off the Hesaraghatta Grassland,” Sanctuary Asia, accessed on February 9, 2016, http:// www.sanctuaryasia.com/campaigns/9182-keep-off-the-hesaraghatta-grassland.html. 20.

Tim Laursen: Sun Bird. http://timlaursen.com/

21.

Reuben Margolin: Square Wave. http://www.reubenmargolin.com/waves/Magic/magic_ video. html

22.

Kinetic Rain at Changi Airport, Singapaore. https://artcom.de/en/project/kinetic-rain/

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28. https://www.audubon.org/sites/default/files/House_Sparrow_s52-12-123_l_1.jpg

29. http://m5.i.pbase.com/o4/56/487356/1/64249895.k5JsEHLZ.A6.jpg

30. http://ibc.lynxeds.com/files/pictures/Rock_Pigeon_1.JPG

31. http://www.planetstillalive.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Black-necked-Crane-51024x732.jpg

32. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Great_Indian_bustard.jpg