The Qatar World Cup's exciting Underdog Stories

One of the most-watched sports events in the world, The World Cup started a week ago.
At the start, I was not very excited about this particular World cup in Qatar due to various reasons.
The social reasons include the appalling conditions of stadium workers and the farcical,  

arcane state rules against certain communities of visiting fans.
In as much as sporting reasons go, conducting an international tournament inthe midst of a domestic season was not exactly ideal either. Finally, the Infantile President got the ball rolling with his now infamous speech. 

Soon it became clear that this world cup was one of the upsets and exciting results.

In the early group stage results, minnows Saudi Arabia shocked mighty Argentina
by keeping its magical talisman Messi largely quiet. Not only that, their goals were scored
with some style after quick counterattacks. Once they got the lead they defended it doggedly,
with every player giving his best. Unfortunately, the Saudis fizzled out in the other group games  

and did not advance.  

Asian and African teams enjoyed a fantastic ride in a Worldcup 

that was a “home” world cup for the former.Morocco stunned the "golden generation" Belgium team  

to eventually book their place in the Knockout rounds. This was a historic achievementfor the North African team, as it was the first time in 26 years they qualified for Knockout Rounds.

Morocco combined the defensive grit of players like Saiss and Amrabat with the offensive flair of
Ziyech, El-Nesseyri and Hakimi to stifle the Belgians and make the most of breaks.  

This strategy ensured KDB and co. could not break through. Eventually, Belgium failed  

to clear the group stages. Belgium should be called nearly generation, not the golden generation-so much talent but still trophyless as a team.

 

However, the most drama was in Groups E and F. Prior to the tournament, Germany and Spain  

were the heavyweights in Group E with Japan and Costa Rica rounding off the group.But Japan, the land of rollercoaster anime storylines had a surprising script of their own to write.

Fighting to protect every blade of grass and attacking with gustolike the legendary samurais fighting in the animes, Japan shocked Germany in the opening group  

game. Scarcely remembered ex-Arsenal striker Takuma Asano scored a stunning goal from  

a tight angle to bring an underperforming Germany to its knees. The initial shock proved to be  

unrecoverable for Germany, as they went out AGAIN in the group stage. A win against  

Costa Rica preceded by a well-fought draw with a swashbuckling Spain side was not enough 

for them to qualify. On the other hand, Japan had the upset medicine handed to them 

by Costa Rica in a shock loss. Spain had started their campaign inswashbuckling style by thrashing Costa Rica 7-0.For their last game, they faced a Japanese side intent to recover from their own loss.

It did not start well for the Japanese, as an unusually clinical Alvaro Morata handed Spain the lead.

It seemed like the game was heading Spain's way, with Japan at risk of not qualifying.But the Japanese have an undying fighting spirit to recover from 

disastrous situations,as history has shown.In this match, recover they did.Doan, the electrifying midfielder smashed in a left-footer from range to make it 1-1.

Then came the crucial and controversial moment of the match, the winner.
It looked as if the ball had crossed the line as the Japanese player cut it back for Tanaka 

to bundle it in. However, goal-line technology showed a tiny millimetre of the ball was  

still on the line, meaning the goal stood, and Japan qualified! On the same day, Uruguay and Koreavied neck to neck for the second qualifying spot,via their respective games vs. Ghana and already qualified Portugal.  

Ghana themselves could have cemented qualification with a win. However, missed chances 

by Ghana were punished with the clinical finishing by Uruguay 

This placed the latter on the brink of qualification. Their qualification hinged on Portugal beating 

Korea. But the efficient Asian side had other ideas. 

Rallying from a goal behind, they incredibly snatched a win and group qualification at the death 

with a goal from Hwang!Uruguay was literally minutes away from qualification until the Korean winner went in!

The absolute drama made for an exciting end to group stage.Another “unheralded” team which defeated a more fancied opponent  

to go through group stages was Australia. The Socceroos have always been considered  

a world-class team in cricket but in football they are minnows.  

However beating a solid Denmark side was no mean feat.

This win ensured Australia qualified for the KO round for only the second time in their history.

Unfortunately, with Messi in sublime form,there efforts went in vain. 

