Christmas in the year of the Pandemic. Mount Abu.(22/12/2020 )

 "There's no place like home for your Christmas bash in this pandemic year."

Mount Abu 22 Dec 2020.

Celebrations for Christmas will be low-key, just like our other festivals. COVID-19 has put a damper on all Social gatherings and mass merrymaking. This year the traditional midnight mass on the eve of Christmas that ushers in the celebrations of Christmas will not happen because of guidelines laid down by social distancing guidelines.

It's jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way oh, one slip in social distancing, will destroy your ride, and send you packing in an ambulance to the gateway to .......!

Every time a bell rings, the coronavirus goes for a swing, 

Every time we hear cheers, the virus looks at us with fear,

The lights on the trees act like beacons wishing you all,

 A stress-free magical holiday season.

Spread your Christmas Cheer, singing loud for all to hear.

"MERRY Christmas"

MERRY Christmas 

Mount Abu presently is not under LOCKDOWN, but social distancing guideline is a must. Tourists who come to Abu for their holiday season adhere to.

>  Avoid physical contact, no hugs or handshakes 

>  Keep your distance in your merrymaking and avoid close face-to-face contact

>. Following the social distancing rules

.> Avoid roaming in large groups. 

>  Abu will levy a fixed fine of Rs 500 for those who do not wear a mask 

>  Buy Your Alcohol will in time to avoid last mine buying as the place outside the liquor shops gets overcrowded, and this is not desirable.

.> Tourists don't forget your woollies as the temperature after sundown drops to 0 at night. 

"BE SAFE BE HAPPY TAKE CARE ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY CHEER"

CHEERS 🥂

Mount Abu an update of events post Lockdown period [.Aug 2020.]

 Mount Abu’s Post-Lockdown Rush: Paradise or Pandemic Waiting to Happen?

Plummy from school, per kind favour Brother Agnello

Amidst India’s Independence Day celebrations, overshadowed by the pandemic, another story emerged from the hills of Rajasthan. Mount Abu, the state’s only hill station and long marketed as the “Green Oasis of Rajasthan,” found itself flooded with tourists desperate to escape months of lockdown, confinement, fear, and fatigue.

 The timing was predictable.

 The monsoon had transformed the hills into a spectacle once again. Clouds drifted through the forest. Waterfalls roared back to life. The air carried the scent of wet earth and freedom. For thousands arriving from neighbouring Gujarat, Mount Abu offered something their cities could not — space to breathe, cooler temperatures, and the illusion that normal life had returned.

 Hotels filled. Roads choked with vehicles. Crowds gathered at viewpoints, markets, and waterfalls. After months of economic paralysis, many locals welcomed the return of business. Tourism is the lifeblood of Mount Abu’s fragile economy. Shopkeepers, hotel owners, taxi drivers, and small vendors had suffered during the lockdown. For them, the sudden influx felt like the first sign of recovery.

 But behind the smiles and business transactions lurked an uncomfortable question nobody wanted to answer.

 At what cost?

 Mount Abu’s residents confronted a different reality—the fear that the virus itself may travel up the hills along with the crowds—as tourists arrived seeking relief from lockdown boredom.

 Social distancing in tourist hotspots became a joke. Masks appeared more decorative than protective. Public enthusiasm overwhelmed public caution. At the waterfalls and scenic points that drew visitors, careless exposure was becoming an issue.

 The tragedy of this pandemic has always been humanity’s brief memory. Once restrictions are relaxed, numerous people act as though the danger has gone. It has not. COVID-19 does not disappear because people are tired of hearing about it.

 Mount Abu now stands caught between survival and safety.

 The town cannot survive without tourism. Yet uncontrolled tourism during a pandemic risks turning a peaceful hill station with limited medical infrastructure into a vulnerable hotspot. That is the cruel dilemma facing countless tourist destinations across India, but nowhere is the contradiction more visible than here in the Aravallis.

 The authorities, meanwhile, continue their balancing act — encouraging tourism while preaching caution. But slogans alone will not protect a town if enforcement remains weak and visitors treat the hills like an escape from responsibility.

