Foggy year end

Vehicles move at a snail's pace due to dense fog in New Delhi

Merry Christmas

Christmas is the one time of year when people of all religions come together to worship Jesus Christ.

Lazy winter noon

A foreign nationals rests at Hauz Khas, Delhi

Delhi- random pics

Kid day out at old fort, Delhi
Let me fly- a school kid at old fort,Delhi
Early winter ride to school

Another one

HISTORY’S GHOSTS IN OLD LUCKNOW

The main Residency tower and building complex

Lucknow was once ruled by the Nawabs of Oudh, until the British in the guise of the East India Company, removed the last ruler, Wajid Ali Shah whose profligacy outraged their sense of Victorian morality. The Province was of strategic importance to the Brits, and disregarding the fact that the Nawab was also a cultured nobleman and generous patron of the arts, his extravagant lifestyle provided a convenient excuse to take over the state. It was a measure that they would regret. The annexation of Oudh was just one of the many factors, which ignited the tinderbox of rebellion in 1857 and brought about the Great Indian Mutiny—now called The First War of Independence by Indian nationals. Insurrection had already broken out in other parts of the country, and Sir Henry Lawrence, the Chief Commissioner, prudently moved British and Anglo-Indian civilians (my great-grandmother among them) into the 60-acre British Residency in June 1857. Today, 150 years later, I sit under a tamarind tree, on a bench bordering the lawns of the old Residency, listening to the drone of bees, and the harsh cawing of crows. The sunlight throws dancing specks of light through the leaves of my sheltering tree, dust devils whirl briefly in the warm breeze along the unpaved pathways, and the air carries the scent of marigold flowers. If I’d been here in June 1857, these sounds would have been drowned by the bursting of shells, the acrid smell of gunpowder, and the almost continuous bombardment of cannon. The surroundings would have been shrouded in the grey dust of crumbling masonry.

The Baillie Gate at the British Residency which was subjected to some of the heaviest fire.

Within the buildings surrounding me today, was a defensive army of about 850 British officers and soldiers, backed by about 700 loyal native sepoys, and around 150 civilian volunteers. But also within these grounds were several hundred women and children, all of them huddled into a warren of underground rooms in the “Tykhana” or women’s quarters.

The Tykhana

As I walk into the cramped Tykhana today, it is as if the place still holds the shadows of women soothing the fevers of dying children, stanching bloody wounds and bandaging torn limbs—while cringing at the whine of bullets and the heavy crash of cannonballs, slamming against the walls of their embattled shelter. The searing heat of that year’s June gave way to torrential monsoon rains, and with them came renewed outbreaks of typhoid, cholera, malaria and dysentery. The rooms, even today, carry the miasma of death.

Two ant-sized visitors survey the view from the Residency tower

Emerging into the sunlight, I am glad to be free of the claustrophobic weight of so much sorrow—yet there are other reminders scattered throughout the Residency. The splendid ballroom, converted into a hospital, bears the scars of shellfire. A few residences still stand, their mildew-covered walls like rotted teeth lying open to the sky. A commemorative pillar erected by the British in heartfelt gratitude, pays tribute to the courage of Indian sepoys—many of them Sikhs—who defended the Residency alongside their British compatriots. Without their unswerving loyalty, the small English army contingent could not have held out against the rebels.

J.K. temple

J.K. temple Beautifully constructed, J.K. temple is a boon to the devotees. Built by J.K. Trust this architectural delight is a unique blend of ancient architecture with the modern. The even-level roofs o the mandaps have been provided with adequate ventilation for sufficient light and air. Among the five shrines that the temple has the central one s consecrated to Shri Radhakrishna and the other are adorned with idols of Shri Laxminarayan, Shri. Ardhanarishwar, Shri Narmadeshwar and Shri Hanuman.

