Milky Way

I had a strong desire to visit Himalayas and roam in the wilderness of nature sometime in my life.  The opportunity had come in the form of advanced workshop of Nikon School.  Though I was still fiddling with the basics of NikonD I decided to attend the Advanced workshop just to visit the roof of the world.  Ladakh in Leh of Jammu Kashmir state of India is a beautiful place with its Karakoram Himalayan ranges and lakes and rivers.  It is a cold desert with scanty vegetation. 

My first attempt

My visit was from 28^th September to 2^nd October.  That is the time when temperatures start falling and visitors/tourists visits are low.  The travel experience and photography sessions with Nikon mentors are unforgettable memory to be cherished forever.  As part of landscape photography we were asked one day to photograph night skies – Milky Way and star trails.  I was afraid of going out in cold nights.  I decided to skip that session.  But one of the young enthusiastic budding photographers who was having supper sitting beside me enquired what I was going to do that night.  I said I am afraid of cold and will go to sleep.  She said, ‘Looking at you I can say that the chance of visiting this place by you in future is minimal.  Why don’t you enjoy and click some pictures of night sky.  You cannot have such wonderful opportunity again.  It’s a matter of fifteen minutes to half an hour.  Just don’t miss’.

Mentor checked and corrected the settings

At the same time one of the guys had already gone out to click few pictures of Milk way and started showing to everyone in the group.  The pictures were awesome and I decided that I too should have few photographs of night skies at Pangong TSo.

My attempt trying composition

With the help of mentors I could click few pictures of Milky Way.  As a child I vaguely remember seeing Milky Way as my elder sister pointing at some group of stars.  But for the first time I saw the beautiful sky with stars, an amazing view never to forget in my life.  I feel grateful to the young lady who encouraged me to spend few minutes in the wilderness of cold nature amidst mountains, lake and starry skies.  

One more attempt

Non-denominational Chapel

Non-denominational Chapel at Massachusetts Institute of Technology dedicated in the year 1955 is designed by famous architect Eero Saarinen.  The chapel is constructed with rough bricks to give the wall a texture. It is in the shape of a cylinder, with a diameter of 50 feet and a height of 20 feet, surrounded by a shallow moat with water.  The interior has a full height metal sculpture, designed by Harry Bertoia.   It glitters from above down to a small unadorned marble altar.  The light that falls on the water with ripples travels upward through shallow slits in the walls and creates mesmerising effect on people inside.  The natural light is complemented by artificial light.

Leland M. Roth author of History of American architecture says “through the sheer manipulation of light and its focus on a blazingly white marble altar block, Saarinen created a place of mystic quiet”.

  The curving spire and bell tower is designed by sculptor Theodore Roszak in the year 1956.

The chapel set in two grooves of London Plane trees with a long wall to the east has uniform back ground.  Though it is situated in MIT Campus it stands isolated from the hustle and bustle of other buildings.

When I visited MIT and went on free MIT tour, this chapel was closed.  Our guide, a young grad student told about it and showed us this chapel.  She even told us that one of her friends got married in the chapel.

When religious terrorism is creating unrest in the world, I think we should have this type of worshipping places in all educational institutions.  It will help in understanding that true religion is to understand each other and live in peace, and to imbibe the essence of all religions, love and let live.

Lost

Nobody likes to lose things.  But unfortunately sometimes we lose things that are important to us and not so important.  Loss means carelessness.  I remember a story where a poor girl borrows a necklace from her rich friend and looses it.  She does not know that it is fake jewellery.  Thinking that it was original diamond jewellery she toils all her life to repay only to know it was fake.  It is always better to enjoy what we have than crave for costly things and suffer mentally.

Once I was walking along the bank of a river.  It was a cold day.  I found this lost glove. Looks like a child's glove.   I just thought about a kid losing a glove and suffering due to cold weather.  How did the glove drop off the hand?   Was too loose ( for a malnourished poor kid) or it dropped as the child was playing or fiddling with something. If the child's parents are rich, no problem.  For a poor kid or orphan to buy another may not be easy.  Maybe the glove is too old and dropped away.  Then what happened to the other glove?  Don't know.
  
