Why meet your next door neighbors in the elevator, when you can drive over a 1000 miles round trip to hang out with them! A chance exchange of messages while on the road in the Rann of Kutch, led to an unplanned drive to the lake city of Udaipur. We spent the day of Diwali wandering the streets of the old city, watching bedecked Rajasthani ladies visiting the ancient Jagdish temple in the morning, touring the royal palace during the day, chartering a boat for a lake cruise in the evening and spent the rest of the night dodging firecrackers in the crowded lanes. Here are some memories of an amazing 36 hours in Udaipur...

From late September to early October, the Kaas plateau nestled in the hills above Satara emerges in a new avatar as wildflowers start to color the hills and dales with a myriad hues of yellow, red, violet and white. In quest of this elusive sight, a high speed highway drive from Mumbai put us into Satara in about three hours from where a winding ghat road rose into the foggy mountains past green hills, circling birds and some  simian families trying to get a sun tan. As the  green turned to yellow and the brown turned to red  we spotted a dirt track snaking off to the  right...and entered a whole new world of lakes,  water lilies, chirping birds, tricky road bends, slippery boulders, ancient shrines and the occasional shepherd who guided us on our way. After two hours, finding the road ahead blocked by a landslide, we turned around and backtracked, slithering and sliding across rocks and red mud, finally rejoining the tar road after a few exciting moments. The road back to Mumbai was interspersed with a detour to see the Thoseghar waterfalls and views of Sajjangadh fort, after which we picked up the company of torrential rains in a crazy drive which would always remind us of the day we went to see the wildflowers of Kaas...

During a recent sojourn in the south of India we noticed an interesting trend where newly married/to be married couples were advertising themselves on billboards outside the marriage hall and sometimes on the main streets of smaller towns. Here is an example of this fine art from the streets of Pondicherry. Notice the strategically placed MBA and MBBS after the names. May heavens choicest blessings be showered on the newly married couple...

Targeting those who cant make the trip to Mickey Mouse's hometown, this innovatively named theme park on the outskirts of chennai stands as a true testament to an entrepreneurs ingenuity...

In the land of a billion aspirations, motivation is never in short supply...

Against the backdrop of an exquisitely carved ancient temple, painstakingly chiseled from hard basalt and once buried under layers of earth to protect it from marauding invaders, a group of friends exult in the freedom of the 62nd year of India's independence...

In the by-lanes of Mumbai, two completely different businesses advertise the same outcome...

In an increasingly digital world, a shuttered store at a tourist destination stands as mute testimony to a bygone era...

When it comes to quirkiness, Mumbai's autorickshaws are no different than those in the rest of India. The caption below the painting of Jesus can be loosely translated to: "Father of All Fathers/Best Of Them All or The Big Boss". I have absolutely no idea who Vicky Baba is...