Musings of a Wandering Heart

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

The monsoon patterns ...

Delhi is eagerly awaiting rains but in other parts of India, specially in the Sahyadri (Maharashtra's name for Western Ghats), the monsoon has already arrived. In the jungles of central India, in the Madhya Pradesh, the green movement has already started. And the entire nature has blossomed with joy at the bounty of raindrops.



A beautiful rain flower 



























This photo reminds me of the best of times I spent in the western ghats specially during the rainy season.

A fern peeping from behind a rock




A common site at all hilly terrains in rains is the abundance of ferns. The small shapely leaves, almost following a neat pattern, and almost in a bunch. Possibly, the reason why they are attractive to a camera person too.









What a pattern on a rock ...
And if the plants and trees and shrubs are displaying the grandeur, how can the oldest form - the rocks be behind. Don't know why, but this kind of pattern, one can actually miss in stark summers or foggy winters. But washed clean, these are prominently visible in rains. Suspect this is some volcanic rock formation, or may be, some formation of immense geological importance.



And who can forget this small wonders. A berry, a mohua flower. All with their unique properties, contributing to the lively jungle ecology.

















But before signing away, I must share a man-made pattern, which is an equally essential part of the monsoon treks in Sahyadris. Slurrrrpppp ... ...


Raw mangoes sprinkled with red chili powder

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Yamuna's two faces in Delhi

I feel bad for the 'disconnect' between the Yamuna and Delhi's aam janta more than anything. Delhi has been a capital city of several dynasties and Yamuna's river fronts at various times have played an important role.


However, when Britishers built the 'New Delhi' in the 20th century, they somehow "missed" the connection. So, today, it is only occasionally that common Delhiites reach the Yamuna banks (the real river bank and not the metro station of the same name). 




'Idyllic' at Ramghat, a small ghat upstream of Wazirabad water works.




Ram ghat again ... alive and full of cultural symbols


One of the drains bringing sewage into the Yamuna 24X7
And then, after Wazirabad, the river is dead. Immediately 50 metres downstream of the Wazirabad barrage joins in the first drain emptying sewage into the Yamuna. Official statistics show that Delhi has just only 2 % of the length of Yamuna but contributes to 90 % of its pollution. 




Recently, coinciding with Yamuna Jayanti (Yamuna's birthday) in the last week of March, a group of religio-environmentalist and also Yamuna devotees from Braj went all the way up to Hathni Kund, some 200 kms north of Delhi to find out how and where their beloved 'Yamunaraani' is lost. Braj area, 3,800-odd sq kms, is home to popular pilgrim places such as Vrindavan associated with Lord Krishna. IT attracts 40 lakh pilgrims annually.     


The filthy drain that Yamuna resembles just downstream of the Okhla barrage


The national capital that Delhi is, it has till date gotten away with such criminal pollution. Hundreds and thousands of crores of rupees have literally gone down the drain and even then, this is what all that remains in the name of the Yamuna.