Power Smiles......

My FB and blogger friend Nandan Tavanandi, posted this amazing click of a "smiling" crocodile, clicked  from a boat in the Chambal River , at the National Chambal Sanctuary, Murena.   While on a photo trek with Nature India.

Please see some amazing visuals here on his blogpost . 

Such visuals are not new to me since  one has seen crocs and alligators similarly sunning themselves on jutting rocks, in the local lake in Mumbai , on whose banks, I have resided.

The only possible difference is, that, these days, some crocodiles, have reason to smile. Widely.

In a lake
now choc a bloc
with silt
sewage and garbage
of every corrupt variety,
he glides
smoothly
in and out
like an amphibian in power.

He bites the innocent ones,
swallows the weak,
and decapitates
those who dare to
put up a fight,
soon tiring,
and emerging
to enjoy his place
in a despairing Sun
on a helpless rock.

He smiles.

No one can touch him,
born as he is,
with his own Z++++ security.

The Royal Tour 2012

No, I am not a technically infatuated individual. But such "technical" photos  of dynamos  inspire poetic thoughts, when you learn, that  they were part of a anniversary celebration motorcycle ride done by a bunch of 31 folks who call themselves "Bisons Ride Hard"   and do wonderful, fun and educational trips  across this wonderful land.

They recently did a 24 hour ride across the Sahyadris to Hubli in Karnataka, and then back to Mumbai via Belgaum, Kolhapur, Wai, Panchgani, and the coastal highway in Maharashtra.

A tribute to the hardy vehicle, Rani Enfielda, of the Royal Enfielders...getting a much needed treatment in PanchGani , while the others get theirs (with cakes etc)....

(photograph by the Bisons/Old Monk) 

Rani Enfielda
the Mango Man's Cleopatra,
celebrating her anniversary
with
a survey of her subjects
across the Sahyadris
and red hot Mirchi Plains.

A 31-exhaust bang salute
and the wheels turn
in great speed
churning her memory
as she remembers
saluting the tricolor,
praying to the Lord
on his own beach in Kokan,
and even going up
the Mumbai coastline
to dream of chikoos.

But this one is special.

Serenaded by
special LED lights
of the night,
dedicated but tired,
she is the queen
of all she surveys across the Pasarni...

And while her subjects
celebrate
with something
the color of petrol,
she quietly checks in
to the Five-Songs Spa;
The source of her dynamo energy
needs a facial,
special petrol cleaning,
new oil lotions
a decent cleaning
of the brushes,
and she drinks a toast
to the group,
with a glass
of the oil-petrol mix,
beautifully mixed.

As Rani Enfielda,
she must not
and cannot rest....

She must lead them
down the mountain
and up the coast to Mumbai.

Only then
she will rest,
heaving a bit,
cooling in a garage amidst
envious BMW's,
maybe, just maybe
a few
tears of oil
will fall where she stands
leaning to one side,
thinking
how much fun it all was.....

The Pattice Award....

"Pattice" , made of an outside potato and flour covering, and sometimes, stuffings of various types inside, is  a very popular preparation, enjoyed in various ways in Mumbai. Naturally, my blogger friend Magiceye, has had it this season, and faithfully photographed it before eating it, and posted it here.

Although sometimes also made  with cooked green plantain fruit, by those, for whom potato is contraindicated,  It is time, that we acknowledge the role played by the  versatile potato in our troubled lives..... 

Proof, that  saviours too exist in society......

Sometimes
in a
powerhungry
mercenary world
you find
simple community leaders
giving of themselves
selflessly....

Alubhai Batatewale
always in the crowds,
rushing in
to offer his considerable
help,
in keeping
strong willful
immature types together.

In pressure situations,
giving the skin off his back,
he offers himself,
in collaboration with flours
and breads
to strengthen things,
tolerating 
the popular arrival of
Coriander Singh Mirchi,
Adrak Bhai and Lasoonabi.

Then its time
to console and hug the
sulking Green peas,
sometimes,
even the  Coconut
completely in shreds
troubled by
sidey chilly and kismis.

