The Bridge on General's Road Mhow

 

The small bridge at the end of General's Road... Clicked at 10:14 pm on Saturday night. (22 Nov 2025) 

Stopped the scooter, switched off the headlight and clicked a few times. 

#postcardfrommhow

The Indian Paradise Flycatcher

 The Indian Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi) Rufous morph, Common names in Hindi/ Hindustani: सुल्तान बुलबुल, दूधराज, अर्जुनक, रज्जुवाल (रक्तवर्णी)

A summer migrant from below the Vindhyas. The state bird of Madhya Pradesh. They breed and return to the southern part of the subcontinent with their young at the onset of winter. 

A collage made from recent photographs so beautifully clicked in Gurugram, Haryana by the passionate birder Arvind Yadav. 

Females are always rufous and they lack the bright blue head and long tape like tails which males have. Males are born rufous but some change to a white morph in the sub adult stage.

Seen all over Madhya Pradesh 

#birdsofmhow

Hot Cross Buns For Good Friday

 Saturday 19 April 2025. A day after Good Friday. 

Hot cross buns made by Gulab bakery for Good Friday. An annual ritual.... The Scottish Kirk can be seen in the background. 

Gulab and Jeevan Bakeries function from the same Raj era barracks and both make these hot cross buns for Good Friday. 

This is an area which reeks of the Raj era. The Sacred Heart Church, the Scottish Kirk and its graveyard, the Wesleyan church, the St Thomas seminary, St. Mary's Convent, Rajeshwar Vidyalaya, Craven Hotel and not far are the Protestant and Catholic graveyards and the Railway colony where the Anglo Indians lived... 

#postcardfrommhow #

Thus Spake Dr B R Ambedkar

Dr B R Ambedkar (14 Apr 1891- 6 Dec 1956) jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India.  It was his 134th birth anniversary yesterday 14 April 1891.

 • I like the religion that teaches liberty, equality and fraternity.

• Political tyranny is nothing compared to social tyranny and a reformer, who defies society is a more courageous man than a politician who defies government.

• So long as you do not achieve social liberty, whatever freedom is provided by the law is of no avail to you.

• Men are mortal. So are ideas. An idea needs propagation as much as a plant needs watering otherwise both will wither and die.

•I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved.

Public domain photograph of Dr Ambedkar.

#postcardfrommhow

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙥𝙤𝙘𝙧𝙮𝙥𝙝𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙊𝙛 𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣 𝘾𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙡'𝙨 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙈𝙝𝙤𝙬.

 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙥𝙤𝙘𝙧𝙮𝙥𝙝𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙊𝙛 𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣 𝘾𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙡'𝙨 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙈𝙝𝙤𝙬.  

What you see an obsolete artillery gun placed at the erstwhile Joggers' Park on the Mall in Mhow. The old bungalow which existed here was supposed to be the house where Winston Churchill stayed when, according to local legend, he was in Mhow in the late 19th century for a few months. There is no proof of whether Churchill actually stayed in Mhow. He hasn't mentioned Mhow anywhere in his writings. Nevertheless this compound is still called "Churchill Bangla" by Mhow wallahs. 

#postcardfrommhow

Sunset At Nakheri

 

Sunset at Nakheri dam, sunday 08-Dec-24

Nakheri river which starts from the hill of Janapao and is dammed at village Badgonda of Mhow. I had first visited this site 45 years ago  in the winter of 1979 on a long walk till Mehendikund, this dam was being built then. How time flies!!! 

#postcardfrommhow #naturenotefrommhow

The Beautiful Banyans of Mhow

 Fusion. Banyan tree at the end of General's Road near the bridge. 

Ficus benghalensis, बरगद, बड़ 

#naturenotefrommhow #floraofmhow #treesofmhow #banyansofmhow #postcardfrommhow

Nov 26. Constitution Day.

 Nov 26. Constitution Day. Let's actually protect the Constitution of India instead of paying lip service to it. 

===========================

On 26 November 1949, the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution, which came into effect on January 26, 1950, marking India’s transition to a democratic republic.

===========================

Public domain photograph of Dr B R Ambedkar, Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee and independent India's first minister for law and justice.

Dr Ambedkar was born in Mhow on 14 April 1891.

