The view from my Jharokha (window)

At Jantar Mantar, a photo by Sachin Bery on Flickr.

I wish I had a place like this from where I can have my morning cup of tea and enjoy the greenery and chirping of birds. Jaipur as a city is full of such beautiful pieces of architecture locally known as "Jharokha".(झरोखा)

Imagine the kind of detailed work that would have gone in making these stone look like "Moulded to this shape" - also notice the intricate carvings and "Jaali"(जाली) or Lattice work. Want to see this place for yourself, go ahead and see it at Jantar Mantar (near Hawa Mahal; "The palace of the wind" and a very popular tourist destination in Jaipur, India)

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Break free from everyone...

I was playing with my son and there were all these toys of his which were spread across the floor (for parents this is nothing unusual). What caught my eye was the 'car' which was outside the toy basket while all others were trapped inside the 'so called cage" a.k.a. toy basket...so it was the car that looked like "broke free" from the clutches of the dark lord and spread a bright "yellow" tinge all around.
Not much of post processing done - except edge glow and framing! The pic was taken with a color priority of Yellow...tell me how does it look?

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New Year Wishes 2011

As we say goodbye to 2010 and open our arms to welcome 2011, I am wrapping up my memories, successes, happiness and learnings in a shrink-wrap (the picture above is also shrink wrapped for that purpose).

I hope that this year was a wonderful year for you too and the next year would be much better and bring in more prosperity, happiness and success to you and all in your family.

PS: This pic was taken from the top of Hawa Mahal with the ramparts of Nahargarh fort in the background.

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A City in the Making...

Monsoon is the perfect season to be in Sahyadri Mountains or Western Ghats. This year we decided to take a quick break to places in and around Pune. We decided to do a day trip to Lavasa (called as Free India's first planned hill city). The place is coming up and will take some time; but as a concept it sure is exciting. Check out the location and directions to reach this place here. Do not miss the promenade in the evening and water sports if they are on when you are there. It was raining heavily when we were there and we missed on any outdoor activity. Its a pleasant 1-1.5 hours drive from Pune. By the way - in case you buy a home there ; please let us know we would be happy to come and stay with you during our vacations. :)

Credit is due to Dayanand Gaikwad a.k.a. DG (Link to his Blog) for telling me how to insert location in the blog. Have added the same in this post below.

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Country Roads Take me home...

I dropped my wife at the Shamshabad Airport, Hyderabad and while coming back to my home just stopped by at the shoulder to enjoy the greens and the view in a warm afternoon while driving on ORR (Outer Ring Road). I think it was the seemingly thrust upon solitude along with the loneliness of the road that kind of got connected with each other in my mind and i took this snap. The solace was this is a 2-way road and 2 days into the future i would be traversing the same road but in the opposite direction which would be the end of my solitude. As they say - every cloud has a silver lining; i say that every barren road has a green boundary. Does it make sense?

i wake up in the morning and see a misty valley below; the birds chirping while starting their day; the greens swaying with the morning breeze; the veil of mist just lifting up to give way to bright sunlight; the clouds playing around in the azure skies... what else can one ask for!!! this is the view from my 4 day abode in Mussoorie (the queen of hills), India. Incidently, this was also the first vacation for my son who tyurned 1 year old around this vacation....When are you coming here?

Union of the soul with the super soul

The grace, the grandeur, the elegance, the enigma and the beauty which is attached with various indian dance forms is purely unparalleled.
The Kuchipudi dance form is one that has its origin in Krishna District of present day Andhra Pradesh (2009) and it does share similarities with Bharatnatyam. As per Bharatdesam website, "in nritya it has several lyrical compositions reflecting the desire of a devotee to merge with God - symbolically the union of the soul with the super soul."
This shot seems to be close to this description! The performer was performing with great zeal and vigor and it was really difficult to capture her in a 2D static frame.

Life in my room

The green buds shooting out of the woods, aiming for the sky and trying to achieve it goals...grow grow & grow...btw can you make out what is the subject in focus here?

The Layers!

