Musings of an eccentric mind
Udaipur is often called the Venice of the the east. I haven’t visited Venice, but I’d still prefer it to be called the Udaipur of the west! I’ll let the pictures of the Jag Niwas Palace at Lake Pichola do the rest of the talking:
More photo stories from Udaipur
This is post #28 in this year’s NaBloPoMo, or as Ra calls it Nano Poblano
NaBloPoMo = National Blog Posting Month = Thirty straight days of blogging
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Mario de Miranda was a celebrated Goan artist, illustrator and cartoonist. He began his career in the Times of India in 1953. He passed away in December 2011, and was posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan (India’s second highest civilian honour) in 2012.
There are four galleries dedicated to his art viz. Panjim, Porvorim, Calangute and Mumbai.
Having spent two full days in Calangute, with the Gallery just over a kilometre of where we stayed, we felt it would be quite an injustice, not to visit. And so, with barely an hour left for our departure, we decided to make a dash towards the Gallery.
At the Gallery, we were treated to a mouthwatering array of everyday objects adorned with cartoons.
While most people associate Goa with cashews and feni, we found the gallery to be a treasure trove of very unique souvenirs.
Photos taken with a Moto G3 and Moto G4. Click/tap to enter my Flickr Photostream.
This is post #7 in this year’s NaBloPoMo, or as Ra calls it Nano Poblano
NaBloPoMo = National Blog Posting Month = Thirty straight days of blogging
The shrines at every street turning.
The fifty square feet kolams.
It looks beautiful.
The yelai sappaadu and the million varieties of everything.
The nongu and manga inji.
It tastes exotic.
The aroma of freshly ground coffee.
The incense and malligai.
It smells heavenly.
The taalams of the kutcheri audience.
The rustling of the Palm trees.
It sounds familiar.
The waves rushing towards me.
The sea breeze and the sand.
It feels like home.
“Do you like Delhi or Chennai?” My cousin’s grandfather asked me in a soft childlike voice.
“Both!” I replied.
“No, no, no. I won’t accept that. You have to choose!”
“That’s like asking a child to pick a parent!” I protested.
“Of course! And you must pick one” he replied with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
“Well, I prefer Delhi. But Chennai comes a very very close second.”
He smiled. It was impossible to tell if he was happy with my answer or not.
No matter where you are, or where you’re headed, wishing you a year in the company of friends and family.
As for us, we spent the New Year in both cities 🙂
Glossary
yelai sappaadu/ilai sappadu: literally, food on a leaf. A traditional platter typically served on a plantain leaf. For a more humorous explanation, check out this video.
nongu: Asian palmyra palm, toddy palm, or sugar palm (in science: Borassus flabellifer)
manga inji: literally, mango ginger. A variety of ginger that tastes like raw mango (in science: Curcuma amada)
malligai: Jasmine. Ladies adorn their hair with garlands made of Jasmine
taalam: beats of a musical composition
kutcheri: musical performance, typically used with reference to Carnatic classical music. Audiences across Tamil Nadu can often be seen tapping their hands to the rhythm of the musical piece.
The Dadhikar Fort is well concealed in the Aravalli Hills and even with modern technology, it can be hard to find. So when we did eventually find it, we tried to get as close a look at we could!
Photographs edited with the help of my brother.
Related post: The fort in the hills
This is post #29 in this year’s NaBloPoMo, or as Ra calls it Nano Poblano
NaBloPoMo = National Blog Posting Month = Thirty straight days of blogging
Wishing you all a very happy Deepavali and a prosperous year ahead!
This is post #11 in this year’s NaBloPoMo, or as Ra calls it Nano Poblano
NaBloPoMo = National Blog Posting Month = Thirty straight days of blogging
Luxury hotels tend to have a rather extravagant décor. Here are a few pictures I snapped using my phone a few months back at a couple of Delhi hotels. Click on the images to view larger size.
In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Ornate.”
This is post #8 in this year’s NaBloPoMo, or as Ra calls it Nano Poblano
NaBloPoMo = National Blog Posting Month = Thirty straight days of blogging
I’ve always had a soft corner for birds. But it’s always been a challenge to photograph them near my house. They hardly sit still long enough to allow me to take a picture. The birds in the jungle though seemed to be quite extroverted.
The Jungle Babblers, which are so restless in the city, didn’t seem to be afraid of us at all. One sat right next to us on our Gypsy, while a few more were perched atop the wind shield. Looking at the pictures, I suppose they were probably angry because we were trespassing their territory.
We spotted a Rufous Treepie at the exact same spot under a bush three times. I suspect it was looking after a nest, although I didn’t find one.
There were several Bulbuls too — some that allowed me to come real close. As strange as it sounds, I’d never been so close to them before in my life. And in my greed to capture a close-up, I didn’t get a clean shot at all.
Here are a few shots I did get.
Click on a picture to view larger size.
In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Treat.”
A few months back, we paid a visit to an old bungalow in Old Delhi, and I couldn’t take my camera off this beautiful spiral staircase!
And here’s yet another angle beneath my feet.
Many thanks to the kind landlady for tolerating this shutter-bug 🙂
More angles of everything under the sun over at the Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: From Every Angle
A photo story…
Waking up to the smell of fresh filter kaapi
The sight of beautiful flowers on my way to work
Getting hands-on experience at work
Attending productive meetings, seminars and conferences
Coming home to see a dream come to life
And to end a day on a sweet note, a cake — or two!
To see what a good day means to other bloggers, visit the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge
It was on the first of March, a Sunday, that our family got together. It was after such a long time that we went out together, that we joked that it would rain. And sure enough, it did! Little did we know, that it was the beginning of a very strange phenomenon. Not only on that day, but almost every subsequent Sunday, it rained.
North India has witnessed, over the past two months, unpredictable weather, and many crops have been damaged due to this unseasonal rain. Vrindavan, it appears had its own share of golf-ball sized hail storm, if the pictures shared on WhatsApp are to be believed*.
Is this weather a result of climate change? I don’t know. But it definitely seems eerie.
A few weeks back, I was at the India Habitat Centre, where I saw a very interesting art installation, and seemed to fit in rather well with the issue at hand. Delhi-based artist Gopal Namjoshi combined scrap iron to create a garden, to highlight the importance of ecological conservation. The garden included flowers, small birds, deer and peacocks, as well as a man resting on a chair!
Below are a few snapshots of the installation.
For more about the artist, please visit Gopal Namjoshi’s Website
Related News Article: Installations made from scrap
* Images of the Vrindavan hailstorm – Any of you received these images on WhatsApp?
Musings of an eccentric mind 