A typical Fish Market in India

Bengalis love Fish and any Indian image will be incomplete without a picture of a fish market. So here are some. But I really wish I get the opportunity to try out my camera to take some good photos like the ones I see and admire on the net from so many people who take wonderful photos. Mine are still just routine ones. To take photos like a professional one needs some time and involvement which I am not able to give so far. Anyway here are something for my blog. The 2nd and 5th photo were taken with a fill-in-flash & the other two coloures ones taken manual without flash, in case you want to know.

Mall Night

Shopping Malls in the night.

Paintings from India

My wife's paintings. One shows the Rajasthani Woman playing in the garden,

Delhi Roads in the Night

I was coming back home. Here are some pictures of Delhi Roads in the night.


And here is Lord Shiva (He is the Destroyer- Brahma being the creator and Vishnu being the Protector of the 3 main Gods in Hinduism) for you or should I say the Hindu Believer in you, if any ? I even saw one man devotedly folding his hands in front of the gate of the park where this huge statue was built.

Merry Christmas !

India is a secular country and we have people of nearly all the religions here. Some of the major groups are Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and the Christians. Believe it or not we Indians enjoy all the religious festivals here.
(Forget the fanatics and the exceptions).

So MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! I will try to post tome photos by tomorrow on this.

26th Dec 2005: Nopes. Too much of a rush at the malls and hotels and everywhere. It is total madness. So could not take any photos for this item.

Mumbai- Slums

Indian Metros do not give that clean appearance some cities abroad give. It is primarily because of the huge population and add to that the usual problems- you name it. And so among everything you will find slums everywhere.

Here I quote some figures from Times of India Mumbai edition 16th Dec'2005- "Maximum City, Maximum Slum".

There are as many as 42.6 million slum dwellers in India, meaning that over 4% of the population lives in dwellings unfit for human living. Mumbai tops the list. 54.1% of Mumbai's population and more than 60% of the city's children live in slums.

Greater Mumbai's 6.5 million slum dwellers far outnumbers those in any other city of India and accounts for 15% of the entire slum population of the country. [Delhi has 1.9 million followed by Kolkata with 1.5 million, Chennai with 0.8 million,, Nagpur with 0.7 million, and hyderabad with 0.6 million.]

However evaluating the slum picture as a proportion of the population of the city gives a totally different picture. Mumbai tops the list here as mentioned above. Faridabad and Meerut follows with 46.5% and 44.1%. Nagpur and Kolkata are the other two cities with over 30% of their population living in slums.
[The first picture is the daytime picture of the same slum in the night (second picture).]

....What does this mean? It is for economists to decide, but a higher portion of total population living in slums means that the cities will not be as clean or presentable as cities where the percentage of people living in slums is less. Hence you will see Mumbai and Kolkata as dirtier & drab and Delhi will look much better. And of course there will be other associated problems too.

But then what is the beauty of Mumbai? The city somehow throbs all 24 hours. And that is the beauty of Mumbai. Here I post some pictures of Bandra, where you will find lot of slums and rubble, and also the backwaters of the sea which is being reclaimed. The difference between daytime and night time is obvious.
The flyovers at Bandra Reclamation approach road.

GOA- Paradise on Earth !!

I love Goa, its people its beauty, its freedom, its openness. The erstwhile Portugese settlement town in Western Part of India has the most wonderful beaches in India. Many foreigner Tourists have made it their second home place and come back every year just to enjoy the idyllic beauty of the sea side and soak up the sun and the warmth and affection that the people and the land has to offer. I am not different from them even if I am an India. Ohh I wish I too could live on those wonderful beaches forever!! I have one photo that I can share for now.

It is of the Vagator Beach. If our friend from Enskede, Stockholm, Sweden, Virve Pittkamaki, whom we met here on this beach (and later at that bar and restaurant & later through letters), ever sees this page, please contact us here by sending a comment here. We have lost touch and would be happy if we can get in touch once again.

Typical Indian Market

I said you will find everything in India from dirt to shine. Here is a typical market in a city which boasts of Multinational investments on the other side of the city while the old city lingers on in its village like dressup. This is how small town market looks like in India. Full of dirt and dust and PEOPLE.. Sooooo manyyy of themm!!!


Gosh !! How I wonder at those European countries which does not even have a speck of dust! We indians cannot imagine land without dust!!! And look at those Round Brown things ? Do not eat them on open roads. Indians can eat as their stomachs are habituated. But try them in some antiseptic environment at some five star hotel. They are called 'Pani Pooris" (pronounced as Pani = HONEY= PONEY. POORI= pooh-ree)
Yumm.. with tamarind water and maybe some more they are tasty. But the real taste for those who eat it outside is from the sweat of the sales man who sells these by hand that dips into the tamarind mix water !! (LOL ))

Anf the other foodstuff is a local sweet. Made from sesame seeds and jaggery or sugar.

And that is an Indian CYCLE RICKSHAW.. You sit on it.. you have to hold on to the seat by nothing at all as you keep falling off the front.. and leave your life at the hands of the dirver who will scoot in front of cars and buses!!.

Queen Padmini of Chittor Rajasthan

History has repeated evidence that men running after Beautiful Women have always wreaked havoc on peaceful societies. From Helen of Troy to our Homegrown Queen Padmini who was the queen of Chittor, Rajasthan. Ala-Ud-Din Khilji heard of her and came visiting. The queen stayed in this building in the middle of the artificial lake, to keep her comfortable through natural water cooling. The room I took the picture from had a window looking at the building in the midst of the lake and a mirror facing the window. Ala-ud-din was made to stand with his back to the window and facing the mirror. The queen came out and he saw her image in the mirror. That itself was sufficient to make him decide that he wanted the queen for herself and so he came back later to attack Chittorgarh (Fort Chiitor). Rest is history.

Here is the photo of the Queen's Home in the lake.