This is one the pics that i took, by mistake, as i was leaving my abode for 5 days in Ooty. Just turned around and clicked this one to have one last view of The Monarch (the place where i stayed). Instead, i turned a bit to right and captured this layered expanse of nature starting with an array of flowers on a green bed, followed by the royal gate, the green tea gardens, the ever so tall graceful trees, few heavenly abodes, more trees and finally the majestic blue Nilgiris to complete the background. what to choose??

Rolling Slopes gather lot of looks...

...though the rolling stones gather no moss! You look at the views and the tea slopes and all that you can see are the inviting pathways, winds meandering through the tea gardens, roads flowing breezily and you just do not want to leave the place. This place is a tea garden in Coonoor. Take a trip to Coonoor from Ooty (only 19km). Better still catch a train from Ooty. It takes 1 hour, but its worth the journey and now its a world heritage site. You can book the tickets online. Do bring in local flavours of tea including 'chocolate tea'.

I am waiting...

The 'rest pals' (benches) seem to be waiting spreading their arms across the greens, inviting someone who can be with them, share their stories, touch them softly, mumble those whispers and just be with them. I could not resist the invite, you too can meet them at Botanical Gardens, Ooty. Pass on my regards when you meet them...

Abode of the Gods

In India, the places of worship are sometimes more beautifully kept than the houses of the people who visit them. I personally am not able to understand how a beautiful place of worship gives a better praying ground..but then why should i complain!!! It does give me excellent shots. This was taken at Iskcon (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) temple in East of Kailash, New Delhi

Ode to the Dam

"Beauty lies in Contrast" - sometimes, nature and man-made marvels come together to give an interesting canvas to capture. Something that we as humans can never create, but can only enjoy. Lets enjoy this beauty while it lasts! The dam that you see in the background is "Nagarjunasagar" which is one of the best weekend getaways from Hyderabad, the new IT hub of India.

Evening Hues

How many times have you imagined that you sit on the edge of a lake with a cup of hot tea in your hands, a carpet of green grass under your feet and cool breeze touching your soul while you enjoy the setting sun in arms of someone you love the most. I got this opportunity and this capture is from the porch of the room in which we stayed at Punnami Vijay Vihar, Nagarjunasagar. Feeling lost already!

Tranquility Personafied

Sometimes experimentation gives great results. I was trying long exposure shots in low light to capture the waterfall in evening light and what i got was a wonderful curtain fall effect. This place is called Ethipothala .
This waterfall lies eleven km downstream from the Nagarjunasagar dam in a beautiful valley.
These beautiful and refreshing waterfalls, about 60 metres high, originate from the Chandravanka river. They are about 21 km east of Nagarjuna Konda and named after a priest (ethi) who meditated in the caves above "apathalla", meaning "upper place". There are also few cave temples in the area, worshipped in by the locals. Beware of Monkeys when you visit this place.

Path to Salvation

I had passed this path up as i got down the ferry at Nagarjunakonda, and as i reached the top and turned back, i saw a wonderful philosophy in life in action. This is what life sometimes gives - a path that leads to nowhere. However, for the optimist this is an opportunity to use the boat and float to eternity while for the pessimist, this is the end of road. What do you see here??
Want to see this place, catch a ferry from Nagarjunasagar Dam and check out this place.

The Shining Star

You can always be sure that you will get a good capture that will glow in the setting sun. This is one of my favorites. This is a capture of a starfish at Tannirbhavi Beach, Mangalore, India. This small town is having Western Ghats on its east and Arabian Sea on the West. It gets 6 months + of rainfall and is one of the most beautiful places i have stayed in. I worked at this location with my current employer for more than a year. Nice options for trekking are available from here.

Falling for you

The name is Abbe Falls and this place is in Coorg, the scotland of India. I have been to this fall earlier during monsoons and it must have been carrying 10 times the volume of water that it was carrying at this time. However, it still has a great view and above all its the approach to this fall (which passes through a private estate) that adds a bit of suspense to the whole experience. Go and check it out yourself....