The message......

Sweeping through the tangle of branches
peacefully came the cool breeze
Soaked in colours the dawning sky,
with rising sun, peeped thru’ the trees

One tree wore dusty brown branches
Carrying new leaves glowing with sheen
It towered over its neighbour
As it touched the blue sky with its green

The other stood with younger branches
Its light green leaves a few inches away
The two gladly gave each other company
thru’ each silent night and day

Watching the sun drench the two
with its strong golden light
I sat enjoying their green beauty
when I spotted in one, at a height

A raven that sat almost still
Against the green, its black stood out bold
Motionless it was, without a sound
feathers and wings glowed in the afternoon gold

when suddenly appeared another raven
its calls renting the air
Excitedly the two exchanged stories
as they kept flying here and there

Gleefully flitted about the duo
as they sent down the tree a few shivers
rattling the branches, shaking the leaves
creating waves travelling in rivers

Briefly breaking the afternoon silence
The two friends took flight
Just as I thought I was all alone
The butterflies came within sight

Thru’ the branches and the leaves
the pretty things explored in and out
Weren’t they hunting for flowers in them?
Blissful, spreading bliss, no doubt

Lighting up the trees with
bright yellow in each wing
they fluttered about in joy
when came the bees buzzing

Flying in twos and threes
They looked for daily nectar
The butterflies gave them company
As I looked on from afar

For long moments they went about
Flying and buzzing, buzzing and flying
As the sun came slowly climbing down
“I’m blessed to be here”, I was sighing

A sweet music floated down
Spreading happiness like never before
Slowly the cuckoo stilled as twilight crept in
Leaving me hungering for more

I missed the caws and chirps
For sundown ‘twas, bringing in quiet and peace
And I went to draw my balcony curtains
When my eyes again fell on the trees

“Why do you want to keep us out?” asked a voice
from the thick dark foliage
“You don’t need the curtains, really!”
Slow and silent came their message.

Gift for God

Once upon a time there lived a woman with her husband and their son. She earned good money with the help of her education and was proud to be a regular contributor to the family income, often showering her son with toys and chocolates and whatever he wanted except ample amount of time that he craved for. The little boy felt very lonely sometimes, his grandparents from both sides who came down to be with him, loving him and caring for him, but unable to fill the void in his life. So he asked his mother for a baby he could play with. She thought of her career and she thought of her son’s loneliness. A year later, the boy got a baby sister.

Happy that her family was complete now, the mother now focused on her work again. God came in her dream one day and asked “Where is my gift?” “I didn’t know you ever needed a gift”, she replied in consternation. “OK, we’ll talk about my gift later. Tell me about gifts that you have given anybody till now.” The reply came readily “I have earned pots of money for my family. I have gifted my son with a sister he longed for. I buy this and that for my parents. I gift my friends on their birthdays and colleagues too.” There were a lot of I’s in her spontaneous answer. God listened patiently and simply said “But that’s all because of your job which is again because of your education. If you didn’t have an education or a job, what could you gift?” She couldn’t imagine herself without education or a job, nor could she imagine any gift that could be bought without money. She said finally “I need time.” But God had vanished by then.

Years passed. God appeared again. “Sorry God. I got so busy with this and that.” God smiled kindly and left. The woman was now doing well in her field. She bought herself and others lots of gifts. She spent her leisure time in shopping malls. Life tasted sweeter than ever. And suddenly she thought of the gift God had asked for. God didn’t need money. What could she get for Him that He didn’t have enough? It flashed to her one morning when she was sipping tea in the balcony.

Her life changed. She got aware of the service she had been getting from people around – her housemaid, her cook, her driver, her gardener, her car cleaner. They were born poor. She gave them money; they gave her service – it was a give-and-take. What if they all had enough money, what if everybody had money and there was none to do those jobs? She thanked God. She took their service and added a smile to the salary she paid to each of them. God came in her dream once again and she immediately said “Thank you, God.” And then He replied “I got my gift. Thank you.” He left feeling richer. At least one had gifted Him with gratitude.

Friend or Foe?

‘Twas not a great day
Cares with me I did carry
So I set out for a walk
But a demon didn’t let me be free

Drops of sunshine slip off the leaves
Intoxicated with a sudden joy, I cry, “Oh! This ego!
Thief you are! Stealing my peace?!"and I ask, "How dare you bother me so?!”