 The beauty of Mount Abu during the monsoon is undeniable. The mist, forests, lakes, and waterfalls continue to cast their spell as they always have. But nature’s beauty cannot shield anyone from a virus.

 Freedom without discipline is recklessness.

 And if people abandon caution in the name of tourism, this brief economic revival could leave behind consequences far more lasting than the holiday memories visitors carry home.

Misty Mount Abu

An accident waiting to happen at waterfall Mt Abu

(Photo via WhatsApp )

Waterfall Mt Abu

(Vid via WhatsApp )

"A beautiful waterfall on Mount Abu, with water tumbling down the rocky terrain and surrounded by lush foliage and trees."

I will post updates on wildlife and other events shortly 

Date palm trees Mount Abu [ 14/06/2020 ]

The Abode of the Gods is where the wild date palm trees grow.

Langoor eating dates 

Langoor eating dates 

Langoor descending the trunk of Date Palm

According to legend, the tree of knowledge was the date palm tree. Was this the fruit offered to Adam and not the Apple? The Jews and the Islamic religion have stressed the holiness of the date and date palm. It remains uncertain when the date palm was brought to Mount Abu. The Abu date palm is wild. It grows throughout our little hill station here in Rajasthan.

We do not harvest wild dates here as the fruit bears no pulp. The date comprises a large seed with a fine mess of coating. Wild bears (sloth bears) feast on the fallen fruit. Our local tribal uses the leaves of the date palm to feed their cattle in periods of drought. Some use the leaves to make brooms. Previously, our locals tapped the trees for their sweet neera. 

Seeing a langoor scale up a tree to feast on these wild dates surprised me. The monkey ate a few of the dates and shortly afterwards descended. The fruit did not hold a fascination for his hungry stomach. 

Troupes of Monkeys have invaded the fruit gardens here in Mount Abu. Scores of monkeys, who depend on handouts from the thousands of tourists visiting Abu, have come to a standstill after the COVID-19 lockdown.

Coronavirus Outbreak: Live Updates Mount Abu Rajasthan [ 29/03/2020 ]

Chinese Wuhan virus or coronavirus.

Catch up on the latest on Mount Abu's day 4 lockdown.

Garfield wilds and living Free. 

The wizard speaks. When I put this question to my cat Garfield, where’s the world headed? He watched me with his crystal blue eyes and meowed! Looks like Mount Abu, heck no India, is preparing for the invisible invasion (far more destructive than the nuclear blasts of 100 bombs) every time he shifted his crystal orbs I could see a veil of uncertainty and dread being played out the images of his focus kept shifting and his retort kept changing Heck, we and the world are in for a New Haul and new world order with changed perspectives of how Humans are to treat this planet Earth. I had seen enough, and a shudder went through me. Seeing my apprehension, finally closed his eyes and meowed, “The country that's focused and well prepared is gonna win. SO INDIA GO FOR IT! Folks STAY INDOOR BEAR WITH THE ISOLATION LIKE THE ANIMALS OF THE ZOO! JAI HIND! 

Abuites in Mount Abu, under our present SDM Ravindra Goswamihave and Abu administration, responded well to his appeal "ALL HANDS ON DECK”.

Folks who have come to Abu from New Delhi, Mumbai, Australia and South Africa at the time of lockdown are under quarantine as a preventive measure. The Administration quarantined 35 Abuites in their homes. Well, now come to think of it we are also sailing in the same boat. Hopefully, our lockdown has come in time, and there are no positive cases to rock our boat.

The lives and livelihoods of 1.4 billion countrymen are at stake. The next 4 weeks are abs crucial and the cry of the Nation is “Stay at Home”. The media, WhatsApp and all other social media are in overdrive. Politicians are frantic, as they have proven no rightful solution to contain this epidemic.

Abuites and the district administration to keep everything in check have taken positive steps. They have formed teams in cooperation with Abu Administration. Brahma Kumaris has set up quarantine centres both in Mount Abu and Abu Road. The hotel association has pitched in and is helping with aid to the poor. And Abuites are all united in their effort to provide a helping hand where it’s most needed.