His father Subedar Major Ramji Sakpal of the Mahar Regiment was posted here. 

#postcardfrommhow

"Batle le lo"

"बटले ले लो" रविवार २८/११/२०१०

Selling peas from a thela (handcart), Mhow, Sunday 28/11/2010

You can see the Garrison Ground too. 

P. S. In the Malwi dialect which is spoken in this area मटर (peas) are known as बटले (batle) 

#postcardfrommhow

The Best Part of the Day

 The best part of the day ... returning from school. 

From my archives Nov 22, 2011.

#postcardfrommhow

The Black Redstart, A Winter Migrant

 Black Redstart, a winter migrant, which arrives in the Indian mainland anytime after mid September, clicked in our garden in Oct 2016.

Its tail shivers so it's known as "thir थिरा" थिर थिरा in Hindi. 

#postcardfrommhow 

#naturenotefrommhow

 #birdsofmhow 

New Leaves On The Mango

 New leaves on the mango. 

आम पे नये पत्ते Mangifera indica

The common name mango and the genus name mangifera come from manga the Portugese word for this fruit which comes from the Malay word mangga and which in turn comes from the Tamil man-kay. 

#naturenotefrommhow #floraofmhow #treesofmhow #postcardfrommhow

Dingo says "All I Need Is Love"

 

"I need some lovin', lots of it actually... " said Dingo to Shashank and offered his back. :-) Pics courtesy Evangeline

I don't think  c"I 

The TDC-316 At MCTE Mhow

The TDC-316 At MCTE Mhow

The TDC-316 (Trombay Digital Computer, 3rd generation, 16 bit word size) displayed at the FCTS (Faculty of Computer Technology and Systems), MCTE, Military College of Telecommunication Engineering, Mhow on which I wrote many COBOL and FORTRAN programs in 1980-81 while attending programming courses conducted by the Mhow chapter of the Computer Society of India. Photograph clicked on 09 April 2011. 

#postcardfrommhow #csimhowchapter

Infantry Day 2013. A memory.

Eleven years ago. 27.10.2013. Infantry Day celebrations in Mhow Cantonment. 

These young soldiers of the 22nd Battalion of the Sikh Regiment were some of those who were on duty that day. They will be in some other corner of the country now. 

Infantry Day 2024: Recalling the first Indian military action, on this date in 1947 in J&K - Indian Express Oct 27, 2024

#postcardfrommhow

Budhiya ke Baal

Fifteen years ago. 31-10-2009. 

A young lad selling cotton candy aka "budhiya ke baal" (बुढ़िया के बाल) has just crossed the bridge where General's Road ends and One Tree Hill Road begins. He's obviously heading towards the village of Gangliya Khedi where he can expect good sales. Mhow wallas can compare how this area looked fifteen years ago with how it looks today. 

#postcardfrommhow

The Cantonment Post Office of Mhow

 At the Cantonment Post Office of Mhow. Also the former Telegraph office. Nineteenth century
vintage. New roof :-) 

Clicked on my cycle ride this morning

#postcardfrommhow

Pansy Butterflies in Mhow.

 The six 'pansies' ... 

Pansy butterflies clicked in Mhow.

Top row: Grey Pansy, Blue Pansy. 

Middle Row: Peacock Pansy, Lemon Pansy

Bottom Row: Chocolate Pansy and Yellow Pansy. 

Photographs courtesy Arvind Yadav, Mhow. Aug 2020

#naturenotefrommhow #butterfliesofmhow

Beautiful Baobab Flower in B&W

 

This baobab flower looks so beautiful in black and white. 

No wonder the French poet, artist and film director Jean Cocteau had once said, "Black and white is colour and colour is black and white."

This flower is on one of my many tree friends (वृक्ष मित्र)- the one at the gate of the Defence Officers' Club aka DSOMI Mhow formerly the Club of Central India. 

Scientific name: Adansonia digitata

Common names: खोरासानी इमली, मांडव इमली, गोरख चिंच, monkey-bread tree, African calabash. 

#naturenotefrommhow #floraofmhow #treesofmhow #baobabsofmhow

The Beauty of an Indian Robin

The Indian Robin - small, common 

and beautiful.