“How dare YOU say so?!" I hear!
"For it’s you who chose to carry me around!
Cast me away and just move on
Only then peace will be found!”

"So farewell to you, my long-time friend
For you make old ties meet sudden end!"
I was sad, but am glad now that I left behind far
my ego, for it is a deadly disease, my dear!

Why we can’t do without Wildlife

This article of mine was published in a Saturday issue of New Indian Express.

My dear son,

I hope you’ve enjoyed yourself throughout the entire journey you took with Mowgli, Baloo and the other friends from the jungle, with Shere Khan keeping you on tenterhooks now and then. You know what, Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book” has been a must-read for not only you, but thousands of other children over the decades. And to share a secret with you – I’ve even got a copy of the original story for myself as a bedside read. What had motivated Kipling to come up with such a masterpiece, with such interesting characters (helpful bear Baloo, deadly python Kaa and shrewd tiger Shere Khan) making it a delightful read, a perfect classic? Where had they all existed? Well….the forests of India, actually.
What if they were not there at all? What if they’d become extinct before he sat down to write?

“Oh! Mom, don’t be so imaginative! Our Social Studies teacher told us our India is home to a great variety of wildlife, and they’re all thriving here,” I can almost hear you say.
But did you know their numbers are dwindling alarmingly? That many species of wildlife have already vanished from the face of this world, never to come back? “Why is Mom so worried about all this?” you might wonder.

Well…it’s simple. We, the humans, have been dependant on wildlife for ages. Wildlife doesn’t mean wild animals alone, it covers all animals, birds, plants and even organisms growing in natural conditions. Together they form a huge world, and so if we neglected it too much, we would be in trouble sooner or later. Just sit and think for a while. When it comes to plants, the herbivores depend on them on which the carnivores depend in turn. So it’s not only the vegetarians or vegans, it’s also the non-vegetarians that depend on the plants in a way. If you thought it’s mostly food that plants provide, let me remind you that medicines, clothing, even many building materials (wood, for example) come from the plant kingdom. Next time you wear your woollens and cottons, spare the animals and plants a thought.
It doesn’t end there. Who powers your trips to the bird sanctuaries and zoo and national parks where you get to see wildlife during holidays and vacations? Well, the plants of course! How?! It’s a long story, but to tell you in short, millions of years ago when humans did not exist, plants and animals and many organisms died and got buried under layers of earth which finally formed oil to give us petrol and diesel that power our buses and cars and other vehicles, taking us where we want. Even coal is formed likewise and is indispensable today because of the electricity it helps generate.

Sadly we don’t feel threatened enough to stop and think of how to minimize the damage we have been doing to wildlife. We take our wildlife for granted. “Damage? We? How?” you might think.

We’ll get into that soon. Say, how would we feel if aliens came and tried to drive us out of our planet? Threatened, right? We are doing something exactly like that. We are building roads, recreational areas, amusement parks, hotels, malls and buildings more than we need. But when we are cutting down forests for all this, are we not destroying the habitat of many plants and animals and birds and organisms, something they call their home that they suddenly lose without any fault of theirs?

My dear son, it’s not only to feel empathy for the animals and birds that we need to stop killing them for sport or meat, or the trees that we need to minimize their felling, it’s more for our survival that we need to reduce some and stop some of our irresponsible acts. Stop for a moment to think. Today, it’s us making a list of endangered and extinct species of wildlife; tomorrow will it be us there in that list? Well, we definitely don’t want to go the way the dinosaurs did.

Nature has gifted us with its bounty of wildlife, so that we live a healthy life in a healthy habitat. A forest cut down today means losing the many treasures of many forms of wildlife which were silently helping us live and other treasures too. It could mean something as important as oxygen-producing plants and trees purifying the air. And not to mention the sheer joy of watching creatures of the blue planets – the oceans where blue whales swim about nonchalantly, on the TV, of listening to chirps of the birds, the roars of tigers and lions in the forests and reading Kipling’s Jungle Book-like stories inspired by wildlife.
The Red Panda, the majestic Royal Bengal Tiger, the Siberian Crane, would they all go into oblivion, only to appear in books and the Net? Would you like to visit Bandipur for roads instead of forests, a busy township in North India instead of the cool ambience of Uttarkhand where people flock for bird-watching in the forests there?

