Lilly Olympics....

This beautiful water lily at the Mahim Nature Park in Mumbai , photographed by my blogger friend Magiceye, and posted  in his Mumbai daily: Camera Critters blog.

At first sight, the visual brings back recollections of the London Olympics Opening Ceremony.  The stadium, the lights, the people, even the Queen, except here it is a Queen Bee.

But here there is no sense of competition; just a sense of 3 bees, imbibing all the goodness on offer, in a co-operative way... 

,

Mother Nature
has her own
Olympic opening ceremony,
almost every day.....

A floating stadium,
that opens everyday,
no tickets,
all free,
a packed  audience
holding up their arms,
invoking the blessings
of the One above.

The acrobatic
buzz of the 3 bees
Amar, Akbar and Anthony,
as they
pick and choose
their nectar points,
to imbibe
and
to share
all flooded in gold,
and a million hands joined together
as if in prayer
in the centre of it all....

Secrets of the Bees

My FB friend and photography enthusiast, Suhas  Baljekar from Camberly in the UK, not only takes wonderful photos, but imparts some great information along with it.

Ever wondered  how the bees do not slip on the slippery petals of flowers, when they are drinking the nectar ?

 Scientists at Cambridge University have shown that it is down to the structure of the petals and the ability of the bee to recognise this structure by touch alone.

Petals of flowers have tiny, cone-shaped loops. The size of these cones varies from flower to flower. The fur on the bees’ legs hooks on to these cones. Scientists also found that the stronger the breeze, the more the bees settle on petals that have larger conical loops.

  As he says "nature invented Velcro before man did ".....

Trust human beings to abuse this  velcro mentality.....

(photo by Suhas Baljekar)

Hundreds and thousands of
innocent citizen petals,
opening up
to a new world,
believing
in a new sun
his efficiency,
his learning
and his wisdom.

And the intimidating looking
minister politician bee
slippery in attitude,
and evil in his eyes
greedily
hooks his marauding legs
on cones
belonging to the public,
knowing
there is always
a hole in the loop.

The idea propagates
with an ill wind,
and more
minister-politicians gather
to mess with the helpless petals
who hope
that one day
the marauders
will be stung badly
by their own.

A new day,
more blooms,
more bees
and more hope......

Sip One, Get Two Free.....

Being a doctor means looking into the innards and taking a micro view. So when she visits gardens, my friend Asha, enjoys the wide splashes of color , but often zooms in on the details.

Gardens in Mumbai are a vanishing lot. One just wondered what the bee thought....


(photo by Asha Shangarpawar)

Time was when
everyday
was a new garden,
and new nectar;
and it was a party,
looking
for special flowers
in special gardens.

These days,
I see concrete
in place of petals,
and I get tired
flitting around,
since,
like the new Malls,
all the gardens
look the same.

So how lucky is it,
that,
like the Malls,
some gardens
have elevators
and escalators
for
tired bees.

Cool green
leafy ones,
which when they
nod and
move in the breeze,
take me
right
to the centre
of my flower;

To now partake
of the special Deal-
Today Only.....

Take One Sip,
and you get free transport
to the next flower
with Two Sips Free....