Sight is a faculty; seeing an art.

http://gee-ja.fotopages.com/?&page=6

Nature springs surprises in myriad ways and mostly these delight the heart and refresh the mind. My last rendezvous with the twin concretes had left me feeling lonely and banished the erstwhile complacency i had.

And maybe it will sound incredible and like i'm making it up... spinning a drama out of nothing. But this is no such story. This is the truth and nothing but the whole truth. About personal experiences and just like always i'd love to share this too.

Sometimes certain things looks beautiful instantaneously. Other times things start looking appealing on repetitive sightings. i have had this feeling when at first sight a particular thing or person i am detached and least bit inclined but then regular encounters instills attachments  to such an extent that i chide myself at missing all that beauty before and not having admired or appreciated  in the first instance. How easy it is to overlook the endearing aspects and search instead for projections of your own falsified wants.

Let me simplify this thought by asking a question. Has it ever happened to you when on first sight you have rejected a particular color?  But later found the same color attractive when you saw it again and again ?

 "Look around, pause and linger and then you will find beauty in everything you see"  i remember the words i had read somewhere. Even the most repulsive to you will definitely have something which you might be lacking in and it could be anything physical...eyes, hands, hair or even some attribute that deserves credit and much applause. Patience, humility, or a particular skill that one can never imagine of having... so it could be anything. i don't know if this happens with others but generally we accept and reject on impulse. Mostly becoming judgmental even before knowing anything or anyone properly. 

 i am trying to improve upon that and i sincerely feel that nature is providing me with enough support by bestowing all the valuable lessons in it's humbly effective way.

Apart from the other two cases of instant attraction and  attraction on repetition, rarely there could be instances when behind the most ordinary you find something extraordinary. Rather this experience tells me that everything is special and nothing actually is ordinary. Maybe things are common but everything is special just like i am. As a species i am as common as a crow but also very special and there is none like me.

Thus the four days i spent in that part of the city in that particular township which had beautiful houses and well manicured lawns and posh exteriors i never missed a single day to take time out of my itinerary and indulge in solitary walks. Even if it meant getting up early at the crack of dawn when the body is stubborn to lift itself from the comfortable bed and fight the deep restful slumber.

And it was on one such dawn when nature whispered the most amazing discourse which i'm so eagerly yapping about. 

i passed the twin concretes and looked at them again. i was still in my night pajamas and was just too conscious to feel anything but the morning freshness as i glanced alternating my sights to the twin houses, other houses, the trees, the blossoms and the trendily dressed morning walkers who wiz passed me .

Something caught my attention, a wisp of green, magenta fluttering out from one of the parallel walls of the concrete twins. The arrow in the picture should be able to guide as to precisely from where what fluttered in the morning breeze and caught the attention of my wandering eye.

The nameless of the twins had a man sitting at what i presume should be the entrance to the living room of the house. i went a little closer to the gate and sought his permission to come inside the house so that i could have a better look at what had caught my attention. The man would have nodded but since his face was in the dark all i could make out was his pleasant voice which said, '' Haan jee jaroor aa jayeye aur acchi tarah dekh lijiye." ( Hindi language that oozed respect for a stranger and said, "Yes please do come inside, and feel comfortable as you see to your heart's content.")

What i saw was something i had never seen before. For sometime i stood stunned, speechless in admiration and awe. Nature had not only surprised me pleasantly but also aroused a certain amount of pride which is associated with discovery. i felt like a naturalist who has stumbled upon something unique. i was bombarded with a flood of emotions and thoughts and this time i felt my eyes watering with joy unlimited. 

Stuck on the white concrete was the prettiest grass that i had ever seen. Grass! that's what i called it then.

          NO, ordinary grass this but a pretty flowering one. 

i was lost in oblivion, as i soaked in the beauty and was happy dwelling in this wonderland where something as common as grass, hidden from common sight looked towards the walls of the nameless house extending a wondrous wreath/ bouquet of happiness and friendship. i am sure that along with the silent happy wall the occupants of that house would be receiving pleasure and warmth too whether wittingly or unwittingly.

Jolted rudely out of my reverie, i sensed the vibrating mobile ringing in my clutched palm and for yet another time i wished i was mobile less.  i peered into the screen to see my husband calling me. i attended his call and pleaded him to come and share the joy with me.

i was desperete to share the hidden beauty with apparently grass like foliage and white veined with purple/magenta-pink flower having erect five lobed center which in itself looked like a minute flower in the middle of another.

