NOEL ELLIS' GOOGLE BLOG

  RAMDOM CLICKS 31 MAY 2022, ELLIS' GARDEN.🤎❤️‍💖 DIL KHUSH 💘💝💟

  MINUS TO PLUS   LT COL NOEL ELLIS   31/V/2022   As we settle in our new place, it is getting exciting. Facilities are improving and normal day to day & things are now easily available. One can imagine about ten years back when residents of our colony had started to move in, life must have been tough.   How far from the city one is located can be measured by simply logging into apps like Swiggy or Zomato? Two messages prominently crop up. One, that your area is not served by this service. Two, there would be extra charges levied for delivery to your location. For us if these guys can’t get things to us, we go and get things ourselves. Period!   Second measure is the spotting of autos in your area. There are very few and far between. One odd one can be seen while transiting through. Ola and Uber kind of vanished during covid. However, you can find the old city bus service starting right at our colony gate. Small minibuses connect you...

  INDELIBLE MEMORIES   LT COL NOEL ELLIS   30/V/2022   Enroute to becoming an officer in the Indian Army, there were many hurdles which one had to clear. Though being from a Sainik School, things were quite sorted out as far as physical fitness and oratory skills were concerned. The toughest was the SSB (Services Selection Board).   Preparation for any competitive exam is the key note to everything. Our preparation began when we stepped in for our ‘entrance exam’ at the Sainik School. 1973 was the year & January was the month.   If I recall correctly, my Waterloo was maths. 1972-73 was a tough year for me. I was ‘jumping’ from class III to V being a late joiner to the kindergarten. With the ‘age limit cap’ to join the prestigious school, one had to appear in an entrance test. Just with basic knowledge of addition, subtraction & English, it was tough. Tuitions of every kind followed.   It was the first time in my life whe...

  BACK TO JODHPUR   LT COL NOEL ELLIS   29/V/2022   In June of 1985, a ‘young officer’ got posted to Jaisalmer on commissioning. With a ‘first class warrant’ in hand it was a privilege to travel in style for the first time. From the ‘fatta’ unreserved class of the Indian Railways, with and without reservation, one had travelled across the length and breadth of the country, but now it was different.   This Officer of the Indian Army had vowed to travel for the sake of his country whenever needed by land, sea or air. I think at that time they forgot to add ‘Rail’ in that vow. Luckily had the privilege to travel by all the other three modes of transport and also ‘para jump’ from the air.   My father being from Rajasthan at least knew where Jaisalmer was. Otherwise, Panjabis were only aware of ‘Kanedda, Fatttu Dhinga, South Hall & Kala Singhia. The booking clerk gave me such a dirty look as if the Indian Government warrant wasn’t suffici...

  NEW DISCOVERY   LT COL NOEL ELLIS   28/V/2022   As we explore nearby places around our new abode, it is leading us to new discoveries.  I walked out with a camera in hand to shoot. Greenery has come up well. Ours is one of the cleanest and greenest colonies in the ‘Sun City’.   Be that as it may. I moved to capture flora, fauna and everything in between to give me fuel to write. As I roamed around there was a new revelation.   The first thing which took my breath away was a ‘bougainvillea bush’ that one of the residents has trained for shade. Their garden floor was as if a white carpet had been spread on the ground.   The next stop was a plant with a flower jutting more than ten feet towards the sky. While adjusting my lens, my eyes caught a glimpse of what we call a ‘Chattri’. One has seen many of them all over Rajasthan, especially Jaisalmer & Jodhpur in particular. This one, adjacent to our colony caught my attenti...

  MYSTERY OF THE LOST NEWSPAPER   LT COL NOEL ELLIS   27/V/2022   It was after ages that we started subscribing to a newspaper. At least one appears to be well read if there is a newspaper at home, if nothing else. Primarily it all piles up as ‘raddi’ as there is so much else to read and watch.   The vernacular here is ‘Marwari’. Popular newspapers subscribed here are mostly Hindi. “Hindi main karya karne ki poori choot hone ke bawajood”, I prefer the language I followed all my life.   Be that as it may. Finding a vendor for an English Newspaper daily became an issue. On enquiring from the security guards of the colony, the first thing they asked was, thay nayo aye ho kaayi? I nodded. After a little discussion they gave a phone number of one vendor who could possibly help. A quick ring and he confirmed that he would be able to deliver one soon. How soon was not tomorrow but a couple of days, as he had to order it especially for us. ...

    TWO MYSTERIES   LT COL NOEL ELLIS   25/V/2022   There are certain mysteries which remain unsolved. However, if one decides to get to the bottom of them, it takes time, effort and tons of patience. Our first case was the shredding of the only ‘moss stick’ in one of our pots in the garden.   Some plants have to be trained on moss sticks. How hard we tried to maintain them; the moss perished. My wife came up with an idea to create homemade creeper supporting sticks. Pipe of the original moss stick moss was available. Netting around it had become brittle thus thrown away.   Home grown coconuts were plenty, therefore coconut husk was readily available. The kernel and water were put to good use in the kitchen. Dry husk we used to keep for our ‘orchids’ were now used to make a “husk stick” replacing the moss stick.   Instead of the plastic net, we criss-crossed ‘sutli’ a jute-based thread to tie the husk around. Moment, we u...