Trailing So What?

Markéta Vondroušová, the new Wimbledon Women's Champion seems to fit the title of our story.

With all odds against her, she went on to win the Final on the famous Centre Court on 15th July. And shocked her opponent Ons Jabeur from Tunisia. What were the odds against her:

• First unseeded player to reach Wimbledon Final after Billie Jean King in 1963.
• Pitted in the final against sixth seeded Ons Jabeur 
• Suffered a wrist injury which kept her off-court for seven months
• Down 0-2 in the first set

So how did Marketa overcome the odds? Those who saw the final earlier this evening, would have observed the following:

1. Keep your cool. She double faulted more than once. But bounced back. She kept her cool.
2. Fight back. Jabeur broke Marketa's serve many times. But instead of giving up, she crawled back. One shot at a time, one game at a time. Steadily. Talking about fighting back, even Jabeur mentioned that 'I will come back again to win this tournament'.
3. Play your game. Don't get unnerved by the opponent's stature or seeding. Play your game.
4. Emotional Strength does it. Keeping emotional balance is the hallmark of great players. We have seen it in Federer. We saw it in Marketa today.
5. Injured, so what? Her wrist injury did not deter her. She allowed it to heal for a season. Lost a year, so what? She came back. It shows her faith in her team.

It was an exciting match. Unpredictable to say the least. Ghumakkad enjoyed watching it. Pictures here are courtesy Star Sports and Tata Play.

Packed Centre Court

'Most painful loss of my career. But I will come back to win this', Ons Jabeur

1st Anniversary gift by Vondrousova to her husband.

The Venus Rosewater Dish- Wimbledon Women's Trophy since 1888.

On completion of the French Open Women's Final in June 23, we had brought you a story titled 'Acknowledging the Team Work'. Do browse it if you haven't.

After watching Wimbledon-22 Men's Final which Joko had won, we had shared a story titled 'Wimbledon-22 Beyond Tennis'. That story had also brought out some of the observations made tonight. Do browse if you haven't so far.

Some friends have remarked 'Do you watch the TV or the movies for fun or for writing a story?' Well, if I do observe a scene or event which brings out some life lessons, I like to share it with others. Hope such 'live' coverage does not bore you. If it does, do tell us.

I firmly believe in 'Learning Together' as depicted in my logo below.

Thanks for browsing.

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ Secunderabad/ 15th July 2023

#wimbledon #womensfinal2023 #marketavondrousova #onsjabeur #lifelessons #keepingcool #fighback #playyourgame #emotionalstrength #trailingsowhat #presson #ghumakkdharsh #ghumakkadhb

Monsoon Nesting

Who hasn't seen the house sparrows building their nests in the ledges and the cups of ceiling fans. It is fascinating to watch them build their homes from scratch! From selecting a site to collecting the nesting material to making a cozy nest- the birds do it so amazingly. Yes, house sparrows may not be seen in concrete jungles. But in Ghumakkad's neighbourhood, sparrows still thrive! More on the sparrows later.

Come monsoon and the magic unfolds year after year. Loud chirping of birds, plenty of short flights across trees and frenetic activity to build nests can't be missed. This year a pair of Ashy Prinias have made a nest in our front yard using three leaves of Gudmar plant.

Ashy Prinia is a tiny bird with an upright tail. It is a resident of Indian subcontinent and neighbouring region upto Myanmar. It can be found in urban and home gardens like our front yard in Secunderabad. It is insectivorous. It's song is a repetitive tchup, tchup, tchup or zeet-zeet-zeet. Another call is a nasal tee-tee-tee. It's call gives away its presence! 

The way they stitched the leaves together to create a cozy interior, is seen to be believed. Ashy Prinias build their next close to the ground. We bring you a picture and video each to appreciate this tiny bird's talent.

After another day's waiting, Neeta could capture the bird in its nest in our yard. View the pictures in full screen.

Another bird nesting in our neighbourhood in the cable junction box is Brahminy Starling or Brahminy Mynah. The pair have selected an abandoned junction box of cable TV wires. It is mounted at a height on an electric pole. Therefore, safe from predators like stray cats. Brahminy Starlings are generally seen in pairs. See the pictures below:

Here is a two-minute video showing the Brahminy Starlings approaching the nest in a cable junction box. In case the YouTube link does not open, click here.

Earlier, we had shared the nesting pictures of other birds in the following stories (Just click the link):

Wooly-necked Storks - Nesting in colonies on road side trees in Assam - how many nests do you see in the picture below. Answer in the link above.

