Oh Butterfly ! Dragonfly !! - Dragon Butterfly !!

You have loved seeing Butterflies and have seen Dragonflies when it is about to rain – have you seen this flying insect – resembling both ? (if yes, please put 3 ! as your comment)

சினிமாக்களில் மிகைப்படுத்தப்பட்ட ஓர் உயிரினம் - வண்ணாத்திப்பூச்சி .. .. மிக அழகாக இருக்கும் - மண்ணில் பறந்து திரியும் வானவில் தான் பட்டாம் பூச்சி. வானில் தோன்றும் வானவில்லில் ஏழு நிறங்கள் மட்டுமே இருக்கும். ஆனால் பட்டாம் பூச்சிகள் பல வண்ணங்களில் பரவசப்படுத்தும். அதற்கேற்றார் போல் அதற்கு வண்ணத்துப்பூச்சி என்று மற்றொரு பெயரும் உண்டு.   மனதில் காதல் வந்தால், உங்கள் தேவதையை பார்த்தவுடன் சுற்றி சுற்றி வண்ணாத்தி பூச்சிகள் பறக்குமாம் !  உங்களுக்கு பறந்ததுண்டா அல்லது எவ்வளவு முறை அவ்வாறு பறந்துள்ளது ?!?

திக்குத் தெரியாத காட்டில்-உன்னைத் தேடித் தேடி இளைத்தேனே..  is one of the many songs of the great Tamil Poet Subrahmanya Barathiyar. ‘Thikku Theriyatha kattil’ (in a forest lost in directions) was also the name of a hit movie released in 1972 starring Muthuraman and Lakshmi … a song ‘பூப்பூவா பறந்து போகும் பட்டுப்பூச்சி அக்கா – நீ பளபளன்னு போட்டிருப்பது யாரு கொடுத்த சொக்கா’ – a child asking the butterfuly as to who gave it such a beautiful shirt ! – was a grand hit of yesteryears. 

In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state. The term is closely associated with the work of mathematician and meteorologist Edward Norton Lorenz. He noted that the butterfly effect is derived from the metaphorical example of the details of a tornado (the exact time of formation, the exact path taken) being influenced by minor perturbations such as a distant butterfly flapping its wings several weeks earlier. Lorenz originally used a seagull causing a storm but was persuaded to make it more poetic with the use of butterfly and tornado by 1972. 

Insects (from Latin insectum) are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and one pair of antennae.  Lepidoptera is an order of insects that includes butterflies and moths.   Odonata is an order of flying insects that includes the dragonflies and damselflies. 

Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera.  Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight.   Butterfly fossils date to the Paleocene, about 56 million years ago. Butterflies have a four-stage life cycle, as like most insects they undergo complete metamorphosis. Winged adults lay eggs on the food plant on which their larvae, known as caterpillars, will feed.

 

Not as attractive is the one that we see generally when it is cloudy and about to rain – a  dragonfly,  an insect belonging to the order Odonata, having hindwing broader than front wing. Adult dragonflies are characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, sometimes with coloured patches and an elongated body. Dragonflies are agile fliers, while damselflies have a weaker, fluttery flight.  Have seen blue, green and black dragonflies – and red ones too.   Dragonflies are predators, both in their aquatic larval stage, when they are known as nymphs or naiads, and as adults. Several years of their lives are spent as nymphs living in fresh water; the adults may be on the wing for just a few days or weeks. 

This post is on another one sighted yesterday – was that ‘Butter dragonfly’ or ‘Dragon butterfly’ – not known to me. 

 

This dreamy insect looks like it’s swimming through air. It looks like a creation for Disney’s Fantasia that was bumped last-minute for those weird lady fish with the bedroom eyes. Just wait until you see this thing in motion. Found in South and Southeast Asia,   the dragontail butterfly comes in two forms.   The dragontail butterflies belong to the swallowtail butterfly family (Papilionidae), which contains hundreds of species found all over the world. 

Unlike the orchard swallowtail butterfly, which has no tail whatsoever, despite being a swallowtail, the dragontail butterfly has a luxurious one that, at 4cm long, can rival its wingspan. Its colouring is mostly black and white, but with a bright turquoise or light green band running roughly parallel to its abdomen. That glass-like transparent triangle on each forewing is known as hyaline – a transparent, colourless feature exemplified by the pellucid hawk moth, found in Queensland.

