i sometime wonder how i love nature and enjoy taking its photos. In the morning light – even the most normal things look absolutely splendid! At my uncle’s house in Karimganj – Assam.

At my uncle’s (jethu) house in Karimganj. It’s a hibiscus …. pink one. It was orange in color when it was a bud. i was hoping to see an orange bloom – but to my surprise it turned out to be a pink hibiscus. Well it’s beautiful too ! Jethu had cut few stems from the mother plant (which is grown in the ground at their backyard) and had regrown them in pot and plastic bag. I was very happy to bring one home (Delhi) along with many other plants.

I like the angle  …. so took a shot from behind. i wish the sky were more blue – it would have been a great photo !!

Saturday Bizzare …

Raghu … he is younger uncle’s son and the only child in their house. He is always cheerful and ever ready to play. Even before we’re getting ready for dinner – he would say, “let’s play for 10 mins.” Everybody would say,”let mani (that’s my name) didi (elder sister) take some rest”. On that he would say,”okay – then let’s play for 5 mins”. He love to draw and to color his creations. He is now in grade 1 and for his age … he is quite good with his imagination and thoughts. If he stays interested in art (as he calls it) – then surely he would be very good at it.

Like most kids – he too love to pose for the camera …. i do have a lot of his pictures – which i will post this month.

On our way to uncle’s house. We stopped at the road side not with the intention of admiring the beautiful view but something was disturbing us – a noise …. but couldn’t make it from where it was coming. Finally we figured it out:  it was the luggage tag flipping by the winding. As we sat in the car then we noticed the mesmerizing sunset spreading its mellow orange color all around ! The road to Karimganj were bumpy (most of it) but still i enjoyed it …

 
p.s. will be posting a photo in n around uncle’s house at Karimganj all the month of May !!

On 15th Feb. 2012 – we left home at 9. i guess the excitment of going out of Delhi kept us happy and patience – otherwise the traffic condition was terrible till Hapur and worse in Gaziabad. I don’t understand why people live there – it’s so barren and industrialised. We had lunch at a daba near Moradabad. The road to Kashipur was terrible … we’re in UP – it can be guessed by seeing the road condition. As we entered Uttarkhand the roads were visiblely better and that was the first thing i noticed. By sunset we reached Ramnagar.

One the first day we went to Garjiya Mata Mandir. The shrine is located on top of a small hill in the Kosi river – it’s a huge river. In monsoon it would swell and become a giant river … i’m sure it would look quite fearful. It’s amazing how the shrine never got washed away by the river’s strong tides. After offering our worship to the Goddness – i took few photos. Have to say the air and water around Ramnagar or any other hill stations are very different! One can feel the lightness and freshness of the air – the cleaniness and pureness of the water. Jethu (my uncle from Assam) had few sip from the holy river “Kosi”.

On the way back  we stopped at an old barrage – which was built by the Britishers. Took few more photos.

Next day went to Binsar Mahadev  – it’s actually an ashram enroute Ranikhet. It was a wonderful journey accompanied by a beautiful bright sun. We enjoyed the landscape and its beautiful wanding road – but started to feel sick about half way through or i guess we’re more than half way through. I remember my uncle said that the “Mahadev” temple isn’t very far –another few kilometres. I said,”…. then let us walk to that place – i just don’t want to get in that car anymore”.

We stopped at many places – somewhere to enjoy the view – at other place to have a tea break – and at another time to click few photos with the ice covered mountain  … which off course were far- far away – yet we enjoyed seeing it too. We also stopped at places because i was feeling sick but thankfully i didn’t throw up and that was the best part about the whole thing.

On reaching Mahadev Ashram – it was pretty cold and they offered us tea. I was afraid to drink it as sweet  would made me more sick but they (there were few more devotees who reached there just before us) told me that it would make me feel better and believe it or not – really did ! We also had our lunch there … it was nice of them to offer us lunch otherwise we didn’t know where to have our food that day. The food was simple yet it was very tasty. We came to a conclusion that because they made it with their whole heart and mind (because it would be a offering to “Mahadev” ie. Lord Shiva) and then served to normal people. So that can be a reason for its taste being so good.

After lunch we roamed around the oak trees with perfectly blue sky covering the top of shiny green oak leaves. It was quiet  and peaceful. It’s true no one would like to come back from the place. Returning journey from Mahadev Binsar was eventless as the lively sun had turned lifeless. Mountains were covered in a haze … couldn’t enjoy the view as much as we did on getting to the ashram.