House Sparrow - Nesting in our house in Secunderabad. See the picture and video below.

A short 40-seconds video shows the dominance of the sparrows for a bird house! Real estate in demand! In case the YouTube video below doesn't play, click here to view the video.

Sparrows in Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Karnataka

Spot-billed Pelicans - Nesting in man-made baskets in Kolleru Lake in AP

Eurasian Spoon Bill - Nesting on trees along Cauvery river, Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, Karnataka

Birds and bats nest together on the same tree. No conflict. See the picture below:

As Aasheesh Pittie, a noted ornithologist and author tells the urban citizens who ask- 'Where should we go to watch birds?' - to not go anywhere. You can watch the birds in the city and its surroundings itself. But he questions them, 'But do we have the time to stand and stare?' Our above story took weeks of observation and patience. A point which Aasheesh makes in his recent book 'The Living Air'.

Special thanks to Yella Prakash Rao for sharing the portraits of Ashy Prinia and Brahminy Starling.

Thanks for browsing.

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ Secunderabad/ 13th July 2023

Postscript:

14th July: Another reader Brig Rajeev Singh sent a picture of the Prinia's nest in a potted plant in his house in Secunderabad. Whereas in our yard, the Prinia had made the nest in a free standing plant in a flower bed.

Postscript 22nd July 

Our fears came true! Sadly. As pointed out by many readers, the nest was in grave danger of stray cats. And this morning, we found the nest missing. The supporting thread was still hanging. See the picture.

The birds and the nest was nowhere to be seen. Closer scrutiny of the ground beneath revealed the remains of the nest. The chicks were all gone. So sad! See the picture below.

We felt so sorry for the Prinias. After a while, Neeta sighted both the birds near the nest. One of them had a worm in its beak to feed the chicks. Poor thing. The other bird then found the nest on the ground. Kind of circled it. Waited and then flew away!

Nature's food chain I guess!

#birds #nesting #monsoon #brahminystarling #ashyprinia #EurasianSpoonbill #woolyneckedstork #housesparrow #spotbilledpelican #homegardens #secunderabad #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh

Acknowledging the Team Work

What did you observe during the Award Ceremony of Women's Singles final at the French Open last night?

Pictures courtesy Sony Ten and Tata Play.

Quick setting up of the podium. Yes. What else?

Erecting a barricade for the photographers. Yes. What else?

Acknowledging the services of ball boys and girls. Followed by the line judges and the Match Referee.  Yes. It is a done thing at all tennis tournaments like Wimbledon etc.

Anything else? Yes.

The maintenance staff which maintains all the courts, were also invited for the award ceremony. A great gesture indeed. Because the backstage folks seldom get the limelight. This is a perfect example of empowering a team! The maintenance team of Roland Garros can be seen in white tee shirts in the picture below.

Of course, the players thanked their respective teams of coaches, trainers, physios, motivational physiologists and others. Audience too was thanked. See the Polish audience cheering the Winner A Swiatek.

The short video clip below shows the Champion soaking in the moment of glory.

It was difficult for the Runner up K Muchova who gave a tough fight, to control her emotions.

Sabatini, the former Champion also cheered the Finalists.

Another unforgettable story of empowering the driver of Dr Abdul Kalam, the then President of India can be read here.

So next time you organise any event,  do not forget to felicitate the background teams on centre stage! It will empower them for life!

Thanks for browsing. 

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ Secunderabad/ 10th June 2023

#teamwork #empowerment #frenchopen #rollandgarrows #everypersoncounts #motivation #inspiration #ghumakkadharsh #ghumakkadhb

Beat the Plastic Pollution- World Env Day 2023

#BeatPlasticPollution is the theme for World Environment Day 2023. Steered by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the theme changes every year and addresses a topical issue concerning the environment.

Plastics are harmful and take hundreds of years to degrade in a landfill. According to Biodiversity.org, "Unfortunately, the bags don't break down completely but instead photo-degrade, becoming microplastics that absorb toxins and continue to pollute the environment." 

Plastics contain toxic chemicals. According to Geneva Environment Network, "These include endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which are linked to infertility, obesity, diabetes, prostate or breast cancer, thyroid problems and increased risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke, among others." And the list of diseases goes on.

So another World Environment Day is here. Once again we urge every citizen to take care of the environment around you. Be it your home, school, college, residential complex or the trees and plants in your neighbourhood. If we keep the environment clean and green, half the battle is won. Otherwise, we will loose the species that make up the environment. We will only see the birds or animals in the books! 