 

Still, as an Asian myself, it was great to see two of the Asian teams qualifying  for Knockout rounds this world cup- a rare occurrence!

Lesser fancied African teams also did better this time, with Morocco and Senegal going through 

from difficult groups. A common theme which unified all these "smaller" Non-European teams  

is a strong defensive ethic combined with good counter-attacking playJapan’s great run, unfortunately, came to an end through a penalty loss to Croatia in RO16.  

They gave everything but the penalty pressure proved too much.Japan missed several penalties

while the Clinical Croats succeeded with theirs to end Japan’s thrilling World Cup ride. 

Japan was not only had a hard-working team, but their fans also did their hard yards  

for the environment in this world cup, cleaning up the stadium after the game.
Their Asian counterpart Korea was decimated by the devastating forwards of a Brazilian side  

that rubberstamped its world cup credentials. However, even though they did eventually bow out,  

these Asian sides have won many hearts with their against-the-odds results. One side which was not decimated was defensive stalwart Morocco vs Spain.

A sturdy defence which had conceded the least goals(just one!!)  

this World cup was able to hold Spain to a goalless draw after ET.
It was certainly a “beautiful day” for Morocco Goalkeeper Bono, the namesake of the Irish alternative rock singer. The goalkeeper put on a masterclass as he pulled out several superb saves to ensure Morocco won on penalties and dumped the ex-world champions out of the World Cup!
For centuries, the splendid bazaar and delicious food aromas of  Marrakesh in Morocco attracts millions of tourists to the country. In the World Cup, Morocco was an enthralling breath of fresh air, exciting fans the world over with their heroics and pluckiness.
In the quarter-finals, the Atlas Lions fought their toughest battle against Portugal.  

Morocco had taken the lead with a springbok antelope-like leap of their striker El-Nesseyri for  

the header. Morocco lost 2 first-team defenders including their captain Saiss to injury mid-game
amidst some consistent Portuguese attempts at their goals.But they held on steadfastly to their lead, defending till the dying seconds.  

With the 1-0 result, Morocco made history as the first African country to reach the World Cup  

semifinals. For several years, African nations had not qualified for the advanced stages 

as many players migrated to European countries. Morocco bucked this trend 

with Madrid-born superstar right back Hakimi scoring a calm winning penalty for Morocco.

Unfortunately, in the semis, Morocco went down battling a clinical France side which was one  

of the favourites. The game did not follow the pattern which has been usually observed 

in Morocco’s game-unlike previous games.Morocco dominated possession in this one. However, they could not find a goal inspite of their 

efforts. France relied on the uncanny talents of Kylian Mbappe to shoot from impossible situations

within a crowd to score and win this game. Morocco may have exited the WorldCup, but they  

gave fans an enthralling ride. 

 

Image Gallery(Images from Reuters)
1.El Neseyri’s thumping header vs Portugal 

2.Japan’s winner vs Spain was a close call of "outside"

Aerial Warfare in Nature: Bird Battles

 

This exciting series of fighting behaviours occurred during a birding session at Empress Garden. All of us know about aerial warfare from fighter planes in the human world, courtesy of fantastic action films like Top Gun. But do you know about the aerial warfare which takes place daily- amongst the birds around us?

The start of our birding day blessed us with lovely weather- bright sunshine, a mild chill and no sign of rain- a perfect morning for birding! Our first sighting was a bird at the absolute apex of the food chain, a small but impressive predator- the shikra. Donning a sharp, strong beak and sporting a dark slaty shade on its wings, it looked intense. Perched majestically on a tree top, it waited intently to strike its prey. The rose-ringed parakeets on the nearby branch were the target. Sitting peacefully, preening their gorgeous green bodies, these were their last moments of tranquil. The parakeets had spotted the shikra on the nearby branch! Now, the prey was not going to give up without creating a ruckus for the raptor Suddenly, the air was filled with their high-pitched shrieking alarm calls. The parakeets made a quick escape flight to a tree some distance away. This was a haven for them. Just like home alarms warn us of burglars, bird alarm calls alert other birds about predators in their home patch. Soon, these alarm calls also alerted the other avian residents of the trees- mynahs and crows. The parakeets were not alone now! They had backup. We saw 3-4 black avian shadows ascend onto the tree. The plucky crows had made their way to the tree occupied by the Shikra. They had decided to fight fire with fire. Constantly harassing, pecking and following the shikra, they tried to intimidate the bird of prey. The crows made the most of their biggest advantage over the raptor- teamwork and strength in numbers. It was amazing to see a predator being bullied into evasion by sheer persistence and unity.

