SMILE

Mountains I scaled, oceans I sailed

I sought diamonds and never once failed.

But hard to find beyond doubts to measure

Your charming smile, a coveted treasure.

PIC COURTESY WIKIPEDIA

A PASSAGE TO PAVAGADA

PAVAGADA
148 km from Bangalore. It is a town trying to catch up with the modern times.
one can find all attributes of a small town in Pavagada.
What makes Pavagada special is its location. Its is a hill-locked town complete with a fort from the bygone era.
There are quite a few places worthy of trekking.
There is a wide variety of bird population; a photographer's delight.
quite a few unnamed water bodies around the area.
the only problem with this place is lodging. no good restaurants or lodges. better off as a one day trip.
well connected by buses to Bangalore though the road is horrible.
not at all a tourist destination. the fort is badly maintained.

to read more about Pavagada,
leave your email id in the comments.
you will receive a full version of A PASSAGE TO PAVAGADA.

pictures courtesy DEVENDRA B. NADDONI

Q.E.D.

Q.E.D. means hence the proof.

Q.E.D.
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF TWENTY20 CRICKET.

For those who came in late, India won the sole twenty20 match in Mumbai.
They beat none other than Australia, actually mothered them.

There wasn't a moment in the game when Australia even seemed to in contention for a win.

WE WON.

DIDN'T DO IT!

A dainty afternoon in bree, up was the sun
When on the bed and in the spread they had some fun
And in the play she cocked some guns and he had some buns
Suddenly the doorbell rang and they had to run
So they didn’t do it, didn’t do it
Didn’t do it indeed
Didn’t do it, didn’t do it
Didn’t do it, indeed.

When the night was young and all were asleep
He stole up to her and said I want to kiss your cheek
She opened her eyes and turned aside
And she told him to shut the fuck up and sleep
So they didn’t do it, didn’t do it
Didn’t do it indeed
Didn’t do it, didn’t do it
Didn’t do it, indeed.

He gave flowers he wrote her poems
And tried a lot of tricks
She took the flowers and read the poems
And called him a dirty little prick
So they didn’t do it, didn’t do it
Didn’t do it indeed
Didn’t do it, didn’t do it
Didn’t do it, indeed.

And finally they got together
And adored each other
They went around for quite some time
In the balmy fair weather
But they didn’t do it, didn’t do it
Didn’t do it indeed
Didn’t do it, didn’t do it
Didn’t do it, indeed.

Spring left and autumn came
On went their game
But the winds of change held their sway
And thus she walked away
But they didn’t do it, didn’t do it
Didn’t do it indeed
Didn’t do it, didn’t do it
Didn’t do it, indeed.

There is much more than meets the eye
When the sparks do fly
But all that she does is
Go all out and deny
We didn’t do it, didn’t do it
Didn’t do it indeed
Didn’t do it, didn’t do it
Didn’t do it, indeed

sung in the tune of an Irish drinking song

My precious

The horror ... The horror.
Indeed! The taste of bile is as ugly as it looks.

Really Beauty KILLED THE BEAST...
THERE WAS NO BEAUTY. The beast thought the beauty was beautiful.
So did the fox who thought the grapes were sour.

My Precious is lost in the world of no HOPE

Thus SANG Gollum

Where once was light
Now darkness fall
Where once was love
Love is no more
Don't say good bye
Don't say I didn't try
These tears we cry

Are falling rain

For all the lies you told us

The hurt, the blame!

And we will weep to be so alone

We are lost

We can never go home

So in the end
I'll be what I will be
No loyal friend
Was ever there for me
Now we say goodbye
We say you didn't try
These tears you cry
Have come too late
Take back the lies
The hurt, the blame!
And you will weep
When you face the end alone
You are lost
You can never go home
You are lost
You can never go home
( GOLLUM 'S SONG performed by Emilliana Torrrini for lord of the rings: The Two Towers)

"You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am."
Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary

AAAAnd that’s all it takes

or so I thought, lest the emotions be betrayed,
Delilah, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.. ha ha ha ha
friendship .. that's how it all begins. but doesn end that way.
it ends as it does (all good things you see got to come to an end) with the goddamn darkness.
After all, tomorrow is another day

dreamer Diana said, "Love means nver having to say you are sorry."
yeah Frankly ,my dear, I don't give a damn.

If you tried to dig deep into the depths of the Grey and still not got what is being implied
I m the king of the world! or so it seems.

What we've got here is failure to communicate.The stuff that dreams are made of.
bah
What a dump!

MADIWALA LAKE : Pelican Grove

"A wonderful bird is the pelican.
His bill will hold more than his belican.
He can take in his beak,
Food enough for a week,
But I'm damned if I can see how the helican."
written by Dixon Lanier Merritt in 1910.


Yeah pelicans! In Bangalore! Surprised?
We saw them at the Madiwala lake. Not just one or two! Almost about 300 to 400, nesting and wading through the water looking for fish.
October 2nd happened to be a bleak morning. Overcast and cold as it was. We set to find the lake. As usual Sam woke up late and couldn'’t make it.
Neither Suman nor me knew the way to the lake. I vaguely knew it was somewhere in BTM Layout, but not the precise location. Wiki maps to the rescue. We reached the place without much confusion. Only glitches being entering a one way from the wrong side and a ride through the busy Madiwala market. That apart we reached BTM bus stand and stopped for a smoke. From there it is one straight road. We spotted the lake.
It is a huge water body ravaged and damaged by the neglect of the authorities. There is a small park by the lake.
There we spotted the pelicans! Frankly I was amazed. I ve always associated pelicans with exotic with their a huge pouches under their bills. I had never expected to find pelicans in Bangalore of all places.
We found them nonchalantly indulging in group fishing, a common feeding habit amongst the pelicans.( They will form a line to chase schools of small fish into shallow water, and then simply scoop them up. Large fish are caught with the bill-tip, then tossed up in the air to be caught and slid into the gullet head first.)
Thanks to the over grown water weed, we couldn’t get very near to them. Suman couldn’t get a good shot of the birds with his camera owing to the bleakness of the overcast morning. Yet it was mesmerising to watch those avians on the lake. There were more nesting on the trees on an island in the middle of the lake. Along with the pelicans we also spotted a few cormorants and Brahminy kites. We even spotted the fickle ashy prinia but before a shot could focused and clicked it flew away. Thanks to the dumb laughter club uncles. (wont somebody tell them people who laugh for no reason are taken to be mad). There was also the ever ubiquitous crow trying to enter every photo being clicked. (it’s a typical Indian bird. Photo , I am there)
The lake as such is in a bad state with the army abandoning its revival. but yes it is a great pleasure to have seen the Pelicans.
In fact it inspired us so much that we will soon be hitting the nature trail.
PS : we went to Lalbagh from there but we were greeted by our ubiquitous friends the crows. I m sure we will find the owlets the next time. We did find some colourful butterflies who posed for the camera to our delight.

These are the birds we saw:
pelicans
cormorants
brahminy kites
black kites
purple moorhens
ashy prinia
ducks
parakeets
the crows too…

photographs of the pelican and the brahminy kite courtesy Wikipedia.

Photographs of the lake with the birds et al courtesy Suman ( http://www.sumankumar.com/)

map courtesy wiki maps