Skip to main content

KNOCKOUT PUNCH


 

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

 

26/XI/2025

 

This evening, I got a little late to reach the rooftop garden. The main Ibis flock had flown home already. I caught a dove sitting on a roof with the setting sun in the background.

 

Adeniums had been drenched with water one last time this month before the ‘inch’ towards dormancy. For the next ten days, they shall not be watered though many of them are flowering. That is what the experts say. By the way this article is not about boxing so read on....

 

That gave me time to watch our fish in the main holding tank for fish and floating plants. With the immersible heater deployed, they will stay happy all winter.

 

The tub is teeming with fish of all varieties we have. The breeding pairs have multiplied generously. They say, guppies and mollies eat their newborn. However, if they have plenty to eat, with lots of hiding places, and enough fish food, they leave their babies alone.

 

Even if there is no extra food, ‘algae’ are their mainstay. People do not like algae growing in their water bodies. To have healthy fish, algae should not be done away with. We never use chemicals for algae removal. Natural food for fish is like a natural supplement.

 

One by one, the waterlily tubs were given a check. These fish now recognise me and surface as soon as they hear the staircase door squeak. Like our pets recognise the sound of our footsteps, cars, and bikes. So do they.

 

A pinch of micro pellets and wafers in equal proportions is dropped in each tub. Then there is a frenzy. Who doesn’t like an extra topping on his pizza. Point to remember is to feed them that much which they can finish in a minute. If overfed, there is wasted food.. Wasted food rots and pollutes the water. Fish die.

 

Food which settles to the floor creates toxins. After rotting, it reduces the quality of water causing fish mortality. Topping the tubs with one litre of water a day keeps them healthy.

 

Well, in one of our ‘earthen troughs’, we have a plant called ‘water mosaic’ growing. Last year, winters were extremely harsh and the plant did not survive. It had to be reordered. It is doing well this year. We have a backup plan in place. It has been planted at two places.

 

The only issue with the trough is that the water level goes down by the evening. Reasons could be many. The afternoons are warm and there is evaporation. The earthen pot is porous, so water evaporates from its surface. The plant itself needs water to live in, so it must be consuming some. The icing on the cake is that honey bees and wasps have returned to drink and take water to their hives and nests.

 

These girls came in swarms last year. This year there are just about a dozen regular visitors. We welcome them. At least they have a place from where they can carry clean drinking and hive making water.

 

To keep ‘malarial parasite’ at bay, a few mollies have been added to the trough. It must be getting cold at night for them but fish help in eliminating mosquito eggs and larvae. A natural process plus nature provides food to the fish.

 

One black molly whom I love very dearly comes and greets me everyday by surfacing from its hide. I sprinkle a ‘wafer’ for her which she relishes.

 

Today, something very funny happened as I stood to exchange notes with her.

 

A bee was sipping water on the berm of the trough and a wasp was on a hover over the trough. Blackie was swimming nearby. The bee and wasp cannot stand each other and have to get into a scuffle to shoo the other away or maybe to stake claim on the water.

 

In the bargain, this burly wasp almost stung blackie. She jumped out of the trough and fell on the floor almost a meter below. Luckily, I was witness to what happened. I picked her up and put her back in the container immediately.

 

I am sure the hit she would have taken from the fall must have shaken her up because she was breathing but still behaving like a boxer after a KO punch. I waited for a while till she swam to her hiding place. I bid her goodnight and hope to see her again tomorrow.

 

I had saved another fish which had jumped out of water the other day and today it was the second case right infront of my eyes. I could have stepped on it in the passing had I not seen her land. That would have been very painful for me.

 

Such situations do happen. Do bees and wasps sting fish? I wonder!!!!!

