Sunday, July 12, 2009

Monsoon is hiiting Delhi soon...

Photobucket

Just wish to get some quick relief form the deadly heat with the arrival of monsoon. Since more than a month the para of the the thermometer is just unwilling to comedown here...

Water Sculpture

One more Sunday experiment and this time with 'Water'.

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket


P.S. Will post the tips in detail soon...

Forgotten History: Tughlakabad Fort

Forgotten History: Tughlakabad Fort
Tughlaqabad Fort, perched on a rocky hill, constitutes one third of the capital city of India. The fort is located on the Qutab-Badarpur Road and was built by Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughlaq, the founder of the Tughlaq dynasty. The Tuglaqabad Fort seems to be more or less octagonal, with a border of approximately 6.5-km. The ramparts of the fort, now in ruins, are between 10m to 15m high with fortresses and gateways at intervals. The Tughlakhabad at Delhi was built to serve a dual purpose, one of providing a defensive structure to the ruler and the second, to serve as his imposing capital.

Tughlaqabad stands divided into three segments. The eastern segment is entered through from the Qutub-Badarpur road. It is a rectangular area enclosed within high walls and bastions and used to serve as the citadel. On the west side of the Tughlaqabad Fort is a wider area that once contained the palaces and is surrounded by walls and bastions. A huge reservoir stands on the southern side of the Tughlaqabad Fort at Delhi. Bunds were put up between hills to the east to create the reservoir, which is linked with Ghiyas-ud-Din's tomb through a causeway.

There is a wide mound near the south eastern-corner of the Fort Tughlakhabad of Delhi that leads to the fortress of Adilabad. The sluice gates near the mound were used for controlling water for irrigation purposes. There is also a tower, known as the Bijai-Mandal, inside the fort, along with remains of several halls, and also a long underground passageway. To the north of the fort, lies the city of Tughlaqabad, which is now mostly in ruins...

Source:
www.tourtravelworld.com


It was in the wish list from a long long time. I stay close to this place but still was unable to find some time to explore this ruined piece of architecture. But finally managed to frame this... :)

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

A Flowery Encounter

The flower shop close to my office was my target from a long time and finally on a Saturday afternoon I managed to spend some quality time there.

Thanks to the owner of the shop, a very humble guy who entertained for nearly 2 hours... :)

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Saturday, July 11, 2009

One more 'Escape' - UK again

One more escape: Uttarakhand again

Waking up late, getting ready for office in super hurry, chasing bloody Delhi traffic for 100 minutes and finally at workplace, a happening day with machine playing Autocad, out from there in late evening with every energy cell discharged…. Huh

Give me a break….. and here I remember one advertisement of ‘Amway’ with the dialogue “Mujhe maaf karo”.

9-5 job was never my cup of tea. All I wanted was a no-time bound work… he he he
But still it is one of my dreams that I want to chase ASAP. Anyways as of now, for bread and petrol it is the only option :D

Life was monotonous again and I was feeling that it has been ages ‘m here in Delhi, doing all my social responsibilities and donkey work at office. And I was also forgetting that I own a DSLR, tough it will not rust but it might damage my clicking finger.

Mountains, hills, forests, hilly roads, virgin lands, night rides/drives etc were the part of the life for more than a year except the last six months means after the crash which became a nightmare for me. Before I forget how the hills are and also a cure for my clicking finger, we were all set for a ride….errr drive. It will still take some time to be back on the two wheels.

Though we went to Gulaba, on Manali-Rohtang road during April but it was just a run-in drive to break the jinx over Manali.

It was a long time plan to show ourselves the beauty of Lansdwone or Dhanolti, both two sleepy destinations in Uttarakhand for those who prefer lass traveled areas. Lansdwone was on the top but we shifted to Dhanolti via Dehradoon and Mussoorie over it because we planned to start at night as usual and one of our very good friends Sourav from Kotdwara suggested us earlier not to travel on that stretch during night because of hooligan activities. So Dhanolti was the only option for two days gateway.

‘Early start’ is the only thing that we can dream of :D. How a trip can start smoothly without a minimum delay of 3-4 hours ;).

We planned to leave Delhi before 8 PM on 29th May ‘09 so that we could hit Dehradoon at around 2 AM /3 AM, but we started from home at around 11 PM. Getting the tank full and flirting with the traffic we crossed Ghaziabad after midnight. The old monotonous road again still with pot holes and diversions at regular intervals such that they are just in a rhythm :D. We have a definite stoppage at Meerut by-pass square to have paneer pakora and tea.
After a short break it a non stop ride except some front glass cleaning breaks as it started raining and the water sprinkler of the Santro was not in working condition. It was really a time killer as we took about 4-6 breaks for it. We hit Dehradoon at sharp 5 AM. And forgot to mention that by that time I already took about 1 ½ hour sleep leaving Om on driver’s seat. So I was fresh :D.

The weather was quite gloomy. It was suppose to rain but I was imagining capturing the sunrise on the hills. So we headed towards Mussoorie but after 4-5 kilimeters it started raining. There was no chance to return back to Dehradoon which may spoil a whole day so we proceeded. By the time we reached Mussoorie we were exhausted and it seems to have a hang over. So there was to way to drive some more in the hills and it was the time to get some sleep.

‘Mussoorie-Queen of Hills’, I personally just hate this place only because of hustle bustle of local tourists and commercialization. Still it is one of the popular tourist destinations that bring a good economical glow for the state of Uttarakhand (UK).

