The I-Day celebrations

August 15 - Our Independence Day!!

My mom, sister, Gopal and I - woke up early in the morning around 5:30 AM and got ready by 8:30 AM, to go to the Manekshaw Parade Ground in Bangalore. When we reached the MG Road, we saw a long queue in front of the Parade Ground. We got ourselves attached to the queue. Luckily, we have read the newspaper this morning regarding the Parade Ground security talks. Mobile phone, hand bags, electronic gadgets, cameras are not allowed. Hence, we had gone without those specified items. It took nearly 45 minutes to reach the Parade Ground entrance. There was tight security and we had to pass through metal detectors and frisking by police. Atlast, we entered the ground around 9:30 AM.

The programme has already begun. The trade mark "March Past" was the starting event after the Flag hoisting by CM. Then, there were lot of mass dances by various school children. Around 3 such mass dances were there. I became nostalgic seeing these dances. I remembered our school mass dances in Nehru stadium (Coimbatore). Especially the final dance performance ,'Nityotsava’, was very stunning. Very well organized and the song induces patriotic feeling.

The last cultural event was the daredevilry in bikes by the Shwet Ashw, a crack unit of the Corps of Military Police. Their bike riding skills were astounding. They had displayed reverse balancing, scissor crossing, parallel crossing, one leg riding, swimming, ladder climbing, break dance, fire jump, Sudharshan Chakra , sunbath on motorbikes and Pyramid formation. The event conductor announced that they had shown 50 different stunts during performance. An amazing event!!

Then there was prize distribution for thr participants , followed by National Anthem.

Enjoyed the day very well !!!

Floral Smile! :)

Have you ever seen nature's colourful smiles? Oh yes, I did.

Sometimes we become suddenly very observant. I was in one such moment and was watching the Rose bouquet on our dining table. The day we brought the roses ( bunch of red and yellow), they were very introvert. They were so shy to open up. It took quite some time for them to feel at home.

On the second day, they became little used to our presence. They started smiling at us. And from then on, each day, their smile had broadened. Though, these floral stunners have a small life, their colourful smiles made my day colourful too. Thank God!! They are in abundance on earth. :)

Donald and Daisy!!!

Whenever we have visited Manipal hospital, Gopal and I have admired the two ducks roaming in the lawn. All of a sudden, Gopal got two ducks ( a male and a female) to our house. I was totally surprised and overjoyed. I named them Donald(male) and Daisy(female).

It was fun to watch them stroll in our balcony as couple. Their waddling is a good feast to our eyes. It is like two serious people walking in the lawn having some hi-fi business talks. The beauties have a terrible voice though! When they quacked, it wasn't very pleasant initially. But soon, I started liking their voices :)

They weren't very happy to hear the noise caused by the trucks and vehicles on the road. Whenever a big truck passes by, they scream and rush into our house. Later, they got used to the sounds. It was news to me that they eat frogs as their food. However, we have made them veggy ducks by giving them only rice and apples. :)

Now, they have been taken to my mom's place where they have a huge lawn to waddle !! We miss them already !!!