The Sea Gypsies of the Andaman are members of the Moken tribe, who spend their lives traversing the Andaman Sea near southern Thailand and Myanmar. These tribals prefer to live on the sea in wooden boats called kabangs, for most of the year. They settle on land only during the monsoon season.
The Moken are excellent fishermen and expert divers and they survive on fish. They also consume other marine creatures like sea cucumbers, shellfish and lobsters.
These nomads can plunge to depths of 22 m without life support and also have the ability to hold their breath for twice as long as normal humans. Moken children possess the amazing ability to narrow their eyes to a great extent to have a clear vision under water.
These simple folk, who are totally dependent on the sea and its bounty, share a deep bond with nature and were among the first to sense the coming of the tsunami and escape to higher ground in 2004.

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The Lighter Side

Questions to God

An exhausted third-grade teacher knelt down by her bed at night. She couldn't sleep and decided to share her burden with God.
"Dear God," she sighed dejectedly, "my pupils think I am the sea of knowledge. They asked me so many questions today, some of which were really tough. So, please God, while I sleep, can you somehow put the answers to these questions into my mind—
Why doesn't gum stick to the inside of its bottle?
Why are cigarettes sold in petrol stations when smoking is prohibited there?
Why is it that lemon juice is made of artificial ingredients but dishwashing liquid contains real lemons?
If you tied buttered toast to the back of a cat and dropped it from a height, what would happen?
If you're in a vehicle moving at the speed of light, what happens when you turn on the headlights?
You know how most packages say, "Open here". What happens if the package says, "Open somewhere else"?
Who draws lines around countries?
What do you plant to grow a seedless watermelon?
When sign makers go on strike, is anything written on their signs?
If a cow laughed, would milk come out of her nose?
How does God know that He is God? Who told Him?”
Needless to say that even God didn't sleep that night!

Eureka

The Three Suitors

A prince, his cousin and the son of the prime minister were out hunting. They lost their way and found themselves deep in the forest at nightfall. As they were tired they began to look around for a place to sleep and finally found a suitable spot under an oak tree.
They decided that they would take turns in keeping watch. The prince said he would keep watch first.
To while away the time and to help him stay awake, he took out his hunting knife and began to carve the figure of a girl on the trunk of the tree.
He was so sleepy by the time he had finished that he woke up his cousin and dropped down to sleep.
His cousin was a student of magic. When he saw the carving on the tree he began to recite magical chants to bring the carving to life.
Finally he felt so drowsy that he woke up the minister's son and lay down to sleep. The minister's son was startled to see a beautiful young girl standing under the tree. As she was shivering with cold, he hurriedly gave her his blanket. The next morning the three friends began quarrelling over the girl: each of them wanted to make her his wife. Just as the quarrel was beginning to take an ugly turn, a hermit appeared on the scene. The three suitors asked him to judge their case.
The hermit heard them out and then gave his decision.
He said only one of them was eligible to propose to the girl and gave his reasons.
All three suitors were satisfied with the decision and a few weeks later the man who had been selected by the hermit married the girl.
Who do you think was the lucky man?
Answer : The minister's son. The hermit said that as the other two had created the girl and given her life they were, in effect, her fathers and so ineligible for consideration as husbands.

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Green World

Green Jade Flower

The green jade flower which has inspired several jewellery designs shares its family, Leguminosae, with the homely peas and beans. The claw-like flower is bluish-green with a purple centre and is loaded with nectar. It shines at dusk, attracting bats for pollination.
The green jade flower plant was first seen in 1854 in the tropical forests of the Philippines, its natural habitat. It is on the verge of extinction in the wild due to deforestation.

 

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