Where have all the sparrows disappeared?

Sparrows are small passerine birds. The differences between species can be subtle; in general, sparrows tend to be small plump brownish birds with short tails and stubby powerful beaks.

Sparrows are primarily seed-eaters, though they also consume small insects. Sparrows are found indigenously in Europe, Africa and Asia.

What's Killing Our Sparrows?
- Lack of insects to feed their young due to pesticides and planting of exotic species of grass and trees.
- Shortage of nesting sites thanks to modern architecture.
- Electromagnetic waves from cellphone towers.
- Paved gardens with no mud to bathe in.
- Hedges being replaced by wrought iron fences.
- Competition for food and shelter from pigeons and mynahs.
- Shortage of shrubs to roost in.

The question one would ask is, "Why should we save the sparrow?”
Sparrows are to urban ecosystems what the canary was to mines. If saving a tiger can save a forest, saving the sparrows can save our cities. When changes happen in our urban environment, it's too slow to tell. But in the long run they'll take their toll. It's not just sparrows that are disappearing from our cities but other forms of urban wildlife like butterflies and frogs as well. Above all, we must remember what happened to the vultures, the vultures have already become extinct.

The MUST RADIO INTIATIVE
I am an R.J. with MUST Radio and it makes me feel nice to say that the entire team of MUST Radio have taken the “Save the Sparrow” initiative very seriously.

MUST Radio has joined hands with Mr. Mane who has a charitable organisation called Sparrow’s Shelter under the guidance of Mohammed Dilawar, an ornithologist with Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). Mr. Mane says, “The dwindling population of sparrows swung him and his team into action to take this initiative to save the sparrows.”

Don’t be surprised if you see strange wooden boxes attached to nearby trees. Already 1,000 such boxes have come up in Mumbai city and its number is expected to increase. These are Wooden Nesting Boxes for the sparrows.

MUST Radio has adopted 3 of these wooden shelter boxes and installed all 3 of these boxes on trees.

I am planning to buy a wooden nesting box and install this just outside my home.

So, what are you going to do to Save the Sparrow?

Do leave your comments and feedback….would appreciate it!

Until my next article, as I always say…Take very good care of yourself and God Bless!

Being an R.J. doesn't get better than this!!

“Hello people……Good morning, Namaste, Salaam Mumbai…….you are tuned in to MUST RADIO on the Evening drive with your host and dost for this evening Simply Mearl.”

This is how I start all my shows on radio…..The best part about radio is that it allows me to be myself. You can be fun, speak to different enthusiastic people/ callers from different walks of life.

In a corporate lifestyle, its good enough but you just do not get an opportunity to be fun all the while. You are forced to maintain decorum in office and get used to people with different attitudes vis-à-vis Radio.

Not all days are exciting and bright and there is nothing big always happening in the city to talk about on Radio. But you need to CREATE excitement for your listeners.

As an R.J., you need to make believe, you need to create exciting and interesting stuff to talk about each and every day. There is no DULL day!!!!

You need to know who your target audience is, are they people who are driving to work, are they students, are they people driving back from work, etc., and then set your script accordingly.

And I must admit, I am still learning.....but as they say practice makes a person perfect.....yeah....so I will get there someday for sure.

Before I end this article, I would like to ask you a question “Are there any limits? Absolutely not! We are unlimited beings. We have no ceiling. The capabilities and the talents and the gifts and the power that is within every single individual that is on the planet, is UNLIMITED - as said by Michael Bernard Beckwith

So believe in yourself, be strong, never give up no matter what the circumstances are. You are the champion and will overcome the dreaded obstacles. Champions take failure as a learning opportunity, so take in all you can, and run with it. Be your best and don't EVER EVER give up.

Until my next article, as I always say, take very good care of yourself and God Bless!

You can give me your feedback/ comments by writing to me at simplymearl@live.com or simply enter your comments below.

My second trip got even better!!

Photo: With colleagues (click on the image to see a bigger view)


I was hoping hard that the training programme which I was scheduled to attend in Jun 2008 would be conducted at a place that I haven't visited.

Photo: With family (click on the image to see a bigger view)
But to my suprise, the training was scheduled in Dubai, a place I had been to and done all the sight-seeing. A place I had explored and enjoyed to my hearts content.

There was nothing more I could or wanted to do in Dubai. However, I must mention and say it loud that this trip got even better!!!!

If you ask me why, I would not be able to answer that question but yes maybe because I got to meet up with family, friends, & colleagues AGAIN.

Then again, the training was enriching and the classroom atmosphere was lively which made the whole programme worthwhile and complete fun. Apart from the training, the project manager organised a Desert Safari and took the participants to the best food joints for our lunches. Although, I must confess here that I do not very much enjoy continental food....but hey! Food is not all that you look forward to at the lunch table na!!