If you are alarmed, do not be. Rather, work with your Science teacher to know how you could help. You could start in small ways, like enjoying birds in their natural habitat instead of keeping them as pets at home (because many a time they die as we do not know to take care of them properly), throwing garbage in the right bins, else it litters a place and might end up as garbage in waterways and get devoured by animals accidentally, causing them a painful death (it could even flow down to oceans and stay as floating garbage as a potential danger to the creatures there), urging your family members to wear less of leather (since it comes from skin of animals), writing short notes on how you can save wildlife and pasting them on the return gifts that you distribute during your birthday party. After all, small gestures from many kids like you, can bring about a change in the way people have looked at wildlife.

Let’s do the little things to start with and change the wildlife world and our world in turn.

Love,
Mother

What pearls "Sound of Music" brings on for ages for generations and for me......

  
Watching 'Sound of Music' with my daughter and letting my thoughts flow unfettered.....

  The story of Robert Wise's  classic film “The Sound of Music”.......

 Love conquers all. A woman’s love for music, children and Nature bring everlasting dramatic changes in an Austrian family during the days of Nazi rule.

Maria plans to be a nun but isn’t cut out for it. Reverend Mother of Salzburg Abbey in Austria sends her to be the governess of the seven motherless children of Captain Von Trapp, a retired Naval Officer. Their hostility towards governesses is no match for Maria’s kind heart that helps her realize that they are growing up in a loveless stifling environment of discipline enforced by their father.

When the Captain is away from home, Maria’s love for the hills and trees takes her and the children to the lap of Nature. There she gives them the first lessons of music and the long-forgotten taste of freedom from a strict routine by picnicking on lush green meadows, running with rivers, climbing on trees and rowing boat in a placid lake, and wins over seven hearts effortlessly.

Straightforward that she is, during an argument with the Captain, Maria tells him to bridge the growing gap between him and his children through love again. The haughty and authoritarian Captain talks tough with her only to be overwhelmed by a song his children, tutored by Maria, sing to the baroness. Overnight he mellows down to an affectionate father.

With time, Maria and Captain get drawn towards each other but the baroness plays spoilsport. Stung by her words Maria returns to the Abbey, confused by her own feelings towards Captain. Meanwhile the baroness gets engaged to Captain.

Shocked that Maria has left for good, the children, in desperation, try to meet her in vain. Reverend Mother, with the wisdom of her silver years, advises Maria never to run away from problems, rather face them, by returning to Captain’s house.

Almost instinctively, Captain calls off his engagement to the baroness. The moment it dawns on him that he is in love with Maria, he hesitatingly approaches her in his sprawling garden where two hearts unite at last!

With the Nazis capturing Captain’s dear homeland, a sudden call of duty far away from home threatens to separate him from his family but music again comes to their rescue! During their performance at a concert, they cleverly leave the place to seek refuge in the Abbey from where they finally escape to Switzerland, to freedom!

What I love about the evergreen film “The Sound of Music”......

A musical, it is a breath of fresh air, soothing nerves and souls. Music here holds the characters and events, bonding seven children, their governess and their father effortlessly with the passage of time. The charm of the story lies in the different struggles of the different people who are all striving to overcome obstacles in the path towards happiness – the story of millions of us. The children try to come close to their father, Captain tries to forget memories of his dear, dead wife and Maria tries hard to be a nun. Without the silent struggle, the journey of each of them would lose its song.

"Sound of Music" is etched in my mind for its eternal truth – life is all about what choices we make. Maria chooses to bond with the children in the face of hostility. Dictatorial Captain chooses to metamorphose into an affectionate father and later again chooses to break his engagement to marry Maria who brings sunshine in his life.

The film deftly shows what optimism can do. Maria’s initial hesitation evident during her first trip to Captain’s house as she asks herself “Why am I so scared?” is swiftly replaced with a confidence growing from her great attitude. She is an embodiment of courage and an infectious optimism as she returns to Captain’s house to find out if she is destined to share his future and later when she gently urges Lisl, Captain’s teenager daughter, to move on with life after her first heartbreak.

“Sound of Music” magnetizes me with ethereally beautiful scenes of Austria’s natural beauty of hills crowned with trees sheltering chirping birds, lakes interspersing green meadows and brooks tripping over stones.

The director gives every character a fair share of screen presence (wise Reverend Mother, scheming baroness, suave Max and so on) and gives us a balanced mix of humour, love, joy, suspense and happiness, laced with feelings of patriotism and finally peace as significant events of world history – rise of Hitler and the Nazi rule – unfold, forming the backdrop.

