Peace comes from within

With Barak Obama's recent visit to India, lots got written/telecast/webcast/broadcast about Peace. Global peace in particular.
I got reminded what Gautam Buddha had said about Peace. See the picturesque quote (PQ) below:

Some of you may recall  this picture which was shared previously as the New Year Greetings 2013. But I thought it was worth a repeat in this newly created PQ series. 

Your response to our PQ series has been encouraging! Thanks a ton.
Please feel free to use the PQs whichever way you feel like.

Some of the previous PQs seen by more than 100 people each are:

Vision is the art of seeing the invisible

Nature and its marvels

Happy browsing

   -Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 30th Jan 2015

Vision is the art of seeing the invisible

Vision is the art of seeing the invisible

This week's picturesque quote is on Vision. 

It is meant specially for my CEO/CxO friends and fellow management professionals as well as MBA students. Written in 17th Century AD, these words by Jonathan Swift (remember Gulliver's Travels?) convey the essence of what Vision is! 
Jonathan was sure ahead of his times.

This picture of Monticello Dam near Davis in California with early morning hues of sunlight, created a unique pattern. A pattern which I saw again and again! And then it reminded me of Jonathan's apt words on Vision.

Previous PQs- Picturesque Quotes if you have missed are:
Nature and its marvels
Mist and mountains
Solitude

Thanks for your feedback and appreciation. That is what keeps Ghumakkad going!

Happy browsing,

    -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 28th Jan 2015

Nature and its marvels

You would have browsed my newly launched series on 'Picturesque Quotes' (PQ). PQ is not to be confused with the name of a recent Hindi movie titled 'PK'!
Link to the previous posts are  Mist and Mountains and  Solitude .

Earlier this month we were in Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka India. Few of the pictures taken there inspired me to use it for next edition of PQ. Here it is.

Nature knows no boundaries. Last summer I had hiked in Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve in California USA. While browsing those pictures, Nature and its marvels again stood out. So much so that the quotation for one of the pictures taken in California is same as that of a picture shot in India! See the PQs below.

Am sure each one of us has experienced the thrill of watching Nature and its mysterious creations.
Enjoy the Nature till its glory lasts. Because mankind is hell bent on destroying it. Sadly.

Thanks for browsing. More will follow.

Best regards

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ Basant Panchami, 24th Jan 2015

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Mist and mountain

Continuing with Picturesque Quote series-- here is one on 'Mist' by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.
Inspiration for this post came from misty jungles and mountain ranges in Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Karnataka,  India.
Shot earlier this week@Bandipur-- winter mist and barren trees added to the effect that seem to echo Tagore's immortal words!

Feel free to use the picturesque quote in your talks/posts/shares.

Bye till next,

  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 15th Jan 2015

Solitude is the place of purification

Starting 2015, this will be a series of posts on 'picturesque quotes'! That is, quotes by anybody but superimposed on a picture taken by me.

Tell me how do you like the idea. Also, you are welcome to suggest a quotation and I will try and find an appropriate picture from my archives for it.

This way 'Ghumakkad' can reach more people and their lives.

You can use the picturesque quotes the way you feel like.

Happy browsing!

   -Harsh-the Ghumakkad/ 12th Jan 2015

On the way to Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Karnataka India

When seeing is not believing

When Seeing is not Believing

Since I wrote my last piece titled 'So what if I can not see' , my

world has further darkened.

I can not see. Nor can I hear.

Although I still go for a walk with my master.

But I brush into the plants/bushes hanging on the pavements.

Because I can not see.

When the neighbour’s dog barks at me, I do not respond.

Because, I can not hear the bark.

This reminds me of the old sagely advise to control your temper—“When someone calls you names, ignore it and it goes back to him”!

At home when you, my master, lie down for yoga every morning, somehow I come to know.

May be the vibrations through the floor tell me.

And then I head for you.

I negotiate my way after a bump or two into your legs or arms.

And then I find your cheeks, nose, ears and the neck.

I like to lick you.

I don’t know why?

May be I feel secure that way.

May be I feel that I am not alone in this dark and silent world. You are with me.

It comforts me.

I know you don’t like to be disturbed while doing yoga. But that is 

the only time I can lick you.

I also know, even though you may try and hide your face, but you 

let me do it.

Every morning. Day after day.

Now you know why I titled this piece 'When seeing is not 

believing'?

Since my world is darkened, for me 'believing' comes only after I touch and feel an object.

Thank you for being with me.

