AshTalksHobbies

Yes, this can be a hobby! Some people, like my mom, just love visiting zoos. She has gone to the zoo in Delhi, Chennai, Nainital, Hyderabad and Trivandrum. We happen to live near the Vandalur zoo in Chennai. We’ve been here quite often. Here are some pics from Vandalur zoo. Taking young children to zoos is a good idea to enable them to see a variety of animals. The tiger temple in Thailand is famous, too. One does feel sad to see animals outside their habitat and living in bad conditions and in cages in circuses and commercial display like the Dolphin City that once existed in Chennai. All four dolphins apparently died since they were not in a conducive environment. Most zoos, however, are well equipped with facilities and staff who are well-trained zoologists with a good knowledge of animal psychology. They have veterinary doctors affiliated with them to help the animals. Most animals do not breed well in captivity, but it is a joy to behold tiger cubs or other ...

Everyone’s a closet singer these days, and with apps like Smule and Starmaker, they are all coming out of the closet! I came across the Smule app around four years ago when one of my Facebook friends posted a video of it. I shared it with my uncle, who fell in love with the app and has made a gazillion videos on it. He has sung numerous Hindi and English numbers on Smule and shared them with family, friends and colleagues. Recently, he started a YouTube channel featuring his songs. You can check it out here .   He has lately taken to using vidtrim and uploading cool videos to go with the songs. I’ve been to a karaoke bar only once as far as can remember. It was to ‘Connie’s’ in Bangalore with my friends. I sang (or brayed) ‘La Isla Bonita’ and one other Madonna number( I think it was ‘True Blue’). It was quite an exhilarating experience. I had to summon my courage to go sing in public since singing is not my forte, and the people who frequent karaoke bars sing like...

Crochet is a hobby that requires skill and patience. My mom learned how to crochet from the Internet through YouTube videos. She is a member of several crochet groups on Facebook. She also looks at Pinterest for ideas. My mom says one has to go step by step in crochet. The first thing she made was coasters. She made coasters in the shape of owls, leaves etc.  She then graduated to square and round bags. She finally made ponchos and cardigans. My mom had seen my maternal grandmother doing crochet several years ago in Delhi, but she didn’t learn from my grandma. She learned knitting from my grandma. Some of my mom’s classmates also did crochet several years ago. My mom also had some crochet books, but she feels YouTube helped her more. She says it can be done while watching TV or being otherwise engaged. It acts as a stressbuster. Crochet helped my mom get through a tough time when her mother passed away. She says one has to count a lot of stitches to get it right. There ar...