Skywatch Friday

The evening sky as seen from Millennium Towers two weeks ago.

ABC Wednesday - 'O' for 'OLD'

HAPPY NEW YEAR

GOODBYE TO THE 'OLD' YEAR', WELCOME THE 'NEW YEAR'

Today is the first day of the Hindu New year marked by the new moon of Diwali. It is celebrated with fireworks, exchanging visits and sweets with friends and relatives.

My World #2

HAPPY DEEPAVALI

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Today, we celebrate Deepavali  (Diwali) ,  the 'Festival of Lights' where the lights or oil-lamps  signify victory of good over the evil within every human being.
We lit oil lamps near the door, which was adorned by a beautiful toran. Also, oil-lamps  are  traditionally lit at windows of all  rooms of the house.

A string of lights and a lantern hung in the balcony, and rangoli at the door completes the decoration. Fireworks, new clothes and sweets are an important part of the celebration.

We also perform a Lakshmi-Ganesh pooja. Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity.  Ganesha is woshipped at the beginning of any auspicious event.

The essence of Diwali cannot be expressed or explained in a few pictures or sentences. 
Tomorrow is the New Year according to the Hindu  calendar.

Monochrome Monday #8

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A 'Carved Metal Surahi' (traditional wine jug) on display at Khadi Bhandar in Mumbai.

Weekend Snapshot: Deepavali Shopping

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Diwali shopping continues in full swing and people are rushing to town to get bargain at wholesale prices. This is a scene on Abdul Rehman Street and people are shopping for and other decorations.

Saturday Photohunters Theme: SCARY

This is another spooky and scary scene of the trees at Juhu beach. I didn't realise it till I saw the photo on my computer.
I see spooky figures formed by the branches of these trees. Do you see them too? or is my imagination running wild?

Skywatch Friday

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On Wednesday, 22nd October 2008, India launched it's maiden unmanned mission to the moon.

The mission's goals are not just mapping the surface of the moon but also the distribution of elements and minerals.  The $80 million mission plans to test systems for a future moon landing.

It was a historic moment for our country.

And while different missions continue to explore the moon, we continue to stare at the moon, photograph it and enjoy romantic moonlit nights.

This is the moon as seen from my balcony on Wednesday night.

Dilkhush Special School

Dilkhush Special school is a school for children with a mental handicap.They have around 100 children from 6-18 years of age and with varying degrees of Mental Handicap yet within the mild and moderate range though they have a few who are also severely handicapped.



Every child is treated as an individual and taught at his/her own pace though in a class situation. In academics they put a lot of emphasis on Functional Academics- studies related to life, and also do a lot to teach the students socially acceptable behaviour.

ABC Wednesday - 'N' for NARIMAN POINT

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Nariman Point is the business hub of Mumbai. Named after Khurshid Nariman, a Bombay Municipal Corporation corporator, it has the distinction of having a world record high price of an apartment sold for 8.62 million (USD), at an astonishing $2488 (Rs.97,842) per square foot. (Stats from Wikipedia).

Nariman Point is located on land reclaimed from the sea. It has some of India's premier business houses such as Air-India, Indian Express, Mittal Towers, LIC...
The average property cost and rentals per sq. feet in Nariman Point are about 1.5 times higher than Manhattan in New York.

My World #1

Mumbai Local Train

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Being born and brought up in Mumbai, Mumbai Local Train is very much an important part of my world just like any other Mumbaikar. So, I choose to share this photo of a crowded train in the morning peak hours, as my first photo of 'my world'.

Mumbai local train is the lifeline of Mumbai. You might not find a Mumbai resident who has never travelled by train atleast once. From the children of age 3 to senior citizens, each one will have their tale to tell about their experiences while travelling by local  train.

Monochrome Monday #7

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A peek into the gate of Dilkhush Special School at Juhu

Dilkhush Special school is a school for children with a mental handicap.They have around 100 children from 6-18 years of age and with varying degrees of Mental Handicap yet within the mild and moderate range though they have a few who are also severely handicapped.

Weekend Snapshot: Falooda & Icecream Treat

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This Saturday, I and my li'l boy went Diwali shopping. We went to Crawford market area and got great bargains for toys, bedspreads, decorations and lots more.

We then went to 'Badshah Falooda House' and got ourselves this yummy treat a 'Royal Falooda' for me and 'Vanilla Icecream' for Krrish. Falooda is a popular summer drink made by mixing rose syrup( or  other flavours like kesar, mango..) with vermicilli and basil seeds (sabza) served with a topping of icecream.

I have always(since childhood) loved to believe that no one leaves the Crawford market shopping area without having a falooda at Badshah's.  If you go to Badshah's and see the crowd waiting in queue for the table, you too will think like me. The place was so crowded that I couldn't get a good photo of it this time.

Saturday Photohunters Theme: FAMILY

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After watching this happy family for about 30 seconds from the local train, sorting bunches of green peas for selling them at the traffic signal, I realised that half of the people in the city live for today. I wonder if I would be calm and smiling if I were in their place.

I came across these beautiful family quotes while browsing the net.

The family is a haven in a heartless world. ~Attributed to Christopher Lasch

If the family were a fruit, it would be an orange, a circle of sections, held together but separable - each segment distinct. ~Letty Cottin Pogrebin

Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. - Jane Howard

Skywatch Friday

This is another evening sky at Juhu Beach just before sunset. The trees looked quite spooky to me. The one on the left seems to put it's arm forward and point out a finger towards the sky ;0)

I'll show you another spooky picture like this next Saturday - for theme 'scary'.

Abc Wednesday - 'M' for Machhi-wali

Mumbai's Machhi-walis - Fisher Women

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The Mumbai Machhi-walis belong to the Koli (fisherfolk) community. The fishermen go out to sea and bring fresh catch. Now it is the job of the fisherwomen (also called fishwives) to sell the fish in local fish markets. There are those too, who buy fish from the wharf in early morning hours to sell in the market.

