The sleeping beauty on jasmine leaves

RIP Lime Swallowtail! A hearse of jasmine leaves and sadabahar flowers. You still  look full of flying life, as if ready to take off any moment. You had your colourful days, flowers, nectar, airy swirls, rainbow days.
Quitely you landed on the tarmac of mortality, and your little ounce of spirit flies and takes off to the the highest station to be one with the primordial spirit. From limited to the unlimited. From here to everywhere. From these few colours to all the colours of paradise. From now to forever. From this beautiful pattern and design on your wings to the primal self evolving pattern of nature.

The tree in your yard is as alive as your family members and more

There are more prominent complexities in nature than man-made systems. Read this seminal work and you will scientifically understand why a tree is as alive as human beings. It's purely research based, not some esoteric mystical talk. You will learn how life is as good, valued and important at all levels in nature. It will bust your misconceptions that life is human centric only. Read it to know your real place in the scheme of natural things. After reading it your next visit to the forest will give you unimaginable perspectives. You will feel more of a humane being. Well, it's strictly for your benefit only.

"In 'The Hidden Life of Trees', Peter Wohlleben shares his deep love of woods and forests and explains the amazing processes of life, death and regeneration he has observed in the woodland and the amazing scientific mechanisms behind these wonders, of which we are blissfully unaware. Much like human families, tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them and support them as they grow, sharing nutrients with those who are sick or struggling and creating an ecosystem that mitigates the impact of extremes of heat and cold for the whole group. As a result of such interactions, trees in a family or community are protected and can live to be very old. In contrast, solitary trees, like street kids, have a tough time of it and in most cases die much earlier than those in a group.
Drawing on groundbreaking new discoveries, Wohlleben presents the science behind the secret and previously unknown life of trees and their communication abilities, he describes how these discoveries have informed his own practices in the forest around him. As he says, a happy forest is a healthy forest and he believes that eco-friendly practices not only are economically sustainable but also benefit the health of our planet and the mental and physical health of all who live on Earth."

Love spiced with curry leaves

Love, love, love on the small Kari patta (curry leaves) tree. The tree with aromatic leaflets adds a delicious aroma to various curries. It adds taste to the precious moments of this tiny bird couple, a cute pair of Oriental white eye.

In the afternoon I spray water on the small tree, and they usually come and take a rubbing bath against wet leaves, prancing around, twitching their square tails, flapping their greenish yellow coats. Then they peck and cuddle each other with their slender, pointed, slightly curved bills. Love is never enough. They raise their little heads in supreme abandonment, while the partner is busy cuddling in the fur with its beak. Goosebumps, all pleasing and tinkling!

Let there be wars, hate, jealousy and bigger human issues around. Here they are, etching out a tiny, colourful love tale, with small dreams of a nest in their eyes which have a beautiful white ring around them. They really love this afternoon bathing by the way. I have to spray water so that they don't miss it. There are more important things to attend to as well. After the lovey dovey moments, they hunt gregariously among the foliage for insects and take sips of nectar from the overblooming sadabahar flowers around. And of course in between are their softly jingling conversational notes, possibly taking birdie jibes at human follies of wasting time and energy in unnecessary hassles, while all that is needed is just to be in league with mother nature and uncountable happiness showers by default, as a rule of nature.

Universe: The one song

Look at your body and think, whether it exists in abstraction. It doesn't. This ecosystem is your extended body. Then earth is this ecosystem's extended body. Solar system is earth's extended body. The Milky way is solar system's extended body. Supergalaxy is Milky way's extended body, and so on so forth. Now can you guess what is the meaning of "universe"? It is "one song". If you still didn't get it, no need to waste time, carry on like before, but don't forget to smile and have fun. This is just one harmonious, ever evolving song to which you can definitely add your melody and composition by being in tune with natural laws. Closely watch nature. You will see the miracles happening with such magical effortlessness that they appear more mundane than even the simple task of you lifting your hand. And one more thing, like you see around, it's nothing but dynamic exchange and transformation of energy and matter, your own purposes in life always fall short of the universal will unless you link them to the causes beyond your own self. So while you strive to be happy and successful, try to do it in a way that it is harmonious with the same desires of not just human beings but all of ecosystem. Even a genuine prayer for someone will do. Enlightenment doesn't mean skies will shower flowers and earth will part and you will get a halo around your head. It happens when you become commonest of the common and see you in the natural scheme around. 

The best bridge between science and spirituality

The strongest bridge ever built to connect Eastern mysticism and Western science. The best digestible concoction prepared by mixing the two apparently contradictory, antipodal substances. Eat this porridge, walk on this bridge and you will realise there is absolutely no difference between spirituality and science. A must read for all educated people out there.

The bulb of life on an electric bulb holder

Well, this bulb holder was lying idle for too long, till it got the attention of natural intelligence. A mud fort in the making. Hope it will cherish the bulbuous fluid in eggs that will sprout the light of life. A wire tailed swallow pair is busy making their mud nest. They pick up mud from rain puddles and deposit it layer by layer, slowly mixing their saliva and droppings in the mixture. During the breeding season their glands have extra salivation equipping them with a suitable adhesive. This is what I call environment friendly birdie cement. My mother has a problem though. She finds it disturbing because at this stage it appears a mud sling on the painted wall. I have convinced her that it will be a very nice, decorative wall hanging once it's completed. Best of luck beautiful birds. They have very bright colours of metallic blue and white.

