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COLD CALLS

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   04/IV/2024   Have you guys faced a challenge of something called “Cold Calling”. Many companies have a call centre located in a slum in Dharavi to a swanky mall. They somehow get hold of your details and call you for buying homes, selling cars and you name it, ‘only at odd hours’.   Bank finance people, loan services, credit card services are on a lookout whom to call and disturb. These days there are frauds of umpteen kinds which access your number or social media account. One mistake and it is ‘Mayday’ for you.   Like these days, I am fighting Airtel as they are very concerned about my mobile bill. “Hello Sir, main Aarti baat kar rahi hun Airtel se. Kya app ‘Mr El Tee Kol’ bol rahe hain”. “Haan ji bolo”, ignoring her ignorance. Her voice sounds so dusky and sweet that one thinks chalo sun lo kya kahti hai. Though my BP shoots to 360/420 when such calls come.   “Aap Vodafone use kar rahe hain aur xx amount ka plan use kar rahe hai”? H...
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SWALLOWS ARE NESTING

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   31/III/2025   We are in the season of nesting. All birds have either laid their eggs and are in the process of hatching them. Some ‘Late Lateef’s’ are still constructing them. Many are making second nests because the partner rejected it or a tragedy happened. But the gist remains that love is in the air ‘full on’.   Last year, I saw these shy birds called the “Wire Tailed Swallows” sitting in one of the windowsills on our roof. There had to be a reason for their visit. Now I know.   These girls come down to the lawn right infront of our house, especially when the sprinkler is on. It is so absorbing to watch them collect mud and dry grass which they mix with their saliva to make a mixture which is stronger than cement to build their nest. The birds are super specialised ‘masons’.   I had seen these birds in hundreds sitting on a high-tension wire which passes behind our colony touching our boundary wall. With tha...
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KATRAN कतरन

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   31/III/2024   What comes to your mind if I say ‘ कतरन ’ (Cutrun)? Most of us won’t know what it means. Probably, people belonging to UP/MP might relate to it. It was a very commonly used term in the days of yore.   ‘Katran’ means cutting, piece or shred. It is what is leftover, unwanted and unused. Mostly, in relation to cloth or paper.   In layman's terms  कतरन  were rags, waste cloth, especially leftovers with tailors, who after cutting the cloth to the measurements had shreds and fragments that were thrown away. Those cuttings were in a haphazard pattern but were bits of extra/wasted cloth during the garment stitching process.   There is another word called ‘Cut Piece’. That I shall discuss sometime else. Suffice to say, one can call it a sort of  कतरन  and it used to be a pre-measured cloth from which you could make a garment like a shirt or a pair of pants. Generally, the tailor would tell you that pants for a ...
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BEE EATERS AT THE RIVER FRONT

 
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DANCING DRONGOS

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   29/III/2025   As the summer heat has picked up. It has become mandatory to water the pots daily. Post Holi the frequency from twice a week became once a day in a jiffy. Temperatures would be soaring to 45C soon. Plants look up to you for their ‘Thoolo drink. I have a nozzle fitted to the hose which gives the effect of rain.   This spray is one of the most desired things in the morning. Even the birds which hang around the garden love it.   For the Hummingbirds and Tailor birds the champa leaves become a bathtub of sorts. They ruffle their feathers and groom themselves before going for their daily chores. Bulbuls, Sparrows, and Doves frolic in the puddle of water which accumulates in the drain. It becomes a watering hole and a bathing point, till that water finally gets drained. After feeding on grain, they dive down to have a quick drink and wash.   It was another lucky day for me today. A bird which I had photographed last year near t...
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A NEW BIRD IN TOWN

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   28/III/2025   Last night it appeared the winds had gone mad. They blew hot and cold. Sand particles ‘rode’ on the breeze along with leaves which the trees are shedding. The first draft of the breeze on opening the door was as if the cold wave had returned.   The almond tree infront of the house had gone absolutely bald, with not even the ‘last leaf’ left, and has now started to sprout. New light green shoots look very soothing to the eyes. The Drumstick trees have thrown up numerous fruit pods which hang like dangling needles about to shoot towards the ground.   Once dawn had broken, it was time to inspect the garden. Having done that, it was time for my usual cup of tea and meet and greet passersby.   That is when my ears caught an unusual bird call very close. We are used to the whistling conversations of Greeny the green pigeon, besides tweets of the hummingbirds and chirps of sparrows and coos of the doves. However, this sound was ...
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