Bird's Delhi

For all those who thought Delhi is walled city with 16 million people and ever increasing concrete jungle, there is other side of Delhi too, its birds Delhi. These are few captures I have taken in last 2 years here.Hoopoe The hoopoe is commonly seen even in urban areas across India. In IIT Delhi, JNU & Pusa agricultural institute they are seen but its very rare in city like Delhi. The fluffed up crest and the flip-flop flight makes it rather remarkable, and one remembers it. This one was photographed JNU campus Delhi.

Brahminy Myna Although this bird is quite common, and sports such brilliant colours, it is relatively less known, being often mistaken for the common myna. This species has been renamed "Brahminy Starling" officially - in fact, the entire Myna range was renamed "Starling", a fact lamented by J.C. Daniels in his preface to the Salim Ali Birth Centenary edition of "The book of Indian Birds".

White-Eye This tiny restless bird is a frequent visitor, sipping on the flowers. Even if you can't make out the white ring around the eye, you cannot mistake the yellow-orange colour, and the tiny size, as it jumps from branch to branch, sometimes in small groups. Getting a white-eye to sit long enough for you to photograph it is a rarity.

Indian Robin Saw this on my lawn a couple of times in Oct 2008, and then again in a Delhi park in April.

Cuckoo (Asian Koel) One can hear them calling mellifluously in April May, but finding them is harder. Murphy's Law: They never call when you are looking at them. Proof: You are so focused on looking through the lens that you can't hear. Female Cuckoo (above) The cuckoo gene apparently carries a marker that specializes the female to lay eggs that match the host
species that it parasitizes. So daughter cuckoos will also parasitize the same hosts.

Male Cuckoo It is only the male cuckoo who sings, the female is largely silent (lucky him!)One April morning the cuckoo to the left was sitting on a branch, serenading away to the world, when another male cuckoo quietly landed on the same branch to its right. There was a ritual sparring, after which the intruder flew off again.

White-breasted Kingfisher This is the bird that got me interested in bird photography - October 2005, Delhi. (with the blue tail visible) is from the banks of the Yamuna in Delhi. It is also called the White-Throated Kingfisher.

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Capital Samurai: Laxman Rao

Laxman at his tea stall at ITO in Delhi

At first look he is like any other tea vendor pouring infinite cups of tea for clientele, Laxman Rao appears to be one of numerous tea vendors we see in our everyday life on any busy road of the capital. But looks can be deceptive and Rao proves that. He is not just any other tea vendor in the national capital. He is different from many.

Meet Laxman Rao, the tea vendor turned book writer. Born to a family of farmers in Amravti district in Maharashtra,
Rao's fondness for Hindi literature saw him complete his graduation in Hindi medium from the Mumbai University in 1973. Reminiscing the bygone days, Rao said he was an avid reader and got addicted to Gulshan Nanda's novels early on.

This tea vendor has authored 18 books till date! The reading inclination he is carrying from his school days way back in early 70s and love for Hindi literature made him devoted to first with reading and then writing novels. He writes at the night, when the world sleeps, he finishes of his work and starts writing. The writing sometime continues while working when there are not enough customers. His writing often has his own experiences and hardship which he confronted in the capital. Sitting on a low down chair at his tea stall near ITO in Delhi, 53-year-old Rao spoke of how he came to run his own publishing house, Bharatiya Sahitya Kala Prakashan.

"I have been writing short stories, plays and books for 28 or 29 years," Rao smiled and said, as he poured tea into one of the small glasses to a customer. "In my first book, titled Nayi Duniya Ki Nayi Kahani I poured out my heart. I narrated all the hardships that I had faced and the challenges that I fought to rise to a decent life. That was back in 1979," Rao told. He went on to write a play, Pradhan Mantri in 1984, which was about his meeting with the then prime minister, the late Indira Gandhi. The play was woven around Gandhi in a social set-up and how her subordinates were responsible for corruption. 'Ramdas and Parampara Se Judi Bharatiya Rajniti' are some of his other publications.

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