6:00 am, there is light outside; a quiet start to a cloudy morning in June, looks like it may rain but it often does not, the clouds disperse after the morning assembly. You can wake up to bird songs in Bangalore, but I never imagined I would see the avian beings responsible for the chripings,…
Tag: Nature
Rainy day at the Kasavanahalli lake โ๏ธโ๏ธ
While the season remains the same, the rotation of months has seen a drastic change in the weather. Beginning from the last day of April and progressing into May, the evenings are marked by strong winds followed by lightning, thunder and heavy rain in Bangalore. The wind is so overbearing that the rain is forced…
POTD: May flowerโค๏ธ
More popularly called the Gulmohur (Delonix regia), native to Madagascar – this tree has so many names – Flame tree, Firetree, Flamboyant, Royal poinciana – all thanks to the picturesque spreading canopy of reddish orange flowers. Gulmohur is also known as the May flower as it’s peak flowering season is May. The tree is currently…
POTD: Queen’s Flower ๐๐
The Queen’s flower also called the Queen’s Crape Myrtle also has another name, Pride of India. Till date I was able to get only a distant view of this flower, the colourful inflorescence stands upright like a bright crown on top of the branches. The flowers were violet mixed with lilac colour ๐ Tree tales:…
Tree tales: Figs in season ๐ฟ๐ณ (April series Part ๐ of ๐ )
There is a Muslim cemetery adjacent to the boundary wall of our apartment complex. Burial grounds are considered as sacred spaces, but if they are not situated next to the place of worship it’s upkeep usually gets neglected and as in all unguarded plots, weeds and waste tend to accumulate. People do visit the tombs;…
Tree tales: An April bouquet from Bangalore๐๐ณ(April series Part ๐ of ๐ )
The lovely tabebuia waves that engulfed Bangalore in March, showering the city streets, parks and gardens with pink and yellow trumpet shaped flowers have ebbed; after the summer rains, the bare tabebuia trees are now flush with the tender green leaves. And for April, the city is adorning a new coat of colours weaved from…
Tree tales: Arjun, Ashok & Swietenia๐๐ณ(April series Part ๐ of ๐ )
All three a family !? No chance ๐. But April is a good time to identify these three trees. Starting with Swietenia macrophylla, which is the scientific name for the large leaved mahogany also called the Honduras mahogany. I have walked past this tree many times not knowing what it was. We have two of…
Tree tales: Drops of Gold ๐๐ณ (April series Part ๐ of ๐ )
The Indian laburnum also called Amaltas (Cassia fistula) is a quintessential symbol of the Indian summer. Known as the Vishu Konna poov in Kerala; beginning from the month of March, when you land at the Kochi airport, you are greeted by hanging clusters these beautiful yellow flowers. And thereafter as you drive along, on the…
Tree tales: The sacred peepal tree (April series Part ๐ of ๐ )
It’s difficult to miss the Peepal tree in the greenscape๐ around the Kasavanahalli lake, Bangalore. Watch out for the solitary red crown in the row of green !! The tender and colourful peepal leaves have profused quickly covering the once bare branches. They are almost on the verge of turning fully green. The full red…
POTD: Colours of the Allamanda ๐
Old woody vine, new leaves, generous buds and large flowers in an array of colours ! The woody climber had gone into hibernation during the last four months and now it’s blooming again prodded on by the summer’s heat and rain. The last time, I saw only one colour of the Allamanda๐POTD: Allamanda ๐ฎ, a…
Tree tales: Pretty in pink ๐๐ณ (April series Part ๐ of ๐ )
Strong wind๐จ, sheets of lightning and distant rumblings of thunder with sudden downpours of slanting rains๐ง mark the evenings now in Bangalore city; leaving cool crisp air for the night and waking up to fresh clear mornings. And speaking of mornings, who has the prettiest leaves in the sky ? Well there are many contenders…
Around the neighbourhood ๐ผ
Haralur, a relatively new locality framed by numerous apartment complexes, housing residents who either work at the IT Parks and SEZ on the Outer Ring Road or have kids who study at the international and CBSE schools along the Sarjapur road or maybe conveniently both. Haralur also ranks among the top five locations in the…
POTD: Spectacular Arali ๐๐ธ
Today morning’s paper had a forecast on the monsoon by a private weather forecaster Skymet “Normal South-West monsoon this year” the headlines read; “But Rajasthan, Gujarat, some N-E states. Karnataka and Kerala to get scanty rains”; is this the normal !? “Fortunately, key agricultural states such as Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and rain-fed areas…
Tree tales: Summer blooms โ๏ธ๐ณ (April series Part ๐ of ๐ )
We are deep into another sweltering summer in Bangalore; while news from hometown in Kerala has talk of rains, Mango showers๐ง, it did rain heavily on one evening in Bangalore, on 1st April, but that was it. My kitchen window faces east; this perfect vastu feature is a big bonus for our rented home. And…
Tree tales: Summer blooms โ๏ธ๐ณ (April series Part ๐ of ๐ )
Opening on a Friday, April has been an eventful month from the very first day and the days are just rushing past. To begin with it’s a month of festivals; 2 April was celebrated as Ugadi (new year) in Bangalore and festival celebrations always involve showcasing the very best of nature’s abundance in season. On…
Tree tales๐ณalong the Kasavanahalli lake trail๐ถ๐ปโโ๏ธโฐBangalore ๐(March series Part ๐ of ๐)
….๐ถ๐ปโโ๏ธWe are now walking along the eastern side of the Kasavanahalli lake and after the eucalyptus grove, you come across a fork along walking trail. One road continues as the original trail around the lake’s circumference, it’s a longer stretch back to our point of origination (western entrance) compared to the second road which cuts…
A trail among the trees โฐ๐ณ๐ถ๐ปโโ๏ธat the Kasavanahalli lake, Bangalore (March series Part ๐ of ๐)
Trees are easily identified by their flowers and March is blessed to be a flowering season for many plant species. And now, crossing the culvert and walking across to the opposite bank of the Kasavanahalli lake, you first see the striking Yellow Bells (Tecoma stans), also called the Yellow Elder. They are shrubs planted along…
Morning at the Kasavanahalli Lake, Bangalore ๐ณ๐ค (March series Part ๐of ๐)
Bestowed with a walking trail of 2.2 kms around it, the Kasavanahalli lake periphery is bustling with people in the mornings. The water of the lake however remains oblivious to all the hustle and haste going on around it and so on some mornings the greenish grey water remains still, happy to merely reflect the…
Tabebuia time in Bangalore ๐ธ๐ธ
Itโs Tulip time in Netherlands, Cherry Blossom in Japan and Tabebuia in Bangalore ๐ฎ๐ฎ “From the first weeks of January when the silk cottons and the tecomas and jacarandas start putting out their flowers, Bangalore can count on eight to nine months of spectacular flowers as each species does its bit, until the season ends with a…
Bangalore’s Jacaranda ๐ช
This beautiful flowering tree is quintessential to Bangalore’s nostalgic spring and summer months. The delicate bell shaped flower blooming in clusters and framed against the blue sky is an enchanting sight. Last year ๐ POTD: Jacaranda ๐ Learning a little about it’s history, the tree was introduced in India during the British Raj from Brazil;…
Miles and smiles 
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