Bhubaneswar: Morning Vegetable Market

Today morning, while being in Bhubaneswar, randomly I decided to capture the Sun rise in a temple premise. On my way back, I found this street vegetable market and could not resist to take the camera out again and captured the freshness of life here in this beautiful city, most importantly the warm of people around. Had such a good time interacting with vegetable sellers, seeing all the fresh vegetables, knowing the name of some leaf vegetables, exchanging smiles with buyers and these beautiful photographs during the process... my day is made. For quite sometime I was away from here (3 years really :O), but now I am back and should show you more such glimpses regularly. Have a great day :)

Independence Day 2015

Met this guy painted beautifully in tri-color on independence day morning while roaming around Bhubaneswar. No doubt that seeing our tri-color in any form makes us feel proud. Proud to be Indian. Jai Hind.

Winter in Bhubaneswar

I came from Delhi to Bhubaneswar last week only, and it was such a relief to get rid of those layered fabrics and back to the street with those shorts and summer tees. With the lowest temperature of 18-22 degree range what else one could expect!!!

But to my surprise, last night (around midnight), while on my way back home, I found this guy and could not resist to stop and get a click of him. He was fully protected and was enjoying the bon-fire at 21 degrees :O

TCS Bhubaneswar

TCS's new building at it's Bhubaneswar campus is ready. And it definitely is a nice piece of architecture with use of multiple materials and some interesting shading devices.

Still searching PEACE!!!

Paint the Wall: Books give us Wings

After experiencing whole lot of street painting in Mumbai, this time it was Bhubaneswar. This children's day, Bakul Foundation organized an event of painting a stretch of wall in the city by schoolk children with the theme 'Books give us Wings'. Few glimpses from the event.

Eeshwaras of Bhubaneswar: Lingaraj Temple

Bhubaneswar: Installation at KIIT University

After long I was passing through KIIT Campus in Bhubaneswar, KIIT University, the most sought name in private education in Odisha... The scenario definitely was diverting my eye from driving, I think this is the only place in the town where I got to see some good ARCHITECTURE to stare at. The surrounding definitely is developed upto the mark than when I visited last. And the attraction for me was the fantastic sculptures of stone all around, mostly contemporary.
The campus road was about to end and a wide open road in front which links to the Sikharchandi Temple (This place again has memories of few Gigabytes, some other time for sure), I almost pushed the throttle hard past 2000 rpm and braked hard. WOW was the understatement even before knowing what exactly it is. Damn! Such a beautiful and brilliant installation do exist in the town and I missed it!! My near and dear one know my taste a bit but no one never mentioned. Anyways.
These are some wrecked automobiles installed with a deep thought and painted with traditional Odishan art 'Pattachitra'. I stopped, roamed around, and then clicked few snaps, the light was harsh but I had no other choice than clicking few.








Later I got to know that these are all by renowned sculpturist Prof. Adwaita Gadanayak, an Odia name known around the world. He also is the man behind KIIT School of Sculpture. I wish to document the whole KIIT campus architecturally... Someday.

Architecture: Infosys Konark, Bhubaneswar

Infosys believed to build the first high-tech campus in the city build by Venkataramana Associates. Built over 50 acres this campus got handful of buildings to stare at, the site was completed in 2008. I personally never got a chance to go round the campus but had a glimpse of this particular building from far. I remember seeing it when it was being built and the term 'GREEN' almost started to being whispered and this concept of a slope roof covered with lush green lawn also seems to be a 'Green Wrapping'.

Can something be sustainable if it is painted green? Many questions do come to my mind when I analyzed this particular structure a bit. How efficient is the concept of putting green lawn in a hot and humid climate like Bhubaneswar and how about the maintenance of the same. We all know that lawn needs lots of water to be maintained but how does this 45 degree angled roof holds the water! I also do wonder about the utilization of spaces inside as there seemed to be lots of acute angle spaces in each floor at the junction of roof slab and floor slab. I should try to find an user who can speak for this built form ;)

Ninja 250

I was there in Bhubaneswar this time nearly for a month, and just the day before I was to return this photoshoot happened... A very good friend of mine Swagat, acquired this Ninja 250 and so a quickie encounter ;)

More photographs will be posted soon :)

Another Evening

I'm counting my days here in Bhubaneswar and the last evening could not better than this. After long I was seeing a beautiful shade of cream-son red and could not resist to frame it from roof top.
This view you are seeing here is a very typical one here in coastal part of Odisha with coconut trees around.

