Twenty- five Seven

Blooms against a Mumbai sky #SkywatchFriday

May 13, 2016

Trees in bloom

In a highly urbanised setting where concrete and humans far outnumber the flora and fauna, a tree in bloom is a treat. Driving home the other day I noticed a few trees in bloom, their brilliant flowers reaching out to my Mumbai sky.

The fragrant blossoms of Frangipani reach out to the sky

A little bit of sky peeps through the branches of this young Rain Tree

The glorious blooms of the Rusty Shield Bearer fall down like snowflakes when the wind shakes them off

Every year this Jacaranda treats Mumbai commuters stuck in traffic to a brilliant purple canopy

And isnt it a shame to see a tree like this ? Obviously , it is past its prime and waiting for the tree cutters to fell it down before a strong gust of wind does so

I may have identified the trees wrongly thanks to my rusty knowledge of botany. Will gladly welcome correct names if wrong.

There’s something uplifting about trees, their branches reaching out to the sky , a notion so beautifully expressed in this poem from my schooldays :

Trees

By Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.
Source: Poetry (Poetry)

With each passing day, the temperature is rising and soon these blooms too will fall off and the trees will go back to being part of the unnoticed background.

Linking this to #SkywatchFriday.
Cows only give milk!

May 12, 2016

Did you know that cows only give milk?

This happy cow is chewing grass so that we can drink her milk! image

It was only yesterday, that I learnt that cows ONLY give milk! I had some errands to run and was reluctant to leave Wow Dinga at home with the babies

“Why don’t you come for a drive with me ?” I suggested knowing fully well that the answer would be

“No” with a long, hard stare.

“I promise you it will be fun. You can see the road digger ( all the roads are being frantically dug up before the rains lash Mumbai) , the cement mixer ( so many buildings being constructed ) and the garbage truck! “

He continued staring at me , unconvinced.

“You might even see the Fire Engine!“

I could see a glimmer in his eyes as he decided whether or not to come.

Luckily we saw all the vehicles as promised including the 3 gleaming fire engines we saw parked at the Fire Station. Wow Dinga was pleased.He refused to get out of the car , preferring to sit inside with Madhukar our driver and watch the cow chewing cud on the pavement.

When I returned, I was surprised to see him and Madhukar feeding the cow. He looked even more excited than he did seeing the fire engines!

“Weren’t you scared the cow would chew off your hand ?” I asked in mock amazement

“No ! The cow gives us doodoo. And I gave her grass so she can give doodoo”

“But weren’t you worried that the cow would do soosoo? ” I asked, having seen several of them emptying out their bladder.

“No! ” he intoned with the wisdom of a 3 year old “Cows don’t do soosoo. They only give doodoo! “

I wonder what will convince him that cows are ordinary animals with normal, natural functions?
Off with your specs grandma!!

May 9, 2016

OpenClipartVectors / Pixabay

The other day Ms. Papaya and I were horsing around when she grabbed the chord to my spectacles and pulled so hard that I came within an inch from her eyes. She gazed at me with a fixed stare and pulled them off . I noticed that she did this several times especially when I was wearing them to change her nappy or give her her vitamins.

I noticed a similar reaction with Po who used to wonder why I needed spectacles and also made a grab for them everytime.

Then the other day Wow Dinga grabbed his father’s specs and perched them on his nose . While we adults were horrified and asked him to take them off , he was more pleased that his siblings were terrified . Little Po’s lower lip began to quiver while Ms Papaya’s face crumpled and huge big plops of tears rolled down her face as she began to wail.

I dug into my memory bank and remembered that even Wow Dinga had displayed such aversion to my specs and came to a conclusion that many behavioural scientists have missed an important milestone :

When an infant approaches his first birthday he develops a sudden fear/aversion to spectacles.

Have any of you made this observation?