Delhi Photo Diary

Deer Park, Hauz Khas

2016-05-08T11:35:00.000+05:30

We began the weekend with an early morning trip to the Deer Park at Hauz Khas. Even when the mercury in Delhi is hitting the 45 degree Celsius mark, the park was a pleasant oasis in at 7 in the morning.

Green patch in the heart of the city

Leaves with a background of coins made of sunlight

The colour pink makes everything better

However, it was a peacock that I chased for the better part of the stay in the park in the hope of a good enough photo-op. This is what I managed.

The peacock chase

One good shot

The peacock chase had left us quite breathless. But we did not give up in our search for the deer that the park houses. Without a telephoto lens in my kit, I faced the handicap of not getting any good shots of the deer locking horns. However, the close up of this buck made me happy :)

The little buck

Spring or something like that

2016-05-04T18:28:00.001+05:30

Over the past few days, I have been trying to better settle my hand at the camera. I am revising and revisiting the photography lessons I took half-a-decade ago. I am reading blogs, pre-ordering photography books and hoping that the renewed interest and effort in being a better photographer will show results soon. Of the recent photographs that I have taken, I loved this one of the hibiscus that bloomed in my small balcony garden and there is also a promise of one more flower in the bokeh'd background. This is the only sign of Spring that I experienced in Delhi this year that I have. And I am happy to share it with you :)

Owl on my balcony!

2016-03-19T13:53:00.003+05:30

My obsession with owls and photography continues. Here is a picture of one of my favourite diffusers at home. I tried my hand at a little bokeh effect.

Sultan Garhi

2016-02-20T16:32:00.001+05:30

On one of the last winter mornings, kissed by clouds that brought rain just minutes later, a group of us went to Sultan Garhi to go shutter crazy. I went on one of these walks after a gap of almost 2 years. The time spent in the dead man's tomb was worth all the effort of having an early Friday night and waking up early on a Saturday.

Here are the captures from this morning.

Two men, two religions, one direction

Mehrab

Sunrays

I see you

Resting place

Encircled

How many squares do you see?

Birds with different feathers

Taking off

Flight!

Nizamuddin Auliya

2014-05-24T14:31:00.000+05:30

Delhi means a lot of things to me. It means life and love and home. The city has jewels hidden in all its crevices and corners. The one jewel that is very close to my heart is the Dargah of Nizamuddin Auliya. I don't claim to know any of the customs that are followed here or even the way to the main area of worship. But I still like to cover my head once in a while and go to the Dargah to listen to the Qawals. Here are some snapshots from my last visit.

Ladies are not allowed!

Religion has nothing to do with faith

Invoking the gods with soulful music

Faith at different levels

Lighting God's House

Calling on the gods

Eat, pray, love

Resting place

A man surrounded by roses for the god

Lodi Garden: An Urban Oasis--Walking the Familiar Path

2014-04-27T20:41:00.002+05:30

On 5 April 2014, I along with two of my friends joined the heritage walk organized by the Hungarian Information and Cultural Centre. The walk was curated by Robinson.

It was nice to see the city through the eyes of someone who knows the history, the roads and trees of Delhi so well.

An installation at the Hungarian Information and Cultural Centre

This cool Ambassador car at the centre caught my eye and captured my heart.

Delhi was splendid in all its colours.

The sun was a jewel sparkling from behind the trees.

In so many years, this is the first time that I found out that the name of the Lodi Gardens is The Lady Wellingdon Park.

An installation in the park commissioned by the NDMC

Spring was in full bloom!

A bee on a flower

Yellow

Spot the flower

This is my favourite photo from the day

Robinson showed us the green house at the Lodi Gardens. It was a beautiful location with bougainvillea decorating the roof.

Bougainvillea roof

Robinson pointed out that the dustbins in the park had been painted by volunteers recently. It was fun spotting different paintings on the dustbins.

Djinn asking you to use a dustbin.

