In protection of Sparrows

Mom reminded me this morning that today (March 20) is World Sparrow Day; although I was thinking about this day at the beginning of the month, I lost thought of sparrows, like how they lost their habitation from our Indian cities. The song of the sparrows almost lost track from the memories; however, I try to remember their tweet, it couldn't reach my ears; perhaps other volumes have risen to deafen my ears from listening to the sound of mind voice.

House sparrow shot from an upper mountain village near Kodaikanal.

The last time I saw sparrows was in 2018 when I visited a part of western ghats but not away from the human habitat. Sparrows are friends of humans, and we shouldn't have forgotten their friendship when we technically grew and adapt to a lifestyle that snatched their lives. There could be various reason for their disappearance in cities, but we cannot deny that human mistake is a major part of the series of issues.

Until 2015, the sparrows exist in the backyard of my grandparent's house in the neighborhood. The backyard was cleared to build a home for my grandfather's comfort when he was ill, but it wasn't their intention to drive away sparrows, and of course, no one intends of destroying a habitation when bringing changes in lives. And it happens beyond our consciousness and needs.

I remember how sparrows used to build their nest in front of the grandpa’s tea shop, using the hay stored for feeding cows and buffaloes; despite the activities of people who come to have tea, the sparrows lived peacefully and reproduced. Sometimes they build their nest in the cowshed and the gaps of the planks of the tiled roof.

As a society, everyone is responsible for the extinction of the sparrow, and it is the responsibility of the same community to protect the sparrows that remain here and there. Not only sparrows, but we also need to protect all kinds of birds on the brink of extinction. World Sparrow Day is the day designed to move this activity forward and raise awareness of the house sparrows. It is an international initiative by the Nature Forever Society of India in collaboration with the Eco-Sys Action Foundation (France) and numerous other national and international organizations across the world.

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS

Neighbor's Mango Tree

Summer has not completely covered yet, as I could still feel some cool weather in the evening and night; the mango tree in the house opposite us bears fruits, following an unusual bloom in winter. The tree went through a major cut off in late 2019, failed to produce fruits last year, but yet I saw a lone mango hang down the tree!

This time it started to bear fruits before the season begins, and it looks like it would take time to ripen.

The tree lost many of its branches to the prune, and I wasn't happy looking at the sight of a part of the tree fall. Though the tree slowly gets back to shape, the lost side facing the road would take a few more seasons to rebuild its lost limbs. The tree continues to bloom seems to produce more mangoes in the coming days and what you see in the photos were shot last week.

Country Cows

During the Veedur dam visit in February, we continued to travel on the dam road to catch up with the road that led to Puducherry, encountered a herd of country cows. The dam road takes us through lovely countryside, and before we head out of the dam area, we see a farmer driving the cows for grazing, and we slow down the car for them to move out the way.

The country cow breed is slowly disappearing from the earth, though the awareness to preserve our country species are rising it wasn't much satisfactory. The milk from country cows is unique in taste and has great benefits to health than the imported jersey cows, which is rears for the large quantity of milk production. But I could see a rise in the use of dairy products from country cows lately in Youtube channels, whose domination is high in the current situation or revolution of the Internet brings hope the future will take further into action.

I know it’s not easy to rear cattle or cows from my grandparent's struggle and commitment in taking care of the same when they were involved in the milk business. But without struggle, no changes happen, and we need to fight back to reverse the progress, at least to preserve the leftover for future generations. The world-famous Marina protest or pro-Jallikattu protest is also a part of the struggle to protect the country's cows and bulls since its population is decline.

The revolution of tractors and modern technology drastically turned down the need for cattle but still, the country cows are reared for milk and dairy products.   

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS

இளம் சூரிய ஒளி / Young Sunlight

இதமான தன் கதிர் தூரிகையால்
வருடியவாறே, ஓய்வுக்கு சென்றது சூரியன்.
இதயத்தில் நம்பிக்கையை ஒளிரவிடும்  வகையில்
இளம் மஞ்சள் ஒளியை ஏந்தியவாறு
இளம் வெப்ப நுனியில் தலை கோதி 

இரவை துணையாக விட்டு சென்றது. 

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Pleasant with her radiant brush

The sun caressed as she went to rest.

To illuminate hope in the heart

She carried a young yellow light,

Head stroke on a young hot tip

Left night to accompany.

RGB Monday

Every year the Pongal festival leaves me with some colorful Kolams that I could use for my RGB Monday series, but this year it left me with some beautiful Kolams to shoot from the neighborhood as well as from our home. The following collage of Kolams is from one of my childhood friend Karthik's home, and his wife drew these Kolams on the eve of Pongal.

As soon as his wife completed the Kolam, he Whatsapp me the photos of the Kolam, and what you see in the collage above is what he sent me that night.  And the following photos are of the same shot by my mom in the morning on my behalf.

My friend's house is located right behind our house and narrow by street, doesn't allow the Kolams to last long, or until the evening when I go out shooting Kolam in the wheelchair. Karthik's wife is a talented woman and does well in artworks, and I have seen a few of her's on Facebook and while admiring her work, I appreciate her patience, which I think is mandatory when creating art. I hope you guys like her elegant work in Kolam.