THE ASSAM TRIBUNEGUWAHATI, SATURDAY, MAY 15, 2010

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HOW often in the middle of a rowwith someone, a sound, “tik-tik-tik” asserts the truth in the topic!Yes, it’s the sound produced by ourhomely friend — the house lizard.

How often do we ignore them, or maybe evendo not acknowledge their existence? But really,don’t they deserve even our slightest attention?Let’s peep into the world of these ignored andperhaps creepy (to some) creatures.

To majority of people lizards mean only the‘house lizards’. But the fact is they come in var-ious shapes, sizes, colours and apendages. InIndia, we have more than 250 species of liz-ards. Norheast India itself horbours more than44 species of lizards. The common house liz-ards are also of varied types. There are morethan 21 varieties in India, and five of these arefound in Guwahati.

Lizards belong to the group of animals calledreptiles. They are cold blooded or ‘ectotherms’meaning they are unable to regulate their bodytemperature. Reptiles were the first land ani-mals to come into this earth or technically‘evolve’ from amphibians (frogs, toads, etc) thathad biphasic mode of life, involving both landand water. Evolutionary lizards are very inter-esting group of animals. Their adoptive fea-tures have taken them to extremes — someare the ‘spidermen’ of the animal kingdom.

Have you ever wondered how some lizardsmanage to stay put in a wall? Or how wonder-fully agile they are while climbing trees? Thelizards are able to accomplish such feats owingto the pattern of the digits or fingers on theirlimbs. Their digits (of both fore and hind limbs)contain special structures called ‘lamellae’ whichhelp them to adhere to the surface they climb,whether it’s a tree, a wall or even a slipperyglass. Another amazing thing about some liz-

Know theWORDDeva Kumar Das

THERE is a belief that a person who knowsproverbs cannot be bad. Listed below are tenproverbs. How many of them do you know?

Find out. Match column A with column B.

A B1. Good people a) killed the cat2. First come b) is the best policy3. God sends meat c) without a thorn4. Enjoy d) till you have the clean5. Don’t throw away e) first served

the dirty water6. Care f) the present7. At night g) the devil sends cooks8. No rose h) is good news9. No news i) are scarce10. Honesty j) all cats are grey

ANSWERS

SCORES: All correct: Superior, Eight correct: Good,Six correct: Average

tapeTALK Devajit Chayengia

SUPERNATURAL, BY SANTANA, SONY MUSIC, RS 399RELEASED in 1999, Santana’s Supernatural is con-

sidered one of the greatest comeback albums of all time.This critically-acclaimed, multi-Grammy-winning album

has so far sold over 25 million cop-ies worldwide. Now ten years afterits initial release the double-CD Su-pernatural: Legacy Edition is herewith an aim of celebrating the mas-sive success of the album with theaddition of an array of outtakes,remixes and unreleased material

from the original recording sessions. All the original tracksfind place here, newly remastered under Carlos Santanahimself, besides a second CD of rarities personally se-lected by Carlos. The following tracks provide music buffsa rare chance to revisit the repackaged gems, besidessome bonus tunes – Smooth, (Da le) yaleo, Love of mylife, Put your lights on, Africa bamba, Do you like...,Maria..., Migra, Corazon Espinado, Wishing it was, Elfarol, Primavera, The calling, Bacalao con pan, Angellove, Corazon Espinado (Spanish dance remix), Ya yo...,Maria... (Pumpin’ dolls club mix), Smooth (Inst), Thecalling jam, etc. Supernatural is about magical music!THIS IS US, BY BACKSTREET BOYS, SONY MUSIC, RS 399

This Is Us is Backstreet Boys’ - Nick Carter, HowieDorough, Brian Littrell and AJ McLean - seventh studioalbum as the original group andsecond as a foursome. Showingthat they continue to producepleasurable hooks and hummablevocal harmonies, the erstwhiletop boyband here offers somestandard bubblegum fare while alsomaking a few intriguing foraysinto throbbing electronica. The album also marksthe band’s return after a decade to its old teen-pop sound,and considering these guys’ combined age, the result issurprisingly quite effective. Check out how – Straightthrough my heart, Bigger, Bye bye love, All of your life(you need love), If i knew then, This is us, PDA, Mas-querade, Undone, etc. This package also includes theband’s ‘Live from London’ DVD. Pop fans should grabthis with both hands!

DEVOTIONAL GOLD, SPIRITUAL MUSIC, EMI, RS 395RELIGIOUS or not quite so, a dose of devotional music

can definitely work wonders for the stressed out souls.Meanings apart, only the sound vibra-tions of mantras, etc., can do the trickon our mind, body and soul. This dou-ble-CD album tries to achieve exactlythat by compiling some of the mostessential mantras, shlokas and dhuns,that too in the voice of some legen-dary singers as well as some top con-

temporary artistes. So here they go – Gayatri Mantra &Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra - Pandit Jasraj; Hare Krishna...,Krishna Hai Shraddha & Shree Ram...- Jagjit Singh; OmGam Ganapataye Namaha & Hanuman Chalisa - ShankarMahadevan; Mahishasuramardini Stotra - Devaki Pandit;Om Namo Bhagavate..., Yaa Kundendu Tushar - SanjeevAbhyankar; Sarva Mangala... & Gurur Brahma - SPBalasubramanyam; Govind Hare Gopal Hare - SureshWadkar, etc. This is food for the soul!

