Such bonds are not undone
With the cutting of umbilical chord
Ties that nourish forever.
Maa! That was the best sleep ever!
~~
My son’s picture, clicked many years ago, was for the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Connection
Such bonds are not undone
With the cutting of umbilical chord
Ties that nourish forever.
Maa! That was the best sleep ever!
~~
My son’s picture, clicked many years ago, was for the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Connection
Fatal Connection
It eats up all
Spares none.
Grass devoured
Leaves holed
Hops on a flower
Kisses the petals
Gobbles them up
Speck by speck.
Clever plunderer
Spiky charmer
Connects, only to wreck!!
(Look closely, some leaves and yellow petals have been eaten.)
~~
Recently, I’ve been talking about cockroaches, creepy faces, serial killers and now this grasshopper. Time to look for some beautiful pictures. Generally, green grasshoppers are a symbol of good luck.
.
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(Lonesome twitterer sitting on road-side wired network)
#Hashtagged Lives of #SocialMedia Junkies
This life full of hash tags
Our fragile life support
These jumbled networks on the net
Too widespread, too shallow yet
These fluctuating statistical dips
Ego-boosting followers and likers
These spheres in the blogosphere
Going everywhere, reaching where?
This highly connected disconnect
Surmounts isolation, then rejects
We, the wirelessly wired, the restfully tired
Our sleepless sleeps, our aimless aims
Where are we all going hand-in-hand
Riding this media horse, towards what end??
© 2015 Alka Girdhar
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
The lonesome twittering Crested Pigeon, that I pictured from many angles, is commonly found in Australia. It is often solitary and makes distinct whistling calls and hooting sounds, to draw attention of others like him.
My poem and the lonely pigeon convey one aspect of social media – that it has connected us all like never before and yet disconnected us from the real world…a bitter reality we find hard to digest.
On the other hand, without media I wouldn’t have been able to share this post with you.
Feel free to share your thoughts via your comments.
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Not some beach beauty
Lying supine on its back
With upward knee-bent legs
This is a creepy crawly
Sprayed to its death
Waiting for its last breath
Unable to turn its back
And get back on its feet
Lies inert and helpless
Feels life through its feelers
Vigorously jiggles its skinny legs
Then goes numb and number
It implores – Help! Help! Help!!
Its sight gives us shivers
As we say – Eww! Ick! Yuck!
***
Whether it‘s some hyper-active – alive and kicking – big red cockroach causing scare all around or a half-dead roach lying on its back, it is always a creepy sight.
Once a roach is sighted, a quick decision has to be made, and thereafter, the whole process of chasing it so as to spray insecticide on it with our shaky hands, and then see it running haywire trying to somehow save its life, is a nightmarish thing.
You do not want to kill it, but what to do.
You’re afraid of him (it) and he’s afraid of you
You can either love them or hate them
You can save yourself or save them.
So, faced with this dire situation that demands immediate action, we cannot help but spray lethal liquid on its shiny creepy body and render it immobile. Having lost all control on its life, he (it) lies completely helpless on its back.
Nowadays I cope better with my Katsaridahobia, Shmobia. With mindful thinking, I have conditioned my mind to cope with it. No, not by trying not to avoid it, rather by looking at it directly for a while. I’ve also learnt to think in terms of inclusiveness. Nothing in this world is ugly. No creature is good or bad.
All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful…The Lord God made them all.
~~~
The above picture was self-clicked. For more creepy fun have a look here, but the faint at heart to please stay away from this link.
Half and Half
Build a sensible whole
A complete completeness
Severed forlorn halves
Become wandering vagabonds
Fiercely seeking completeness
Finding along their way
Other fragmented halves
With complete incompleteness
Who quick-fix their halved jigsaw
To create whole new wholeness
Only to crack them, to smaller halves
Halves now quartered to shreds
Frantically float around
Crumbs, that forever elude wholeness
©2015 Alka Girdhar
For The Daily Post Photo Challenge: Half and Half
“This week, let’s split our photos in two.”
Also for: Close Up
Writing prompt: Incomplete
There are all kinds of pairs and partners in this world. Some continue to be pairs for as long as they live. Others drift apart. Then there are also people or things that are better off alone, or they just happen to be so.