 

Not sure whether the one photographed here is anyone of these – I choose to call it ‘Dragon Butterfly’.   It was indeed a challenge, photographing this flying insect !

Interesting ! 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
27.10.2022

  

Parrots - Amaradeepam - Random harvest !!

In England, a century ago  in November 1918, "John Smith"  a British officer who was gassed in the trenches during the First World War, having lost his memory, and apparently with no means of identification,  is confined to an asylum as an unidentified inmate. A couple visits him, only to see that he is not their missing son, which disappoints him as much as them. On the day the war ends, the gatekeepers abandon their posts to join the celebration in the nearby Midlands town of Melbridge, and Smith wanders out of the asylum. 

Random Harvest is a 1942 American romantic drama film based on  James Hilton novel of the same title, directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Claudine West, George Froeschel, and Arthur Wimperis adapted the novel for the screen, and received an Academy Award nomination. The novel keeps the true identity of Paula/Margaret a secret until the very end, something that would have been impossible in a film, where characters’ faces must be seen.

 

பச்சைக்கிளி பாடுது பக்கம் வந்தே ஆடுது

இங்கே பாரு உன் துன்பம் பறந்தோடுது

 

அதிகம் கேட்டு இருக்க வாய்ப்பில்லை !!   அமரதீபம் என்ற  1956 ஆம் ஆண்டு வெளிவந்த தமிழ்த் திரைப்பட பாடல் இது.  டி. பிரகாஷ் ராவ் இயக்கத்தில் வெளிவந்த இத்திரைப்படத்தில் சிவாஜி கணேசன், தங்கவேலு, பத்மினி, சாவித்திரி மற்றும் பலரும் நடித்திருந்தனர். 

அமரதீபம் ராண்டம் ஹார்வெஸ்ட் கதையை தழுவி எடுக்கப்பட்டதாம். 

life lesson from little sparrow !!

Important lesson from a small sparrow !! 

Life can be likened to a rose. It is beautiful to look at but has thorns that can prick us. Such thorns are like the struggles and difficulties that God destines  to go through. Thorns have their unique purpose—to prevent the rose from being harmed.   

In life, we see many human made / circumstantial impediments – fences that keep us away.  A fence is a structure that encloses an area,   connected by boards, wire, rails. Meshes, thorns, broken bottles  or netting.  We do see iron pricks on the fencing threatening us .. .. they could harm one badly.   Unlike wood fencing, iron fencing will not warp or rot when exposed to moisture, although there is some risk of corrosion. 

An impediment is anything that slows or blocks progress. It can refer to a physical thing, like a fallen tree in the road, or something more intangible, like how your short stature is an impediment to becoming a professional sportsperson.  

The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, earlier found in abundance. It is a small bird.   

 

BUT –  the block -  is all in the mind .. .. no doubt prickly iron fencing is dangerous – but for whom ? – may be for a big predator, it cannot pass through – not for a small sparrow.  Many a times, we fear obstacles  - perhaps with calm thinking, one would realize that such obstacle is no impediment at all .. .. it is a stone lying on the road and you have enough space to move forward.  

From Sampspeak to Sampthoughts !!  

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
25.10.2022

  

10 Downing Street's new occupant .. .. and the first Prime Minister of UK ?

No cliché post of how karma is a boomerang and how UK that ruled India is now about to be ruled by an Indian !!  .. .. .. Rishi Sunak took oath as MP from Yorkshire, on the Bhagavad Gita in the Parliament. He was the first UK parliamentarian to do so.  During the campaigning for the PM's post in the summer of 2022, Rishi Sunak faced criticism on various fronts including his lavish house, expensive suits, and shoes.

As a young man, Walpole had bought shares in the South Sea Company, which monopolised trade with Spain, the Caribbean and South America. The speculative market for slaves, rum and mahogany spawned a frenzy that had ramifications throughout Europe when it collapsed. However, Walpole had bought at the bottom and sold at the top, adding greatly to his inherited wealth and allowing him to create Houghton Hall as seen today.

