Hands of Nature
Sounds far-fetched, i know....but then, these're my Grandma's hands sorting out some herbal plants with infinite care & patience...with slow but deliberate movements, these hands danced joyously...dont ask me to which laya or taal !!! Think its the sheer love for the task at hand that brings out such mudras and creates a masterpiece of a symphony: silent yet eloquent !!!

Contd. ......After-sunset !!!

Sunset by the Countryside !!!
Pics shot from the terrace of our house at rural M'lore ! See the towering coconut trees calmly surveying its surroundings even as the canvas around them changes dramatically and assumes menacing proportions with dark grey clouds (once again!) in the horizon....Contd.

Sunset by the Beach !!!
this is at Kaup Beach, M'lore-also called as Kaup Lighthouse...and these pics were taken at the vantage point of lighthouse tower (at the very top of course !) ...i set seige there right from 4.30 in the hot afternoon waiting, almost willing the impish 'lady' to get a move on and rest for the day ;) ... but the 'hottie' took its own sweet time & finally called it a day at 6pm in the evening ! At the horizon, i waited with bated breath and then the anti-climax: out-of-nowhere, this train of dense clouds appeared( i swear, it was a mere wisp a few mins back) literally playing the bodyguard and shielding the last private sunny moments from any spying eyes !!! (guess u can readily imagine the scene - an angry old father defiantly crossing his arms and challenging me to steal one more glance at his lovely girl, my beloved...sigh!)

Only one regret.......none of the pics could really capture those big limpid liquid-black half-popped out Eyes !!! guess the natural camera flash kept reflecting and gave me shockingly white, even ocean-blue coloured eyes !..this is the closest i could get to one of Amba's more sensitive expressions (where she's not giving me the 'eye') !!!

TurnCoat !!!! ;-))

Just one day old, but look at her brand-new coat! i like the pic where Momma is genuinely puzzled at this dolt who keeps flashing lights at her new-born & herself! then again, she might be glaring..dunno..these folks don't even frown...nor a crease on their colossal foreheads !!!

Just then, my aunt decided to take matters in her hand and held the calf to Sonu's udder...and then 'twas magic...the calf was motivated to stand on its own legs and excitedly had its first nourishment...the first 2 pics taken abt 3 hrs later- the dark browned beauty was changing colours literally...look at her new coat...i was given the privilege of naming her...born on the 2nd day of Navratri, i thought Amba was apt...and that was it !

These folks took up most of the memory space(deservingly so!)...starting frm the bottom pic-Sonu(Mom) has just delivered a healthy calf..pic taken abt 5 mins after she(did i mention its a girl?) 'formally' came into existence...Momma began earnestly licking her, giving natural warmth and marking her as her own! The knock-kneed calf tried desperately getting up, with mom continuously prodding her...but she kept stumbling & finally just gave up, facing the other side(first pic!)...Sonu, patient as ever, kept up her efforts!

This delightful chap was a thorough gentleman..the only subject who was totally unruffled with the digicam flashes...he actually posed for a good 10-15 mins...ain't he photogenic ?

Lets see what you can make of this ?

Bole toh apun ka favourite fool !!!
Wide variety of butterflies, but were a trifle shy !!

Lets begin with a snapshot of the some of the mind-boggling varieties of flora (all in the courtyard) there! Dunno all (ok, none) of the names!!...some fascinating facets of other flowers....like there is one which blooms every evening only for a few hours...then the the legendary brahma-kamal (still a nascent plant there), which as the name suggests is the lotus-seat of Lord Brahma....quite rare...so invariably makes it to the local papers, when one blooms in the district !

Sun's just abt set on an exciting 'n immensely rejuvenating 7-day trip at my ancestral home in rural M'lore!...'twas eventful all right....saw nature at her very best (uh, am always saying that!), witnessed some amazing sunsets, captured the first few moments of some new lives unfolding - Sonu brought out Amba and the Russian Chinchilla quite unexpectedly popped out four brand new 'uns...'Course u don't know what am gibbering abt !!!!....well, the former refers to the revered ('n quintessential) house-cow which gave birth to a bewitchingly beautiful calf and the latter to a Rabbit breed which delivered a spanking new litter of l'il ones on the penultimate day of my stay there (talk abt good timing!)
Still sorting out all the pics...for the time-being, chk out the good 'ol sun-set from the top of the solitary light-house tower at Kaup Beach,M'lore (er...with my silhouette thrown in for good measure ;-))

M'lored !!!!

Yup, me off to Mangalore(my 'native place' or namma ooru,as we say in my lingo!)....the land of coconuts,neer dosas and.....hang on, the rest can wait until am back next week!
WATCH this space !!!

Dark Clouds cover the canvas, blocking out the last vestiges of a glorious sunset & wipe the slate clean..........Even This Shall Pass Away!

Even the pallid Mithi river(yup! the same waste water body that engulfed suburban bombay last year) glows a serene golden, basking in the sunset!

hmm...how many shades here ? see if u can find that 'merawala
pink/purple'

Thot i'll start off with a post-sunset view of the passionate Mumbai skyline!........its fascinating to watch the play of Clouds and their myriad colours (none of 'em their own!)...Clouds just reflect wotever's happening around 'em(now am not getting philosophical here, but isn't this terrific- to be in equilibrium at all times, just 'reflect' wotever comes at u, whoever throws it at u!) ...in this case, the dark orange glow of the dipping Sun!