A liitle bit of rain

After days of tantalisation, the pre-monsoon rain finally showered our region but unfortunately just to show its presence. It rained rapidly for a while just to marginally wet scorching ground. The wetland soon turned dry-land due to prolonged dryness on ground. There wasn't enough rain for the ground to gulp. It seemed as if they poured just to cool my anger.

Meanwhile this male peacock was seen perched over the distant tree. Looked like he got wet in rain was drying up his body over tree top.

I desperately miss my telephoto lens which has disabled me to capture such distant beauties. Egrets don't even allow you near them. Somehow stealthily I try to grab their pictures but egrets are quite sensitive to human movements. Not even single picture has come good in my 70mm lens. Peacocks are comparatively less nervous but still elusive for a 70mm. Looks like need to have closer friendship with cattle through which we can convince egrets for a photo shoot :-)

After heavy shower for meagre ten minutes, the clouds dispersed and sky opened up. The moisture clouds turned to insignificant silky canvas which provided good tonal contrast to capture blue sky over green sesame fields. These were captures post rains.

The fallout of such short spell of rain was visible after rains receded and high humidity set in. The positive part was we had slightly cooler night to experience but not without fully throttled fan.

The cat warrior

This cat belongs to my cousin brother, came out of nap after lethargic day. He climbed the guava trees for possible preys or lookouts and then stepped over the roof which is common with cats. I just mocked its footsteps and visage with that of a king who ascends his throne after winning battle. No offence intended towards poor and innocent cat. Hope you take them lightly if you feel offended :-). Here it goes!

The king is ascending towards the throne after day long battle [ sleep ;-) ]

Ahhh.. let me make sure if path is clean so that I don't commit blunder

And the great king has ascended the throne beholding the roar of his dear citizens

Yawn.........

The king has reached the throne and let the celebration begin. Let the atmosphere roar and air crack in rage

Don't exaggerate simple things you dolt. I suppose you are not following steps of Indian Press :-). I am not here for show-off. Don't tarnish my name. Get the camera out of my sight and allow me to concentrate on prey and enemies :-D

The END Of warrior story

Rainbow but no Rain

The lock-down is helping me to gawk at some of natural phenomenon over sky. Thanks to high humidity, we have pre-monsoon clouds hovering around village. Today also the sky darkened for a while triggering hopes of rain. Unfortunately apart from thunder, there was no excitement. The rains did not appear, not even a drop. This scene felt akin to noise created by Indian press on petty things without fruition. Just to increase TRP.

Jokes apart, it was another disappointment in terms of rain. The heavy clouds again dispelled as they neared our village. After a while, the clouds dissolved and the sky opened up. Probably they dissipated few kms away towards east. A rainbow arouse from the remaining clouds and stayed for 20 mins. How do I know the duration? Because I kept timelapse from start to end. The rainbow is like hope rather being colourful, vivid hope. Hope that rains would appear over the region soon.

Meanwhile, I shot few snaps before keeping mobile for short timelapse. A short coconut twig acted like tripod which enabled steady aligned timelapse despite the heavy breeze. As fallout of the clouds, the humidity further accentuated late in evening. Last time it rained all over region except ours. That is called bad luck or jinx. Hopefully, the rains would cleanse my superstition soon.

Here is yet another timelapse of fading rainbow after disgruntling blog

Pre-Monsoon clouds and dissapointment

April 07, 2020

It all started with thick clouds mustering up at eastern horizon with thunder. Hardly 15 minutes later, the clouds broke apart on reaching head above us. That was clear indication of rains below par. The troposphere was still belting out and we were shivering. The rains however were shear disappointment. But there is hope of further rains. The atmosphere cooled down for couple of days which means it would need few more days to regain humidity and re-trigger rains.

These clouds look heavy but ran away without moisture

The dark monolithic clouds which triggered hopes of heavy downpour, dispelled after a while. We witnessed flashing troposphere with loud roar. Hardly any rain to dampen the baked ground. Even though disappointing, my spirit did not dampen to capture the sky and flying clouds.

