NOEL ELLIS' GOOGLE BLOG

  Snowflakes have been a part of our garden for three years now. Initially, we just had the white ones, we added the yellow ones later. In winters, the situation became grim, when due to severe cold we had almost lost them. However, their tubers stayed hidden in the shallow earthen pot and have now come to bloom.   Among the many plants that have found a home on our rooftop garden, few are as delicate and fascinating as the “Floating Heart.” Unlike the water lilies, the Floating Heart attracts attention and is quite different. Their small floating leaves, slender stalks, and small flowers that look like tiny stars or snowflakes rest gently on the water.   What makes this plant special is the life it attracts. A bee visiting the flowers, transforms an ordinary moment into a lesson in nature's interconnectedness. The plant, a living participant in a small ecosystem supporting insects, fish, birds and countless unseen organisms.   Botanically it is from th...

  NEET exams are around the bend. Tensions are mounting more in the Education Ministry to seal the areas from where paper leaks happen. The education minister is being tested actually.   The ‘Paper Mafia’, must still be on a look out to puncture the system. They would do it again for a ‘few dollars more’. Sleuths would be on a lookout. I hope they nab all those who dare to play with the future of our kids and bring them to book.   One reason the paper leak controversies have attracted so much attention is because a breach could occur at many stages, like question creation, digital storage, printing, transport, centre administration, or post-exam handling. Basically, where there is human handling of the exam paper. Those loopholes must be plugged.   I remember my preparation for the prestigious Staff College exams. Rumours used to float around that the question paper is being set in one of the Commands, especially for an exam called Tac-B. This was a pra...

  With the summer at its pinnacle, cooling our body down with a chilled glass of water is all that one needs. Ice cream is a bonus. These days, one has a choice of drinking water from chilled water bottles or adding ice made from the deep freezers into a jug of water. I love to do the latter.   This made me drift back to my childhood. Those days a fridge was considered a luxury. We had something called the ‘ice box’. Dad would make it ready to use on the first day of our summer holidays.   He would take me along riding his bicycle to the ice factory in the Dhan Mandi of Kapurthala, about four kilometers from our home to fetch 5kgs of ice every alternate day. A jute bag or ‘Bori’ was used to cover the ice in transit. 10p a kg was some amount but the relief it brought to all of us was unimaginable. We could chill anything.   Mom used to start cleaning used squash and rum bottles. They had to have tight closing lids. A row of bottles would be laid at the b...

  A new Adenium in our garden ❤ Dil Khush 🧡

  BEES & BEE EATERS   LT COL NOEL ELLIS   13/VI/2026   Last evening while on my routine visit to the rooftop garden, I noticed a very unusual activity near one of our waterlily tubs. Something came like a flash and disappeared the same way. Bulbuls, Doves and Sunbirds are regular visitors. An odd Drongo, Kingfisher or a Wire Tailed Swallow do the honours sometimes. This was different.   As I was topping up the tubs with water, I couldn’t take a break. This flight of such a swift and fast bird definitely called for a dekho. If she had come once, she definitely would return. Then I would know who this beauty was.   Having done my chores, I moved to take a bird’s eye view of the common garden. There she was with her complete family. Three of them. I assume it was mama eater, papa eater and baby eater, who had come to feed.   As soon as I went downstairs, I told my wife that I saw a ‘Bee Eaters’. We both smiled and welcomed this...

  Having got out from the afternoon siesta, my wife and I walked into the drawing room. It was time to enjoy a hot cup of tea in this torrid heat. Actually, I overslept after eating a heavy lunch of Pindi Chikkar-Chole and Ajwain wali Puri accompanied by a big bowl of curd, sprinkled with kacchi kairi-pudinay ki chutney and kuttra hua pyaz. Yum! Isn’t it?   As my wife walked in with chai and biscuits. Something caught her attention which she brought to my notice. An unusual activity was happening at our bird grain feeder. There was this unmistakable bird, size of a dove sitting on the feeder’s ledge.   It was none other than Mr Malya the Kingfisher. This naughty boy is very fond of my girls swimming in the water. He has been fishing them away. Instead of getting them to model, he has been eating them sitting on the tree in our front yard. Yes, my beauties are my guppies and mollies. He dives, splashes the water, picks them up and devours them.   We have...

The temperature in the desert has come down but is still touching 40ºC + in the sun. Man, beast & plants are stressed. However, a welcome relief came when a heavy squall hit our city.   Trees extended their arms out as if telling everyone the direction in which the storm was passing. Some were bending over to say ‘Khammagani’ when two branches came together to join hands due to the force of the wind.   Many of our pots toppled over. A few branches broke. Old leaves took flight and dispersion of seeds took place.   First thing in the morning was to check the damage. Strong winds had given us the scare. Rain was welcome as it saved me from the fatigue of watering that day. The atmosphere was relieved of the dryness and heat. Birds were eagerly waiting at their grain bowl which was overflowing with rain water. Bajra had got soaked, they needed fresh grain.   Having assessed the storm damage, it was time to look around and enjoy the clean, serene an...

  Can someone tell me what is the national pass time? No, it is not elections or cockroaches. Wars are no more interesting. So read on……...   I get up quite early in the morning. To leave your air conditioned comfort zone has some time to go. What do you do in the meantime? The majority of us pick up our mobile phones to check the time. Some knock off to sleep again,   Having worn your spectacles, you ‘thumb print’ yourself like an ‘illiterate’ to access your mobile. These days to save your “data” from ‘unknown people’, you lock it with fingerprints and a pattern or both. Face recognition may not work because many are without makeup.   Many of us tend to forget the zig-zag pattern. Try opening a Gen Zs phone, it would be like the hairpin bends of jalebi mor in Ladakh. Zig-zag-zag-zig-scrambled zag and a straight zig. Simple!   What do you do now? Moment, you touch your phone, the ‘ting-ting’ starts going bonkers. Good morning messages start pou...