The Horizon Of Old Age

I was shopping for groceries when I turned around and noticed an old lady walking down the lane. Life seemed to pass by as my gaze moved with her steps. She stopped to speak to another lady and the wrinkles on her face lit up. Each wrinkle had an experience to share like a page from the narrative of her life. Her words were soft from the calmness of the years that she had spent struggling to survive in this world. There was poetry emanating from the crevices of her wrinkles. I could see her eyes holding back the turmoils of her life. There must have been periods of happiness and bouts of depression, joys of pleasant news and tears from tragedies, that had now taken the shape of wrinkles on her face to define her life. Her trembling hands were speaking her history. I could see my face in times to come, a reflection of my life that would turn around with folds of wrinkles. Life repeats for all of us and I could see mine in her wrinkles. 

What Goes Around Has To Come Around

Back to Square One - Circle Of Life

Circle of Life

Adventures Of Drummer The Little Mouse Kid

 

Drummer is a cute little mouse with dark grey whiskers that turn red when Drummer gets scared. Drummer loves his long red shorts and white shirt. There are times when he dons his red tie that has a design of small white cats on it. His shoes are white with red laces. Drummer has led a life full of fun and frolic trying to nibble on whatever he can lay his tiny paws on. There are tough times too when food is limited and cats are in abundance. Drummer shivers at the sight of cats and his whiskers turn red and his little pink nose freezes and turns white. Drummer is studying in middle school. He is proud to study in the best school for mice called The Little Mouse Hills School. He lives with his parents in a small hole in the big oak tree in the neighbourhood which he calls his Oak Tree House.Today I want to tell you about an incident from Drummer's life. This incident took place about five years ago. It was a nice sunny day and Drummer was going to his school with a red and blue backpack slung on his back and a red water bottle in his hand. Drummer was dashing zig zag on the road. He would roll across the road, disappear in the bushes on the roadside and reappear from nowhere. This continued for sometime. Drummer would roll like a ball of wool and dash across the road. He was close to his school when he suddenly stopped. He could see a big shining ball that looked like the Almighty Sun close to the road. He looked past the wide road and got curious to see the shining ball on the other end. He was moving his head left and right to get a clear view of the ball and was suddenly shaken by the tremors rising from the road. The road stood up like a giant beast. It started to grow ears, eyes, nose, mouth, arms and legs and started to walk towards Drummer. Drummer froze and gulped. He was shivering, his whiskers were red and his nose had turned white. He could hear his heart beat increasing at an exceedingly fast pace. His eyes grew big and he tried to move back but his legs refused to move. He was grounded, baffled, scared and almost .... dead!! He wanted to scream his heart out but he was not even able to squeal. He could hear his heart rattle and chant speedily like a racing car, Oh My God! Oh My God! Oh My God! Oh My God! Oh My God! Oh My God!......He had stopped breathing. He was unable to see clearly. He tried his best but could not stop himself from falling. He had fainted!! He lay there on the road for sometime. It must have been an hour or two that he lay there on the road. Then he heard his mother calling out his name, "Drummer, get up Drummer, you will be late for school again Drummer!!" Drummer slowly opened his eyes and looked up. He saw his mother staring sternly at him. He looked around but could not see the Road Beast. "Oh, this was a dream, I was dreaming," said Drummer. Now that was some respite. Drummer started to roll across in his Oak Tree House. He was relieved and happy to be alive. He started to hum his favourite song, "I am the little mouse kid Drummer, I am the best hummer, I sing and dance till supper, I am the little mouse kid Drummer".

Winter Is Here

Jhumroo at Kingdom Of Dreams

We visited "Kingdom Of Dreams" for the second time yesterday. Set in the locales of Gurgaon, this is a fantasy land where one can spend some leisure hours away from home. The ambience of the "Culture Gully" at the Kingdom Of Dreams makes it worth a visit. Different States of the country have their stores and food court here to offer the unique flavour of their cultural tradition. The stores have a good variety to choose from and the food is delicious too. One gets to taste a variety of food from various parts of the country. This gives a platform to our States to showcase their unique handicrafts, food and replicas of their heritage buildings. The entire set up is very aesthetic. The facade of the building looks very beautiful with intricate carvings on the walls. Each element of the set up from the gates to the fountains and the statues in the porches and courtyards have all been designed with spectacular extravagance. The place actually transports you to a world of dreams - truly living up to its name "Kingdom Of Dreams".We had gone there to watch "Jhumroo", a musical comedy show. "Jhumroo" was not as good as the main show "Zangoora" that we had seen some weeks ago. "Zangoora" had set our expectations from "Jhumroo" very high. "Jhumroo" picked up pace in the second part of the show but was not up to the same mark as "Zangoora". One can see the effort gone in creating the sets, costumes, dances, songs, acting, etc. but it was an average act compared to "Zangoora". One thing that I liked about both the shows is that actors in both the shows try to engage the audience in their show and this makes it unique and feel real.

