in a man’s dictionary the word shopping is often a synonym for a girl, lady or woman, usually of all sizes and colour. Now if you disagree, i am with you, because i too believe that men too are equally drawn towards shopping (be it for himself or for others). Check out this picture and see for yourself. Or may be the other unknown story could be, he is tired of walking along, while she shops. The picture is taken at Linking road, one of the busiest shopping streets of Bombay.
some 10-15 years ago, this building changed the face of iskon circle. It is the Big bazaar, which soon became the epitome of “affordable” retail. What remain now are the remnants of its recent history. It doesn’t take half a century to find a place in history now. Today buildings are made only to be broken to make better and bigger places for us, not to forget for a BETTER tomorrow. Is it the lack of plan or want of more profit. Alas, it is for our “better” future.
“I don’t leave it empty, even the small piece of land I have. With financial help from tribal department, today my field is full of tomatoes and chilly”. It is the proud statement by Varjulbhai a tribal farmer from Velvach village of Valsad district, which has predominant tribal population.
varjulbhai in his farm, though he is shy, was very keen to take me around the farm
Varjulbhai of Velvach village owns half acre land and initiated cultivation of vegetables with financial support from tribal department. Along with his wife, he now produces tomatoes, brinjal (egg plant) and lady’s finger (okra), which he directly sells at the nearby market. He now owns a house to live respectfully with his wife and children.
Valsad is best known as the mango district of Southern Gujarat, India. Blessed with abundant natural wealth, Valsad receives an approximate annual rainfall of around 2200mm. Valsad also has its place in the history as one of the princely states of yesteryears. The name Valsad is derived from historical name Vad-saal, which means full of banyan trees in Gujarati (local language). Valsad district is mainly divided in to five blocks, Dharampur, Valsad, Kaprada, Pardi and Umargaon. Of which Dharampur and Kaprada are predominantly tribal and is enveloped by the Western Ghat mountain region. Valsad has a tribal population of around 60 per cent out of its total populace of 1.5 million.
a happy man front of his home
gate way of india is one of the main attraction for people who visit bombay (i dont want to call it mumbai, i still hang on to bombay, how i love old things), especially people like me (from small town). apart from the street hawkers, policemen and localities, you can never miss the dozens of one-minute photographers with polaroid prints. like her adult counterparts, this little kid too was fascinated with the photo printing process, she sat through the printing of many photographs of her own kin, others and ours (i, along with friends).
Violet is the colour of my dreams
My dreams which were born with me
Born with me, to take me to the unseen lands
Unseen lands, which exist within me
Exist within me an urge to see the unseen lands
It is the colour of my dreams
just before the onset of monsoon, the clouds present an impeccable look like the soon to be wedded bride. the otherwise sunny and hot mornings of ahmedabad suddenly becomes fresh. the fleet of magical clouds gives a much needed respite and ignites the dreams of sleeping in a cool clime.
the chaos of traffic vanishes as i travel under the magical clouds
the respite is not just for me, but for them too
the sky is falling…not at all, its just the magical clouds
i belong to a coastal village, still haven’t seen corals or molluscs like the way i saw them at Narara. Almost 66 kms away from the city of Jamnagar lies Narara, a heaven for various marine species. And this is where i saw corals for the first time. The most amazing part of this place is that, you don’t have to dive into sea to see corals (especially its easy for people like me, who cannot swim). When there is low tide the water level recedes to upto 2 km, which enables us to see the beauty and lives of corals and scores of other marine species. Narara is most frequented by local tourists and people who are aware of this place. However, people need to be more sensitive towards handling the corals. The best thing you can do is, let the corals be the way it is.
Narara hosts a wide range of marine life, from octopus to crabs; you can find almost all of them. Local fishermen often come to Narara to catch crabs. Though Narara has a thriving marine life, sighting is depended on your luck, well almost.
a long view of narara, when sea water ebbs
the natural pattern on sand, footprints occasionally disturbs the patterns
top view of a coral species
a neptune crab paying hide and seek
fishermen on foot
the silent town of junagadh is a travelers paradise. in each gully there is something to explore and experience. among many places, king ashoka’s rock edicts are worth visiting in junagadh. the historical prominence of ashoka in the valley of mighty Girnar is seen from the rock edict displayed here, unfortunately the building collapsed few months back. hope not much damage has happened to the edicts. this was the entrance to the rock edict.
usually they are happy and smiling all the time. but she was different and her eyes were gleaming with the last few drops of tears. i could not find the source of it, some thing was troubling her.
women are known as the water carriers, though few men would disagree with that. I am talking about carrying water on head with such balance, which seriously is an awe inspiring sight. Hats off to such courageous and strong women. For city dwellers like me, it’s a non-achievable feat. But years ago, somewhere in early AD 1000, a woman (obviously a queen) thought of building a stepwell for the people, i am sure, she must have thought about the women too. The architecture of the stepwell (locally known as vav) is magnificent, the pillared multi-stored pavilions and beautiful sculptures would leave you mesmerized. If you have a look at the water history of india, stepwells were one of the most prominent water conservation method in use then. Those who are visiting can plan a day trip to patan. The stepwell of patan is popularly called rani no vav (translation would be queen’s stepwell) has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in June 22, 2014.
side view of the stepwell
sajithacharles 