Upgraded ;)

I can blurrily remember those days back in 2004-2005 when I started using a 'Mobile Phone', I started using a Panasonic one with a big antenna on it, the best part in it was, it had 4-5 options to change the screen color (actually it was a biggest feature then :p) . Then a Motorora and this one was a craze because it had no antenna (lolz). If I remember correctly then it was a Nokia 6600, which I used for a long long time (now it seems to be a rock like :D) and then kept on changing phones like Nokia, Samsung, LG etc. before I sticked to Sony Ericsson K750i. This actually was my favorite one because of its Camera quality and damn good music until it got stolen from a Blue Line bus in Delhi. Oh yes, I got shifted to Delhi in 2007  for my final year training. Before this the priorities of life already has changed and rather than getting a good phone, a DSLR was the dream, so for a long long time I kept using simple phone which were perfectly serving the purpose for which Cell Phones were invented for... A good phone's price was always more or less equivalent to a camera equipment which I needed so a phone was never in the priority, but recently my brother-in-law and sister forcibly gifted me a smart phone. I never wanted a smart phone but now loving it ;) It has been my primary camera these days and solving the purpose which I was generally using the K750i for. Thank you again :)




The issues I am facing now is, being a full-time avid I-pad user, these smart phones seem tremendously slow and small for me. I literally find it difficult for typing a mail or sms :( but it has the tremendous advantage of SIZE over my I-pad and I am hooked to it ;)

Eeshwaras of Bhubaneswar: Lingaraj Temple

Travel: Land's End, UK

Since I was a kid, travel was somehow always was on cards and mostly by road. Probably that made me a wanderer who always loved to travel with a set of wheels, it never mattered whether I crawled in between traffic for 2 hours to cross 20 kilometers to reach office or converted a 2 hour flight to a 2 day drive for a meeting..... Anyways.
Among many memorable road-trips across United Kingdom the Cornwall trip was exceptional and memorable, a 750 mile road-trip in winter for 3 days with white motorways, which also included an insane non-stop night ride of 250 miles. Absolute Fun and the best ever place I personally experienced in UK, somehow I could not manage to see Scotland or else the opinion might be different ;)
The extreme western point on mainland of England is well known as Land's End... Pretty close to Penzance.

Confusion!

Where should I go, the unknown seems to be adventurous path in front or to follow the same route I just walked on!!!

Architecture: Eden Project, Cornwall, UK

Worlds largest 'Green House' and one of the brilliant piece of Architecture that I have seen personally is an absolute pleasant experience, especially to appreciate Architect Nicholas Grimshaw.

Inside two artificial biomes there are plants collected from all over the world are consist of hundreds of hexagonal inflated plastic cells (ETFE: Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene) with a superb structural system. The whole project is built inside a reclaimed Kaolinite pit, kaolinite is basically a clay mineral.

Point of Interest: National Rail Museum

The 'National Rail Museum' in ChanakyaPuri, New Delhi through photographs...

















National Rail Museum
Chanakyapuri, New Delhi-110021
Phone: +91 11 26881816, 26880939
Fax: +91 11 26880804
E-mail: contactnrm@yahoo.co.in
Web: www.nationalrailmuseum.org

Timings: 9.30am - 5.30pm (last entry at 5.00pm)
It remains closed on Monday and all national holidays.

Entry fee is INR 20 per head and the Toy train ride also costs INR 20 per person. Two spare hours are good enough to roam around the place and to know the history of this locomotive in India.

How to Reach?
The nearest metro station is 'Race Course' on Yellow Line. The distance is 3 or 4 kilometers and an autowalla may charge you around 40-50 for the same but not more than that.
If you are travelling by your own, then it is on NayaMarg and beside the Royal Bhutan embassy.

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.

Spread the 'LOVE'

Spread the 'Love', where ever you are...

Last month was my Sister's wedding... Thank you everyone for all your wishes and spacial thanks to people who managed to be there to bless the newly wed.

Life: Rajasthani Lohars (Blacksmiths from Rajasthan)

Today I spent some good time with this Lohar family who belong to Chittor, Rajasthan but live here in Gurgaon in temporary huts and do their traditional smith work and also sell clay pots and products for their living.

Their family consists of 4 kids with their parents and their grand mother, the father and elder son mostly do the smith work while their only daughter helps in firing the coal which is used to make the steel/iron red hot. Lot more to share about the family who were very very hospitable and were kind enough to offer me dinner. Thank you very much, I will see you again this Sunday.

Orchids

The most beautiful flower to my eyes... Orchids definitely have something to attract anyone towards them.

Recently I visited the year old Orchid garden in the Botanical garden in Bhubaneswar. Thanks to our Hohorable ChiefMinister Mr Naveen Pattnaik for taking special care to create special spaces like this.

The Botanical garden remains closed every Monday and entry fees is INR 10 per head, INR 10 for two wheeler and INR 20 for four wheeler.

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 ;)