Walpole's political career began in January 1701 when he won a seat in the English general election at Castle Rising in Norfolk.  The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery)  was a British joint-stock company founded in  1711, created as a public-private partnership to consolidate and reduce the cost of the national debt. To generate income, in 1713 the company was granted a monopoly (the Asiento de Negros) to supply African slaves to the islands in the "South Seas" and South America.  When the company was created, Britain was involved in the War of the Spanish Succession and Spain and Portugal controlled most of South America.  The  Company stock rose greatly in value as it expanded its operations dealing in government debt, and peaked in 1720 before suddenly collapsing to little above its original flotation price. The notorious economic bubble thus created, which ruined thousands of investors, became known as the South Sea Bubble.  The Bubble Act 1720 forbade the creation of joint-stock companies without royal charter, was promoted by the South Sea Company itself before its collapse.

Indians are not fit to rule – they are only fit to be ruled – thundered British a few decades ago !  .. .. now it is not London Bridge that is falling down!

                                  Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss the list of Prime Minister from our school days  -  now  Rishi Sunak will be the UK's next prime minister after winning the Conservative Party leadership contest.   No 10 says Sunak will formally take over as PM tomorrow morning after meeting King Charles, and will give a statement at around 11:35.  That'll follow a final cabinet meeting chaired by outgoing PM Liz Truss. 

The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the Principal minister of the crown of His Majesty's Government, and the head of the British Cabinet.   In 1905, the post of prime minister was officially given recognition in the order of precedence.  The first to use the title in an official act was Benjamin Disraeli, who signed the Treaty of Berlin as "Prime Minister of Her Britannic Majesty" in 1878.

Of the many Prime Ministers, Attlee is a name to remember – for he was the PM of UK when India attained freedom from the British.  Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS (1883 –1967) served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Minister during the wartime coalition government under Winston Churchill, and served twice as Leader of the Opposition from 1935 to 1940 and from 1951 to 1955.  Attlee was born into an upper-middle-class family, the son of a wealthy London solicitor.  

As the European front of WWII reached its conclusion, the war cabinet headed by Churchill was dissolved and elections were held. The Labour Party, led by Attlee, won a landslide victory in the 1945 general election, on their post-war recovery platform. Following the election, Attlee led the construction of the first Labour majority government. His government's Keynesian approach to economic management aimed to maintain full employment, a mixed economy and a greatly enlarged system of social services provided by the state. To this end, it undertook the nationalisation of public utilities and major industries, and implemented wide-ranging social reforms, including the passing of the National Insurance Act 1946 and National Assistance Act, the formation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948, and the enlargement of public subsidies for council house building.  Attlee's foreign policy focused on decolonization efforts which he delegated to Ernest Bevin, but personally oversaw the partition of India (1947), the independence of Burma and Ceylon, and the dissolution of the British mandates of Palestine and Transjordan.  Attlee had inherited a country close to bankruptcy following the Second World War and beset by food, housing and resource shortages; despite his social reforms and economic programme, these problems persisted throughout his premiership, alongside recurrent currency crises and dependence on US aid. His party was narrowly defeated by the Conservatives in the 1951 general election, despite winning the most votes.  

The man referred in 2^nd para - Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG PC (1676 – 1745) was a British statesman and Whig politician who is  regarded as the de facto first Prime Minister of Great Britain. Although the exact dates of Walpole's dominance, dubbed the "Robinocracy",  are a matter of scholarly debate, the period 1721–1742 is often used – a period of 21 years !    He played a significant role in sustaining the Whig party, safeguarding the Hanoverian succession, and defending the principles of the Glorious Revolution (1688). 

Under the guidance of Walpole, Parliament attempted to deal with the financial crisis brought on by the South Sea Bubble. The estates of the directors of the South Sea Company were used to relieve the suffering of the victims, and the stock of the company was divided between the Bank of England and East India Company. The crisis gravely damaged the credibility of the King and of the Whig Party, but Walpole defended both with skilful oratory in the House of Commons. 

10 Downing Street in London,  is the official residence and executive office of the First Lord of the Treasury, usually, by convention, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  Along with the adjoining Cabinet Office at 70 Whitehall, it is the headquarters of the Government of the United Kingdom. Situated in Downing Street in the City of Westminster, London, Number 10 is over 300 years old and contains approximately 100 rooms. A private residence for the prime minister's use occupies the third floor and there is a kitchen in the basement. The other floors contain offices and conference, reception, sitting and dining rooms where the prime minister works, and where government ministers, national leaders and foreign dignitaries are met and hosted.  Rishi Sunak is going to be its next occupant !! 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
25^th Oct 2022.