NOEL ELLIS' GOOGLE BLOG

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   31/V/2025   Pakistan is celebrating their victory over India. Op Sindoor Vs Bunyanun Marsus. Their members of parliament are threatening India every day. Their ex foreign minister got so cheesed off and annoyed because we attacked them at night.   Their PM accepted that they delayed attacking us by a few minutes because their ‘morning prayers’ were yet to be said. India was lucky or else what could they have fired? Your guess is as good as mine.   Their ‘Field Mulla’ is out of the scene. Now promoted for life, he holds all the powers in their country. But he is now busy in manufacturing the most potent bomb, a hundred times more powerful than an atomic bomb ever exploded on earth.   I started scanning the net and researching on the subject. It was really intriguing and mind blowing to learn what these guys were up to. India needs to brace up in all dimensions of warfare and especially those domains which are unthinkable and unimaginabl...

LT COL NOEL ELLIS   30/V/2025   The other day we were talking about “Nau Tapa” the annual phenomenon of nine days of extreme heat which people of the Thar Desert in India have to bear. The extreme goes to 50°C +. People get scorched, especially those who work in the open. Flora and fauna come under extreme stress.   High speed winds and sandstorms called ‘Andhi and Andhad’ depending on their ferocity are common. In the day, one can see twisters rising up in the sky. Formation of ‘mirages’ becomes a common site. The roads shimmer as if water is flowing over them.   It is also called ‘Mrig Trishna’. It attracts Mrig/deer to quench their thirst towards this imaginary water body which keeps moving ahead as the deer approach in a quest to satiate their thirst.   Well, we had a pleasant and an unpleasant surprise. The weather became pleasant as the thick dust particles shaded the sun. Clouds came swarming, shutting the direct sunrays to bring the ambient temperature t...

    FROM A FELLOW 66 INJUN   29/V/2025   My fingers tremble when I key in obituaries for people who are so close to my heart. It is happening at such a frequency that I am running short of words. Enough yaar, can’t you guys wait.   I got up around 4.30 am, my usual time to start the day. Having thanked the Lord, I picked up the phone, it was 4.38am. I dig into books and articles, which keep me refreshed.   With my pillow raised, I was in a crooked position, or else I tend to knock back to sleep. That is what happened. It was in years that I met many of my NDA course mates in a dream which engulfed me. I drifted back forty-five years, running around and chatting with dear friends, who are friends for life.   When I finally woke up, it was 7.28am. I shuddered, as I could not recollect names of all course mates whom I met in my dream, except one. Why did they leave that dreamy conversation? Hope all was well.   When I look...

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   27/V/2025   These days due to the terribly hot weather, 6 o’clock is when I go out to feed the fish in the veranda. This is followed by an inspection of the grain bowl for the birds, then a routine inspection of the potted plants, to check how the sun behaved.   Then it is time to move to the roof to check the Waterlily tubs. That is also the time for the birds to come for their last drink for the evening.   As I was about to reach the top of the flight of stairs, I heard a very familiar tweet from Blackie, my Hummingbird friend. She is punctual like a Japanese train. As I opened the door she was sitting on her favourite earthen bowl. Three long sips are what she comes to relish.   50°C, will evaporate a man if he stands in direct sun. Water in the bowl is bound to vanish. But still, due to the floating plants, my birdie friends find some water to drink.   My heart sank when I inspected the first waterlil...

    LT COL NOEL ELLIS   26/V/2025   Here in the desert of Rajasthan, we are braving high temperatures which may reach up to 50°C during this annual phenomenon called the ‘Nau Tapa’. Those who stay here know it.   This period of nine days is intense heat. What is experienced is scorching heat, high speed winds called Loo, storms called “Aandhi and Andhad”, burning or tanning of the skin if exposed, dehydration, in extreme cases sunstroke too.   This phenomenon causes the warm air to rise and cold air from the Himalayas to rush in causing massive storms and even pre monsoon showers.   By the way, this time is also an indicator to the farmers to start preparing for the next crop to be planted in the coming season. In Rajasthan, except for the canal irrigated zone, rest of the areas depend on rainfall or underground water.   With the onset of modern technology, farmers have bought tractors, but in the good old days it was t...

    LT COL NOEL ELLIS   25/V/2025   There was an attack on a school bus in Baluchistan recently, killing six children and injuring many in a dastardly suicide attack. I condemn it totally. Please, spare innocent kids.   Possibly, this attack was aimed at someone who is causing this turmoil by suppressing, abducting, killing and maiming people of Baluchistan. It is none other than the Paki Army under Op Zarb-e-Azb, Radd-ul-Fasaad and the ongoing Azm-e-Istehkam.   Specifically, OP Marg Bar Sarmachar. “Sarmachar” is a name for Baluch Militants. Then Op Herof .2, which are search and destroy missions claimed as “Intelligence Based Operations”. IBOs.   What caught my attention was a briefing done by the Paki Minister of Interior and their DG ISPR. Both covered the complete gamut of insurgent activities of the BLA and their “allies”. The main highlight was the face of “Commander Kulbhushan Yadav”. Obviously, all their fingers were poi...

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   24/V/2025   It was a lovely morning, the sun shone bright and the sky was as blue. My visit to the Mandir side beyond our colony boundary wall was due in quite some time. They had put barriers by deploying thorny Kikkar branches to block the entry of stray cows, near the mandir. It was time to give it a check.   Aim was to meet my very old good friends ‘The Peafowl’ family. I keep hearing their calls, beckoning me to say hello to them but I did not respond. Today, was the time to spend some time with them.   As I reached the side gate, there was a flock of BIRDS trying to scavenge some scattered grains. People were not feeding them like they used to. Maybe, people had gone on summer holidays. Even their water bowls were dry. I requested the guard there, who seemed totally disinterested.   I asked the ‘Tittahri’, about the rest of her friends. She too just kept feeding. Then I asked Robin. She was busy singing and bobbing her tail with ...

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   23/V/2025   How do you like to have your drink? Some like it shaken and not stirred, some ‘on the rocks’, some like it ‘neat’, some hide it in coke, some straight for the bottle, and some don’t mind ‘Tharra’. I will not talk about ‘Hooching’. “Alcoholics’ can drink all the above.   But what about my birdie friends? Birds can drink water from anywhere. It could be from a river, a pond, a nala, even a drain. Some get used to a homely environment, love to have it from their bar aka an earthen bowl. It is like having a cold drink in this heat.   For birds their ‘bar’ is like the ritual of going to fetch water at the village well where they congregate. They gossip, tease, fight, nudge and even shoo each other away. Two to three sips and it is all done. No one wastes it, no one gets drunk and no one minds drinking straight from the same bottle.   It was like the younger days when we shared one beer bottle amongst frie...