 

JAI HIND

©® NOEL ELLIS 









Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FINGER ON YOUR LIPS

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   29/IV/2025   What has happened to Pakistan? While India is doing Fauji Exercises, Pakistan has mobilised for what! I agree that the people of India want revenge. But, from whom? Our PM has only said that “we will not leave the terrorists and their supporters till the end of the Earth”. He has never said he will sort out Pakistan, or has he?   It has been hilarious watching discussions on Paki social media channels. They seem to have already given up. Our RM meets the PM and Pakistan starts shitting bricks. They talk about jazba and gazwa, and start telling us about their nuclear arsenal. 160 I suppose. By the way we will send across one equivalent to your 160 if need be.   There is a saying, ‘Chor ki Dari main tinka” literal meaning is, a straw in a thief’s beard. However, the deep meaning is that a guilty person reveals his guilt through his behaviour, even unintentionally. Clearly, “a guilty conscious needs no accuser”...
18 comments
Read more

SCENE AT ELLIS’ RESTAURANT

    LT COL NOEL ELLIS   04/XI/2024   Every morning the scene in the Ellis’ restaurant is so refreshing. The notes birds sing sounds like ‘reveille’ being sounded by the buglers. The ‘scenario’ keeps varying with arrival of different birds at different timings.   It is like being a restaurant owner, working solo with minimum help. Yours truly is the waiter, housekeeper, cook, receptionist, barman, purchase manager, accountant, and storekeeper of this shack. Imagine!   Foremost thing in the morning is housekeeping of the garden area, followed by watering the pots. This gives the plants a nice bath, like kids being readied for school.   The first set of ‘clients’ called the ‘Tailor Birds’ appear. They love to hunt for insects which get disturbed by the watering ritual. They sing and dance, hop and skip and carry on chasing moths and worms, without bothering about my presence.   By then the Bulbuls and the Sparrows start lini...
22 comments
Read more

IF THERE IS A WAR…...

    LT COL NOEL ELLIS   28/IV/2025   I remember the 1971 war as a small child. We were in Kapurthala Punjab, very close to the Pakistan border. It was an evening in December, I do not remember the exact date. While returning from a friends house, the declaration of war was done as I skipped along the ‘Thandi Sarak’ of Kapurthala.   The gist was that a vehicle with loud speakers was telling people to head home as an "emergency" had been declared and war had started. I ran as fast as I could, shivering with fear and my heart beating unusually fast. Though I was a lap baby when the 1965 war had taken place, it appeared serious business now.   Overnight, Dad and other Uncles started digging trenches infront of our homes. Carbon paper was no dearth in a teachers house, so mom got into an overdrive to stick them to the glass windows. Though the glass had been painted during the 1965 war, some broken panes had been replaced. Mom told ...
6 comments
Read more

A TRIBUTE TO INDIA’s FINANCIAL WIZARD

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   27/XII/2024   Last night one heard a heart-breaking news of the passing away of Dr Manmohan Singh. A sardar with a big Dil and a sharp Dimag. My heartfelt condolences to the family and every citizen of India.   Let me share an anecdote of a chance encounter with his office three decades ago. It was in 1993-94, he was the then ‘Finance Minister’ of India.   The story goes that we were part of the "Ski-Himalaya Expedition". The expedition was preparing to traverse a 1500 km ski touring voyage from Karakoram Pass to the base of Mount Kailash in Nepal passing through the states of J&K, Himachal Pradesh and UP.   Those days, it was not easy to fund the expedition. We found a few sponsors. Let me confess, we were under the Army adventure cell for the preparations. The internal ‘red tapeism’ was killing us. Delays in procuring equipment due to the complex ‘Kagzi Karwai’ was taking too much time. Our window of skiin...
10 comments
Read more

LOCUST WITHOUT A “L”

  LOCUST WITHOUT A “L”   LT COL NOEL ELLIS   14/IX/2024   They say if you wish for something with a noble heart, it gets fulfilled. Had I asked for the moon, I would have got it today. Was it a coincidence? I am not sure. To find out please read on.   A friend of mine had asked me about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ insects in a garden, on which I wrote an article. In that, I had mentioned a kind of grasshopper called the ‘Locust’. It is a bright yellowish green insect. It is sometimes seen in our garden. They create havoc if found in swarms, but one or two do not harm much.   After writing the article, I wished I had a photo of the Locust. Digging it out from the archives could add colour but that would have been time consuming.   Having posted the article, I walked out of the house to check on the blooms of the day. There was a large variety with vibrant colours gracing the garden. A treat to the eyes and soul.   Just then my eyes...
14 comments
Read more

