Tomichan Matheikal's blog

Gardening is gaining a renewed interest in my heart. A few weeks back, I bought some new flower pots, potting mixture, and some saplings. Five of the saplings were of Pinwheel Flower or what we call here in Kerala Nandiarvattom . Here is a picture of one of the Nandiarvattoms I planted.  It’s growing pretty well. I would look at their small little green leaves and the pinwheel white flowers every morning and evening with a lot of fondness. Good going, I would tell them patting their gentle leaves. Some plants are sweeter than flowers. Nandiarvattoms belong to that category. The other day, when I returned from school, I found one of my beloved Nandiarvattoms in this shape.  It nearly broke my heart. What a transformation in a single day! I looked at the others. They were all safe. I did a detailed investigation and discovered the villain. A caterpillar. A green crawling worm with big eyes and obese body. Ah, you grew fat on the leaves of my Nandiarvattom without leaving ...

The temperature is soaring in Delhi.  It's less than a month since we, Delhiites, cleaned our woolens and shoved them into the remote parts of the almirah and pulled out the cotton linen for the summer.  The temperature rises at the rate of one degree Celsius per day.  The very air outside scorches your skin. It was not surprising to see honey bees trying to suck water at the taps outside the school's dining hall this morning.  The bees were not worried about the boys coming to wash their hands.  They flew away letting the boys wash and came back as soon as the boys were away. I became curious about the honey bees' requirement of water. A simple Google search gave me the following information: [courtesy:  http://www.glenn-apiaries.com/bee_photos_10.html ] Honey bees collect four substances, nectar to turn into honey for their food source, pollen as a protein source to rear the baby bees, propolis to seal crevices and coat the inside of the hive...

Nature can look bizarre sometimes. It may indeed be bizarre. Death and life coexist at times. Life longs to thrive, not just survive. Even in the hollow of a tree trunk life can be born and may thrive too. When there's no nature left the wild bees may come in hordes and besiege the concrete jungle with its synthetic light.  PS. All three photos were taken today, a very hazy day in Delhi.        I'm longing for sunshine.

This is a picture taken from one of the rear windows of my residence.  The recent showers in Delhi have given a fillip to the weeds, shrubs and trees so much so that the place which normally looks like a semi-desert has begun to look like a quasi-jungle.  And I love it just for that.  Isn't it a blessing to live in such proximity to nature? We are also blessed with a fair share of animals and birds. The campus can boast of a wide variety of birds which keep singing, cooing and whistling. Peacocks and their hens used to be regular visitors.  In the last couple of years, however, monkeys have all but displaced most of the animals.  They go around stealing pigeons' eggs and even capturing a 'sitting' pigeon. They can sit majestically like kings on the dishes of our TV connections.  They may sometimes bite into the cables and throw us off our simple 'channel' delights.  They seem to have driven out the peacocks and their hens altogether...

Wish you a Happy New Year. May the New Year bring you joy prosperity and a lot of colours If you feel there are far too many colours already, let the New Year bring a new kind of colours.

Am I behind the bars? Or is it Nature that is under siege?

When man's creativity blends with nature's beauty, Harmony is born.     [For Harmony 1, please see below]

When man's creativity blends with nature's beauty, Harmony is born.

Nature is the finest symphony if we care to listen with our eyes...

The other side is always greener.