In-Tenses

It snowed all night, As if it was never going to end. And then...

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 10:57:00 +0530

It snowed all night,

As if it was never going to end.

And then there was a sudden, settled, white, calm.

The night glowed with cold, the abundant snow and a singular solitude.

View from my window, International House, Philadelphia

February, 2010

I see a root spelling my name. The world makes sense, when you...

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 23:40:00 +0530

I see a root spelling my name.

The world makes sense, when you look at it the right way.

Getting perspectives right on a stroll in the jungle.

Kodigadde, Karnataka, Western Ghats

Nov 2012

Crisp, silken sunshine. Trees standing mighty and tall. Air...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 18:51:00 +0530

Crisp, silken sunshine.

Trees standing mighty and tall.

Air fresh and vibrant.

A floor defined by innumerable leaves -

Some dried up others just fallen or falling.

Each leaf with an imprint of its own.

So much individuality amidst all this enormity.

Looking down and up, and soaking up the surrounds

Forest stretch on the sides of Hubli - Kumta State highway

November 2012

There is a daze in my head, Of the light of dusk shining On the...

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 20:03:00 +0530

There is a daze in my head,

Of the light of dusk shining

On the iridescent plumage of the peacocks

Their gait so graceful and flight to tree-tops

Wore a mystery.

And in the light of the night,

Amidst the silhouette of tamarind trees and the lingering droop of their leaves,

It momentary seemed like the show was wrapped-up and the magic all gone.

Until, the peafowl concert began

And one peacock called out to another peahen

And they all started calling out to each other.

This is one concert, I will remember for a lifetime.

Savoring the silhouettes and sounds of the peafowl village

Aug, 2012,

Chincholi Morachi, Maharashtra

Dawn and Dusk are beautiful colors. Admiring them from my...

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 20:52:00 +0530

Dawn and Dusk are beautiful colors.

Admiring them from my window

Pune, June, 2012

A caricaturist in the biting cold outside and alongside the...

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 11:59:00 +0530

A caricaturist in the biting cold outside and alongside

the queues the Uffizi Gallery.

Looking around on a cold winter day

Firenze, Italy

2010

So much adaptability and individuality. They grow as...

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 23:01:00 +0530

So much adaptability and individuality.

They grow as stumps, fences, creepers.

Beautiful bougainvilleas

Zapped by the beauty of these paper- like flowers I click away.

Karwar, India, June 2012

Some people are blessed with green hands. They can grow any...

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 11:30:00 +0530

Some people are blessed with green hands. They can grow any plant, anywhere.

Like Mum, she’s got green hands. (She’s also got a happy heart, and somehow the two seem to be connected. ) A bountiful luxuriant green garden she has- one half an ornamental and the other the kitchen garden. Her organic garden has bountifully yielded her with produce such as pink pepper, turmeric, guavas, custard apples, bananas, coconuts.

Every time I visit home, I find a new addition in her backyard, balconies and around the home. This time, it was this conchshell planter.

I have lost many plants in my pursuit of balcony-gardening.

I am still trying, one pot of a plant at a time.

And mum’s creations, are surely inspirational.

It’s almost raining…

Hubli, Karnataka

June 15th, 2012

This thought in a Lifetime: Can set me forward or retrace me...

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 16:24:00 +0530

This thought in a Lifetime:

Can set me forward or retrace me from where I’am going

Can make me, break me or….. free me

Can last till the end or be gone before its born

Can endure tolerance or enrage a fury

Can be a prayer or a curse

This thought in a Lifetime:

May flower as love or decay as hate

This thought in a Lifetime:

Is firm faith or elusive hope

Is what I make of it- a boon or a bane.

This thought. This thought. This thought.

This Lifetime. Of Thoughts.

You can try all you can, Ultimately- The power and peace vests...

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 15:36:00 +0530

You can try all you can,

Ultimately-

The power and peace vests in prayers.

Vulnerable. Seeking refuge in prayers.

Cathedral in Milan, eve of 2010

The day has begun, The sun has just now risen. Before the...

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 01:07:00 +0530

The day has begun,

The sun has just now risen.

Before the school begins,

And all the chores rush in

It is time to take the bovine and her calf

Up and down the hill.

November 2011, Shringeri, Karnataka

Encountered this confident and curious little girl on an early morning walk

Route courtesy- Dad dearest

” Can there be any place on earth more quaint ( peaceful...

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 21:26:00 +0530

” Can there be any place on earth more quaint ( peaceful and romantic) than the forest of Fontainebleau? I think not. “

Fleeting, unforgettable moments, 2009, Fontainebleau

There is something beguile about a spur-of-the-moment kind of...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:57:00 +0530

There is something beguile about a spur-of-the-moment kind of trip. Is it because the whole ‘decision- making process’ is done away with or is it the ‘instantness’ or is it that it ‘fruitions’ with so much ease- what it is I can’t tell.

October 2009, Plonked on green grass in D.C

Such a calm and sooth to sit back And put a still to one’s...

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 12:39:00 +0530

Such a calm and sooth to sit back

And put a still to one’s life

And watch the things that pass by you-

A sunset

Or for that matter in this instance

A father walking his daughters by a beach.

I wonder what stories he is telling them,

What questions these kids are asking him.

What an expedition it looks like for both- the kids and their dad.

Loving the seaside breeze, the sunset sky and basking in the randomness of life in Marbella, Southern Spain

June 2010

I cherish the rich biodiversity and scenic landscapes of the...

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:38:00 +0530

I cherish the rich biodiversity and scenic landscapes of the Uttara Kannada region. Sometimes, we take for granted what’s ours. And although the drives and visits to back home are few and far between now, than when we were children, I am happy to bask in the surrounds of the native turf.

