If you looked hard enough, you'd be surprised at the micro-universe that exists all around us, even in our own backyards....

These are the FRANGIPANIs in our garden that have begun blooming, petals so smooth, buds so fragrant, and colours so subtle.





This is an exotic variety of GRASS.




The Moon on Halloween [ Look closely for the spooky silhouettes ]





These next two pictures are dedicated to HARITHA who sees beauty all around her, even in these common wild flowers, as she quickly gathered them up and made a most wonderful wild-flower display.

It is said that the Diya at Diwali is supposed to signify
light dispelling darkness [ ignorance ].
With a wife named Deepa, the least I could do was make an effort in that direction.
So, this Diwali we were determined to reduce our Carbon Footprint and decided on a few small improvements in our celebrations.

1) We invested in a set of LED lights [ LED superior to tungsten ]

2) We developed hand-made paper lanterns courtesy the R&D team at GreenMan Labs [ see later image of Chief R&D officer in the lab ]

3) We burst fewer crackers thru joint community celebrations. We tried to get as many people from the colony into a common area, so everyone could enjoy the fireworks jointly without them burning individually.

I know I know…. Pollution, and all that… but we’re getting there. It would be weird doing a Diwali with zero crackers, so we did it, but with fewer than we did last year. We also split it into two lots so the kids would get more mileage over 2 days.

4) We used non synthetic material [ simple coloured chalk ] to create Rangoli [ local term : "muggu" ] designs instead of synthetic coloured powders. See picture of the kids with their Rangoli designs.


But yes, the quantum of Mithai was constant like each year, some things don't change.....
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-------------------- Below : LED Lights & Handmade lanterns



-------------------- Below : Chief R&D Officer at GreenMan Labs.




---------------------------- Below : Non Synthetic Rangoli Colours.

















-------------------- Below : Fewer crackers through joint community celebrations

BACKYARD ORGANIC GARDENING

Deepa seems to be going back to agrarian roots, as she feels the strange yet powerful urge to connect with Mathrabhoomi. [ I think shes regressing into a Freudian - "Latency Stage". ]

She's set up a cozy little organic garden in the backyard, and now grows Bottle Gourd, Ridge Gourd, Tomatoes, Bhindi, Curry Leaves & Coriander. She intends to also cultivate ginger root, methi, bitter gourd, chillies, papaya and may get carried away and start off with rice paddy in the front lawn if I dont get a handle on this soon...

LIFE’S LESSONS FROM THE TOON WORLD

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When you scratch beyond the surface of a lot of children’s animated movies, you’ll be surprised to find a rich source of life’s lessons that can be learnt. Not only the obvious moral & ethical ones, but also the deeper mystical and spiritual stuff too.

Lets take a look at CHICKEN RUN as an example. Firstly it is made using stop-motion, which in itself is an awesome effort. I loved it ever since the first Wallace and Gromit episode.

Each time I watch this movie I learn something new. For those of you who’ve seen it, the following discussion will make sense. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. [ My overall rating = 9/10 ]

1) Ginger the chicken NEVER gives up. Even though at one stage when she asks “What have we not yet tried” [ to escape the chicken coop ] one of the other chicks points out – “We haven’t tried not trying”. And this tenacity is shown to us in the first 5 minutes of the movie, before the titles are complete.
2) She always has a sense of hope, even when someone points out that the chances of them ever flying out are 1 in a million, she replies “then there’s still a chance”.
3) The mice who help them “acquire” their stuff to make their contraptions teaches me that sometimes the most unlikely people can become our friends and work with us in times of need.
4) The concept of Freedom is what is central to the theme of this movie, set against the backdrop of the ominous Mrs. Tweedy’s intentions. The Freedom that we all take so much for granted; but if we look closely, are we really Free? And what does freedom really mean?
5) Throughout the movie, Ginger doesn’t selfishly think only of herself, but wants Freedom for ALL the chickens at the same time. Selflessness.
6) She displays courage and fortitude far above the rest of the hens. How many times do we give up our own dreams because those around us say it cant be done ?

Theres a lot more in that movie, but I’m not just going to lay it all out for you. So this weekend it might be well worth your time to go out and rent it, and watch it with the kids; who knows what you might learn…..


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XMAS 2007 & NEW YEAR 2008

It seems odd to me that the reason people should celebrate the arrival of a "New Year" is presumably due to a sense of hope, and for the possibilities in new beginnings.

Then the very first day of said new year, they waste away in a dull drunken stupor and hungover.... EVERY YEAR its the same !!

Am I missing something ?