OUR WORLD

'H' is for hills and  habitation:

Houses stand cheek by jowl on the hill slopes at Solan (Himachal Pradesh). This is one such scene amongst many at Solan. It is one of the thickly populated towns of (H.P).

This post is part of           OUR WORLD,         image-in-ing,    ABC Wednesday,      Wordless Wednesday,     Outdoor Wednesday



Friends,welcome here as always!  

 

CRITTERS OF THE WEEK: WINGED BEAUTIES

Linked to:
Camera Critters,  Saturday Critters

I skipped posting critter shots for a couple of weeks as i didn't have any new pictures. I refused to take recourse to the ones in my archives. Luckily, I could manage to capture these delicate creatures and am sharing them with you.

The grey one in the company of a honeybee i captured in the lawn of our community at Kumarhatti, Solan.

 This butterfly was spotted resting on a blade of grass as i went up for a stroll in the lawn at Kumarhatti.

This black beauty had a rather sad story associated  with it. Yesterday, at about 7 in the morning, i stepped out to unlock the gate and pick up the morning paper, when suddenly I sighted this one sticking to the wall. I immediately brought the camera not to miss out the opportunity. However, in the evening when I came out to have a walk in the driveway, i saw that it had fallen on the ground dead. Probably the afternoon loo must have been too much for it to bear.

Friends,welcome here as always!

SKYWATCH AND GOOD FENCES

 Linking to:
Sky Watch, Good Fences

After three  months of idyllic stay in the lustrous green and salubrious lap of Shivalik hills, I'm back at my hometown Patiala.That explains my absence from the cyberspace for a week.The weather in the plains is still hot, humid and stifling. The business of restarting the home front is challenging to say the least. The body barks at adjusting to the suffocating temperature. How true it is that one can't have the cake and eat it too!

 The red flowers blooming in one of the parks in our community at Patiala. The yellow painted fence protects it from stray animals and unruly children.

The small gate above a staircase of one of the flats at Kumarhatti.

A view of the skyline  shot from Himalayan Expressway on our return journey to my den at Patiala.

Sky watch above spreading pines at Kumarhatti.

Friends,welcome here as always!

SKYWATCH AND GOOD FENCES

Linking to: Good Fences,Skywatch Friday

Flowering 'Gulmohar' trees across  the park fence in my home town Patiala. Picture taken in early May 2015.

 A pattern of monsoon clouds at Kumarhatti, Solan.

Another spectacle of the rain clouds at Kumarhatti. Pictures taken from a vantage point in our complex.

World photo day


Friends,welcome here as always!

ROSES AND PRICKLES

'The rose and the thorn, and sorrow and gladness are linked together.'

 

       Saadi.

'F' IS FOR FLOWERS.

My words keep playing with the evergreen mystery of our life. The gratuitous gifts of nature in the form of flowers, vegetation and other spectacular displays in changing seasons is a perennial source of inspiration. The natural phenomenon relates profoundly to the nature of our lives on this earth. For instant flowers, forests, valleys and glades play a significant role in uplifting our morale,which keeps us going on.

Another Wednesday gives a new opportunity for integrating thoughts about the insoluble mystery of life that all of us are living through.

Life is neither a bed of roses nor thorns,

It is a mixed bag of joys and pricking corns.

In fact….

Life’s canister is stuffed more with prickles,

Than laughter causing tickles.

Every mirth is slyly stalked,

By residues undesirable to be talked.

Never a moment is pure delight,

Bereft of memories of itchy slights.

Uncertainty is a bane and a boon,

Beyond our powers to prune.

A shadowy presence we sense in our minds,

Scary, unkind, rigid to hold us in a bind.

Truly, the scenario is galling,

No escape beyond facing the challenge.

Man may inhabit the moon and more,

The endless struggle stays in the fore.

 ...............



Linking to:ABC Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday

Friends,welcome here as always to start a conversation!

SKY WATCH AND GOOD FENCES

                                                                     



Linking to: Sky Watch, Good Fences

Green painted iron fence around our flower beds at my home town Patiala. This protects the space from stray cattle and dogs. The picture was taken in May 2015, when the lilies were in full bloom.

I

The picture taken of the small part of the park which i frequent for my walks.This (above) type of fence encircles the park. Captured around early May this year.

Early morning capture of the sky watch yesterday at Kumarhatti. Shot it from our balcony.

 The view of the sky line on Himalayan Expressway which bypasses the congested Pinjore, Kalka and Parwanoo.

Another view of the monsoon clouds!

Friends,welcome here as always!

LIFE: RIDDLES AND KNOTS

One of my favorite quotes!

'E' IS FOR 'EARTHEN'.