Thank you for making me feel that I am not alone.

I love you.

-          Elfo (Your own Cairn Terrier now 13 year old)

(Composed by Gumakkad on behalf of Elfo. Created on New Year's Day while waiting for my car to be serviced at Tata Motors Workshop in Hyderabad)

1st Jan 2015.

Suryalanka Where you encounter the Sand Galaxies

After the Pelican Paradise at Kolleru Wild life Sanctuary ( Click here if you missed browsing it), our next stop was Suryalanka Beach. The 170 kms drive from Kolleru through NH-5 goes via Vijayawada, Mangalagiri (known for the famous Mangalagiri sarees and dress material), Ponnur- off NH5 and Bapatla. See map below.

There are huge monolith rocks that jut out of the horizon. See the picture below taken while driving on NH-5 between Vijayawada and Guntur.  

Highway or no highway, local transportation is a rich assortment in India. See this double-decker improvisation in a lorry!

This giant statue of Lord Hanuman towers above the trees and houses along the highway.

Krishna basin is very fertile. The drive from Guntur Junction on NH-5 to Bapatla goes through paddy fields. December is harvesting time. You can see the paddy in various stages of readiness for harvesting.

Time for a photo-break, 6 kms from Bapatla. See the milestone in Telugu along with our car Tata Zest.

The beach road to Suryalanka from Bapatla sees lot of traffic. This tender-coconut vendor makes a killing. Even though located in the heart of coconut growing fields, each coconut costs Rs 35/- (same as in cities like Hyderabad or Chennai). See inset below.

 We stayed with the Air Force. The guest rooms at Surya Kutir are very well furnished and maintained. Here is the view from our room.

The beach sit-outs offer complete relaxation.

Like all beaches, the attractions are the surf, sunrise (or sunset depending on the location) and the solitude. Beaches also help you understand the meaning of horizon. We could experience all of it.

However, being a cloudy and dull day, we were not so lucky to catch the rising sun. Yet we were well rewarded with the magical hues of dawn skies. This is pre-dawn shot.

As the day dawns on the beach, it shows its colours.

 Being a cloudy morning, we could see the Sun only after it came high up!

A stroll on the beach is always most refreshing. That is Neeta and me on the beach. 

And how can it be without a selfie?

While on the beach, we observed some intricate flowery patterns on sand. Close observation revealed that these patters were made up of tiny sand balls. To give you an idea of the size of these patterns, the toe of my shoe is included in the frame at bottom left! Take a look.

Time for a close up shot.

Later research revealed that these sand flowers and sand galaxies are created by tiny sand bubbler crabs.

Sand bubbler crabs (or sand-bubblers) are small crabs, around 1 cm (0.4 in). They look like scorpions and live on sandy beaches in the tropical Indo-Pacific. The picture below is courtesy Shravan Khare from the Net.

Sand bubbler crabs live in burrows in the sand, where they remain during high tide. When the tide is out, they emerge on to the surface of the sand, and scour the sand for food, forming it into inflated pellets, which cover the sand. 

The crabs work radially from the entrance to their burrow, which they re-enter as the tide rises and disintegrates the pellets. (Courtesy Wikipedia).

See some more pictures of sand galaxies created by these tiny marvels of Nature. The intricate patterns form when the tiny crustaceans sift through the sand in search of microscopic food before gathering what's left into a sphere and throwing it behind its legs. 

Here is another sand galaxy

During low tide, the whole beach was covered with thousands of sand galaxies. See the 'dark' picture below with an inset of the sea.



Another eye-catching pattern

You can see these tiny crabs at work  in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XJtq2d_lFs 

We also saw two dead star fish on the beach. Felt sorry. But couldn't help admiring the symmetry in their design.  Nature's marvel indeed. 

After another selfie on the beach, it was time to bid good bye to Suryalanka. 

 Christmas festivities were in full swing. We saw many large size stars put up on the road side as in the picture below.

 On the return log, we wanted to stopover at Vijayawada for a darshan of Kanaka Durga Temple atop the hill. But the traffic snarl and a special darshan day earmarked for devotees by the thousands, dissuaded us from doing so. See the white gopuram of the temple in right half of the next picture. 

We end this travelogue of Suryalanka with a quote from Picasso who had once said, "Without great solitude, no serious work is possible".



Bye till the next travelogue.
Enjoy the holiday season and see you again in the New Year.

Do drop in your comments/feedback.

   - Harsh-the Ghumakkad/ 28th Dec 2014