every bird needs a nest

Every bird needs a nest
A home to rest
Be it in the forest
Or the city’s crest


These were a few snaps that I captured in BR hills that I visited over the weekend . It was the beginning for the nesting season for the birds, many of which seemed to have migrated thousands of miles across…. It is absolutely interesting to see why these birds travel so far to nest, breed and fly back and then again come back the next season, same time and repeat the process. When we introspect, man also goes in search far away from his roots, to build his home and breed his family and settle down in the alien land which becomes his home……

Another day , another tag.....

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
I got lot of grey hairs..

2. How much cash do you have on you? Nothing, its in my wallet… in my bag

3. What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR? Pour

4. Favorite planet? Earth

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell? Karthik

6. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone? Yen eniya ponnilave… ( illayaraja’s music everlasting)

7. What color shirt are you wearing? Green Saree

8. Bright or Dark Room? Bright with multiple tubelights.

10. What does your watch look like? Oval

11. What were you doing at midnight last night? Deep sleep

12. What did your last text message you received on your cell say? “ I believe , anything is possible with you”

13. What's a word that you say a lot? God Help

14. Who told you he/she loved you last? My daughter

15. Your worst enemy? Back pain

16. What is your current desktop picture? HCL Active desktop

17. What was the last thing you said to someone? I am bugged.

18. Do you like someone? yes

19. Would you move for the person you loved? depends

20. Name three things that you have on you at all times? chain, fingerings , earrings… ( man I feel rich)

21. What’s your favourite town/city? Chikkamagaluru… for it beauty… but do not get to be there frequently

22. Do you have friends at work? yes

23. Apple or Potato Chips? Apple coz Potato chips, makes me guilty… of putting on more weight.

24. Favorite part of the day? Bedtime… I love to slumber sleep but have not done it in years....

25. You tag? …… you who is reading this

Punyakoti - an unforgettable fable

I am not too sure how many of you have heard the story of Punyakoti. People home grown in Karnataka should know this fable by heart since this has been cascaded to us thru generations. I have heard this story many a times as a child. Yesterday my daughter was after my mother , to tell her a story…. As a true granny she had all the patience to start her narration.
“once upon a time in a forest there was a herd of cows, which went grazing at dawn and would return back to the village stable by dusk. Punyakoti was a cow in this herd and one day while grazing it strayed away. When she realized that she had moved far away from the herd she began moving fast to reach since it was getting dark. On the way was a tiger and Punyakoti began to shiver. The tiger said “ I am really hungry and what better could I have asked for” , I am going to kill you and have a feast tonight.
On this Punyakoti said to the tiger “ oh tiger, I know you are the strongest of them all and there is no way for me to escape from here” you can surely eat me, but before I die, I want to go back to my herd as I have left my baby calf there. I wish to feed it some milk and request my other sisters to take care of my child from now on”. Please allow me to do so and I assure you that I will come back.
The tiger looked at the cow for a moment and something made him say “alright, you may go now and be back quickly, else I will come to your herd and kill many more”.
Punyakoti thanked him for this gesture and starting moving to the herd fast. She reached the place and saw her calf, which was very restless and mowing… all the other cows were also worried as to where Punyakoti had gone… As soon as she saw her calf, she licked it , tucked it , fed milk to the little one and narrated the whole instance to the others. She then requested them to take care of her little one as she was going to die. All the cows told her not to go and said the tiger would never venture in the village, but Punyakoti refused and said she had to keep her word. Saying so, she left the place with tears in her eyes and a heavy heart. She entered the forest and went to where the tiger was waiting,
She said “ oh tiger, as promised I am back. You can now eat me and fulfill your hunger”
The tiger was astonished to see the cow back. “I cannot believe that you have come back” for which Punyakoti said ‘you have laid your trust on me for which I should abide” she narrated what she did when she went back and for this tears rolled down the tigers eyes, “for the honesty you have shown and the trust that you have kept I cannot kill you, please go back to your herd and take good care of your child” so said the tiger and went deep into the forest. Punyakoti was very happy and rushed back to the village. On seeing her , her calf and her friends were very happy. And after that everything ended on a happy note. So the moral of the story is that one should always be honest and trust worthy. If you follow the path of honesty , then god is always on your side and will do good for you. So said my mother.
By the time she finished the story, I was sitting next to my daughter listening to is as curiously as a first timer….

Manuscript of a lost era

Last week was a very busy week for me as we were moving in to our new home and were packing up all our stuff to be shifted. I have always believed from my childhood that attic is one place in the house, where we actually have no clue over a period of time as to what we have been storing up there….. so I started my work on earlier Saturday morning to clean up the attic…. As usual and typical to many other houses, there was enough dust….
I began cleaning and started pulling out boxes to explore what was in there….
In one such box I got two photo frames one kept on the other and tightly sealed with a thick thread. I opened it to see that it was a photograph of my father and the other of my uncle… and between this photograph was a thick typewritten booklet sealed in a plastic sheet. I just opened to see what this book was all about …. As I opened to see it …
It was a travel log written by my elder grandfather on his trip around the world during 1945. I was so keen to finish that book then and there that I pushed my cleaning aside to open this book to read…
Just to let you know a little about him, his name was Dr. M B Ramachandra Rao, a
geo physicist by profession and was awarded the padma Bhushan for being an integral part for the discovery of oil in the Cambay alluvial tract. He was lovingly called “kaka “ and my elder grandmother was called “Ayi”. Kaka and ayi means, father and mother in marathi. They did not have children and hence my mother and all her siblings got their complete love and attention.It was one big joint family in the real sense.
He had written many books in his domain expertise. But this manuscript that I got is a raw log book, in which he has put in every granular detail of their journey ( kaka and ayi) around the world thru a ship “ MARINE ADDER” which they boarded on on 27th Jan 1947 till their written back to Guntalkal ( andrapradesh) on 2nd Jan 1948. Their meeting with different people, from the Governor to the refuges ripped by World war II , the places, the impression of India in the other world and how they were treated…. Their familiarization as the “Raos” just like the “Johns” and “Smiths” of the other world. The ship and the storm…. This has the most interesting information of places. I sincerely wonder how did this book land in my attic.....but i think there is a purpose to it and now I am keen to work on this manuscript …. You will hear on this shortly from me.