What a Holi is the Middle East celebrating! With blood, gunpowder and missiles. Souls being dispatched to hell/heaven continuously as the case may be. This festival of war will not end soon I suppose. Who will be the victor and who will be the vanquished, no one knows? I am not here to speculate. I was a little baby when the 1965 war with Pakistan took place. Parents used to narrate stories. I have no memories of that war but I believe it was bloody. I had no idea then that I would join the Armed Forces one day. Parents also told us stories of ‘Partition’, the way the whole train load of people were killed. The earth was red with blood. Why? I used to question them. The 1962 war with China, I wasn’t born. We picturised the bloodshed when we saw the movie ‘Haqiqat’. As kids we had no idea of how a country was run & how the defence of a country is organised. We didn’t understand the ‘budget’. We just had respect for the people in uniform. Co...
https://youtu.be/EnrntiL0fTc When you start observing birds, you tend to indulge with your auditory and visual faculties more than usual. A new bird sound catches your ears immediately. To get a visual on it becomes your priority. If you get to see it, nothing like it and if you get to photograph it, is ultimate. We have this pair of birds called the Wire Tailed Swallow living in our colony. They are very agile but shy, extremely energetic, nimble, and always alert at all times. They are excellent insect hunters, including the ones in flight. Their chirps are distinct and their colours so unique. When winters were at its peak, the pair would come and bask in our window sill in the morning sun. The same in summers when the heat was at its peak, they would come and roost at the same place in the shade. Over a period of time, they have become quite friendly. They do not scoot as soon as they see me. Both become cautious but are not scar...