Birwatching from my very own Rooftop

The Cock Sparrow comes for a drink...

Those of us who ‘watch’, are delighted to see the number of visitors in our gardens, rooftops, trees, window-sills or balconies.

I mean BIRDS – bird visitors.

NOIDA is blessed by a myriad of kinds of feathered friends. Last summer, some of us birdwatchers gathered on my rooftop to do a bird count, and this is how it went on that single morning:

Time: 5:30 am.

            Physical Support: Tea and biscuits!

            Equipment: a pair of Nikon binoculars, three cameras, a tripod and our very own trusty eyes.

First Visitors: Yellow-footed Green Pigeon and three more of the same feathers for company. Second Visitors: a few Cock Sparrows and a few hens. Third Visitors: A flock of Red-vented Bulbuls. Fourth Visitors: The usual flights of Blue Rock Pigeons. Fifth Visitors: ‘Seven Sisters’ the Jungle Babblers. And then there were Brown-headed Barbets, a Coppersmith, four  Doves, a screechy lot of Alexandrine Parakeets in random flight, a Purple Sunbird and mate, Brown Rock-chats and finally, to top the list, Tailorbirds to remind us of Rudyard Kipling's Darzee.

Wow! So many feathers fluttering in frenzy around my own dwelling in the cool early hours of a summer morning!

Well, NOIDA boasts of its own Okhla Bird Park where I often spot Mr Anand Arya an avid birder on his regular birding walks. Commander K. B. Singh also a keen enthusiast haunts the Yamuna wetlands regularly.

A few years ago, the Delhi government in desperation to save the House Sparrow, declared this mighty miniature as its State Bird. I have happened to attract six pairs last year and they enjoy the bajra seeds I put out for them. They are now permanent visitors at my place. Watering my garden every morning I find delighted little Sunbirds hovering around to catch the droplets from the giant leaves of the creeper which has caught the spray from the garden hose.

Mind you, the list already mentioned is only of the birds we spotted on that single morning. On other days Hoopoes, Shikras, Egrets, Pariah Kites, House Crows, Rock-chats, Koels and many more species drop by. 

She nested above my fan  in the balcony -- stayed all summer...and didn't allow me to use the ceiling fan !

Yellow-footed Green Pigeon caught in flight.

She was planning something in the Ashoka tree.

The Red-vented Bulbul shared this perch with other birds.

She almost ate out of my hand.

He owns the place!

Purple Sunbird shares a common perch.

...takes off after his territorial song... 

Lovey, Dovey Laughing Doves -- Permanent Residents. 

Noisy Jungle Babblers.

A gathering of crows.

Crow guarding its nest, just across the road.

Brown-headed Barbet

Another Barbet.

The Coppersmith Barbet makes his announcements.

Asian Koel-in-waiting.

Precariously perched Brown  Rock-chat.

Another Brown Rock-chat

"Polly put the kettle on, we'll all have tea..."

Shikra with prey.

My Gulmohar in full bloom.

Hari Ho….Gati Meri

Hari Ho….Gati Meri

Muslim Poets in Love of Krishna

A Kathak Solo By Gauri Diwakar

Maurice Ryder Photography

Gauri Diwakar

Tha Kathak Solo by Gauri Diwakar titled “Hari Ho….Gati Meri”, was staged at Shri Ram Centre, New Delhi on Friday, 15^th January, 2016. The choreographer Aditi Mangaldas wrote, “Muslim Poets writing about Krishna does’t invoke in me a sense of greatness of the Hindu religion.  I don’t care to dwell on questions about a minority community looking for patronage or favours from the majority community. To me what is important is that Krishna is a concept that lends itself to vibrant and vivid imagination, inspiring some fantastic poetry, sculpture, art, architecture, dance …the list is endless!! It makes Krishna not a God, man or woman, but a totally inspiring and stimulating imagination. An imagination that can flourish in anyone’s mind, in a Muslim, Hindu, Christian poet’s mind. In a child and an old persons mind, in an Indian and a non Indian mind. I view the whole philosophy or person of Krishna an imagination  that more often is so much greater than knowledge. It spoke through the Muslim poets who wrote with abandon and passion, a courageous act. To me, this talks of breaking barriers, of pulling down walls and of a sense of inclusion and togetherness.”

“Hari Ho.…Gati Meri” is sourced from the lines of poet Sayyad Mubarak Ali Bilgrami. A Muslim by faith his poetry reflected love for Krishna. Bilgrami is not the only one he is part of the living tradition of shared heritage and oneness.

“Hari Ho….Gati Meri” (Let my salvation be in the Supreme) is a statement of “You”.  It is a search for salvation, for truth, and for beauty.

