Guess ??

Can you guess what flower this is ?

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Resemblence..

I always thought the little one was a carbon copy of me and she resembled me more than anyone else. I was wrong!

She actually looks just like my mother! Somehow we all missed it.

Here is a comparison of the only childhood photo of my mom and baby as she is today..

Photograph from the mid 1940's vs. photo taken today!

If only I had the same dangling rings for her ear and a retro frock!

Genetics in action!

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Thanks for blooming!

We have been in this house since last May! Had this tree in the front yard which had no leaves, no flowers, no fruits. Looked dry and barren. When I asked my neighbour, he said "I think it is a flowering tree! Do not know why it is not sprouting this year! Maybe the roots are damaged. Call an arborist."

I was actually in two minds to get rid of the tree since it was in the way of some construction work in the front yard.

Now all of a sudden, the tree is full of flowers.

For a full week there were only big white and purple flowers!! Now it has some leaves as well!

Here is the little one playing in front of the tree. She loves the flowers.

Glad I waited!!

Crocodile park

Went to the Crocodile park in Chennai (on East Coast Road). Spent 2 hours there. Saw enough crocodiles for a lifetime! The snakes from the Guindy snake park (which I have visited many times as a kid) have also been moved to this location.

At the entrance, there was this cute tortoise and turtle exhibit.

Here is a map of the worlds croc's. I didnt know that crocodiles were there in all these places!

The adults are almost my age !!

There were three different huge areas with at least 30 or so crocs in each tank.

They practically had a sample of every type of crocodile in this place (alligators and gharials too)!

The sample above covers asia, south america, north america and africa !!

For the grand finale, there was this Dinosaur !!

Note the two little dinosaurs watching the big one!


We also visited the snakes..

Here they are, up close and personal..




There are 4-5 snakes in every one of those pots and the guys keep milking venom every two minutes.

Me: Sir, enakku oru doubtu saar ! (I have a doubt!)
Cool snake venom milking dude (we will abreviate this to dude) : Sollunga Saar (tell me)
Me : how come you dont wear any gloves ?
Dude : we tried gloves. But then the snakes slip through and bite us. Bare hands is better!
Me : do you guys get bit ?
Dude : yes. sometimes.
Me : what then ?
Dude : depending on the snake we have anywhere between 2 hours to 24 to get to a hospital!
Me : you are kidding.
Dude : No Saar. Really. We have a vehicle standing by in case we get bit.

Luckily dude didnt give me a demo of getting bit! But, it was awesome. The whole park is nice. Top notch quality for any animal park! Loved it. Dont miss it if you are visiting Chennai, and do take the kids. I thought Jr. would be scared, but she actually enjoyed it!

Daughter's posing a problem ??

They have a mind of their own, I tell you!!

Not a problem.. still cute !