Who Am I - Sixteen Bedtime Riddles For Children

I keep ticking round the clock but can never see the time as I am facing the wall.
I am the Wall Clock.

I wash up oysters on the sand, swing and sway and splash around.
I am the Ocean Wave.

I chugh and shake, I hoot and shout, I have the road on my side and take the children for a ride.
I am the School Bus.

I help teach the world though the world keeps cleaning my notes.
I am the Black Board.

I twist and turn and grow with time. I look good even when I am cut to a small size.
I am the Lock of Hair.

I am dark with millions of shining eyes.
I am the Night Sky.

I smoke and sniff, I hiss and honk, I cover millions of miles in hours.
I am the Train.

I am covered in a hard shell but my heart is a sweet water well.
I am the Coconut.

I steam and scream and blow a whistle.
I am the Kettle.

In layers I cover my backbone with sweet shining bubbles.
I am a Corn.

I scribble and leave black marks and sliding on paper is my art.
I am a Pencil.

I make a colourful smiley face and cheer people of all age.
I am a Rainbow.

I hop, I fly, I walk and I swim and in my Antarctic home I live.
I am a Penguin.

I hide the windows on the screen.
I am the Screensaver.

I keep changing my size to light up the nights.I am the Moon.

I move at a slow pace with a back of heavy plate.
I am a Turtle.

Lovely Flowers Are These

Brain - The Most Complicated Machinery Not Made By Man

I wrote about the sections of the brain that work as multiple brains and make me work as a set of people. The Brain is the most complicated machine and extremely intriguing too. It splits into semi brains that work in parallel, synchronized to accomplish various tasks at the same time. One section of my brain starts compiling the official checklists and To Do Lists while another section has already commenced working on a task. Meanwhile a section of my brain is working at the back end making the personal checklists for the day and the week. The fourth section starts responding to mails in order of priority and criticality. The fifth section is busy comprehending the presentation to be made for the project at hand. Whew !! I feel like an Army in combat already!! The sixth part of the brain is reading a document while the seventh part listens to the discussion on a conference call. The eighth section is noting the minutes of the meeting simultaneously. The ninth section is browsing the mails and messages on my mobile and the tenth is trying to filter the outside voice of my colleagues. Oh God, this is much more complicated than I thought!! I am delegating work to my team through my eleventh brain and the twelfth section is working on a report. The list is endless and it makes me feel I am a super human. Well all of us are super humans if we go by the way our brain works through multiple tasks at hand. God must have known the complexities that life will offer us and that is the reason He designed our Brain which is even more complex than life.   

Ooty

Spot used for Film Shootings in Ooty

Fairy Tales Coming Up Soon

They are definitely on their way to production ........

Kind Gestures

Some gestures can be very kind and touching at times. One such gesture from recent times left us very moved. It was my father's anniversary and we had released a column in the newspaper in his memory. We got an SMS from a person that read "God give you strength to bear misfortune. I pay homage to the departed soul and pray for eternal peace. Brotherly Sunil Batra." My mother called this gentleman thinking he must be a friend of my father and was surprised to find that this person does not even know us. Even though this person did not know us yet he sent such a touching message to share our sorrow. This was indeed a very kind gesture on his part.

Millet Fields

Trip to Nawalgarh

The trip to Nawalgarh was a nice and relaxing one. Nawalgarh is a city of havelis. Nawalgarh and the surrounding areas have given birth to renowned industrialists of the country. The town looked prosperous from the number of havelis in it. It had to be a rich town to have majority population living in havelis. The frescos of the havelis have faded with time though some families have tried to restore the frescos and maintain their havelis. The peacocks in the resort were a delightful sight. They strolled in the gardens and danced when it got cloudy. The colours in their feathers are amazingly beautiful. The detailing and design of their necks is admirable. God has created them with heavenly love. The town looked very relaxed and peaceful. You could wake up to the peacocks' call in the morning and get enchanted by their magnificence. Nawalgarh is definitely worth a visit if one is looking for a peaceful time well spent with family. 

