Sacred Lamp Of The Day....

"The sacred lamp of day
Now dipt in western clouds his parting day". 

                                           ~William Falconer

Trying out the new camera on a weekend evening on the shores of Powai Lake.

Taken on my Canon EOS 1100D SLR camera.

A Morning Celebration.

Today 26th January, 2012. The country celebrates the Republic Day. 

Where I live, it is celebrated at the Gymkhana Grounds with march pasts by security personnel, senior cadets, school children and small kids, the latter making a sincere effort as the band plays. Awards are presented, the flag is hoisted by the head of the institution. 

Our gymkhana grounds are next to some hills.

An unusual feature of our Republic Day is the simultaneous flag hoisting done on the hill top by students as the flag goes up at the gymkhana grounds followed by the national anthem.

For very small children it's a morning with balloons and playing on the grounds while others listen to speeches.

 Some others too, seriously contemplate the proceedings.

 

 Great choice of seat for a better view of the parade.

 Some serious athletes playing on the basketball field trying to send the balloon up through the hoop. Who says it must go only down through the hoop !!

 The flag hoisted on the hill top.

 

JAI HIND!!

Tough & Standing.

My maternal grandfather(Appa)'s ancestors came from a village in Kokan, much inland from the coast.  History is available, for  7 generations before my grandfather. 

We travelled to this place to pay our respects .

The house is situated away from  the road, sloping down into the rice fields below. Surrounded on three sides by wide green rice fields, and coconut and mango groves  in the distance, the house stands facing it all.  5 generations lived there. And the last 2 generations  moved to the big cities of Mumbai and Pune.  

Facing the rice fields, is the samadhi (memorial)  of the  person who is considered the  original ancestor, and everyday, a lamp is lit in an alcove at the memorial.

Something tough and resilient about the structure, that has seen ups and downs, good days, bad days, bad weather, torrential rains, , and possibly, hundreds of years before,  a full running house; there is even a lock hanging  above one of the doors.

Today,  it stands, watching it all,  completely overrun by the  greens....

(The above has been written for me by my mother.She had visited it,  first 52 years ago with my grandparents ,  and now with me,  and was able to explain the history to me)

Taken on Canon A530 point & shoot camera....

The Last Show.

Mumbai is having a amazing winter. Lots of programs n parties being organized for new year's eve.  

 I thought this show by the sun on the last evening of 2011 was perfect. 

Clicked these from my house balcony. May your new year be as bright as colorful as this sunset.

Wishing everyone a very happy, healthful, peaceful, and sunny New Year !!

Taken on my Canon PowerShot A480 Point & Shoot camera.

Red Hot and Flying.

Mood Indigo is I.I.T Bombay's annual college festival. All the colleges across India come to participate and have fun at the fest. This year they came up with a hot air balloon ride which would start at 5 am and go on till 9 am...The maximum number of people they could take in one slot was 25. My friend and I wanted to ride but reached a bit late and missed the opportunity... Anyways i clicked some pictures of it which are shown below...

Taken on my Canon A480 point & shoot camera....

     At around 6:30 am...

       At around 6:45 am....

      After 7 am.....

Life Lines.

They say the shortest distance between two points is a straight line... I found long lines instead. Some horizontal and some vertical...

Taken on my Canon PowerShot 480 point & shoot Camera.....

Virar station at one end of the Mumbai suburban western line... Endless rails going into the distance.

A sky walk above the very crowded Andheri junction on the same suburban western line in Mumbai....Introduced new it is never crowded.

While waiting for the elevator happen to look up from the base of the stairs....Strange straight lines going to the top. Sometimes i climb them instead of taking the elevator.

The second floor at the Cellular Jail in the Andaman & Nicobar islands, where one of our greatest freedom fighters Swatantraveer Savarkar was kept by the British in the early part of the last century.  

Looks like someone is have a great time on top of this line....

Pool Encounters.

I was returning from my swimming workout, hurrying up the swimming pool stairs when i noticed something fluttering....This fellow is a routine visitor to the pool which is why he gave wonderful poses when i tried to click.

Taken on my Canon PowerShot A480 point & shoot camera....

Like football jerseys with player number on the back this moth had an engraved  " 3 " on his back. Never know who follows fashion these days...:P

Getting closer trying to avoid my shadow.....I could see the different colors on its wings.

Velvet, green, brown n gold.... excellent combination for Ghagra Choli with border.