Trip Down Memory Lane!!

No surprises when I say 2020 was a different year and I did not have the opportunity to travel. This essentially made my camera retire and sit on a cupboard self. After the months of hiatus from my last blog I decided to try and make 2021 different. This led me to deep dive into my reservoir of pictures wherein I stumbled upon the above pictures.

These pictures belong to the time when I went Birdwatching around my school campus just a few days short of graduation. To my surprise the campus was home to countless species and though I had lived inside the premises (residential/boarding school) for years, the presence of these beautiful creatures of nature had gone largely unnoticed. The realization was largely a sad one since I had missed the opportunity of noticing something incredible over past years. Re-visiting these pictures renders me nostalgic and is also a grim reminder of how we miss out incredible things when not paying attention.

Never miss an opportunity of noticing anything beautiful. The year 2020 has certainly deprived us of various pleasure of life but it most denied us was being hawkeyed at nature which truly never disappoints.

Here’s to a hopeful, filled with travel 2021 and I know I’m a little late to the party but Wishing you a “Very Happy and Prosperous New Year”

A Quarantine Tale

While the world has taken up new skills such as cooking, baking, music and other skills available to be pursued from the safety of our homes during the world wide pandemic, I took on a hobby I had little time for. While pursuing my CA Articleship/ training and studies in Mumbai there was little to no time to pick up my camera and go out. While that was to be my schedule for the rest of the year the unforeseen scare from an invisible enemy of humankind had other plans for me.

The uncertainty compelled me to come back home to Assam. While work and classes gradually shifted to the online and virtual modes, I found time some spare time to tend to my garden in the absence of the Gardener. The results were pleasing and no better for me to utilize my time than to roam around my garden clicking pictures of the blossoming, multicoloured flowers (only this time through my phone instead of a DSLR). This has unquestionably been the bright side to my quarantine story and such unprecedented times might be unlikely.

Above are few of the pleasant quarantine memories.

Stay home and stay safe!

Oriental Hornet

This everyday insect is a social one belonging to the family Vespidae. Unlike most wasps and hornets who are typically active during the early morning these hornets are more active during middle of the day. That’s what probably makes it so different. While googling this insect  I discovered that the sunlight they capture is likely to be converted into electrical energy which be being worked on for harnessing for our use. Fascinating right?

Nature has its ways of constantly astonishing us and it is up to us whether to turn a blind eye and be oblivious to it all or look out, embrace it and i am sure you will be mesmerised.

 

An Ungulate

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Deer’s are hoofed mammals (ungulate) forming a part of the Cervidae family. Hunted  by humans and animals alike ( for different purposes of course), the deer is a keystone species in our ecosystem. Apart from being a key part in the ecosystem they also have high economic importance which include the use of their meat as venison, their skins as soft, strong buckskin, and their antlers as handles for knives. Having both economical and environmental benefits they are indeed a prized possession of the ecosystem.

The Untold Story of Nohkalikai Falls

Many have seen and heard about the Nohkalikai falls in India situated near Cherrapunji, but few know the tale cum tragedy hidden behind the very name of the falls. 

The breathtaking nature masks a gruesome story. The name Nohkalikai can be translated from Khasi to ‘Jump of Ka Likai’ (ka is a prefix for the female gender in Khasi). There lived a young mother called Likai in a village located upstream from the falls. Widowed early on she became a potter to earn her living. She married for the second time and while away from home for long hours she had to leave her infant daughter unattended. This lead to her spreading the rest of her time while at home with her baby. Her husband didn’t much appreciate the lack of acknowledgement on his end by his wife. 

Not being able to come to terms with being ignored constantly, Likai’s husband killed the infant, cooked her meat and threw away her head and bones. After a long day at work famished she ate the cooked meat.  Likai, like most locals, ate betel nut and betel leaves after meals. And as she settled at the place where she sliced them before eating, she saw a tiny finger she recognized. Putting together what just happened, Likai was horrified with what she had done. Driven by rage and grief, Likai ran to the edge of the waterfall from where she threw herself off the cliff. Thus the name.

But is it mindful to name anything after a person who kills oneself instead of fighting back for their honour and the wrongs committed against them. Meghalaya being a matriarchal society there was less chance of Likai not being able to claim her justice. Certainly the justice would never bring back her child but is suicide the only way/ the only CHOICE people have when they want to be unburdened of the misery they have suffered???

 

Rhinoceros Unicornis

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Rhinoceros unicornis the scientific name for Indian Rhinoceros, also known as the greater one-horned rhinoceros and great Indian rhinoceros, is the largest of Rhino species. Once found across the entire northern part of the Indian sub-continent, rhino populations were severely depleted as they were hunted for sport and killed as agricultural pests.

Having rather few natural enemies in the forests except for tigers humans become their foremost adversaries. Falling down to about 600 in 1975, rigorous conservation efforts have now increased their population to 3555. It is our duty as humans to preserve the uniqueness of the species.

PIGEONS…

 

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A pigeon glaring right into my Camera lens. 

Often have we heard of Pigeons being used as messengers in the past or having had played a key role in saving people’s lives during World War I. But, little do we know how incredibly social and intelligent beings they are. Pigeons are known for their outstanding ability to navigate their way through distant places, using the sun as the guide. They have an excellent hearing ability and can detect sounds of far lower frequencies than the humans can, and thus can hear distant storms and volcanoes.

Bird poop or the Pigeons dropping littered around are seen by many as a problem in modern society, but a few centuries ago pigeon guano was seen as extremely valuable and available fertilizer, and there used to be armed people waiting to catch hold of the droppings.

Interesting how things which were once considered precious become mere possessions or even waste products in a matter of time…

RING OF LIFE…

Sports do not build one’s character but they reveal what one is capable of….
Our Purpose on Earth is to Fight to Win to Thrive. We have taken Birth to Survive to Prosper, To Rise and thereof FLY. We should live to be remembered  not to  fade into Oblivion. Refrain from Quitting as if we quit once it becomes a habit and an easy way out for life ultimately landing us nowhere. Our life moves in Circles just like the Ring on the Basketball Court. We carry out a task for which accordingly we are  rewarded or punished. CHOOSE YOUR ACTIONS WISELY.

 

BEYOND THE FACE

A Charming, Delightful Face will get old, A Nice body will change… But a Good Woman will always be a Good WOMAN …

This picture is of a poor old lady i came across in one of my trips, struggling and begging in dire need of food. Passerby’s ignored her for her look; no one cared that no amount of physical beauty will ever be as valuable as a beautiful heart. She could have had a priceless heart, but human nature is such that we don’t bother to look beyond the physical nature of others. A beautiful soul could have a devil behind it whereas an ugly-looking beggar a heart as pure as a diamond . What do u think???

PAINTINGS

Art is everywhere you look for it – el greco 

Paintings are a mode of expressing creative expressions and he forms are numerous. it serves as a mode to manifest the expressive and conceptual intentions. The history of paintings reaches back in time to artifacts from the prehistoric humans, and spans all cultures.

Often have kings and rules portrayed varied wars or celebrations through paintings and his has become a continuous flow of creativity.Governments have taken up the initiative to collect and preserve these priceless possessions.

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