Eeshwaras of Bhubaneswar

Eeshwaras of Bhubaneswar (God & Goddesses of Bhubaneswar)

Bhubaneswar, the capital of East Indian state Odisha is also known as 'Temple City'. Literally the meaning of the word Bhubaneswar os 'The adobe of Lord of the Universe', and to complement this the city got numerous century old and finely crafted masterpiece temples all around to mesmerize anyone.
Here is my attempt to show you the richness of Temple architecture and culture from my home town through my faithful lens... Stay tuned.

Bhubaneswar to New Delhi: Driving Directions & Precautions

The beautiful state of Odisha is always known around the globe for its brilliant Temple architecture and exotic coast line. The coastal belt is surrounded by a fascinating patch of green when you travel up north or towards west from coast. Districts of Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Phulbani, Koraput, Kalahandi, Bolangir, Mayurbhanj, Jharsuguda,Gajapati etc. districts do have incredible patchs of green and also has its own share from mother nature. I totally do remember the days of my childhood when I used to travel frequently in those remote areas with my Uncle. I believe, I always was a lover of mother nature as far as I remember and my Uncle made me adventurous with numerous night rides/bike rides during early 90's. Anyways.

Travelled Route:
Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Bhadrak-Baleswar-Jaleswar-Belda-Kharagpur-Durgapur-Asansol-Dhanbad-Aurangabad-Varanasi-Allahabad-Fatehpur-KAnpur-Sikandra-Etawah-Firozabad-Agra-MAthura-Chhata-Palwal-Sohna-Gurgaon

Few random Photographs can found in the previous post HERE.

My personal Experience
- Crossing the Odisha border is not an easy game. Nicely laid tar but the diversions and dividers are killer. I remember a whole vegetable market on highway (NH5) where we were stuck for some good 20 minutes, somewhere before Bhadrakh. Should I explain the condition of a couple of bridges! Nah.
- If you are starting from Bhubaneswar and instantly you do notice some mechanical problems then Bhadrak is the place. Reason, most of the mechanical shops are beside the highway, it means lots of saving of precious time. If you are starting at early morning and without breakfast, then Bhadrak is the place. The food specialty of the place is 'Palua Ladu', a special kind of locally produced sweet.
- After Balasore, till Kharagpur, just get seated with a heavy pedal on the accelerator. Good wide and empty roads just to zoom in. I was speeding like anything as if the road is all mine. But remember, speed thrills but kills. Drive absolute safe.
- Crossing Durgapur but was a pain, it was around 7 in the evening when we crossed with all the workers leaving off from work from factories and this resulted in a slow moment on road. Not to mention about the dust.
- I some how am little crazy to drive during night. We road until Dhanbad on the first day. Dhanbad is a sleepy town after dark. We choose a decent place on NH for the night stay.
- Kanpur was our next stop by 7 in the evening after driving some 750+ kilometers, the dense for dint allow us to proceed further.
- After dusk, driving through any city in UP will kill your time. Also be prepared for unexpected road blocks or some deadly accidents to divert your route via some unknown interior village. Anything may kill your schedule.
- Crossing places like Agra, Mathura, Chatta are undescriptable as these towns are on NH itself.


