The Leopard is back Mt.Abu

Last nite  our spotted visitor came back after a spell of
almost a year. He claimed six of my mongrels, during our winter vacations last
year. He's now back on the prowl. He took my female bitch
"Cut Ear" around 12.45 am from our compound The Abode.  The rest of
the pack Rover, Saddy, ( she always looks sad) Tithee ( always showing his
beautiful set of teeth), and Mercury ( proud mum of a pack of  6 puppies ) set up a mournful raucous at
the parting of one of their kind. Right now the temp is about 7 degrees in the
house and my pye-dogs are huddled together on the roof of the house, alert to
the slightest movement and sounds emerging from the surrounding terrain.

The Willy leopard has them all on edge, as long as they stay in a
pack and do not stray away they are pretty safe, the leopard will not attack
them if they are in a pack. Anyway I’m resigned to the fact that sooner or
later Mr. Spots will make a super meal of them in time to come. All of my
pedigree dogs that I’ve owned sooner or later were lifted by the leopard.

Whoosh the old year is out and the Year 2012 is here.

It’s been ages since
I last posted my thoughts here, the year 2011 sure had its ups and downs, and for me it was mostly down, still I can’t complain life has been good and we are still alive to make it to the year2012. So have no
grumble, and am looking forward to new adventures, new learning and in general having a ball all the days every day, in short making the most out of life while there is still time. Prost ! to a bright and fun filled, stress frees 2012.

Merry Christmas from The Abode

Joy resounds in the

hearts of those who believe in the miracle of Christmas

Wishing you all the Peace,

Joy and Love of the season!

Season’s Greetings!

“MERRY CHRISTMAS”

Christmas At The Abode after the floods

Some Random snaps and expressions on Mount Abu

Nakki Lake

Oh, Great lake what have we done

Your precious gift so freely spun

Your placid blue face now turned to green

Humanity has no love for thee.

Spare our precious Lake our gracious visitors

See the debris floating on thee

Dumped by indifferent folks using thee

Our beautiful, unique and vital source

Our drinking water supplied by thee

Tourists, visitors and our own  Abuites if you are reading this blog post of mine I simply make an appeal to you to please treat our vital, emergency drinking water source as a top priority  and not dump your junk into our precious lake. This lake provides habitats to a variety of species, drinking water in emergency to the town of Abu, serenity and expression to lovers and dreamers. We Abuites would appreciate it if you folks would give a helping hand by not dumping your waste valuables into our charming lake.

Water snake basking in the winter sun

Sunbird at the lake

White throated kingfisher

Grey Heron

Cormorant our winter visitors

Dragon fly

Basking early morning

Robin

Modern Dinosaur

Suspended moon early morning 

The Beckoning hills of Mount Abu

Mount Abu is a magical reserve of evergreen and deciduous forests, grey granite lava rocks, embracing cool breezes, and greenery all around. Those of us fortunate mortals who have had the pleasure of romping down the various forest paths and experiencing the natural beauty of the mountains are hooked for life. The serenity and the tranquility one experiences here is akin to having visited Paradise, a paradise that haunts those souls who have left and gone away to live elsewhere.

Those who have lived even for a short duration in this paradise cannot resist the urge of the beckoning hills; the charm is so powerful that sooner or later former Abuites make their way back here to experience the nostalgia.

Yesterday I banged into Stephen, an Aussie who brought me up on the latest happenings in and around his work place. Stephen works at the Global Hospital, a venture of the Brahma kumaris. He told me an ex-Abuite who had migrated to Australia had come to the hospital with a wild fowl in his possession. I then asked him how come?     He then gave me the gist of the story.

John Stracey (son of Late Deputy Commandant E.L.Stracey, an IP officer who was posted here in Abu in the CPTC in the early sixties) came to visit his Alma Mater St. Mary’s School, and indulge in the nostalgia of this magical Abode. He had gone for a morning walk the day before to sunset point, being an Abuite he rambled   down one of the jungle trails. What he witnessed blew him away; a local had set a crude trap (a small fishing hook at the end of a nylon sting) for the wild fowl that strayed there. A fowl had apparently taken hook line and bait and lay there helpless. John must have been furious and I’m sure he must have blown a fuse; he immediately went into town and got the authorities to witness the scene. He then took the bird down to the global hospital to see if he could save it. I wish I could have met his as I believe he was an ace Athlete while he was studying here in school.

 As I mentioned in my last post poaching in Abu is quite common, I’m sure any Abuite who reads this post of mine can vouch for the same and also mention the intriguing items and methods used by our present day poachers.