Next day we visited few people – from there brought back few succulent plant and green chilly seeds. These chilly is super hot with a beautiful flavour. I’m not so good at planting chilly plant as they get infected by bugs easily and getting them off is very difficult. In the evening we went for a walk to Ramnagar barrage. It’s very much like a dam – from there channel are made to supply water to the surrounding villages for irrigation. There were still exotic seasonal birds enjoying the cool weather of Ramnagar. They’ll fly away when the temperature start to rise.

We also bought a sweetmeat which is a especiality of Ramnagar – it’s called “Kurchan”. It’s made of hard milk cream and very little “khoya”(condense milk) … so the sweetmeat isn’t very sweet to eat – yet it was quite juicy and off course very delicious!

Coming back to Delhi was a mix feeling of sad and shock – after seeing such a beautiful place and then seeing Gaziabad and its traffic …. one would definitely feel shocked. So actually Delhi itself isn’t bad – in fact it’s a beautiful city with greenery and magnificent monuments … that is the part i adore the most about Delhi. Getting to Delhi is really a pain  especially from Gaziabad side  – from  Faridabad it doesn’t seem that bad.

Altogether …. Ramnagar trip was special with beautiful memories and some nice photos. I’ll cherish them forever! I would definitely love to go to many more places around Ramnagar … let’s see what happens or say when it happens.

This is a nearby park … where my parents goes for their normal walk. i gues when they feel lazy or the weather is not so fine or they have little time -they come to this park. There is a big pond – there they fed the ducks n swans. My mom wanted me to see the fountain (which is in the middle of the pond) as in winter the huge pond freeze and so the fountain doesn’t work. Mostly people come to this park for walking – jogging or to feed the ducks … and off course some are like me – who goes there to enjoy the nature ! There is a stadium next to the park … n when there is any game at the stadium – more people can be seen in the park.

i liked the texture created by the fallen yellow n brown leaves on the green grass.

The structure n architacture of the building is different and unique in Denmark. i have been to Rome – Norway – Switzerland – France … but haven’t seen this sort of architecture – in France i had seen something similar. i will try to explain the design in words : a block of buildings (mostly 3/4 storey buildings) will be arranged or joint together to form a cubical complex – there would be one or two passage to enter the cubical – which is suppose to be the entrance gate for the building complex. As you enters the cubical – you will find a huge open area with bicycle  parking and a park like area where children can play and the adults can have their little outing or get together or little bar-be-que !! And car parking would be benath this area. My  parents stays  in Osterbro and most of the building are of this fashion. There’re normal buildings but very few … and you can recognise it as they will be 8/10 storey high buildings. The benefit of the cubical building complex : good ventilation and each room gets good sun light … even at night these rooms get enough light (from the street lamp) that one can comfortablely sit and chat or do few kitchen stuff. Their street light are different too … can be seen in the photo below – they seem to be hanging in the air – off course with the help of wire.

This is the entrance to the cubical complex. There were two similar entrance at the complex where my parents stay.

This is the open area where children n adults can have fun. There’re swings for the children n behind the fence there is place for bar-be-que n benches … where you can have your get together.

This is the entrance for the building in which my parents apartment is.

These were few buildings … that i captured while going to the semi- lake.

The design n architecture of the buildings are  so different yet has a european feeling.

The pic below is the semi-lake ( semi-lake because i guess it’s man-made).  It was getting dark by the time we reached there. It quite far from my parents house. It took us atleast 40 mins.  by foot and my mom walks very fast  …. and i mean very fast. It would have been a huge lake if it had not been divided in to 3 parts. They are divided by the roads. In winter the lakes  freeze … my mom was saying that they walk on that frozen lake and the locals  ice skate on it.

my mom

Not only their building but their choice of transportation is unique too. People of Denmark use bicycle to go from one place to another … if they’re going to office – to school – for shopping  or going to another state or neighbouring country. Their bus – metro – train or ship (ferry) have the facility to take bicycle on  board  …. so it’s easy for the people to carry it with them to any other place – suppose they want to go to Sweden – they’ll ride their bicycle to the ship port … carry it in the ferry – then get down at Sweden with their bicycle – roam around – park it at the hotel (there’re cycle parking normally everwhere) and then roam around the next day and get back when they finish their tour. Almost 90% of the Denmark people use bicycle as transportation. They have special lanes only for bicycles along the car lanes – in winter they’ll remove ice from bicycle lane first and then clear the car lane – their priotrity are the bicycle users.

