Green Garbas.....

Navratri is just over, and the rhythm of the Garba still lingers in the air.

 It takes a keen green eye, for someone like my friend Shail Mohan, of Thiruvananthapuram, to see it all, in the graceful branch undulating sinusoidally across a balcony ledge.  See her posting here.

So many fresh leaves,  some bending forward, some arching back, and twirling with hands raised, all dancing , in single file, in a graceful green garba.....

And a traditional song comes to mind.... (Click this link to hear the song)

Gracefully playing the Garba'
Arms raised,
bending and twirling back,
in sinusoidal delight,
to the tune of
मै तो भूल चली बगीचे का देस
बालकनी का घर प्यारा लगे
मै तो भूल चली बगीचे का देस
बालकनी का घर प्यारा लगे
कोई फूलोंको दे दो संदेस
जाके पेड़ोंको दे दो संदेस
बालकनी का घर प्यारा लगे
ओ मै तो भूल चली बगीचे का देस
बालकनी का घर प्यारा लगे

Keeping her own counsel.....

Sometimes, simple visuals end up making a telling comment on the state of the ordinary man when faced with folks begging for votes.

And every time there are rumours of the clout and power of so and so's.  Except nobody makes a statement. When it all gets too much, Luci Shail , below, tells you how to handle it.

Luci Shail of Thiruvanantapuram, who has her own blog and chronicler, is a very politically astute and aware dog. She also revels in power and control. But  even for her, it is sometimes too much....

So many states,
so many elections,
so many candidates,
so many goodies,
so many fibs and lies.

Then
an election code of conduct,

Sometimes,
keen observers
wrapped in apolitical shawls
have seen so much
that they need to
stuff something
in their mouths
to keep their observations
to themselves.....

Vote For ......!

Certain technical individuals with a digital bent of mind,recently posted an opinion comparing and extolling the similarity of lasagna with biryani.

While their architectural proclivities may bias them towards stuff constructed in slabs, it is imperative that we restore lasagnas and biryanis ,  to the positions they were intended to be in.

In this season of elections in my state in India, it really is about how to vote.

As below.

So many ingredients
doing snaan**  in sauce,
sacrificing their individuality
to a life
of dryly stewing
and being covered with
a towel of maida***;
again and again and again.

And the lah de dha cheese
in fake
melting streaky tears,
showing up in a grand hot finale
at the Convention.

Give me
fiesty,
presumably ugly looking
masala elaichis****,
free spirited tej pattas*****,
lip curling cinnamon pieces
and
black minded but faithful peppers.
They live in freedom
mingling with the bit of dahi,
with veggies of the day,
populating a fragrant ricey crowd,
occasionally adorned
with saffron strands,
and proletarian crisp onion strips.

A cool young Raita
to give the Nomination Speech,
and the Biryani erupts
in a festival
of taste, color, and satiation,
its individual members,
looking up at the world
and saying,
"Yes we can ! Yes , we can !".

Like I said, Nothing Technical.

All about how you vote.


** snaan ~ sanskrit word for bath
*** maida ~ all purpose refined flour with zero nutrition 
*****elaichis ~ cardamoms
*****tej patta ~ bay leaves

The Making of a Royal

There are Queens, there are Princesses ,  and there are balconies. And terraces.

My friend Shail Mohan, who chronicles the Life and Times of Luci Shail, posted this imposing visual, of a Crown Princess surveying her realms from the ramparts of the Royal terrace.

There is a sense of responsibility, a sense of royal duty.  Because the  Queen , is actually away , visiting Bozoland , up North from where she stays.

And HRH Lucinda alias Luci , although still very young in age, and given to chewing spectacles as a royal hobby,   takes her responsibilities seriously, and must keep a keen eye on intrusions....





 

The Crown Princess,
future Monarch,
HRH Lucinda,
in her role
as
Knight Commander
of the Legion of Barks,
Duchess of the Plantain Patch,
Honorary Brigadier
of the Thiruvananth Spectacle Fighters,
in action
on the Royal Terrace
surveying her realm,
in the absence
of the Queen
who was away
clicking another Crown Prince
in Bozoland.

The Coconut trees
simply perform
the Guard of Honor
every time she appears...

Yes,
the Royals take their roles seriously.

Barbets in the service of the nation....

My friend, Shail Mohan  of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, posted this capture of a White Cheeked Barbet or Small Green Barbet , from one of her outings . 

Have a look at her post and the original click here.

She also calls them (in addition to their scientific name Megalaima viridis)  , "electrician birds".

The network on view is one of the more civilized , but possibly illegal, simple wire networks,  in a country, where despite many companies producing electricity, there are huge transmission losses, and blatant stealing of power happens, undoubtedly because some blind eyes exist.  One can see a mess of wires creating unsolvable networks even in parts of old Delhi. 

What we need is something like on-line power checkers.  

I know it is easy to wish.  But sometimes, such bird photos, inspire.

With so many losses
in transmission,
stealing of power,
and unauthorized connections,
what you need
is a flyng squad
of on line power checkers.

No chai pani
no blind eyes
just a quick
entangling of something
with a sharp beak.

And then
sometimes,
a foto on Facebook....