Achappam to Celebrate the Year that Has Gone By

This is achappam, a Malyali snack, which one of my friends at office, Sheena, brought for me. Crunching on this slightly sweet and savoury snack is the best way to reminisce about the year gone by and plan for the coming year.

Hope all you will take the good that happened to you this year into the future and leave anything upsetting that 2010 brought into your lives.

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year 2011! May your sorrows in the coming year be as short-lived as your New Year resolutions to lose weight :D

South Asian Bands Festival 2010

Earlier this month, some friends convinced me to attend the South Asian Bands Festival 2010. Not sure if rock music was my cup of tea, I agreed only because the venue was Purana Qila. The chance to visit the Purana Qila after sunset (normally the gates shut down at sun down) was too tempting for me to miss. So, there we were 5 friends at the majestic door of the Purana Qila.

There were guitars...
There were violins...

There were drums...
There were singer...

And the crowd (including me) was mesmerised.

Christmas Lights

I captured the Christmas festivities in my office premises during the day and at night. This small nativity scene was set up outside one of the buildings.

In the evening, the whole building, including the flowers, was lighted beautifully!

The use of lights brought a smile and added to festive mood. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas weekend!

Prized Possession

I bought these keychains recently for my car keys. Just a small way to make life a musical fairytale while I drive on the roads of Delhi :-)

Let the Celebrations Begin!

I donned the chef's hat to welcome the festive season in style and made a crème caramel. Friends and family said it tasted as good as it looked :-)

Golcha

Before the multiplexes took over Delhi, single screen theatres like Golcha were the cool places to be. People, who were in college in the 1970s, have bag full of stories about how and when they saw which Hindi movie at one of these theatres. Golcha is among the last single screen theatres dotting the Delhi map.

Anish Kapoor's Exhibition

I had the good fortune of attending the high-profile exhibition of selected work of world-renowned Anish Kapoor with a senior at office and good friend, Anuradha. The trip to the National Gallery of Modern Art began with a short film on Anish Kapoor and his work.


Then we saw the huge sprawl of his celebrated work. I was a bit sly and managed to click Anuradha and my reflection n one of Anish Kapoor's broken mirror work. For those who are in Delhi till February should make it a point of visit the exhibition.

Gurudwara Bangla Sahib

This is the Sikh shrine Gurudwara Bangla Sahib in Connaught Place. It is a revered place and adds to the beauty of Delhi after it is renovation.

Portraits

Since I have been talking a lot about the photography classes I am attending these days, I thought of bringing a part of the class to you. This boy is posing for the camera and our teacher is explaining the 'Butterfly Lighting System' or the 'single lighting system' for clicking a good portrait photograph to the class. We have developed the roll and will soon print out photographs. I will scan the black an white prints and show them to you for comments soon. I hope these come out well as well.

Delhi Zoo

Last Sunday, we had a photography class at the Delhi Zoo. Initially all of us were a little apprehensive after seeing the huge crowd that greeted us.

However, we soon decided that a place where even the dustbins were so cute and photogenic was sure to be a fun place to shoot.

While the sun shone brightly most animals decided to sleep in their sheds and the birds decided to pose for the shutter crazy crowd.

After two long hours at the zoo, the group sat down near the pond, looking at the pink stroked pelicans who are visiting Delhi on their yearly migratory tour.

I am the Big Picture :-)

I practice what I preach and here is how I get rewarded. Last week, I told you about You Are the Big Picture campaign. I took part and here is the result. Thanks to the campaign launched by Aviva, my photograph was up on the Statesman House for everyone to see. More than seeing my photograph on the building, I really loved seeing my mother's expression while we waited for the photograph to upload. It was nice to have her with me to share the moment. I must take this opportunity to thank my friend, Aditi Vij (who has been mentioned a few times on the blog), for coaxing me to take part in the campaign.

Recently, my mother showed some enthusiasm to visit the silk exhibition being held at Aga Khan hall in Mandi House. Though sarees are not my favourite thing to shop I conceded and I am glad we visited the exhibition. I had a great time browsing through the collection and received hands on training on identifying different types of silks. The best thing was that I returned with 2, instead of the planned 1, sarees :-)

You Are the Big Picture!

Delhi, like all metropolitan cities, is a very dynamic place. Somethings still surprise me while driving through the roads of Connaught Place, where I have spent the better part of my life. I have featured Statesman House a lot of times on this blog. The building makes one more appearance today as a host for a very innovative campaign.

Aviva has launched a campaign asking people to donate their pictures. For every uploaded picture, Aviva will donate GBP 1 or INR 60 to Save the Children in India. It was heartwarming to see people donate their pictures so generously.