Paired Forever are things and people who flourish together as a pair. There is so much dependency on co-existence that if one goes missing the other has no identity, the other becomes nothing.
If we lose one sock from a socks pair, that pair becomes incomplete and useless. We store the remaining sock for some time hoping to rediscover its partner, after which we get rid of this lonesome piece. Same applies to shoes or slippers, even more so.
Likewise, earrings have identity only as a pair. A single piece of earring, howsoever precious, is of no use.
Other than these, there are slightly less dependent type of partners. They too are ‘paired forever‘ created to be together but they merely compliment each other.
A particular knife looks good with a particular fork, and also they are practically useful together as a pair, but we can use this knife without its matching fork.
Salt and pepper containers are another duo that form a part of the set although they can exist by themselves too.
Similarly there are cosmetic things around our homes, like shampoo and conditioner pair, or a nail polish remover that finds purpose in wiping off nail polish. A toothbrush needs a toothpaste, though it need not be a specific toothpaste. Likewise, we have ‘soap’ and an accompanying ‘soap dish’.
Around my house, I noticed decorative pieces that look better as partnered pairs. This partnership does not provide any usage except for aesthetic appeal. Even this elephant pair with with a broken leg looked good once although possibly now it brings bad Feng Shui, as only complete pairs bring love and luck. It’s a memory from my native land so didn’t have a heart to throw it straightaway.
These were non-living pairs that go together. Among living beings, that is birds, animals and humans, we have permanent pairs that not only look good together but also compliment each other in their utility and essential nature.
There are love-birds, those gorgeously bright parrots known for their monogamous love towards their partner. They cling to each other, feed each other and are depressed if made to live without each other. How many human couples can claim to have that kind of monogamous bond?
In Australia, we have beautiful white Sulphur–crested Cockatoos, very loud parrots that are commonly found in Sydney suburbs where they walk around on our grassy yards. They are often seen around together in very lovey dovey moods.
One morning, I saw a group of very noisy pink-necked Cockatoos. They sat on the roadside electric wires for half-an-hour. Some were happily paired, while single birds looked lonesome sitting next to the lovey-dovey pair.
Other than these totally devoted love-struck parrots, most birds do like to move around as partners. How about this rare picture of a gorgeous bird-pair clicked in Cairns, Queensland Australia?
All these above living as well as non-living pairs are ‘made or meant for each other’ type of pairs.
Other than the above ‘Paired Forever’ pairs, we also come across pairs meant to be Paired Apart. At one time they were dependent on each other but with time they learn to do without each other.
However, some of these Paired Apart do continue to work as pairs, as and when required. They are together but almost like separate entities, and like two banks of a river, they co-exist from a set distance.
Many husband-wife or lovers’ pairs are happy like that. Two independent souls not suffocating each other but supporting just right. This casual pairing is great for one’s personal growth as long as the bond does not become so lose and casual that they cease to be a pair. Conscious bonding is necessary for such pairs.
Bond between most siblings is also more or less like that – firstly paired close then paired apart. This sweet partnership evolves and they drift apart over time. As they grow older, their life goals take them away and they leave the nest to settle in their own lives. Moreover, they soon form a pair with their married partner or lover. Priorities change altogether.
But at least during childhood, siblings play together and there is complete and possessive dependency in every way.
In this picture that we clicked in the poorer areas of a unique Himalayan village called Malana, two sisters can be seen moving around in synchronisation. It seems to be a give and take relation as the older sister looks after the little girl, while the younger one provides company. Likewise, in cities too, when parents are off to work, siblings form a close bond in their studying and playing activities.
Thus, we see most people do form a pairing bond at one time or the other, whether it is life-long pairing or a short term bond after which they move away.
And yet, a very less proportion of people are never paired, quite like most others are. Theirs is a solitary life, either self-chosen or destined.
Like, there are children who have no siblings. They form a strong bond with their available parent till they move out to pursue their own life and find their life-partner.
Then there are also people who waited forever for their true love to come along and found none till their last days. There are others who got love but lost their partner – due to circumstances in life or cruel death.