Our brain is such a thing if it has no work it simply ponders over useless (?) issues and creates unrest.  Just closing the eyes and trying to meditate will definitely brings some calmness to the mind.

Fire Art

Sometimes things go wrong apparently.  We are dismayed and anguished at what had happened.  But many times there will be a lesson to be learnt there.  Often very late we realise that it was good that it had happened that way and changed our lives forever.

Here is the art which happened accidentally.  Milk was to be boiled in bowl. As there were two bowls which are regularly used for boiling milk the bowl was picked up milk poured into it and kept on stove for boiling.  Of the two bowls one fits into the bowl the diameter marginally large enough to fit in the small one, but the height is slightly more.  Though it was kept for a long time, milk got heated well but did not boil as usual.  I wondered why milk did not boil.  The edges appeared slightly brown too.  Then I carefully examined the bowl and found it to be different.  The level of milk is higher than usual as it would be compared to the size of the outer bowl.  The edges of the bowl also looked different when it was considered to be the outer vessel.  Then I dawned on me that milk was put for boiling in double vessel.  As it was not heated directly milk did not boil even after putting on stove for long time.  After the bowl cooled a little I removed the above one with milk and allowed milk to boil.  When I turned the other bowl down I noticed beautiful colors on it.  When I observed closely I discovered some beautiful art of fire on the base of the bowl.  Here you see them. 

Village Home

As civilization progressed our lives and surroundings have changed a lot.  We have moved away from nature and living lives in a mechanical way.  To get out of this mechanical life we often plan weekends out off the city in nearby villages or woods.  

Some cities have come up with constructions that resemble old caves or village environment where people can have luxurious life style feeling artificially being in natural environment.  Anything man made can be near to nature but cannot be natural.

I am fond of taking a photo of village street appearance.  Once I had this opportunity.  I could also take a picture where a village setting is made up in hotel.  The difference is obvious.  You can make out which is natural and which is artificially made.  So I did not label the pics.

Beautiful Hands

This picture is taken at Medaram of Warangal district in Telangana, India.  Though the tribal fair Sammakka jatara was to be held in February, people had started visiting the place since early January itself.  I visited it in the last week of January.
At this jatara the deity Sammakka is offered gold (jaggery), vermilion, rice colored with turmeric (odi biyyam).  The offerings are left at the pedestal with the staff.  Then people request and take jaggery offered by others.  Eating this is said to bring good luck and fulfillment of wishes.

The picture was also taken in the last week of January after the Jatara I visited Medaram.  This was at a gala dinnerin Hyderabad.  It was in the open place with great arrangements.  Here a stage was set where a lovely young lady dressed in gorgeous clothes and jewellery was sitting to offer paan to the guests after dinner.  As the young lady and the setting was fabulous, men and some women even before having dinner had taken paan from her hand.

Medaram - 2016

Palm Tree in the Banyan

There are plants that are parasitic, some are total - entirely dependent on the host plants, while some are partial, synthesising chlorophyll but dependent on host for water and other nutrients.  Palm trees are not parasitic.  They are seen widely in India and some Asian countries.  In Telangana we see these plants very commonly.
Here is the palm tree which is seen grown within the banyan tree.  This type of palm tree in the banyan tree are seen occasionally in the forest areas.  I saw a few along the dry lands seen between Warangal and Hyderabad.  This picture is taken at Kotagullu, Warangal.  The tree has its roots in the banyan tree.  as it has leaves it can synthesise chlorophyll but dependent on the host tree for water and other nutrients.  There are few more trees seen behind this, probably they too are partially parasitic.  This is imposed parasitism.
It is surprising how the seed falls into the host tree and germinates.  The banyan tree looks magnanimous with tuft of palm shoots as its corona.

Flight

In this year 2016

Let your dreams take a flight high

Actions on the ground 

Realise gains of Wealth and Wisdom