During the day as i went on with my affairs of sightseeing the beauty lingered in my minds eye and i also remembered what William Wordsworth had once said upon sighting  a host of Daffodils.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
and twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
in such a jocund company:
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
what wealth the show to me had brought:

 For oft, when on my couch I lie
 In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

The discourse also rang inside me. Maybe some times you don't have to wander over hills, valleys or lakes for nature to delight you. Beauty that invigorates and rejoices is around us if only we care. Also you don't need numbers in plenty to give you bliss in solitude. For even when you are not in vacant or in pensive mood some visions do give you pleasure nevertheless. Because a thing of beauty is joy forever. Even a single is enough to give you delight every time you have flashes of that. Definitely it could be something that is not discernible at first but nature has bestowed its bounty among all and sundry and therefore everything and everyone is special and unique." To look at a thing is very different from seeing it." (Oscar Wilde)


i guess i understand somewhat now what it means when it is said, '' Sight is a faculty; seeing an art. "http://www.todayinsci.com/M/Marsh_George/MarshGeorge-Quotations.htm

My Botanica listing A-Z of 10,000 species gave me no clue about this grass maybe because it enlists 10,000 and not all. But an intensive search  for approximately five days although not full days but intermittently typing colors, foliage, type on the internet did provide me with sufficient identification. 

Rosy Milkweed Vine

Later i spoke to my one and only naturalist friend and sent him the picture through mail and he confirmed that the grass i had sighted was not actually a grass but a vine/ creeper known as Rosy Milkweed Vine. He also congratulated me for my sighting because he said that he has not seen it ever and was seeing it for the first time in my picture. Needless to say then i was on cloud nine...and remained so for the rest of the few days.

For the rest of the days through my lows and highs the vision lingered with me as a "jocund company" not only to bring me cheer and pride but more to remind me what they call in photography jargon as using the OUTDOOR EYE. " You already have certain moments when you use your Outdoor Eyes...you just have to learn how to use your Outdoor Eyes all the time." Although this was voiced as an important diktat for On-The-Go ie OTG  photography http://www.outdooreyes.com/photo7a.php3 yet the essence of this can be applied to the way we see things generally.
Mostly we agree and are okay with all our tunnel visions. It is not surprising then we miss out on the most amazing opportunities,"To see a world in a grain of sand / And a heaven in a wild flower, / Hold infinity in the palm of your hand / And eternity in an hour." (William Blake)

Linear Lance like leaves

Botanical name: Oxystelma esculentum    Family: Asclepiadaceae (Milkweed family)

10-15 cm flowers


In order to bring all together i must say that i am deeply in reverence to that energy out there, that magnetism, that force which made me find beauty where i least expected it to be...in the gaps.
Some worship the energy and call it God. Even i do but i must say there are times i start having doubts.
Then something in nature brings me around and i see the essence of God in nature. The simplest things have the most profound beauty.


i want to make some necessary changes in myself and i have realized that in order to bring these changes i have to learn to accept people as they are. If and when i find gaps i have to remind myself that it is in the gaps that sometimes beauty is found. 
"Compassion is a better vehicle for change than judgment."
i wish this today not only for me but for all who like me want this perception to remain constant rather than it being a transient one like always.


i am also glad that i took a decision long time back when i decided to slow down, forgive myself , count the blessings and enjoy each moment of my new found profession.

Okay time for me to stop the Ml ( moral lecture) and remember that it is Saturday and the color for Saturday is Purple or Black. Since i have already delivered purple maybe i'll go for Black this time.


Black Calla Lilies

http://onlineflowersguide.com/black-flowers/black-calla-lily.html

"Black calla lilies are head-turning flowers. Mysterious and elegant, they are a real fantasy. Although not true black in color, the maroon and deep purple shades are very similar to the pure black. Black calla lilies are rarer than the traditional white calla lilies and maybe this is why they are so searched for by gardeners and so appreciated by flower lovers."


My sincere thanks to Karthik of http://www.wildwanderer.com/journal/  and http://www.flowersofindia.in/catalog/vine.html .  Had it not been for my friend and this internet site i would still be calling the Rosy Milkweed vine/ creeper that also has another variety with plain white flowers as, "just a flowering grass".