“Is the Melody emerging out of Krishna’s flute, a message beckoning to eternal life, or the fount of ever-increasing knowledge?”

We have become one, yet we remain separate. You blue, me gold! You radiant, me in repose! You dynamic, me graceful! You tender, me passionate! You beauty, me truth! You me, me you. You Krishna, me Radha. Me Radha you Krishna!

Vocals and Harmonium: Samiullah Khan 

Tabla: Yogesh Gangani. 

Pankhawaj: Ashish Gangani Flute: Kiran kumar. Padhant: Mohit Gangani. 

Poets: Maulana Sayyad Fazlul Hasan “Hasrat”, Malik Muhammad Jayasi, Mian Wahid Ali and Sayyad Mubarak Ali Bilgrami.

 Photography: Maurice Ryder

Vocals and Harmonium: Samiullah Khan 

Hari Ho…. Gati Meri. I search you elsewhere, ignorant me! Waiting, waiting and letting life go by, while you reside within the deepest core of me. Let my senses be open to you, within me.

 

I hear the flute,       

   

I see the melody,

 I feel the love!

 

“I am emersed in you, like a drop of water that dissolves in the ocean.

Gauri Diwakar, one of India’s best young talents, her graceful moves, striking facial expression along with her powerful presence on the stage, leaves her audiences spellbound. A kathak dancer par excellence. Awarded: ‘Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puruskar’ by the Sangeet Natak Akademi – India’s National Academy for music, dance and drama. Her skills were further perfected under the tutelage of the renowned Pandit Birju Maharaj and Shri Jai Kishan Maharaj at the National Capital’s Kathak Kendra.

Support for Tribals and Adivasis

Christ Church Noida celebrated 'Tribal and Adivasi Sunday' on the 9th of August, 2015. A beautiful service, informative and enlightening too about Tribals and Adivasis. Highlighted were the following:

To protect and serve Tribals,

To acknowledge those who labour to produce food and other commodities without access to reading and writing,

To salute them as our first teachers, who identified the roots, fruits and meats we eat today,

Who evolved the science of tanning and developed the leather industry,

Potters. They brought clay to life, inaugurating a new chapter in history,

Weavers. Invented the spinning wheel and the looms, and used the cloth like a canvas to weave intricate designs,

Barbers. Our first doctors, who wielded razors to cut hair and to perform surgeries in the pre modern period,

Labour and Religion. In a positive religion, lobour is the best form of prayer…

Inside the Church during the Service.

Greetings and encouragement from the two Bishops present on the occasion.

With another member of the Congregation.

He asked to have a picture with me!

With the Santhali Group from 24 Parganas, W. Bengal. I have worked with, and photographed, the Santhalis, the Nagas and the adivasis of Jharkhand and Central India over the last 40 years. It was during this time that I got to understand these indigenous people.  

Someone took this amazing portrait of me! I received the final items for the ‘outfit’ directly from Dimapur, Nagaland, just 3 days before the event, and so I decided to wear it for the occasion. Presbyter-in-Charge (Priest) had requested members of the Congregation to come dressed in tribal attire for the occasion.  As far back as 1971 Pastor Mark Buntain of the Assembly of God Church, Calcutta, used to ask me to cover Nagaland. Also I got close to the Santhalis in 24 Parganas through the Cathedral Relief Services, St Paul’s Cathedral, Calcutta. Canon Subir Biswas ran the CRS then. What memorable times. In 1980 I started visiting the adivasis living in the Chhota Nagpur Plateau.   I went deep into Adivasi areas: Gumla, Chainpur, Samaypur, Garda etc. etc., and associated with the Urraos, Tiggas, Kujurs and others. I danced to the beat of their nagaras, sang their songs and drank their mahua and hariya. About five years ago I covered the Baigas of Madhya Pradesh. I was lucky to get the opportunity to study their customs and ways. 

The Council Rock

The Landour Clock Tower. Gone.

You wouldn't believe it till I took you to the Council Rock myself. And you wouldn't believe me if I told you where it is. Come, follow me from  where the  Clock Tower once stood. It breaks my heart to think how they pulled the old landmark down; a landmark so dear to all who love Mussoorie. Specially us oldies who watch the hill station's nostalgia slowly fading away.

If this was 1955, you wouldn't be able to keep up with me. I was thirteen years old then. I could run up from Bala Hissar to Basil Hawkins' place in twenty minutes! Basil's place, Dahlia Bank, is a little past Lal Tibbba. Jabbar Khet is a kilometer ahead and that's where I am taking you.

