Category: Travelling

My travel tales and the photographs.

TTL: Tikona Fort

They say, the forts around Pune, look amazing during the rains. Heard this so many times, and have been enticed by so many photos, that finally, we gave in. We loaded us on a couple of bikes, and went on our day trip to the Tikona Fort, morning, 7 o’ clock on a Saturday. This is the account of our trip. There may not be photos of the fort in here, rather, there are ones of what you can see from the fort.

Keeping true to Murphy’s Laws and the weather reports, we lost our ways a couple of times, splashed into huge puddles of water and finally made it to the hill and found it engulfed in fog.

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We caught our breath for a minute and took in the amazing view, though limited view from the base of the fort.

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Post maneuvering through some muddy and rocky paths, we reached a spot, from where the path ahead was this…

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For the sake of railings, there was a co-axial cable cut and bolted into the hill face, and we had to climb on the rocks, which were at least a foot high and slippery. The gradient felt close to 60 degrees. Well,  it was just the beginning though. Some time into the climb, things became more slippery, and agreeably, scary too.

It was the views that kept us going and pushing to reach the top.

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We got the view of the greenery that had been so much referred to, and also realized that after all, monsoon may not be the best time to come to this place. Not because of the rain, but because the clouds obstruct the visibility.

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This is a nice place to be for a day outing. As we climbed down, we saw tiny kids and even toddlers climbing up the trail, so it is not very technical climb or a difficult one as such. One must always exercise a certain amount of caution though.

The location ought to be an amazing one for night time photography and star gazing. The peak of the climb experiences quite strong winds so the ones venturing up should take the necessary precautions.

While climbing down, some caution had to be maintained as the place had become very slippery and narrow approaches forced us to move in a single file.

On the whole, the trip was a nice way to unwind and to get some of the much needed fresh air.

Cheers!!

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Glimpses of Mumbai: Dhobi Ghaat

For the ones who have followed my Glimpses of Mumbai set, and thought that it was over and done with, well, not quite. I have been bogged down with post internship formalities and college classes, hence these never made it out of Lightroom, until now. Here is, a glimpse of the world’s largest open air laundry.

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Located right off the Mahalaxmi station on the central line is this location. Interestingly, if one would want to have a look at the various strata of the society, the serving and the served, that is also visible right from the flyover.

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On the way from Dadar to Mahalaxmi, one can find this certain location too, seems perfect for a eerie shoot!

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And to end, some local fauna!

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This too shall not be last post of the series, there should be at least one more to it. Do keep an eye out.

Cheers!!

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Glimpses of Mumbai – 200 M above earth – 2

It has been quite some time that I haven’t posted the photos. Here I am, back with the promised photos.

Its easy to see miles after miles into the city from the vantage point, atop a 51 storied building. Once you get there, you can see, that yes, the city is growing, rising skywards, and that that the slums are diminishing by the hour. The slum dwellers are shifted to newly constructed  slum rehab towers and on the hence vacant land, come up skyscrapers. I guess now this is how we shall define development, the phase of construction, when slums are converted to high rise towers. Squalor and luxury, opposites together, C’est la vie.

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These are the last of the photos that were taken from the internship site. As per the posts, there are still two places to publish. So, stay tuned, for next iteration of Glimpses Of Mumbai 🙂

Cheers!!

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Glimpses of Mumbai – 200 m above earth – 1

Hi there readers,

It has been quite sometime since my last post. Have been keeping busy due to the internship.
There’s an advantage while you are interning on a realty project. Now a days, most of the projects are high rise ones,  so is mine. The following shots have been taken in a Mumbai suburb, from about 200m above the earth.  I hope you like the view.

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More of similar shots, coming up soon. And yes, please view full screen 😛

Cheers!!

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Glimpses of Mumbai – Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Victoria Terminus)

Continuing with the coverage of the icons of Mumbai, this place is one of the first places you shall visit when you make it to Mumbai, the CSTM railway station, earlier known as VT station. Its one of places which look simply amazing, and are kind of hiding in plain sight. Most of us have seen it looking amazing and grand in the daylight, here is how CST looks at night.

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On the other side of the road, is the municipal corporation, which too has a grand look to it.

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About the next post, I cannot make promises. Schedule is packed tight. Lets see what I can pull up.

Cheers!!

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Glimpses of Mumbai – Nana Chowk, Grant Road

In my previous post, I mentioned that I take a tiny hop to a place to shoot a very particular signal, well, this is the one. Whats so special about it, you may ask, well, it was a pre decided and pre conceived shot. I knew the angles, knew the locations, just went in and took the shot.

Here are the results.

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The first photo is a product of a merging of 4 photos shot in quick succession from the same location, settings unchanged and then merged in Photoshop.

The next post, is one that is long overdue. I climbed the top floor of the site of my work, with the camera and shot Mumbai. The results, shall form the next post. Keep an eye out.

Cheers!!

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Glimpses of Mumbai: Bandra – Worli Sealink

So, my quest of shooting the icons of Mumbai continues in this post too. In the earlier posts, the Tulsi Pipe road, Haji Ali Dargah, Chor Bazaar and the Queen’s Necklace have been covered. This time, it is the ₹1600 crore worth engineering marvel, the Bandra- Worli Sealink. The shots have been shot from the Bandra Fort, in company of Dipanwita, and the other shots are from the Dadar beach, in company of Tanisha, both amazing photographers in their own rights.
I was asked recently by a friend, what I do in my spare time?Well, I post process my photos! 🙂

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Next up, I go to Grant Road, and shoot a very specific chowk. Keep an eye out for the results.
Cheers!!

