Anilu ~ நேர்கொண்ட பார்வை !!

 Squirrel   ~   

நேர்கொண்ட பார்வை !!

“மனம் ஒரு குரங்கு" - Pygmalion !

Mind wavers, thoughts wanders !! – it is difficult to concentrate !!! 

Maruthayi selling vegetables in a village, by sheer accident, becomes an actress named Mallika Devi. Murgesa, a farmer from the same village, loves Maruthayi and wants to marry her, but after she becomes an actress, she moves away from him. A wealthy  Gopinath succeeds in his challenge in transforming a village girl into a famous actress.   A rich man's son Chellappa aspires to marry Maruthayi, but ends up marrying another girl. Murgesa realises that Maruthayi with her  new status is a changed person ! 

In Greek mythology, Pygmalion was a legendary figure of Cyprus. He is most familiar from Ovid's narrative poem Metamorphoses, in which Pygmalion was a sculptor who fell in love with a statue he had carved.  The general idea of that myth was a popular subject for Victorian era British playwrights, including one of Shaw's influences, W. S. Gilbert, who wrote a successful play based on the story called Pygmalion and Galatea that was first presented in 1871.  

 

Pygmalion is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, named after the Greek mythological figure. It premiered at the Hofburg Theatre in Vienna on 16 October 1913 and was first presented on stage in German. Its English-language premiere took place at His Majesty's Theatre in London's West End in April 1914 and released as movie in 1938.  

Manam Oru Kurangu was a play written by Cho Ramaswamy,  inspired by the George Bernard Shaw play Pygmalion. It was originally announced as Dil Ek Bandhar, a pun on the title Dil Ek Mandir. The play Manam Oru Kurangu,  also starred Delhi Ganesh. Cho was part of the cast and also wrote the screenplay.  

The movie had hit songs – music by Sri DB Ramachandran.  DBR lived in Triplicane, TP Koil Street (in the house where Medplus is operating now).  He was a very nice gentleman, his son BR Balaji was my schoolmate (for some years we used to go together to school).  Have seen and listen to him playing Harmonium at home.  A very unassuming, exceptionally simple and friendly person, he used to play carom also.  For sure, he did not get the recognition he deserved.  In mid 1970s, he used to do play music for stage dramas too.

Here is the song :  “மனம் ஒரு குரங்கு;  மனித மனம் ஒரு குரங்கு”.

 

திரைப்படம்: மனம் ஒரு குரங்கு

இயற்றியவர்: வீ. சீதாராமன்

இசை: டி.பி. ராமச்சந்திரன்

பாடியவர்: டி.எம். சௌந்தரராஜன்

 

மனம் ஒரு குரங்கு மனித மனம் ஒரு குரங்கு அதைத்

தாவ விட்டால் தப்பி ஓட விட்டால் நம்மைப்

பாபத்தில் ஏற்றி விடும் அது பாசத்தில் தள்ளி விடும்

 

Yesterday mid-noon,  saw this monkey in Car Street, Triplicane.  Though couple of dogs were agitated and tried to chase, not many people took cognizance of this rare sight – monkeys are rare to be seen in Triplicane.  However, as it reached and disappeared near Thirukkovil Thiruther, the flower vendor there remarked that monkey makes appearance every Aippaisi.

 
Interesting !
 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
28.10.2024 

Brahminy Starling - 'ஓ மைனாஓ மைனா! - இது உன் கண்ணா பொன்மீனா'

A very attractive small bird visited yesterday and posed too !  Unlikely you know her !!  How many birds can you identify – a close friend responded 10 !  -  Crow, Pigeon, Parrot, Mynah, Peacock, Owl, Sparrow, Duck, Crane, Pelican .. .. ..  and .. .. and !!!

 

'ஓ மைனாஓ மைனா! - இது உன் கண்ணா பொன்மீனா' - என அதிகம் கேட்டிராத பாடல். SPB குரலிலும், TMS குரலிலும் ஒலித்தது..  நான்கு சுவர்கள் 1971 ஆம் ஆண்டு வெளிவந்த தமிழ்த் திரைப்படம். கே. பாலச்சந்தர் இயக்கத்தில் வெளிவந்த இத்திரைப்படத்தில் ஜெய்சங்கர், வாணிஸ்ரீ மற்றும் பலரும் நடித்திருந்தனர். 

The mynas  are a group of birds in the starling family (Sturnidae). This is a group of passerine birds which are native to Iran and Southern Asia, especially Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Several species have been introduced to areas like North America, Australia, South Africa, Fiji and New Zealand, especially the common myna, which is often regarded as an invasive species. It is often known as "Selarang" and "Teck Meng" in Malay and Chinese respectively in Singapore, due to their high population there.  The common myna or Indian myna (Acridotheres tristis), sometimes spelled mynah, is an  omnivorous open woodland bird with a strong territorial instinct that  has adapted extremely well to urban environments.