This was our favourite dustbin from the day. It has been painted by Manil Rohit.

Archaeological dig at Purana Qila

2014-04-23T11:03:00.001+05:30

On 19 April 2014, my friend who teaches history in a school and I went to Purana Qila. We had read news reports that the Archaeological Survey of India had opened the dig sites to the public for two days.


The evening was lovely with the sun playing with the clouds to create a dramatic sky

We saw men hard at work, using brushes to carefully dust the layers without breaking any remains


There were others who used a special knife to scrape the soil without harming any pots, bones, etc. burried in the soil.

You can see the depth of levels till which the digging has been done.

This collection of pots was dug very recently.

The present and past vessels to store water

The pieces that were excavated were washed carefully. You can spot a bone in the pile above.

Once dried, each piece was coded using a nib-pen and black ink.


A small exhibition showcased some pieces that were dug from the site.

The paintings and the colour (hundreds of years old) still look bright and beautiful.

This piece of potery is believed to be dated to the Mughal period. This piece was my favourite from the lot because of the beautiful pattern.

Though the site was open to the public there were certain parts of the exhibition where photography was restricted. But fortunately those photographs are available on the web.

We ended our trip to Purana Qila by staying for the Light and Sound Show called, Ishq-e-Dilli. You can see a post on the show done earlier, here.

The audience sat in rapt attention, savouring the visuals and the engaging commentary.

The colours of the night were pure magic.

You can read more about it here.

Delhi cast its vote today

2014-04-10T20:04:00.001+05:30

The people of Delhi cast their vote today in the 2014 General Elections. Once the process of voting is through and results are announced in May 2014 India will have a new government. I hope Delhi voted for a change and for a better India.

Here is a photograph of the hands of my family members after we cast our votes.

In the evening my mom and I went for a drive. I saw the Indian flag, a symbol of the country and the government, flutter proudly in the Central Park in Connaught Place.

The dramatic evening sky encouraged me to click some more!

Holi and Holika Dehen

2014-03-20T15:12:00.001+05:30

As we neared the temple in Haripur village, I spotted groups of children filling their water guns with water from the drains that channel snow-melt in the entire region.

This is the scene that greeted me while I was removing my shoes.

As I joined the group, the smiling faces of the ladies welcomed me and soon I was enjoying myself as the group sang and danced to Krishna bhajans.

While the women danced, the men showcased their talents on different instruments.

Even the statues in the temple compund were included in the celebration.

I decided to take some colourful portraits while the meriment went on.

These girls became my friends and guide for the morning. They told me in detail about their lives in Haripur, their school and why they enjoyed Holi so much.

This young mother was on duty to fill her son's water gun with coloured water.

This gentleman was my favourite uncle for the day. He danced leaving all his inhibitions behind. When I asked his permission to click his photograph he gifted me a million dollar smile!

This boy's spotted head is my favourite photograph of the day.

This little handsome dude threatened to use his water gun on me. Turned out that he was just teasing me, the water gun did not have any water in it :-)

The villager left after almost an hour of singing and dancing. The group was to go to another temple in a nearby village and continue the festivities.

I took their leave and went back to the cottage with a promise to return for the evening of festivities.

The villagers gathered in the grounds of the government school to observe Holika Dehen.

The kids decided to take the prime spot atop the school roof to see the proceedings.

The village priest and other important members of the village took centre stage. They perfomred the puja while trumpets were blown and drums were beaten.

With the drums and trumpets providing the background score, the fire roared and warmed the evening even as the temperature ventured in the range of 0 degrees celsius.

We stayed with the villagers till all the wood burnt.

Then we walked back down the hill to return to the cottage where we were staying.

The fantastic camera on the Nokia Lumia 1020 ensured that I captured the entire celebration without missing my DSLR too much.

