The same cratered face after the lunar eclipse

For the last so many days, there was nothing more exciting than the lunar eclipse that was to be seen on 21st of December. Sky gazers and lunar eclipse lovers all over the world waited for the moment anxiously and excitedly for the eclipse day. I have seen forums full of questions as the timings and areas where the eclipse would be seen. The eclipse occurred as per the stipulated time, watched and then passed away, leaving the same moon with its cratered face once again.

The world now busies itself into its worldly affairs once more after the eclipse and the event would be soon forgotten. And once again Wikileaks will assume attentions of those who want to listen or read to dramatic and juicy news, scandals and finger pointers.

Most of the Christian world would now be engrossed to make the final purchases to celebrate Christmas two days from hence. And then there would be waiting for the New Year’s Eve celebrations. While the lunar eclipse was a “shady” event, Christmas and New Year’s Eve would be all lights and colours.

While the world for next seven-eight days will be all fun and laughter, few would ponder over the grave and tragic incidents that happened in the year 2010. People already seem to have long forgotten the flood victims of Pakistan and Haiti, just like the lunar eclipse. Our cratered face reappears which cares for the fun and laughter, but never cares for the miseries being suffered by a vast majority of the poor world.

I wish there comes a day when everyone joins hand together to save for the poor and needy rather than celebrating. Can there be a year dedicated for the poor, a year in which no celebrations are to take place except the inner celebration of having cared, thought and sided with the poor? Let not our joy and fun eclipse the miseries and sufferings of the poor of the world anymore.

Photo: Jalalspages

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Celebrating 100 Posts with Petunia

Photo: Jalalspages (Flickr)

Today I am celebrating the completion of 100 posts in my blog with one of many favourite flowers, Petunia. The blog that I started in July this year reached 100 posts yesterday. So it is a big day for The Fire Within.

Petunia is a beautiful flower, with vivid and lucid colours, that is a spring’s specialty, specially for home gardeners. It comes in red, blue, mauve, mixed red and white (above) white and pink. Every year, my wife makes it a point to plant at least 4-6 colours of petunia in our home garden.

This time it being our first year in our new house, we have planted five colours of petunia to bloom in the coming spring. I may add here that petunia is planted in the month of Novemebr and dtarts to appear by end February and is in full bloom in March-April. Petunia remains fresh and lively till May, when it starts to decline and wither away.

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Light from Heavens

Photo: Jalalspages (Flickr)



Iqbal Manzil stairs - the birth place of national poet of Pakistan Dr Sir Allama Muhammad Iqbal. The building is more than 150 years old and is part of National Heritage.

Read more about the building at: Iqbal Manzil (Pakistanpaedia)

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Yellow Poppy

Every spring, a wide variety of flowers ornament my garden, thanks to my wife’s love of flowers and gardening. While I join her to admire her mature flower plantation, it also provides me a chance to satisfy my photographic hobby. The bright yellow poppy above was once part of our spring plantation. The beautiful fully grown petals spread out majestically to all directions while exposing its full bloom.

Poppy flowers have generally 4-6 petals, but some species also have up to eight petals. Oriental poppies, natives of the Mediterranean region, have the largest flowers, often six to eight inches across. The popular, many-colored Shirley Poppies are cultivated forms of the corn, or Flanders poppy, a common wild flower of Europe and Asia. Poppy comes in many colours; red, blue, orange, yellow and white. While the ornamental poppy flowers are used in homes and garden, wild poppy provides ingredients for food and drugs and their extracts are also used for making opium. The wild poppy has gray-green leaves and white to purple flowers and the juice for opium making is extracted from its unripe seed pods.

Poppy is a symbol of both death and sleep, mainly because of its ability to produce opium. The bright red coloured poppy in Greco-Roman mythology symbolizes death. But home grown poppies for use in gardens and decoration have more pleasant use and display value.

Photo: Flora-Poppy (Jalalspages at Flickr)

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Evening Reflections

It was just the sunset time that evening, which usually makes me photographic werewolf, but I was without my camera. I normally carry it when I go out lest I miss a golden opportunity to be frozen through my lens. But this was not that day. But the setting sun stopped me in my tracks. The sun was behind the huge electric pylons and its pale light was falling on a pool of water left out by the previous night’s rainfall.

I was mesmerized and spellbound by the scene. I stood there, all by myself out in nowhere, watching the pale yellow disc going down slowly, making the environment more ghostly and dramatic. I even forgot that at least I was carrying my cellular phone. While watching the sun and cursing me for not carrying the camera, I suddenly remembered my good old cell phone. I hurriedly got hold of the cell phone and took this shot. Surprisingly the photo came out tremendously great.

I shared this on my Flickr account Jalalspages, and the photo was instantly picked by the Flickr Explore – a commendation, thanks to my cell phone that came handy in preserving this great sunset and moment around me.

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My Foot (not joking)

My photography

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