The machhi-walis (Kolins) are hard-working, aggressive by nature and fiercely economically independent women. A Kolin's day begins at the break of dawn. After cooking food for the entire family, she buys fish from the wharf and sells it at the local fish market, or even from home to home (to regular customers) till the fish is all sold out.

Standing out distinctly in a crowd, with sarees, noisy language (including abusive phrases) and traditional, chunky jewellery, the Machhi-wali invests most of her savings in gold.

Living a simple life, their food is usually curry, rice and fried fish.

Juhu -Shivaji Statue & Palm Grove Hotel

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Monochrome Monday #6

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A statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj built in front of Juhu Beach

Shivaji Maharaj was the famous Maratha (of Maharashtra) king in the 17th century, when India was being ruled by Mughals. He had courage to challenge the Mughal empire single-handedly, as he wanted freedom for the country. An able warrior and leader with far- sightedness, he saw the dangers of foreign domination and acted quickly to control it.

Weekend Snapshot: Hangout At Juhu Beach

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A gola stall at Juhu beach.

Gola is 'ice slush' on a wooden gola stick.
The gola wala pushes the gola stick into the crushed ice ball, pours the syrup generously, with a dash of lime, and sprinkles some masala. All you have to do is slurr..rp it. The most popular flavour is 'Kala Khatta'. They also have icecream and faloodas.

It's fun when you slurrp the gola and the syrup is over, then you tell the gola-wala to add some syrup with a dash of lime and some masala. Then you slurrp again. Now the ice gola is finished, but syrup remains in your glass. Tell him to add some crushed ice to your syrup and treat yourself with a spoon.

You can try it if you are in a naughty mood. I and my friends (in college) used to have two or three rounds of syrup then crushed ice alternately and so on. Have it till you can't have anymore.

The gola-walas usually don't mind as they know you will return to only his stall again for the unlimited treat. Yumm.. my mouth is watering.

Satuday Photohunters Theme: Lazy

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A  Lazy Sunday Afternoon Walk at Juhu Beach followed by a round of Pani Puri, Pav Bhaji and  Kala-Khatta Gola is my favorite way of spending weekends.

Skywatch Friday

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A statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj built in front of Juhu Beach with the clouded blue sky behind it.





I apologise to MDS readers as I posted in a hurry and missed this part for those who don't know about Shivaji Maharaj.

Shivaji Maharaj was the famous Maratha (of Maharashtra) king in the 17th century, when India was being ruled by Mughals. At a young age of 12, he had the determination not to bow down to a foreign ruler. He had courage to challenge the Mughal empire single-handedly, as he wanted freedom for the country. An able warrior and leader with far- sightedness, he saw the dangers of foreign domination and acted quickly to control it.

ABC Wednesday - 'L' for LAUGHTER

'L' for LAUGHTER

I have clicked this set of photos on TV on a show called 'The Great Indian Laughter Challenge' which was one of the very successful reality shows on Indian television, about a year ago.

The comedian in the photo is Umer Shariff, a Pakistani comedian, stage, film and TV actor, director and producer. Before he began his act each time he came on stage, he began with funny exppressions & faces like this, and we burst out laughing even before he spoke.

My TV picture quality is excellent, but I took the photos too close, so the poor picture quality :-(

They are not very clear with all those lines but that make the photos look even more funny.

This beautiful lady, Parizad Kolah was the host of the show.

'L' for LIFELINE & LOCAL TRAIN

Mumbai's local train is Mumbai's lifeline.

Mumbai train travel seems like madness to someone who is new to the city or a visitor in the city of dreams. The Mumbai local trains carry more than 6.1 million commuters on a daily basis. It has the highest passenger density of any urban railway system in the world. Overcrowding is a major problem, especially during peak (office going) hours

To view more photos about Mumbai Local train, click here.

Happy ABC Wednesday.

View from Mumbai Yellow Taxi

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The Eastern Express Highway near the domestic airport in Santacruz through the Mumbai Yellow Taxi.

Monochrome Monday #5

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I saw the two buildings right opposite the bus-stop at Juhu Beach. I haven't walked around here for a long time so I don't know if the two buildings are under construction, or under repair. Can you figure it out?
My little boy insisted that I take a photo of the concrete mixer truck in the photo, so I took this photo. I realised later that it was a good choice.

Weekend Snapshot: Food Bazaar

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This is Food Bazaar store at Infiniti mall which I visited last weekend. We often visit Food Bazaar for groceries, fruits and vegetables. With soaring prices of fruits and vegetables in the city, the store sells them at wholesale prices. Shopping for a week's supply gives a saving of atleast a hundred rupees.

This weekend, there is nothing special to do, except sorting and cleaning the home, as we celebrate Diwali festival next month. All my photos are unsorted, so I spend this Sunday water-marking my photos and sorting them for different memes of the week.

Have a great weekend.

Saturday Photohunters Theme: SAD

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This is a common sight in Mumbai city, but most people in the city are used to ignore the sight of people living- eating, washing, bathing and sleeping on the pavement. The three women in the picture were sound asleep, and their small children were playing nearby.

Some of them sell articles at the traffic lights, some beg to live, and some are construction site workers on daily wages, but 'Home' is a distant dream for them.

The 'SADDEST' part of this 'SAD' scene where I took the photo is that it was less than a 5 minute from Infiniti Mall, and very close to Juhu Scheme, where many Bollywood celebrities reside. They are everywhere we pass by, but we cannot do much except giving some food and clothes occasionally.

It wouldn't be fair to blame the state government, with the thousands pouring into the city everyday, hoping to make a living in the 'City of Dreams'