Lonely yet not alone

Lonely yet not alone
Originally uploaded by Ram Manohar Vikas.

I am an avid birdwatcher. Recently, I met an Anthropologist who is also an ornithologist. He initiated me to know standard names, genus and species. To be honest , I got into technicalities to impress him rather than by my own preference. I hardly remember name of my friends (it is really ackward but cannot help) , remembering names of birds is tougher. I like ot remember them by their sound and color.

This bird is really fascinating. It is called Small Cormorant (source http://www.kolkatabirds.com/birdsind.htm ). All day long it stays either on pipes of the cooling system or on walls of the cooling tank. Four years back when I came to this place I fell in love with this bird. And trust me, one of the most fascinating passtimes of this place is to watch this bird diving into the water to catch frog from the third floor of the library. The beauty of the event multiplies as one sits on a chair by side of the window that faces cooling tank, winter time, pleasant sun gently caressing cold cheeks , aerosols of water sprayed by fountains swaying in the air and intermittently creating rainbows, sweet aroma of honey coming from the honeycomb hanging overhead on the other side of fixed window, buzzing of bees and this lazy looking bird diving into the water with a sense of urgency to catch frogs.

Every year I find this bird alone. Not for once I have seen it paired. The only time it pairs is in the evening when sun is setting down and water is still. The water is dirty but the reflection of this bird is its better half. This gives an strange illusion that lonliness is different from being alone.

State of happiness and bliss

Manys years back when I was in job, I used to desire of buying a nice camera. Thanks to the abysmally low salary I could not buy one. Each year I used to make plans but then at the end of the month I used to left with no disposable income and the camera plan was the one to get disposed off.

Four years back I resigned my job and started doing what I liked. No reporting to a nincompoop, no claustrophobic cubicles, no race against wrist watch. Life is best when you are the only one to control it. Life is too precious to be given to any individual or an institution for control and monitoring. Freedom is priceless.

Last week I purchased one camera. The first shot I took was of my son named Pulak. The word Pulak means state of joy, happiness, bliss. Trust me, the boy has all these and many more. The result is on the blog. By looking at the photograph I felt as if I am a very good photographer. However, beauty is not in the mega pixels but in the state of mind. The picture depicts happiness and joy both of the photographer and the phographed. The beauty is in the realisation and recognition.