I love the unique way two different kinds of love – blossoming passionate teenage love and a calm, matured love that later culminates in marriage – happen in the same garden, both in silvery night, at two different points of time.

The film’s many evergreen songs carry beautiful messages. “Climb every mountain” encourages one to cross obstacles to hunt for one’s dream and live it. As Maria sings “nothing comes from nothing”, I realize that beautiful moments take birth in noble actions of the past. And to overcome sadness I can hum about “a few of my favourite things”!

"Sound of Music" is life’s lessons packaged with profound truths - “walls are not built to shut out problems” and one has to face them, “you have to live the life you were born to live” and good times follow difficult times just as “the sun comes out” after the night.

One single film has so much to offer!

It's thinking time!! So 'A Bit of Science Time' now!

Ready for some thinking?

Click here for getting your brain cells tickled with Let us think for a while! some science questions.

I plan to include more later!

 

Bio-mimicry in child-friendly portions!!

If you like the biomimicry stories here, also do visit www.childfriendlynews.com where I contributed these......



Japanese Trains look up to kingfisher for the perfect nose

Are you aware of Shikansen? These are the super-fast trains in Japan. They are the bullet trains and they are the ones which have helped Japan earn the label of being amongst the world’s most technologically advanced nations. But did you know these trains, when traveling through tunnels, produced very loud claps that proved to be a great nuisance even to people not staying close to their route? It was indeed a challenge to reduce the high noise level!

It was then that biomimicry came to the rescue! Bio means life and mimicry means copying. Designers turned towards nature to look for a solution. The kingfisher’s beak inspired them to design a 15-metre nosecone on the front car of the bullet train. Just as a kingfisher dives seamlessly into the water, the modified bullet train became much quieter and smoother too in its journey following this modification!

Interesting, right? Now it is your turn to look towards nature and come up with your own biomimicry inventions! I will eagerly wait for your posts at sdapara@gmail.com!



Termites inspire architect to say “No” to fan and air conditioner!

Heard about an office complex WITH a shopping mall but WITHOUT any fan or air blower or air conditioner? Want to visit it? Then head to Eastgate Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe. The building, covering half a city block, gets cooled when outside air is hotter than it and warmed when it is colder outside, because of its multiple vents through which outside air flows in. Can you believe that its architect Michael Pearce designed it after termite mounds?! The sturdy mound the termites build has a chimney-like structure at its top and tunnel-like holes in the wet mud at the bottom. Dry, hot air flows in and picks up water vapour from the wet mud at bottom, and cools down too as it passes on its heat to the mud. Also warm air rises up through the “chimney” and goes out, thus leaving a cooler mound even with high temperatures outside. The creatures continuously open up new tunnels and block others to maintain a consistent temperature and humidity inside, to keep the fungus, its food, alive.

Thanks to termites and architect Pearce, the energy consumption has come down drastically for this building, with its ventilation system having cost 10% of a standard air-conditioned building!

Have you heard of Biomimicry (bio=life and mimicry=copying) where nature turns teacher and inspires humans to copy it for coming up with unique designs? Well, Eastgate Centre is just an instance of it!



Even Michael Phelps would adore sharks!

Does a shark inspire you to swim your fastest? Do you dream of even trying to copy it? Well, you don't have a body shaped like a shark's, and you can never have powerful muscles like it has. But wait, don't despair! Let me share an example of biomimicry (bio-life, mimicry-copying) that will boost you up and that even Michael Phelps, the famous swimmer, will vouch for! Speedo LZR Racer Suit is a special swimsuit that has been copied from shark's skin. A shark has tiny, teeth-like structures on its skin, their shape and positioning varying across its body. These 'teeth' being in between skin and water, help the shark to face the least resistance from the water it is flowing in. This is a secret behind sharks being such fast swimmers that has been unearthed by Speedo. Now are you inspired to look at Nature and inform me at sdapara@gmail.com about how some biomimicry idea is just germinating in you?



A lovely coloured birthday dress without any dyes in it!

Can you think of a colourful dress for wearing it on your birthday made from only fibres without any dyes? The blue morpho butterfly has inspired a Japanese company to think along those lines. This butterfly has multiple layers of proteins on its scales so that when light strikes it, it does it in a way that its wings emit only blue colour, without the wings having any blue pigment in them! With varying thickness and structure of the fibre, this company’s innovation, Morphotex, creates colour, without having anything to do with dyes or pigments.