I'm never truly happy until I'm truly...lost

 Self Portrait
Himachal Pradesh

Facebook Page | Twitter | Flickr | 500px

Every drop counts

Canon Powershot S3is
Badrinath Temple


That moment when you want something so badly since so long and you watch someone else getting it right under your nose......

See.. i told u we dont need to go to switzerland for our honeymoon honey..

Canon Powershot S3IS
Himachal pradesh

Tila Lotni - our 4th Camp from my Sar Pass trek in H.P. it was the most beautiful n coldest camp of all 6 camps.  This is at 13000 ft.

The picture is a bit blurred as my hands were shivering while taking pictures there. It was below way below 0 degrees there at night.

___/|\___

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)

______/|\_______

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

_________/|\__________

THERE is another Loneliness

Canon powershot S3IS
Manali

THERE is another Loneliness
That many die without,
Not want or friend occasions it,
Or circumstances or lot.

But nature sometimes, sometimes thought,
And whoso it befall
Is richer than could be divulged
By mortal numeral.

E.D.

_________/|\_________

United Colors of India

Ponta Sahib
Himachal pradesh
Nikon D70

I don't remember their names now. But the dark kid was such a docile and innocent kid. And the fairer one was such a talkative and clever one :P......they usually spend their after school hours on the streets outside the Gurudwara at Ponta Sahib.

___________/|\__________

Himalayan beauties

Sar Pass Trek
Himachal Pradesh, India
Olympus C170/D425

Youth hostel association of India(YHAI) organizes these national level treks all years round in all 4 corners of India. I took up the Sar Pass trek in may 08. This picture was taken at our 2nd camp. They are himachali potters who accompanied us through out the trek.

_______/|\_______

W a r r i o r

                                                  
Renuka lake,
Himachal pradeash, India.
Nikon D70

Featured in www.nikonstunninggallery.com & www.earthshots.org
Renuka lake is a small, tranquil and not so known place around 320kms from Delhi. A little ahead of Nahan, this place is a holy place for Hindus. The lake here is said to look like a woman's figure seen from the top of the hill it surrounds. Fishing is prohibited here as a result the fish are really old and huge in size. They seem to have little fear from humans and you can see them upclose while feeding them.

Apart from the temples and the lake, there is a wildlife enclosure which is what pulls me back to this place time and again. The Lion Pride there. Around 4 to 5 lions and 10 to 12 lionesses. They have a big enclosure where they roam around freely. But usually they can be seen basking in the sun next to the fencing. This picture is from one of those moments. They were hardly a meter away, all lazy and sleepy. It was the most memorable time I have ever had at renuka.

_______/|\_______