Green view…..thanks to Monsoon 2010

Here are some of the latest snaps of the green view from my house.

Tamhini Ghat and Mulshi Dam near Pune

University of Pune Campus

More Flowers

Cheers,
Amol

Tulsi Katta

Feels like good old days when we used to have Tulsi katta outside Wada (old house)

Rain drops captured on a leaf

Rain drops captured on a leaf

Mango tree planted

Few months back, my fried gave me few mangos from Goa. What I did is that I planted one of the seed just to see what happens....and voila.....Kalmi Amba tree is growing happily. Check the snap below. :)

Cheers,
Amol

Few more Garden snaps

Few more Garden snaps....
White Chapha, Sadaphuli (2 different colors) and Jaswand planted in a Math.

Chapha	Sadaphuli
Sadaphuli	Jaswand

Views from my room

The big mango tree behind....

One more.....

Can you see the big flowers?

Tiger @ Katraz Zoo

Garden terrace snaps…

Here are some of the snaps taken from the garden on our terrace.

1.View from the terrace:






2. Flowers:


3. And the king of flowers:


Cheers,
Amol

Monsoon is approaching………………..

Well, the IPL entertainment is over now…..and the mother of all entertainment is about to start for next few months…..you guessed it right….yes, I am talking about Monsoon…which covers the entire India by making an entry from the Indian ocean.

I am sure that few of you would take exception on the word I have used earlier i.e. ‘Entertainment’ for the monsoon. But hey relax….I am just coming out from the hangover of IPL entertainment so I am still in that mode….you see…

But hang on….if you look at the romantic side of the monsoon…..isn’t it mother of all entertainment? Okay, let me ask you one question….when you think about monsoon, what are the thoughts which come to your mind? First rain……first drive in the rain with her….drinking ginger tea after eating mouthwatering bhajis (pakodas)……that romantic walk in the rain with your partner in the clouds at Mahabaleshwar……just freaking out with your friends at Lonavala…..dancing like a kid in the rain with your kids….what not….this list can go on and on…isn’t it? Of course few would also want to add things like: getting wet everyday while going to office on your bike…..no outdoor activities without getting wet….no cricket…flood water every where….traffic jams….and so on… So, this list can also go on…..But at this moment I want to concentrate only on the positive side….or rather romantic side of it…

Years after years we keep on hearing predictions on rainfall…..arrival dates of the monsoon…etc. If you have grown up in rural areas of Maharashtra (just like me), you could see the expressions/excitement on the farmer’s face and of course not to forget their fight to complete the farm landing tasks in time before the rain god starts pouring….The farmers actually predict the percentage of the rainfalls based on their experience. They observe lot of things around before the rainy season. These could be various parameters starting from the behavior of birds, cows, buffalos and other animals….colurs in the sky….wind and so on…Now, we have developed lot of methods/techniques to actually predict the rainfall using the systems….if you are from coastal side then you also know that even fishers (kolis) use their own parameters to judge the behavior of the sea based on monsoon…..

So, from where this monsoon comes and how does it cover whole India? Isn’t interesting or rather a phenomenon? Yes, it is. I don’t want to go into much details as I am not the right person to comment on it….as far as we are concerned, monsoon starts from the Indian Ocean. It is again classified into two streams as south-west summer monsoon (our monsoon) and North-east monsoon.

South-west Summer Monsoon: Typically, it is expected to hit western coast of India in the first week of June only. Again, there are two streams or rather branches as they call of South-west monsoon. The first one is Arabian Sea branch and second is Bay of Bengal branch. In case you get confused then allow me to tell you that Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal are the regions of India Ocean on the west side and east side of India respectively. Btw, did you know that Indian Ocean covers about 20% of the water on the earth and yes of course warm water……Any ways, the Arabian sea branch hits our Kerla typically by 1st June then it continues its journey towards northern India. Bay of Beangal Branch of south-west monsoon flows over Bay of Bengal heading to North East.

This is the latest satellite photo indicating the current state of monsoon waiting to hit the west coast.


North-east monsoon: This is the journey back to the Indian ocean from where it started…..Isn’t it? Typically a southern state like Tamilnadu receives north-east monsoon rainfall usually in September or so.

Well, now that you are aware of the types/branches of the monsoon and the kind of entertainment it provides to us…..don’t forget to enjoy this monsoon…..It comes to meet us once in the year ….i don’t know since when…probably few million years ago???

Enjoy with care….

Cheers,
Amol

Silence Please…………….

In today’s world of noise in the form of vehicle horns, music, mobile phone rings, ipod etc., how many times you strive for no-noise zone? Do you still want to hear those bird songs, sound of silence in the jungle? If yes, then you are probably sailing in the same boat. Endless chats with customers, friends, colleagues, tracking e mails, horrible traffic can somehow force you to experience that silence, which we used to experience sometimes back. That quiet world, greed landscape, flying birds and so on………

I agree that to live in the modern world sometimes we have to sacrifice few things. But that does not mean that you have to move away from nature. Even though you live in metro cities, it is always possible to take some time and be close to nature with your family. I always try to keep on exploring new places. Unfortunately, most of the times you cannot afford to stay away from your work place more than 2-3 days. So what? Just step outside the house early morning, make sure that fuel tank is full and then just start driving. Sometimes, it better to start unplanned. Go to new places which you have not heard about. Try to find out isolated corners, and then just sit there closing your eyes. Take deep breaths and listen to the voice of trees, birds, air. Continue to take deep breaths and trust me within few minutes you will be enlightened with happiness. You will then only concentrate only on the silence. This will help you to solve most of your problems in your head.

Amboli and Mahabaleshwar ae some of my favorite places where I usually go to listen the silence of nature. And yes, you need not have to go far, if you are living in Pune then there are still few places where you can go. Sometimes, it is necessary to take such short breaks and then again start the battle of life. :)

Cheers,
Amol

To do or not to do………..?

This question will haunt most of us in some part of the life. Sometimes, when you have to take decision which can be turning point in your life; you will think about this question only. Should I do that or should I wait? You will experience race between your head and heart. And chances are high that both of them will show you opposite directions. Head will tell you to do something based on its own calculations, statistics etc., but your heart will not accept it.

So what do we do in such cases? Sometimes it is always better to listen to your heart because that will make you happy. This will make your heartbeats normal. But later on you might realize the consequence of temporary happiness.

You can go with your heart feelings but do not ignore what your head is trying to tell you. It is better to consider both the options and take a decision. This is the complex equation which involves your head as well as your heart. And you will only have to solve it. So make sure that you take the right decision.

Cheers,
Amol

On July 20, 1969…..Why not now?

On July 20, 1969 Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin successfully touched down on the moon surface. Then he spoke the unforgettable phrase, "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind". He and Aldrin explored the Moon's surface for 2.5 hours.

We have heard about this right from our childhood. When it actually happened, most of us were not born. But I do wonder sometimes that the thing which we did in 1969, why was it not repeated in 37 years? I do not want to discuss about various theories about whether he actually landed on moon or not. There are lots of theories floating around since then. But with incredible advancement in technology, was it that difficult to reach moon in last 37 years? We are talking about mars, other galaxies. What about the moon which is like honey for all of us and which is so close to our heart?

I wish that I could answer these questions.

Cheers,
Amol