On a recent visit, we left Siddapur at dawn for Shringeri. Sleep deprived and shrouded in a state of slumber, I was not amused at starting the day at sunrise. Not until we drove out of the two kilometer alley (the lone road that leads in and out of our ancestral home). The turn at the end of the road held this visual jewel…

….it was dreamlike, but it was real.

Suddenly, the sleep didn’t matter.

The crisp morning air more than just lifted my spirits. A pleasant recounting followed this sighting- of the great and not-so- great memories around this lake; which was a junction for us cousins- as kids and in our teens, we hiked around the kere (pond). As we grew older, just lazily strolled up until it.

If I was a passerby on the road, I might have viewed this as just another water body, albeit admiring its charm. But a long and personal association with anything or anyone, transforms such an equation (for better or worse).

Despite the numerous jaunts, strolls and treks around Puttappankere, I don’t think I had ever seen the lake at this time of the day, in its dawn avataar- with ibbani as we call it in Kannada or morning dew, arising from this fond pond of ours.

It seemed so pristine, our very own Puttappankere. May be, as time goes by and my visits dwindle further, every time I pass by the lake, it’ ll keep getting prettier to my eyes. Its true, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Picture shot at Puttappankere (lake in our ancestral home)

Siddapur, Karnataka, November 2011

Spotted this linear spectacle just as we were approaching the...

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 23:52:00 +0530

Final harvest

Linear spectacle

Spotted this linear spectacle just as we were approaching the holy town of Pandharpur, Maharashtra- our destination for the day. These farmers were on their way to the sugarcane factory with their harvest.

Sugarcane, as a crop, has altered the farming dynamic in many parts of Maharashtra (and elsewhere) as it tends to be five times more lucrative than a regular crop. So, many crops that had been cultivated- factoring topography, climate, soil and water attributes amongst others, traditionally over the years, have been replaced by the sweetcane.

These images, to me, are reminiscent of the short months and long days of patient tending to the black soil in anticipation of the final harvest.

On our drive to Pandharpur, Maharashtra

Musings about the loved one Was that a crack on the frozen...

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 22:27:00 +0530

Musings about the loved one

Was that a crack on the frozen river?

To let the waiting water trickle beneath the frozen glass,
To come gushing out and run along, dance along…

Was that a smile?
Or was it the flaming fire, dancing to reach the sky?
Was that a smile?
Or was it the winds, lifting and swaying with it, the whole world?

Was that a smile?
Or victory? Or victor?
Truth?
Or the search for it?
Or was that a mountain that stood tall yet still?
Was it benevolence or was it munificence?

What was it?
Humility to stamp(ede) over?
Or honour to crown?
Was that the glint of wit?
Or the light of wisdom?
Was that patience, perseverance or tolerance?
Was that the sparkle of an idea?
Or was it divine revelation?

Many things can never be understood.
Most others can never be described.
But there are very few things that remain etched forever in the mind’s eye…
Like that smile.

Musing and floating on the coast of Estopona, Souther Spain, June 2010

A great thing about road trips is how you get to soak- in...

Wed, 25 May 2011 11:03:00 +0530

A great thing about road trips is how you get to soak- in landscapes, catch the changes in temperature, watch the topography & architecture transform, savour local cuisine and other aspects of culture in a slow, gradual sort of way.

Although when you are on a roadtrip from France to Germany, at the periphery of the French border and the threshold of the Auto Bahn, its not all that gradual and no prizes for guessing why! We’ll talk about the Germany part of the trip a little later.

For now, its the memory of Rheims in the province of Champagne, Norteastern France. A sultry spring morning, whisps of white clouds floating over clear blue skies and a street market of books. Quaint, peaceful and eclectic, so what if 99.99% of the books were French? We picked Asterix to better our French, in a fun way.

PS: Its hard to miss how the French make everything look SO good- themselves, their homes, window sills, street markets and well, just about everything around them.

Some days in our lives are commemorative. They are a cumulative...

Wed, 18 May 2011 01:01:00 +0530

Some days in our lives are commemorative.

They are a cumulative representation of what we strived for one day at a time.

They reflect the everyday feat of working towards a vision

And that’s important-

If you are not aware of building your vision from 24 hours to weeks and months

Every act will seem mundane.

Here’s to a splendid day in a student’s life- graduation day.

A year ago I graduated, and today I am commemorating the year that was lived day by day, month by month semester by semester. I put in much more than time, resources and energy into this. And so did he. I would never have been able to do this without him. This day is a memoir of a completion and a closure to a difficult distance; one that, we believe fortified us. And yes, red and blue is the best combination in the world. Go quakers!

On a celebratory 17th of May, 2010

Franklin Field, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

PANORAMA pan orama: an unbroken view of the whole region...

Tue, 17 May 2011 00:35:00 +0530

PANORAMA

pan orama: an unbroken view of the whole region surrounding an observer

The constrictions to clarity is created not just by having a wrong or an inappropriate perspective, but also the place from where one gets a perspective. From where you are looking- the height, the vastness and the depths. Yes, the place matters, adds to the ‘panoramic’ view, equally if not more.

Journeys don’t begin with perspectives, we make journeys to shape perspectives and to arrive at a place that will give us a view we never had before. So with travel in space, and so with travel in the time continuum of life.

Travels begin with journeys, but another kind of journey, the one that takes you inwards and deeper into the crevices of your being, begin only after you have arrived at your destination, after you have framed perspectives from a height, a certain depth and a vastness.

Telling myself to never stop making journeys for panoramic, unbroken views.

By Schuylkill river, Philadelphia, USA

May 2010