Awakening the dead

It was a dry, dead branch at the top of an acacia. But that was before the monsoon touched with watery pout, to kiss and infuse greenery even in an otherwise prickly, irritatingly imposing silhouette of the acacia. Overblown life from the surroundings is creeping into the dead wood. The creeper is handing over its extra greenery by climbing over dead pricks and crown the treetop with a symbol of life. The canopy is getting its leafy top. Wonderful greenish encroachment. The birds though may not be happy because this dead branch at the tree top used to be their favourite sentry point to look around.

Dry branch after leafy donation by the creeper

Dry branch when the monsoons arrived and birds had their bare watchtower 

The seven spiritual laws of success by Deepak Chopra

One seed contains the potential of a whole forest. These 9000 words in this small pocketbook comprise a glimpse of the infinite and its day to day reflection in our lives. Explore your own space and nature within the infinitely dynamic exchange of matter in the singular stream of primordial energy shooting off in countless directions, carrying fixed laws and supported by infallible universal intelligence.

Love notes of a lonely bird

Oriental magpie robin's monsoonal love notes. The long drawn love notes are flying in air to catch the attention of an interested female. The guy is so absorbed in his love search that I reached just 3 feet from it. Only then it realised that there are more important things than love and irritatingly flew away to continue its mate searching song from a nearby tree.

The fort-maker on a rainy day

It's hot and humid, the sun sweltering over rain-lashed earth. There is a well-digger in my yard. Sweating it out since early morning. The sand wasp works more efficiently than a human earth mover. No noise, no pollution. Simply going in and coming in reverse with a sand ball tucked between its snout and the foreleg pair which it uses with the efficiency of hands. Freshly hued damp yellow sand growing up like a tiny mound. 

It's unmindful of me taking a picture from a close quarter. Given its single-minded focus, I wonder I may have a tiny hill and a spring--because water table is very high in rainy season--in my yard. Best of luck well digger. But please don't dig too deep to make a hole for a small snake to fit in.

PS: on further enquiries I find it's a friendly insect... doesn't aggressively bite like bees. Now I see why it's unmindful of my presence so near its sandy altar. It also preys upon mosquitoes and houseflies. So continue bro, lay down a long tunnel for your larvae and then prey upon our common enemies. In full support with you. Cheers!

PSS: in the video it's closing the gates of its fort, for new life, new cycle. While closing the gates, it even took a few breakfasty bites at a couple of ants also. Possibly it had missed breakfast today. After closing the gates it hovered over the mound with the elated buzz of a triumphant US military hawk helicopter. It has left a little depression around the gate and gone for the time. Not to loiter around I m sure. There is something in store in its scheme, which I cannot understand at the time. And I am proven right. It's never chalta hai attitude in nature unlike humans who take shortcuts and apartments and bridges collapse. The sand wasp had gone out to get some preys which it collects nearby under leaves. To keep its hole safe and guarded in its absence, it had put up a temporary earthwork by its opening. Coming back it removes the part time gate and gets into business again. It will lay eggs and leave food there. The larvae will eat, grow big and pop out into the world.

The fort-maker scraping a depression around the freshly dug cave-mouth to close it temporarily during its absence

PSSS: So that turned out to be its modus operandi: closing the fortress and temporarily, leaving an oblong depression around the opening, leaving the scene, and come back again after a couple of hours to start the task again. In the afternoon it rained cats and dogs, a furious rain storm which jolted even the farmers and big trees. After the storm I saw the  site lashed by the rains, the small depression around the opening filled with sand and the sand mound washed away. I thought it was over. In such a stormy blizzard the little insect must have been blown away to a far place, I thought. Or most probably it was even dead. But then the tough taskmaster showed that it was still around despite the storm. The next day I see again the trademark little depression around the hole mouth and gates temporarily shut. Well done!

Back to business after the floods.

Closing the gates of its fort again.

Some sweetly humid moments on a rainy day in the countryside

Life was never greener and more colourful in my small yard. Luxurious green of Harsingar, motia, jasmine, duranta, guava, Kari patta, Tulsi, murva and the ubiquitous sadabahar blooming out of proportion. Well, the rains have been good. Butterflies dart around, flirting with flowers and their mates amid airy swirls. Even the irritatingly prickly and boring keekars are luxurious green like a new bride. There are more birds. Breeding in the safe and overgrown greenery. I could see even a kite hovering in silent, serene majesty, its wings spread out in embracing comfort of the mother nature. Even in the countryside the sight has become a rarity and I cannot remember many during the past decade. So it's a positive sign for the birdie world. There are two couples of Oriental magpie Robins chhrrring around. The bulbul family is still around, improvising new and new calls. The mother bulbul is very possessive of its offspring and entails it all the time. Bee eaters sit silently and swoop suddenly to catch flying insects. One overzealous bee-eater swooped down on a dragonfly and sat on a dry mulberry branch, the prey bigger for its beat, thinking over what to do now. It then started beating the struggling bray on the branch, striking its on both sides by rhythmically moving its neck sideways. It appeared more like bird yoga. The wire-tailed swallow family is often seen with their swift dives and faint chips. There are lots of flying insects. So the young fellows are being fed well. Tiny tailor-bird tweets with best effect among all. A lovelorn male Indian Robin is persistently sending love notes to attract a mate. The other day it was drizzling and the lonely bird kept sitting on a high dry branch in the rain and continued with its pining notes. Well, let's hope lady luck smiles on it soon. The unperturbed stoicism of the dove pair is inspiring to a meditator like me. The babblers and crows are noisy though. The stern looking mynah always appears with an air of aloof, single point focus on her own affairs. Another pair of spotted munias has erected a new nest in Parijat tree's high branches. And the slow pace of life unfolds in its rustic majesty in the countryside.