Weekend In Black & White : 13 # Vashigaon Subway

VASHI GAON SUBWAY

This is the new subway on the Sion Panvel highway near Vashi village (Vashi gaon). Still under construction and not officially open, we decided to cross the highway from this subway below. 

The subway connects Vashi gaon to the fishermen village area, near the old Shiv temple all the way to Sagar Vihar, where I clicked my best sunset so far.

This is when I convinced hubby and Krrish to come along for a photography adventure in the interior and unexplored areas of Vashi, and thats how I got my last month's theme photo of the fishing boats in the sea, near the fishermen village.

Hubby and Krrish were tired of wandering in the sun, and hungry too. See how they were making funny actions and gestures in the subway so that I stop clicking or get a funny photo in the end.

Skywatch Friday 2015 - 9 : Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2015 #9 : The Cycling Tree

The cycling tree at the Kala ghoda Arts Festival against the clear bright sky.

The Cycling Tree, 15 ft tall, 10 ft wide and with 11 bicycle wheels, is inspired by a common passion for want of greener streets, healthier lifestyles and a love for cycling. The idea is to create awareness that cycling can also be used as a means to generate power.

People were invited to ride the bicycles and see the tree lighted up.

Art by ; TAD Connect Team

(www.tadconnect.com) 

For lovely skies around the world, click below:

Trip to Elephanta Island #7 : The Way Up - Shopping, Adventure & Surprises

Before the steps that lead up to the caves, there are a few stalls having some exquisite pieces of jewellery, art, souvenirs and some also have memory cards, camera batteries and stuff that tourists might need. 
I simply loved these necklaces.

While you are shopping or looking around, Beware!!!
You're being watched.
By notorious nasty hungry monkeys. They are looking for food and could grab your handbag if they suspect or see some food in it.

And by goats and cows too.
Who want a bite of your freshly roasted sweet corn, and will walk behind you till you finish it and throw the cob away.

This hungry goat wanted the corn, and was chasing the lady all the way up. She finally turned around and tried to shoo it away.

The climb up may be tiring for some, and you may want to stop and sit for a while on the rocky walls of the steps. Another option is the ride up on the 'palkhi' for a few hundred rupees - the blue seat you can see here. Once you are seated, it is carried by 4 men and within minutes, you are at the top. We saw a few senior citizens being carried on the palkhi very comfortably.

Blue tarpaulin sheets cover the whole place to protect you from the scorching sun, and get you into the mood of shopping.
There are interesting stalls on both sides and you can buy if you wish on your way up, or leave it for later.

You can also grab a cold drink or a freshly prepared vadapav from one of the stalls on the side, if you are planning lunch after visiting the caves.

ABC Wednesday - 'G' for 'Gestures' - Kala Ghoda Arts festival 2015 #8 : The Semantics of Gestures

From holding an infant in your arms, to games that bond; from fun and dance to a moment of solace found in holding someone's hand - gestures have always been an important way of sharing love and life. Trust, love, sympathy, empathy, anger, fear and a myriad of emotions can be seen, felt and communicated through gestures and touch.

There are many instances of negative touch in today's society, but positive gestures hold the potential to enhance bonding at every level. It truly has its own language - one that we are incomplete without.

Art and Description by:

Anushree Chaterjee

START World, India

Take a close look at some of the gestures:

GESTURES- CLICK TO VIEW IN LARGE SIZE

For more photos of ABC Wednesday 'G' for 

click below:

Our World Tuesday # 23 : Kala Ghoda Arts Festival #7 Jana Gana Mana : Touch Everyone's Heart

This photo is a part of the art installation 'Jana Gana Mana : Touch Everyone's Heart'. 

A Kathakali dancer from Kerala and a Kashmiri girl.

It was impossible to click the whole installation as the festival was very crowded. Most youth were not clicking pictures of art but posing themselves in front of it.

Here is how close I could get to show you the installation.

It shows the National Anthem 'Jana Gana Mana' written on the map of India. The person in the centre is Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who wrote the National Anthem. It shows the different people of India and represents 'Unity in Diversity'.

For awesome photos of Our World Tuesday, click below:

Monday Shopping & Markets : Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2015 # 6 Shopping At Kala Ghoda Festival

WOODEN CRAFT AT KALA GHODA ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

Mumbai Weekend Snapshot by Krrish - 10 : Trip To Elephanta Island - 6 # Toy Train at Elephanta Island

TOY TRAIN AT ELEPHANTA ISLAND -CLICK TO VIEW IN LARGER SIZE

We ate snacks in the boat, clicked pictures of ships and seagulls, each other too, enjoyed the cool breeze and finally reached the Elephanta Island.

