More birds

These are some of the other birds I could spot in and around our place, in Faridabad. The first is the Eurasian Hoopoe, commonly seen around Delhi. Funny kinda crown, this bird has. Often seen around the India Gate lawns, pecking at something or the other in the ground, I saw it on a neighboring tree

Also seen in our patch of green, pecking as usual. The coloration makes it next to impossible to detect among the fallen leaves

Mynahs are quite common in these parts. In fact, they seem to be positively thriving. There are two other varieties which are however, not so common, the hill mynah and the Brahminy Mynah 

Why is it called the Brahminy Mynah, I wonder. Is it because of the black strip on its head, which resembles the head of a traditional Brahmin, shaved except for a narrow tuft of hair!

 This is probably a hill mynah, come to slake its thirst. And the oriental magpie robin, distinctive in its coat of black and white. It is called doel in bengali and has got some beautiful songs in its repertoire. I have also noticed the magpie robin to be a bit territorially possessive, chasing away other birds when it flies down to our patch of green 

Then, there is an entire family of parrots that have chosen a huge neem tree as their home. It helps that there are a few guava trees also in the vicinity!

I have noticed a few white wagtails, but could not shoot them as I didn't have my camera with me. One day however, noticing a movement in the trees, I saw a female koel which is extremely shy and has outstanding camouflage abilities

 

One cannot omit the pariah kite. There is a couple around our place, keeping a beady eye on happenings, circling high. Notice the strength in that tail ..

Few months back, I saw a shikra sitting on the fence. Much smaller than the kite, ashy countenance and red eyes. Only a few feet from me but once again, I did not have my camera with me. It was a beautiful bird. 

Guess all of them are beautiful, created by Nature and I love them all! 

The River

Unimaginably, madly happy! Unquestionably in your debt of gratitude. As it is true that I am, as  the sun which rises and energises this world of ours, as the mighty river that never ceases to flow into the seas endlessly, timelessly 

And as I perceive this glorious night, like another river that flows across the boundaries of time and space every ticking moment, every breath I take. There is a me which is forever in you, as I watch with rapturous wonder, as I must have been for eons past

Ananda Shankar (1942 - 1999) was the nephew of Pandit Ravi Shankar and one of the pioneers in East West fusion music with his funky sitar. The River is one of his sweetest compositions, along with Missing You in memory of his father the legendary Uday Shankar, Radha etc and some of the other pieces being a bit psychedelic like the Streets of Calcutta ..

 

Rambling again

How shall I hold my soul
to not intrude upon yours? How shall I
lift it beyond you to other things?
I would gladly lodge it
with lost objects in the dark,
in some far still place
that does not tremble when you tremble.
But all that touches us, you and me,
plays us together, like the bow of a violin
that from two strings draws forth one voice.
On what instrument are we strung?
What musician is playing us?
Oh sweet song.

(Rainer Maria Rilke)

The imagery of a violin is quite significant, for it is rare to find two souls that are strung to the same length, playing the same music. And the constant endeavour, not to intrude, not to impose an individual's own dispositions upon the other.

And the reference to the musician is an unmistakable sign of the mystic and its exactly here that I find parallels with Tagore. One of his poems, a bengali song, says about the wonder one experiences, listening to the melody that is playing all around. Another promises to sing your song every day, praying for words, praying for melodies, yet another voices the anguish of not knowing the ways and means of offering homage to the god of the soul who sits alone...

Tagore wrote around two thousand songs of which a hundred odd compilation as Gitanjali, won him the Nobel in 1913. What I really find truly remarkable in his songs is that love and worship become indistinguishable at times, and his canvas is wide, universal. (And yes, he turned to painting in his later years, which are now prized collections)

Here is a sample of his own translation into English -

There is a half hour documentary on the Gitanjali, published by the Ministry of External Affairs, which can be accessed from this link

I would be ending with another poem, which is said to have been heard by the Scottish poet Robert Burns from an old herder. He added some lines of his own, and the song Auld Lang syne became famous throughout the world

Should Old Acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind;
The flames of Love extinguished,
and fully past and gone ...

Inspired by this , Tagore wrote a song in bengali and set it to music and here is Srikanto Acharya singing the Tagore song after the English, and explaining it all 

 

December moon

Another full moon rises. But this time, there is an unhealthy haze gathering in the skies above the dusty plains of Northern India, as it generally does this time of the year when there's no sun for a few weeks, only that the forecasts are rather more bleak than the usual.

Troubled mind in troubled times, uncertain times and there's nothing but music that keeps you sane in such moments of gloom. I would be happy to share this beautiful piece, an interesting fusion composition on the sitar by Fateh Ali Khan with you tonight therefore, Autumn - Sitar ...

Roses blooming

Never knew them roses to be in full bloom so happily until I chanced upon them, at one corner of our office greens ..

December beginning and I hope all the cuttings and graftings take hold, and the roses continue to open up to the human existence

 You have my favorite missing, the gorgeous white, which is still budding in our gardens and I really hope to catch it in its full glory one of these days for it reminds me quite uncannily, of someone truly extraordinary in an ordinary world!

Fiona Joy Hawkins is a tremendously talented Australian pianist and composer, and here is her Winter Cold -