Lal Tibba, Dahlia Bank, Haunted House and  Jabber Khet

But now it’s 2014 and I'm many years older. So, lucky for you, we'll take it easy.

Yes, the old Mussoorie is fading away. Everything is changing or has already changed. The Clock Tower has gone; sorry I am repeating myself, but it breaks my heart -- how thoughtless of them. The old shop where I bought my first box of Guitar watercolor paints -- gone! The army disposal shop below the Mullinga Slope -- gone! Oh yes, I bought an army surplus haversack here, the very same kind Tenzing Norgay took to the top of Mt Everest ! I saw it at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, HMI, Darjeeling. Ruskin Bond's place has changed too! Woodstock and Dahlia Bank have changed! Everything has changed except the Council Rock and the wolves. Yes, everything except the wolves. 

The Haunted House.

Wait a minute please; we'll just pop in at the Haunted House where Wynberg-Allen used to be very long ago. I can't resist a peep through a cracked and broken window pane...

You can get off the Tehri Road now. That's right, we have reached Jabbar Khet.   Look up. See the Tibetan prayer flags fluttering in the breeze? Keep going. A little further. Just a little more...Tired? We are nearly there.

Vault the fallen tree-trunk. Ouch! Stinging nettles eh? Sorry... Here we are!

See it? The Council Rock! 

Unbelievable! The massive rock jutting out over an open space where the wolf pack would gather to hear Akela speak?

Please rest awhile.  It’s been quite a trek for you! I'm ok. I've got a bit of my hill legs back. Excited! I told you so. But wait till the sun sets...and the moon rises! There's a full moon on tonight!

The wind whispers through the oaks and pines; a lullaby at nearly 9,000 feet. Sleep, sleep, the rustling pine needles say...

A huge moon rises over the rim of the rock and silhouettes the craggy form of a great grey wolf who takes a particular stance and commences to howl. A Grand Howl. Below, the pack has collected in an orderly circle. The older wolves mean business as they repeat again and again, " Do your best, keep your promises, obey the law!"

      

A wave of enthusiasm engulfs the gathering. A rhythmic dyb, dyb, dyb like chorus comes from the great leaders answered by a clear dob, dob, dob from the juveniles.

Formalities over, they mingle excitedly recalling old yarns, humming old hunting songs and remembering the one and only man who ran with the pack.

And yes one other. The wolves make an opening for me and I approach the center just below the rock on which the old grey wolf stands presiding over the gathering.

The ceremony lasts a few nostalgic moments and ends with a grand howl! I receive my fifty seventh token of the Glittering Eye.

Long, long ago man and animal had agreed to live in peace and bliss and together share the earth. Then man was the first one to break the Law of the Wild. The animals of India were the first to write the new Law of the Jungle on the wind. The new law spread throughout the globe. Till today all animals keep the law. But the jungle is vanishing along with the animals. The Law of the Jungle will therefore go too and only man-made laws will remain to sustain the earth. But man's laws are not permanent like the jungle laws. Everything will then collapse and come to an end. We ask you O one with the Glittering Eye to save the earth by saving the forests and animals whose very nature it is to keep the law.

Jim suddenly appeared in our midst. He was accompanied by the Chowgarh brothers on either side of him. Others from the Haunted House had joined us too. I could only recognise a few:...

Then came a little child, a man cub, carrying a small grey wolf cub...

There was hope... 

Aerial Perspective, beyond Landour and Jabberkhet.

Babu Jagjivan Ram (1908 - 1986)

Babu Jagjivan Ram (1908 - 1986)

Today is the 103^rd Birth Anniversary of the illustrious Babu Jagjivan Ram. On 5^th April, 1908, a leader was born.

He had a long and distinguished parliamentary career, and among his ministerial appointments he was Minister of Railways, Agriculture, Communication and Labour, Defense Minister the 1971 Indo-Pak War, and, Deputy Prime Minister in 1979.

I officially photographed him at the AICC (All India Congress Committee) meeting in Salt Lake, Calcutta, in 1971.

At this meeting I had the opportunity to photograph Shri Kamlapati Tripathy, Shri Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna,Shri Kumarmangalam, Shri Chandrasekhar, Shri Shankar Dayal Sharma and of course, Smt Indira Gandhi the Prime Minister.

It is common knowledge as to the progress these stalwarts made in their political careers.

I am happy and proud to remember their kindness in posing for these photographs for me.

Shri Kamlapati Tripathi

Shri Hemvati

Nandan Bahuguna

Shri Mohan Kumaramangalam

Shri Chandrasekhar

Shri Shankar Dayal Sharma

Smt Indira Gandhi the Prime Minister