"Don't worry,
I am with you always"
he says,
as they both live through
a hot and sizzling
episode,
a testing time on
one of Life's griddles.

The battle over,
they rest ,
browned and singed,
catching their breath on a cool dish,
helped by
volunteers of the
Green Chutney Andolan.

Alubhai,
even then ,
with one ear alert
for possibly
impending Ragda floods.....

At a time when
you get thrown into hot burning oil
for the slightest reason
by folks
trying to be popular
and powerful,
Alubhai Batatewale
is too be awarded an PH.D
Pattice with Hara Dhaniya .....

Power Bites and Drumsticks

My newest FB friend  Arvind Khanna,  is a Botanist by training, and currently works with the Council of Scientific and Industrial  Research in New Delhi.  A very versatile nature photographer, he also does food photography , since his wife is a well known food blogger and trekker, Sangeeta Khanna , who has inspired numerous poems on this blog.  

 He has posted an amazing series of parrot captures, showing a parrot sitting in solitary splendour on one of the branches of the drumstick tree,  single mindedly putting in an amazing effort trying to break open the dried long drumsticks beans .

One simply admires the dedication , the ambition, and the  perseverance of the bird. And then one wonders  about some other things too....:-))

(Please ignore my name on the slide show. Picasa is to blame. All photos are by Arvind Khanna)

In a tree world,
the drumstick country is up for grabs.

Resource-rich with edible
leaves,
flowers,
and fruit
he tried and tried
to get
a license for defruiting,
and succeeded
because his friend nested
in the minister's garden....

First the small pods,
torn and pecked
in false poses
reminding you
of the One with the Flute.

Then,
one day,
feet firmly clamped,
a yogic stretch
to bite off
another one at its stem,
the red beak
clutching on the fruit
for a tightrope trudge on the branch.

Ambition blinds
as he swings vertically,
with tail always up,
swiping another drumstick
to investigate
the riches.

Bigger, the better,
all for himself,
munching on
the power seeds of the drumstick...

Last heard,
the pigeons and janata parakeets
were discussing fruit reservation in Trees. :-)

Seasons and Purposes

My blogger and FB friend Shail Mohan, posted this excellent capture titled "winged beauty" on her photoblog , Shots and Captures .

A place at the top, the pinnacle, a dignified grey silk with occasional gold and orange, and the now thorny life ahead.

An oft heard and oft observed story.  Mentioned by folks in ancient times too:

From the Bible, Ecclesiastes III (King James Version): 

3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven..


 (photo by Shail Mohan on her  Sony Cybershot W-150)

Supremely
unlimited
and ensconced at the top,
unwilling to dwell
on the climb,
she turns around
delicately but firmly,
determined
to make an eventful descent.

But
the path
that brought there
there has changed.

So many thorns
along the sides,
rising,
and she traipses
with great care
ensuring
that the fine rich
decorative silk trailing behind
does not leave any
sharp pointed memory.

A slow
but mandatory descent.
Making way for another butterfly
at the top.

And
she had actually thought
she could fly away
from
the pinnacle itself….

A rose, by any other name .....

My FB and photographer friend  Anand Amembal  posted a profusion of rose photographs, after a trip to the Maharashtra Nature Park in Dharavi, Mumbai.

This particular photograph , has a dark background (achieved by adjusting the aperture and shutter speed), although the photo has been clicked in a garden during daytime, possibly noon !

And this had something to do with a sense of starkness and sharpness of the rose that came through, reminding me of someone , who once bloomed with great hope for us in the country, but now prefers a dignified silence, surrounded , by what some might say, is dark times. 

Those who read the front page of newspapers as opposed to Page 3 and sports pages , may know what I am talking about .....

(photo by Anand Amembal)

Once,
facing up,
fresh into the sunlight
bringing new hope
on a new day,
in a garden
filled
with opportunistic weeds,
he stands now,
old ,
and tired
of what he sees,
his
wiry young
z-plus security
alert
and
surrounding him....

Petals
lost in strength,
and color,
a few
curled in disgust,
he stands,
doubting all those
green in envy
crowding around,
and relaizes,
how difficult it is
to be
the
Head flower
in a chaotic garden....