Courtesy: Planet M

MANY people will still remember thespeech that RK Narayan the novelist hadmade in Parliament. He said his heartbled whenever he saw young boys andgirls going to school laden with books

which they could hardly carry. This burden did notimprove their minds; it only made them hunch backs.

Heavy backpacks are one of the most distressingand unpleasant aspects of school life for many chil-dren. The heavy weight of books make school go-ing drudgery and irksome. This goes contrary to thecurrent trend which insists that the learning processshould be fun. Children who do not have to carryheavy loads, such as the resident borders, are morerelaxed and at ease than those who have to carryheavy backpacks to school. Similarly, one of theappealing aspects of college life for students is thatthey do not have to shoulder the burden of heavybooks.

Heavy bags cause stress onthe spine, back and shoulders,resulting in muscular pain, fa-tigue and strain. The excessiveweight in bags may cause achild to develop poor postureor slouch excessively. Look forthe following warning symp-toms that a school bag is tooheavy.

Tingling and numbness inarm.

Pain while wearing thebackpack.

Struggling when putting on ortaking off the backpack.

Change in posture whenwearing the backpack.

Lifting heavy burden for a longtime or distance is not good forchildren. Half of the school chil-dren develop pain in the back orshoulder. Carrying a heavy bag onthe back causes forward leaningand bad posture, which can leadto improper weight bearing on thespine, and pains and aches in the shoul-der and back. Carrying a backpackweighing more than 15 percent of body weightmakes a child or ado-lescent unable tomaintain properstanding posture.Children could getinto bad habitslike poor postureand slouching.

F o r w a r dbending at theback (a lsocal led ky-photic pos-ture) makesthe work ofb r e a t h i n gharder. Chi l -dren carryingheavy bags havebeen found tohave poor lungfunction. Children

AB1.Good peoplei)are scarce2.First comee)first served3.God sends meatg)the devil sends cooks4.Enjoyf)the present5.Don’t throw awayd)till you have the clean

the dirty water6.Carea)killed the cat7.At nightj)all cats are grey8.No rosec)without a thorn9.No newsh)is good news10.Honestyb)is the best policy

ards, particularly house lizards, is that if theyare threatened or touched, they have the ca-pacity to detach their tail, a phenomenonknown as autotomy. The tail then tends towriggle for a long time after it’s been cut off.Actually, this is a technique of these cunninganimals to escape our assault. While we arebusy staring at their wriggling tails they makegood their escape! Interestingly enough, thetail regrows after some time and the tail is some-what as good as new. Some lizards even havewing-like projections and are known as flyinglizards. But can lizards fly? Not really, ratherthese wings are used for gliding. The technique

is generally used to avoid predation.Because of our lack of knowledge re-garding lizards and also because of theirstrange lifestyle, lizard inspires severalmyths and legends worldwide. InEgypt, people believe that during springthe lizard climbs the eastward wall ofthe house, thus announcing the onset

of spring. In ancient Greece, the lizard repre-sented divine wisdom and good fortune. InRoman mythology, lizards supposedly sleepthrough the winter and so symbolize bothdeath and resurrection. Early Christianity as-sociated the lizard with the devil and evil. Asian

cultures believe that if a gecko calls from thebedroom of newlyweds, they shall lead a longand prosperous life together. We too have ourown set of beliefs. Common garden lizard ortezpia is believed to suck blood off people fromafar, thus giving the reddish colour of theirthroat. Interestingly, if it was true and couldbe implemented for human beings all the bloodbanks will turn non-functional. Actually thefact is, the garden lizard develops this coloura-tion in order to attract mates and also as amechanism of self defence. Also most believethat lizards, more specifically the house liz-ards, are very poisonous and if they bite or fallin any food item, when eaten has the poten-tial to kill. Rationally speaking, the house liz-ard has teeth so small, insufficiant even to makeany puncture in the skin. Regarding food itemstuff, a person may die just by licking his fin-ger if it is contaminated. So does it mean thatour fingers are venomous? The fact is thereare only two known species of lizard in theworld having venom and fortunately none canbe found in India. The Gila Monster and theMexican Beaded Lizard found in North Amer-ica, specifically in southwestern United Statesand Mexico, are the ones to watch out for.Though lizards (except these two) are not ven-

omous, evolutionarily they have given rise tothe most popular venomous group of animals,the snakes. It is worth mentioning even onlyvery few snakes themselves are venomous. Ev-olutionarily it is the lizard-like life forms whichlost the limbs in time and gave rise to snakes.The reminiscent of this fact can still be foundin some snakes like pythons. Pythons still havetwo small spurs in their posterior part exactlyin the place where in their ancestral form, thehind limbs may have existed.