By the way, Wednesday post is for reflecting and articulating the mystery  inherent in the very concept of life. Life is imbued with multiplicity of interpretations, which are not random but follow a complex pattern. My poem (fourteen lines) roughly is in the form of a sonnet and has three stanzas and a couplet. Here it is:

LIFE is akin to an earthen pot,

Ever rife with impulsive brew on spot.

Smoldering embers, readied for vigilance,

Pre-empt the notion that stifles brilliance.

Well, turn the page:

Festering wounds stay embalmed,

In the chink of the soul securely calmed.

Deep hurts and recurring pains,

Sleep uneasily in shrouds of fake gains.

Go to the next page:

Let life be fashioned in metal and stone,

Newfangled world of human clones!!!

The idea of doom is a deadly cocktail,

Entails despondency and all hopes derailed.

The epilogue:

Human spirit is willed never to die,

Like a phoenix the brave hearts will rise. 

Friends,welcome here as always!

Linked to:ABC Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday,

OUR WORLD: MONSOON BONANZA

Monsoon rains have saturated the parched hill sides with elixir from the heavens. It has  renewed and boosted the energy of  leaf, bush and flower. Vegetation feels blessed with a glowing green glory and looks like a bride decked with green finery. 
The wondrous visual treat  soothes as well as excites the senses. Birds come out fluttering and making music after the downpour stops.  When the rain gods take some rest, the flora shakes up inertia and brightens up for the indulgence of the generous on lookers. The washed festive ambiance washes away, whole lot of stresses and strains.
However, it juxtaposes with another aspect of this season. Cloudbursts, flash floods,  landslides,  extensive damage to life and  property and roads have been reported in this hill state.Life, in fact is synonymous with opposites.

These yellow flowers (above) are real brave hearts. Soon after the rains cease, they show their resilience by spreading golden smiles.

The rose bushes were pruned more than a month ago. They again are proliferating with bud and flower.

The yellow flower is yet to show its full prowess.

Early morning shot as the mist is rising up from the mountain tops.

The other side of the valley,hazy in parts.

The drizzle is there still. A wet day with the skyline wearing a white cloudy cloak.

The larger scene of the valley. The mist lingers on....


Location: Kumarhatti, Solan,(Himachal Pradesh).

Friends, welcome here as always!


Linked to: Our World Tuesday, image-in-ing, NATURE NOTES,TODAY'S FLOWERS

Outdoor Wednesday

SKY WATCH AND GOOD FENCES

Part of my hill series:

 Monsoon rains are fully active  here these days. It rains almost every day. The earth is all agog with lustrous green freshness. The surroundings seem to be decked with resurgent vegetation of all types.

A partial view of  the chain fence which encircles the lawn of our complex.On the left  outside the fence there is a mound of earth overgrown with sundry flora. Some lanky pines seem to take care of the activities around.

 

  Iron railing around a small area below our unit overlooking the valley dense with fresh green pines.

 

Monsoon clouds trying to lay seize on the  canopy of the blue skyline.

Shot taken by looking up straight from the lawn.The  sky displaying thick rain filled clouds,is sort of sandwiched between tree tops.

Friends welcome here as always!


Linking to:Good Fences, Sky Watch Friday

THURSDAY CHALLENGE

 The theme for this week is:

PLACE (House, Cabin, Apartment, Tent, Workshop, Office,...)

 Part of my hill series:


Linked to: Thursday Challenge , Outdoor Wednesday

This small really modest roadside eatery is yet to be inaugurated .

A few days back while strolling on this road I saw a wooden skeleton  with a roof of corrugated iron sheet and some area leveled around it. We were intrigued as to its identity. A couple of days on, we witnessed a tent like structure covering the skeletal of sundry poles and a single door entry. There were some local lads installing these colorful flags. On further inquiry we found  that an enterprising local boy is going to start an eating place here.

Just waiting curiously when it would start its operations. And how it'd be managed.

 

 I's attracted by this pine's unusual shape while on a walk yesterday.

 
Friends,welcome here as always!

DEATH IS REAL

Hemingway's 'THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA' IS A CLASSIC. It is a 'magnum opus' of stark realism. He is one of my favorite novelists! I love the truth behind the words, in this quote!



'D' IS FOR 'DEATH'


Another Wednesday, another letter and a new adventure. 


Here is my first attempt at writing  'Haiku' a Japanese form of poetry comprising three lines of 5 7 5 syllables.

          Death

Death’s dark shadows grip,  

Life’s calendar crossed each day,

Well, laugh it away. 

...........

PS. I've always admired John Donne's poetic perspective on death. Here, I'm reproducing it for your perusal: 

Holy Sonnets: Death, be not proud

By John Donne

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

And soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well

And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

Friends,welcome here as always! 

Linking to:
ABC Wednesday,Wordless Wednesday