Image courtesy:http://www.flowersofindia.in/catalog/vine.html

              http://gee-ja.fotopages.com/?&page=6  

Thank You All But Could You Also Help Me In This?

i asked the driver to raise the voice of the radio because i had caught the voice and was wanting to listen to it like it resounded with a home theater effect inside the all closed car. It was raining heavily outside and the hissing, grating sound of the wiper was acting the spoiler. i listened first rapt and continued listening to it in my head even when the voice ended and another melodious voice belted out another popular Urdu poetry by the same person whose voice i was hearing. The other melodious singer faded into the background.
This is what i heard.

Although i wish i had a better video to share. One that had the actual person reciting. His voice flooding me with a barrage of emotions first. Then my attempting to stroke those goose pimples which appear suddenly even when it is  warm and sultry.
In any case it is not because of any chill that i feel rather with what all i feel for this person whom i always address as Gulzar Saheb just like so many others do. Somehow just Gulzar sounds not only rude but also very disrespectful.
i wish i had a word or words to describe that voice. About the gentleman himself i have many.

There are times when i also wish for a long but genuine list of followers from whom there could be a mutual exchange of ideas, thoughts, questions asked first and then answered honestly.
It was not the general idea when i started blogging. In fact i least understood what followers are supposed to do or be.
Then someone came to my blog and becomes my FIRST follower.
Afterwards there is one whose questions are answered by all including me sometimes with a lot of enthusiasm and sincerity.

That first follower has a special place in my mind, heart because he ( i know that it's a he thanks to his identity) encouraged a nonentity like me when he is too good in his writing. i have enjoyed his wit, his humor, his intellectual thoughts on issues and also his passing random thoughts. Sometimes when i have words i convey my thoughts through comments, other times i appreciate but mostly read his blogs when and if he posts a new one. His last post leaves me in the lurch because it shows an interesting teaser of a picture and the title of the post but the moment i click on the post i get this instead of the post," Sry the blog you are looking for does not exist...". There are a list of options and although i've tried the options i am not able to see this particular which is his latest. Maybe i'll go to his last post and leave him a message.

It was when he presented me a badge which germinated another urge.
Although the badge had certain rules i found it extremely difficult to follow the rules not only because i hadn't read many blogs but also because i was not too comfortable at being discriminatory or biased in my opinion. Furthermore i hadn't read many and was myself a follower of just a few of which some were my own friends whom i knew.
i was happy with just being an impartial audience. Actually i still am so far as blogs are concerned.
So the urge was to know how he looks like in person. i actually checked him out on Facebook and found an image that matched this Scientist working on his researches abroad. i could be wrong but some intuition tells me that the black and white thoughtful profile (actually a profile shot) of a bespectacled person is him.
That urge withered as soon as it had germinated as i wondered how many are checking me out.

Then there is this blogger whose posts i eagerly await and a couple of his posts i have even shared on Facebook. He makes me laugh and on those two instances i felt like sharing the laughter.
His being an atheist does not put me off the least bit because i am not only entertained but enlightened with his logical reasonings. i understand his silence on my posts which have a religious bend. But enjoy his infrequent comments on others in which sometimes he mocks and other times, appreciates. His best ones are when he advises without getting the real essence of what i'm trying to say.
It generally happens with my posts which are often like the movie 'Inception' and i don't blame him. i look forward to his words with added fervor because then i like improving upon myself  knowing very well that there's someone out there who is trying to be helpful with his, " Hello Shivani... I am listening..."

Now i'm wondering if this post too may turn out to be the one having layers within layers. Although frankly speaking there are only two layers to this which have been summed up in the title of the post.

There also are a few poets whom i follow because these poets leave me astounded. Their poetry easy to feel, understand and relate to.  i have a clearer vision of some beautifully genuine people who reaffirm my faith in being good naturally no matter how or what the world sees you to be.
i lack the skill for composing anything lyrical and that probably could be one of the reasons i have deep respect and admiration for poets whose words have often substantiated like other forms of writing that, ''Pen is mightier than the sword.''
i must confess though that there have been some where i am not able to go deep enough and on such occasions i am glad i feel free to ask for the latent/ suggestive meaning.

