Midnight Rendezvous

Daylight was fading rapidly as we reached the resort. We
waited till all the fifty participants had checked in. This would be a good
workshop as we had a full quorum. Situated on the backwaters of the dam, the resort
was built on the slope that led down to the lake water. It gleamed dully in the
moonlight that filtered down despite the thick forest. The crickets, frogs and
insects had gone beyond opening notes of their orchestra. A storm was brewing
in the distance and hopefully there would be some showers soon.

The clerk took an inordinately long time before the
allocating rooms to us. “I am sorry sir, but the resort is fully occupied now,”
he apologised.

“Do something man, we have to be here with our participants
else how can we conduct their training?” I asked. “Check again. Surely you have
a couple of rooms vacant.”

We were a four-member training team, most of us army
veterans. Roughing it out had been a way of life. We were quite ready to spend
the night on a veranda if required.

“We do have rooms at the lowest level near the water, sir,”
the clerk said hesitatingly.

“We’ll take those,” I said brooking no more questions.
“I must warn you that no one has stayed there for a long time…”
the clerk added.

“Why?” said Kedar, the baby of our team.

The clerk seemed to be gauging our reactions. Seeing our
puzzled looks he explained, “Last year a couple committed suicide in one of those
rooms. Thereafter guests have complained of seeing visions at night. We have
not allotted these rooms to anyone since then.”

We laughed away his fears, “We are soldiers. There is
nothing like ghosts. Stop spreading rumours and don’t mention this to your
guests.” The matter was put to rest there.

Prem, the bell boy helped us carry our bags down to the
rooms. He seemed nervous and wanted to hurry back as he opened the rooms. Kedar would share a room with Suresh. Mohan and I would be sharing the adjacent one.

“Call 201 for help,” Prem said. “Remember 201,” he repeated
and sped away to apparent safety.

Nevertheless we looked around the building before turning
in for the night. Light from the street lamps pierced the dense swaying foliage
to choreograph a macabre shadow dance. The nearest accommodation was about 200
meters uphill. We could hear faint music and intermittent bursts of laughter. A
few stars still twinkled in the black velvet sky and the wind whistled between
the trees. The sound of water splashing onto the shore added to nature’s nocturnal
orchestra.

It had been a tiring journey and a long busy day awaited
us. I decided to retire and could hear Kedar and Suresh chatting in the other
room. Mohan was speaking to his wife on his cell phone. I bade him good night
and turned in for the day.

Something shining in my eyes woke me from a deep
dreamless slumber. I tried to switch on the bedside lamp but there was no
electricity. I saw a whitish blur in the window. It looked like a human face. My
heart started thudding; my breathing quickened and sweat broke out on the brow.
What if there was really a ghost?

My army training came to my rescue. I grabbed a torch and
rushed to the window. The ‘face’ moved away and vanished towards the veranda. I
opened the door and chased it. I could see a white figure and I followed it as
it flitted between the trees. It remained elusive till it seemed to float up
the stairs. I sprinted and finally caught something wriggling in billowing robes.

It was Kedar who had wrapped himself in a bed sheet and
was writhing in laughter grinning from ear to ear.

“I just wanted to scare you sir. You did say there is
nothing like ghosts!”

He reminded me of the clerk’s story. I reproached him for
his childish prank and for disturbing me. We both had a hearty laugh and
retreated to our respective rooms.

The night seemed darker now. The wind had died, the
shadow-dancers were still and the orchestra was silent. I returned to my bed. I
could barely see Mohan sitting on the bed. The commotion apparently had woken him
up. I tried to light a candle but flame died repeatedly as if blown by an
unseen breeze. Sleep was elusive and we chatted away in the dark reminiscing our
days in uniform. After a while, my eyelids turned heavy and I fell asleep. Precisely
when, I do not recollect.

I was awakened by the sound of pounding on our door. Fighting
the clutches of sleep I saw the next bed was empty. Mohan was not around. He
must have already left for the briefing. A quick glance showed it was already 7
o’ clock.

Cursing myself for tardiness I rushed to open the door. It
was Kedar. “Please wake up sir, you are already late. The participants have
left for the trek. Hurry up; we have to catch up with them.”

I tried to explain, “After your prank, I was awake till
5. Mohan and I had a good time reliving our old days. I guess I slept off after
that.”

He looked at me strangely. “Are you saying that you
chatted with Mohan in the night?”

“Yes, we did. Why?’

Kedar was bewildered. “Sir he left at mid night before I
woke you up. There was an emergency at home.”

I was aghast. “Is that so?”

I felt a shiver down my spine. If Mohan had left at
midnight, then, what was on that bed next to me that chatted with me in the wee
hours?

This was my entry to the 2014 Flash Fiction contest at http://www.lvwonline.org/ Needless to say it went no where with the judges but hopefully you will enjoy it, dear readers!!

Roots

The camera has become our constant companion both at home and outside. So whether one is cooking, eating, reading, travelling its easy to capture images to recall and relive memories later. My usual subjects arefriends and family (not surprising), myself (a new addition due to my new toy with a front facing camera!), trees, architecture and so on. 

Yet I find that tree roots too have emerged as attention grabbers. Roots are what anchor a tree to the ground, collect water and other nutrients from the soil, at times are modified to breathe/give support as well. I would like to share some of these amazing roots with you.