Holi, Holiday

2014-03-19T17:37:00.001+05:30

For Holi, this year, me and my friends decided to leave Delhi and go to the Himalayas. After a series of chain mails, we decided a village near Manali--Batahar--was going to be our Holi-destination.

Just a few days before I was to leave for the holiday, Nokia came up with an offer I could not refuse. I was given a Nokia Lumia 1020 to cover the festival of Holi. I had heard from many friends that the 41 megapixel camera was to die for. I could not wait to get my hands on it.

The phone arrived on the day of departure--14 March 2014. Ankita and I took a selfie just as soon as we boarded the bus.

And Sangeeta and Abir also smiled for the camera!

Since the journey was mostly through the night, I did not get much opportunity to play with the camera. But the morning was a different story. We found ourselves in a world of picture-postcard scenery that changed its form every few kilometres but our appreciation remained constant.

We stayed in the Apple Tree Cottages in Bathar village. The views from our rooms, the living room and basically everywhere the eye turned was breath-taking. I am not exaggerating!

On 15 March we went to the Hidimba Temple and then to the Vashishth Temple.

On our way back to the cottage we decided to stop at the river bank. The water was cold so there was no question of us dipping our feet into it. So we sat on boulders listening to the gurgling sound of the Beas.

The villagers of Haripur, a village adjacent to Batahar, celebrate Holi a day prior to when the rest of the country celebrates. I requested the owner of the cottage to take me to the village to celebrate the festival.Our jeep was stopped by a bunch of children who were happy to apply colours on our cheeks and wish us, 'Happy Holi!'

A little further, a group of teenage boys decided to block the road using big boulders. They cleared the way only after Chamman ji gave them some money. This road block was laughed off when they wished us and shouted, 'Bura na maano Holi hai!' (Don't feel bad, it's Holi!)

As we neared the village temple, we saw many more coloured faces.

I'll tell you the rest of the story in the next post!

Hope you had a good Holi!

Six years of life

2014-03-13T12:21:00.001+05:30

I did not have a car when I started this blog. I also did not have a DSLR. In fact I was not even sure I had an interest in photography. I would just click photographs from the camera in my mobile phone. The objective was to capture Delhi and its changing face and the moments.

It has been six years since the first post. I, now, drive my car to different parts of the city. Mount my DSLR and click photographs. I do not post on this blog as often as I would like to. My love for the city is still all-consuming but my expression of that love has altered. I now have a keen interest in photography and travel to other places in the country with the gusto which was early reserved for just Delhi.

I think Delhi Photo Diary (with a spelling mistake in the url) played a big role in adding little traits to my personality over the last six years. It ensured I met lot of new people, invested in exploring the city a little more and most importantly learnt a little more about myself during the journey.

I might blog more this year. Or I just might become a fleeting presence in the World Wide Web. I don't know what the future holds and no longer try to find the unknown. But if anyone visits the blog and sees this post, I'd like to tell them that the journey so far has been one of the most important ones of my life. And just by visiting the blog and staying here for a few minutes they too have become a part of my life. And for that I would like to thank them.

Here is a photo of the Tree of Life I spotted a few moons ago at the Design Fair at Dastakar Haat in Meharauli.

I dedicate this photo to all those who have altered my life in the last six years. You have made it a lot more fun and exciting. Thanks!

Also, Happy Birthday, Delhi Photo Diary (DPD)!

P.S: I have decided to go back to the roots of this blog. I will be posting photographs taken from my camera phone for some time. Minus the minutes spent on Photoshop. Because I feel the need to unlearn and relearn.

Comic Con 2014

2014-02-09T18:14:00.000+05:30

I finally decided to stop being lazy. I took my camera out for a walk. The destination was Comic Con 2014 at the Tyagraj Stadium. Here are some of the things that caught my eye and the lens of my camera captured.

An angry Mickey

Desi super girl!

Friendly neighbour

Sex education through graphic novels. A brilliant idea!

Comical footwear

Shikari Shambhu!