There is one particular blogger who entered my life because of his delightful posts on Nature. Flowering trees, Birds, Insects and through his blogs i became more sensitive towards the creatures great and small, beautiful and repulsive, meek and intimidating. It was easy to approach this blogger personally as he had provided an email address with his post. Then started this silsila (schemeof things, order) also known as sought out friendship. First a, 'Thank You' because his post helped me know the name of a beautiful flowering avenue tree, then some chats on the computer, later exchanging of phone numbers and phone calls and now we are friends. We haven't met as yet but i am sure i will meet this Naturalist who provides me with cool companionship, reciprocates my good wishes, answers most of my queries and corrects my wrong identification without any fuss or clamor for credits.
For him my words are not my own but a borrowed one again and it sounds every bit like the good wishes for my known and much- desired- by- me- friends.
Sure i'm under some influence and this influence prompts me towards words that have the same flavor...if not the exact.
"Dur Rhkar Bhi Hamse Vasta Rakhna,
Mulakaat Na Sahi Pr Bato Ka Silsila Rakhna.
Chu Lo Asma Ko Tum, Ye Meri Tammanah,
Pr Hm Tk Vapasi Ka Rasta Rakna."

i am happy today because i have just met another like him and his posts on nature and it's creations reverberate mine. In fact all of the few posts that i have visited makes me dump everything and go through his posts one by one. A well deserved 200- plus- followers- blogger whose posts elicit more than 50 comments.
It may sound false but i don't care how it sounds but i feel honored and humbled when he dropped at my post and exchanged notes. i hope this is the start of another satisfying and enriching SILSILA. Can't help having such expectations. His posts are like that.
Plus he is not like the usual one liner or two words commentor and i really like that sharing of thoughts in a manner which says," I am with you, heard what you just said and this is what i feel..."
And in addition to my gratitude i have the same good wish but i hope the essence of my good wishes are not lost in translation.
Though Distances Let Us Maintain That Relationship
No Meeting But Let's Talk To Each Other
Wish You Touch The Skies, This Is My Deep Desire
But Keep Intact That Path/Road That Leads You Back To Me.


Recently just a few days back i met another sensitive blogger on whom i have pinned my hopes on being a frequent visitor. She too feels honest and sensitive and i look forward to her honest reflections. And through her i have hopes on another.

My Blogdost...i prefer to call him that always. Just like my FIRST he too holds a special place in my heart and mind. We've been loyal to each other since the time i started. His absence makes me miss him to the degree/intensity with which i miss Chennai. And this is what i did.
Scared and bullied with my negative thoughts i approached his son who is also a keen and committed Technical blogger, just to find out if he was okay health wise and otherwise.
i then got a prompt reply which gave me so much relief. God Bless the young aspiring Engineer and may he find success in all his endeavors.
The words of a kind and good son were very soon followed by uplifting- my- spirits- hello from my Blogdost himself through which he apprised me of his hectic schedule, intense backpack travelling and some loose ends that kept him busy so far as his health was concerned.
i wish him good stead and am eager for those words that will arrive with a bang for he sure will want to share so much.
i know the reason for this joy that i feel.
He heard my ''Dur Rhkar Bhi...."

i feel happy but i am still bullied by thoughts for this one too who gave me my second badge. As anyone can see i own two most precious to me badges. Not that i hanker for badges but it feels nice when someone calls you a ' Beautiful' or a 'Versatile' blogger. Once again i have not been honest with the badge because of my own failings to single out some and leave the rest. i am not being goody goody here but i find all the bloggers i follow as beautiful and versatile.
i long to see this fellow blogger whose last post informed me and others of his packing and moving from the foreign land and returning to his roots, India and enjoying every morsel of the food of his land that he missed all those years when he was abroad. He sounded as happy as the kid who is desperate for that last bell to ring in school. The one which announces dismissal and the boisterous, fun ride/ walk back home.
i wish and hope he is not regretting his decision. i already know of some who are.
Silently i hope and pray that he is doing good. Mostly i look for that pleasant surprise which announces his arrival and much awaited by me ( probably others too) comeback.

Similarly i wish good health to another whom i can't see after her last post through which i gather that she's coping with a bad bout of lower back problem. Her post was enlightening always and i hope she is able to peel the onion again. Soon...

Yet another blogger whom i met at a bloggers meet in Chennai graced me with her presence just the very next day when i did a post on the bloggers meet.
It is because of her blogs that i seem to be getting that longing. Not always but sometimes when i have questions or when i want to know more.
Unlike me she is very popular. A busy lady who blogs frequently.
Her blogs are short, interesting, complimented and supplemented wonderfully by the images, poetry, paintings, posters of sayings, she uses. Creative in her thoughts and portrayal, her blogs end with a question eliciting answers and i see that she get's her due quite handsomely.
It is by habitually reading her blog that i am getting this longing too now.
It really would feel great to know from others about what you would want to know than just be groping in the dark.


