i strolled the grounds until i felt at home... again

Last year, at this time, the 962 gene pool was all together. this year, for a day, i went back. strolled the grounds until i felt at home.... which doesn't take too long. some part of my soul belongs in 962, in the thoTa (garden). this post is a tribute to the almost-100 year-old trees in my lovely thoTa.
[mental note to self: learn how to photograph trees properly!!]


the grounds and house belonged to my great-great grandfather Prof M Hiriyanna, about whom, Dr. S Radhakrishnan wrote:

the amazing neem on which we'd always see a shikra, among other birds

the mango tree my great grandmom planted (i think!)

Our collective fav: the Jackfruit tree that gave us loads of joy each summer!

the sampige tree on which my cousin and i would hang out for hours and chat.

Prof. M. Hiriyanna's grandson Jayaram (a designer par excellence) with sriram. gems, both.

My grandfather (Prof. M. Hiriyanna's eldest grandson) who is 94 now. A botanist par excellence, he has a flower named after him, i think. Anemone rauii (?)

la pura vida*

la pura vida*: lying on a rock in the middle of a stream in a rainforest. one simply blissful afternoon at Sinharaja (sri lanka) looking at the forest upside down. there was a rock right by my head that dropped water down a foot, the gush lulling me into a beautiful stupor. and an hour and a half later when a voice called my name and woke me from my reverie announcing the advent of the rest of the gang, it was surreal to come back to right-side up :).

The stream in the middle of the little-logged forest

My deliciously mossy rock with the mini-fall 

upside down, a metaphor for the rainforest experience that has changed life itself for me in 2010 

Lianas and all. 

*la pura vida = Costa Rican speak for "AAAAAH *This* is life!!"