October Shower In Ahmedabad 1

Same Nokia N72 camera, same angle, same photo-storytelling. Though briefly, it rained heavily last night and I could not stop from uploading these images. Besides there is more about greenery post monsoon. Here, have a look at it.

October Shower In Ahmedabad

October Shower In Ahmedabad 2

October Shower In Ahmedabad 3

Monsoon Greenery In Ahmedabad 1

Monsoon Greenery In Ahmedabad 2

Monsoon Greenery In Ahmedabad 3

Monsoon Greenery In Ahmedabad 4

Monsoon Greenery In Ahmedabad 5

Monsoon Greenery In Ahmedabad 6

Monsoon Greenery In Ahmedabad 7

Monsoon Greenery In Ahmedabad 8

Welcome Monsoon Showers 1

The following videos could not make it online in time. The first one is that of the much awaited showers in Gujarat in the second-leg after a yawning gap. It came at a crucial time when the state government had begun measuring the worsening drought in Gujarat, and thus helped defuse the impending water crisis in many areas to an amicable extent, if not fully. The other is that of Ganesh Visarjan Yatra passing through Jodhpur Gam, Satellite in Ahmedabad, where I live.

Unlike Deepavali and Uttaraayan, Holy and Ganesh Chaturthi had always had a low-key presence in Gujarat. But, it all changed since the infotainment boom of the early 90s and the subsequent years. This period consisted of the emergence of television channels, multi-plexes and mall-culture. A cultural nationalism in the from of Hindutva and the BJP’s rise in politics, had also begun taking Gandhinagar and Delhi by storm, thus providing an impetus to the indigenous culture and faith in Gujarat – a welcome sign for many. Holy and Ganesha Chaturthi have since then been celebrated with a greater fervor in my state.

Welcome Monsoon Showers In Ahmedabad

Ganesha Visarjan Yatra, Ahmedabad

And Some Photographs

Welcome Monsoon Showers 2

Welcome Monsoon Showers 3

Welcome Monsoon Showers 4

Welcome Monsoon Showers 5

Greenery After Monsoon 1

Greenery After Monsoon 2

Greenery After Monsoon 3

Greenery After Monsoon 4

Greenery After Monsoon 5

Greenery After Monsoon 6

We Could Not Save This Little One, But House Sparrow Can Be

A very tragic end to what my his eight year old niece and myself thought of as a treasured find. We went looking out for a preying cat or something alike in our home garden, after having noticed a pair of Kabars make shrill cries from over there (Kabar in Gujarati, no idea about its English substitute). We couldn’t find any cat or stray canine in the vicinity though and the birds too retreated having noticed our presence. Then we discovered the photographed baby chick in a shrub, and quickly left the place after having taken a few snapshots. Obviously, we did not wish to disturb its natural hideout in any way.

As I went upstairs, I instructed my niece to keep vigil until the bird had left the garden safely. But, my niece reported later how the bird had been devoured by a cat, after she broke the vigil briefly. I consoled her, that it wasn’t her fault and I should have kept the watch instead of her. The relative quiet of birds after we had spotted the little fellow should have alarted me of the cat’s presence, the reason why they felt assured in our company (and the cat hid awaiting for its own chances).

Having lost the game, set and match to a gray looking cat, I decided to do something good out of this nagging failure. So here goes the positive effort, a link to an article about House Sparrows in India that are now extinct from urban centers. House sparrows, as many of you must know were part of the Indian life until recently, in urban places and the countryside both. They have significantly dwindled from the cities in the last decade and half though, due to various man-made reasons. Spotting these tiny birds can be a herculean effort for bird watchers in the cities today. However, it becomes a source of great excitement for those able to do so. I recently discovered them hang around my own neighborhood in a small bunch after a gap of over ten years. The following article looks into the reasons of sparrow’s dilution from Indian cities and tries to suggest measures for its rehabilitation.

One Flew Over My Nest. Not Anymore..

Image courtesy of Indimag.com

PS – House Sparrow is deemed intruding and harmful towards other winged species. The population of many a species of other birds has increased in my town post sparrow departure. This includes, cuckoos (they have grown ten fold…amazing!) Kabars and a few other smaller types. Interestingly, crows have shrunk too in my neighbourhood in the recent years, and it should tell why cuckoos might have found it easy to multiply, first of all.

Ahmedabad received a heavy shower on Thursday night, after having waited in vain for more than three weeks. Monsoon usually starts in Gujarat in the fourth week of June. The continuation of heat and humidity indicates though, more showers might be imminent. Here is a reminder of what happened that night for the NRAs – the Non Resident Amdavadis.

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Ahmedabad’s sky was heavily overcast since the early morning today. It rained uninterruptedly until late in the afternoon. While Modi government’s prime concern was a looming drought until the late Saturday afternoon, the focus sharply shifted towards the serial blasts by midnight. The terror strike left behind a trail of injuries and destruction. It rained heavily on Monday in several parts of the state though, thus lessening the burden of the state administration at least in one area – the lack of irrigation and a diverted power supply to farming to compensate it. Power cuts were taken back on Monday, sensing an improvement in the irrigation scenario around the state.

While Modi’s team regroups to strike back at blast perpetrators, it is more than evident that his plank of peace and security, that won him a landslide victory in the recently held Gujarat assembly polls, is tarnished for the time being. Whatever be the outcome of his skirmishes with the Jehadi elements, which began after 59 Hindus were torched in Godhra in 2002, the mood in Ahmedabad bore improvement at least on Monday afternoon. Some key moments from the same outpouring rain here.