Lizards occupy various habitats and are foundin almost all parts of the world co-existingwith man. Some common lizards foundin this part of the country are thehouse lizards — jethi in Assamese —with types such as Asian house gecko(tik-tik jethi), brook’s house gecko (khohotajethi), tokay gecko (keko jethi), Khasi Hillsgecko (khasia jethi), Assam day gecko (Aso-mi diba jethi), etc; the garden lizards (tezpia),flying lizards (uronia tezpia), blue throat liz-ard (neelkonthi tezpia); the skinks or miniko-ra, and the monitor lizards or the gui saap.

Lizards not only add to the diversity of faunain any region but also contribute a lot to ourenvironment, even though they may appear tobe useless to some people. Lizards should be

welcome guests in some houses, particularly thehouse lizards which feed on insects, mosquitoes,wasps, etc, thus diminishing their number andhelping us get rid of these pests. Lizards on is-lands eat the partly digested food spilt by sea-birds, thus acting as ‘cleaners’ of the environ-ment. Lizards play a vital role in seed dispersalor pollination, but are not very popular pollina-tors as insects, butterflies, etc.

Lizards have also found various other uses inhuman life, some at the cost of the animal’sown life. Many countries utilize lizards in cere-monies. Some Indian tribes of North Americause lizard tails in a recipe for love potion. InIndia, live monitor lizards are used in fertility ritesand serpent festivals, often bringing harm to theanimal. They are also eaten and their skin usedfor leather. In the tropics, the green iguana iskilled for its flesh and eggs. Lizards are also animportant part of the food chain and environ-ment in general. Just like frogs, snakes and oth-er bigger animals, lizards also show variety ofcolouration, shapes and sizes, thus adding to theaesthetic beauty of any area. Owing to merci-less killing of these creatures, be it for skin, meat,or any other reason, some of them are evenfacing extinction. The Bengal monitor lizard(common gui saap) is an endangered species. InIndia, all trade in reptile products is prohibitedunder the Wild Life (Protection) Act, but still anundercover trade continues.

As with most of wildlife today, lizards are alsofacing threats to their existence, mostly by hu-man activities. Also because of our ignoranceand superstition regarding them, fate of theseanimals is almost sealed. How many of us re-member sighting a lizard? Whatever be the rea-son the sufferers are definitely these innocentvictims who arrived on this earth much beforethe humans were even conceptualized. It becomes

our imperative responsibility to saveour elders and many others who

are in need, and that’s be-cause we have the

power to do it.

who use one-strap bags (which put weight on oneshoulder only) have a particular problem. These bagscause sideways deviation of the spine (scoliosis) be-cause of the asymetric weight distribution and thiscan cause long lasting backaches and damage. Sling-ing the bag over one shoulder causes spine damage.

Here are some tips how to buy the right back-pack. Don't buy a big backpack; it should be appro-priate to your child's size. Choose a backpack withmoulded frame and adjustable hip strap, so that theweight of the filled backpack will rest on your child'spelvis instead of their shoulder and spine. The shoul-der straps should be adjustable, and the rear of thebackpack padded for comfort. To help with pack-ing, the backpack should have a few separate com-partments. Canvas bags are lighter than leather va-rieties. Consider buying a backpack with built inwheels.

The backpack shouldweigh less than 10 per centof your child's body weight.For example, a child of 20kg should carry less than 4kg in their backpack. Ideallythe child in this exampleshould carry around 2-3 kgof books. Pack the heaviestitems so they are closest tothe child's back. If the heav-iest items are packed furtheraway, this throws out thechild's centre of gravity and

causes unnecessary back strain. Make surethat items can't move around during tran-

sit as this could upset your child's cen-tre of gravity. Use the backpacks withcompartments.

Data shows that more than 75 percent of school children carry morethan the recommended safe weightin the school bag. Some solutionsfor this back breaking burden:

Loose sheets for homework. Individual lockers for students in

school. Class work notebooks kept in school. Consecutive periods for one subject.

The Central Board of Secondary Ed-ucation has directed the af-

filiated schools to main-tain the school bags ofthe students up to ClassII. School bags of stu-dents up to Class IIshould be kept inschool itself. Studentof this age groupshould come with alunch box and thepenci l box only.CBSE also recom-mends a class librarysystem so that stu-dents get used tothe habit of read-ing books inschool.

[The writer isa consultantpaediatrician inRungta Hospi-tal, Jaipur]

Lizard’sworld Madhurima Das/Jayaditya Purkayastha

Backburden

Dr Vivek Sharma