Khumbhalgarh - Rajasthan

Located to the south of Jaipur and about 105Km from Udaipur is Kumbhalgarh. The city is cradled in the cluster of thirteen mountain peaks of the Aravalli ranges and the formidable medieval citadel-Kumbhalgarh stands a wary sentinel to the past glory.Kumbhalgarh is famous for the Kumbhalgarh Fort which was built and designed by Maharana Kumbha in the 15th century AD and is the second principal fort after Chittorgarh.Under Rana Kumbha's rule the kingdom of Mewar, which extended from Ranthambore to Gwalior, was defended by 84 fortresses. 32 of these fortresses were built and designed by Rana Kumbha and the most famous was the Kumbhalgarh Fort . Kumbhalgarh stands on the site of an ancient citadel dating back to the 2nd century AD belonging to a Jain descendant of India's Mauryan Emperors.Kumbhalgarh, hold a heroic past having sheltered the heir of Mewar throne in times of danger. It was here that the baby prince of Mewar was hidden from an assassin. It is an isolated and fascinating place, built by Maharana Khumbha in the 15th century. Because of its inaccessibility - at1100m on top of the Aravalli Range - it was taken only once in history. Even then, it took the combined armies of the Mughal emperor Akbar, and of Amber and Marwar to breach its defenses.

Waiting for Maharaja

Taken at a festival in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan... the women are waiting to see the Maharaja come out of his palace...

A true smile

Smile ... Only thing I can share was... The photo I clicked and the happiness I got in doing that was simply the moment I can live forever and still alive in me each time I go through this picture. This lady was so happy to have her first instant picture clicked and shared with her in almost no time... My feelings still so much the same

Of Camels & Pushkar

The Dance

Folk artist perform dance at Dilli Haat, New Delhi

End of another day

Sunsets at Puri beach, Orissa,India

India Uncut

A sweet shops in old Bhopal serving hot shots of deep fried need I say delicious sweets.

Monkey Business

Monkey Business: 'Langoors' are called to keep monkey out at Parliament Premises, New Delhi,India

Delhi 'dil se'

Marigold flower heads, used in religious ceremonies, dry on a roof above a flower market near Khari Baoli, in the heart of Old Delhi
A folk artist at Dilli Haat,New Delhi

In the busy commercial center of Old Delhi, a worker outside a shop twists a length of syrup that will be used to make sweets

A ful-wallah delivers flowers on his bicycle in the district of Mehrauli, one of seven ancient cities that are now a part of Delhi

Rear View Sunset

A viewof sunset is reflected on car rear view mirrior in New Delhi

Flying High

Birds fly as sun is about to rise in Varanasi on the bank of holy river Ganga

On the way to Marine drive

Sun sets on the way to Marine Drive Mumbai

Shades of Varanasi

Typical Varanasi house
Ganga 'Ghat' (bank of river)
Temple in saryu ghat

At Saryu ghat

The helicopter

A kid with a helicopter in one of the fare in Varanasi

what he Says?

That is what he says

Talking Over

Two man in deep discussion at Taj-ul-Masjid, one of the largest and most elegant mosques in India

Phat- Phatia

The back phatphatia on the streets of Bhopal, which is an onomatopoeic derivation of the phut-phut crackle of their exhausts

Taj-ul-Masjid

The most impressive structure in Bhopal is the Taj-ul-Masjid, one of the largest and most elegant mosques in India

Hungry car eats man

This car went haywire on the streets of Mumbai , its passengers wnet haywire too!!

Rail work

The central line on the Mumbai Local Train System.

Shadows of hard work

A shadow of rickshaw puller is seen on the road

Varanasi

Many go to Varanasi in search for ‘Kashi’, the luminous abode of the gods, one of the holiest tirthas (literally a "crossing" or sacred place where mortals can cross over to the divine, or the gods and goddesses come to bathe on earth), where many return to die in the hope that they may achieve moksha, the salvation of the soul from the cycle of birth, where it is said that Shiva himself whispers the mantras of salvation into the ears of a dying person.

It is a place that is believed to have been in existence since the time of the Mahabharata, a city where Gautama Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath or where Adi Shankaracharya taught Hieun Tsang,the Chinese traveller.

It has an ancient history that Mark Twain once famously described as "older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together."

Har-ki-Pauri

A view of evening 'aarti' at harki pauri ghat (bank of river), Haridwar, Uttarakhand,India

Holy Dip

People take dip in holy Indian river ganga in Allahbad,Uttar Pradesh, India

My hometown- Varanasi

View of Varanasi ghats (Above & Below)