And rarely, there are some saints and ascetics who chose to stay single, without a desire to have any better half. Theirs is a pursuit towards higher goals and quest for truth
Either way, people who have seen loneliness often become stronger because of this. The whole world is their brother or sister, their bonds are not formed on the basis of demanding all-consuming relations. They get love from most unexpected quarters and give where it is needed the most.
Moreover, to be paired forever does not always mean it is true love or a close bond. Likewise, to be bonded and cared for in life, one does not need to form a pair. It is preferred by most but not always so.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~~
For: Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Pairs
Daily Post’s wekly challenge: Partners.
All pictures are self-clicked. Please click on them to view their full-sized version
©Copyright-All rights reserved by alkagirdhar.wordpress.com 2015-2016
Mauved, I mean Moved…
But I know it is ephemeral because it’s vividly beautiful.
When we see such vivid splendor of nature such as in this mauve and purple sunset we find it too exhilarating. One moment we see it and then it changes. We may even feel as if it is unreal. But it should not be so. After all, the color spectrum had always been there in mother nature for ages. It is only recent optical experiments that made us humans understand the phenomena of light’s reflection, diffraction and later ‘refraction’. Newton’s use of prism made us consider air itself as a prism.
These pictures were clicked in Cairns in Queensland, Australia. The exact location is Cairns Esplanade.
Previously I had posted similar vivid pictures of a rare, but again short-lived and ephemeral Indigo sunset in my post Gifted by Nature. Those pictures were taken in Sydney.
Mauve, as a colour itself is unique. Neither purple nor pink nor blue. Being a female I had seen this colour in lipsticks and nail paints but not sunset. Flowers too bless us with such unimaginable hues and sights, even though flowers too are a short-lived beauty.
© All rights reserved by alkagirdhar.wordpress.com 2015
We clicked this picture while bush-walking in Carlingford area of Sydney and captured this insect being trapped and the spider eating it. The overall blurred picture shows the hues of this spider and insect duo quite vividly
Inspired me to write a poem:
She spins a web
But means no harm
Just wants her feast
Her daily dinner.
A gullible fly
Flies into this web
Of sticky threads
With no exit.
For her it’s a prey
But also a reward
Of her clever labor
She’s so happy!!!
It is creepy. And it might seem like merciless killing. In our eyes, this insect is a victim but it’s a reward for this spider for all her smart hard-work. Weird ways of nature!!
By the look of it, this spider seems to be Andrew’s Cross Spider. They construct a large web and are common during summers in the bush and gardens around homes. Living in Australia, we need to be able to identify spiders, esp. the Australian Funnel Web spider which is extremely venomous.
For more information on these spiders: AustralianMuseum
~~~
© Copyright Alka Girdhar
The set of pictures below show how ornate places of worship and spiritualism imbibe symmetry in their structure so as to create harmony, peace and an environment suitable for meditation and prayers.
Religious people know very well that human life is short-lived but these stony structures will exist for a longer time.
(these pictures were cited via google search)
The first picture: Lotus Temple (Bahai religion) at Delhi, India
Next four pictures: Church of Hallgrimurat Reykjavik in Iceland. The church has symmetry in its minimalist expressionist architecture.
Pic source: Architravel
Pic source: Panoranio
The last two pictures: Somnath Temple in Gujrat, India. Very ancient temple with a long history of survival against all odds.
Somnath temple: pic bhaktibhav
See world’s most beautiful symmetrical mosques here
Also, Buddhist temples in Bangkok mentioned at travel.cnn
Of course, there are many other temples, churches, mosques, pagodas renowned for their symmetrical architecture. Places like Golden Temple (Sikhism), Golden Temple (Bangkok) and many other the world over.
***
My first entry Symmetrical Minds for the weekly photo challenge Symmetry showed a picture depicting impact of perfect symmetry at a place of education
My second entry for the challenge Symmetrical Luxury had pictures taken by us at a place of luxury abode.
My previous entry for Symmetry had a picture to depict the impact of perfect symmetry at a place of education: Symmetrical minds
The below picture was taken by us at Hotel Shangri-La, Chengchun, China.
This picture shows a place of luxury abode with perfect symmetry, again adding to the splendor of this regal place.
In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Symmetry.”