Save Yamuna

Posters like the one below, have been put up across Delhi for over a month now.

Charu - my friend and fellow blogger, who also happens to be a regular visitor of Delhi Photo Diary -yesterday called to say that he was going to accompany his mother, Ms Rakshita Verma, to clean the river Yamuna. I jumped at the first hint of an invitation to clean the river, on the banks of which my city - Delhi rests.

Soon after we reached the river (at 7 in the morning), we were given gloves and masks and were asked not to waste a single minute and start cleaning. Wearing the gloves and masks made me feel like a surgeon. Lolz.

Here is Rakshita aunty masked for the task.
The cleanliness drive was organised by Art of Living foundation, which runs under the auspices of Shri Shri Ravi Shankar.
While most of the women decided to clean the river bank, men jumped on the boats to fish out polythene bags and other garbage loitering the river.

Huge bags of garbage were collected just within an hour of the cleanliness drive.

Hopefully the drive is a step in the right direction. The river, which was once the lifeline of the city has now become a liability for the population living in the India capital. But then it is the same population, which has to be blamed for the river turning into sewerage runnel.

Gulaks: Innovative Earthen Saving Jars

I love buying Gulaks, Indian version of 'Piggy Banks'. Environment-friendly- Gulaks are earthen pots, which have just one opening, enough to drop just one coin at a time. Once the jar is filled and there is no more space for even a coin, the pot is broken. I generally put all my change in the Gulak and once the jar is filled with coins I use the change to buy something for myself. And the first thing I buy from the money is a new gulak. I saw a lot of Gulaks in the market on my recent trip. In the the right part of the photo, you can see the traditional designs of gulaks. In the last few years, the designs have begun more innovative. In front are red colored ones, shaped like purses or women's handbags.

The one, which I had to buy as soon as I saw it, was this elephant shaped one.
Happy Saving!

Bioscope Show

I promised a show and here it is. This a photo of a couple of children watching a bioscope show at a fair I visited recently.

I promise that you will enjoy the show. The video this man was showing was a promotion of Madhya Pradesh (central state of India) Tourism.

I found the same video on YouTube. This is a MUST SEE video.



Do see it and let me know if you liked it or not. :-)

Get your popcorn ready, 'cause I'm gonna put on a show.

Well this is my favourite popcorn stand in Karol Bagh.


I hope you are ready with your popcorn because the next post will be very entertaining. :-)

No words can describe the fragrance of every breath of spring

But photos come close. So here is this year's spring collection.





You can see Delhi Spring of the years gone by here.

Humayun Tomb

Just minutes before the sun began to set, I reached the Humayun Tomb with a friend. The Humayun Tomb is located near the Hazrat Nizamuddin station and just opposite to the Nizamuddin Auliya in South Delhi.

The wall surrounding the many tombs is in ruins but fortunately the main tombs themselves are not in too bad a condition.

If you compare the structure from the previous post about Lodi Gardens, you will be see that the tombs are very similar.

The golden light of the setting sun made the experience of being in the Humayun Tomb surreal.
A pleasant walk of another 5 minutes took us to the main tomb through the arches, typical of Mughal architecture.I indulged in a little reflection photography.

Payed respects at the grave of Humayun.
And took a final shot of the Tomb before leaving.


and said goodbye to the place as the sun set...

Lodi Gardens

I met a school friend of mine - Richa over the weekend. Work has taken her to the city of Mumbai and she terribly misses Delhi and is a regular Delhi Photo Diary visitor. We both decided that to enjoy Delhi in her Spring best, we must meet for a morning walk in Lodi Gardens. Trust me there is no better way to feel the fresh air, get a few good photos and share the lives two friends have lived over the last 4 years.

Beautiful flowers welcomed us.Soon the walk turned into an exploration as hints of history began to peek out from the shade of trees.

A few more steps took us to this majestic tomb.


The trees and fascinating play of light and shadow kept me entertained as I clicked a lot of photographs.


Meanwhile, Richa sat pretty dreaming, and looking at the trees and greenery all around.

A majestic row of tall trees bade us farewell.

March Theme Day: Passageway

Delhi has several historic monuments spread across its length and breadth. Today is the March theme day and the theme for the day is passageway. Here is a passageway from a tomb in Lodi Garden. Will bring you more photos from Lodi Garden in the coming weeks.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Today is the festival of Holi. Some of my friends and I had a pre-holi bash over the weekend. From the left, this is Bhawna and Ankur (engaged to be married soon), Charu and the newly-weds- Sanjay and Uma.
Wishing you all a very Happy Holi!