As we climbed the stairs up the jetty, this cute little train was waiting for us. It is a small ride to the base of the hills where the caves are located. You can walk if you like but don't miss this cute 5 minute ride atleast one way. The train moves slowly and you can take pictures easily.

Here's what we captured along the way.

VIEW FROM THE TOY TRAIN -CLICK TO VIEW IN LARGER SIZE

These pretty wooden cars and other wooden toys were displayed in the tiny stalls along the train tracks. There were many shops selling caps and hats too.

The train turned here after a while and the track ends a little ahead after the turn here. See how far we have come from the jetty after taking a right turn. Again there are some souvenir shops just before the steps to the hill.

These interesting magnetic stickers and the wooden toys were the best buy for children. I did some shopping too :-)

Weekend In Black & White : 12 # Trip To Elephanta Island -5 # Seagulls Again

Click photo to view it in larger size

Hungry seagulls waiting to swoop down on food tossed by the boat passengers to attract them. The sad part was that they were tossing spicy chips like Lays and Kurkure that were harmful for the birds.

For interesting black & white photos from around the world, click below:

Skywatch Friday 2015 - 8 : Trip To Elephanta Island - 4 # Seagulls In Flight

SEAGULLS IN FLIGHT

We spotted a flock of seagulls who were attracted to some food that the  passengers were throwing in the air. They were trying to catch the food and I managed to get them really close.

These are my first ever proper bird shots and I'm so happy I went to Elephanta island.

For interesting skies around the world, click below:

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2015 #5 Chillin' Like A Villian

Chillin' like a villian

Live fast

Die young

Hustle hard

Keep it cool

Earn and burn

No regrets

Smile it off

Be living like a king

And chillin' like a villian

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2015 #4 Say Cheese With Your Favourite Legend

SMILE :-)

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2015 #3 - FREEDOM BIKE [Our World Tuesday#22 & ABC Wednesday-'F' for Freedom Bike]

FREEDOM BIKE by OLX, clicked by Krrish at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2015

This motorcycle, an art masterpiece is made entirely from unique used items bought on OLX from different corners of India. These unique and vintage items were collected during the OLX Great India Collectors' Ride by two motorcyclists who travelled 10,000 kilometres for 50 days across the country.

A closer view of the Freedom Bike

OLX Freedom Bike

OLX chooses to call it the Freedom Bike as 'Freedom lies at the heart of OLX which gives users the freedom to buy and sell at the price, place and the time of their choice.'

Items such as a 60 year old railway lamp, a unique wheel clock, a typewriter and a musical instrument Esraj have been all put together to give life to the Freedom Bike. According to OLX, they represent the diversity of the OLX users, and the variety of things sold on the website.

I am linking this post as entry to Our World Tuesday meme

Our World Tuesday # 22 : Freedom Bike

and ABC Wednesday meme 

ABC Wednesday - 'F' for Freedom Bike

Trip To Elephanta Island -3 # Ships & Vessels

THE SHIP ANKLESHWAR

We saw the ship Ankleshwar and other big ships and vessels and boats on the boatride to Elephanta island. Krrish was very excited as he was seeing a real ship for the first time.
By now we were almost halfway to Elephanta island.

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2015 #2 : Jalwa Car

Jalwa Car

'Jalwa' means 'Charisma'.

The 'Charisma of Bollywood'
(the Hindi Film Industry of Mumbai - deriving its name from Mumbai's old name Bombay+Hollywood =Bollywood)

Weekend In Black & White : 11 # Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2015 #1 - Porosity / Happy Valentine's Day

The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival in Mumbai is the second largest arts festival in the world after the Edinburgh Arts Festival. The theme for this year's festival is SPARSH, or touch, symbolic of the deep connection it enjoys with Mumbai. The arts touch the soul and satisfy the primal human need for inspiration, sparking change and hope.

Tourists from all over the world plan their trip to Mumbai to witness the Kala Ghoda Festival. The festival, now in its 17th year, is a community celebration of the arts within one of the most beautiful precincts of Mumbai, the Kala Ghoda Art District.

[Information Source]

The festival is an interesting kaleidoscope of Visual Arts, Urban Design & Architecture, Dance, Music, Theatre, Cinema, Literature, Food, Street Acts and Workshops for children and adults. There are 450 events held over 9 days across several locations in the Kala Ghoda Arts District.

I visited the festival for half a day but managed to capture only the Visual Arts Festival on my camera and noted down the details of the arts. The Festival is being covered by media, professional photographers of the city and amateurs too. I hope I can do justice to the Visual Arts Festival through my photos.

Variable porosity in this pavilion is an inspiration from nature. It is very evidently seen in many aspects in nature including the bone as they have more material at places where required and less where it does not have structural / functional need.

