Marine Drive Of The Twin Cities!

 A few days ago, I happened to drive past Hussain Sagar ( I didn't drive of course, my dad did!) or Tank Bund as it is locally know. As suggested by my previous posts, I am addicted to anything Nature oriented and I remember holding my breath as we drove past, dumbstruck at its beauty. There were boats sailing on the water at top speed, a few birds gliding above lazily and there was that fresh breeze that you always find around water bodies.

I still smile when I remember the sensation of getting drunk on the beauty of the sight. On an earlier visit here, I realized how much Hyderabadi's loved this lake of theirs. It had been raining and our windows were rolled up. I strained my eyes, trying to look past the torrent of rain. What I saw sent me into a fit of giggles. There was a guy sitting on one of the benches which adorned the borders of the lake.  Oblivious to the pouring rain, he continued to sit and gaze at the lake, totally content. It might have been a sunny day for all he knew! Only when I noticed him I realized that he was just one of the many passion - struck Hyderabadi's who'd assembled there to witness the lake in all its glory. Their simple act of passion humbled me and I too yearn to become one of them.

In all of my years in Hyderabad, I've come to appreciate the fierce clash of culture and diverse mix of people, places, languages and religions. Hyderabad is no longer 'a city', I now regard it with a more possessive air and consider it to be 'My City'. The drive around Tank Bund is especially soothing to me. Coupled with the scenic beauty and the little nuggets of information present in the form of statues, I try my best to take that route whenever possible.

Hyderabad Rocks!  Is all I can say about this city.  No wonder it's the capital of Andhra!We find unity in diversity, and I hope we will continue to do so in the years to come.

The Brook

The Brook


I come from haunts of coot and hern,
I make a sudden sally

And sparkle out among the fern,

To bicker down a valley.

By thirty hills I hurry down,

Or slip between the ridges,

By twenty thorpes, a little town,

And half a hundred bridges.



Till last by Philip's farm I flow

To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go,

But I go on for ever.

I chatter over stony ways,

In little sharps and trebles,

I bubble into eddying bays,

I babble on the pebbles.



With many a curve my banks I fret

By many a field and fallow,

And many a fairy foreland set

With willow-weed and mallow.



I chatter, chatter, as I flow

To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go,

But I go on for ever.

I wind about, and in and out,

With here a blossom sailing,

And here and there a lusty trout,

And here and there a grayling,



And here and there a foamy flake

Upon me, as I travel

With many a silvery waterbreak

Above the golden gravel,

And draw them all along, and flow

To join the brimming river

For men may come and men may go,

But I go on for ever.



I steal by lawns and grassy plots,

I slide by hazel covers;

I move the sweet forget-me-nots

That grow for happy lovers.



I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance,

Among my skimming swallows;

I make the netted sunbeam dance

Against my sandy shallows.

I murmur under moon and stars

In brambly wildernesses;

I linger by my shingly bars;

I loiter round my cresses;



And out again I curve and flow

To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go,

But I go on for ever.

                                       - Alfred Lord Tennyson

This poem, the Brook by Alfred Lord Tennyson is one poem which I completely adore. I happened cross it purely by chance or maybe fate. That I shall never know, but I do know one thing: This guy is a genius. In his personification of a stream he describes in detail the small unaffected route this tiny stream takes to join the river. The stream is completely indifferent to what is happening around it and is content in its own happy little bubble.

I guess what I really like about the poem is that this minuscule brook does not have any trace of human pollution on it. In a world where the forces of Nature are fast being oppressed this brook doesn't give a damn to what the humans do or think of it. Many lines from the poem state the same. The line : " For men may come and men may go, but I go on forever" has earned a permanent place in my heart. The strong individuality of the stream is embodied in these two lines.

It gives me hope, even though this poem was written a long time ago that if one little stream can emerge unscathed from human influence maybe, there is scope for the other's too. This poem makes for a great read, when I feel depressed. I myself am not an avid reader of poems. I would rather plop down on a comfy chair with my nose glues to a novel. But this poem is right up there with all my novels. An evergreen classic, go for it guys!

My Dog’s Trip to The Vet’s Clinic

My dog aged 10 was diagnosed with a Uterus infection approximately a month ago. She is a quite healthy female German shepherd, fun loving and often quite lazy. During the initial stages of the infection we were quite clueless about her condition. And with her being a senior citizen we got quite flustered. Her stomach had bloated up to massive proportions and we were almost misled into thinking that she’d been impregnated.


The Mystery of the Bloated Stomach was quite unnerving as we really didn’t know what was wrong with our girl. We’d ruled out the pregnancy option as we hadn’t taken her for mating, the last one had been approximately 2 years ago. We almost usually tend to overreact when things go wrong with our pet. She was immediately bundled up, thrust into the car and rushed to her doctor.

Doc too didn’t seem to know what was wrong with her until he had her scanned. The scan came up murky and unclear. It was then that the idea of an infection popped into his head. We hadn’t yet grasped the gravity of the situation until he informed us that he had to operate on her immediately. As a result of the infection almost 2-3 liters of puss had formed in her uterus causing it to balloon up. Our dog had been sloshing around for almost two days carrying this heavy load before it came into our notice.

His quick thinking and on the spot decision making were I feel, the only two things that saved her life. Once the operation had commenced successfully, we were allowed to bring her home with us.

She was greeted like the Indian team, after winning the World Cup! The good thing was, she is alive and with us today. The bad thing – He (the doctor) stuck her head in a cone (the kind they often use in hospitals). This was unfortunately necessary as it would prevent her from opening up her stitches, which the doctor predicted would cause some discomfort to her in the coming days.

So for the past few days, she’s been lurching around bumping into furniture and looking very much like a scoop of chocolate ice cream in a cone! Only a few days ago, she’d been freed from her burden and is now on the road to recovery. I do salute to the man behind her recovery and I feel that we too can do more service to the animal world by considering this career option ourselves (The veterinary field).