Solar Eclipse 2009

Here is a visual journey of the total solar eclipse in New Delhi.

The Nehruplanetarium at Teenmurti was surrounded by parked cars in hundreds well before 6 AM on 22nd July 2009. The Sun is about to rise and the video camera of an enthusiast or of some TV channel is hoping to catch it first!

Young and old alike are waiting for the solar spectacle to unfold.

At 6.40 AM this is how the sun looked to the naked eye.

But the screen put up on Teen Murti lawns showed a different picture!

The secret was to cut out all other light by looking through the unexposed portion of an X-ray film. Some school girls were seen distributing the X-ray films to those who wanted them. Many were also looking through the X-ray film spectacles sold for the purpose. I decided to put an X-ray film in front of the view finder of my digital camera. Here is what I saw.
At 6.44 AM on 22nd July 2009

At 7.19 AM on 22nd July 2009

That was truly a "once in a life-time" experience!

Monsoon Raindrops

This year Gurgaon and entire Haryana is experiencing the monsoon in "Raindrops" and not sheets of rain like it did last year.

The promising clouds disappeared as soon as a few drops fell into the earth. Even the jade plant who does not need much water to grow seemed to treasure them like jewels!

The yellow lilies I planted two years ago bloomed all on a sudden as if to welcome the rain with open arms!

Flower power to beat the heat

Temperatures are soaring from 42 degrees Celsius ( 108 degree Fahrenheit)to 46 degree Celsius(115 degree Fahrenheit) in Delhi and Chandigarh. It is a struggle to keep the garden smiling. The Mayflower bushes bloom with their smooth pink flowers.



The Zenia blooms of various shades remind us that these hardy flowers do not mind the soaring heat. But the Lily flowers bloom at 5 AM in the morning and wither away before 9 AM in the morning. Their flower petals are fragile and cannot bear the heat.



The North west monsoon seems to have given this part of the world a go-by. Ladies Fingers oblige in the kitchen garden with a good show; but the spinach, coriander, beans and others which have sprung up from the earth during the monsoon drizzle, threaten to die away if the rains refuse to come.




The tailor birds, sun birds and white eyes are getting impatient to start their nests.



We are all waiting for the rains.