X'MAS

                                                            
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To all my readers,

The Blessings of Peace
The Beauty of Hope
The Spirit of Love
The Comfort of Faith
May these be your gifts this Christmas Season.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR

Tablet to Tablet

This is not a discourse on medicines. I was wondering about the evolution of another kind of tablets. From clay tablets, to hi-tech electronic tablets, the distance is very long. Though both are media elements, the difference is vast.

In ancient ages people wrote on wet clay which were later dried under the sun. These were fragile and could not be carried in hand. These 'Eco-friendly' tablets were recycled and used! We now realize that recycling is not a new thing.

Now comes the modern day, revolutionary, long distance connector tablets with facts at fingertips. It can be carried anywhere and has en number of apps that enable huge storage of versatile functions. The distance between people of various countries is zilch due to this device. With the emergence of green tablets, why should we resist these changes? Go with the flow!  

Language Day

English Language Day 2017

Portia of The Merchant of Venice

                                                                The Daffodils

                                                English Language Day 2015

Old Mac Donald and Farm

Hickory Dickory Dock

Little Miss Muffet

The Lion and the Mouse

Tom Sawyer and Rapunzel

Prepositions

Mary and Lamb

Cindrella's Carriage and Planquin Bearers 

Cherry Tree and Swing

Last leaf

                                                        Little Red Riding Hood

                                                         Language Day 2012

  

The model of The  Poison Tree by William Blake

 

This smiling octopus presented the eight parts of speech on its tentacles.

The Prepositions

 

The ravishing Rapunzel

 and the cute Cinderella

 Shakespeare's Seven Stages of Man

 

The Palanquin Bearers by Sarojini Naidu

                                           Goldilocks and the three Bears

Winged Flowers and Pachyderms

What do butterflies and elephants have in common now? They both are on the verge of being endangered species! A fact that hit me in two consecutive days recently.

Imagine a world without butterflies! It will be like a garden without flowers. An art work by a child on a used bottle pleading to save the butterflies from being extinct was really catching. Loss of habitat, apathy from people all contribute to its fast exit from this world. The butterfly sanctuaries that help preserve these tiny creatures cannot do much. Looks like the present generation will see butterflying (butterfly watching) turn into a thing of past in the near future.

The ivory bearer is another specie threatened with extinction. The October edition of this year's 'National Geographic' features a horrendous investigative report on elephant poaching. The picture of small tusks depicts the pinching fact that baby elephants are being slaughtered to make exotic curios. The heinous act, barred by law, persists. It is nature's balance of sustenance that is lost along with these perishing fauna.

If Winter Comes, Can Spring Be Far Behind...

Onset of winter. Entrancing dawn. The golden sun smiles through the dew a washed leaves of the tree that is at my backyard. The same tree that had the intruder bees once (http://soniajohn.blogspot.in/2010/11/bees-attack.html). The branch that housed the bees was ravaged by last year's monsoon. The smell of the fog, the chirp of the birds and the silence of the enclosing foliage refresh my mornings.

Our cozy corner has become cozier. Each of us spent some moments of closeness with nature these mornings. As the season advances the fog envelop thickens and the milk white curtains wait to be parted by the bright star. Like me, the drooping leaves seem lazy to wake up in the cold mornings. Wrapped in woolens, with a cup of hot coffee, on a chair by the window....I unwind with the nostalgia evoking lines of Shelly, 'The trumpet of a prophecy! O wind, If winter comes, can spring be far behind?'

Happy Onam

Onam is celebrated in Kerala every year in Chingam the Malayalam month which falls in August-September. Kerala is abound in greenery and enjoys heavy rainfall most of the year. The story behind Onam is that: the land was once ruled by a just king Mahabali. It was a golden age for people and the Gods grew jealous of the king. They asked Vishnu, one of the Gods for help. Vishnu assumed the form of Vamana and approached Mahabali. He asked the king for three steps of land for him. Being very generous Mahabali agreed to give the land. Suddenly Vishnu grew in size and measured heaven and earth. For the third step the king offered himself and he was pushed down to pathala or netherworld. He made one request to Vishnu that he be allowed to visit his subjects every year and the request was granted. It is believed that Mahabali visits his land every year at this time.