Incredible Frescos

Rare Pictures Of Peacocks

Here are some rare pictures of Peacocks taken by me.

 

Brick Kilns

I have always been fascinated by brick kilns and I could manage to get these nice pictures of Brick Kilns near Nawalgarh, Rajasthan.

Don't Miss This Goat

Picture Of A Camel

The Lonely Bird

Beautiful Pictures Of Millet Fields

Millet fields near Mandawa and Nawalgarh in Rajasthan.

Baby Tailor Birds

Tailor Bird's creativity can be seen from this nest that it has sewn with a leaf on this moneyplant vine. It is an incredible art where this bird uses its beak to sew thread, cotton and jute strings to make a nest. It is a rare find as Tailor Birds make their nests in the most inconspicuous places. This year the bird has returned to lay eggs in the nest. There are four baby birds in the nest all crouched up together. It will not be long when these four fledglings will take a flight to adulthood. I am totally amazed at the way the tailor bird has created this masterpiece with its beak. I have tried a lot but have not been able to learn how to sew and that makes me even more surprised to see this sewn nest.

Tailor Bird's Nest with Baby Tailor Birds

The tailor bird has four babies this year. Amazing technique of sewing the nest to money plant leaves.

 

 

Gossip, Politics and Minesweeper

Gossip, Politics and Minesweeper - The environment of any organization is primarily governed by these three elements. It has taken me some time to understand this truth about the behaviour patterns of people whenever they are together in groups whether it is in any organization or office or a large family. There is the element of gossip where people tend to engage in back stabbing and invent stories to get to the top. This builds into a formalized process which we call politics. This happens everywhere when number of people or groups of people are more. As soon as the number of people start increasing in the group(s) it gives rise to cut throat competition. This does not lead to a healthy competition but it brings out the negative side of human behaviour. Gossip turns into politics and politics makes people cautious of every step they take or move they make. It is like walking through the "Minesweeper" Game's grid where you are not sure which step will result in the explosion of a mine. These mines are man made as irrelevant, baseless and bitter gossip turns people hostile and insecure. The insecurity leads them to gossip and engage in politics which creates these mines. One never knows where one is treading and there can be an explosion in the form of an argument or mind shift or confusion that can lead to catastrophic situations. These mines can take the form of ugly mails that bash you up through the laptop screen or they can build into under currents that you will sense only when things turn critical. Life is limited by time. I have heard of very few people who cross the age of one hundred years. We are basically looking at a sixty to eighty year life span in total. The first twenty years are happy go lucky and it is only around the age of twenty five that people step into a job. So we are left with a time span of thirty five to fifty five years. The insecurity for these thirty five to fifty five years grows so much that people work on building the negative behaviour and emotions. There are many who will say they are securing the future of their progeny by engaging in this behaviour. The children will anyways be insecure as they will go through the same life pattern. When a child is born there is a share carved out in this world for him or her. He / she has to find it. The inheritance has to be positive else the child will not be able to live a good and wholesome life. I am a strong believer of the fact that positive begets positive and negative begets negative. Competition should be healthy so that each one gets what he / she deserves and not what he/ she tries to snatch through unhealthy practices be it any organization, group, office or family. Insecurities and negative behaviour culminates into negative energy and an explosion of the self.

Kingdom Of Dreams

It sure was a great experience at the Kingdom of Dreams. I had stepped out after more than a decade and was happy that I did so. The live musical show Zanghoora was just out of this world. It was absolutely fabulous. The actors had put up such a commendable show. It was mesmerising!! The plot was just a usual one but that was overtaken by the incredible choreography and performance. 

Pretty Morning Glories

Some more pictures of Moonrise

Flowers Of The Season

We have all the colours in the garden to bring cheer and smiles on every face that beholds these flowers.

The Falcon Caught On Camera In Broad Daylight

So I finally shot some nice pictures of the falcon while it quenched its thirst at our bird bath. This falcon has been living in our Chinese Orange Tree for more than a month now but it is very difficult to capture it so well as it keeps hiding behind the leaves. Today the falcon gave me a good opportunity to click its pictures.

The Bird Bath awaits the beautiful birds to come and have a dip and take a sip.

The Falcon finally arrives.

The falcon takes a sip.

The falcon relishes the sip of water.

The falcon takes another sip.

The water definitely tastes yummy.

Some more sips before we fly back to the tree.

Leaving for the tree now.

Just before we fly off.