Writing

Rediscovering the house sparrows 

They were so common that we hardly noticed them. They were the part of Punjabi folklore. For example, the unmarried girls were compared with them, saying that these girls are like sparrows chirping all day in the verandahs of their parents and will also fly away when married. Whole day, they will dart inside and out bringing semi dry grass stubble for construction of the nest. There was chirping all day. There was a mulberry tree in our courtyard where in the evening these birds rested in its cool and secure boughs. The cacophony in the evening would be ear… Read More »Rediscovering the house sparrows 

Gags

Daily in the page devoted to popular science in my newspaper, I read the funny and contradictory items. One day, a study reports that mother’s love inoculates the children against the stress when they grow up. If this were true then in India, hardly any male will ever suffer from stress because mothers here are very dotting about their sons. Most of the tension will be burdened by females. Other day, another study tells that the persons who are most loved by the mothers in during childhood will become too insecure as to face the stress with courage and boldness… Read More »Gags

Green Bee Eaters

I first noticed this beautiful bird sitting on the transmission wires passing over the wheat field. Due to green color, these looked like small parrots. Then we found it in many places in our neighborhood like over the water bodies and trees. This bird is called Green Bee Eater with its scientific name as “Merops orientalis” is an exquisite little bird with bright emerald green plumage. The wings are largely green, sometimes tinted with gold or reddish-brown, and have a black trailing edge. The bird is fairly gregarious and forages either alone or in small groups. From a perch on… Read More »Green Bee Eaters

More Pictures of Purple Sunbird 

These days, the calls of this bird are so common that they will compel you to take notice. Owing to the purple colour of the bird, despite its minuscule size, you can locate it hovering and sucking nectar from flowers. Female are very difficult to locate as they are not purple at all but olive colored. So here are few more pictures.

Living Patterns

We, who live in cities, become tuned to comfortable life. We sleep without any worry. Security guards look after our homes when we are asleep. It is another matter that sometimes even they doze off jeopardizing our safety. We can immediately switch on the light if we require so. In cities the demarcation between day and night becomes blurred. If we feel hot, we switch on the fans or air conditioners. Our women don’t have to blow the pipes for making the fire to cook food. Most of the women though don’t cook food or clean the home. There are… Read More »Living Patterns

Pointing Finger of the Sailor!

Invariably while on the morning walk, I look at the statute of Dr.Ambedkar, the founding father of India’s constitution. He is depicted wearing a suit and holding the book in the left hand close to his body. The finger of his right hand is shown pointing away. He is wearing spectacles. All these traits point out to his western education. He seems to trying to say something to his countrymen. He belonged to the downtrodden class of India. He fought for the uplift & social equality  of the downtrodden. He endeavored his whole life to do away the thousands of… Read More »Pointing Finger of the Sailor!

Time

River of Time flows eternally, It never swells, it never dries, It is always the same, Unchanging It was here before Universe, It was here before Earth, Stars & Moon, It does not care, it does not mind, It never complains It shall be here rest assure, When we shall be gone, Our moon, Sun & stars shall be switched off, It shall flow eternally, It shall never grow old, It was, is and shall be stoic as ever. Time is the greatest of All.

Day and Night

God after creating the world, Sat and watched his creation Like an artist who examines, his painting from afar, He then appointed Two dyers One He called Day and other He called Night, Day has vats of countless dyes and colored the world with them Night only has one dye, one dye called black. He colors every thing black While Day creates differences, Creates distinctions, Night dissolves the differences Removes differences and distinctions

Oh, Dr. Baba

There he is, standing out like a tree day and night, in the sun and rain, in the winter and autumn. He is bound to the stone and is thus in the shackles. While trees have roots and get nourishment from the earth and grow, he is rootless. He has been turned into a static unlike a dynamic entity he was when he was alive. Birds sit on his head, his shoulders and shit there.  A tattered garland made of synthetic flowers and ribbons hangs around his neck. He is so helpless that he can’t even remove that tattered garland… Read More »Oh, Dr. Baba

The Sparrows

I grew up in a village. In my childhood days, there were lush green fields around our village. The land was very fertile and only animal manure was used to boost the crops. Water for irrigation came  from the canals and a schedule for distribution of water according to the area of land a farmer had was fixed. We used to go to fields everyday after our school. We took many detours on our way to our field. In the summers, we took dip in the cool refreshing waters in the canals in which cattle also cooled themselves. We stole… Read More »The Sparrows