Photo Blog - Alone yet strong!

This is the picture I took at rural part of Mulbagal town. I was captivated by the scenery en-route to Garuda temple at koladevi near mulbagal. I even had found Pied Kingfisher here. During my subsequent visit to Kurudumale Ganesha temple to attend Benne Alankara for Lord, I planned sojourn to this beautiful lake. The nearby field hosted this large coconut tree amidst the agricultural land. The clouds above provided beautiful landscape.

The tree stood tall withstanding wind and rain. Perhaps it is stronger and tall. Even though surrounded by myriads of crop, it can still stand stronger! We also need stand tall and stronger in life despite all circumstances. Be in right path as well! It can withstand any amount invasion or bullying over the times. The tree taught me a good lesson that day. The winds were strong and tree was alone. Still it stood high and strong. I felt as if it spoke to me "Till I am alive, I will stay strong!"

We stopped by the lake for a while. I couldn't spot pied kingfisher this time.

Felt blessed after having darshan of Lord Ganesha at Kurudumale adorned with Benne!

Photo Blog - Rushing Clouds

Monsoon is yet to make proper onset over country. Meanwhile thunderstorm continue in Bengaluru city and thus bringing down night temperature. The cycle of high humidity and evening rains are continuing. The water bodies are having good party during summer. If every house has rain water harvesting facility, then city has enough water table to sustain till next summer.

While having casual walk in Varanasi main road, the strange cloud rush captivated me. I felt like frontline clouds were rushing and enthusiastic to pour over city, while the back-benchers seemed to be lousy :-D.  The front ones were like "Lets go Lets go!" but the back benchers seemed to be "I cant move anymore, tired of pouring, lets stop here!". Finally back benchers won and we did not receive any rains. Yes, this is natural phenomenon due to wind patterns, but something artistic popped in my mind. Hope you too feel the same!

Last birding at Amruthahalli Lake

Perhaps, last birding at Amruthahalli lake. I have relocated to new area to move near to the office. Consequently, this seems to be my last birding at this lake for now. Even though lake was empty throughout my stay of 8 yrs, I have emotional attachment due to the birding opportunities. Now the de-silted lake is blooming back with support from summer rains. Hope the works of authorities fructify and brim the lake to full mark! So whom we got for last turn.

I have been waiting for these swallows to settle down on perch. Today finally I had opportunity to photograph them still. The birds were busy preening and basking. Unfortunately, poor light from east shadowed by clouds did not provide ample light to photograph them. The blues need stark sunlight to capture in camera. I moved away after birds also moved due to annoying photographer :-).

The pond heron was in contemplation mood. The reflection was drooling. The clear water was boon!

The absconding waders are back to lake now. The spot billed ducks, the eurasian coot, bronze winged jacana, glossy ibis and many are back to lake. I did not capture black-winged-stilts though. 

The lake bed finally. There is plenty of water now. Hopefully the lake would fill 30% by end of monsoon.

Good bye Amruthahalli Lake!

Photo Blog - The idle vs vigilant

Summer has been extreme. The dog resting on marshy sand to ward off summer heat, the other is always vigilant of predators around. Hope the rains will come back with full energy soon. The reaction of dog was ignorance while the cat was staring at me from distance. For cats, the protection of itself of highest priority while for dogs, peacefulness is first. One is idle and another is vigilant, the message is to find a balance to be not extreme of two

Photo Blog - Haunted Skies

Perhaps, last view from terrace of our previous rented apartment. The thunderstorm season is in full blast over Bengaluru city. The skies look haunted everyday evening with thunders striking the ground and ear, increasing our fear. The thick clouds fill the city in darkness. The houses with backdrop of thick clouds appear as legendary haunted houses without hustling bats. The light of dusk adds perfect ambiance to the scene!

Surprisingly, no editing was needed. First time I liked the metering of Oppo K10 5g phone. The picture straight out of camera created perfect haunted vibes not needing an edit.