 

Pictured here is a “Brahminy Starling”.  This handsome starling from India and Nepal is named “pagodarum” in its scientific name, from its habits for perching on temple pagodas in S India. As other Sturnidae, the Brahminy Starling is very gregarious and often seen in large flocks at roosts.  I saw a solitary bird only. 

The adult has long loose crest formed by elongate crown feathers. On nape and upper breast, feathers are also hackled. On the head, forehead and crown are glossy black. The nape is cinnamon with fine shaft streaks. This part is often concealed by the long crest feathers. On the upperparts, mantle, back and rump are brownish-grey.   The tail is grey-brown with white tips except on central pair.The underparts are cinnamon, including the neck sides. The bill is yellow with bluish base. Eyes are pale greenish-yellow. Legs and feet are yellow. 

The   adult Brahminy starling, like  European starling is a handsome species and is a resident of dry scrub forests and has  fondness for perching on buildings and temple pagodas in southern India.  It was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the thrushes in the genus Turdus and coined the binomial name Turdus pagodarum.  The specific epithet pagodarum is Modern Latin meaning "of the temples" or "of the pagodas".  

 
Interesting !
 
With regards – S Sampathkumar
21.10.2024

 

  

Euphorbia pulcherrima ! ~ Monroe doctrine !!

Euphorbia pulcherrima  ! ?  - is that a flower or a plant ??

 

The Monroe Doctrine is a United States foreign policy position that opposes European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. It holds that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers is a potentially hostile act against the United States.  The doctrine was central to American grand strategy in the 20th century. 

President James Monroe first articulated the doctrine on December 2, 1823, during his seventh annual State of the Union Address to Congress. At the time, nearly all Spanish colonies in the Americas had either achieved or were close to independence. Monroe asserted that the New World and the Old World were to remain distinctly separate spheres of influence, and thus further efforts by European powers to control or influence sovereign states in the region would be viewed as a threat to U.S. security.In turn, the United States would recognize and not interfere with existing European colonies nor meddle in the internal affairs of European countries. 

Believe Me, no History post ! – but a photo post on a flower (flowering  plant) 

Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779 – 1851) was an American physician, diplomat and botanist. He was the first U.S. agent in South America, a member of the South Carolina legislature and the United States House of Representatives, the first United States Minister to Mexico, a Unionist leader in South Carolina during the Nullification Crisis, Secretary of War under Martin Van Buren, and a co-founder of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science and the Useful Arts (a predecessor of the Smithsonian Institution). 

Poinsett served as a special envoy to Mexico from 1822 to 1823, when the Government of James Monroe became concerned about the stability of newly independent Mexico. Poinsett, a supporter of the Monroe Doctrine, was convinced that republicanism was the only guarantee of a peaceful, free form of government for North American countries, and tried to influence the government of Agustín de Iturbide, which was beginning to show signs of weakness and divisiveness. The U.S. recognized Mexican independence but it was not until 1825 and the establishment of the Mexican Republic that it sent a minister plenipotentiary. Andrew Jackson and several others turned down the appointment, but Poinsett accepted and resigned his congressional seat. 

On January 12, 1828, in Mexico City, Poinsett signed the first treaty between the United States and Mexico, the Treaty of Limits, a treaty that recognized the U.S.-Mexico border established by the 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty between Spain and the U.S. Because some U.S. political leaders were dissatisfied with the Treaty of Limits and the Adams–Onís Treaty, Poinsett was sent to negotiate acquisition of new territories for the United States, including Texas, New Mexico, and Upper California, as well as parts of Lower California, Sonora, Coahuila, and Nuevo León; but Poinsett's offer to purchase these areas was rejected by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs headed by Juan Francisco de Azcárate. 

The poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is a commercially important flowering plant species of the diverse spurge family Euphorbiaceae. Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, the poinsettia was first described by Europeans in 1834. It is particularly well known for its red and green foliage and is widely used in Christmas floral displays. It derives its common English name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States minister to Mexico, who is credited with introducing the plant to the US in the 1820s. Poinsettias are shrubs or small trees, with heights of 0.6 to 4 m (2.0 to 13.1 ft). Though often stated to be highly toxic, the poinsettia is not dangerous to pets or children.   

Native to Mexico, poinsettias are in the Euphorbia family and are a popular holiday plant because of their colorful bracts (leaves). There is also a species that is used as a cut flower. They are most commonly used for decorating during the winter holidays but are also attractive as green plants throughout the year. Poinsettias change color in response to shorter winter days. Poinsettia flowers are made up of the bracts, which look like petals, and the tiny yellow flowers in the center, called cyathia. The colorful bracts attract insects to the flowers and will drop after pollination. 

Poinsettias are not harmful to animal or human health. But they should not be eaten. Euphorbia pulcherrima is known by other names of :  Bird-of-Paradise Flower; Flame-Leaf Flower; Lobster Flower & of course – Poinsettia.

Interesting !  ~  a picture taken at Yercaud few years ago !!

 
With regards – S Sampathkumar
26.10.2024