Of People and Places

I like Deepavali/Diwali because it goads us to clean our houses, declutter our minds and make fresh starts. That though life keeps throwing you back in the darkness which you thought you had escaped, you can find the light inside your own self to find your way out of the darkness. Diwali reminds me that I can choose. Choose to walk in the well-lit path of kindness, compassion, warmth and love and leave malice, ignorance and complacence in the shadows. You can be the richest person in town or the humblest, but one little diya with oil and a wick can spread the same warmth and joy whether you live in the most opulent palace or the meanest shanty. So happy Diwali, and keep the fire burning bright! The light may flicker, but it will never wane. 

Come October and Bangalore changes. There is a mellowness in the air and it gets warmer as the rains give in to the winter months reluctantly. All the seasons seem to jealously guard their reign. Spring, Monsoon, Autumn and Winter hate to give up their time in the sun. It is sunny, warm and bright. Leaves are strewn about every morning and evening while the undaunted  sweepers pile them up on the street corners. It rains on some days and the leaves are in a soggy mess of yellows,reds and browns on the roads, squelching underfoot. The Almond trees are lovely. Their broad leaves wait patiently for the wind to carry them to their graves. Not very romantic graves. They fall on the sides of the roads, get stuck to unsuspecting cars and vehicles, and clog the gutters. This time of the season has an austere beauty. Autumn is like a prudish beautiful woman unwilling to let herself go the way Spring does, and almost on  her way to becoming like the eldest - frosty winter, weighed

Benaulim beach in Goa - Acrylic on canvas I saw them too that night - the leaping rabbits. In the pitch dark sky and ocean, white, they leapt as if in a fever, tumbling about in a frenzy to reach the shore. This image is not my own, It is from a Japanese anime film called ' In this corner of the world'. In that a boy says to a girl, "The white waves look like rabbits hopping." and she paints the scene as he sees it. A small clipping of the film - On that day, I saw them too. It was a very unique, beautiful experience. I wished for a full moon, but even without moonlight it was pretty amazing. The foam was glowing in the dark, perhaps reflecting the distant lights on our side of the land.

Agumbe in the rains is a sight to behold. It is in fact one of the wettest places on earth. I was lucky to be a part of a volunteer group from Bangalore to participate in their Rainforest restoration project at Agumbe Rainforest Research Station.  We had to plod through wet mud and leeches were only too happy to cling to us. As we neared the ARRS visiting center, we spotted him - A beautiful vine snake( Ahaetulla Nasuta) stretching his slender neck - ramrod straight ( full marks for good posture!) looking inquisitively into the distance while we gaped, and oohed and aahed and took pictures.  Unless you take a closer look, the vine snake looks exactly like foliage - a slender tendril of a creeper perhaps. To top it all, he has a cute snout, and an almost swan like appearance when he stretches his head to look at us. His eyes look half-closed like some yogis'.He is very elegant and delicately constructed. And quite unforgettable :) The Common vine snake is endemic to th