Klishmaklaver

Capturing Wildlife Moments in India Author/Photographer:  Ashok Mahindra   Publlisher:  Oxford University Press(OUP) & Bombay Natural History Society(BNHS) My Rating: ***1/2 About the author:   Ashok Mahindra of The Hemchand Mahindra Wildlife Foundation is an avid wildlife enthusiast who has traveled to capture his passion through the camera lens. Ustad! Yes, he is the Bengal Tiger rightfully adorning the cover of the book. The skillfully shot picture of the fierce  animal enjoying his moment of royal leisure,,has given me a beautiful mental picture of the kind of brilliant photography I can expect in the book.  The note that accompanies this picture clicked at  Ranthambhore National Park, Rajasthan also makes for an interesting read. I wish to highlight the 'Dedication' included at the beginning of the book. It is indeed a very strong message to our generation- " I dedicate this book to young adults in the hope that they, ...

I’d finally found a cozy corner for myself in the spiffy new Tea Café up in the hills, where I planned to spend some quality ‘ME’ time. I’d found a place where I could sit with a piping hot mug of tea and a book, just by myself. Where I wasn’t required to be at my polished best and there wasn’t any  ‘propah’  behavior required. Where I would go unnoticed and just be left to my own mulling. Who knew that would just turn out to be my presumption?  I’m quite a recluse you see. I enjoy my own company the most but how can I deny I’ve also caught myself staring at others, far too many times. Not that I’d ever meant to be rude but I’ve always reveled in the beauty of the detailing and the wide variety churned out of God’s workshop. The myriad faces with infinite different ways of expressing the same 9 emotions. The mannerisms and body languages that have their own codes which even the scholars would take ages to decipher. I could get so lost in observing a new fa...

...And neither did I know that theres anything named like this until I spotted this bird, lurking in the branches. What an amazing sight! Wish my lens was good enough but I watched it to my heart's content. And I am sure it's keen eyes were staring right back at me. These birds are always so alert that even if I make the slightest sound I soon find them looking at me, into my lens..:D The Brainfever bird , is a medium sized Common Hawk Cuckoo. I don't know whether it is just me or is there an uncanny resemblance with the Shikra  and the Asian Koel ? Maybe the similarity to these birds gives it the categoric name Hawk-Cuckoo. Learnt at WikiPedia that this bird is a brood parasite, laying its eggs in the Babbler's nests.. Another question occured in my mind, Why would they be known as the brain-fever birds? And I found the amswer at WikiPedia again.. During their breeding season in summer males produce loud, repetitive three note calls that are well-rendered a...

Yaaayyy!!! Here's my latest acquisition and boy, am I proud of that! BlogAdda has sent me this shiny new badge to flaunt my victory. What an inspiring way to begin blogging all over again in the fresh New Year. :D Thankyou Blog Adda. Thankyou Anisha..Threee cheers to this wonderful world of blogging!!!! Hip Hip Hurraah.... Here's a picture for BlogAdda's  Share-A-Photo contest ...

  Respect for our water resource is really hard to find!!! Take a peek at the PhotoHunt 242 to find out what is hard to find in other parts of our world. Enjoy!

Behold the Brown Butterfly upon my wall. Its the  Junonia lemonias , also known as the Lemon Pansy. This is a common nymphalid butterfly found in gardens and wooded areas but isn't it rare to find it resting for a long while like this. And I caught it with my cam'm immediately! :D You can see the big eye-spots as well as black and lemon-yellow spots and lines on the upperside of the wings. The underside is a dull brown, with a number of wavy lines and spots in varying shades of brown and black.  Aren't the eye-spots like they've been carefully and beautifully painted onto its wings? For more such Brown eye-candy check out the Thursday Challenge for fun and learning!

The clock atop the Crawford Market, Mumbai tells us that its TIME to end this shopping spree!!!!  ;) This has been submitted for the  December 2010 theme day: Time at City Daily Photo and the ABC Wednesday Round 7 : 'T'

It's very interesting to see these colourful messages written on the back of a racing Tonga at Juhu beach, Mumbai. To read more such wonderful boards from around the world visit  Saturday Photohunt

After scouring the net I have deduced that this cousin of the butterfly is probably the Two Spotted Herpetogramma Bipunctalis Moth     Moths and Butterflies both belong to the order LEPTIDOPTERA and hence are first cousins..;)     If someone can give me a confirmation on the species of this winged wonder or correct this amatuer nature enthusiast if wrong, will  be obliged! :D Less famous cousin A little less beautiful Lives in the shadow This post is an entry at the Z-A in 26 Days Challenge @ I Rhyme Without Reason

Meet the Purple Rumped SunBird (Male) Marathi Name: Suryapakshi That inspired me to pen this Haiku... Like jewels shining   glorious blue purple feathered birds in the sun basking And here is the Female Purple Rumped SunBird What you see here is an Immature/Juvenile Male If you wish to know more about this cousin of the Humming Birds you can glean all the information from Wikipedia My own observation is that these birds seem to love the nectar in the flowers of the Red Kapok Tree  This turned and tapering, long, thin beak enables them to suck the nectar from the flowers.   Its a beautiful sight to watch these tiny passerine birds bathing in the water collected in the big Aapta/ Kachnar  leaves.     This post is an entry for the Z-A in 26 Days Challenge at I Rhyme Without Reason

Trekking up to the old and formidable fort of PratapGarh near Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra.This has been brought out of the archives for Monochrome Mania T rekking through memories sweet H ow many friends made I' m thinking about them N ow, time and again K indly tell me if  I 'll meet them again N eed them to know G od! I miss them This has been written for the Z-A in 26 Days Challenge at 'I Rhyme Without Reason!" And for the Acrostics Only Prompt # 2 for November.