Ugrasen ki Baoli

2013-10-23T23:52:00.000+05:30

Hola Chicos!

More than a month later I picked up the camera again, today. This hiatus was partly because I was busy learning Spanish and partly because I was feeling lazy to do just a little more to go shutter-crazy. Thankfully, that period is behind me and I am ready again to make most of day.

I tempted my friends (and colleagues) Sudeshna and Kanupriya to accompany me to the Ugrasen ki Baoli in Connaught Place during our lunch break. If I say so myself, we had a great time!

Golden walls

Light and shade

Ruins

Grafitti, motorcycle, and water bottles make for a modern art installation.

Installation art!

More graffiti!

Lady in red!

Rules are important. Some, should not be broken EVER!

Rules

Best study hall. EVER!

Lone reader

Four friends discussing history

The Blue stars continue to study hard, the White one looks at me. Suspiciously? Maybe!

I have never been able to resist (clicking) a man in white and blue ;-)

And then we turned the cameras to ourselves.

Kanupriya and Sudeshna all smiles

Kanupriya insists that she wants her chance behind the camera.

Sudeshna and I pose while people around us laugh their hearts out.

It was only polite that Sudeshna got a chance to hit the camera button. She clicked the best photograph of the day (in my opinion).

Kanupriya and I, colour coordinated

We had a few more antics up our sleeves before we left.

Kanupriya trying (laughing) hard to pull the tiger's tongue out

On the way back to our office.

Gods keeping an eye on a bus stop

We decided that we deserved burgers for lunch after so much hard work that we had put in. The bright walls of McDonald's welcomed us.

Which is the narrowest of them all?

A little play with the camera settings and I managed to experience (or at least my camera did) night while the sun shone brightly outside.

Modern art?

You can see my earlier posts on Ugrasen ki Baoli (also called Agrasen ki Baoli) here.

Hope I did good in my comeback post. Let's hope the good weather in Delhi continues, the festive spirit keeps me happy, and good friends accompany me to other nooks and crannies of the city so that I bring you more posts.

Till the next time,
Adiós!

Dastangoi

2013-08-02T11:52:00.000+05:30

The regular visitors to the blog would have noticed that my outings have become few in number. I could make excuses like work keeps me busy, nothing interesting is happening anywhere in Delhi etc. But the truth is, I'd be lying. The fact is at 30, age seems to be catching up with me. I only attend events that excite me enough to push myself to leave the comfort of my home.

Fortunately for me, Team Dastangoi and India Habitat Centre (IHC) announced a show titled New Tales from the Tilism-e Hoshurba sometime in July. I stalked Facebook pages, Twitter handles and the IHC programme desk. I mailed friends, blabbered about the previous shows I had seen and almost feared that I had oversold the experience of dastangoi to friends who had never watched it before.

After having very expensive and really awful tasting milk shakes, the six of us headed to our seats--first row, almost centre. I was very pleased. And then the magic began, Poonam Girdhani & Namita Singhai took the stage first. They looked beautiful in their silver and white attires. They sounded even better.

Then came the masters themselves, Danish Husain and Mahmood Farooqui, and they transported the audience to a world of magic. Their words, expressions and actions ensured that every one in the hall sat mesmerised. I could not resist providing just a clip so that you could experience a little bit of magic.

At the end of the evening, I was glad that I had not oversold the show to my friends. The six of us were smiling for a long, long time, happy that we had been under the spell of the dastangos for over two hours.

