The 13th floor

I had to go to a friend's apartment on the 14th floor of a building in Dubai. I got into the lift and this is what I saw -

I had almost forgotten about how in some buildings there is no 13th floor and didn't expect it in a relatively new building.

My favourite photographs

Came across these two photographs I had taken a couple of years ago. The lady and child were in Bhutan and I took that picture just before I started the trek to the Tiger's Nest monastery. The man with the flute was at the Mehrangarh fort in Jodhpur. Just thought I'd share them here....

 

The Sheikh Zayed Mosque, Abu Dhabi

After five years in the UAE I got the opportunity to go to the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi only last month. I had these pictures on my phone and thought I'd share them on this blog. With the weather being the way it is in this part of the globe, it is not very often that one gets to see clear blue skies. The mosque itself is beautiful and definitely worth a visit. I regretted not taking my camera with me and these pictures do not do justice to it at all. I guess I underestimated the beauty of this place.

Even the washrooms are so beautiful....

Remember to wear something that covers your head and arms, shoulders and legs when you visit the mosque. They do give you these abayas if you are not dressed appropriately.

 

 

 

Pest control for the literate lizard

We got an email from our admin department yesterday about pest control happening in our office on Saturday. No one is going to be allowed at work for six hours after the pest control has been done. The mail reminded me of this photograph I took last June when I was at my Aunt's place in Pune. The words 'Kanchi Varadaraja' were handwritten on almost all the walls of her house. When I asked her what that was for, she said that it is a belief that when you write these two words on your walls you no longer have lizards in your house. And my Aunt swears by this.

Growing up in Pune I remember being mortally scared of lizards, and now, even though I know they are quite harmless, I still am very scared of them. How I wish I had known about the power of Kanchi Varadaraja back then! A search on the internet will lead to sites on the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kanchipuram, but nothing on why these two words are effective in getting rid of your lizard problems. But I can't help marvel at the miracle behind this non-violent way of pest control for the literate lizard.

A fishy fish

I recently inherited an aquarium in office and am now mother to what seems to be a Ryukin goldfish and a bottom feeder. Problem is that the goldfish is possibly the fattest goldfish ever..and I mean EVER. He also has a comical expression which makes him look quite unreal. Take a look and let me know what you think. Is he really a Ryukin goldfish? That's what my research said so. But this is my first time with fish so I could be wrong.

Baby okra!

How cute is this?

My fridge magnet collection

  

It's time to buy a new (bigger) fridge!

A surprise visit to Istanbul, again!

So just ten days after our wonderful holiday in Kenya and Tanzania I found out that I had to make a work trip to Istanbul. My radio station was doing a promotion with Radisson hotel and Etihad airways and we were taking 40 lucky listeners to Istanbul for a big weekend. I was told on a Wednesday evening that I had to leave for Istanbul early on Friday morning, so I had a lot to do before I left. I was the official photographer and had to ensure that we had regular updates on our official facebook page. (Yeah, not a bad way to earn a living, isn't it?). It was great to be in Istanbul again, that too on an all-expenses-paid trip. All our tours were organized by Radisson and this time around I actually got the see the famous Kohinoor in Topkapi palace. Had a great time, enjoyed myself thoroughly and fell in love with Istanbul, all over again!

African sunset

Just back from a fantastic week long vacation to Maasai Mara and Zanzibar with a whole lot of lovely photographs. This one is my favourite. Shot at sunset, it reminded me of the photography class I attended during my masters in Mass Communications. We were told that sunrise and sunset are the magic hours to do photography in. We were heading back to the camp after a wonderful evening safari and our driver was eager to get back before it got too dark. We saw this herd of Thomson gazelles and impalas and they made a beautiful sight against the setting sun.

Since the Maasai Mara is just one degree away from the Equator sunrise and sunset takes only a minute so we had to act fast. Besides we wanted to catch this herd in our frame so this picture was taken in a hurry but the result is beautiful.

RIP Bala

Today happens to be the birthday of an ex-colleague of mine. His name was Balakrishna and we were at Reliance Communications back in 2007, when I had a short stint with Reliance just before moving to Dubai. Earlier this year I learnt that Bala died of a massive heart attack. The news was shocking and unbelievable because Bala was not even forty, but I guess I eventually came to terms with it so much so that I even forgot about it.
When I logged in to Facebook this morning I got the notification reminding me that it's Bala's birthday. It was a weird feeling. It's as if the person were still alive even though you know that he is not. Another colleague had wished him on his wall and I figured that she had no clue that Bala was no more. So I wrote to her and she was as shocked as I was when I had first heard the news. She then went on to say that she is taking a break from work because she's expecting her first baby in January. And then it hit me, yet again...the beauty....the cruelty (depending on how you look at it) of the universe...the continuity of the cycle of birth and death. I informed one person about the death of another and she told me that she was going to give birth soon. It's fascinating, mysterious and beautiful at the same time, isn't it?