Bannerghatta 5 Wildflower

Often overlooked, one finds wildflowers in any empty space where they vie for attention amongst several other species.

Bangalore is blessed to have lots of wildflowers growing all over the city. It was only a few years back that all that could be seen was Parthenium,  a wild plant native to South America, which caused several kinds of allergies to people.

However, with concerted effort this plant has almost been eliminated and now, one can see resurgence of the original wild plants that were missing for several years (decades)

Bannerghatta 4 Wildflower

Sometimes beauty lurks in the unlikeliest of places. It was on the path towards to the Butterfly Park in Bannerghatta when I chanced upon this gem hidden in the thicket beside the path.

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Bannerghatta 3 Bird of Paradise - Strelitzia

Paradise probably comes in various colours but here on earth, these bright colours are how we know about the Bird of Paradise flower. Its gorgeous colours on tender petals the bright sunshine and great company made taking this photograph a real pleasure

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Bannerghatta 2 Pink Cosmos

Following up on the previous post, I continued exploring for more flowers. The bright sun threw up a few surprises, with this pink cosmos peeking out from under some bushes�.

the delicate colours were lovely in the shade and reflected light.

cont.

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Bannerghatta 1 Orange Cosmos

A new camera and and an advanced learning curve prompted a visit to the Bannerghatta National Park near Bangalore. An unusually mild December day (after 3-4 days of intense winds and chill breeze) was an added bonus. The Canon EOS 7D Mark 2, the latest offering from the Canon stable is a camera so advanced, that an old Canon hand like me, who has been shooting a Canon 40D for more than 6 years (I bought it in March 2008) had to re-learn all the bells and whistles of the new camera.

Bannerghatta as usual did not disappoint. There were wild flowers galore and the first suspects to be shot were them. Although, these flowers are more domesticated these days filling up most gardens in Bangalore than growing in the wild, I was lucky to chance upon a dry lake bed wherein one could get a great variety of these Cosmos flowers.

The whole day was fun and as subsequent posts would show, the new camera did not disappoint. Although, as a photographer, I sucked. Its back to the manual for a while re-learning all the new features

cont.

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Tiger in the bamboo

Most of interiors of South India are dry thorn scrub or dry deciduous type of vegetation and bamboo is seen extensively in some parts.

This photograph was taken at the Tiger Safari at the Bannerghatta National Park outside Bangalore.

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Ganesh Ratha Temple

Any visit to Mahabalipuram is incomplete without a visit to the group of stone carved temples situated in a park near the city centre. The first of these temples is a beautifully carved temple called Ganesh Ratha or the Chariot of the Elephant headed God, Ganesha.

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Kryptonite ….

Some crazy ramblings of a wandering soul….

While scrolling through some old images of mine, I came across a photograph of this alien looking Praying Mantis (Order Mantodea) that I had photographed at Hyderabad. This set me thinking of things that are creepy in different ways (several friends were weirded out when I showed them this pic )

And that started another train of thought. I was transported back to my younger days (lost in the depths of antiquity ) when one used to read Marvel and DC comics and see the great Superman brought to his knees by Kryptonite, which was wielded in true ‘gangsta’ fashion by the ‘evil’ Lex Luthor. I was wondering about all the things that can get one down, on ones’ knees, either literally or figuratively.

A beautiful woman has brought many a man down (and maybe a few women) on their knees by just her looks and poise. Add intelligence, wit & humour to it and one has a lethal combination that is more potent than any C4…

Beautiful pink & white flowers...

Door to nowhere

A beautiful door found at a palace in Udaipur. Leads to nowhere .... is just placed in the wall....

Breakfast anyone.....

A Pantala flavescens breakfasting on some leaves.....

Bangalore Blooms 03.05.2014

Another flower from my garden as part of my series on the flowers of Bangalore....

Rosemary Flowers....

Being an amateur cook, one always comes across herbs like Rosemary and Thyme.  It was only after I picked up a small plant and planted it on my roof was I able to both see the real-time development as well as get fresh herbs for my use.

It was a great surprise when I saw small flowers on the tips of some of the branches. They looked white and pristine and really pretty.

Sunday Blooms 27.04.2014

The blazing sun on Bangalores� horizon lit up this beautiful bunch of flowers hanging from the balcony of my house.

Flaming flowers...

Come spring and once sees the fiery blooms of the bougainvillaea all over Bangalore. Although there are several lovely colours, nothing captures the morning sun as beautifully as these orange flowers.....

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Moon 16.04.2014

A beautiful moon captured over Bangalore today.....

Green Bee Eater

Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis) photographed at Mysore. These birds are mainly insect eaters and they are found in grassland, thin scrub and forest often quite far from water. 

Like other bee-eaters, this species is a richly coloured, slender bird. It is about 9 inches (16�18 cm) long with about 2 inches made up by the elongated central tail-feathers. The sexes are not visually distinguishable. The entire plumage is bright green and tinged with blue especially on the chin and throat. The crown and upper back are tinged with golden rufous. The flight feathers are rufous washed with green and tipped with blackish. A fine black line runs in front of and behind the eye. The iris is crimson and the bill is black while the legs are dark grey. The wings are green and the beak is black. The elongated tail feathers are absent in juveniles. Sexes are alike.

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The 'app' of all things....

Like any new romance, when the movement started, inexperience was viewed as freshness, tall claims were seen as romantic tales and like Sancho Panza blindly following Don Quixote, the peoples (the use of the word peoples here, is deliberate) of Delhi followed Arvind Kejriwal and his merry men. But the harsh morning light of reality has exposed the flaws that the romance of the night kept hidden, that talking and doing are two different things...

It is a sad awakening.... One hoped that this new movement would instill a sense of decency into a system that was degenerating into pettiness, little realising that juvenile behavior is no alternative...

Bougainvillea....

One of the most hardy and beautiful flowers are the Bougainvillea. These flowers are called paper flowers. The actual flower of the plant is small and generally white, but each cluster of three flowers is surrounded by three or six bracts with the bright colours associated with the plant, including pink, magenta, purple, red, orange, white, or yellow. Bougainvillea glabra is sometimes referred to as "paper flower" because the bracts are thin and papery.

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What's in a heart and all that jazz...

Life is a funny teacher.... As one moves through life, one comes across concepts like heart ache, heart break, hearts joined in love, etc. As someone who has studied science, the heart is visualised more as a constantly working muscle, without which life, in the normal sense of the word is not possible.

It is only when faced with ones own mortality, does a person realise, that the heart is the centre of the being, of not only the person it belongs to, but for people who matter as well. It is then that one realises that maybe, the heart, our own or those of others, are not objects to be played with .....

Passion in a flower......

It's a pity really.... One need not be gay but one can understand the twin concepts of freedom of choice and freedom of expression. Religion is one thing but human existence is something that transcends religion. Persecuting anyone or for that matter anything in the name of religion, morals and accepted norms of society is hypocritical. Desmond Morris in his book, the Naked Ape has explained the human society and it's aberrations beautifully. I do wish the law makers of this land read it sometime....