Sail through...

Sail through... Visiting my friend, who lives in Hertfordshire was always a joyous moment. First, he lived away from the main city- that gave me an opportunity to see the country side and he lived in a big apartment- that accommodated all our friends..so, basically, it was party time. On our evening walks to the nearby playground, we saw a group of people training for a sailing event...I knew they would sail through.

~VJ~

Inspiration for home decorations

Shillu :: Water lily outside my favourite boutique in Bangalore. I love the color of this one. This was growing in a nice huge urn, that's when it struck me - I don't need a huge pond for water lilies. I will have a water lily urn on my terrace once our new house is ready.

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VJ :: Last week, I visited my friends place. It is one of those houses that has a sense of warmth, which is defined by colors. From Lamps to lamination's, pottery to paintings, from candles to curtains, furniture to flowers and last but not the least, the way the things were displayed to the decor,every element has a story to tell.The best of all if yet to come, it was even more impressive to learn that some of these things were customized and home-made. Someone correctly said, 'Home is where the heart is'? Do you agree.

Colors of nature

VJ :: Red Currants. Amongst the many things to do on my tick list while I was in London, Fruit Picking featured as the 'Top 10 Things to Do'. Last summer, my friends and I took a train to this garden in Kent to complete the wish list. We picked everything from fruits to vegetables and red currants were just one of them.

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Shillu :: One early morning we were at Lalbagh on the way to Mysore. A lady selling these flowers in a basket caught my eye. For those of you who are not from India & if this is not a common sight, what you see here is different variety of flowers woven into a garland.

CLICK July - Bi-colour

This months theme for our favourite event 'Click' is Bi-colour. This event is hosted by Jai & Bee of Jugalbandi

Here is our entry - Cheese & Crackers

Time for a break

Shillu :: This little angel flew in to relax under the shade of the money plant leaves and was checking out the cute couple driving by.

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VJ :: Resting on a sunny afternoon
Location: Shravanabelagola
Time : 1445Hrs IST
In Hassan District of Karnataka, right opposite the Chandragiri Hill, is where this hand carved Ganesha was found taking a nap on a sunny afternoon, amidst the other idols. Also notice that he has lost a lot of weight, could it be due to the summer heat in India?

Beat the heat

Shillu :: Vj has been busy relocating & preparing for his wedding. Hence we have not been good at updating the blog. I have decided to go ahead and post "solo" till VJ is back in the groove.

What you see in this picture is tender coconut. Best refreshing drink on a hot summer day. Vendors pile these up by the road for sale. You can choose which coconut you want & also mention your preference - Coconuts with more water or ones with water & tender flesh. I prefer the first choice, what about you? You can read more about them here.

Peaceful sights

VJ :: Swans- I captured these swans one clear afternoon at a local amusement park near Hertfordshire. The place, water and the swans...'Serene' is all I can say.
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Shillu :: Buddha Mural on the wall of a Chinese restaurant. Great food & relaxing ambience, what else can one ask for.

Caught on camera

VJ :: Bird's Eye View- I mean literally..you can view the bird's eye...just kidding!!! Just see how this seagull is posing for this picture and shaking a leg at the same time.

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Shillu :: Roasted peanut vendor on commercial street - a busy shopping area in Bangalore. This guy makes a cone with a used news paper piece to hold peanuts to deliver to his customers. Good fun specially when its raining.

A bright & sunny day

Shillu :: Spring is early this year. No complaints though!

What you see in this picture is a street close to my residence. I took this picture from inside the car, hence its not as clear as it should be.
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VJ :: Woods...these blocks looked very well organized and orderly. On a bright morning they looked even better with the colour contrast against the green grass and the muddy lane. What do you say?

Lights n Worms

VJ :: At a small roadside Italian restaurant in Stratford-upon-Avon, I spotted this unique looking light. What can I say, I thought, it perfectly complements the one uploaded by Shillu in the recent past.

