Hail Women of the World

Today is 8th March, International Women's Day.

Let us together make this world safe and secure for all the women in the world.
So that women feel dignified and valued in society.
So that they feel happy.
So that they can smile.
Anytime, anywhere.
And, continue smiling.

Greetings to all the women in this world.

I would like to quote W.R. Wallace's famous lines:
"The hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world"

Hail-- the women of the world!

Happy Women's Day!

Thanks for browsing.

    -    Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ Women's Day, 8th March 2015

Holi Hai

The Indian festival of Holi होली falls on the day of full moon of 'Phalgun' फाल्गुन month as per the lunar calendar.
It is a festival of colours.
What is remarkable every year, is the flowering of colourful 'Flame of the Forest' (called 'Tesu' टेसू in Hindi). It matches the occurrence of Holi to the dot. Like this morning, on a birding outing, we saw the tree in full bloom! And Holi celebrations start today! What perfect synchronisation by Nature!

 

टेसू flowers are used for making vegetable dyes. It can be dried and powdered. Alternately, fresh flowers can be soaked in a tub of water. Coured water can then be safely used for sprinkling on each other. No chemicals, no skin irritation.

Here is wishing everyone a very Happy Holi.
May your life be full of happiness. As someone said, " Happiness adds colour to our life"! 
So be happy! Always.

Hurray, Holi hai! होली  है !

Postscript: Many of the readers wrote about their childhood memories of using Tesu टेसू flowers for making colour for Holi. Few also wanted to see a close up of the flower.
This morning I spotted a Tesu टेसू tree in the golf course. It was in full bloom with few flowers which had fallen down. Here is a close up shot of टेसू flower.

I also picked up two flowers which had fallen down. After reaching home, I put the two flowers in a small bowl and filled it up with water. Within no time, we had saffron coloured water ready for Holi! A picture.

So, next Holi, try and get some tesu टेसू flowers. It grows wild in many parts of India. Soak it in water overnight to get natural, organic and safe water colour for Holi.
If you can get the flowers a week earlier, dry them and powder them. Your dry colour will be ready! Simple.

Thanks for browsing and sharing your experiences..

   -      Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ Holi 2015, 5th and 6th March

Thrill of grandparenting

Gifted Grandparents

The greatest gift that you can ever get is to become a grandparent. Ask any grandparent and he/she will vouch for it.

By God’s grace, Neeta and I became grandparents again this year in California. Courtesy Akanksha (Ashi) and Ankur, we had the delight of welcoming Naman, our grandson, into this world. As Charles Dickens said, “Every baby born into the world is a finer one than the last”. We couldn't have agreed more. 

Ashi chose a very innovative way of announcing the arrival of the baby. See what she wrote.


Here is Naman as a baby in arms.

Here is a selfie which Ashi took with Naman.

Of course, bringing up babies is no easy task. Ask any young Mom 

or a granny who is helping the baby and the mom, and you will hear a chorus! Like what Mark Twain said, “A baby is an inestimable blessing and bother”! 

Few more pictures of Naman as he grew up to be a month old! 

He seems to be reciting the alphabet "O"!

 All the grandparents-- Dada, Dadi and Nani-- celebrated Naman's 

first 'monthly birthday' by cutting a cake!

And Naman when he entered his second month in this world, he was in the lap of his great grandmother!

Naman enjoying Nani's lap.

The scene now shifts to India. 

As we said, we were blessed earlier in 2013 with our only granddaughter in Chennai. Named Anuva, she is the real heart throb of the family. Here are some pictures of Anuva as a baby.

How she looked in the first hour of her life!

She is going to be two in May this year. Full of action, she capitalises on all the attention she gets. Let her pictures do the talking all the way from a baby to an energetic toddler!

With her favourite bunny.

And, when she learnt to lift her head. All excited!

With Kruger, her best friend whom she copies! 

Portrait with mumma...

