Kalpataru A Musical

Once in a way you get to see a good play, and if it is a musical, then nothing like it. Kalpataru is an adaptation of an ancient Kannada folk tale which was put across in an interesting manner.

The play in Hindi was put up at Symbiosis Auditorium, Pune on 24th (there was a show held in Mumbai the previous day) 

What I liked best about the play was that it was performed by school children. They had no inhibitions and performed with ease. The flawless performance was an indication of the number of rehearsals that they must have gone through.

The usual story tellers that you see in Marathi plays were present here too in the form of Chota seth and Mota seth. 

To make it interesting they have mixed a little bit of the modern, like the king sitting on the throne taking selfies 

Even though I have a lot of video footage, I made a short video of the interesting parts  which runs to about six minutes and uploaded it on YouTube.  

Special mention should be made about the singers and the accompanying tabla and peti (Harmonium)

Another thing that impressed me was that there were no photographers running around blocking the view and there were no annoying flashes. So I too put up my tripod in one corner and managed to capture some good pictures. 

The costume, the lighting and the music were perfect which goes to say that the funding from Flowering Tree, Inc was properly utilized.

Proof of a good performance is a standing ovation at the final curtain call. 

Edit on 3rd May
Added one more short video today.

Sunlight and vegetables

Nothing like seeing the morning sunlight filtering in through the green foliage when you are having your morning cup of tea. 

This is the first time that we are trying the Red Cabbage in our garden.  They are blooming well along with the normal cabbage.  We may have to wait another 3 months to pluck them.  

We found that these Grow Bags are better than normal conventional pots and it is cost effective too.

The Radish too are coming up well and it is about time to pluck them for our next salad. I wonder why they are always peeping out of the soil. 

It may take another day or two for the lettuce leaves to join the radish in the salad 

Daily morning I see one or two of these yellow flowers fully bloomed waiting for the bees. They fall off by evening. These flowers are from the sponge gourd creeper.. 

The decorative flowers are managing to hold on in one corner.

Looks like the green chillies are going to be surplus this year too. Last year there was continuous growth for six months. 

But what has got me really excited is the sight of these bunch of flowers that has come up on our Vanilla creeper. Its flowered after a gap of 2 years. 

Five years ago I had written in detail about the flowering cycle and the artificial pollination that one has to do for the Vanilla.

In a bunch, one or two flowers bloom in a day. They have to be artificially pollinated before noon. The ideal time is 9 to 10 am (they slowly close up as the sun gets hotter) If the flowers are successfully pollinated, they dry up but hold on to the stem. These stem (stalk) behind the flower grow thicker and ultimately becomes the Vanilla pods. In my attempt to pollinate, I see about 30% success this year. It requires patience and practice.  

The regular tomatoes are coming up well with the perfect round shape, but the cherry tomatoes are a peculiar variety. Never seen these oval shaped ones before. 

The mint leaves have got its perfect green sheen. I always put in a mint leaf along with a blade of lemon grass (cut into small pieces) in my morning tea.  Apart from its medicinal benefits, the aroma is very pleasing.  

A twig of the mint went into the decoration of the flan that we had yesterday.