PEAFOWL
How many 🦚 are there? 😋
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CONVERSATIONS WITH BROWNIE
CONVERSATIONS WITH BROWNIE LT COL NOEL ELLIS 27/IV/2024 Our Garden is witnessing a lot of bird and insect activity. Besides food and water, it is the nestling time too. Our friendly Sunbirds, Blackie, and Brownie (B&B) are raising a family in the Ellis’ Garden. We are witness to the whole process from when B&B fell in love, till today when Brownie is sitting quietly inside the nest and hatching her eggs. She keeps posing for me. Brownie is the only bird who is not scared of us at all. We have to sometimes go underneath the nest, not to disturb her but to water our pots. She knows she is in safe hands and continues to sit doing her job, unmindful of our presence. I do get into conversations with her. The number of revelations she has done is amazing. Brownie tells me stories of her naughty sister Beanie, who has been wooing Blackie. Beanie has been after many other boys and Beanie doesn’t know that Blackie has many girl friends too. You do not object to it,
MY LUCKY DAY
MY LUCKY DAY LT COL NOEL ELLIS 25/IV/2024 Some days one is lucky, some are luckier and today was the one of them. Everyday has something new to unfold, some surprise and something good. This happened in the morning as the sun came up over the horizon. A black sunbird came and sat on the hanging pot I was watering. Her beauty and shimmer of feathers at such close distance just mesmerised me. All shades of black, golden, green, and yellow kept flickering as it danced on the pot hanger like a pole dancer dancing for me exclusively. I knew it was my lucky day today. That is when I heard the clarion call of the peafowl. One is fascinated by the beauty of this bird. Every bird is unique, every colour is distinct, every call has a meaning. Every ray of light falling at different angles highlights the hidden colours of its feathers. It was time to move to the riverfront to catch peafowl in action from my command post to observe the proceedings from a vantage point sitting well camouflage
HAPPINESS IN A TUB
HAPPINESS IN A TUB LT COL NOEL ELLIS 22/IV/2024 Many-many moons back when our little girl could barely crawl but was so fond of playing with water. Seeing her enthusiasm, we thought of bringing home baby bath tubs for her to splish-splash and sit in it. My-my, the way she took to water. We could see happiness and joy in that tub. To take her out from the tub was no easy task. She could splatter and pour mug loads from one tub to another tub and vice-versa, till she could empty a whole swimming pool. That reminds me to thank ‘Sapna Masi’ who initiated her into a plunge pool and made her paddle around. Our girl has outgrown those tubs. But somehow the tubs followed us around from Nabha to Delhi to Bombay to Alibaug and then finally to Jodhpur. Imagine, twenty-two years have gone by and those tubs are still with us. Their utilization has changed though. They are being used to keep clothes for washing or drying. Sometimes we use them to soak our feet in warm water for a pedicure. One
AIR SPACE
AIR SPACE LT COL NOEL ELLIS 15/IV/2024 In the Sun City, Service and Civil aircrafts keep flying overhead. Our house was right under the fly in route when I was posted here and staying in an Army Colony. The roar of the ‘jet engines’ could tear your eardrums apart. We now stay away from those deafening roars, but today a few aircrafts flew low over our colony which triggered some memories. So here goes……. Once in a while one would get a chance to take ‘forty winks’ between the hectic schedule of unit life. These Airforce guys had a mole planted in my unit. They would ensure Noel could take only five of his forty winks by flying at unearthly hours. Some days, one used to stay awake in anticipation, as moment one closed his eyes, the airfield came into action to keep the ‘Pongos’ (Army Guys) awake. On odd days they would decide to see the city lights close to midnight. Once they took off, you hit the bunk only once they landed back. How would they know that what an A
DUMKATI
DUMKATI LT COL NOEL ELLIS 11/IV/2024 We generally tend to remember people by their nicknames. Many are christened due to their special traits. This was very common in our school. We had students who were ‘long’ not tall, ‘Dandu’ who kept showing his teeth, ‘Helen’ who danced well, ‘Budda’ who had greyed too early, ‘Battee’ because his roll number ended with 32 etc. Mom had a special knack in keeping nicknames. She used to name animals and birds around the house due to their colour and mannerisms. Like Bhoori was a brown bitch, Kali was a black one, Kankati had a split ear, Langroo was a rooster which walked with a limp and the list went on. There are many people in our colony whom we don’t know personally but have given them nicknames due to their typical deportment. For example ‘Recipe Uncle’, who during his walks, talks non-stop about food and pickle recipes. Then there is an Aunty whom we call ‘Bak-Bak’ aunty. During her walks she forgets that she has her earphones plugged in.