Photo Essay of Kolkata Streets

People pictures from Kolkata!
Kolkata, they say is a ‘city of joy’!
Kolkata is nicknamed as the City of Joy after the novel City of Joy a 1985 novel by Dominique Lapierre.

People from different walks of life come to this city with dreams in eyes. How many live to see the fulfillment of their dreams! I spent a day walking through few streets of Kolkata, it is bursting with life, everybody going

Faces of India - 163

Can you guess what she is doing? I took the picture in Mayapur ISKON’s goshala, which houses more than 200 cows, bulls and calves. 

She is collecting cow dung; she walks across pushing her spade collecting the dung. This job is done manually. (Cow dung is used as purifying, antiseptic agent; stops gas disorders; pesticide and fertilizer. Dried dung is used like charcoal; it is also a form

Reaching The Sky

Excuse me while I kiss the sky. 

~Jimi Hendrix 














SkyWatch Friday

Tree Takesover Temple

While touring Mayapur, West Bengal, I came across this temple taken over completely by a banyan tree. The roots flowed down across all the walls to ground holding the temple firmly in its place. The pressure from the roots has caused cracks on the walls.

The whole process is a slow one. People around don’t even remember since when this slow process of damage is taking place, they hardly notice

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With his matted hair, worn out clothes, a distant look in his eyes; he looked like a lost human being in the ocean of humans around him. The shot was taken through the window bars of the bus I was traveling in Kolkata. Soon the bus moved on and I lost track of him. 

Faces of India, a series through which I intend to portray the various
characters of my country whom I met during my travels.

Dakhineshwar Kali Temple, Kolkata

We were so close yet so far! We were there at the door steps of the temple yet we couldn’t gain entry to temple.




Bad planning! I knew the temple timings well, but what I didn’t anticipate was the long queue of devotees! They were everywhere there… all bathed, wrapped in wet towel, carrying flowers and other offerings for the Goddess. I thought I was early, but 6 in the morning is not early

Abandoned

Automobiles, when they run cause 75% noise and 80% air pollution in our cities. What happens when they are abandoned? For this Thursday Challenge topic: Abandoned, I have these pics of an abandoned car.

The circumstances indicate that the owner has no further interest in it. I have come across many such abandoned vehicles, that too near police stations. Most of them look like they have been

Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata

Kolkata’s most famous landmark – The Victoria Memorial, it is almost impossible to give it a miss. It is built entirely of white marble and stands out so distinctly and elegantly with its unique combination of British and Mughal architectural motifs. It was the result of an attempt of a Britisher to create a replica of Taj Mahal!

Lord Curzon, who represented the British, during its rule in

Faces of India - 161

The cook in the guest house we stayed in Kolkata. He belongs to the neighboring state Bihar. He left his home town in search for a living and after several little journeys he settled for this cook’s job in the guest house. I must add this: he cooks fantabulously inviting comments from my daughters like, “Ma can you make this when we are back home?”

Faces of India, a series through which I

Rainbow Facade

It was hard for me to decide whether the sky looked better or the façade of the building.
Here is one pic of the sky as it was couple of days back. I composed it including a part of the colorful façade, but the rainbow looks more graceful with its colors, no? There is one fainter one a little away!





SkyWatch Friday

Chitrangada, a Dance Drama

For this week’s Thursday Challenge, I have a couple of pictures on ‘DANCE’.
These are scenes from dance drama of Arjun and Chitrangada’s story. Arjun, the 3rd Pandava prince, during their exile period reached Manipur, a state in eastern region of India. There he falls in love with the princess Chitrangada of the Manipur kingdom! 

Rabindranath Tagore turned the story of Chitrāngadā into a dance

Thakurbari at Jorasanko, Kolkata

Thakurbari in Jorasanko, north of Kolkata is the ancestral house of Tagores. It is named after Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, father of Rabindranath Tagore. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore was born in this very house and he breathed his last too in this same house. Both the rooms are preserved very well, and the cot too preserved in the same fashion. Tagore spent half of his long life here.

Faces of India - 160

From Kufri, Himachal Pradesh: 
Me: Ek photo le sakti hoon? (Can I take your pic?) 
He: Jaldi le lo, time nahin hai. (Please take fast; I don’t have enough time to pause.) 
And he hurried away. Pic straight from camera. 

Faces of India, a series through which I intend to portray the various
characters of my country whom I met during my travels. See more here. 

Ammavaru Temple, Jeevabeema Nagar, Bangalore

Again from my archives.

A 40ft. statue of Ammavaru, adorns the façade of the temple. Painted in a red sari the idol is a sight to behold.








Here is a map, how to get there from Bangalore International Airport, Devanahalli. A distance of 43 kms approx in 50min.




SkyWatch Friday