After my hot cup of coffee in the Oxford Cha Bar, I clicked these two photographs to show you guys. Came home and first thing I did was upload my picture on their website www.youarethebigpicture.com I ask all of you to go and upload your picture to the site and help a great cause. Added bonus was this video that they made within minutes. Enjoy :-)

My first prints :-)

This is the Nai ka Makbara near Humayun's Tomb.



As most of you now know, I am taking a photography course. Here are the first two prints-- clicked, developed and printed by me :D I am very happy to share these and my excitement with you :-)

Unheeded Warning!

Ignoring this sign, many thronged the small shop selling Chinese decorative lights on the eve of Diwali.

Belated wishes to all my blogger friends. Hope you had a wonderful Diwali. Hope you have a prosperous and happy new year!

Qutub Minar @ Nirulas

There was a photo-walk at Qutub Minar, where some friends had decided to meet and go shutter crazy over the weekend. I, unfortunately, could not go because I was under the weather. However, my heart was very much there and I decided to go to the next best place--Nirula's for a delicious 'chatak matak burger' with the Qutub as a backdrop. This Qutub photo graces one of the walls at the Connaught Place outlet of Nirula's :-)

Shutter Mania

I was recently interviewed by Sukalp Sharma from the Financial Express. Here is the article for all of you to read. :-)

Green House

Delhi is a green city and just to prove that here is a picture taken of an old house near my office. I have not edited or used any different settings for this photograph. Just a plain point and shoot got me this photograph. Just a pure evidence that my city is actually very green.

Does this make you green with envy? :-)

Youth Festival: Central Park: Bharatnatayam Dancers

A college friend's command can never be ignored and abiding by the 'code' I drove across the mad traffic on the roads of Delhi to see my college friend Sowmya perform in the Youth Festival, currently going on in Central Park, Connaught Place. The traffic ensured that I reach the venue late after my photography class. But I did manage to see her graceful skills on this big screen.
After the performance, I ran to greet my friend and convinced her to pose for me off the stage. Like I said before, a college friend's command can never be ignored and so Sowmya obliged with a beautiful pose and an even prettier smile.

A lone visitor

While, I have just begun getting passionate about photography, most of the puritans say that it is a dying art.

I had recently gone to see an exhibition of black and white photographs by renowned photographers-Graciela Iturbide and Raghu Rai at the Instituto Cervantes, Connaught Place. The almost empty gallery further flamed my fears.

However, the spectacular array of black and white images restored my faith that till the time there is a camera and people keen to capture a moment in time... photography will live a luxurious life.

Rajiv Gandhi Handicrafts Bhawan: Tribal Artwork

If you go to the Rajiv Gandhi Handicrafts Bhawan in Connaught Place, you will find a lot of walls of the complex used to display tribal artwork from various parts of the country. This is one of my favourite displays in the complex. I like the simplicity of the artwork and the use of bright colours.

Green People!

These green people adorn the walls of Nirula's Potpourri, Connaught Place. I like the lemon green woman with the hand on her waist the best as she invites food enthusiasts to indulge in some food therapy!

CWG 2010: Hockey Matches at Dhyanchand National Stadium

Shera, the official mascot for the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010, welcomed my friends, other spectators and me to the Dhyanchand National Stadium on Saturday, 9 October 2010.

Some supporters of India had the tri-colour painted on their face, while others wore the blue jersey, with the flag proudly adorning their chest.

Water sprinklers readied the field for the matches.
Indian women's team played a fantastic match against South Africa and won the game 3-1. Here is the Indian women's team taking the winner's lap.
Soon it was time for the Indian men to thrash the Scottish team, and we had a wonderful time cheering for the brilliant hockey players who won the game 4-0.


With smiles on our faces with the double win, we bid adieu to Shera :-)

CWG 2010: A Wedding Procession

As a part of the Commonwealth Games 2010 celebrations, several places in Delhi are hosting various festivals and fairs. I recently went for the Incredible India fair being held at Baba Kharak Singh Marg.
Huge hoardings with jalebis welcomed the guests to the street food fair.

The main attraction at the fair is this massive installation, made of jute ropes, showing a wedding procession.

Here you can see the royal groom, perched on an elephant, while taking his bride home. Horsemen and musicians are accompanying the royal couple.

Sitting in a doli, the royal bride is shy and is constantly looking down. Doli is a special carrier made to carry the bride from her parents' house to her husband's house after the wedding ceremony. Usually, the brothers of the bride carry the doli to the grooms house. While the bride here is sitting coyly, the royal servant blows the tuturi.


A closer look and you can see that the bride is wearing a flowing chunri or dupatta and a beautiful maang tika. Her doli is also designed keeping the feminine curves in mind.


There is more to come from Incredible India... see you soon!