Photo Blog - Speed Gain in Vain

This was seen at Hosakote Toll Plaza. Huge number of vehicles lined up for almost 200mts. The FastTag was introduced mainly to eliminate manual operations and replace with automated swiping of RFID tags. The manual process was too much cumbersome especially toll operators owed back change. The weird toll prices ending up with number 9, ended up in returning chocolates in place of currency. The FastTag was ideal solution to stop all the mess and speed up vehicle movement along Toll Plaza.

In few toll plazas, FasTag has not matched to its predicted speed. At some toll plazas, the tag reader is darn lousy! The speed gain due to free highway goes in vain as you reach toll plaza. It takes up to 20mins here due to malfunctioning of devices. Hope NHAI pays more attention here and works to improve in this area.

Photo Blog - The Stone Blasting halt

The recent commuters along the Shirady Ghat stretch expressed positive opinion on the road conditions which prompted us to drive along the real Bengaluru highway. The decision was worth and drive was smooth.

While on the transit, it was surprising to see traffic pause near Gundya on our way to Bengaluru. When inquired, the labor mentioned the halt is for stone blasting activity. With ongoing Addahole-BC road highway widening, it is usual to see intermittent traffic blockages to facilitate stone blasting. The strong granite stones along the highway need blast process to clear the way.  Unfortunately, we too were stuck and spent 30 mins dilly-dallying.

The scenes thereafter were scary and crushing though. The boulders are crushed alongside our heart also.  This is sure shot landslide hotspot from subsequent monsoons! Most of all, lot of valuable loss incurred due to destruction of mother nature :-(. Hope the need for further widening never arise.

ಚಿತ್ರ ಬರಹ - ಹಳ್ಳಿ ಹೋಟೆಲ್

ಹಳ್ಳಿ ಹೋಟೆಲ್ ನೋಡಿದ್ದೀರಾ? ಇದು ಕರಾವಳಿಯ ಟಿಪಿಕಲ್ ಹಳ್ಳಿ ಹೋಟೆಲ್. ಉಪಾಹಾರ ಗೃಹ ಎಂದು ಬಹಳಷ್ಟು ಜನ ಬರೆದಿರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಮೊದಲು ಚಿತ್ರ ಕಾಣಿರಿ!

ಅರೆರೆ ಹಳ್ಳಿ ಹೋಟೆಲ್ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಅಷ್ಟೊಂದು ಅಸಡ್ಡೆ ಬೇಡ. ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿರುತ್ತೆ ಮಾರ್ರೆ! ನಾನು ಕೂಡಾ ಮಂಗಳೂರು ಹತ್ತಿರದ ಗುರುಪುರ ಎಂಬ ಹಳ್ಳಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇಂತದೆ ಹೋಟೆಲ್ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ತಿಂದಿದ್ದಿನಿ. ಬಹಳಷ್ಟು ರುಚಿ ಹಾಗೂ ಶುಚಿಯಾಗಿಯೇ ಇರುತ್ತದೆ. ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗಿ ಇಂತಹ ಹೋಟೆಲ್-ಗಳು ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇರುತ್ತವೆ. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ದರ ಕೂಡಾ ಕಡಿಮೆಯೇ! ಕುರ್ಚಿಗಳು ಇರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ ಬದಲಾಗಿ ಒಟ್ಟಾಗಿ ಕುಳಿತುಕೊಂಡು ಮಾತನಾಡಬಹುದಾಗ ಬೆಂಚ್-ಗಳು ಇರುತ್ತವೆ. ಹಾಗೆ ಟೇಬಲ್-ಗಳು ಹಳ್ಳಿ ಶಾಲೆ ಅಂತೆ ಇರುತ್ತದೆ. ಎಲ್ಲವೂ ಮರದಿಂದ ತಯಾರಿಸಿರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಕರಾವಳಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇಂತಹ ಹೋಟೆಲ್-ಗಳು ಬನ್ಸ್, ಗೋಳಿಬಜೆ ಮತ್ತು ಇಡ್ಲಿಯನ್ನು ಬಹಳಷ್ಟು ರುಚಿಯಾಗಿ ತಯಾರಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಅವಕಾಶ ಸಿಕ್ಕರೆ ಇಂತದೆ ಹೋಟೆಲ್ ಒಳಹೊಕ್ಕಿ ಬನ್ನಿ!

