Chilly Days Are Here...

Its that time of the year again...the air gets chillier day by day and soon it would be impossible to walk barefoot on the floor without freezing your bones. Though it didn't get that chilly yet, there are a few noticeable changes....

I was lucky to witness  a  few early winter visitors yesterday morning. Lying in bed and obviously not in the mood to get off it, my attention was pricked by a musical racket right outside my window. Rolling over, I pushed it open and found that it was just a regular flock of jungle babblers speaking in short, tweet-tweet voices to each other, all at once, hopping about the branches of the nearest tree. The tree, having shed all its leaves, was the perfect place for the chirpy family to sit and chatter about the day's chores.

I watched them for a while as they argued among themselves and then I noticed the other visitor, seemingly oblivious to all the noise - a woodpecker, pecking away tak-tak at the bark of the tree. Though surprised by its presence, I realised that the leafless tree was the perfect choice for it to show off its skill - there was plenty of bark to peck at. The babblers seemed to have finally made up their mind as to what to do next and soon took to flight. The woodpecker continued his work but perhaps unsatisfied, took off as well, in search of a better challenge.

The tree was desolate again and I just decided it was finally time to "rise and shine" when it welcomed another winged guest - on closer look, I decided that it was definitely a bee-eater. The short green bird sat on the topmost branch, enjoying the view and restlessly looking about, probably for directions. It didn't stay long though - after hopping about for some time, it flew away, having probably found the route to its destination.

Refreshed after having watched a 10 minute avian show from the window of my 2nd floor hostel room, I got ready for another day of my humdrum life at college.

The Magic of Train Journeys

"Faster than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
And charging along like troops in a battle
All through the meadows the horses and cattle:
All of the sights of the hill and the plain
Fly as thick as driving rain;
And ever again, in the wink of an eye,
Painted stations whistle by"...

- 'From a Railway Carriage' by R.L. Stevenson

I'd never been in a train till I was 11. Now I'm a regular passenger, taking a 24 hour ride to my home in the south every summer and winter for the vacations... and while on board, there's no better pastime than looking out of the window and watching the world pass by...

Temples atop hills, vast open green fields interspersed with canals and streams, rivers and waterfalls, black drongos hanging on the power lines...and when it rains, the clouds hanging low hiding the hilltops..these are regular sights I look out for on every trip. But the things I love watching most are - ponds...small ones under the shade of trees or large ones between fields..and full of white and pink lotuses; rivers...making leaps over rocky terrain or coursing along sandy banks...not to miss the dhobis busy at work on a few jutting rocks...

Forests...Jharkhand is full of them, or atleast the rail route I come by is...sunshine falling through the canopy of leaves...the occasional stream and small patches of fields with one or two huts close by; kids in villages playing football...and I never miss the River Damodar...there's no mistaking it for any other river - it's the only one that's got more rocks than water and is about an hour away from Dhanbad.

As diverse as the landscapes outside, are the fellow travellers themselves - the channa wallah with an assortment of spicy stuff...the little kid who sweeps the floor of the compartment hoping for a few coins in return for his service...the beggar with a beautiful voice but no eyes to see,  singing a song of yore...a huge family with noisy children and many aunts making a long journey to see the rest of the family in another part of the country...there was even a woman selling eggs once - of course, nobody was buying them but it was interesting to watch her move around with a big basket full of eggs even as a few cracked, spilling the yolk.

All these..and more sights..await me on my next journey home...and I'm so eagerly looking forward to it!!!