Catching a Squirrel .. Phew!!

Capturing a squirrel's shot had been a very difficult one always for me.. but i some how manage to have a model at one of the temples at Maheswar, UP, India.. Unfortunately, my size did disturb him as i went a step closure to take another shot...

Grrr... Size does matter ;)

Sanchi... My discovery

During my recent leisure trip to Indore, wanted to visit Sanchi. One of the other reasons being that tehre was no direct train / flight service from Chennai to Indore. So while going from Chennai happen to go by train via Bhopal. As we had to stay in for the night at Bhopal and catch the next train to Indore next evening, so the best part was visit Sanchi which is some 60 Kms away from Bhopal. The biggest surprise was that every one around stated that there is nothing to watch there. But being a ardent lover of history and old buildings, i wanted to go down to check the place for self.

Started by around 8.45 am from Bhopal . On a February morning it was quite windy and chill throughout our drive. We went through some amazing mustard fields, which were captivating and the scenic view which you may not see down south here..

On our way, happened to pick up some desi food, Aloo bondas, samaosas (Loved it, had an eastern state flavour) and Bhopal morning staple; Poha & Jelabi (Did not like the combo so much!!).

Reached there by around 9.45 am and after purchasing the tickets as we stepped in, it was a wonderful feeling... the mist had created an amazing picture around the stupas... We first started to understand the history on our own but then managed to get a good guide, who went on explaining the various Stupas and the latest excavations happening there. There is so much of history to the place. Each gate tells the story of a "bodhisatva" life and that of Lord Budha. I was equally surprised to see so many srilankan citizens who throng that place as a religious trip. It was a great feeling. No one tells us what is inside these huge stupas, but it is actually the "Ashes" of various saints and lord Budha which has been preserved by King Ashoka after he took over his spiritual journey.

There was a learning relic too, which reminded me of the "Arcoplois of Athens" (Not in the same grandeur but in a smaller version). The excavated areas actually states the knowledge bases that had been then.. There are so many of them..

In the month of November there is a three day fest where both the Indian & Srilankan Government come together at Sanchi to celebrate the "Sambodhi festival".

Even the museum was a delight. It is not the artifacts kept there but the photographs that state how Sanchi was discovered and the various stages of building it up. The only thing that surprised me was that, most of the Lord Budha's status are beheaded, very rarely would you find any of the status are intact.

Overall it was an amazing journey... A must see while trying to "Discover India"....

Kite Relations

While drawing a kite for my son.. i realized how similar relationships are to that of a kite.. Each of us in a relationship seems to be flying a kite. When we begin we hold it tight and raise it high in out own best capabilities for the kite to get the gush of air filled with love and warmth.. The warmer the air the higher they soar.... And when it gets high up in the air, we got to let the string go loose so that it gets the distance and pull it a bit to make it soar high.. this is where we forget in our relationships.. we forget to give the space to travel the distance of time but we keep pulling a restraining it so that it gets the height but fails to live long....

Not sure how far it is true but yes what ever relationship i have been, it seems to hold good...

Fishing...

Fishermen in Chennai.. well I am not talking about the ones that go out in the high tides.. These were the ones that were hunting for fishes in the backwaters some kms into the city.. While driving down an old connecting road between the OMR & ECR, i happened to stop by a backwater and had stepped out of the car to look at the scenic beauty and thought of doing some shutterbugging.. well well, before my camera bateries dried out, i happened to capture this lovely snaps...
Even my wife could not stop taking a snap of this priced possesion by the fisherman who wanted to sell this complete lot of fishes for just Rs. 500/-.... Though we wanted to picked some, but for the deal was, "All or none"...


Too much for a family but too less for the camers ;)

My Hydrabadi Guide...

Sahabji, do you see that lights there, that used to my aunty's house where we used to come to spend our summer vacation time. That time this place used to have hardly 30-40 houses and no lights. In the evening you can see only one light and that too from a bunglow some two Kms down the "kacha" road. We use to go to the canal nearby where the water used to be two man deep and we used to play for hours!! The same canal supplies to drinking water to the whole of Hyderabad... Now that canal is a dried nala but the damn still manages to hold water to supply the city...

We used to tell our parents that we want to go to the village. My Aunty's place was the village that we used to go and we used to say that we live in a city. Now look at it today, this very part that we called as village is now very much an intergral part of the Hyderabad city and is developing fast... look at those lights... all the houses lit up.. Thinking of buying a plot now on this road.. forget it sabji.. my dream is already shattered.. I am now looking out for a piece of land in my "in-laws" place which is very far off in some interior.. Hope by the time i think of buying a land there, it still would be village.. saying this he gets into a hysterical laugh..

A memorable journey on a bright evening from the heart of the city to the new Airport at a place called "Samsahbad" in Hyderabad... The scene of hyderabad is fast changing. Even though they say that the innocence of the city seems to be moving away from it, but the charm of its people is still bringht and well lit...

And I... love it the way Hyderabad was and is today....

Gai humari Mata Hai!!!

While going through the comments on one of my blog thought.. I found a nice comment that triggered an old school pun I at school used to keep saying..

The line commented was “ Gai humari mata hai”…

What we used to say at school is between the student and the teacher:

Student: Gai, humari mata hai, Humko kuch nahi ata hai!!
Teacher: Bhains, humara bap hai, Number dena pap hai!!

I thought of translating but then the whole pun would be lost i felt...