Photo: That's myself and Neeta (a good friend and colleague) on the Quad bike

The Desert Safari was fun.....the Dune bashing was like a roller coaster ride for me and real scary this time around. I am still in doubt whether the car driver was in proper state of mind or not????? I think not...because we got stuck in the sands almost 4 times and everytime we asked the driver what went wrong? The standard answer was....that due to the winds the sand dunes changed positions/ locations/ size/ or whatever.

Isn't this a creapy excuse!!! Hope he is not reading my blog....otherwise that guy will kill me for sure...hehehehehehhe LOL

However to make up for the bad dune bashing experience......we had a great time at the camp. The belly dancer was simply beautiful and so very very graceful. She picked on a few of my colleagues and each one was at their best with a little bit of their movers and shakers.

I will end over here. So until my next article, as I always say...take very good care of yourself and God bless!

Jiyo (live life), Khush raho (be happy), Muskurao (smile always).....Muaaahhh...

You can write to be at simplymearl@live.com or simply leave your comment. Do not forget to leave your contact email address and I will reply to you ASAP.

Mogambo khush hua!!!......Here are a few of my all time favourite Hindi film dialogues

Vijay Dinanath Chauhan ishstyle ;-) - Total filmi!!!

Having been born and brought up in Mumbai, a place which is home to the world's largest film industry namely Bollywood, I must say each Mumbaite unknowingly cracks filmi dialogues in his/her dialy conversations. We speak Hinglish in Mumbai, which is the city's self created language which has flavours of both Hindi and English dialects.

Bollywood churns up more films annually as compared to Hollywood and other film industries in the world. No wonder, the popularity of this film industry is on a rise, not just in India but also abroad.

Here are a few film dialogues - some of them inspirational, some funny......Enjoy!!!

1. Hamari zindagi bhi hamare hindi filmon ke jaisa hi hai.. jaha pe end mein sab kuch theek ho jaata hai.. "Happies Endings".. Lekin agar End mein sab kuch theek na ho to woh the end nahi hain.... Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost!!! - Film: Om Shanti Om
2. Kitni shiddat se tumhe paane ki koshish ki hain.. Ki har zarre ne mujhe tumse milane ki saazish ki hai..Kehte hain agar kisi cheez ko agar dil se chaho to saari kainath tumhe usse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai..- Film: Om Shanti Om
3. Kabhie Kabhie kuch jitne ke liye kuch haarna padta hain aur haar kar jitne wale ko baazigar kehte hai! - Film: Bazigar
4. Mohabbat bhi zindagi ki tarah hota hai, jiska har mod aasan nahi hota. Har mod per khushi nahi milti. Per jab ham zindagi ka saat nahi chorte. To ham mohhabat ka saat kyon chorein. - Film: Mohabatein
5. Zindagi mein kuch banna ho, kuch hasil karna ho, kuch jeetna ho, toh hamesha apne dil ki suno. Aur agar dil se bhi koi jawaab na aaye, toh apni aankhein band karke apni maa aur baba ka naam lo, phir dekhna tum har manzil paa sakoge. har mushkil aasan ho jayegi. Jeet tumhari hogi....sirf tumhari!!
6. Tumhe aisa kyun lagatha hai ki duniya ki sari museebatein tumhari kamzor kandhon par hain...bhagwan ki pooja karne ka kya fayeda jab uski di hui zindagi ki kadar na ki jaye. Jiyo, khush raho, muskarao..kya pata kal ho na ho!! - Film: Kal ho na ho
7. Bade bade desho mein aisi chhoti chhoti baatein hoti rehti hain..- Film: Bazigar
8. Babumoshai...ye dunai bohot chhoti hain re! - Film: Anand
9. Mooche ho to Nathulal jaise ho….warna na ho! - Film: Sharabi
10. Jiyo, Khush raho, muskurao....kya pata kal ho na ho [I would like to translate this quote in English: Live life, be happy, smile always....what if tomorrow never comes]

If you want to share with me some interesting film dialogues, maybe from Hollywood, Bollywood or may it be from films in your country, do share them with me by writing to simplymearl@live.com or you can add your comments below.

Until my next article, as I always say, take very good care of yourself and God Bless!

A memorable and adventurous trip

Recently I visited Dubai to attend a company training. It was a 3-day training program, however since my relatives and friends are living in Dubai, I left 2 days in advance and stayed over at their place. I visited various places like the Emirates mall, Hyper Panda mall, The Global village, Sharjah, Burj Dubai, dined at some good restaurants in Dubai. It was real good fun and the best part of it all...it was a weekend in Dubai and the crowd was simply fantastic and to add to the fun, the weather was pleasant!!!

After all the fun and frolic with family, I had to get a little serious since I had my training scheduled for the next few days.....however must say the workshop was real good fun as well.

It was a working day and a friend in Dubai arranged a four hour Dubai bus tour for me. A big hug from me to her for this wonderful arrangement. The tour bus and the amazing tour guide (she talked about the history of Dubai and also of the many wives the King had...hehehehehhe) showed us places such as the Meena Bazar (I will tell you why this is first in my list...), Burj Al Arab, Jumeriah Mosque, Dubai Creek, Dubai Museum.

