Ganesha at home

Shillu :: Ganesha in an urn in my house. I like the reflections of the plants from the balcony in the water.

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VJ ::

vakratunda mahakaya suryakoti samaprabha

nirvighnam kurumeideva sarva karyeshu sarvada
Meaning: Lord with the twisted trunk, with the brilliant radiance of a billion suns, always remove the obstacles when I am on any challenging task.

Pick your favourite beverage

VJ :: Wine-Wall : This was just a section at the London Food Festival Fair last year. It appealed to me because I had not seen anything like this before and the way the bottles were displayed, created a sense of beauty..as they say...beauty lies in the eyes of the be-holder.
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Shillu :: My favourite mocktail on the lines of the cocktail - Mojito. This is a part of one of my best friends birthday celebrations.

Happy times

Shillu :: Its Aabharan's 1st anniversary! Its my first blog & I am happy celebrating.

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VJ :: The Trio- Jagannath- Subhadra & Balabhadra I was brought up in Orissa and I consider it lucky because I learnt a lot..the language, the culture, the traditions and more so the Gods that people worship. This Trio of Jagannath (Lord Krishna), Shubhadra (His Sister) and Balabhadra (Balrama) are worshiped without fail. Every year, truck loads of people reach Puri in the month of June to pull the chariot... a procession, which is an activity described as God's way of socializing with his creation.

Indian dance balet - 5

A post war scene, by the way of capturing emotions, King Ashoka is made to realize that true happiness lies within the four walls not in conquering places and blood shed.

Indian dance ballet - 4

We are back after a long break. We have been extremely busy with too many events - both happy & sad. And we are back for good.

This picture highlights the performance of the dancers in the King's (Ashoka's) Court.

Enjoy more pics from the Indian dance ballet series.

Wedding celebrations

VJ & Sravani, As you begin a new life together...May you have a warm and love-filled wedded life ahead. Here's wishing you the best of your future together!

Now about the picture you see here is clicked by VJ at his Sis-in-law's wedding. One of the South Indian wedding highlights is this ritual, where the Bridegroom inserts the 'toe-ring' onto the Bride's second toe finger.

~Shillu~

Indian Dance Ballet - 3

Suryanamaskaram - is the first prayer in the day to worship the rise of Sun. Today, it is a part of our daily exercise in yoga.

Sashanka Chakram Sakeerata Kundalam Sapeeta Vastram Sarasee Ruhekshanam- Sahara Vakshasthala Kausthabham Namami Vishnum Sirasa Chaturbhujam-- the prayer

~VJ~

Indian Dance ballet-2

Shilpachaturyam :: This posture depicts the innate talent of the Shilpi (sculpture artist) during 304 BC. By way of the dance, the dance artist's portray carving and setting up the sculpture, which in this case is an entrance, also known as Dwaram. ~VJ~

Traditional Indian dance ballet-1

Shillu :: Brace yourself to watch some breathtaking pictures the next couple of days from VJ. When I looked at this collection I decided that these are too precious to be coupled with any of my pics. So I will only post VJ's pics for the next couple of days.

Panchamrutam - My fiancee and I went to watch a Bharatnatyam Dance Ballet called 'Ashoka'- meaning 'end of sorrow' and based on the life of King Ashoka. Various dancers young and old, held the audience captive with their enthralling expressions, gracious moves, apt mudras and above all, an outstanding performance..three cheers to the team 'Mangeeram' who presented this fusion dance ballet at Shilpa Kala Vedika on the occasion of Sree Rama Navami... VJ

Melting moments

VJ ::

location: Fusion 9

Date: 4th April 2009

Occasion- My friend's daughter's first birthday

Loved this picture because previously one of my friend's had taken a similar picture and I was wondering how he could get such a picture, now when I captured a similar image, I know for sure how he did it. Believe me, its as simple as saying- 'Light off- Camera- Focus'...
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Shillu :: For those of you who have been checking our blog and encouraging us - Thank you for your patience in putting up with us. We promise to be regular from June onwards. Life has been hectic working across time zones. Here is a beautiful wall clocks display at work.

Sights in "Red"

Shillu :: Decorated car on an Indian street. This is a pretty common sight here. Vehicles are decorated for special occasions like weddings, festivals etc.,. In this particular case looks like this car is decorated to carry the bride & groom post the wedding.

