35 - Sparky’s ‘Tempestuous’ World

 Hello, Sparky here.

Ø  This week weather took centre-stage. A cyclone brewed in the Bay of Bengal, over a 1000 KM away from our Banyan Island and yet it impacted us. When a temporary weather system spans such a large distance and unleashes such power as a cyclone how is one not to be in awe of Mother Nature’s power?

Ø  Cyclones are a natural phenomenon and like most things in nature many things come together to form one. If lightning and thunder look like arsenals in Mother Nature’s kitty, cyclone is the war itself. Such is the power of a cyclone. Cyclones form when moist air rises from warm ocean surface which causes the air from the surrounding area to move into that space and as this process repeats an area of low pressure gets created (where the pressure of air pressing down in that area is lower than surrounding area due to the warm air that’s rising up – read more on this at https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/how-weather-works/highs-and-lows-air-pressure) . As the air keeps rising it reaches the cooler part of the atmosphere where it forms into a cloud. As the system builds, the spinning wind and the growing cloud soon becomes a cyclone that starts to spiral and move – like a marching army.  

Ø  So, in short, a cyclone is a spiraling air mass around a low pressure area. It moves over the ocean feeding on the warm air from the ocean surface and thus growing all the while but as it reaches land, it does just the opposite, it stops ‘feeding’ and starts ‘releasing’. Over land, cyclones bring copious amount of rain accompanied by strong wind which can leave a string of destruction in its path - of life and structure (natural as well as man-made). The best thing to do when a cyclone is passing over you is what we animals do - hide away because in the face of such force if one is stupid enough to be out and about one is most likely to fall – both figuratively and literally. It’s a simple mantra, really - Hide or slide.

Ø  Now, the funny thing about humans is they love naming these cyclones – Am not talking of them calling some of it cyclones, some hurricanes and some typhoons – that’s just a name to say where the system is.  Tropical storms that form over the North Atlantic Ocean and Northeast Pacific are called Hurricanes. Those over South Pacific and Indian Ocean are called Cyclones. Typhoons are what form over the Northwest Pacific Ocean. I will say, a cyclone by any other name, still spins the same. What I am talking of, of humans naming them is they give these cyclones names like they are naming a person or their pet, makes it easier to identify they say. Still, why name a cyclone? Isn’t it already so full of life? Why name it as well? Why cannot it be identified by its date and location? Weird people, and if a cyclone has been particularly devastating they remove that particular name from the ‘rotating list’ of names. Just imagine the amount of time spent on these administrative tasks. Mother Nature could whip up another cyclone in the time it takes them to have a meeting to decide on the list.

Ø  You get the idea, as the cyclone of the week, lovingly christened ‘Nivar’ by the humans moved over land and eventually petered off it brought rains to us on Banyan Island. There was another cyclone, named ‘Burevi’ that followed ‘Nivar’ which headed south of the country and did not impact us on Banyan Island. So, all we did this week, as we started to ‘feel’ the cyclone is quieten down our rhythm of life and hide away when ‘Nivar’ passed over us.  

Here are a few activities for this week. If you are caught in a tempest – real or imagined – this should help you tide over it.

• Look at this photo and see how many words you can identify which begin with the letter ‘S’. Don’t limit yourself to just what you see, widen your imagination and look for intangible things as well.

• Another pictorial puzzle. Below are a bunch of photos. Find the photo on the right side to which the photo on the left side bears a direct connection.

 

·         Here are some storm related idioms. Match the idiom on the left to its meaning on the right.

Little Readers’ Section

·         Can you identify these insects?

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See you all next week with more news, activities and answers to this week’s puzzles.

In the meanwhile, if you would like to write to me, email me at Sparkyatbanyan@gmail.com

Answers to last week’s puzzles:

·         Here’s a photo of an agricultural field’. Look at this photo and see how many words you can identify which begin with the letter ‘B’. Don’t limit yourself to just what you see, widen your imagination and look for intangible things as well.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of answers. What is exhausted, is my ‘imagination’ and ‘inclination’.

 

o   Beatle

o   Bountiful

o   Beautiful

o   Brimming

o   Blades of grass

o   Bright

o   Brilliant

 

• Here’s a Crossword puzzle for the week – all the words end with the letters ‘tion’.

 

·         These are a few famous monuments from around the world – can you identify them:

 

1.    Taj Mahal, Agra, India

2.    Angor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

3.    Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

4.    Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

5.    Louvre Museum, Paris, France

·         Here is the list of the benefits that come of solving Jigsaw puzzles but you will have to solve a puzzle to get to the benefits. 

     Match the 2 columns below to get sensible words that are the benefits of solving jigsaw puzzles.

 

Brain	Exercise
Increases Cognitive	Function
Increases Spatial	Reasoning
Attention	to detail
Memory	Enhancement
Increases	IQ
Improves	Mood
Relieves	Stress
Lowers	Blood pressure
Increases	Self-confidence
Problem	Solving
Produces	Dopamine

Little Readers’ Section

• Here is a photo of a beach, can you identify who belongs in the beach, who is a visitor and who is an intruder?

Residents	Visitors	Intruder
Crabs	Birds	Humans
		Dogs