"Journey Lens: A Kaleidoscope of Life's Moments"

As I opened the door to the terrace, my eyes went straight to the hanging flower pot of our roof-top garden, which still had the Red Whiskered Bulbuls nest. The inhabitants of the nest had flown away. A touch of sadness hit my heart, remembering the last few weeks during which the Bulbuls had stayed in the nest and in our home too. Birds on our terrace are a common sight, with crows and pigeons frequently coming over for water and in search of food. Hence, it was not surprising to see a Red Whiskered Bulbul couple choose one of the hanging flower pots on our terrace to build their nest. Their nest was a labor of love, made with twigs put together over days. Once the nest was in place, the female Bulbul laid three eggs, whitish in color with a splattering of brown on top. The Bulbuls were not overawed by our presence, and we also gradually learned not to pay too much attention to them. A few weeks later, three chicks were born. The female Bulbul guarding the chicks and the male Bulbul g...

  After a memorable and eventful trip to Gokarna with batchmates from IAF, when the next trip location was finalized as the Valley of Flowers, there were no second thoughts for me. A trek to the foothills of the Himalayas was something I was looking forward to. After some googling on the net and a couple of rounds of shopping at Decathlon, it was good to go for the trek. And yes, some good wordly advice from Sattu sir too, a veteran of many treks and adventure expert who, besides briefing on the dos and don'ts of the trek, gladly lends me his “Chandrayan Raincoat,"  which I will come to later. After an uneventful Indigo flight to Delhi from Bangalore, I hopped into Sainik Araamghar at the Old Delhi railway station for rest before the onward journey to Haridwar by train. The Sainik Aramghar is named after Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, a former Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army. Jawan at the reception told me that my accommodation was in the Officers Dormitory on the...

      It’s raining pitter patter .. and all I can do is think of the good times at TKM.  TKMCE .. A name I hadn’t heard / knew before the day I joined the college .. Coming from North India .. Engg College at Kottayam was logical choice due to proximity from native place. RIT Kottayam was just into it’s 2nd year of existence , though without any Buildings to its name. At 1st  chance interview ,came to know of one college with exclusive accommodation for 1st year students.. TKM. On joining TKM got to know accommodation is full at Kuttichira and we will be staying in Men’s Hostel (MH) from the very first day onwards. Joining me in the room were Sudheer ,Subair & Omar. And what a first day it was .. welcome to the hostel by seniors.. as their Mess Bills now will be less in the college ..seniors ticking me off for tucking in the shirt ..the pungent smell from the Cashew factories nearby …at lunch ..hot steaming rice along with hot rasam and sambaar and to top it...

As the Train to Bengaluru meanders on in its way ,few more of the remanences of life at TKM. The First year was dealt with   by managing Physics  by Mrs Blessimol , Chemistry by Mrs Zaibunissa .. Graphics by Prof EVM ..the most exciting class of First year ..Electrncs by Prof Shahul Hameed ..the current Principal of College ..concept of bandwidth was understood then.  Kuttichira guys moved into MH after First year with lot of trepidation..ragging will happen or not . Nevertheless it was fun with a large number of batchmates staying in MH. During S3//S4 .not sure which time ..one day everyone decided to shave off their moustache…!!  Quite a scene it was with the newly found shining space on the faces.!! Thanks to Kuruvilla⁩ who advised clean shave suits me better. Right from school days wanted to join National Defence Academy.. didn’t happen… hence joined the B Tech programme. At hostel ..for some reasons ..which lot of people still confirm to  Pattalam...

   It’s monsoon season and after takeoff from Bangalore all one can see is white sky all around. On an evening flight one generally gets to see Crimson Orange Horizon …and the various hues  and colours of the sky as the sunlight fades and night creeps in.  The discussions during evening prior to College get together brought out an interesting fact. Post-CoVid people were experiencing a feeling that they have grown old . Touching fifty and old..!!! .    I was amused  as I had heard cases of people having loss of memory but feeling old ..it was strange. Or maybe I’m yet to realise it.  I hadn’t got any of these signs after a mild CoVid infection. But then I was to get a surprise myself the very next day when I met  our batchmates ,majority of whom I was meeting after 1996 for the first time. Some unforgettable moments with them seems to have been wiped out from my memory even though some of the events associated with them I was remembering. Whi...

  ഒരു കാഴ്‌ച/മണം/ശബ്ദം ഒരാളെ പഴയകാല ഓർമ്മകളിലേക്ക് കൂട്ടിക്കൊണ്ടുപോകും .ഈ ചിത്രം എന്റെ oru യാത്രയെ ഓർമ്മിപ്പിച്ചു.. ആദ്യ വാരാന്ത്യത്തിൽ TKM -ൽ നിന്ന് വീട്ടിലേക്കുള്ള യാത്ര. വൈകുന്നേരം കൊല്ലം-കോട്ടയം train il റാഗിംഗിനെ കുറിച്ച് അലക്‌സിൽ നിന്ന് കേട്ടു. അങ്ങനെ ബസ്സിൽ വീട്ടിലേക്കുള്ള യാത്ര പ്ലാൻ ചെയ്തു.കൊല്ലത്ത് നിന്ന് കോട്ടയത്തേക്ക് നേരിട്ട് ബസ്സ് ഇല്ലെന്നറിഞ്ഞില്ല..അങ്ങനെ നീണ്ട കാത്തിരിപ്പിന് ശേഷം വന്ന ഒരു കായംകുളം KSRTC ബസിൽ കയറി. Alla  എനിക്ക് അകത്ത് കയറാൻ കഴിഞ്ഞില്ല enn annu correct. .!! 😀😀. തോളിലെ ബാഗ് katteth പറന്നു തൂങ്ങിക്കിടക്കുകയായിരുന്നു. 4-5 ബസുകൾ മാറി വീട്ടിൽ എത്തി. അടുത്ത തിങ്കളാഴ്ച്ച ക്ലാസ്സിൽ വെച്ച് നവീൻ ദിവാകരൻ എന്നോട് പറഞ്ഞു, കഴിഞ്ഞ വാരാന്ത്യത്തിൽ കൊല്ലം ബസ് സ്റ്റാൻഡിൽ വെച്ച് ഏതോ ഒരു ഭ്രാന്തൻ കെഎസ്ആർടിസി ബസിൽ നിന്ന് തൂങ്ങി നിൽക്കുന്നത് കണ്ടതായി .. ഞാൻ അഭിമാനത്തോടെ അവനോട് പറഞ്ഞു it was me only 😀😀 KSRTC ബസ് യാത്ര brings a lots of nostalgia..colour full ടിക്കറ്റുകൾ . .my pocket getting picked . . മൈസൂരിലേക്കും മൂന്നാറിലേക്കും മനോഹരമായ പകൽ യാത്രകൾ .. പൂഞ്...