What to DO
- Make Sure your vehicle papers are updated including Insurance and PUC (Pollution Under Control).
- Keep a single set of documents photocopied.
- It is the age of GPS but I always do carry a printed map, Eicher India Road Atlas is my best friend on road.
- Seat belts are must when you are on road with a something movable.
- Keep all your Petrol bills during your travel.
- Keep safe all your toll passes. You might need to spend some 1500-2000 rupees as toll charges. (These will act as proof of your travel in case of emergency)
- Avoid Night Travel.
- Be highly careful and drive real slow when passing through villages or narrow roads. (We personally had a bitter experience of hitting an very old guy in his 80s who suddenly decided to come to the middle of the road without caring anything, but ended with some bruises and all. We managed to get rid of it only after getting him first-aid as eyewitnesses supported us and thanked us to control the vehicle instantly to save the chap's life). So just be careful.
- We had no encounter with Police/Traffic Police anywhere, but my previous personal experience says that, a very confident and polite approach will bring you no harm.
- Get food on time, because you never know if you will find a decent place to eat or not if decide to skip the time.
- Same principle to decide where to stay. We lost roughly 90 minutes in-between taking decisions to stay at Dhanbad or not. In confusion, traveled ahead and again returned back as the next place with hotels to stay was some 80+ kilometers away.
- Make it sure to grab some decent sleep and do start as early as possible. This is the only way to munch miles sooner with empty roads. Once the day breaks, driving through Bihar and UP is a different experience.
- Always take the bye-pass to any city, be it any longer. Driving through a city like Allahabad during day to save some 40 odd kilometers can be a nightmare.
- Prefer not to get off the National Highway, driving on NH saves a lot of time as you can drive in a constant speed.
- Kanpur flyover is a great time saver.
- For me it was a trip to enjoy the drive only, so I just packed my camera in 2 levels of security but had a point and shoot handy. Because I know, once I'll start clicking, I'll reach Delhi no less than a week. Places like Allahabad, Banaras were so tempting to take the camera out.

Bhubaneswar to New Delhi by road

Half a decade ago when I first moved from the state capital of Odisha to the national capital, the thing I dreamed was to ride a two wheeler someday on the butter smooth widened roads of Delhi. Just in 6 months I transported my Odisha registered bike and I literally was happy to stand at India Gate with it. The bike definitely solved its purpose by showing places around North including a memorable pilgrimage to Leh.

The next was to cover the route Delhi-Bhubaneswar someday. Everything has its time, I became a student for a year. Absolutely no biking for the period though I did few road trips around United Kingdom. It definitely is different and a kind of experience in controlling the wheels of a big vehicle in a foreign land but no place gives real challenges on road unlike India. And what could be the best to hit the road just to fulfill another dream ride! So here we go, me and my cousin Sujit in a Gypsy headed for New Delhi, starting from Bhubaneswar.

The Eicher India Roadmap comes handy all the time. Initially we had plans for going straight up through Chattishgarh, but the ongoing Maoist activity forced us to travel on a safer route, as we were traveling in a white Gypsy, anything could happen.

Travelled Route:

Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Bhadrak-Baleswar-Jaleswar-Belda-Kharagpur-Durgapur-Asansol-Dhanbad-Aurangabad-Varanasi-Allahabad-Fatehpur-Kanpur-Sikandra-Etawah-Firozabad-Agra-Mathura-Chhata-Palwal-Sohna-Gurgaon

Just after Dhanbad one can find many sugarcane juice vendors on both side of the road, the availability of sugarcane in that few kilometer stretch raised this business in that area. One glass of fresh juice costed us Rupees 8 or you can say 10 pence. Definitely not a thing  to miss on Grand Trunk Road (GT Road) or National Highway 2 (NH2).

6.30 in the evening on the second day and we were some 70 kilometers away from Kanpur. Now Delhi definitely was not far with a stretch of 500+ kilometers in front. 7-8 hours of drive would be enough to hit the destination, so we decided to go on until our body denies the power of will. It would be total fun but all of a sudden we entered in to a dense cloud FOG. The next 70 kilometers was only crawling on National Highway 2 until Kanpur just to find a shelter to sleep. Now the realization came, 'Dilli aabhi bhi door hai'. So after spending a chilly night in Kanpur and the next day in typical city traffic we did hit Delhi NCR late in the evening.

Now, What next!!! Might be a bike ride back home through Chhatishgarh ;)

P.S. Precautions and driving tips coming soon. And this time I decided not to take the DSLR out but to enjoy the trip to its fullest, so photographs are not many and are shot with a point and shoot camera.


DRIVING DIRECTIONS AND PRECAUTIONS

Cliquer Exhibition in Bhubaneswar

'Cliquers - A photo Club' is a newly formed group of enthusiastic photographers here in the city of Bhubaneswar. Recently they organized this photo exhibition in Lalit Kala Academy for 3 days, and let me tell you, I personally was quite impressed after seeing the level of work. Kudos guyz, hope I'll be a part of it and will join you on weekend photo walks...

Few photographs from the exhibition.