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Shillu :: What you see here is one step in the process of Sericulture (Silk farming). The white oval objects you see here are silk worm cocoons. The cocoon is made of a thread of raw silk from 300 to 900 meters (1,000 to 3,000 feet) long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous, about 10 micrometers (1/2,500th of an inch) in diameter. About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make a pound of silk. Based on 1 kilometer (about 1,100 yards) per cocoon, ten unraveled cocoons could theoretically extend vertically to the height of Mount Everest!! (Source: Wiki)

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!!

Pic too gloomy? here you go - a Bright one!

VJ :: Making our way out of London was nearly impossible. This was the time when everything around us was freezing and my friends and I, were in a car enjoying good music and company.
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Shillu :: Couple of things about me - I am learning 2 things : Cooking & photography, not good with either yet. I will get there soon, so requesting you to bear with my experiments till then. Here is a picture of peas & peanut rice I made with brown rice as a snack one evening. This is tempered with onions, mustard seeds, cumin & garnished with coriander.

Illumination

VJ :: I am sure you are aware that after 18 long years, London was buried under a thick blanket of snow. some of the next images are from that day when London was painted in the shades of black and white.

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Shillu :: Cup & saucer shaped light holders in a food court close to work. Nice concept - apt for the place. Click on the picture for a closer look.

Munch your way thru a freezing day

VJ :: Making our way out of London was nearly impossible. This was the time when everything around us was freezing and my friends and I, were in a car enjoying good music and company. Snow- This is the way I walk to work everyday, but that day was a special day as I walked on snow and practically set my foot on snow for the first time ever.

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Shillu :: VJ - Here are some homemade rice crackers to compliment the weather there. We call these "Chekkalu" in Telugu. Popular snack in south India, made with rice flour, ginger, green chillies, curry leaves, onions, Chana dal & deep fried. Got a very delicious batch from my mother-in-law's house. Enjoy the snow while I munch away these yummy snacks ;-)

Happy Valentines Day

Love is not blind,

Love sees but does not mind.

-Anonymous

!!HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

Travel journals

VJ :: I once remember answering a quiz question in my school- world's biggest clock- The Big Ben and now I can confirm that I have seen it and this is the evidence.

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Shillu :: Some time back I went on a short holiday to Srilanka with my friends. We dined at a very beautiful restaurant on the 11th floor overlooking the sea. Here is the picture of the coastline thru the restaurant window (glass pane). If you look closely you can see a railway track - there is a train that runs along the coast - sounds like a unique experience,don't you think so?

Spotted!

VJ :: Yesterday evening I went to take a ride on the London Eye. Due to poor visibility, I decided otherwise and ended up taking pictures. I spotted this person playing trumpet under the suspension bridge by the London Eye. What else, I watched him play and captured him in action.

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Shillu :: Elephant spotted in a wild life preserve in south India.

Specks of yellow

VJ :: One of my recent pictures was about breakfast. By now, you must have guessed that I am a foodie. I love eating, cooking and also doing food photography. This was my morning breakfasts one of these days: Home made hash brown potatoes served with multi-grain bread, cheese and broccoli omelette with a dollop of ketchup. Bon appetit!

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Shillu :: Sunflower fields in an Indian village as seen thru the window of a train. I loved the colorful landscape & luckily was able to take this pic from a moving train with my point&shoot. Surprising that the pic looks decent. Have a "bright" day.

Divine intervention

Shillu :: Another temple in Karnataka state (South India) - Simhachala swamy temple. Don't you love the details in white?

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VJ :: God's miracle, one pleasant evening at South end- on- Sea. Taken on my trip to South end with friends, an hour and half away from London, this is a small coastal town with hustle and bustle.

Indian splendor

Shillu :: India is such a beautiful country with rich history. South India is very famous for beautiful temples constructed centuries back. For a couple of weeks starting today I am going to share pictures of such temples from various trips. Let me know how you like them. This is the picture of Chalukya temple in Karnataka
If you would like to know the story behind each of these pictures you can find it here

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VJ :: Good Morning! Have you ever seen the sunrise by the beach? I have done it and this is my picture.

Location: Kailashgiri, Vizag

Date: 3 Jan 2008

Time: 5:15am

Mohan, a colleague of mine and I went on a early morning drive to capture the sunrise by the beach in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam followed by breakfast at a beach view cafe. Awesome experience marked the start of a great day.