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Showing posts from April, 2014

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2023 - The Year That Was

Places impact you for a variety of reasons. And the same place impacts different people in different ways. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual experiences, where every single person’s experience is unique. And personally, every spiritual experience is unique, the same person can have different deeply spiritual experiences at different places, at different times. This thought has emerged because of my own experiences over the years, but especially so this year, with different and unique experiences at various places I have visited recently. I began this year with a visit to Baroda (Vadodara) with friends. It was meant to be a relaxed trip, a touristy trip, with our sons. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt, but the highlight of that trip was a visit to the Lakulisha temple at Pavagadh. It was the iconography of the temple that I connected with, and I spent a few hours simply lost in the details of the figures carved around the temple. There was an indefinable connect with

Summer Holidays are here!

Summer Holidays are here , and finally, I can get away from this city. I am off for a whole month this time, but before you start envying me, I will be with relatives most of the time, registering my attendance at family events. Yes, of course, there is a little bit of touring thrown in too... I am first headed to Coorg, for two short days, just to get some much needed R&R! Later, I am spending a day in Fort Kochi and another couple of days at Cherai Beach.  I will try to show you bits of my holiday, if the internet gods smile down on me, but please follow me on Facebook ,  Twitter , and Instagram where I shall try to post regular updates during this month. 

Birds from my Window - Black Kites

I see them all the time , soaring above the trees, their screech audible as I sit typing... or trying to type :) This is that time of the year when their screeches become shriller, and they build their nests atop the coconut trees. These are the Black Kites which nest in our colony, year after year...

Stories of Bombay - St. Thomas' Cathedral

I passed this church often , but was always too busy to enter. When I did enter, after years of wondering what it would be like on the inside, I stood transfixed, by the sheer beauty of its elaborate stained glasses and the multitudes of marble memorials. This is the St. Thomas’ Cathedral in Fort, Mumbai, the first Anglican Church of Bombay, built in 1718. seen on the first step of the church.

Elections 2014 - the complications in getting our fingers inked!

“I have an election ID card, but I can’t find my name on the voting list.”   “I have received two voting slips, one from my address before marriage, and the present one. Which do I use to vote?”   “My husband has got his voting slip, and my name is on the electoral list. Why isn’t my name on your list?” These were just a few of the questions I heard as I awaited my turn today, for exercising my right to vote.  By these standards, mine was an easy task, in spite of the fact that I had mislaid my election ID card!

Earth Day - Images from Dandeli

On the occasion of Earth Day , I am sharing with you, some of my images from Dandeli, in Karnataka.

Birds from my window - Asian Koel

"कुहू कुहू बोले कोयलिया "  (kuhu kuhu bole koyaliya) ..so go the words of a popular Hindi song. The Koyal or the Cuckoo (Asian Koel) is a popular bird in Indian culture and folklore, highly appreciated for its song. It has sometimes been called 'The Indian Nightingale' for the same reason. 

Inside the Victoria Terminus... ( Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus )

It is a building which has fascinated me, ever since I can remember. Waiting on the platform, I used to look around, trying to take in as much of the architecture as I possibly could, or try to decipher the faces on the pillars. It imbued me with such a pride for our heritage, that, when a cleanliness drive took place, I actually picked fights with people I saw littering. When it was declared a World Heritage Site, I couldn’t be happier, especially when I noticed how the restoration work showed off the building and its beauty even better. Yes, I am talking of the Victoria Terminus, or, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) as it is now called.

Monsoon in Goa

Two women and a child , at Goa, in the monsoons – quite an unusual combination, right? That was me, my mom, and my son, making the most of our unexpected monsoon break to take some time off. It was the first time in Goa for my mom, the second for my son, and my third trip to the state…. Expectations were mixed, especially when we were greeted by heavy rains, which continued through our stay there. What did we expect? It was the monsoon after all!! As it turned out, the rains showed us a different side of Goa, which none of us had expected to find. Samhith with my mom on Varca Beach, Goa

Tigers and Spiders, Crocs and Turtles - at the Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary

I first heard of the Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary from Lakshmi and Deepak , when I asked them for offbeat suggestions for my Goa trip. They gave me identical replies - "Take Samhith to the zoo at the Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary. He will enjoy it." Normally, I am less than enthusiastic about visiting zoos (the Mysore zoo is the only exception!), but when two blogger friends I think highly of, recommend the same place, I take their advice! As it turned out, we missed our route, and had to take a very long detour to reach the place, but I stuck my ground, in spite of the driver grumbling about how there was nothing to see there.

Birds from my window - Oriental Magpie Robins

I know its 8:00 AM when I hear them sing. These are the Oriental Magpie Robins, the most musical among the birds I see from my window. These days, this pair seems to be busy courting, for the music is even more pronounced!

Book Review: The Shadow Throne by Aroon Raman

It has been months since I have written a book review, and the reason is that I have been so caught up with personal stuff, that I have hardly been able to read anything new, or write reviews of books I have already read. The pile of books on my shelf has been growing, and I am now making an honest effort to catch up with them. Here is the first in the lot I read sometime back, but wasn’t able to write a review of… The Shadow Throne by Aroon Raman .