Skip to main content

Featured Post

Review of Executive Lounges at New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS)

During my recent trip to Uttarakhand , I was faced with a problem I had never encountered before. We were passing through Delhi, but we had hardly any time in the city. On earlier visits when I have had to change trains/flights at Delhi, I have always arrived in the morning and left again at night, visiting relatives in between. This time, I was arriving in the city at night, and leaving again early in the morning. There was hardly any time to visit people. I would only have a couple of hours with them before I’d have to leave again. For the first time, we considered booking a hotel, but there again, we were hesitant about the actual hotels, the costs involved, and the logistics of getting from the airport to the railway station and then back again from the station to the airport.  That’s when we remembered reading something about a corporate-managed lounge at Delhi station. We soon figured out that we could book online and pay by the hour. Besides, we also learnt that there wasn’t ju
1 comment
Wish you all a very Happy New Year!!!!




2009 saw me making quite a lot of trips, but the end of the year saw me cancelling a much awaited one. Lets hope 2010 brings along a lot more travel for all of us.

For the last few years, we have brought in the new year at Puttaparthi, Prashanti Nilayam, the abode of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, and this year was the same. We spent a week there, and sorry, again no photographs. We spent the whole day at the ashram, and left the camera behind in the room!


The collage above is my first attempt at one, since  wanted to do something new this year, and I eagerly await your comments and suggestions. These pics were taken from the train on our way back.

The river you can see is the Krishna, and surprisingly, there was plenty of water, and there were a huge number of water birds too. We saw egrets, herons , sandpipers, and many others we couldn't identify. Among the other birds were the Kingfishers, Bee eaters, drongoes and robins, all of which I am proud to say, Samhith is identifying with ease!!!!


Comments

  1. MridulaJanuary 6, 2010 at 10:47 AM

    Wish you and your family a very happy 2010 Anu. May you travel more!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Vamsee ModugulaJanuary 6, 2010 at 12:01 PM

    Happy New Year to you too Anu.

    I have not done much will collages, so I am last one to comment, but just a little suggestion.
    Did you try putting the big picture in the center and the little ones surrounding it?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anuradha ShankarJanuary 6, 2010 at 12:09 PM

    @ Mridula: Thanks for the wishes... wish u and your family too a wonderful 2010

    @Vam: I actually tried that first, but this seemed a little differnt:-))

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sankara SubramanianJanuary 6, 2010 at 1:52 PM

    May the Twenty Ten decade bring us lots of happy travels...

    The collage has come out well...though, to be fair, it lacks flair...Try using Picasa, that is if you upload your photos to Picasa Photo Album...their desktop tool...picasa...offers a great deal of interesting collage options, which you can choose depending on your taste and style...In a nut shell, picasa is the simpleton's photoshop...

    To respond to your comment on my blog...Talakad is open year around...Pancha Pathi festival draws in the maximum crowd

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anuradha ShankarJanuary 6, 2010 at 9:13 PM

    @ Sankara : thanks a lot... for the wishes, the suggestion, as well as the information!!

    i actually did use Picasa, but was wary of experimenting too much.. have a lot to learn!!!

    i used to think that talakkad was closed for most of the year,. now thanks to you, i can plan a visit sometime...

    ReplyDelete
  6. SoulSpaceJanuary 8, 2010 at 10:37 AM

    great pics...
    i love the Picasa collage options too...
    Kids are great at picking names and nature..faster than we do

    ReplyDelete
  7. ArunJanuary 15, 2010 at 12:51 PM

    Wish you a happy new year too. May 2010 turn out great for you.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please leave a comment for me so that I will know you have been here....

Popular posts from this blog

Gokarna Part II – The Five Lingams

We continued our Gokarna trip by visiting four other Shiva temples in the vicinity, all connected to the same story of Gokarna. The story of Gokarna mentions the Mahabaleshwara Lingam as the one brought from Kailas by Ravana, and kept at this place on the ground by Ganesha. (See my earlier post- Gokarna – Pilgrimage and Pleasure). However, the story does not end here. It is believed that, in his anger, Ravana flung aside the materials which covered the lingam- the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. All these items became lingams as soon as they touched the ground. These four lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwara lingam are collectively called the ‘ Panchalingams’ . These are: Mahabaleshwara – the main lingam Sajjeshwar – the casket carrying the lingam. This temple is about 35 Kms from Karwar, and is a 2 hour drive from Gokarna. Dhareshwar – the string covering the lingam. This temple is on NH17, about 45 Kms south of Gokarna. Gunavanteshw
7 comments
Read more

The Havelis of Bikaner - A Photo Post

The lanes are narrow , twisting and turning amidst buildings old and new. Crumbling old structures with intricate workmanship stand side by side with art deco buildings, and more modern constructions, which follow no particular style. Autos, bicycles, motorcycles and vans rush past, blowing their horns as loudly as possible, while cows saunter past peacefully, completely unaffected by the noise. In the midst of all this chaos, children play by the side, and women go about their chores, as we explore these by-lanes of Bikaner, and its beautiful Havelis. Facade of one of the Rampuria Havelis
9 comments
Read more

The Elephanta Caves

The Elephanta Caves , located on Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri, about 11 Km off the coast of the Gateway of India, Mumbai, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A visit to these caves, excavated probably in the 6 th century CE, is awe-inspiring, and also thought-provoking. Over the years, I have visited the caves a number of times, and also attended a number of talks by experts in the fields of art, history and archaeology on the caves. Together, they help me understand these caves, their art, and the people they were created for, just a little bit better. Every new visit, every new talk, every new article I read about the caves, fleshes out the image of what the island and the caves would have been like, at their peak. I last wrote about the caves on this blog, in 2011, almost exactly 11 years ago. Since then, my understanding of the caves has, I would like to think, marginally improved. Hence this attempt to write a new and updated post, trying to bring to life, the caves of Elephan
12 comments
Read more