To know more about their performances: click here Dastangoi

AIIMS Flyover

2013-07-14T13:12:00.001+05:30

The clouds and peeping blue skies make the AIIMS flyover look even more beautiful. The silver things are an installation commissioned by the Government of Delhi. Every time I cross the flyover, I get this weird sensation that someone is whispering in my ears, "You are not alone." As far as I'm concerned, these are connectors that have been planted by aliens. Thinking that makes the long periods of traffic jams on this route interesting :)

Of Anil Kapoor's hair, blogs and money

2013-07-09T23:36:00.001+05:30

With the prices of petrol increasing as fast as hair on Anil Kapoor’s body, all bloggers, including yours truly, are finding new ways to increase their income. I searched far and wide and decided anything that pops in your face and keeps my readers away from photographs and posts was not going to be a part of either of my blogs. Thankfully, two of my favourite websites—Flipkart and Amazon—came to rescue. Half an hour of clicking, filing forms and selecting widgets, and I have found a perfect solution. Every perfect solution like the perfect murder needs an accomplice. So please agree to be an accomplice and every time you plan to buy anything from Flipkart or Amazon, log on to my blogs:

Delhi Photo Diary

Priyanka’s Point

1. Flipkart

I have signed up for Flipkart’s affiliate program, and every time you buy something after clicking from the link given on the right side bar on Delhi Photo Diary (within the same session), I get a small percentage of your purchase.

2. Amazon

I am also an Amazon associate, so every time you click through the links given on Delhi Photo Diary and Priyanka’s Point (right side bars) and buy something on Amazon (within the same session), I get a small fee.

So please route all your shopping through my blogs and ensure that I go to more places, get more photos and pen more stories.

Thanks a lot!

Hauz Khas Village and Fort

2013-06-30T22:31:00.000+05:30

My friends and colleagues often tease me that since my blog does not have a single post on Hauz Khas Village, I'm not a true Delhiite and definitely not a worthy Delhi photo-blogger. Finally, after 5 years I decided to make amends. I took a walk in the posh village market, which has the impressive Hauz Khas Fort as the backdrop, with my camera. Here is the loot:

Footnote: Marilyn Monroe, Jawaharlal Nehru and Krishna-Radha

The Hauz Khas Fort overlooking the calm lake

Hauz Khas Lake

Marriage of two eras

Blue, green and the smell of history

On the watch

Let's walk, shop and eat

Who doesn't like a little bit of argument?

What a tease!

2013-06-24T14:04:00.002+05:30

With the skies turning a threatening grey and the sun peaking from behind, showing hints of its golden light early morning last weekend, I picked my camera and decided to head to Purana Qila (Old Fort). The fort was majestic as usual. But the thing that made this trip special was me spotting a peacock ready to dance with all its feathers spread out to entice its mate.

Grey skies, peaking gold

Dancing for its mate

Side profile

The bird was quick to spot me and decided to run in the other direction.

Escape

It stood at the top step and posed, giving me a slight hope of seeing its feathers in full bloom, hopefully from the front this time. Then like a tease decided to make me run after it.

Spotlight

Unlike me, it was light on its steps and decided to walk on the wall of the fort. I could have continued to chase it if only the wall was not so narrow.

I knew I was beaten. I should huffing and panting. While the tease, the beautiful peacock, went as far as it could from my prying eyes.

Catch me if you can!

Rain or Happiness? You decide

2013-06-18T14:44:00.001+05:30

Rains always bring with them a feeling of joy. The blast of colours from behind the screens laced with water droplets, caught my attention this Saturday evening as I drove around the city enjoying the rains that came early to Delhi this year.

Rain colour

A cup of coffee

This young boy and his enigmatic smile left me warm and smiling. He was selling gajras (small flower strings usually worn by women in their hair) on one of the busiest traffic signals of Delhi. With the rains bringing the temperatures down considerably, he was busy singing and splashing water in a huge pothole in the middle of the road. When he caught my eye, looking at him and smiling, he rushed to my window, smiled his big happy smile and asked me to click his photograph. After I obliged he asked me to buy some gajras as well. I, of course, could not say no to that smile. So I came home with the fragrance of rain infused with the fragrance of the white flowers.