Crows are one of the most intelligent birds. They’re known for using tools for opening food cans to eat and being able to recognize aggressive human faces. Learning to ward off potential predators would have been child’s play for the crows. The shikra had to shift to a different, unoccupied tree for now.

For now, the prey had defeated the predator. But surely, the second instalment of this aerial battle might take place soon. The Shikra may have an extra weapon up its sleeve in the next battle. In our books, we learn predator versus prey as a battle of two. In nature, situations are more complex and interesting-with multiple species battling it out!

This account is just one of the many enthralling animal fighting encounters happening in the skies around us right in the city.There are so many amazing behaviours going on all around us, we just need to look up!

Photo Gallery(All photos by N.S. Sivasankaran)

1.Shikra making a beeline for tree used by the parakeets

2.Rose-ringed parakeet

3. Crows on their way to chase off the shikra

-Arjit Jere

A Wild Adventure in the Nilgiris- A Nature Essay

 Preface-This essay was originally a  submission for VCN essay competition. While this essay has been presented as a single adventure in one day, it is actually an accumulation of multiple exciting encounters over several days.

 The day started with a particularly foggy morning with the mist shrouding any signs of the road. The place was the always picturesque Nilgiris in the Western Ghats. Another day of fieldwork for habitat plots beckoned. A misty December morning, driving 30Km. in the winding Western  Ghats with low visibility! It was not the easiest route! As we neared our site, we had to drive through the narrow forest animal path. The route bisected the mountain at a point so high that the staggered slopes hugged the route on one side and the gaping valley on the other. The marvellous matrix of grass and rolling forests(which looked like faraway green fur)  presented itself in the view- a unique ecosystem like none other -Sholas at its finest-islands of the heavens!

A typical shola patch-a green matrix

The route however was very precarious indeed! One wrong turn and a horrible death awaited! As I went deeper into the forest with my Field Assistant, a raspy rustling sound on the side pierced the chirping of the forest. What was that!? Intrigue and Fear gripped me. As I quickly turned in the direction of the sound, I saw a spatter of yellow with black spots streaking inside the forest from the road. Instantly, the head of the creature reared itself to me, revealing the spine-tingling sight of a leopard!  It all happened so quickly that I froze on the spot. A wave of fear and excitement caught me, as it was the first time I had seen this animal in the wild. Then as I recovered my senses, the adrenaline surged through my veins, and with an instinctive response, I started to turn back. But to our relief, the leopard gave a short growl of warning and disappeared into the understory! We moved on with bated breath deep in the forest this time on foot. Once we started doing our regular work of plant sampling, it was business as usual. But not for long! I heard a grunt and saw a massive black horned shadow in the growth some feet ahead. This meant only one thing in the western ghats- Gaur! The big bovine is usually shy in the wild but can be aggressive when provoked.So, we had to watch our next movement very carefully indeed. I didn't have much experience in such tense situations before,so I looked at my assistant who was well versed in such situations. The gaur was looking straight at us, intent on charging us! Its ears flickered, maybe with irritation with this unwanted intrusion on its territory or maybe just due to the heat. Its menacing horns could deliver a crushing blow to any body part it touched. 

Here is the imposing Gaur,in a more anthropological setting

My mind became blank , my face went pale and my legs seem to be stuck on the ground as panic struck. We had to act fast to be safe! He told me to immediately find a shaded spot on an incline. I managed to find a safe spot in a bamboo bush, hidden away from the site. Sitting there in some fear and some relief I thought, this must be what smaller mammals must be doing when faced with such circumstances too. We were retaining some ancestral habits from the post-cretacious past I suppose!

In Rome do as the Romans Do! After initially trying to search for us, the Gaur finally went along its way. Thankfully, the presence of mind of my field assistant avoided a potentially dangerous situation. But what was I to know that this wouldn't be the only dangerous situation I was going to get stuck into for that day!

