Sketches series...............2

A sketch of a deer !!

My Birthday

Finally .............finally I'm twelve !!

I called a few of my friends and we played in the park, had lots of Margherita's, Brownies, Doughnuts & Ice cream.

Then we watched "Night in the Museum 2" and it was really funny and everyone enjoyed.

To top it all I got an ipod nano & football studs from my parents, some very thoughtful gifts from my friends, phone calls from cousins & relatives and ofcourse good wishes from all of them.

Total Solar Eclipse

On 21st night i was told this:

The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century will be cutting across India on the 22nd July 2009 passing on to China, then Japan finally ending over the Pacific Ocean.
13 different states of India will cherish the Total Solar Eclipse (TSE), while the rest of India will be enjoying the partial solar eclipse. The duration of totality for this eclipse will be 6min 39sec over Pacific Ocean.
The duration of totality over India will be in the range of 3min14sec to 4min21sec where as China will have a 5min 56sec totality.The last eclipse of comparable magnitude occurred in 1991, 11th July at Mexico & Hawaii.
The next total solar eclipse in India will be on 2034, 20th March cruising over the politically disputed northern tip of J&K. The next TSE in the mainland India will be on 2114, June 3rd.

Hence, this is the last opportunity for any one to view a total solar eclipse from Indian soil. Eclipse timings July 22nd, will be a day of two sunrises. The sun after rising will be eclipsed by the moon and rise yet again out of the shadow of the moon. The start of the eclipse in India will be around 5:30am reaching a maximum around 6:25am.

The eclipse will end around 7:30am. (All timings are in IST)

Yes, i was woken up in the morning & i had a glimpse of the Total Solar Eclipse.

In India it was seen best in Varanasi, it can be seen here

Wish you were here.......... chords by me !!

These are the chords of "Wish you were here" by Pink Floyd, which i am learning !!

Wonder how it sounds ??

Good ??

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So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,

blue skies from pain.

Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?

A smile from a veil?

Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?

Hot ashes for trees?

Hot air for a cool breeze?

Cold comfort for change?

And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,Running over the same old ground.

What have you found? The same old fears.

Wish you were here.

Raag Brindavani sarang on Bansuri

Thaat : Kaafi

Time : Afternoon

Aroha: ni sa re ma pa NI SA
Abroha: SA NI pa ma re sa

In the Abroha the Ni is a half note

Sthai :

nisa rema resa rema pani pama paNi SaRe
/Sa - ni pa r e - sa -
- nisa resa - nisa - ni pa
sa - ni re - re sa -
- rema pa ni ma pa NI SA
SA NI PA MA PA NI SA RE
SA NI PA MA RE SA NI SA

Antara:

- mapa NI pa NI - SA SA
- NI SA RESA RE NISA NI pa
- NISA re MA RE - NI sa
SA NI PAMA PANI SARE
SANI PAMA RESA NISA

Welcome to Mirambika's 28th birthday !!

Today is the 28th birthday of my school !!

'Guess there will be some good stuff to eat

'though we have to make some drinks like limbo paani & mango milkshake which is going to be awesome!!!!

many of the classes were performing plays and stuff like that but this time our class was asking some riddles to the audience and also telling them where things in school used to be.

Like me and my friend did about where the library used to be before, and other students did many other things like that.

More importantly, We had no classes & it was a free day and a lot of fun!!

Happy Birthday Mirambika!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sketches series.......... 1

I took a break from working on canvasses.
I was enjoying doing sketches with just pencil.

Joining a professional Soccer club......

After Edson Diaz left, some how i did id not enjoy the soccer coaching very much. So i had quit.

I wanted to join a proper, professionally run soccer club, where one can enjoy the coaching as well as get a chance to play lots of matches.

I had zeroed in on Simla Youngs. It became a reality when i joined the club on July 3rd. The first day was really tough, i barely could stand after the coaching !! But now i am fine & able to withstand the physical rigours. There are more than 200 of us training at the same time, of course we are divided age wise.

The practice fields are huge but not lush ( hard on the goalkeepers), So there can be four matches happening at the same time ( still there is space left for others to train). Every one gets a chance to play, plus each age group is attended to by two professional coaches...........

Already i feel i have learned quite a bit........... lets see how it goes !!

At the movies.......

Yesterday with my friends i went to see Ice Age 3

We enjoyed it very much

Watch the trailer here

By the away an important part of going for this movie was......

For the first time we went for a movie alone,

without any adults accompanying us

nana dropped us at the theatre

but we came back home on our own

by a rick

Yippie.......we want to do it again !!