They’ve every facilities that are necessary for the bicycle users – even at the lake they have slides for the cycles and steps for the normal people to climb.

Another thing that was surprising was … that if you cross a road from zebra-crossing – you do not have to see your left and right for cars.  Off course you have to watch out for the cycle riders – they’re on the first lane from the footpath …  otherwise you can cross the street without thinking twice – even it the car is coming at 90 km/hr … the car will stop for you. Yes, the people of Denmark are sensible too, they don’t cross road just to have fun !! But be careful – this doesn’t happen where there are street light.

Another thing that was more sad than surprising  was that most of the people have apple trees or pear trees or chreey trees or blueberry bushes at their garden. This is not the sad part – off course … the sad part is that they don’t eat the fruits … they fall on the ground and rot !  They won’t sell neither they’ll eat. i have seen this in Rome too – our landlady had a orange tree …  she didn’t  pluck the orange neither any one else did. So it’s just wasted. In Denmark too it is wasted … no body pluck or eat them – not even those that are fallen on the ground. The above pic. is from the garden at my father’s office !

Visiting a country for few days are not enough to know it or to see it … but the things we saw and learnt was memorious – i meam memorable! We really had a good time – off course meeting our parents was the best thing

It’s been quite a long time that i have been back from Denmark … the trip was really very nice. Went to Osolo (Norway), to Bern  and the surrounding in Switzerland, then to Paris (France) from there, then back to Denmark … and that too in 15 days ! My Parents stays in Copenhagen … i will write about my trip  in detail little by little otherwise things will get little boring – off course not the photos ! i actually have taken tons of photos – n they’re all awesome … just like our stay !!

i love the blue sky through the brown n black twigs … 2nd photo in the Bizarre collection !

Going for a Holiday !

A day or two back i was talking to my friend and her mother. As my friend says “from the day i opened my eyes – i have seen n heard that she has so and so problems … one ends the other starts”. i had to laugh – had no choice as i wanted to ease the situation. They both had a fight. Anyhow – the main issue was (i have to agree too !) that she does have numerous problems. i thought about it and thought hard to find a solution. At first i thought … maybe she is a attention seeker – by always chanting about her problem she wants sympathy from others. i thought about her problems too … and some of them seem to be beyond her control and some health issue which she can solve by consulting the right doctor.

i guess … some problems are created by us and others that are beyond our control – n so in everybody’s life there are countless problems. It actually depend how one hands it. One of my customer who stitch her salwar-kamij from my shop … told me today that her 16 year old daughter had to be operated for appendix. Now she is fine but they really had to go through a rough phase … short but surely hell ! This was a problem that was really beyond her reach. She couldn’t do anything except to go through it. These sort of problems are real problems.

There is another case : where the husband and wife has differences and so rises the problem.  The wife wants to show off her husband’s money – which is not that bad if it’s to a limit. If you spend most of his salary on your relative and do not save for the rainy day then it’s wrong. When the house budget is tight and still you spend unlimitly on unnecessary luxury – it’s not right. These family problems give head and heartache. This husband and wife is on the verge of getting divorce … and it’s fine too – the husband is working with a private firm and earning huge salary – if he gets divorce and then marry someone better, it can make his life simpler. But there is a another problem … they’ve 2 daughter kids and they will be the one who will pay the penalty for their parents deed. Sad ! i kknow … but what to do – life’s full of problems.

Actually everybody’s life is full of problems  and it depends on you – how you handle the sitution. This doesn’t mean if  you’re emotional you won’t be able to solve your problem. For emotional people – they should know one thing … either listen to our heart or listen to our head – they shouldn’t fellow both. Be on one side and firmly stick to it … n believe me life will be much easier n BEAUTIFUL !!

i really do not have a solution for those who got married to the wrong person. Have heard many incident where the husband n wife do not get along even though they have huge amount of money to spend on themselves  – some say money can people happiness … so it is NOT true – money can’t buy happiness ! If i say it this way : “money can help u buy happiness “- then i gues it won’t sound every wrong. See if someone met with an accident … money can definately help them out from that bad situation n bring happiness in form of – back to normal health. But i guess i wasn’t talking about “money” … it is about problems in life n it’s a endless topic. i can write about it the whole night without getting to any conclusion – so it’s better i stop right now.

i won’t repeat what everyone says : life is short , live in today, life is beautiful be happy … and so on !!