AN OPEN LETTER TO CM PUNJAB

An open letter to Mr Bhagwant Maan on this officer and his son being beaten up so brutally at Patiala. My sympathies with the family and I am sure justice will not be delayed or denied.   AN OPEN LETTER TO CM PUNJAB   LT COL NOEL ELLIS   22/III/2025   Maan jog Bhagwant Maan Saab. Main ek chota jeha sabak fauji haan. Aj majbbor hoke main aa chitti tunahu likh reha han, kyon ki dil andron dukhi hai. Tuhade thalle te tuhadi sarkar de which Patiala police ne jo kuj ek Serving Army de officer te os de munde naal kitta hai o sharmnaak hai ate darshonda hai ki aj di tareekh which Punjab police te tuhada koi control nahi hai. Aj takreeban dus din ho gaye han, te tussi Khamosh ho.   Police da kam sirf kuttapa chaarna hunda hai? Ja ke aam shahri waste eho jeha mahul paida karna ki banda safe feel kare. Bande nu bharosa hove ki haan mera koi mai baap hai. Lor pain te oh meri madad waaste aauga. Par lagda hai ke hun scene badal gaya hai.   Maa...
4 comments
Read more

RUNNING TO TOWN

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   24/IV/2024   As they say, “Jab geedar ki ‘maut’ ati hai woh Shahar ki taraf bhagta hai”. (When a jackal wants to die, it runs towards the town). It simply implies that when someone is in ‘deep trouble’, he takes certain wrong steps and gets into agony himself. It also means that if correct actions are not taken timely, then chances are things go wrong.   Another implication of this idiom is that when someone wants to ‘avoid trouble’, he choses a wrong path or when one faces difficult times, he goes looking for advice and solutions from wrong people and places, jeopardising his own existence.   Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this straight away applies to our troublesome neighbour Pakistan and specifically to the thought process and mindset of their Army Chief General Asim Munir, who revealed it in the lecture he gave to the overseas Pakistanis recently.   I say this in the context of the ‘massacre’ and ‘savagery’ these dastards did in Pahal...
8 comments
Read more

A SPEECH

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   19/IV/2025   Imagine when your “sir ka jhoomar becomes gale ki haddi”, then what happens. That was one Jumla I picked up from the Pak Army Chief’s speech which he delivered in Islamabad to Overseas Pakistanis. They are dual citizenship holders. Their ticket it appears had been paid by the state of Pakistan, I reckon.   An Army Chief addressing a gathering of people who at the very first instance decided to “Pakistan se Zinda Bhag” is uncalled for. If I read correctly between the lines, it was not to impress his countrymen but somehow convince the audience to remit dollars to ensure he and his ilk get their salaries, a plot of land on retirement and an assured pension. Rest of the countrymen can scavenge for all he cares.   Above all, the PM of Pakistan and his cabinet were in attendance. The Chief’s political ambitions were clear and his speech was a subtle message to them that the Army is ‘THE Mai Baap’, as he flexed the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

IT IS CHRISTMAS TIME AGAIN

  IT IS CHRISTMAS TIME AGAIN   LT COL NOEL ELLIS   23/XII/2024   Christmas time is here. We waited all year for the ‘yule tide’ to come. Cold weather, celebrations, parties, carol singing, pot luck dinners, picnic, socialising, variety of winter flowers, Christmas trees, non veg preparations, baking Christmas cakes and Pakwans is synonymous to Christmas. Last but not the least we fondly remember the ones who have slept in the Lord.   The house looks Christmassy and smells Christmassy too. Buntings, decorations, lighting up the home, and decorating the Christmas tree is done. The Carol Singing party visited our home and sang with full josh.   Rejuvenating friendship, kinship, relationships, bonds, and ties is the essence of Christmas. Rekindling and remembering good old days and friends are part of the merry making. Festivities, feasting and gifting will extend well into the new year.   Our kitchen would be the hub centre of...
14 comments
Read more