Raag Durga on bansuri

Learning my second Raaga....
Raag Durga on teen taal ( 16 beats)
Thaat : Bilawal
Time : Late evening
AROHA: sa re ma pa da SA
ABROHA: SA da pa ma re sa

STHAI:
sa mama re pa -- da ma pa
+/da -- -- ma -- re s a--
da sa da re -- ma re ma
da ma pa da Sa dapa mare SA

ANTARA :
da ma pa da SA -- pa da
SA -- SA SA DA RE SA --
da SA RE MA RE SA DA SA
da ma (pada SARE MARE SADA PAMA RESA)

Green Barbet

Its hot (42 C) & humid

most of the plants in our balcony have got burned

We have three bird baths on our tiny balcony

The Green Barbet usually comes in very quietly

but this time i was lucky to see it up close

Save Okhla Bird Park

Okhla Bird Park is something which makes Delhi unique. No city in this world has the kind of birds which we see in Okhla......... but sadly this one small, tiny heaven is also again under
threat.

Readers do please sign this petition created by delhi birder Shri Anand Arya.

Thanx !!

Holidays have come to an end......

I went to Bombay for 3 weeks and really enjoyed my time with my cousins and relatives. I played a lot of cricket, football and games I went out to a lot of malls, restaurants and to Nehru Science Centre, I watched a lot of movies like Dil Chahta Hai, Dostana, Home Alone etc and just had fun with all my relatives and a very special Labrador called Mischief.

The i came back to Delhi, reluctantly......... to do home work before school reopens. Plus the heat & power cuts were quite too much, school reopening got delayed for a few days because of all this, plus i got a few more days to do home work.

Now, in just a couple of days the holidays will come to an end....... sadly.

I actually don't know, I have a strange feeling....
I am sad because i will not be free anymore but i am kind of looking forward to meeting my friends.
When one has a long holiday and one is not travelling & one kind of just sit around and try to finish homework at home and that's pretty boring. Even though i have been cycling and playing a lot of cricket and football with my friends in the colony.

So when i think of it, its kind of more fun chatting with my friends, playing with friends at school(even though one has to study also !!), than sitting at home and studying the whole time.

So infact i am kind of looking forward for school.

At Camp Himalayan.......... by Ankit

This is what my friend Ankit had to write about our trip

My review :By Ankit
Day 1
On the first day, mom, dad and I came down from our apartment to the bus at around eight o'clock. It was a night journey.
We were delayed reaching the camp by about 4 hours because of the driver who was driving like a snail. When we got there then we met Sumit uncle and we told him about the journey. We had lovely apple juice.

After we talked for a few minutes we went to our rooms. After freshening up I went to Kabeer's room and we played name-place-action. Then Kabeer and I took pictures of a few birds. I didn't get any but Kabeer got quite a few. There was a yellow billed blue magpie who made us chase it above the camp and then below and then above again.

Later all of us went for a walk to see the temple and the sunset. I got nice pics of the sunset. Then we came back, had dinner and slept.

Day 2
The next day we went to the national park. Well not exactly the national park we only managed to reach the entrance ! We started by the bus and from a point got off and got on to jeeps and after a point again got off and started to walk. It was quite a long trek but it was fun. We went down to a river bank near the entrance to the national park and ate lunch. There was a very nice waterfall over there. And we came back to the camp freshened and then had dinner and slept.
Day 3
The next day we went for "river walking" near Sumit uncle's house. We left by bus and then we got of a little before his house and start walking along the river the river. It was tough but fun. There were many big and slippery stones so my pants tore. It tore very badly. When we got to Sumit uncle's house to my relief my mother had got an extra pair of pants. After spending fifteen minutes in Sumit uncle's house we started walking along the river again. There it was even tougher and I fell quite a few times so I was totally wet. Then we came back to a place where Gopi bhaiya had got us lunch. After lunch our parents went to Bahu to see the sunset.
We went to the camp. We waited till our parents came back and when they came back we had dinner and slept.
Day 4
We went to Jalori Pass. We went by bus and then we got off at a place and started walking. When we got there we saw a very beautiful view from there. It was great fun. After seeing the fort we came down half way and ate lunch that Hem Raj bhaiya had got. When we got down we ate Maggi at a dhaba. Then we got back freshened up had dinner and slept.
Day 5 (THE FINAL DAY)
On the last day we had breakfast and left for home. We had lunch in Highway Treat instead of having at Highway Restaurant where we were supposed to have lunch. We had dinner at Nik Bakers in Chandigarh. We had trouble finding it. After that we got on to the bus and it was night so half of us slept. In the end we reached home 6 hours late.

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Thanx Ankit for writing & i hope we will have many more trips like this together !!

A song for you........... hope you like it !!

Camp Himalayan.......... with the Grey Himalayan Bulbuls

Had lovely sightings of these Bulbuls, they were so pretty as usual !!