But before i go to my question i have to linger, sense and absorb the affection and be grateful to my friends and my kith and kin who despite their hectic schedule find the inclination and the time to go through my posts.
They should know better that had it not been for them i would not have taken this journey of self discovery.
They knew before anybody that i should stop tossing, turning, writhing and withering in my own restlessness and made time for myself.

Now to the question, i am having right now.
It is about people...their looks...their voices.

i know what they mean or what it means to be Elegant, Dignified or even Sexy but am clueless about these. Debonair, Suave, Svelte. i know there would be more of such genres but at the moment if i could distinguish between these it would suffice.

About voices i am still worse and use words quite often without really understanding the distinctions.
Rich, throaty and husky i understand and use them correctly in my explanations but Velvety, Mellifluous, Honeyed, Silvery, Smooth, Golden...and there are many others.
It's rather strange that i have no qualms nor queries about these- Shaky; Rough; Hoarse; Husky; Piercing; Rumbling; Quavering; Deep; Growling; Gravelly; Thunderous...
Thus anything or everything of the male voice that sounds good to me is DEEP or just Beautiful.


Some voice that has appealed and allured me greatly to the extent of being bewitched. Why is it that i find lacking in my comprehension to express in words that which should correctly also convey my feelings.
It could be that like other things i am not richly endowed with skills in demonstrative adjectives.
Or it could be that demonstrative adjectives that distinguish might differ from person to person.
Maybe for the time being i can console myself with some sensible reasoning.
Just like it's for the connoisseurs to make out the distinct quality of wines, perfumes, tea, sounds...and the rest.  i am no such. Therefore i should just keep loving the voice and rest in peace.

But the fact of the matter is, i can not. i am looking for words.

i am cajoled by my own explanations that it's okay if i can't distinguish between debonair, suave and svelte and maybe call all as a general ' Beautiful' if i find them attractive enough but i can't seem to quell that restlessness every time i address the voice to be beautiful. Somehow that particular word does not satisfy me. To me it sounds not only hopelessly cliched but also like an understatement.

And i wish i could get some inputs to describe this voice that brings goose pimples of a wanting kind every time i hear it. The goose pimples could be because of the extremely thought provoking and touching poetry but the voice that you want to run back to always, listening catching every pause even, what about that voice?
-Is it velvety or is it smooth?
- Is it throaty or deep?
-Is it..???. Oh dear me! i don't have even have enough words for posing the questions even.
 How do i describe that voice which is much more than just deep, rich, throaty, velvety or smooth?
Or am i using the wrong words here?

http://www.scena.org/lsm/sm4-1/sm4-1VoiceDoc_en.htm

i wish my fellow bloggers could oblige me with theirs as to how would they would describe this voice too which recites the poetry of Gulzar Saheb.
And i'm telling myself this lest my requests are not heard.
Some feelings might not have the exact words...
i remind myself not to feel disappointed if i don't get anything.

In a way i feel relieved too that i have limited followers.
i am content with what i have said...and asked...
Or this post too would have stretched like always...
And i am at peace that i made no such attempts to make it any less.
However i sincerely hope i have not missed out anyone in acknowledging and asking.
It was not intentional.



How can i forget that it's a Sunday. Just a few minutes back the earth shook for quite a while. We ran downstairs and as i stood seeing the animated faces of people asking me about the shaking i sensed some dread mixed with that anxiety of unfinished jobs. Jobs not as jobs per se but something that would give me satisfaction and make me feel just a little more easy. So of the many unfinished jobs this also was one and i cursed myself for not thanking my fellow bloggers, friends, relatives on the completion of my hundredth post. Lot many do that. Thanking their fellow bloggers on the completion of their century. i cajoled myself once again. " Never mind it's there...that gratefulness... and if everything turns okay then i shall go back to my computer and do it..right NOW."
Thus this...along with my prayers for those who perhaps would not be as fortunate as me. The shakes which stopped after sometime informed me and the others that the epicenter was somewhere...
Soon on TV we shall all know...
Call it a co-incidence but Red apart from other things also stands for AWAKENING.
                                                                  Color for Sunday-Red

                                                                       

                                                                                                       Red Amaryllis

                                                                              http://yaymicro.com/stock-image/red-amaryllis/357688