For interesting photos in black & white from around the world, click below:

A Very Happy Valentine's Day to All Mumbai Daily Snapshot's Readers (All Mumbai Virtual Tourists) from Krrish and Anita. Thank you for all your love and support on our comeback after a break of 5 years.

Skywatch Friday 2015 - 7 : Trip To Elephanta Island - 2 # Seagulls & Speedboats

As we moved away from the fast fading Gateway of India, we could see seagulls flying around us and some sitting on some floating foam-like material and enjoying the high tide. We also saw quite a few speedboats zooming past us in the wintry haze. All cameras were out and hardly anyone was seen seated in their places
We were now looking forward to see some ships and rigs in the sea.

For awesome skies around the world, click below: 

Trip To Elephanta Island -1 # Get Away From Mumbai

We purchased tickets in the queue for Elephanta Island near the jetty. Each ticket costs Rs. 160 ( for adults and children alike) and is a return ticket. We got into the Elephanta boat from the Gateway of India and grabbed our seats. No one is allowed to go to the upper deck. 

The weather was pleasant because of  the cool breeze. As the boat moved away from the Gateway of India, everyone moved from their seats. The children were already munching snacks and the passengers were clicking pictures - selfies, group photos and photos of the harbour we left about five minutes back.
This photo shows you the view of the Gateway Of India, Mumbai's iconic 5 star hotel - the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and the Taj Mahal Tower from the Arabian sea.

There were lovely white private speedboats zooming past us every few minutes.
We also started spotting seagulls. I will show you these in my Skywatch post.

ABC Wednesday - 'E' for Elephanta Island

Click photo to view large size

The Elephanta Island is a forest covered island off the coast of Mumbai, and a quiet and interesting getaway from the chaos of the city. It can be accessed by ferry from the Gateway of India. The island is famous for its Elephanta Caves ( a World Heritage Site), which are cave temples carved in the rock of the island. The temples date back to somewhere between the 5th and 8th century.

To go to Elephanta island, go to Gateway of India, an impressive structure facing the sea, and board the ferry to Elephanta, tickets for which are available at the Elephanta ticket counter, or from a person officially distributing tickets to passengers in queue at the jetty for the next boat to Elephanta. The first ferry leaves at 9 am and the last one at 2 pm and the frequency is every half an hour.

After getting off the boat, there is a walkway that leads to the base of the hill, where there are steps leading to the caves. There is also a mini toy train that will take you to the base of the steps.

There was a lot to the trip besides the sculptures in the caves which are in poor condition. The ferry ride was one of the attractions.
In my next few posts, I will show you around the island, caves, sculptures, the huge canons, shopping for sculptures, souvenirs and handicraft and not to forget the monkeys grabbing food from visitors and drinking Pepsi straight from the bottle. And also the speedboats and the ships and the seagulls we saw during the fascinating breezy boat ride.

For interesting photos of ABC Wednesday 'E' for

click below:

Our World Tuesday # 21 : CST- UNESCO World Heritage Site

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), formerly known as Victoria Terminus is one of the busiest railway stations in India with over three million commuters daily.

A magnificient work of of period architecture, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is hard to travel till the station or pass by without adoring its beauty and grandeur and trying to discover something unseen in it or capture it in the camera from a different perspective.

For beautiful photos of 'Our World' from around the world,
click below:

Monday Shopping & Markets : Sunglasses at Irla Market

These sunglasses are on display outside a shop in Irla market in Vile Parle ( Western Suburb of Mumbai), which is a cool shopping destination for all, and very busy especially on Sundays. You can shop for cool garments, electronic gadgets, mobiles, accessories and lots more.

The Alfa chain of stores in this market is very popular for all your shopping needs, with the best quality and price guaranteed.

Mumbai Weekend Snapshot by Krrish - 9 : Baby Elephant

Baby elephant sculpture at Sagar Vihar gardens in Vashi

Weekend In Black & White : 10

Towed away from No Parking Zone 

The car owner had the courage to park his car exactly  under the 'No Parking' sign put up here. You can see the boundary wall of Taj Lands End behind the sign.This area near Taj Land's End hotel( a 5 star popular with the high profiles and celebrities of Mumbai) is a high security zone and even photography of the hotel is not allowed. And the car was quickly towed away by the authorities. 

I quickly clicked as the towing van started moving and managed to get the 'No Parking' sign with the van and the car, and walked towards Bandra Fort which is about 3 min walk from here.

For awesome photos in black & white from around the world, click below:

Skywatch Friday 2015 - 6 : Sunset At Central Park

Sunset and the lovely Hibiscus flower sculpture at Central Park in Kharghar.