KaaraHunnime PoornaChandra

June 14, 2022

Full moon playing hide-n-seek in monsoon clouds.

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pillow lava rock near Kelagari lake

June 14, 2022. Dharwad-Goa road at Kelagaeri village is a part of my early morning cycling route. The straight road along the lake bund is a favorite for morning walkers, joggers and cyclists. I've ridden this stretch a hundred times in the last one year. However, I hadn't noticed the pillow lava lying at the entrance to Gayatri Nagar residential layout. Somehow the lone rock surrounded by bushes came in my sight, grabbed my attention and rang a bell ...this rock is similar to the pillow lava rocks of Maradihalli. For some reason I didn't stop to take a snap.

June 17, 2022. I made a conscious effort to remind myself to take a few snaps of the rare pillow lava. So, here it is, lying by the side of a road. Wonder how many people have recognized this stone. May be a handful. Anyway, talking about the rock, the bulbous formations on the surface is the distinguishing mark of this rock. 

Pillow lava is formed when lava from submarine volcano comes in contact with seawater. This rock has been formed millions of years ago.

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Bulbul silhouette

One morning I was on our building terrace with my cameras, looking for birds. A bulbul with an catch in its beak happened to approach one of the pipes. It perched on the pipe, a second before I clicked, it let go of the catch, an insect of some sort.

The bulbul stayed on the pipe thinking what to do next. It lifted its wings, poked itself with its beak, wiggled rapidly. Probably it was trying to expel a pest lodged in its feathers.

It remained still for a few seconds. May be it was watching for its next prey.

Then it took off.

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Coat-button flower

Memories of this simple little plant goes back to my childhood days. Firstly as kids we used used to look for its flowers, pluck them along with their long stems and then knock of the flower with a finger. It was a kids game. This plant is found all over Karnataka, it just grows on its own, its a wild plant.

The second memory is its leaves possess medicinal properties. Once I was hurt, a superficial wound on my leg. One of the girls in our group plucked a few leaves of this plant, crushed them and pressed the pulp letting the leafy juice fall into my wound. Apparently the plant's sap is antiseptic. This wonderful plant is known as cost-button or tridax daisy or Tridax procumbens in Eglish. In Kannada it's called Jayanthi Gida or Gabbusanner Savanthi.

leaves & a young bud

blooming bud

fully developed flower

I have grown a few of this plants in my hanging garden. Its nice to see the dark green leaves, its stalky flowers sway in slightest of breezes. Once the flowers dry, they become a little spiky ball, easily dispersible by air.

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