“Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall”
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Complete Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Category Archives: Nature
Nature & the natural environment encompassing all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species.
From a dusty day to a cloudy morning
This week started with a dusty morning yesterday. It became hazier as the day progressed. Later in the afternoon, the dusts settled down to a clear sky. Little did we know then that there would be a sudden change in the weather from a hot, dusty day to a cool, cloudy, wet morning!
I was waked up at 4.00 am by the night’s silence killing thunders and intermittent lightning splitting the sky here and there and lighting up my windows. I could also hear the music of rain as it was raining mildly then. I opened my windows; a gush of fresh, wet winds swept through my room brushing my sleepy eyes. I love the smell of rain-wet earth. It takes me back down my memory lane, when as a child I used to play in rain water filled ground, in mud in gay abandon. There was a fun then even getting slapped by my mother as she had to wash and clean those soiled, muddied dresses. Mothers are the God’s best gift to the humanity.
This fresh coolness was weighing more on my sleepy eyes, much better than the air-conditioned air inside. I closed the window and went to my bed to be woken up by the alarm at 6.00 am.
Yesterday was dusty and this morning started with thunder and lighting. It’s a welcome contrast. It reminded me of a line from a poem of Rabindranath Tagore –
“When desire blinds the mind with delusion and dust, O thou holy one, thou wakeful, come with thy light and thy thunder.”
White clouds across Baghdad sky
White is the color of fluffy clouds fluffing their way across the sky…
Since the morning, billowy white clouds are lazily drifting across the sea-blue Baghdad sky today. It made the morning beautiful, bright, and quite pleasant.
“The first thing I notice is the sky, so full of blue and the kind of brilliant white clouds that make you ecstatic to have eyes. Nothing can go wrong under this sky…” ― Jandy Nelson, The Sky Is Everywhere
The birds are also seen enjoying this weather as Baghdad is getting ready to welcome yet another ultra-hot summer.
Two pigeons are enjoying and playing on our roof.
Summer has arrived
The moment the date palm trees bloom, it is a warning sign to all from nature that – the summer has arrived. It is now the start of a new season, a new cycle. Slowly, the now flowered dates will develop, grow, and ripe as the summer reaches its peak. In Iraq, summer is very dry, and hot with day time temperature shooting beyond 50 degrees Celsius. I like any blossoming as it heralds a new life, a new hope despite all odds. It’s a harbinger of new beginning!
A cool day today
It’s a cool, cloudy day today with some light drizzle in the early morning. This is a lovely break from other warm days. Well, summer is just at the doorstep.
As I started posting this article, it started raining! I love the music of rain as it hits the ground. I love the smell of the earth when it rains.
Dusts all around
As I walked out of my bedroom today in the morning for the bathroom, I smelled dusts inside our house. I peeped outside through my window to see a blanket of dusts covering all around. It’s another dusty, dreary summer morning in Baghdad.
Earth Hour tonight
This evening, around 1.3 billion people will go without light at 8:30 pm and at 9:30 pm, and at 10:30 pm, and for the rest of the night, just like every other night of the year. Having no access to electricity, darkness after sunset is a constant reality for these people.
At the same time, another 1 billion people will participate in “Earth Hour” by turning off their lights and non-essential appliances from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm in symbolic support for climate change mitigation.
Yes, anything to save the environment. But do we really have to wait for this each year to make a difference?
After so many years of announcing the scientific basis for climate change, is token symbolic support the way to move forward? Or should we instead be thinking of ways to actually cut carbon emissions?
There are a few of the things we may do like Carbon tax, Carbon costing, going for alternative green sources but the operative word here is action. Now, it’s a time to move ahead from one-hour high-profile symbolism to real, concrete actions, if we are to move forward towards climate change mitigation.
Also, we should not forget to reach electricity to the rest of the world, for whom observing “Earth Hour” is a luxury.
Good Morning, Baghdad!
Good Morning, Baghdad!
Today, I woke up in the morning to find tap going dry. So, I went up to the roof to check the water level and to re-start the water pump. So, I could see the sun rising from the horizon with the sky becoming beautiful and bright. A lovely sight, indeed!
So near to home, yet so far!
I am coming to home in Ranchi on holidays from Baghdad. It was just like any other previous journey up to Delhi. I avoid reaching Delhi from 15 December to 15 January, as Delhi remains under thick fog blankets, during this time. But such thick fogs are very rare during this time.
As we were approaching Delhi while descend, the captain of the Etihad flight informed us of the fog/mist over Delhi sky and also said that the visibility was around 300m. When I came out of the airport at around 3.40am, the fog was quite thick. The cabbie also told me that it’s so foggy after more than 10 days and all these days were quite clear and sunny. May be these fogs came down to greet me!
But, the situation deteriorated as the dawn approached and the visibility worsen to less than 50m in the morning compelling the delay/cancellation of departures from Delhi airport and many international flights were diverted to Mumbai.
When I woke up after my nap, I found an email from Air India. They sent a new revised e-ticket with revised timing for the delayed departure. The new timing is 3.50pm! This thick fog and flight delays/cancellation/diversions are also headlines on the national news on TV channels.
It’s now reported in the news that flights have resumed at Delhi and I sincerely hope that there is no further delay. This last moment of unscheduled delay is killing. After an almost whole day-night journey, I am feeling too tired and sleepy. I just can’t wait to reach my home. It will be almost 33 hours from the time I left for airport in Baghdad and I would reach home in Ranchi. Ufff!
I am so near to my home, yet so far!
It rained again in Baghdad
Since yesterday it rained in Baghdad. In fact, it rained whole night and it continued in the morning too. Continuous rains mean flooded roads in Baghdad. We started thinking that it may be a repeat of the 25th December rain, when the roads were so flooded that the Government of Iraq declared a public holiday – Rainy day! However, TBI functioned normally and served all the customers who dared to reach its branches.
Flooded street of Baghdad. Image by @prashantrao.
It was in the afternoon that the sky was getting cleared up and later we had a bright sunshine in the late afternoon. I am going on vacation and I was expected to get my exit/re-entry visa today. But, it’s postponed for tomorrow as it was raining in the morning. Tomorrow is the penultimate day and I was praying that it should not rain like last time and the Government declares a holiday. Thank God, it’s clear now and I hope to get my exit/re-entry visa tomorrow. I am a bit tense, obviously. Well, this is the problem that I am facing because of this rain. I take pity on all my colleagues who came to the office in the rain and returned home through the flooded streets.
