THE SOUL that has a Guest

Canon Powershot S3IS
Manali


THE SOUL that has a Guest,
Doth seldom go abroad,
Diviner Crowd at home
Obliterate the need,
And courtesy forbid
A Host’s departure, when
Upon Himself be visiting
The Emperor of Men!

Emily Dickinson

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Chandan aur Sindoor

Canon Powershot S3IS
Badrinath


SINDOOR
Sindoor is a red powder (Vermilion), which is traditionally applied at the beginning or completely along the parting-line of a woman’s hair (also called mang) or as a dot on the forehead. Sindoor is the mark of a married woman in Hinduism. Single women wear the dot in different colors ("bindi" in Hindi) but do not apply sindoor in their mang.

In Hindu culture, the tradition of wearing Sindoor or vermillion is said to have been prevailing through more than 5,000 years. Female figurines excavated at Mehrgarh, Baluchistan, show that sindoor was applied to the partition of women's hair even in early Harappan times.

SANDALWOOD
Sandalwood paste is integral to rituals and ceremonies, to mark religious utensils and to decorate the icons of the deities. It is also distributed thereafter to devotees, who apply it to the forehead or the neck and chest. Preparation of the paste is considered a duty fit only for the pure, and is therefore entrusted in temples and during ceremonies only to priests.

The paste is prepared by grinding pieces of the wood by hand upon granite slabs shaped for the purpose. With slow addition of water a thick paste results, which is mixed with saffron or other such pigments to make Chandan.

Sandalwood is considered in alternative medicine to bring one closer to the divine. Sandalwood essential oil, which is very expensive in its pure form, is used primarily for Ayurvedic purposes and treating anxiety.

(info taken from Wiki)

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DISTANCE is not the realm of Fox

Sariska
Canon Powershot S3IS

DISTANCE is not the realm of Fox,
Nor by relay as Bird;
Abated, Distance is until
Thyself, Beloved!

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R.I.P Billy

Billy Arjan SIngh......passed away on 1st jan.

I was planning to meet him this feb on my way to Dudhawa. But I got late. It's such a tragic loss.

Read about him here

The Picture of Billy is taken from the web and the picture of the tiger is clicked by me.

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That kid at that door

Olympus D425/C170

This was not clicked by me. This one was clicked by my 13 yr old cousin sister PUJA :) on our way to Badrinath.

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Blue rose given to a woman

Self Portrait
Olympus C170/D425


Blue rose given to a woman,
Considered sacred from a heart of silent souls,
Words spoken, silence was a bond created;
Her boldness spurred from a single blue rose...

- Hanger

Wish you all a very happy new year. Well....tell me what are your resolutions for 2010 :D.

Mine are -
1. Start chanting regularly. I joined Soka Gakai a year back but I still don't chant when I really should. May Buddha give me the strength to do it now.

2. Lose weight

3. Get a job.

4. Get my 1st DSLR

5. To try harder to make photography a means of living.

oh yes and

6. Take up singing a little more seriously now. I plan on recording few songs and uploading them here somewhere. I plan 2 become more than just a bathroom singer.

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If I ever write this letter

Olympus C170/D425

The Letter -
Natalie Merchant

If I ever write this letter
Oh the pages I could write
but I don't know where to send it
you have vanished
heaven knows where you live
heaven only knows

if I ever write this letter
bitter words it would contain
just and unrequited lover
wishing she had never
spoken your name
had never known your name

but if I ever write this letter
the truth it would reveal
knowing you brought me pleasure
how I'll often treasure
moments that we knew
the precious, the few


I love this song and this singer.
To hear it click here link

Merry Christmas everyone :)

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I WISH I knew that woman’s name

Canon Powershot S3IS
Way back from Badrinath

I WISH I knew that woman’s name,
So, when she comes this way,
To hold my life, and hold my ears,
For fear I hear her say

She ’s “sorry I am dead”, again,
Just when the grave and I
Have sobbed ourselves almost to sleep,
Our only lullaby.

E.D.

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My Daydreaming place...by the lake

Renuka Lake, Himachal
Nikon D70

I watched the ripples, as I drifted away
the lake was deep, on this golden day
Lured by reflection, in this tranquil deep
I lost my mind, then I fell asleep

Trees were talking, murmered rustling leaves
sunlight glistened, on catkin weaves
Dragonflies, and fish that spawn
could not awake me, from this dawn

I floated far and I drifted near
there was no time, as was not fear
Taken away, on this autumn noon
stars were shining, behind the moon

When crickets struck their evening call
the bullfrog chirped, his sombre all
And as the sunset shone, upon this land
the moon took me quietly, by the hand

I stretched and weeped, the night, it fell
I returned my spirit, to this inspired shell
The lake, my friend, shall always be
my place of relaxation, next to, and within me


by Jon Coe

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M a a . . .

Canon Powershot S3IS
Sariska

“A mother loves her child most divinely,
not when she surrounds him with comfort and anticipates his wants,
but when she resolutely holds him to the highest
standards and is content with nothing less than his best.”

Hamilton Wright Mabie (American writer, 1845-1916)

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