“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” ~Mother Teresa “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” “There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The […]
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I love the colour orange. In any hue or shade ranging from amber to vermilion. Although I have a particular penchant for tawny rusts and burnt siennas, I do enjoy vivid orange accents. Not surprising then that I found many ‘orange’ shots in my travel albums. Here is a sample. Click on the images to visit the relevant posts. Most […]
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The Armenian church is in Georgetown, the chaotic trading quarter of Chennai that I don’t ordinarily frequent. The last time I ventured into the area was in search of a particular shade and texture of hand made paper for invites to my stone furniture sale! That, I am ashamed to admit, was over a decade […]
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The skew, in a ledger of Chennai’s pluses and minuses, would be decidedly negative. Its famously hot and humid weather leading from the front. Followed by pitiful infrastructure: a subway still under construction and lagging decades behind Kolkata and Delhi, the worst airport of the metro cities, no decent flyovers to speak of, and traffic jams fast overtaking notorious Bangalore statistics. […]
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No wordy post today. Just an early morning stroll through the hustle and bustle of the Kolkata wholesale flower market, overflowing with reams of brilliant marigolds strung into garlands. While I love the vivid yellow and orange blooms and always have bowls of them lying around my house, the ones that grabbed my attention here, were these less showy lotus buds. Don’t you think there […]
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After expertly navigating the impossibly clogged route from the airport, our taxi coasted to a halt in front of a colonnaded arcade teeming with what seemed like half the population of Calcutta. “This can’t be it” I muttered to R in dismay, while he peered out with equal skepticism. Then a pair of wrought iron gates […]
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No other Metropolitan city in India conjures up past urban memories quite like Calcutta does, its squalour and decay notwithstanding. Which makes for eminently fascinating walks through its distinctly dissonant neighbourhoods. Here are some (more!) evocative street scenes from the ‘City of Joy’ that was once upon a time, a ‘City of Palaces’! Early morning fog: The contrasts […]
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I was surprised by how many architectural marvels I photographed last year, mirrored in reflection pools…….at least one from each of our 2013 destinations! You have seen the Paris reflections one too many times, so here are the rest, all from India: The Victoria Memorial, Kolkata Humayun’s Tomb, New Delhi The Taj Mahal, Agra Chota […]
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“Oberoi Hotel, Jawaharlal Nehru Road” we repeated helpfully, as our cab driver frowned at his job sheet. He bobbed his head vigourously in response, “Yes, yes, yes…..Grand Hotel, Chowringhee”. Turned out they were one and the same. The trend of our interactions with anyone we stopped to ask for directions in Calcutta followed a similar vein: “Anandilal Poddar Street?”……Blank […]
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Bitter memories of conquest and subjugation are most commonly expunged, post independence, by appropriating the edifices and symbols of a conquering power and imbuing them with national identity. Successive governments then milk political mileage by eradicating vestiges of colonial association from cities, streets. and maps. Even in stubbornly resistant cities like Calcutta. But how does […]
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A street photography gallery captures candid scenes from the streets of Delhi, Kolkata and Varanasi.
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I confess to being a bit of a chai snob. Having consumed flavourful high grown Nilgiri tea at its source for decades, and brewed the propah English way, it would be an understatement to say I am picky about my tea. I detest the thick, sugary, milky cha/chai served in homes across India and when […]
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The Urge To Wander 