Around here

Day has just begun, prayer lamp is already lit...a street hawker is out, he has to spend entire day out, shouting out loud for old books/cardboard boxes, scraps, and in return he will get nothing but the amount  that will buy him just a handful of rice or flour...it's a long day ahead for him.  

I am sitting in the dappled sun, air around is heavy with scents of chillies, cloves, turmeric, and aroma of kahwa served in ceramic cups. Nearby Vihaan jumps with glee on spotting a tiny Adonis blue, beautiful wings fluttering in air, sliver spotted skipper and blue admiral are also seen close by, Vihaan smiles charmingly.  

In the garden, the Myrtle, heather, spurge, lily and daisy families are budding, blooming, and buzzing with life and Asian carpenter bee and blue bottle, nearby the silent spectator, the plumaged bee eater is waiting for the right moment to attack the bee, suddenly I get distracted by the faint cries of a lonely Alpine Chough perched on the mango tree, it's faint cries cast a spell on me.  

Tiny leaves are emerging from the axils of the mango tree, in the autumn the leaves had left the branches with the petiole.

I hear the melodies of the parrots, pigeons, barbets, hoopes, passerines and chickadees...Vihaan is holding a navel orange, crushing it with his bare hands, tangy juice on his hands and clothes  and aroma around him....it has a mouth watering effect on my gustatory sense. I pick a fresh clementine and neatly peel it, and savour it, a small bit is savoured by Vihaan as well...he closes his eyes and twitches his face...he knows all the spells and charms.  

Terrace is covered with the Bird's eye chillies, spread out meticulously for sun drying,  we add a lot of these for instilling flavour to our savoury dishes, the smaller the fruit, the hotter it is, I believe so or may be it is the shrad of my imagination.

At dusk beforing retreating indoors, I see heavenwards and see clouds, Cumulonimbus and altocumulus,  I name them, I know they presage rain.

Late at night, me and Vihaan, we snuggle up in the Applique quilt...while Vihaan is fast asleep I hear rolling thunder and I know what is coming riding the chariot.  I close my eyes, place my left ear close to Vihaan's chest and his beating lulls me, my lids get heavy and I see the blue Admiral,  the hoppoe,  I sense the aroma of the clementines once again and I doze off....    

Inside & Outside-Glimpses of our weekend!!

There is a slight change in the weather here, Air has a frigorific effect in early morning and evening that's why I take vihaan to the our society park bit early than usual, he gets to play in the sunshine while I try to relax a bit in the open air!! 

Saturday,  I took my camera with me while  going to the park, incidentally I found a dozens of snail shells there, lucky me :), good load of my time was spent in the capturing them while Akash played with Vihaan. After I was done, I placed every shell back to where it belonged carefully, I wanted to bring few of them back home but then I noticed that snails were still inside them, may be hibernating as was evident from the sealed ends!!


Sunday was bit lazy!! I had a bad headache at night which left me feeling exhausted.

Here are few pictures!!

Basal view of a gastropod shell, showing the sealed part

Dorsal View

Three little Musketeers

Lion sleeps tonite :)

Guest in my Garden....Part 2

Is this Gary Langur!!!!! was my reaction when i saw something sitting on the  mulberry tree on the front gate... Yes it was a Gary Langur...I rushed inside for my camera and clicked it few times,I offered a guava which it took happily and after few bites it was thrown away...

This langur is an appointed security guard on duty to scare the Macaques in our society. The Macaques often roam around uninvited and disturb the locals, Langurs keep them away rather scare them from entering the society.

Sitting on the wall....This mulberry tree is just outside the gate.

Was more interested in the leaves, as mulberry leaves are sweet in taste.

They say March madness, I say March Miracle!!!

Bloom every where....Clicked pictures of the activities going on in my garden...seems as if the celestial maiden from court of the lord of heavens has whispered a couplet everywhere....and life is emerging from every seed, every branch... I thank you god, for visible miracles that you bestow on mankind, the subtle point that you make by telling us that life is an endless cycle and after every winter there will be spring to bring back life, cycle of birth-death -rebirth will continue.

Guest in my garden!!

Early morning I was watering my plants and happen to notice some unusual guest in my garden, positioned itself so artistically on the Tulsi plant, It was a chameleon, waiting so patiently for its prey!!!  I rushed inside for my camera to click its picture....I maintained a safe distance as I find these chameleons/lizards bit creepy, I clicked it few times, it was beautifully still and not moving at all, all i could see was its rolling eyes...