After a good 6 hour sleep we preffered to have a ride on ‘Kempty Fall Road’ not Kempty Falls, the only thing I love about Mussoorie. So it was only to enjoy the rise on that beautiful hilly stretch and to capture some photographs. But on that day there was a 30 minute program on ‘bindas’ about the ‘Castrol Power1 Passion Hunt’ where our xBhp.com played the major role. So we hurried to our room to catch it and there was one more long rest session before we hit the road next morning at about 8 AM. It was sun again with his full performance. Still the roads were to enjoy with the beautiful scene around. Lots of click breaks, a visit to ‘Dhanolti Eco Park’ and back to home via Kanatal, Chamba, Narendranagar, Rishikesh and hardwar.

The Chamba-Mussoorie stretch was really enjoyable and clickable. Heard a lot about Kanatal resorts and there it felt that why the resort is famous for. Still skipped to have a look at ‘Tihri Dam’ as we were running short of time.

Narendranagar seems to be an interesting place. It’s time to do some Google to find out that palace like building, it was also skipped to return early.

Let the photographs tell you the rest of the trip 

Beauty of Hills...
Photobucket

Photobucket


Some macros...
Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket


The curvy roads inviting to RIP...
Photobucket

Photobucket


Caution...
Photobucket

Photobucket

Mussoorie-Chamba road...
Photobucket

Dhanolti Eco Park...
(still more to follow)
Photobucket

Near Narendranagar...
Photobucket

If you have plans to explore the similar place, please keep these things in your mind.
- If you are an avid nature lover and hate shopping then you can skip Mussoorie and find your pit stop either in Kempty Fall road or Mussoorie-Chamba road. The later one would be my choice as I like places less crowded.

- There is a hotel named ‘MIDWAY’ after 4-5 kilometers on Mussoorie-Chamba road. They have complete flats for rent and it costs around 3-5 K. it’s a beautiful place where you can enjoy the hills away from the crowd. I feel it can be a good option for family halt. We did our breakfast there on the way to Dhanolti and it is going to be my resting place next time.

- Youth hostel is another best option to stay with very minimal charges. A single room costs around 250-450 bucks while dormitories are available at Rupees 100. But make sure that the room has been booked much in advance.

- Fueling is not an issue, but petrol pumps remain closed at Mussoorie from 9 PM to 7 AM.

- And yes, don't miss Tirhi Dam. For that you have to go down hill from Chamba.

Humayun's Tomb


Humayun's tomb (Hindi: हुमायूँ का मक़बरा, Urdu: ہمایون کا مقبره Humayun ka Maqbara) is a complex of buildings built as the Mughal Emperor Humayun's tomb, commissioned by Humayun's wife Hamida Begum in 1562 CE, and designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyath, a Persian architect.[1] It was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent, and is located in Nizamuddin East, Delhi, India, close to the Dina-panah citadel also known as Purana Qila, that Humayun founded in 1533.[2][3]

The complex encompasses the main tomb of the Emperor Humayun, which houses the graves of his wife, Hamida Begum, and also Dara Shikoh, son of the later Emperor Shah Jahan, as well as numerous other subsequent Mughals, including Emperor Jahandar Shah, Farrukhsiyar, Rafi Ul-Darjat, Rafi Ud-Daulat and Alamgir II.[4] The complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[5] It represented a leap in Mughal architecture, and together with its accomplished Charbagh garden, typical of Persian gardens, but never seen before in India, it set a precedent for subsequent Mughal architecture. It is seen as a clear departure from the fairly modest mausoleum of his father, the first Mughal Emperor, Babur, called Bagh-e Babur (Gardens of Babur) in Kabul (Afghanistan). Though the latter was the first Emperor to start the tradition of being buried in a paradise garden.[6][7] Modelled on Gur-e Amir, the tomb of his ancestor and Asia's conqueror Timur in Samarkand, it created a precedent for future Mughal architecture of royal mausolea, which reached its zenith with the Taj Mahal, at Agra. [8][9][10]

The site was chosen on the banks of Yamuna river, due to its proximity to Nizamuddin Dargah, the mausoleum of the celebrated Sufi saint of Delhi, Nizamuddin Auliya, who was much revered by the rulers of Delhi, and whose residence, Chilla Nizamuddin Auliya lies just north-east of the tomb. In later Mughal history, the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar took refuge here, during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, along with with three princes, and was captured by Captain Hodson before being exiled to Rangoon.[1][11] At the time of the Slave Dynasty this land was under the 'KiloKheri Fort' which was capital of Sultan Kequbad, son of Nasiruddin (1268-1287).

SOURCE: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Don’t know how I skipped this beautiful piece of architecture during this two years stay in Delhi. Hmm… the hills around are the culprits :D. But thanks to Ashis who pulled us to the place on the occasion of his birthday and it turned to be a fantastic photographic encounter and not to mention the fun we had there.




I'll love to show this beautiful piece of architecture thru my lens....


HT 1

HT 2

HT 3

HT 5

The JINX over 'Manali'

It's a long story... ;)
the text 'll follow soon...

just a teaser for now ;)

Photobucket

'The Qutub' - my visit after 6 years

After the mis-hap, it was my first attempt to throw that out of the mind....
it was a photographic encounter with the historical monument...

the details 'll follow soon :)

A teaser for now :D

Photobucket

Friday, July 03, 2009

Hi all....

Hello frenz...

it's more than 1/2 of a year i was in the closet...

me n om met with an accident on 12th Dec '08 when we were started for Manali to experience snow with our alltime reliable 'Uni'...

I was unhurt, but my best buddy Omi got a badly broken ankle. He has been operated twice till now as there are some screws, wires and a steel plate there inside. It is still a nightmare... :(

Anyways, past is past...

Lot many updates to follow... just keep your eye ;)