....catching up to the Snail's pace....

'twas one of those unearthly morning hours when a couple of friends and self stumbled across this weary chap returning from a hard-day-in-the-office....i say 'stumbled'..well, we had almost crushed the poor chap beneath our confident (i daresay self-assured) tread!

so what about this snail -the epitome of 'laziness' ?...and what about the legendary "snail's pace"? Apparently the typical speed of an adult Helix lucorum is (a very much law-abiding figure of) One mm/sec !!!

Remarkably enough, He leaves very noticeable footprints every few steps as if trying to justify his 'pace'...as if saying that

- "look here, i got no race to run, no deadlines to meet, no chaps to measure up against...i sure got the luckiest job in this entire 'road' you know - To live every single step completely...thats it, to know the road thoroughly for that step for that stretch of time (call it seconds/minutes/hours whatever!)....the best part is am so forgetful - once i've taken "my time" over that step, i actually manage to forget it..to just let it go...and move on ! And somehow (i dunno how, its amazing really) i end up leaving a mark, a distinct impression on the road.."

hmmm...Laziness eh?

Guess its about time we think about catching up with the snail's pace!!!

Order in Chaos? or Chaos in Order ?

time and again, this space has referred to the incorrigible 'mad painter' and His outrageous canvasses! ....the canvas under scrutiny this time, forcing a sharpish downward tilt to the good 'ol cerebellum.
Located, very modestly i might add, on the periphery of a lonely pit (at the backyard of our ancestral house in Mangalore, if you must know!), the above leaf seems to have been a makeshift towel for a riotous holi-player...a flood of gulal which eventually 'pinked' its way to the numerous veins and branches of this hapless victim !!! Chaos then, eventually leading to some order ?

So many "leaf-towels" ??? with the very same singular fish-bone design? this second snap then outrightly dismisses the above balderdash...surely there is an 'organized riot' going on here....tonnes of patience and painstaking efforts can only sketch such a kaleidoscope-of-one-solitary-colour and then "copy-paste' it on multiple canvasses !!!

so who creates orderly chaos ?

..a serene Master?....

or (and the cerebellum vigorously nods its approval here) a mad painter ?....

Once-in-a-Blue-Moon !!!

.....captured behind the window grill - a serene midnight blue Moon surrounded by an anxious retinue of loyal clouds!

Watch the 'clumps of cotton' striving to shield their unruffled leader!

So who calls the shots here? the 'leader' or the 'followers' ??

Take out the Moon and there wouldn't be any light to guide the mercenary clouds....But what if you just vapourize the Clouds like a "Messiah"? hmm..then how would the solitary Moon boss around? and most crucially - sans Clouds, i wouldn't have photographed these snaps in the first place!!!

the eve of the Full Moon....basking in the reflected glory of that hide-n-seek veteran -the Sun !!!

"One day the Sun admitted, I am just a shadow!
i wish i could show you the infinite transcendence
that has cast my brilliant image!
i wish i could show you
when you are lonely or in darkness,
the astonishing light of your own being" !!!
----Hafiz

the Abode of the Gods..

the window of Airbus flight Guwahati-Mumbai on Jan 1,2008
nothing out of the ordinary, what?...well, look at this close-up shot now..



And how about this one ??? At 700km/hr (plane's ground speed), this has gotta be one of my fastest snaps out there !
Yup, these are the mystical Himalayan ranges adorning the lands of Tibet here....standing tall and proud above all the clouds...above the earth...above everything this pair of eyes could comprehend ! Surely, the very Gods would dwell here in peace..comfortably settled in their pristine white palaces...

a sepentine white carpet beckons me to join them for a cup of tea...just then a cursory glance at the navigation display shows the outside air temperature at a staggering -44 degrees...yup, the heavens are there for my taking if i can but bear a "l'il cold" ..Dare i leave the comfortable warmth of this familiar bird? dare i extend the wings of my own solo flight and simply go for it ?

OK..am staying back....that cute air-hostess just gave me a dazzling smile :D