The evils eye is warded off by this

 

Many years back I had   a Red car and for some reason I use to suffer a mishap with the car every Saturday, no matter what, bizarre accidents like someone falling on the car if nothing else would happen, well I accepted it as a part of life n would try to not use the car on Saturday’s if I could

 

It was a Saturday and I was returning from a session of Tennis, as I came to a signal, there were these street urchins who were selling lemon and chili, strung together, not wanting to disappoint the kids I bought a chili lemon contraption for Rs 2.  And strangely the accidents stopped

One has to continue with the practice for 5 or 7 Saturday I was told and yes the accidents stopped. Thankfully.

 

Anyone else who has had any stories like this?

 

Visiting Bortir Bil near Kolkata once again

Now that Samit and family had left Kolkata I was once again free to wander and Brortir Bil caught our eye (it’s a water body and small fishing boats (don’t know how safe they are) do take people around on the swamp. 

 

Mukta and me were planning a trip around Kolkata and we were musing about a photography trip if weather held up well, 

 7th or was it 8th Sept

Today we had lunch n relaxed for a while. Waking up from my power nap I was ready for a 10 km small ride to pick up some supplies. But Mukta was in a mood for a photo expedition, and since women always win, I agreed to her whim, the sun was partially out and looked like it would not be raining in a hurry. Bortirbil was destination 35km from kolkata approx. We rode on following the Google map and reached nearby to the bil maybe 5 km to the destination we were joined by a Boatman on a motorbike started riding parallel to us. Chatting up with him, and listening to his story about the places (I had been here an year back in Nov 2022) the boats now cost Rs 300/per person, which I think is too much and maybe Rs 200 for 2 people would be ok. While I was plotting my bargaining strategy,

 http://editorialohotographyindiarajat.blogspot.com/2021/12/poise-grace-nature-at-work.html

 

link to my last visit above

Nature Gods were making there own plans Suddenly the bike was wobbling and I realized we had a puncture, and with no tyre inflator with me. we were in for a nasty time, but thankfully The boatman helped us get to a puncture shop. 

 

 Now the nozzle which is used to fill air in the tyre had gotten damaged (more trouble) the puncture shop guy did not have a nozzle but he had a bicycle tube, from which he cut out the nozzle and put together the with my bike tube of the tyre, we (he and me) expected a life of 2 - 30 km before the tyre could again spring a leak, Not being sure how much distance it would hold we rode back towards Kolkata ( Bortir Bil would have to wait for another day) 

 

By now it was starting to drizzle and I was a little worried every time we went through a watery patch (what if the water got in the tyre and loosened the patch up work we had just done. Along the way we found a tyre shop, which sold us a tube but were not willing to fix it (lack of staff) I think it was more lack of willingness to work hard We reached back to Kolkata by 1800 hours and as we waited a traffic signal the skies opened up in full force and we were thoroughly drenched in no time. pouring rain from above and a hard shower that too, well I gritted my teeth and made my through waterlogged streets of Kolkata. 

 

Mukta insisted we go fetch and fetch some prawns from her house ( she is an amazing cook) which my hungry self agreed too, (I am a foodie) and her house being a few km off we rode got the prawns and found more water on the roads then we had bargained for, Kolkata is well known for water logging and we were finding out what it was all about first hand, We rode on and don’t ask me how but we managed to get back home with the bike working and not stalling in spite of riding through water which sometimes seemed to cover portion of the engine. 

 

The only Damage my phone had taken in water and was no longer working and till date it has not gotten repaired ( please pray it gets repaired )

 

 MUkta once more failed to make it on a boat ride into Bortir bil.( sorry girl, till next time )

As butterfly month progresses

here are a few beauty the Three spot emigrant are at play, enjoy

Meeting a buddy (Samit) after 20+years

Sept 2nd 2023 It is a rainy day, to start with but then as rain subsides I start out for Kolkata 0600 hours and my mom are up to see me off, how sweet is she at 86 + she is a gem to have around (did I say moms are the best)

I was headed to meet a roommate of mine from Hostel days at St Xavier Mumbai, Samit and me were roommates for a year or so in the 90’s, before he moved to Cambridge for his Ph.D. and me moved on to USA for my Photography studies, We had last met in 2000 in New your along with his wife snehzana, they had been married a year or so, at that time since then we have shared a occasional message thanks to whattsapp / Facebook. Even since he had moved to Canada/ London/ New York and now he is a professor at Leeds, He has a son 19 years of age approx., and I would be seeing him for the 1st time,

I am doing my first trip on “Himalayan 1080” that’s a bike I have which is going to do its first long travel and boy what a ride it was, we whizzed 300 km on 5 hours, a new first for me, the road mostly boasts of 100kmph speed limit and I mostly rode at 80 – 90 kmph and traffic was low, on the way Kaash flowers distracted me and I had to stop and photograph those wonderful flowers which suggest Dussera is around the corner,

Finding fresh Kaash flower was a chore as it withers with rain, and I did find a few clusters where it possible did not rain

the next 3 days was a maze of seeing sights of Kolkata and visiting museums and stores and food joints ,,, days sure went by fast right from Flurys in KOlkata

The coffee house in College Street was the highlight as the days went by way too fast And I was soon on my way back to Jamshedpur. The bike incidentally did I great job though it had its own quirks which is a story for another day. Jamshedpur - Kolkata - 300 km Time taken 5 hours approx. Road condition - excellent for most part

Butterfly month is here

Ever wondered how to distinguish between a Moth and a Butterfly, what makes one different from the other, ? See living proof at https://youtu.be/nWo4soOlLTg or check out the video here as the week goes by and we see butterfly Characteristics of butterflies • Butterflies are beautiful, flying insects with large scaly wings. • Like all insects, they have six jointed legs, 3 body parts, a pair of antennae, compound eyes, and anexoskeleton. • The three body parts are the head, thorax (the chest), and abdomen (the tail end). • Butterfly Wings Are Transparent. • Butterflies Taste With Their Feet. • Butterflies Live on an All-Liquid Diet. • A Butterfly Must Assemble Its Own Proboscis—Quickly. • Butterflies Drink From Mud Puddles. • Butterflies Can't Fly If They're Cold. • A Newly Emerged Butterfly Can't Fly. here is another butterfly