Love is complex :)

My 5 year old son was watching a Hindi Movie.. all of a sudden he asks;

Son - Dad, The lady is an enemy, why does she love the hero.

Me - Son, Love has no boundaries. (Felt, I answered a world economic forum question)

Son - Oh, love is so complex..

Me - Aaaaa... actually No, 

I was baffled, and failed to even explain what Love is and only hope he grows up to understand it better, in human language terms.

The only good part is that, he at present experiences the love in its most purest form. No boundaries, no second thoughts, no blocks, just "Unconditional Love"... I just hope it remains as such and does not change (What to do, Parents tend to think utopian state!!!)

We seem to have got our definition of love so complicated, that we miss the purity in it with time. The question that does often surprise is, why and when did I loose it and got corrupted, or do I still have that in some corner of my old self...

Little Beauty Spots

They always say, "Little things in life are so beautiful and worth holding on to". I always used to cherish the small wins and happiness that I go through in my life... They have been my treasure and am sure will always be.. Little that I realized that the nature has a similar beauty to add to that line above and I find it so so nice to explore that too...

With my shutterbug, I recently realized that the weeds and wild grasses around which we always want to clean off; could be so so beautiful... Have you ever noticed the little yellow white little flowers growing at the side of the road or those beautiful violet / blue flowers??... some of them are real stunners... The vibrancy of colours are just striking and then you have these little colourful bugs that come out on these little beauties as the earth is splashed with nice chill water from heavens. It is a treat to watch. Some of them are so tiny that one misses to see them at the first site.. The blue flower above would be hardly 1/2 cm, but look at those lovely white spots on the petals. They seem to be like  beauty spots. 

 

For me they really take me off to a different land and I think I would keep exploring more and more of these tiny little beauties... Love and life is all around, one just needs to have an open eyes..

Relations.. self defined

Last month was a very revealing month for me from many directions. There had been a lot of introspection  both individually as well as in a group at Goa. While doing so, happen to be on the beach in the evenings when there was time. While doing so, happened to see a Father - daughter strolling down the beach. The innocence that the two portrayed, defined a lot to me. It was as if they had a world drawn beautifully by them. Father had rolled up his pants to avoid wetting his pants, while his daughter holding his hands tight while feeling the splash of the water at her feet. As the water would come in and move back, the stability that father gave to his little girl was amazing. They seem to be crafting a world out there on their own.

It did tell me the essence of trust, faith and beyond all a security that one looks for. But the question that lingered in my mind was, do we extend that beyond the close relations that we build or does it wash away with the moments that we spend and forget... For me it did have a very deep impact on the way I look at the world and what it shares with me...

I think it is for each one to feel what they think of the relations around them. Is it just the moment one spends or is it the life beyond the horizon where the relation could extend to....

Beauty in Muck!!!

I had always read or seen the photos of Lotus blooming in muck.. but getting down into one of these places and checking it out, was a real adventure for me. Happen to stop by during one of my drives near a murky place filled with Lotus. My new Macro lens was tempting me to experiment a close up. With all my enthusiasm i got down and ran down to the place.

My first reaction was "Yuck" what the hell is this place. But, could not resist the temptation of this beautiful flower. I got down to my business of shooting and i really loved it..

It was a very good feel and my lens did not disappoint me at all. The flower is so so captivating and fresh that you can forget the surrounding. Trying doing it once, oh!! you would simply hate to love doing it again and again.. Not for any thing but for the flower...

Peace and Grandee

Mother Nature has so many treasures and one of the most beautiful creations is “The Avian” life... As much fascinating they are to watch, they seem to be equally difficult to capture their movements. Recently, I did my annual ritual of going to Vedanthangal.. One of the best bird sanctuary in Chennai. All you need to do is to plan to spend your day there with these beautiful creatures.

This place is close to 75 kms from Chennai on the GST road. Though the main road is a very good drive, but the inner road of last 14 Kms could be better. I felt that last stretch gives you the feel that you are getting into a reserve area.

It is stated that the local people actually care for the birds and protect them too. I get awed with not only by their majesty, but by their flamboyant colours and sizes. They do really come in various sizes and they are BEAUTIFUUUUULLL!!!

This time when we planned for the travel the idea was to shoot the birds and capture their moves. I wanted to experiment with my camera. Happen to reach their by 11 am and set my equipment to start shooting. One thing for sure that shooting birds teach you Patience and patience and patience... and then there are times when I am so much awed by the beauty of the birds that I tend to forget the intent of being there. You could find “Grey Pelican, painted stork, vsnake bird, Open-billed stork, large egret and many more…

Some of these large birds, one would wonder, how can they fly so swiftly? They are so so huge, and then their wings are very strong to enable them for the cross continent movement. Though when they try to get onto the water, they do not land, the large ones crash land and then they glide too on the water. The proverb stands so true, “Duck looks so calm on outside but keeps flipping its webbed feet hard underneath”. The elegance and grandeur personified.

The beauty and vibrant spread makes me wonder could we humans ever bring that out. One could simply be awed.

Co-existence is something that we humans should really learn from Mother Nature. There happen to be this one particular shrub, which is right in across a “Bird watch platform” that had a lot of these Grey Pelicans which stay. If my observation is right, that place is marked out for these large birds year on year. At the first sight one would think that it is a monopoly of these large birds but when you keenly observation, one could see hoards of bats hanging underneath their nests. It
was amazing to see the co-existence. Neither of them is troubled by it. You could think, “Live and Let live” staring right into you. We humans have so much to learn from Mother Nature. Some part of us does try to live in that co-existence. The villagers protect these birds because they find the birds to be very helpful. During the late monsoon season that Chennai has, the water bridges between the sanctuary and the farm lands are closed so that the place could be filled up with water for the Birds to come and stay. The birds fly in and stay between November till Feb. Once the birds have moved out as the temperature gets more warmer, the water is released to the nearby farm lands. This water is supposed to be filled with a lot of manure and helps the fields with a good yield. One would not need any more of these artificial chemicals to make the fields yield better… Support to the ecosystem is balanced.
We were there till 3.30 pm, if not for the thought to drive back home. But, as I drove back I had taken with me not only the movements but also lot of memories and refreshed..

The place is well cut off from all the hustle and business. What they say, that time slows down is very true at that place. The sound of the birds, the shade of the trees and the cool cool breeze, just helps you unwind and puts your mind at peace. All so so SO beautiful. For me this is a heavenly place which, I intend to visit every year…