Glowing Coconut Palms

Winter has its way out, like every season, slow extension of daylight sense the injection of sun and warning summer and at the end of the day it glows. Even after the sun disappeared behind the buildings, the trees top are set to glow by the fierce rays of sun, sneak peek through the gaps of buildings. The light exposed on the greenish orange coconut palms enhance the glowing light to golden treat and it was quite a simple pleasure I got to watch few time. Although these are some capture from last year or before winter, the image weren’t different now rather going strong with  glow where I could get even leafy shadows on trunks.

I wasn’t out anywhere lately and sky watching has become an activity and I take many photos mostly on sky these days. I saw a lone pelican last evening crossing my sky and sometime a bunch of white heron – which used to be common sights in past – but everyday about 6 pm, number of bats pass our sky, a regular journey of them from the trees of Theosophical Society to other bunches of trees along Buckingham Canal in Adyar. And they turn back to the Society in early morning which I ever woken up to see in the last 5 months, since shifted here. But my uncle confirms that. Glad I have this open sky in front of the house, surrounded by trees and a balcony to skywatch, keeps me going despite the haunting thought of traveling, which I haven’t done one close to a year now.

A crow perched atop a tank pipe while getting warm in evening sunlight

RGB Monday

My aunt's colorful Pongal Kolam drawn last month during the festival of Pongal, very next to mom's Pongal pot kolam.

Kolam is a custom followed by the households in south India and it’s a daily activity for many, including ours. And Pongal Kolam is popular during this time and many put great efforts to make it look wonderful and colourful including drawing something relevant to the festival. Kolam always been my favourite thing and I enjoy watching different patterns and for me, Kolam is apart any belief and its way of exhibiting art and beauty.

Melody of Birds

A  raw image, captured at Kodaikanal

Nature sings a song
taking notes from birds
and squirrels chirping on trees
plays a melody, through
the silent afternoon
when less others volumes.

The motion of palms
made pleasant moves
to the melody of birds in air
as they fly over, tweets
some sweet notes
to compose into a song.

Piles of dry leaves
invited birds to ground
to forage; via tiny crush of leaves
comes out string tones
to fine tune the song
birds sing from bare trees.

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS

தென்றல் / Breeze

தென்றல் வந்து தொடுகையில் 

புது இன்பம் வந்து தழுவியது;

அழுத்தத்தில் தத்தளித்த இதயம்

சற்றே சுவாசித்தது, வீசுகின்ற கற்று

தன் மூச்சை நிறுத்தும் முன்.

விரக்தியில் இருந்தேன் நான்

புது உத்வேகம் தந்தது காற்று;

வாசல் கடந்து இழுத்து வந்தது

ஒரு உணர்வு, விவரிக்க முடியாதது

தென்றல் தொடும் தடம்.

செல்வம் கோடி இருந்தாலும்

செல்லமாய் தீண்டும் தென்றல் போல்

தாலாட்டும் தன்மை கிடைக்காது;

முகமற்ற வாயால் ஊதும், அதனை

நாம் உணர மட்டுமே செய்வோம்.

---------------- -----------------

As breeze comes in touch
a pleasure came and embraced;
the heart swayed in stress
slightly breathed, the blowing wind
before stopping her breath. 

I was frustrated!
The wind gave me inspiration;
I was dragged across the door
a feeling, what’s unexplainable
the breeze touching track.

However billions is wealth
like the touch of sweet breeze
nothing tends to be lullaby;
blowing from faceless mouth
we’ll only do feel that.

Ps. Inspired by the cool breeze  blowing through  afternoon

Check Post - 2

Check post is a series I have started (click here for post 1) where I would like to share moments related to check posts that I have come across during my travel. There’s a check post everywhere and these check post are important in sustaining a control over unruly esp. when it comes nature environment, wild and national defence and interest. Let it be anything, crossing a check post need consideration because skipping any working check post will land in trouble. Though we hadn’t messed up anywhere but got warned by the check post guards sometime and threat a penalty.

Just like in the previous post, where we stopped by a forest dept. check post before entering Hogenakkal and this post too is similar to the evening but here it was afternoon when we try to cross Papanasam check post to visit Karaiyar Dam in Pothigai Hills. It was in 1999, during my first time trip to Kodaikanal and Tirunelveli; we visited Courtallam on the 4^th day of our travel and then went to Agathiyar Falls inPapanasam and Karaiyar Dam (which weren’t in our plan) and we had no idea about this terrain as well. It was our friend who hailed from Tirunelveli, took us around the places and guided us on the entire trip (which I think I need to write a separate post on it later) and after taking showering from the popular Coutrallam waterfalls there we pursuit to Karaiyar Dam, which is 10km uphill from Papanasam.

The forest check post at Papanasam blocked our Ambassador car, and I guess they request for a permission letter and if I remember we paid some amount per head of us for them to allow inside the Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, where the Karaiyar Dam is built across Thamirabarani River. The road was narrow and potholed at many places where our Ambassador car passed effortlessly and entirely the road was silent and far empty with couple of stops with EB quarters and some settlement. The road travels along the Thamirabarani River and we could see huge pipes taking water down to the PowerStation at the foothill. I felt a sense of quietness all over; except for the voices inside the car and it was there I spot the Nilgirilangur for first time. The water level at the dam was far down then and a row of boats were parked along the bank to take visitor (on their willingness) to the other side of the dam  to check Roja Falls – named after the popular film Roja where  it was shot.

The view that I got from the dam is etched still on my mind. I rarely had a photo on it where I really need to dig out from the old photos collection. I was so interested taking the boat ride there, despite the ankle sprain I got on Kodaikanal; we were in lack of time as we need to head east to visit Tiruchendor before the end of the day. The picture of Nilgiri langur (above) was shot from the wilderness of Nilgiris during my visit in 2017.