The Lemon Pansy Butterfly

A Collage!

 

Tried making a collage using Picasa today. I'm a slow learner;)

Dry Decoration

 

A Lesson In Personal Grooming From The Asian Pied Starling

Presentable now, right?

Some Homes In Meghalaya

On my recent trip to the state of Meghalaya, I went around the
neighbourhood of the guest house we stayed in, and took the first
two pictures. Many homes have delightful gardens but the walls
were high...









The last photo was taken in the village of Smit, not far from the
capital, Shillong. In the balcony of the house, all the begonias were
in bloom. What a cheery sight that was! Don't you agree?

September Moon

Clouds may come, but clouds must go,
And they all have a silver lining.

For behind each cloud, you know,
the sun, or moon, is shining.

A Train Journey--From Guwahati To Haflong

In April, I went to Haflong by train. A special train called the
'Hill Queen' runs from Guwahati to Haflong. It's a 7-hour journey
through picturesque and hilly terrain. Built during the British
times, it is considered a feat of engineering. Several bridges
span deep ravines and there are as many as thirty seven tunnels.
All this was built a little more than a hundred years ago.

Of late, this track has been in the news for the wrong reasons.
I really don't want to go into the gory details but militancy is
a fact that we, in the north-east, are learning to live with. And
the trains have been the target several times. This led to the
closure of the train services for more than two months. It was
only recently that the 'Hill Queen' has started plying through
that beautiful landscape again.

All the pictures were taken from the train. This is how the vege-
tation looks like in April. Dry...waiting for the first rains of
of the year. My only regret is I couldn't photograph the many
birds I saw. Maybe next time, when I'm faster with the camera:)



A view of lush green paddy fields as we leave Guwahati.



In the wide plains of Assam--the look of spring.



But as we leave the plains behind, we cross a never-ending bamboo
jungle.




And huge areas of wild grass.



The "Hill Queen". There's nothing remotely regal about it!







Unidentified bug on train window.



More bridges to cross...we'd just left one behind.



Windswept landscape.





One of the tunnels. All the dead blooms are wild sunflowers.
During the blooming period the forests turn yellow. This area
has many varieties of morning glory. There were blue, purple,
and white ones in bloom.



Terraced fields and a stream.



A quaint little railway station with orchids, crape jasmine,
and coral jasmine.



The last bridge before reaching Haflong.



The Barail Ranges! A sight that spells "Home"!! Since the blue
hills surround the town, for any Haflongite this sight is like
comfort food! It didn't matter that the day wasn't clear,that
the blue was at its palest...What mattered was that I had
arrived at my destination.



And the most prominent blooms on the roadsides were of the
beautiful jacaranda.

Two Birthdays

I usually don't post people-photos but here's two of them
both taken at my friends' birthdays. The first was in May.
It was Erica's birthday but she's not in this photo. That's
(from right)--Farhana, Ruby and me.



This was taken on 11th June and it happened to be Indrani's
birthday. From left--Bulbuli, Erica, me, the b'day girl,
Rohima and Ruby.

Two Views Of My Home town

Haflong, my hometown, is blessed with natural beauty.
The above photo shows the blue hills that's so much
a part of this town. This was taken at dawn when half
the town was still asleep and everything looked so serene.



The lake that's so much a part of Haflong lore. Of fishing
and bathing, swimming and drowning; and the recurring stories
of ghosts...Back in those days, this area was truly beautiful.
The bank of the lake was a stretch of green grassy slopes and
countless trees. But now many houses stand on what was once
so green. But still the lake survives...Elsewhere, many smaller
lakes have dried up bringing to an end all the aquatic life
and the vegetation on their banks. Now there's no trace that once
this was a watery mass that teemed with fish and shrimp, crabs
and tadpoles, and children played on their sandy and shingly
banks.

All Dressed Up!

With all the power lines, the sky view from our house
is never the best. But sometimes the display of sunset
colours are so beautiful that momentarily you forget
about those lines...!

Stumped--by these sights!

One often comes across tree stumps with fungi sprouting
on them. A common sight really, especially after the rains.
But the colourful leaves from a nearby tree made the contrast
here,a striking one. Pictured below, is another side of the
same stump looking less spectacular.



Another stump had this caterpillar. I've always had a thing for
creepy-crawlies and as I clicked away, I thought I'd break out
in a rash...But the feeling passed as soon as I moved away.
Since then I've been able to photograph them without feeling
that the itchiness would start soon!

Landscape

The view from my parents' backyard. When the sun
is well on its way westward,it looks like this. The
Barail Ranges are covered with rain-bearing clouds
in the month of April.



Dawn casts its spell on the same landscape. It's like
another world altogether. Nature's colours light up
the horizon in these beautiful shades.

Rural Scenes

A winter sunset


Boats on the Kolong river. In the distance you can see
the crowds at the weekly market.


The rippled reflection of a setting winter sun.