Did You Know? That Yellow is also called Xanthic That hue, fantastic! Dictionary meaning of Xanthic - Of a Yellow tint esp. as a description of flowers  Until yesterday this word wasn't a part of my vocab'. Thanks to the Z-A in 26 Days Challenge  at 'I Rhyme Without Reason'  I revisited the dictionary and realised there ARE some words from 'X' that I never knew ever Xisted. So Xcited I was on discovering Xanthic that I knew Xactly where I had to go to find Xactly that flower which could Xemplify the meaning of XANTHIC... I found this little yellow thing and its buddies in full blossom at Osho Park, Koregaon Park, Pune..:D

Winter is most definitely my most favourite season of the year! November has set in and its getting cold here. I believe these bees are building a hive as fast as possible so they have a home to stay in when its cold outside. However I've read they come out when its warmer. So do they never actually hibernate, I wonder? This post is for Camera Critters # 134 . Do visit the wonderful critters from around the world!

See more brilliant snaps from around the world that will leave you speechless at Wordless Wednesday

Dragonflies are one of the oldest inhabitants of the earth dating back to over 250 million years? The first to develop wings and fly in the air, the dragonflies first appeared during the Carboniferous era, about 250 million years ago along with the Mayflies (Ephemeroptera). Belonging to the aquatic insect order they are collectively known as Odonata.. Our Indian Subcontinent is rich in these Fast and agile fliers with around 500 of the 5000 recognised species from around the world. Dragonfly adults are often brightly colored and have a long slender abdomen with two pair of long, slender wings that show many net-like veins. These wings don’t fold and are held outstretched when at rest. Adults are usually found near water but are good fliers and may range several miles. Known to devour the mosquito larvae, they are nature’s effective solution for keeping malaria in check. These jeweled helicopters of the insect world are quite tolerant to human presence which is evident from t...

 Image Copyrights: Vibhuti B  I 'm L eft L onely W ounded I n N ever-ending D arkness This Acrostic has been written for the Acrostics Only Prompt 5: Challenge & OSI prompt : 137

Everytime I take a look at this snap it feels like it's Mother Nature drowning. I can imagine her screaming "SAVE ME from the sea of inhuman people. I want to live!"  - Verna Lake, Mahabaleshwar Find more such interesting B/Ws at  The Weekend in Black and White

The October heat is beating down and the days are getting warmer by the day... However this looks like the season for the butterflys to spread their wings. have been spotting a lot of Emperor Butterflys and little green ones, beautiful blue ones flitting about from one flower to the next... I just realised its extremely difficult ti get one decent shot of a restless butterfly! Here's one lucky shot...  This one is joining the rest of the CAMERA CRITTERS ..Check all the beauties out!

The White-browed Fan Tail Fly Catcher.. I've been watching this restless little bird hopping from one branch to the next on the tree right outside my window, since the month of July. This  White-browed Fantail , Rhipidura aureola , is only about 18 cms. long and builds a rather tiny cup like nest. The name itself tells us that its an insectivorous and I've spotted it myself pecking at cobwebs. :D Its my aunt;s observation that this tiny little bird, surprisingly, can scare away crows very easily by attacking them with its tiny sharp beak, fearlessly.  I believe it must be the male protecting its fledglings or probably the eggs in its nest. Another beautiful characteristic is that this bird has peculiar way of fanning its tail out and doing a little semicircular jig on the branches. This is the most liveliest bird Ive spotted this season! Nanka  is an avid bird watcher and nature lover too. She calls this tiny passerine bird the tweety bird for its musica...

This Thursday was really challenging. First my faithful old lappy crashed and with it went all my data. The doctor was successful in retrieving it for me luckily but I had to sit and transfer it to a safer external hard disk. Then it was quite a task to flick my hubby's VAIO and pretend as if it was always mine and here to stay with me. ;) Then this Thursday Challenge prompt reminded me of one particular temple back in Mumbai that has always been very special to me. So I had to dip into the archives and fish out the album out of a collection of many. This photograph is from my college days when there were no digital cam's readily available. I had to also go through the entire rigmarole of syncing my scanner with the new lappy!!!!! Therefore it was quite a challenge to find one hard copy from the album then scan it and then finally post it here. BUT I DID IT!!  I used to click around the city with a simple manual Minolta SLR in those days ..And I loved the way my cam...