NOEL ELLIS' GOOGLE BLOG

People ask me, from where do I find subjects to write on. Frankly, they come automatically. From a bird to an airplane flying above can trigger a thought for an article. It could be a scene or situation which touches me deep within also.   Like it happened today. I was feeding the fish, when I noticed a ‘clump of leaves’ clutching a vine. I wanted to shake those leaves away. They could have got entangled with each other. Leaves were stuck very firmly. Which got me thinking. Were they stuck in a cobweb? The mystery had to be solved.   On close inspection, it was an abandoned Hummingbird’s nest. We have seen many nests around our garden. This was a new place. Something must have gone wrong for them to abandon it half built.   As I was wrecking my grey matter many thoughts unfolded. Hummingbirds frequent our home to have a sweet drink which is kept in the hummingbird feeder. They visit till dusk, sipping the drink with glee.   Tactically, it was an exc...

  It has been a long time since I have had “Khujli in my Hands”. No, no, not what you are thinking. People will ask me if it is in the left hand or the right one. If it is the left you will receive money and vice versa if it is on the right hand. Right!   My itch is different and has got nothing to do with money. It has everything to do with gardening. Larger the number of flowers, the richer I feel. My happiness index depends on them.   Let me not beat around the bush and come to the itch. It has nothing to do with any disease or what vela people generally scratch. So here goes…...   It was in December that one of our adenium plants showed a seed pod. My excitement knew no bounds. Having researched about this plant called the “desert rose” extensively, one was convinced that this year there will be a new experiment. That is growing adeniums from seeds. A seedpod was the beginning of the process.   From about a centimeter when I had detected the seedpod, it grew...

  Every day, when I walk up the stairs to the rooftop, my mind keeps churning with thoughts of what am I going to find new in the garden there. Would it be a new colour of Waterlily or Adenium? Would it be some new insect, reptile or bird? Would the setting sun give me some new angle or the clouds making new formations? Sometimes, it is a new set of birds flying in formation.   The probabilities are too many. Rest assured, if the camera is in my hand, something or the other is there to delight you and bring a broad smile on your face.   As time has gone by, now you know each tub and pot like the back of your hand. The leaves which float and plants now communicate with you of their needs. Insects and reptiles hang around as they find that place suitable. Even bees and wasps pose for you. Their hover, buzz or the method of taking nectar/water can add to your learning. Not a day goes without an event.   “New” is what I look for. The old cannot be forgotten...

 3  New Adenium colours. Dil Khush

  In this humdrum of war, I was thinking about the birds and animals in those countries. What fault had these innocents done to deserve the bombs. Human suffering, we all are witnessing but no one is covering the trauma and ordeal of the fauna.   Devastated homes, devastated nests, distressed people, disillusioned and tormented fauna, uncertain about their next meal but the birds can fly over borders. Birds too feel the heat and get caught in the crossfire.   I have never seen birds cry if their nest is destroyed. They fight, contest, resist, divert attention, struggle, attack and counter attack with all their might but then move on. Humanity wails much longer. Even strays lose their pups, lament a while but see life beyond. We need to learn a lot.   We on the other hand are enslaved to modernity and technology. The privileged ones cannot live without electricity. We have got glued to our gadgets. Above all, we cannot part with our phones. Our whole world is in there...

    I had promised myself to get off the “Idiot Box”.  And then the one and only, the one with blonde hair entered the scene and started a war which no one wanted including him.   War being a part of my life being a military man, I couldn’t help pick the remote and search for some authentic news about this conflict. What mused me was that a person called ‘Zelensky’ suddenly started feeling sidelined because all the attention he was supposed to get was withdrawn. No TRP for the media.   A few days before Feb 28, there were speculations galore. When will the war start, who will start it, what weapons will be used etc. etc.? Now, they are discussing when will the war end?   The war started. Bombs were away from all sorts of platforms falling like raindrops. The country which was being bombed was totally underestimated. They started returning the favours. They involved their neighbours who harboured the US forces as a counter.   In the ...

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