Monsoon Diary 2020 - Sunset at Maravanthe beach

The itinerary to native place never completes without visit to Maravanthe beach. We had splendid to view as well. It is almost end of monsoon season but still sparse clouds were seen streaming from west. The scene was like there would be no more rains further. Things did change in later days before MET department declared cessation of South-West monsoon from India. For now, enjoy pictures from the bustling Arabian sea. Marvanthe beach provides splendid perceptions for both mornings and evenings due to presence of River at east and sea at west. The monsoon season can be fabulous throughout the day for landscape lovers if the rains are not pelting!

Westerlies are still active but rains have subsided. The sea was relatively calm although there was substantial cloud activity started building during twilight hours. We had fun in sea water and also tiny photoshoot seated on the boulders of break waters. My kids though still phobic about the sea tides. Somehow they feel it difficult to adjust with raise & ebbs of sea with roar.

We had wonderful evening basking under the evening Sun and breathing breeze from sea. The pandemic made us choose isolated area to maintain social distancing. It is not difficult to choose private area in Marvanthe beach due to its expansiveness. The breakwater structures adds much needed objects to beach composition.

The sparse clouds during evening gradually began turning massive at the end of day

Couple of clips to conclude the scenic journey

The greatest gift

28 December 2020

The holiday season is underway and people too active in exploring exotic places. I am also exploring few places nearby native which I had listed long time back. The pandemic though not allowing full fledged expedition. There is always a pinch of jitter while visiting places due to abundant crowd. The recognized tourist destinations of coastal Karnataka is witnessing massive influx of crowd from whole state. The cold weather at highlands is drawing crowds to tropical coastal lands to have respite from chill for few days. People at the same time are forgetting the pandemic that is still active. Authorities are imposing tight rules on every person to be vigilant but this can be successful only if common people wake up. Hope the pandemic does not raise again.

Meanwhile today morning, I chose another unexplored part of our village for cycle riding.

The traditional hay stack after harvest

It was the most fulfilling cycle ride I ever had. The weather was tad cold but not chill enough to wear winter clothes. This path I had glanced while driving towards relative's house and was impressed with the landscape it hosted. The road was narrow and car is not an ideal vehicle to gawk at nature. You know, nature loves simplicity. Hence it is better to be simple to enjoy the nature. The best vehicle is our bicycle which is simplest and environment friendly. The best transportation to enjoy nature to the fullest without the need to heed to running traffic. We can lift the cycle whenever the traffic is hindered. It is possible to park the bicycle over the fields without bothering about the road traffic and thus peacefully snap the favourite shots. There are many advantages which most of you are aware. Undoubtedly, the ideal way to enjoy nature is walk on your own foot. But in my case, the distance was more and time was less and hence the next possibility was bicycle :-).

Back on track, the morning light was pleasant and fog was dancing over the fields. The lush green plantations were gleaming against the azure sky. The tonal contrast was eye-catching. The morning aura was perfect to capture the landscape portraits. The beauty was inexplicable. That's where title arose. The greatest gift for anyone is not travelling to exotic places but the ability to explore and enjoy the beauty nearby. The same experience even I had today and the pictures are just outcome of the morning expedition. Hope everyone finds the beauty at their proximity in this pandemic time and thus relieve the inner stress of lock-down.

Just scout your proximity to discover the exotic beauty. There is lot you don't know about your place. Like the below diverse light of sun rays, hope you find diverse beauty in proximity

Finally I realized, the greatest gift is not visiting exotic places but 

The ability to see the winter sun sweeping the farmland

The ability to see beauty of dancing fog over fields

The ability to enjoy the tweets of barbets

The ability to enjoy the song of bulbuls

The ability to enjoy the bucolic landscape

The ability to see the beauty of tiled roof houses tucked away inside the coconut plantation

And last but not least, why not, ample time to see our treetop beauties.

Overall, its the ability to see beauty nearby.

Thanks to cycle ride today along unexplored part of village which exhorted me to behold the beauty nearby than longing for longer destinations.