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Glimpses of Mumbai – The Queen’s Necklace

There are iconic locations and spots in a city which make it instantly recognizable to the world. Here, I show one such icons of Mumbai.

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The shots were pre visualized ones. Hence, when I actually shot them, and got the result that I wanted, that made me absolutely jubilant.

I went to the Bandra Fort for a few shots of the Bandra- Worli Sealink, photos, coming up next.

Cheers!!

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Glimpses of Mumbai – Chor Bazaar

In the previous post, I mentioned about a trip to the Mumbai’s famous Chor Bazaar.

Alighting at the Sandhurst Road station, I took a taxi to Mutton St. And I officially arrived at the Chor Bazaar.
Some say, it was orginally Shor Bazaar, Shor meaning Noise in Hindi, and then slowly over time, and with influx of stolen goods available for sale, it got renamed to Chor Bazaar, thieves market. To me, it appeared to be more of a second hand market. From old furniture to a pair of walky talky, a little search can yield wonderful results. I arrived at the place at noon, a time when the bustle is at a minimum. I hopped from shop to shop, looking for  a very specific item. There are shops which sell old film cameras, SLRs, Projectors, vinyl records, typewriters. Shops selling lamps, from chandeliers to signalling lamps, everything is available. Clocks, table clocks or wall hanging ones, or if you fancy, the big grandfather ones, all are available, in different conditions, at different prices, and bargaining is rampant. This is a collector’s paradise. One must visit this place to take in the essence. Enough of the literature, let the photos speak now. Enjoy.

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I hope I have managed to entice you to take a trip to this part of the city. A word of caution, do exercise common sense in terms of how you dress and how you behave with people in the bazaar. Flaunting that you have deep pockets may not end on a happy note for you, and yes, dear photogs, who plan to go shoot here, ask for permission. If they say No, then respect it, do not try to be sly and take photos anyway. They may not be very happy about it.

Go on, search in the bazaar, am sure you ll find something that interest you.

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Glimpses of Mumbai – 2

It has been almost a month at this business hub of India. In my earlier post on Mumbai, I said, people appear to be distant, and that they bother about their own business mostly. Well, that feeling hasn’t changed. A certain respect has come up for the people who manage to squeeze into the suburban trains in the peak hours. The Hanging Gardens, Mahalaxmi Temple, Haji Ali Dargah are the places that have got ticked off the list. The Chowpatty is a must go place for the kulfi and falooda loving public. As for the beach, okay, its fine, too crowded for my liking. The area near the Banganga Tank, was different. It looks as if the place is still stuck in time, do visit it if you happen to be in the Malabar Hill area. Now, the photos.

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Next post is about my experience in the famous Chor Bazaar. Stay tuned 🙂

Cheers!!

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Glimpses of Mumbai – 1

Mumbai, the city of dreams some say. I am here for a couple of weeks now, owing to an internship in one of the huge multinational companies.
Since am already here, its only fair that I should go out and go clicking, as and when I get some time.

These are some shots from the past few weeks.

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In my limited exposure to the people here, I realized, the public is generally impassive about their surroundings and their neighbours. Everyone keeps to themselves and is bothered about just their own. Its not necessarily a bad thing, but then, I felt a certain lack of compassion in the air for the fellow being highly prevalent. I may be wrong, or maybe I just met people who were having a bad day. Whatever be it, Mumbai is different. Its true when people say, there are two ways of doing things, the normal way, and the mumbaikars’ way.

More to come, stay tuned:)

Cheers!!

 

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TTL: Velas

This post is special.
Special because it is about an event which has so much of risk, uncertainty and struggle that you must marvel the outcomes.

This post is about the tiny Olive Ridley turtles of Velas, Maharashtra.

Every year, thousands of female turtles swim their way from across the world to this little known beach in Maharashtra. They make nests, lay their eggs and wade back into the sea towards an uncertain future. Over time, the eggs hatch and baby turtles make their way into the sea on their own. The interesting thing is, all the females which would be born at Velas, would come back to the same beach to lay their eggs.

We made an overnight trip from Pune. About 200 kms to Velas, took us about 5 hours through the hilly,twisty turny roads of the western ghats. We made occasional stops and then we reached the spot, early morning.

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Since the hatching of the eggs is a natural phenomenon, we missed it. The day we went, the turtles didn’t hatch and we couldn’t see them. We were a bit sad about it, and with some heavy heart, we made our way to Hariharishwar beach, spent some time there and then we came back to the Velas beach once more to have a look at the rock formations and the landscapes that are there.

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Our trip ended the following night as we drove back home.

A few days later, one of my friends went, and she was luckier than we were and got some amazing shots of the turtles as they made their way from the sands to the sea.

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Special thanks to Medha for letting me use the photos. Am happy that you got to see them babies and you shot them.

The turtles can be seen during the months of October to December as they come to lay the eggs and from end February to mid April as the babies hatch out. The months are based on general observations and they do vary. So does the hatching. It may be so that you make a trip today and see no hatching while your friend who went a day earlier saw a basket full of them. Most people spend the weekend over there, which generally guarantees some sightings.

To the travelers out there who have not yet been to this place, go on, make a trip. The route, the location, the beach, they are worth the distance. Its a tiny village, about 50-70 homes, some offer homestay facilities too. Have a look at the MTDC website for further information.

Have fun all. Next trip, next outing, should be interesting. See you all later.

Cheers!!

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