Galaxies
Galaxies
Taken at the Lal Bagh Independence Day flower show 3 days ago. I went to the flower show on the 14th this time, and was able to avoid the 15th August crowd. I don’t know if it is the new Government, but for the first time in the last 5 years or so, it actually felt like someone one was spending time, money and effort to improve Lal Bagh. The bougainvillea covered pathway at the Double Road entrance had been paved afresh. The road that leads you to the glasshouse had been rebuilt and the sidewalks on its either side had been broadened. There were a lot of other little touches - a fresh coat of paint here, a few manicured lawns there, that made the place feel “new”.
And still, I seemed to lack that intensity of purpose with which I’ve visited the flower shows at Lal Bagh in past. Perhaps it was the weight of pictures of hundreds of zinnias, bougainvilleas, dahlias, marigolds and numerous other flowers, that I’ve clicked in past and done nothing with, that was bogging me down. Perhaps 5 years is really a long time to be visiting the same flower show with roughly the same flowers in roughly the same arrangements. Perhaps I was upset at not having been able to travel anywhere on a long weekend. Perhaps it was all of these reasons. I better exorcise my ghosts before the next flower show on the 26th of January!
61 Years Of Indian Independence
Indian Independence Day
Here’s wishing everyone a happy Independence Day!
Devil May Care
Devil May Care
That’s what these leaves seemed to be singing to the sun. This was taken near a cluster of bamboo at the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary at Srirangapatna. The bamboos make a particularly creaky noise; which is surprisingly soothing, as they collectively sway in the breeze. The next time I go there, I should try and record it. This picture seems incomplete without it.
Mendicant
Mendicant
I was drawn to this old man at Srirangapatna by the florescent-pink tilak on his forehead. I vaguely remember paying him for this portrait, but it could be a false memory.
An Archer Framed Into A Wall
The Wall
The Wall
I am glad that I have a category called “Weird and Wonderful” under which I file photos, because for pictures like these, it comes in handy. This shot was taken at Chickpet in Bangalore. This quaint building houses a camera shop where you can buy everything - from a B&W film roll to the latest and greatest gear for your camera (and indeed the camera itself).
Sticking a colorfully painted statue onto a wall of a building might not quite agree with my taste but I’d prefer it over the monotony of glass and concrete that we see these days in Bangalore any day.
p.s. The caption etched into the concrete in the first picture reads: Shri Rajrajeshwara Sahasrarjuna.
Hungry Pigeons + Fries = Chaos
Pigeons and Fries
Pigeons and Fries
Ok, I realize that not all is well with these shots. I was merely experimenting with placing the camera in the midst of the pigeons while they gobbled up our French fries. It did turn out to be a somewhat expensive mistake. Leaving the camera on the gravel dented the rim of my lens, causing its status to fall from “in mint condition” to a relatively less desirable “excellent”. It fetched a few £s less than it would have in the second-hand lens market.