Happy Onam! 

Photo Blog-Churches

Pampady Mar Kuriakose Dayara   (Kottayam)

St. Mary's Cathedral, Manarcad (Kottayam)

St. Philomena's church, Mysore

 St. George Orthodox Church, Puthupally (Kottayam)

 St. George Jacobite Church, Puthupally(Kottayam)

Velankanni church

The return of the Pigeons!

The pigeons are back and with a vigor. I have mentioned earlier how they were driven away by the bulbuls ( http://soniajohn.blogspot.in/2010/12/my-feathered-companions.html ). Now they had built nests in the old niche and wherever they could around my house. Day and night my home is filled with their cooing sound. This summer when I was away on vacation they even invaded my kitchen. When I came back it looked like a battle field with many fancy mugs and glass gel candles broken, feathers sticking here and there. Finally they were pushed out but they seem reluctant to leave.

Two days back while cooking breakfast two of them came out from the attic like cavity of my kitchen. Since how long they were there, I was not sure. One of them sat on the exhaust fan just above the stove and was watching me cooking. Now a days I don't get time for bird watching, may be for a change they might have come to watch me :)). My kids were frightened that it will harm me. I convinced them about this innocent creatures and sent them to school. The salt and pepper coloured pigeon looked awesome. The grey one somehow managed to get out by pulling the net from the ventilator.

Perched on the exhaust fan, the pigeon observed my cooking very keenly. I am sure it learned by that time how to make mashed potatoes. Its eyes were really captivating. No wonder beauty is often associated with dove eyes. I don't think there is any other bird that trust humans so much. Unaware of the surrounding dangers from the burning stove and the exhaust fan the bird made itself comfortable there. It even posed for snaps. I didn't want to disturb it for some time. I have to finish my cooking and rush to work. Finally the duty to shoo it away fell on my hubby who very tactfully showed it the way to its nest outside my kitchen.  

Tainted Brook

Across the black water brook,

Along the low lying bridge,

As it flows I trudge,

Is it babble or wail?
I hear as I trail

About the clear stream

That it was in its glorious past.

Had it got tongue,

Words would have been etched with pain,

In ink of tears!

(The pic above is a character in Kathakali, usually representing melancholy.) 

Feather

A feather that strayed into my kitchen one night

A feather strayed into my kitchen one night. From where it came and to which bird it belongs I am not sure. My children found it very lovely. For them it was something unusual, they spot birds but feathers are rarely found over here.

Earlier in my village I have seen people using feather as an ear bud when it itches. Some use it to apply medicines on wounds.  Much before that, ie. in ancient times feathers were used as pens by sages and writers. It later gave way to pencils and pens. 

I happened to come across this word -  pteronophobia- fear of feathers. But I couldn't find a word for the hobby of collecting feathers.

The Planet Belongs to Whom?

It is an argument. I came across a caption “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”  The irony is- it was printed on a polybag. What do they really mean? Plastic bags are very harmful- if not checked it will choke the earth. When we look around, can we see anything pristine in nature?

                                              A Journey to the interiors

                           

  Destination-Limpid Stream

                                                          A thrilling moment

 My children long to go to my village during summer holidays, so that they can watch the ‘wonder’ called nature. They are lucky when compared to many city dwelling children who haven’t seen the beauty of nature. The current generation seems to be more aware of the consequences of ruthless developments and exploitations that are fast depleting nature’s bounty. I get an advice or two from my children on environmental education. They have the right to do so as the future belongs to them and their progenies.

Exam Fever

The phone rang. My teenager son attended his friend’s call. “My life is over” said his friend. This is the third time he is calling. Tomorrow is their Hindi exam. I was busy teaching both my 1^st grader and 7^th grader when his friend’s ‘urgent’ calls started coming. “Do one thing, you log out of FB and play tomorrow” my son replied.

I listened to their conversations tensed and amazed. Tensed because they hardly care about exams, amazed because how ‘cool ‘ they are. They are talking about ‘ShadowFight’ in facebook- how to play, what rewards they gained etc. I remembered the days of my exams. Sleepless nights, sweating in exam halls, tensions and all the last minute discussions before getting into the hall. Now everything seems very silly but exam fever still prevails, not for children but for parents.