Fruits in the Andamans . . .

Few snaps of fruit in the Andamans . . . 

Would appreciate if someone could name them . . . 

A Stray Leopard . . .

I wonder if anybody had read about a stray leopard which entered a house in Daltonganj, our nearest town. It sent quite a shivers down many a spine here, as our hospital is very much in a heavily forested area. I never thought that the news was in the internet till I saw the reports in TOI. Of course, it was big news in the local press. 

There had been quite a lot of deforestation and the very bad drought over the last few years had dwindled the wild animal population. 

However, the recent intrusion of this wild cat is an indication that the wild animals may have returned to the Palamu Tiger Reserve. Newspapers later reported that the foresters estimated that there were over a 100 leopards in the reserve area. There was much joy about a year back, when the forest officials reported rare sightings of the animal in trap cameras set in the reserve. 

Good news for wild-life, but frightening for many of us here. The leopard has been released back into the reserve. 

Now, we would need to be careful about venturing out in the dusk . . . especially going for calls etc. in the night. 

I would definitely like to see one. But, not inside the campus . . . roaming around. 

Champa Christian Hospital

Few snaps and a brief history about the Champa Christian Hospital. 

Begun in 1926 by Dr. Harvey R. Bauman and his wife Dr. Ella Bauman (nee. Garber), missionaries from General Conference Mennonite Church, the hospital has been under Emmanuel Hospital Association since 1971.

Below are few snaps from the hospital which I visited couple of days back.

The front view of the hospital . .. ... 

Front view from the entrance

The maternity block

Corridor leading the previous urology dept

Dr. Joseph Immanuel, the present Medical Superintendent.
He is 3 years past his retirement age.
Waiting for a robust team to take over . . .  

The emergency ward . . . 

Drs. Henry and Ella, the founders

Another view of the corridor

The sarai. . . place for relatives to stay

The dental department. Dr. Wilson from Nagaland is in charge . . .

The day we reached, the CH team was preparing for demonstrating mushroom cultivation

Sr. Wendy teaching nurses at CCH

Well, we need people here too. 

If you liked this, you'll also like . . . Madhepura Christian Hospital, Madhepura

Another drive . . . to Champa

After the last long drive we took to Madhepura, I was eagerly waiting for the next drive. And came the opportunity yesterday to drive to Champa. 

After much research, the following was the route that we took. 

Google maps showed us that the distance was 436 kilometers. Our odometer showed 470 kilometers. We had started off at 5:30 am and was in Champa by 3:00 pm.

The return was by a different route. 

Here, google maps showed 432 kilometers, but our odometer showed 500 kilometers. We took some more time for the return trip as we took more time to rest on the way back. We started at 5:30 am and reached NJH at 4:00 pm. 

Personally, I preferred the road we used for the return trip. However, there was new road construction in the former route which could change things soon. 

And the reason for the trip. To bring the Grace babies heroes to NJH . . . Wendy and Jerry would be at NJH for a week. 

Well, watch out for the next post on the Champa Christian Hospital. 

Before I sign off, a few snaps from the trip . . . 

We left before dawn and witnessed the beautiful sunrise over the Ranka hills

Entering Chattisgarh . . .

The smooth roads were a welcome relief

Something you'll find only in this part of the country

A common sight in most of North India at this point of time.
There has been a bumper harvest this year . .. ...

Guava orchard . . .

We went through dangerous stretches of forest areas. Here is a signboard warning us of elephants.
There was another place where there was a warning about bears. Unfortunately, we never saw any wild animal

A very good restaurant in Ambikapur . . . Recommended . . . 

Exposure Visit

Couple of days back, we did an exposure visit of the agriculture work that Samaj Vikas Sanstha, the social work wing of the Daltonganj diocese is doing in Chandwa/Balumath block of Latehar district. 

Below are snaps from the visit . . . 

This is how it looked when we left the hospital. Visibility of around 5-10 metres.

Interacting with the villagers

Fr. Regi interacting with our staff . . . 

The traditional washing of the hands of guests by the villagers . . . 

Fried rice balls dipped in hot jaggery. Never knew that such a simple recipe can be so tasty

Vermicompost . . . 

Innovation for a pulley . . .

Our team did some amount of walking around the fields . . .

Potato . . . Lucky to escape the cold 

Chick peas . . . 

System of wheat intensification . . . 

A monstrous radish . . . should be at least 5 kilograms . . . 

A family harvesting potatoes . . .

Returning home . . .

Interesting . . . Any deductions

Few days back there was something quite interesting put up in our local newspaper . . .

This is a comparison of ticket prices in various stadiums where the India-England one day series is being played. Of course, Mohali is missing. 

For those who can't read Hindi, here is a table which shows the prices . . . 

STADIUM
JSCA, Ranchi	1200	1500			2000	10000	12000	15000
SCS, Rajkot	500	700	800	1200	2000	2500	5000	7000
JLS, Kochi	200	500				3000
HCS, Dharamsala	1000			1200	1500	2500	5000	10000

I've put in a graph which makes it more explicit.

Everybody thinks that Jharkhand is a very poor state. However, look at how much Ranchites had to shell out to watch the match . . . 

Do we need to deduce much from this . . .  Or is it just another of our multiple maladies that plague our nation . . . 

The Setting Sun . . .

Last week, I tried to snap the setting sun from the dam near our hospital. It has not been that great like the snaps from Andamans. But, still it was a visual treat . . . However, on the second day, the clouds played spoil sport. 

View of the setting sun from the dam

Mustard flower . . . 

The setting sun . . .  The clouds spoiled the scene . . .

Dr. Basil who took me around. That's Titus's bike . . .