We pose the following questions to provoke us.

The above pictures are also available as a short 1min 30 sec video.

Ghumakkad has been writing regularly to preserve the environment. Some of our stories are listed below. Just click the link to browse.

Only One Earth - World Env Day 2022

Reimagine, Recreate Restore - How to restore the environment? World Env Day 2021

Mutualism by Nature - how few species are dependent upon one another

Shrinking Urban Lakes- Impending Disaster

What Can We Do? - Practical things to do by individuals

As we said above, 'Together We Can!' Let us do our bit to save the environment. Every drop counts in this effort. The above links provide practical ways what each of us can do to save the environment. The readers may also visit www.jaagore.com for an excellent video message on climate change. 

We reproduce a PQ based on Ratan Tata's famous line 'I've often felt that the Indian Tiger has not been unleashed.'

Thanks for browsing.

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ Secunderabad/ 5th June 2023

#worldenvironmentday #environment #earth #pollution #deforestation #lakes #trees #plants #birds #animals #responsiblehumanbeings #humangreed #ghumakkadharsh #ghumakkadhb #beatplasticpollution #jaagore #climatechange #unep

Life Lessons from Madhu Malti

Madhu Malti? मधु मालती।  Names of twins? No! Then what?

It is the name of a flower which changes its colours and blooming time over the days. It is best grown outdoors in filtered sunlight. It has a mild and sweet fragrance.

In English, the Madhu Malti is known as the Chinese Honeysuckle. It is also called the Rangoon Creeper. In Telugu it is called Radha Manoharam (knowledge courtesy K Satyanarayana of Hyderabad). It is a climber which grows fast and flowers profusely. See the pictures below:

We had posted few pictures of the flowers on our social media handles, taken after a recent shower. One of the readers then researched and wrote back the following:

"The flowers change in colour with age and it is thought that this is a strategy to gather more pollinators. The flower is initially white and opens at dusk. This attracts hawkmoths with long tongues for pollination. On the second day it turns pink and on the third it turns red attracting day flying bees and birds. The flower also changes from a horizontal orientation to a drooping pose."

Thanks Anchita Nidhindra for educating us. After her feedback, we took some more pictures of the flowers and correlated it with the above observations.

Life Lessons

Like all the creations of mother Nature, Madhu Malti also has many life lessons for us. Here are a few which we have observed.

Peace: The flower initially blooms in white colour which conveys a sense of peace for all. It remains white only for a day as if to convey that 'start your day with a prayer - peace for all'.

Punctuality: The flower blooms at dusk on day one. It senses the light level every evening and starts blooming. We humans can learn a thing or two about being punctual in our day to day life!

Adaptability: We all know that change is the only constant in life. But how many of us adapt with the changing situations in life. Bereavement, ill health, work stress, job loss are many such issues which overpower us because we are unable to change our thinking or action. In contrast Madhu malti flowers constantly adapt with the change.

Team Work: Madhu Malti flowers bloom in bunches and stay together till they fall. Lesson for all of us to remain steadfast as individuals as well as when working in teams. See the video of the flowers swaying together.

Falling With Grace: Time comes for Madhu Malti flowers to fall off. It falls with grace. Lesson for all of us- when the time comes, remain graceful even when you retire or move on in life !

As we saw the tiny flowers and the tall climber has many lessons for us. That is Nature's way of teaching us, provided we are willing to learn.

Do observe the Nature around you. Pause. Observe. Feel the mysteries.

Here are the links to some of our earlier stories related to Nature.

Tree Bark As Rat Poison - read about a tree whose bark acts as a poison for the rats who eat away the roots of plants in a garden or field!

Nature's Clock - How the custard apple fruit synchronises its arrival with Diwali every year in one part of India? Like a geo-synchronous satellite, Diwali dates change every year. But the custard apple starts to ripen in the tree on dot! Read on.

Brahma Kamal A Smart Plant - Smart watch, smart cities and now a smart plant! How does it synchronise its blooming around a full moon night? Read on.

Hope our stories have triggered some inquisitiveness about Nature in you. Do share your observations of the world around you!

We close with a picturesque quote (PQ) by Lady Bird Johnson who said 'Where flowers bloom so does hope!'

Thanks for browsing.

     -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ Secunderabad/ 29th May 2023

#madhumalti #adaptability #climbercreeper #peaceforall #white #pink #red #pollinators #Nature #teamwork #fallingwithgrace #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #ChineseHoneysuckle #rangooncreeper