Must say that we toured quite a few places in that span of 4hrs. I bought a nice looking stuffed camel from the Dubai museum which sat and stood as required....I bought it for DHS 40. I kept this sweet looking stuffed camel who I named "Sahraa" (Urdu term which means Desert ) on the rack in the tour bus and sat comfortably in the bus until our next site seeing point "The Meena Bazar".....a place for cheap gold (here gold is sold at cost of gold minus the labour cost). We were given 30 mins at this spot.

Myself and my bus partner (a lady from Australia) went around Meena Bazar. We reached back to the meeting point (suggested by our tour guide) in 20mins. Since we had 10mins more, this lady from Australia asked me to accompany her to a restaurant since she was hungry and wanted to pick a chicken sandwich. The chicken sandwich took so much time to get ready...until then we missed our bus. The worst of it all.....I lost my sweet little camel in that bus. '

Both myself and my partner were first time visitors in Dubai and we were real scared. Without giving our relatives, friends or colleagues any trouble, we got into a cab and reached back to our respective hotels. Thank god for that!!!!

As soon as I reached the hotel, the first thing I did was contacted the tour bus services and blasted at them for not waiting.....agreed it was my fault, but what a big deal......and then I patiently inquired about Sahraa (remember my camel)......only to realise that Sahraa was stolen away....

Finally my training was over and on the last day each participant and our trainer was treated at the Desert Safari which was a wonderful experience. The Dune bashing was amazing....yeah but I must mention here that I was holding a plastic bag in my hand when the dune bashing was happening.....but thank my stars I didn't throw up. At the camp in the desert, we had the belly dancer take on the stage and call people up to accompany her....I must mention my colleague who was also our Trainer was one of the best dancers at that camp.

Anyway I have another trip to Dubai scheduled mid Jun this year and I will search pillar to post to find my Sahraa, if not her then atleat someone who looks like her...

I must end by saying that these twists and turns are required in life, otherwise life gets very monotonous.....what say!!!

Thank you for reading....I hope I did not bore you with my bakhwas (Hindi term which means Stupidity)....hehehahahahha LOL. If you want to write to me, you could send me an email at mearl_colaco@hotmail.com or simply insert your comment.

Until my next article, take very good care of yourself and God Bless!

Reading a book has changed my life... I don't think so!!!!

It was just recently, when I met a friend of mine after a long span of 3 yrs. During an interesting conversation between the two of us, she mentioned about the difficulties that she faced in her life and how her personal problem was resolved after reading an inspirational/ motivational book.

Although I was happy that her problem got resolved in whichever way, my question to her was "Can a book actually change one's life?.

My personal belief on this....I don't think so!!! If you think about it practically, there is no way an author can actually solve your problems.

Yeah agreed...reading an inspirational/ motivational book may change the perspective of how you look at things, reading may change your attitude towards life, reading may change your approach of handling things differently, but READING having the ability to transform your very existence is a big question mark?????

Some of great reading books that I recommend are The Secret - Rhonda Byrne; The Monk who sold his Ferrari - Robin Sharma; The Leadership Mantra - Robin Sharma; Marketing Warfare - Trout & Ries; The Alchemist -- Paulo Coelho

Lastly, I would like to end this article with the wonderful and inspirational HINDI dialogue that Shahrukh Khan articulates in his movie Om Shanti Om, he says, “Kehte hain agar kisi cheez ko agar dil se chaho to saari kainath tumhe usse milane ki koshish me lag jaati hai..”
[English Translation; "It is said that if you want something from the bottom of your heart, then the whole universe will try to get you closer to that something that you desire.]

Truly inspirational!!!

Until my next article, as I always say, take very good care of yourself and God Bless! Would appreciate your comments and feedback and please don’t forget to leave your email address.

MY FIRST DAY ON RADIO

It was a great feeling to go live on air as a Radio Jockey for Community Radio, Radio MUST on 107.8 FM. I had butterflies in my stomach at the beginning because believe me being an RJ is not as easy as it appears to be.

I have anchored events in the past, but even after being exposed to this kind of anchoring, I feel that RJing was real tough and certainly this is not a cakewalk.

You need to be impromptu, You need to have a strong content, You need to speak within a time limit alloted, You need to be a good presenter. These are a few qualities that one needs to own/ possess to be a successful RJ. But believe me....I have none of these qualities but certainly trying to attain all of these traits some day. I am certain that Rjing a show on Commercial Radio is more challenging as compared to Community Radio.

There are loads of people who take up anchoring/ hosting as a profession BUT for me it is simply giving a chance to my hobby and I certainly do not intend to make this a career. Its only a leisure pursuit!

So all you Mumbaikars, if you want to listen to me, you would have to tune in to MUST Radio only on 107.8FM. So lets meet up there....

Until my next article, take good care of yourself and God Bless!