Weekly Macro

This week I chose this beautiful Chrysanthemum that bloomed after sooooo......oooo long! I named him 'Dewy Sun' as he bloomed during this dewy season.

Chrysanthemum 'Dewy Sun'

Sure-footed Capricorns!

As I started the last month, I decided to continue to Birthday gift post every month and this month is for the sure-footed Capricorns (Dec 21 to Jan 20).

Many more happy and bloomy returns O’ Capris!

As the sure-footed ones you’re you’ll climb to any height, no matter if you’re threatened by great perils. You’ll cross them all and bunch up to your personal summit!

Butterfly Pea - Clitoria ternatea - Aparâjita

Triumph is for you on the summit.Though looking small, meek, delicate, and reserved, you’re the brave ones who fights against all odds...

Oleander - Nerium oleander - Karavîra

You always keep your heads held high

Desert Petunia - Ruellia brittoniana

Zinnia 'Dreamland Rose' - Zinnia Elegance

as you deem self-esteem more important in your lives…

Wax Rose - Pereskia bleo

The natural absorbents that you’re, you wait patiently to produce great results and are efficient servers!

Jasminum sambac var. 'Belle of India' - Arabian Jasmine 'Belle of India'

Don’t lose your heart though, O’ sure-footed ones, if the outlook seems small!

Chrysanthemum - Chrysanthemum indicum - Sevantikâ

To you, your appearances are important, ain’t it?

Rose - Rosa

Generally being short of stature, you have exceedingly expressive eyes!Hibiscus - Hibiscus rosa-sinesis - Japâ

Look away from your self for the light and you would find it…May this year bring all happiness to you and lead you to your success!Crape Jasmine - Tabernaemontana divaricata 'Flore Pleno'

Weekly Macro

Oh! It's already Sunday night! Whoa! The week flew by so fast. Damn! My work is eating my time away! I hate this. I do accept that you work to earn your bread but where's the time to enjoy the bread you earned. People talk about dedication and when you say, 'No! I can't stretch anymore!' you get stamped with 'Attitude problems' and 'No dedication' stamps. People these days are so busy at work that they don't have a LIFE! One of my colleague at work had to extend her shift for continuous 20+ hours in the name of 'REQUIREMENT'. I thought, 'Man! World is going crazy.'
Ahem... Sorry about the whining. I couldn't help it. I seriously hope people change and work culture changes before people lose themselves.
BTW, I did manage to wake up early this week and capture this beautiful photos of my newly mature Balsam. Isn't she a beauty?

Garden Balsam - Impatiens balsamina

Indian Solstice

Today is the auspicious day in India – Makara Samkrânti – Indian version of Solstice. This is the day that marks the beginning of sun’s northern course which is called Uttarâyana (second half of a year) – a day that’s very auspicious to Sun god – Sûrya. Sun is considered the most supreme god right from very ancient times as he’s a manifested being and sustains life on earth. This day everyone worships him specially by offering him special prayers.

In southern India, it’s extra special, called Pongal in Tamil Nadu, where people cook a mixture of rice and jiggery and offer it to Sun along with sugarcanes. Tomorrow, the cattle are worshipped, especially the cows and on this occasion the farmers harvest their fields. We city dwellers invocate the sun god in our homes, pay homage to him and sit back to enjoy the holidays – I know that sounds dull, [sigh] but are left no choice.

I planned to post this the day after New Year, but couldn’t and thought today is the right day to do it. On the day of New Year, we went to the temple of our family deity (Well, every Indian family has a family deity who protects them from wicked forces and if you fail to pay homage to that deity at least once a year, you become vulnerable to wicked forces), which is in the outskirts of Trichy in Tamil Nadu.

I was awed by the countryside scenes and went crazy with my camera. Since we had to start early morning and return that very night, there was no time for in between stops except for food and toilets (sorry to be so verbal, but what the heck! Everyone knows it!), I had to capture the beauty of the village scenes from the car. Most of them were blurred – we saw a PEACOCK in the fields, but the photo came out blurred and that was the only one. Too bad. Anyways here they are:

The herd of caught my attention. It's sweet to watch them:

What a lush carpet !

How great a summer would be amidst these forest of coconut trees, drinking from their sweet nectar!

Wish I could stand on this bridge and enjoy the sunset!

A lone Palmyra m (Borassus flabellifer) caught my attention:

Nature's beauty can be felt here:

Did they hear me complaining?

Last month, I complained about not being able to see any birds (Where are ye 'all?) except the pigeons in my neighborhood and the weeks after that I’ve been seeing quite an improvement. Parrots! They’re all over the terraces (except mine. That’s still a complaint!).

My neighbor feeds them with rice early morning and hordes of parrots fly from the west and perch on the terraces and coconut trees.

Realizing this, I started placing heaps of rice in small hills around me terrace too, but they wouldn’t even look at them. I thought I should give them sometime and kept on doing it every other day. Well, most of the times it’s the pesky squirrels who’d empty it all! I sometimes wonder if they have stomachs all over their bodies!

Once or twice a parrot or two would taste the rice a bit and they’re soon scared off by squirrels!

But I am glad that I’m able to see the parrots these days and that too frequently – both in the morning and evening! Now that’s really something.

I also did spot two other birds (or are they the same?) last week – not sure what they’re – Any idea?

Somehow the parrots seem okay with the presence of pigeons and crows (I've seen them chasing the crows sometimes if they sit on the same leaf, but they happily share their food with pigeons!)...

Today evening, even though I was sneezing constantly, I couldn't resist going to watch the birds. I'm sure many were scared off by my sneezes, but I did capture a parrot doing a little jumpy thing on a coconut tree. It was funny watching it.

One morning last week, I went to the terrace to spray my plants with Neem extract (unfortunately it rained minutes after I came down) and I saw this great scene. The parrot looked as if it was doing Sûrya Namaskara (an exercise with yogic postures and chating that keeps your body healthy and fit) early in the morning.