The disgusting part was that this was local phenomenon. Paltry rain with nerve wrecking thunder which threatened to destabilise electrical equipment. Not even a little rain entered our well. Even though mercury plunged, the absence of rain was lamenting part. It rained heavily at Udupi for nearly 90 minutes but it was feeble in our village 16 km away. Towns couple of km away also recorded considerable rains with artificial streams flowing over the surface. How interesting is nature. Mathematical models also fail to predict their pattern.

Finally a short timelapse to enjoy after streams of disappointing statements.

Full lane concrete paver

As you are aware, the 4 lane work from Hasan to Sakaleshpur has gained full momentum. The curves nearby Sakaleshpur are straightened and dust is raising all over the region. The national highways have multiple layer of construction of which one of them is to to pave concrete before the actual asphalting work is carried out. Several modern equipments are being used to speed up the road work and as well to have long lasting touch. One of the equipment that has been grabbing much of my attention during every travel towards Bangalore is this full lane concrete paver. This time during our travel to hometown, I captured few pictures of this gigantic equipment. There are one or two of them in entire stretch enabling faster road work. This equipment facilitate a one go concrete paving on entire lane and thus reducing possibilities of unevenness, cracks and other construction errors. Hopefully in coming days we will enjoy aeroplane drive from Hassan to Sakaleshpur of-course with toll fee :-). I do not know how the people will embrace the new toll fee given that the Bangalore-Mangalore stretch already invites toll of Rs.220/- overall.

The equipment adjoining to existing National Highway

Unfortunately, on the other hand, the road-work is completely stalled between Gundya and BC Road. The artificial valleys and abyss created by construction companies are paving way for innumerable accidents. It is learned that delay in land acquisition is leading to slackness of road work. The other lamenting part is the obliteration of thousands of natural vegetation. This is the right time find balance by widening the road and freezing it. No more widening post this work which means authorities should limit the vehicle movements in future.

Village during lockdown

The country is under lock-down for 21 days. I am at a place where density of living beings is high. Fortunately, we are bound by dense vegetation not people. But that does not mean we are safest, we still have to exercise caution. The lock-down is suffocating human respiratory system but at same time is relaxing nature's airways. Nature is trying to teach mankind that our greed is crossing limits and needs lock-down. The balance needs to be restored. Let's check our greed and be in harmony with mother nature.

There are many opportunities photographing in our village. The pandemic which has shut down entire world is constraining our photographic hobby as well. But there are many things to explore nearby my village. For cities, lock-down might seem enigmatic but for villages like mine, it's always virtual lock-down throughout year :-). That's best part of being in secluded location. The nature is fresh always and has become more refreshing due to cut down in vehicular movement. While Twitter is loaded with viral tweets of corona virus, the morning village is loaded with refreshing tweets of early birds. The virus is choking the lungs of human lives but in contrast healing the respiratory system of mother nature

Summer is brewing up here in coastal Karnataka. The humidity in coast is raising. It is not possible to live without full throttled fan. The teas and coffees have taken back seat. The fresh lime juice, cucumber, butter milks are dominating the table. The mud pots are cooling the drinking water. On the other hand corona virus is taking toll on businesses, daily life. The jeopardy is not yet over. I am also working from native village. Despite the yearning to visit the kapu beach, the virus is threatening us. The fear is still looming.

Consequently, the scope of photography is restricted to only nearby our house. The humid weather is attracting clouds and resulting in scattered rains. Today morning, I captured those patchy clouds during sunrise and enjoyed the sun peeking from the eastern horizon. Such a splendid scene of golden sun amidst the diffused clouds. Hope you relish it too!

When incurable virus outbreaks, it is better not go out and stay indoors.if you are within nature you will have the privilege to enjoy the resplendent sunrise or sunset like above. Also a heart touching sunset during evening.

Human greed is unmatched. With corona outbreak, the human civilisation is rattled but nature is blooming. The people who ignored are helpless now. The air is clean and wild is fearless. The nature always strikes a balance. Be it torrential rains from past 2 years or un-seasonal rains this year, nature knows how to reclaim its space. Lets be complacent and honour the laws of nature and probably only solution to chaos