Anuva is forever in love with outdoors! See her enjoying the stroll with Ansh bhaiya.

Her first steps, wobbly but confident under the watchful eyes of Appa!

Anuva the flier!

And mind you, she doesn't like rough surfaces. Even tufts of a green lawn bother her-- see the way she has folded the toes in our lawn!

 Tying the first Rakhi to Ansh Bhaiya.

And now, I too get invited to parties!

Like all children of this hi-tech age, Anuva too is fond of the cell phone. I gave her my old-gen 'unsmart' phone. And she didn't take long to figure it out! Reaction? See the the combo picture. 

Dadu had to pacify her and make peace.

  13th May 2014-- time for her first birthday bash. Venue RSI Secunderabad.

We all went to Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Jan 2015. Few more action shots of Anuva.
Appa's baby.

Hug from Ansh bhaiya.

Anuva the poser.

Anuva the acrobat.

Anuva the climber. Site: Moyar river and dam, Karnataka.

Anuva the gymnast.

"Family photograph? Please do not disturb me, I am busy!"

This is what Ansh did nine years ago. Anuva has repeated it-- removing Dadi's bindi. And putting it on! 

We learn from our children and if we are fortunate, from our grand  

children as well! 
Like Naman has taught us 'Demand your rights (food for the baby)' and 'How to sleep well'!
Whereas Anuva's lessons to us have been-- how to concentrate and remain focussed--- anywhere and everywhere!

We close here with that classic quotation from William Wordsworth who said, “Child is the father of the man”!

You are welcome to share your experiences as a parent or 

grandparent.

May God bless all the children in the world as the world belongs to them!

Thanks for browsing,

-          Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 3rd March 2015

Violin Mantis

Few days ago, during my morning exercise in our park, I noticed an insect which looked like a dried leaf. I first thought it was a grass hopper or a leaf hopper. But I was seeing it for the first time. Since it was sitting (or standing, I can't tell!) on the parapet of the fountain water well, it really stood out.
I quickly fetched my iPhone and took some pictures. See for yourself:



Later research revealed that it wasn't a grass hopper. Grass hoppers have 6 or 8 legs, whereas this creature had only four slender legs. What was it then? I mailed a few nature lovers. No joy for a day.

I decided to dig deeper into the net. And viola-- it shot back! 
It was an insect called 'Wandering Violin Mantis'. Why this name?
According to www.keepinginsects.com , "The Wandering Violin Mantis got its name because the adults look a bit like a violin. Their body would resemble the soundboard of a violin, the head would be the top of the violin and the long and thin midsection of the mantis would be the neck of the violin." See the next picture and tell us whether you agree or not?

You may have heard of the Preying Mantis-- which is known for being a carnivorous and consuming its partner! Preying Mantis is green in colour.

The Wandering Violin Mantis is not so 'inhuman'! It is one of the most amazing looking mantis species. It is a large mantis with amazing camouflage. It’s body has a lot of appendages that look like dried leaves and its body is long and thin to resemble a wooden stick. See the picture.

The Latin name of the Wandering Violin mantis is Gongylus gongylodes. It's natural habitat is in India and Sri Lanka. It’s not an easy mantis to keep as a pet, but it’s amazing to see it. I missed my DSLR. But few more pictures with the iPhone are here.

The Wandering Violin Mantis specializes in catching flying insects. It can grab a fly straight out of the air! It needs high temperatures and low humidity. The ideal temperature is 35 °C, with night temperatures dropping to around 20 °C. And this was exactly the prevailing weather in Secunderabad at that time!

Before I finished shooting, the mantis gave me a parting look as if to say "You crazy humans!"

Though I go to the same spot every morning, I haven't spotted the mantis again! Hope he is safe wherever he is.

For our Nature loving friends, you can browse our previous post on tiny sand-bubbler crabs and how they produce sand galaxies!

Making sand galaxies...

Bye till the next post.

Thanks for browsing.

    -    Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 27th Feb 2015