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…

Colurs at Sea

I always used to think that, a how colourful could a fisherman's life be deep in the sea. The fishes that they try to catch are always in the shades of Grey like their lives. Well I was in for a big surprise when i happened to visit the sea beach near Kalapet, Just before Pondicherry. It was not only the fiber boats that they would ride into the sea were multi-coloured but also the colourful nets and the net balls that they use to catch fishes. It seem to have all the shades other than grey.. It was a treat to the eyes..

On a lighter note.. It stuck to me if the fishes would ever feel attracted to get into those nets..

Sanchi... My discovery

During my recent leisure trip to Indore, wanted to visit Sanchi. One of the other reasons being that tehre was no direct train / flight service from Chennai to Indore. So while going from Chennai happen to go by train via Bhopal. As we had to stay in for the night at Bhopal and catch the next train to Indore next evening, so the best part was visit Sanchi which is some 60 Kms away from Bhopal. The biggest surprise was that every one around stated that there is nothing to watch there. But being a ardent lover of history and old buildings, i wanted to go down to check the place for self.

Started by around 8.45 am from Bhopal . On a February morning it was quite windy and chill throughout our drive. We went through some amazing mustard fields, which were captivating and the scenic view which you may not see down south here..

On our way, happened to pick up some desi food, Aloo bondas, samaosas (Loved it, had an eastern state flavour) and Bhopal morning staple; Poha & Jelabi (Did not like the combo so much!!).

Reached there by around 9.45 am and after purchasing the tickets as we stepped in, it was a wonderful feeling... the mist had created an amazing picture around the stupas... We first started to understand the history on our own but then managed to get a good guide, who went on explaining the various Stupas and the latest excavations happening there. There is so much of history to the place. Each gate tells the story of a "bodhisatva" life and that of Lord Budha. I was equally surprised to see so many srilankan citizens who throng that place as a religious trip. It was a great feeling. No one tells us what is inside these huge stupas, but it is actually the "Ashes" of various saints and lord Budha which has been preserved by King Ashoka after he took over his spiritual journey.

There was a learning relic too, which reminded me of the "Arcoplois of Athens" (Not in the same grandeur but in a smaller version). The excavated areas actually states the knowledge bases that had been then.. There are so many of them..

In the month of November there is a three day fest where both the Indian & Srilankan Government come together at Sanchi to celebrate the "Sambodhi festival".

Even the museum was a delight. It is not the artifacts kept there but the photographs that state how Sanchi was discovered and the various stages of building it up. The only thing that surprised me was that, most of the Lord Budha's status are beheaded, very rarely would you find any of the status are intact.

Overall it was an amazing journey... A must see while trying to "Discover India"....