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VJ :: London telephone booth- must have seen it in a movies and now I present this piece of infrastructure that stands at the end of any street and connects people, who are miles apart.

Thank God its Friday

Shillu :: Meet Mangal - He serves drinks at a fun place. We were a hungry/starved ;-) bunch of 12 on a Friday evening & he ensured that we were all taken care of. He is really witty & strikes up a conversation with anyone. What caught my attention is his hat & the colorful buttons on his coat & the attitude with which Mangal carries himself. It took me sometime to convince him for this picture.

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VJ :: One of my friends was buying a customized gourmet alcoholic beverage from one of the local stores and this is what caught my attention. The bottles come in varying sizes and proportions and the way they were displayed made all the difference. Even better, you also get to choose and taste the beverage that you want to buy..all in all a mind blowing experience.

Congratulations

Its been a great week! First- VJ got promoted. Then,

A R Rahman wins the Oscar for his music in Slumdog Millionaire*.

!!Congratulations VJ & A R Rahman!!

*I am a die-hard fan of Rahman & I like the music of SM. However, I think he has composed much better music than SM- read as Roja, Donga Donga(Thiruda, thiruda in Tamil), Vande mataram etc., I am not complaining, at the end none of those movies would have earned him this honour as they would only qualify in the foreign film category. I am so happy that he won such a well deserved award!!

JAI HO!!

Happy Valentines Day

Love is not blind,

Love sees but does not mind.

-Anonymous

!!HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

Fine Dining

VJ :: A perfect evening: Place: A local Italian Restaurant. A couple of my friends and I went to this restaurant here in London for some nice Italian pasta followed by a generous portion of Tiramisu. The tables were set to welcome guests for that evening!
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Shillu :: Spicy crisp chilli babycorn garnished with ground black pepper & spring onions. Perfect starter for a delicious meal. The highlight of the dish is the beetroot carving.

Happy Birthday

Wishing you Health, Happiness & prosperity always... Happy birthday Meetu. I am blessed to be a part of your life.

I Got a Pineapple cake & made some special Indian food at home. Invited some friends over for lunch followed by a dinner at our favourite restaurant.

Vegetable biryani is made with Basmati rice and curried vegetables in layers, infused with aromatic spices like Cinnamon, Cloves, Shahi jeera, Mint, Cilantro and garnished with almonds, cashew, fried onions & fried bread cubes. I served this with onion raitha (Onion & yoghurt dip). This is my first attempt at preparing veg biryani, I followed this recipe. Enjoy the picture & come over to celebrate with us today :: Shillu

Anything is possible

A promise of change
A ray of hope
A new era has begun
Anything is possible!

*This beautiful picture is from my friend-Aanchal's lens

Heavenly sights'

Heavenly Sights' - One for the eyes, one for the palette

Shillu :: We recently celebrated an important Indian festival - Sankranthi. This is the dessert I made at home as an offering to the God & then for us. Its called Semiya Payasam or Vermicelli Kheer. Vermicelli cooked in milk, flavoured with cardamom & garnished with roasted cashews & raisins. And yeah, In case you are wondering - Yes, I love Ganesha Idols & I have loads of them.

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VJ :: Good Morning - In summer of 2007, I was in Paris doing my Post Graduation. One morning when I woke up accidentally at 5:15am, I saw this sight. What next? I caught hold of my camera and captured 'God's Creation'. Isn't it perfect?

Sankranthi Subhakankshalu

Shillu :: Sankranti is an Indian festival that is celebrated beginning of of the harvest season for the farmers. I miss celebrating this festival back in Hyderabad. Tulasi decorates the outdoors with colorful Rangoli (painting on the ground with white powder & other colors), we would all wear new clothes and visit a temple. All the kids would gather on the terrace and have a kite flying competition with the kids from our neighbourhood. In the evening my cousins and I decorate all the Bommalu (toys) in a colorful display called bommala koluvu & invite neighbours to our house.



Yesterday BK & I decorated our house with flowers and made Payasam (dessert made with rice, milk & jaggery garnished with cashews & raisins). The picture you see here is from one of the corners of our house - an urn/urli decorated with flowers & Ganesha holding an oil lamp in his hands. Sankranthi Subhakankshalu (Greetings) to you.

Happy New Year

Shillu :: Buddha from Ganga Ramaya Buddhist Temple, Colombo

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VJ :: Cute Ganesha from Vj's Collection