Half-bare but unbowed.....

My blogger and FB friend Dipali Taneja from Kolkata, recently posted an amazing photo as her cover page on her FB timeline.

A photo , reminiscent of so many such trees,  who are supposed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and hence mercilessly mutilated;  only to gather their strengths together,  and now stand, bravely, trying to hark back to their old lives, when they didn't live by the diktat of the crackling powerful wires ....

Her photo inspired a tentative sketch, and a poem....

(photograph by Dipali Taneja)

Woe betide
the perils of
industrial progress....

Growing up
as a healthy kid
amidst verdant grounds
and hilly yards
favoured by birds and squirrels,
she thinks
she expected
too much from life.

A tough,
battling middle age later,
she stands
scarred by the fight
against
those that hanker for power.

Leaves and branches
that appear
to hinder
the carriers of power
summarily sent
to oblivion,
despite protests.

She stands,
beseeching,
in her handicapped glory,
begging
the birds and squirrels and monkeys
to return.

Whatever green she has now,
is theirs.....

Bozoical thoughts on learning...

A suggestion of "winter" in Mumbai, means,  that there is a haze of pollution settling down , closer to the ground.  A change of season, heralds viral infections, and Bozo, Mumbai's only dog-with-his-own-blog ,  has been troubled with a cough and is taking meds.   His old blue throat collar has been thoughtfully replaced now with a wonderful new harness, giving him the freedom to really cough it all out.

Blogger friend Magiceye  who chronicles the Life and Times of Bozo, captures Bozo, in one of his thoughtful moments.

To know just How thoughtful, read on .....

(photopraph by Deepak Amembal magiceye)

I'd lie at the feet
of the young fellow
of the house
when he did his school homework;
Drew maps.
Did sums,
Filled in the blanks,
and sometimes ,
"Gave reasons", in Science.

Why you must cover your mouth
when you cough.

And I learned.

While the new harness
besides
making me feel
very smart,
has taken
a load
off my inflamed throat,
I still remember
the lessons....

I can't cover my mouth;
and so
instead of
coughing around,
I lie down in one place
and keep away.

 I wish
those who 
wander around
blowing  smoke
through their nostrils
and mouths
would remember that.....

The Bird and the Banyan

This a cry from the heart of a red vented bulbul in Bandra East, Mumbai, captured on film and posted as part of the Mumbai daily : ABC Wenesday -P" series, by my blogger friend Magiceye.

Banyan trees are greatly revered in India , by religion and science , both. They are worshipped,  Gods are supposed to be resting on its leaves, and almost each and every part of the tree has medicinal uses. 

The bird , from a height,  must see, what we don't, in Mumbai. Destruction of green, open spaces, gardens, for mindless construction, by unscrupolous builders and politicians, with sick minds.

Maybe we can listen to what it is trying to say....

(photo bt Deepak Amembal magiceye)

Friends, Indians, Countrymen..

Small mouths, Big bites,
But hear me out,
perched
as I am ,
on top
of a clearing
in the
Banyan Foliage.

Torn leaf infrastructure
Bare branches
with
uncontrolled fruit profusion;
so many tired,
dried,
old leaves,
uncared and barely there.

We've so spoilt the air
and water,
I feel it as I fly;
So have we,
messed with
the minds.

The poultice
of the banyan leaf
will heal
abcesses in the mind,
and the
crushed fruit
will cure
the greedy ulcerated brains.

Friends,Indians, Countrymen,
Can we save this tree ?