Enjoy…
These are simply stunning. Tree roots at Angkor Wat. Do they support these ancient structures or do they damage the structure? To me it looks like the former!

Roots, Angkor Wat
Photo Credit: Col (Dr) Ram Athavale, Retd

Tree roots, Angkor Wat
Photo Credit: Col (Dr) Ram Athavale, Retd

Here is yet another example of roots offering some support… in the form of a bridge! This bridge has been created by living roots of the Ficus tree. Such bridges are seen in North East India.  This photo has been sourced from Getty Images

Artist Steve Robin has envisaged and created the following bronze sculpture using inspiration of the roots of the large sycamore tree in the St Paul’s Chapel in New York that was damaged due to debris from the 9/11 World Trade Tower collapse. Read more about it here.

Patinated bronze, New York,
‘Trinity Root’ Patinated Bronze by Steve Tobin. Seen at St Paul’s Chapel, New York

Stunning roots of a huge Cupressus macrocarpa. Seen in San Francisco
Pondicherry, trees, ficus
Roots of this Ficus at Pondicherry have spread out to form columns. This tree is at Auroville, India.
Photo Credit: @puneribaker



Bengaluru, Trees
Rootage of a 200 year old Silk Cotton Tree seen at the Lal Bagh, Bangalore
Photo Credit: @puneribaker
The vertical Cypress
knees or Pneumatophores of the Taxodium distichum (Bald cypress) jut upwards from the soil. Some theories state they help the tree get oxygen but
some trees have thrived even after the cypress knees were removed. Other
theories propose that they play the role of supporting the tree.

Cypress knees or Pneumatophores of the Taxodium distichum (Bald cypress). This image from South Carolina, USA
Thin delicate aerial roots of the Ficus microcarpa, help distinguish it from other Ficus brethren whose aerial roots may be thicker and coarser. This tree is in Pune, India
SFO, trees, New Zealand Christmas tree
This
is mostly of learning value to me as I was under the wrong impression
that only Ficus species produced aerial roots. This tree is the
Metrosideros excelsa (New Zealand Christmas Tree) which belongs to the Myrtaceae family.  This tree is from the San Fransisco Botanical Garden
Nebari, Kamini
Nebari of my Kamini bonsai!

If you have enjoyed this, you are sure to like my post about amazing  barks

Take care! 

The Hills Are Alive

My city is blessed to have many hills right within the city limits. Many have flat land at the top and one can walk for a long distance even upto 10 kms (depending on your route). This is especially amazing because this walk gives a feeling of being ‘above’ the city yet a part of it. In the city yet a feeling of being outside.

Hills, aforrestation, trees, plantation
The hill overlooks Baner and Pashan and one can see the city skyline stretching as far as the eye can see

Any one who has been to these tekdis (hills) will totally agree with me. I had not visited the Baner Tukai tekdi and eagerly took up an opportunity to visit it.


Like most tekdis in Pune, this one too suffered from deforestation and must have been really bare. It has been the ceaseless and untiring efforts of Dr Garudkar and the Clean Earth Movement that is showing its fruits now. Here is a link to their website.The group has been active since 2006.

Trees, plantation, pune, Poona
The almost flat top is perfect for long walks


The Baneshwar caves are located at the foot of the hill. As one ascends the steps one is immediately struck by the extent of the city’s growth, the spread of concrete jungle almost into the hills. Yet, look up and one can see the green flat top of the tekdi as it meanders away into the distance. Get off the steps and follow the foot trails to enjoy the greenery. The tekdi spans a vast area hence has been ‘divided’ into different sectors named after forests of Maharashtra. The naming is purely for the sake of convenience of the activists working there.

Shivlinga, Pune, caves
These caves are located at the foot of the hill and have a Shiva temple

aforrestation, hills, Pune, poona
The ‘map’ of the hill area

 

water tank, Poona, Pune
The activists have built such tanks to store water for the trees.


Here
are some highlights of the Baner Tukai tekdi. If you happen to live in
the area, do join the group and help nurture the trees, and keep the
‘lungs’ of the city healthy and green!

Dhobi nut tree, Bibba, Pune, Anacardiaceae
This Bibba tree was flowering (Semecarpus anacardium)

Caesalpinia bonduc, Caesalpineaceae, Pune
Sagargota (Caesalpinia bonduc) inflorescence- the tree is armed with thorns on all parts

Pune, trees, Gmelina arborea, Verbenaceae
Shivan (Gmelina arborea) was seen growing at many sites.

Besides these, many other tree species had been planted and seemed to be pretty healthy. Some which I identified were several Ficus species, Neem, Arjun, Laxmi Taru (Simarouba glauca), varieties of Bauhinia, Prajakta, Awala, Waval.

The flowers that grabbed all our attention despite their small size (and by small I mean half a finger nail) were the seasonal herbs. They were in full bloom and created yellow and purple carpets on the hill side, almost reminiscent of the Kas Pathar. We saw Hyptis suaveolens (with Tulsi-like-fragrant leaves), Sida species, Trichodesma sp, Sopubia sp, Alysicarpus sp, Stryka sp, Sonchus sp and many many more that we could not identify. There were some lichens too!


Zygophyllaceae family, Kas
Yellow Tribulus terrestris

 

Commelinaceae family, cyanotis, purple
A purple-pink carpet of Cyanotis species


 The hills in Pune are at their full glory right now. Go enjoy!