Sightseeing in Singapore

The school was sending me for some official work to Singapore. The plan was to get there by 9:00 am, finish the paper work and then I had the whole day till my flight at 6:00 in the evening. Unfortunately, I was on a shoestring budget hence could not venture far! But the sights of Singapore in a 3 km radius were enough to remain etched in my mind forever.

Let me take you for the tour of the 6 hours I was in Singapore!

Here is the first sight straight from the taxi…

And this one is a kind of message to one of my students…. (Stephen, I hope you are proud)

Singapore, a city run by prefects quipped a comedian once… I vouch that he could not have said it better!

The red dot building – museum to all things traffic!

After the ‘official work’ was over, I was on my own, and found my way to Chinatown! Was hesitant to shoot in the streets at first, but when I saw so many people trigger happy, I was at my camera best!

Chinatown

The multidude of fridge magnets to choose from (I brought quite a few  too …)

Found a shop in Chinatown entirely dedicated to Tintin memorablia! 

This one is for Dad… that is supposed to be the world’s largest coin…

India is everywhere…

And now for those bizarre signs in a bustling city

Spent my evening at this plaza dedicated to the national flower of Singapore… the Vanda ‘Miss Joaquim’

and captured some things familiar…

Here is the Vanda ‘Miss Joaquim’ against a backdrop of the magnificent Carlton

I could spend a day photographing the artwork along the streets.

Beginning with this bronze structure of the Vanda

This very abstract piece which describes itself as ‘Reaching’ symbolising the infinite possiblities of growth, the shores are limitless…

Or this one which had no description in sight…

And this is something I could not help shooting… Singapore is a car/bike lover’s paradise!

Spent some time in the quiet shade of a botanical garden…

and there it was time to count the cents remaining…. a reminder that I had to head home 😉

Singapore airport…

Well, I wished this would be my ride

… but instead had to be content with this one!

A tribute to magnificence

One of the places that I spent almost an hour in photography was on a recent visit to Rishikesh, Uttarakhand.

This statue of Shiva left me mesmerized. Sad to say that this work of art no longer adorns the banks of the Ganga at Rishikesh. The recent torrential rains in Uttarakhand swept it away alongwith a colossal loss of life and property.

Is it the wrath of God or the the self-imposed wrath of humankind that leads to these catastrophes?

Welcome Snowfall in Mussoorie

From the raging heat of Goa to the chill winters of Mussoorie. It was quite a change. The vacations are almost drawing to a close but today did not fail to surprise me. We stopped over at Mussoorie and were welcomed by a generous snowfall.

A view from atop the hill…

Wynberg-Allen School blanketed in snow

Snow prints!

This was the first time I was witnessing this marvel of nature and it left be breathless!

It’s called ‘Building’

“Inamulla Building… a landmark structure in Dehradun or better known as ‘Building‘”, this is what I was told by a friend.

 

I was awestruck by the ancient facade, which looks like a set straight out of Arabian Nights, complete with the crescent moon looming above the minarets.

But it was not just the sight but the smell which kept me grounded. All around the place there were carts making some of the juiciest kebabs I have tasted!

Dehradun does not cease to fascinate me!

Virasat 2012 – Handicrafts and Heritage

Virasat is a fortnight long arts and crafts heritage festival in Dehradun. It brings together artists and crafts people from the length and breadth of the country. This year, for the first time, there were performances by groups from countries across the globe. I was lucky to be at the performance of the troupe from Morocco.

Some of the instruments there were playing were works of art in themselves. If anyone knows the names I would be glad to add them out here.

The stuff that is for sale is amazing from tie and dye fabrics, lac churi, terracotta pottery, dry flower arrangements, woolens from Bhuj, Lakhnavi Chikankari, leaf painting, fine Chamba embroidery on handkerchiefs.

(Picture courtesy above goes to a friend, Aldred Gomes)

It was here that craftsman would give you a live demonstration of their work…

Other than the handicrafts there were also some marvellous culinary delights… for the first time I savoured ‘makke ki roti aur sarson da saag’!

With a range of digestives to choose from too…

Compared to similar handicraft festivals in Goa the prices were very reasonable and I have done most of my Christmas shopping 😉

Peace @ work

The Kasiga School celebrated the International Day of Peace today, with the theme: Sustainable peace for a sustainable future.

Amidst all the speeches highlighting the significance of this day, what touched me the most was that the students pooled in their ideas and resources to create banners, placards and logos for the event. Hats off to their creativity!

Here are a set of images of the morning’s celebrations:

The peace logo

The components of peace

The Principal’s speech against a very powerful backdrop

The Junior Choir singing the Peace Anthem

Peace march showcasing the Millenium Development Goals

Students march around the Oval (Cricket Field)

Wither weather?

I was always made aware of the strange dichotomy in the weather of this place. While Dehradun can be bright and sunny, a few kilometres uphill in Mussoorie it will be pouring cats and dogs! And while the hills may be thrilling in the warm glow of the sun there are cloudbursts in the plains! Well, all this theory just transformed into a real life practical for me yesterday!

A surprise visit from a few friends flowed into an evening drive up to Mussoorie. The skies were clear after two days of heavy rainfall and we were confident Mussoorie would offer us the same weather! Hardly had we crossed the huge signboard “Welcome the Mussoorie, the Queen of Hills” that we were engulfed in a downpour so heavy that I imagined our car sliding backwards to base! The evening was a total washout, but that was not all. The way back offered us a driving test beyond anything I had imagined.

The picture may not do justice to the eerie experience that we had trying to figure out the edge of the road through that ghastly fog!

Tons River Trek

Kasiga School is lucky to have a river (or more of a roaring stream) running around the campus. Sunday saw us take a day trek to this ‘Tons river’

The Tons is the largest tributary of the Yamuna and flows through Garhwal region in Uttarakhand, touching Himachal Pradesh. The Tons valley is a remote area and has a culture unlike any other in the region. The villagers in the Tons valley are believed to be descendents of the Pandavas and Kauravas from the epic Mahabharata.

This river boasts of adventure sports in river rafting… however, we had a different kind of adrenaline rush when we explored some of the undiscovered parts of this river

Evening in Mussoorie

The last day of my little holiday in Mussoorie. It was time to hit Mall Road, with the famous Kalsang Restaurant (famous for its delicious momos).

Managed to snap a few shots on the way back.

Wild flowers

6000 ft! Wow!

Winding roads of Mussoorie

Goa… here I come…

Monkeying around in Mussoorie

Well, with nothing much to do when at home, I thought of shooting monkeys from the balcony… with the camera of course 😉

The reason for the sign on the gate 🙂

Watching them even for 5 minutes can yield some fun pictures indeed. Here is a tiny sampling…

The Thinker

Hitching a ‘monkey-back’ ride

Monkey Siesta

What doth the future holdeth?