In the midst of chaos

I was at Delhi Haat today. Perfect flavour of traditional and contemporary Indian culture permeated the market as usual. But I was not here to shop, I was looking for some offbeat clicks for my camera and off the several I clicked, this one seems to stand out. 

I never saw this statue alone. Even the first time I noticed it, it was in conjunction with the chaos around it. It immediately came to my mind that if I pick this statue of Buddha from the place where its sitting right now, its immediately going to loose its magnificence. I would not want to take the Buddha home and keep it on some quite corner of my house. The chaos at the backdrop actually accentuate the meditative pose of Buddha. As if he is reiterating one of his famous sayings..... CHAOS IS INHERENT IN ALL COMPOUNDED THINGS. STRIVE ON WITH DILIGENCE.

Now Delhi has a local friend.. :-)

I came across guys at www.rentalocalfriend.com trough one of the magazines articles about them. I was immediately fascinated by the idea that they have so successfully managed to spread across. The site provides a resource through which we can interact with appropriate local references while we are traveling and thereby explore the cities much in our own ways. To quote the website - "a different travel philosophy for everyone who wants to be a traveler, not a tourist".

It took me microseconds to decide that I want to be part of the RentALocalFriend's culture. Interestingly when I contacted Nathalia she told me that one of the prerequisites to be a local friend is to have a short welcome video of yours shot in your city. So here it goes....

Delhi Detours - Sunday evenings at Rajpath

Delhi has been home to me for 11 years now. I have grown up in the city and have at the same time seen it grow up in its various facets. Through these years I have explored the city extensively (or at least I think so..). My forthcoming posts would be an attempt to document (or pixelate)  these experiences, which  I believe are unique in their own rights.

Sunday evenings are magical at Rajpath. The dusk brings with it a beautiful ambiance of colors.

 

Sky blue ambiance perfectly sets up the mood of picnicking people. 

The Line of Control

Just as the sun was about to set, the rays converged above the presidential suite. Does it look like an eye?

Kausani.. In the rainbow of mountains

© Abhinav Sharma

My fascination with sunrises continues and it takes me this time to Kausani, a hill station in the remote stretch of Uttrakhand. A couple of days stay here at the Gandhi ashram was a wonderful experience. However an early rise on one of these days to witness the sunrise happens to be the highlight of the tour. 

I didnt had the sun in my direct view and perhaps this was the advantage. For the emerging light happened to graze the waves of mountains with vivid colours. The red morning was swiftly sweeping away the blues of the night and I stood the witness of this cosmic play. In a bunch of seconds, I have seen so much beauty that I can behold it for a lifetime.

Journey is my destination

Setting forth on to land unknown
aversions grazed and curiosity grown;

Acquiring the road as a welcome mat
all I have is a blue jeans and a crumpled hat;

Climbing the mountains, diving into sea
didn't knew best things in the world are actually free;

What’s the purpose? What’s the aim?
I lose these questions as I loose my name;

Saw people looking at me with a surprise look
I tell them, I am living the pages of a fairy book;

As the sun leaves me with a troupe of cloud
they think i am lost, but the truth! I just found;

When I look back, its all a pale blur
except for that one moment, when I parted ways with her;


and I still remember my words -

Few things in life are beyond justification,
let me go beloved! Journey is my destination.

Its official... India's best chai

view of the ganges from the cafe

My search for a 'ideal' café ends here at The Office in Rishikesh. While I have the best ever masala chai in one of my hands, the other hand is all full with their unique apple and chocolate banana samosas. The wall of the balcony (overlooking the Ganges) is pasted with their tea & coffee menu. The contents each are like different methods of Nirvana... choose whichever you like or mix it :-). The view from the balcony is awesome and very peaceful. 
Being at the cafe and just staring at the Ganges, I always feel very content, self satisfied and all good about myself. Its just that next time when I go there, I will try to be in similar state of mind but without having any samosas by my side :-)

One life for this experience??? I am on..

On my way to Gurukul...

A quick post dedicated to the kids at Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh. I remember how my request for a pose was turned down by this kid and he slowly shied away from the scene. I still managed few candid shots of which this is the one I like in perticular.