White and the brilliant smile

Offering me beautiful flowers, with that brilliant smile

He made experiencing the rains better

Elephant spotting

2013-06-16T20:30:00.000+05:30

An elephant is considered a good luck symbol by the Hindus. For me, it was a great way to start the day. I was on my way to Hauz Khas, when my rear view mirror became a bit more interesting as I saw the beautiful animal striding majestically.

Spotted!

Intimidating the automobile

And it gets closer

Photography - Getting Started by Ashok Kochhar

2013-06-08T22:21:00.004+05:30

Three years after its opening, I visited the Kunzum Travel Cafe again today. I had fallen in love with the cozy little cafe in June 2010 and unfortunately did not return till today.

A friend informed me about a 4-session photography workshop titled, Photography - Getting Started, by Mr Ashok Kochhar at Kunzum. The Facebook events page showed other members of the ClickWalk group would be attending as well. I decided to brave the sun and headed to the Hauz Khas Village. The talk was interesting and catching up with fellow ClickWalkers was fun.

This new experience left me thinking a lot about what is my photography ideology. Hopefully, I'll learn new techniques of photography and also find a new facet of my personality in the course of the next three sessions of the workshop.

Here are some of the clicks from the day.

Mr Ashok Kochhar

My seat

The Kunzum Mug

The attentive class

Child's Play

Hindustan Times: Delhi Blog of the Week

2013-05-31T10:44:00.000+05:30

I'll be turning 30, the big three O, over the weekend. I don't think the celebrations could have started in a better way.

Delhi Photo Diary has been featured as the Hindustan Times Delhi Blog of the Week. It's a full circle moment for me since in the early days of my career I had been an intern with the organization. To be featured on its pages has brought a big smile to my face.

Thanks to all of you, who have been with me since March of 2008, exploring Delhi through my words and photographs.

To Read, Click on the photo, and then enlarge :-)

Butterflies in Lodi Garden

2013-05-12T22:42:00.000+05:30

An article a few days back in the national daily, The Times of India inspired to wake up early this Sunday morning and head to the Lodi Gardens. The beautiful winged insects, squirrels, red trees, people exercising and cobwebs ensured that I clicked only a few frames of the monuments.

Anita Gokhale's Terrace

2013-05-08T22:40:00.000+05:30

Delhi is full of places which are open to everyone--people who live here, people who are visiting from other parts of the country and people who are visiting from other parts of the globe. However, there are a few places, beautiful sanctuaries if you will, open only to a select few. My aunt, Anita Gokhale, has managed to create such a sanctuary for her family and her thousands of friends on her terrace.

Going to her terrace garden to witness it in full bloom is a spring ritual. We welcome the colours on her terrace and in our lives every year by spending a fun-filled afternoon sipping tea and munching on delicious snacks made by her. Then we linger on to spend the evening with friends, sharing more delicious food and drinks while watching the stars in the sky and inhaling the aroma of the beautiful flowers that adorn her beautiful garden.

This year I went specially to click photographs one afternoon so that I could share her passion for flowers with you.

A big thanks to Anita aunty for working so hard to ensure all her family and friends enjoy the fragrances and beauty of these amazing flowers. You all will notice that she herself is as beautiful as the flowers she so painstakingly tends to. She is the one, standing on the right, wearing a beautiful smile in the last photo. The lady in the left is my mom. And she sure is always happy to be with Anita aunty. The presence of flowers and the sun makes it all the more special.

The complete view

Cornered

The pink flower bed

Blues, what blues?

Standing out

Saying something

The swing

Even the setting sun shines to honour the beauty

Bright as the sun

Folds

The bar

The source of light

The colour purple

Open

Friends and flowers

Sorry, I was supposed to do this post sometime in February. However things, in hindsight not that important, kept me away. This is my way of bringing the cool spring breeze into your lives :)

Weave me a story, please: Autumn, Aum, Ghost, and Fire

2013-05-01T23:31:00.000+05:30

Autumn leaves

Aum

Ghost

Fire

I have given you pictures. Weave a story for me, please.