 

Now making our way towards the plot, it was a long winding walk as we reached the tea plantations surrounding the plot. I removed my jacket in the sweltering heat. We finally reached the plantation after 15 minutes of a tiring, steep walk.

As we made our way through the plantation and finally reached the forest edge, A chestnut-headed bee-eater whirled in the faraway trees, exploring the trees for signs of its six-legged food, reminding us that the forest was near. A Tickell's Blue flycatcher stood serenely on a tree nearby. As I stooped in the thick canopy I felt a chill. The temperature dropped suddenly as I went inside. The expansive canopy cover was acting as a shield, not permitting the sunlight to pass through to the forest floor. Entering the forest was like going into a dark cave as if the cave roof was a tree canopy. It became even darker as we ventured inside. 

The  forest started becoming darker once we neared the plot

                                        A chestnut-headed bee-eater, a common resident of the Nilgiris

White-bellied sholakili,a shola endemic ,as the name suggests(Photo Credits-Dhanesh,Field Assistant, Nilgiri Ecology Project)

We finally started doing our plot. After completing the one-hectare plot we ventured to the left side of the forest. As we came out of the forest,I saw a sharp transition from the Montane forest to open grassland. Now we had to traverse this steep terrain to reach to the four-hectare plot.

 It was as if we had entered a different world! The chill of the forest now changed to the harsh heat of the scrub. As we trudged up the hill in the scrub I suddenly came across a plant which was going to be a massively pesky nuisance all the way till we reached the four-hectare plot.  There it stood, in numbers, ominously staring at me from the path. “Goddamn gorse” I swore ruefully. Our journey was going to get prickly indeed. I slowly tried going travelling the path, trying to carefully dodge the sharp thorns of the plant so that they won’t pierce my shirt or worse, my skin. But the route was infested with these invasives so however hard I tried the plant still managed to make its mark. As I somehow struggled up the path, a few bloody scratches bore witness to the struggle. But this is normal for field work in the forest!

 Cursing my wounds,I went up to finish the 4-hectare plot and the way was about to get bumpier. To exit the scrub back to the plantations we had on the way down- I took my time to walk down. Then, I  lost sight of my partner going down from the scrub to the dense forest. Somehow, I managed to   “acoustically ‘’ estimate his location downhill by calling out and hearing his responses. Just as I started descending the forest, a  slippery slope beckoned. Suddenly, I  lost balance making the nontrivial mistake of an imbalanced straight step instead of the side step. Down I went, screaming with horror fearing the worst. I needed something to stop my slide, else at the minimum, some fractured bones awaited. I only just managed to stop myself from banging my head on a boulder as I picked up speed.   Thankfully I held on to a grateful branch of a tree to break my fall and didn’t get hurt. Had it not been for this tree, I would have descended many meters down on the forest floor with bloody repercussions.  Finally, I came out of the forest after a hellish ride and found my fieldwork partner. Where have you been? He exclaimed, and  I had to reveal I  had fallen off the slope . He looked back at me with exasperation which turned into a quizzical look- What is wrong with the stick? I responded  with a hint of surprise-“ What stick?” I looked at the measuring stick.” Oops “I realized, it had just three parts instead of the regular  4 parts. It must have got lost in the forest when I fell I explained.But by somehow doing a “jugaad” with a natural stick, I finally measured the tree canopy with the refashioned stick. At last, we finished the plot and went back. Phew! What a day! But like many days on the field, uneventful ones are a rarity.

As I sat back resting in the comforting warmth of the fireplace in my room,I thought how many close shaves with danger I had gotten through that day! A rollercoaster adventure of a day in which I was lucky to come out relatively unscathed. A real wild ride! But it is these exhilarating times which make me live for field visits.It is with the same sense of wonder that the great naturalists in history –Darwin, Wallace, and Attenborough made their expeditions in dense forests, raging oceans and steep mountains overcoming some tricky encounters along the way. Without these adventures, none of the discoveries in natural history would have happened. I only hope to follow in these massive footsteps, with the same excitement, skirting dangers along the way in an endless quest to unravel nature’s enigmatic mysteries.

- Arjit Jere