ಸಂತೆಕಟ್ಟೆ ಸಂತೆ

ಸಂತೆಕಟ್ಟೆ ಸಂತೆ

ಯಾರಿಗಿದೆ ಚಿಂತೆ 

ಮುಗಿಯಕ್ಕೆ ಇನ್ನೂ ಒಂದು ವರ್ಷ ಬೇಕಂತೆ 🤦

Underpass ಕಾಮಗಾರಿ

ವಾಹನ ಸವಾರರ ಸಮಯ ದುಬಾರಿ

ಮಳೆಗಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲಸ ನಡೆಯುವುದು ಕಷ್ಟ

ಜನರಿಗಿದೆ ಬಹುದೊಡ್ಡ ಸಂಕಷ್ಟ

ಸಂತೆ ಎಂದರೆ ಚೆಲ್ಲಾಪಿಲ್ಲಿಯಾಗಿ ಹರಡಿದ ಸಾಮಾನುಗಳು. ತುಳುನಾಡಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಪ್ರಚಲಿತವಾಗಿದೆ. ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಸಂತೆಕಟ್ಟೆ ಯಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಹನದ ಸಂತೆಯೆ ಏರ್ಪಾಟು ಆಗಿದೆ. ಅದರ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ವೇಗದೂತ ಬಸ್ಸುಗಳ ಕಿರಿಕಿರಿ

ತಡವಾದರೂ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಅಂಡರ್ಪಾಸ್ ನಿರ್ಮಿಸುವುದು ಸ್ವಾಗತಾರ್ಹ ಬೆಳವಣಿಗೆ. ಆದರೆ ಬದಲಿ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆ ಇಲ್ಲದೆ ಹೀಗೆ ಸವಾರರಿಗೆ ಕಾಟ ಕೊಡುವುದು ಎಷ್ಟು ಸರಿ. ಸುಂಕ ಯಾಕೆ ಕಟ್ಟುವುದು. 

ಸಂತೆಕಟ್ಟೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಹನ ಸಂತೆ ಮಧ್ಯೆ ನುಸುಳಿಕೊಂಡು ದಾಟಲು ಸುಮಾರು ೨೫ ನಿಮಿಷ  ತಗುಲಿತು. ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಸಮಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಸ್ತಾನ ಸುಂಕ ವಸೂಲಿ ಕೇಂದ್ರವೂ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿತು. ಮೊದಲೇ ಸಮಯ  ವ್ಯರ್ಥವಾಗಿತ್ತು ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಸುಂಕದ ಪೆಟ್ಟು. ಗೇಟನ್ನು  ಭೇಧಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಹೋಗುವಷ್ಟು ಸಿಟ್ಟು ಬರುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಕರಾವಳಿಯಲ್ಲಿ  ಯಾವೊಂದು ಕೆಲಸಗಳು ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ಆಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಜನಪ್ರತಿನಿಧಿಗಳು ನೊಣ ಹೊಡೆಯುತ್ತಾರೋ ಎಂಬಂತೆ ಭಾಸವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.

Photo Blog - Depth of Scarcity

As I have been lame ting there is serious rain deficit in coastal Karnataka. Here is the depth of scarcity which our traditional water body cribbing about scarcity. The water table has gone deep that base of well nearly visible. The depth rain deprivation truly represented by the well

Shot at Hosadu milk dairy Kundapura

Photo Blog - Anticipation

Serious dearth of rains so far at coastal Karnataka so far. Anticipating first rains of season.

Myriads of clouds streaming from West. At least one would pity on the region and muster more from sea to pour rains over the dreaded region. People are anticipating good results from the clouds. Hopefully it materializes. As of now, monsoon is expected to be further delayed by 4-5 days. Hope it does not abscond.