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The Vaishnodevi Experience 2023

My first trip to Vaishnodevi was unimpressive. Climbing was hard, and it only served to highlight how badly out of shape I was, while my in-laws managed to cope so much better. Further, I hadn’t quite realized that the cave experience wouldn’t be the same as I had imagined, since the original cave was only opened at certain times a year, and that we only entered a newly created tunnel, one far easier to access, and hence more manageable with the crowds that thronged the mountain shrine. The resulting experience at the shrine, for barely a fraction of a second, hardly compared to what I had expected / imagined / heard about. So, for me, Vaishnodevi was like any other temple, nothing to write home about, something that was reflected (though not explicitly mentioned) in the blog post I wrote then.

White Breasted Kingfisher


Last week, I left home to pick Samhith up from school, and there, on a tree right in front of me, was a kingfisher! I fumbled for my camera, only to realise that I had left it behind! For the rest of the week, I berated myself for my stupidity, and took to carrying my camera everywhere, but it was too late - not a bird turned up to be photographed!

Finally, lady luck smiled at me, and this White Breasted Kingfisher turned up right opposite my house and sat still long enough for me to take a few pics... I wondered if I should put up just one, but then gave in to temptation and decided to put up all three....

So, now its up to you to tell me which one you like best!



Comments

  1. Lovely pics... kept staring at em, one by one... i kinda like the 2nd one the best.. :))

    nice new template i see.. blue blue we all love blue..lolz

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  2. Wow real good image there.. Could have been better with a better camera you know!

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  3. Luck really favoured you Anu, but I guess the bird was too shy to show you his/her white breast :)))

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  4. These guys are real fast and fleeting if you are not ready with the camera.

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  5. Oye! Are you back in Mumbai?

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  6. wow !!! I wouldn't have known its name had one come before me :). You can see such birds in the city ? wow again !

    and btw, you have been tagged :)

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  7. u spotted a kingfisher in Mumbai? wow... the daily visitor at my balcony every afternoon is a raven!

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  8. wow! u spotted a kingfisher in mumbai??? the regular visitor at my balcony is a raven. and then kingfisher planes that i can see from the same place ;)

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  9. @AArti: thanks....... .looks like we are both fans of blue....

    @Anon: thanks.... totally agree... waiting to buy a better one soon....

    @P.N.Subramanian: thanks..

    @Indrani: thanks..

    @Ssstoryteller: thanks a lot...

    @Haddock Absolutely! but this one seemed in no hurry, fortunately for me..

    @Usha: just back.. on sunday...had scheduled these posts.. sprry couldnt meet you...

    @Lavanya: we live in an area which is under a dispute since the last 35 years... thanks to that, no new constructions are possible, and we have retained the green cover....which is how we get to see these...

    @Anuradha: welcome to my blog..... as i mentioned to Lavanya, it is thanks to lack of development that we see these..... once we move ahead, all these will go too....

    @Dorothy: welcome to my blog.. nad thanks a lot...

    @Sri Radha Govind Dasi: thanks a lot... and welcome to this space...

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  10. Anu-

    I liked this stuff. Good photographs!

    Is that loneliness by that bird is choosen by himself/herself or driven by the destiny or it is medidating ?, God knows! :)

    Jay :)

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