Category: Adventure

FINDING MY WAY

Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge – November 30,2016

Life is all about choices and finding your way to your destination. I particularly enjoy playing up for this photo challenge run by Cee because it gives me freedom to click anything which depicts a ‘way’…. it can be a walkway, road, footpath, trail, stairs or even I can capture while climbing, driving or driving. Isn’t it fun?

I was away from these fun challenges for a while, hopefully should be able to tag along and contribute by bit. These are my choices for this week.img_2797img_2889img_2902IMG_0729

A LIMINAL MOMENT

Yes, The famous Winston Churchill House is our den now !

As you all know by now that I have shifted recently and very proudly I want to share that we have been alloted the famous heritage bunglow called “THE RETREAT”.

 History says Sir Winston Churchill as a young sub altern stayed in this house ” The Retreat”  while on a visit to India. It is rumoured that when he went back to England and later become one of the most famous prime ministers of Britain, he gave a ‘royal’ pension of 1 pound to the orderly who served him here, and the orderly, though not named received this pension till his death.

The day my husband broke this news to me I was thrilled with joy. I grabbed my phone and surfed Google to dig into the history. I felt so fortunate to get a chance to live in such a historical bunglow.  I was waiting for the day when I would be stepping in the house and finally when I did  I fell in love with it at the first sight…..A  liminal phase started thereafter…. in terms of settling down since it is entirely different from the previous houses we were alloted. Not that this was the first time we have got a bunglow in services but this one is really old and huge. Not many renovations have been done and the original walls and architecture is still intact. I am doing it step by step.

The heritage building was constructed in 1856. This is what I read on official website:

“Though many in the city are familiar with a some examples of built heritage within the cantonment limits, few are aware about the existence of structures like Deccan House, The Abbey and numerous other monumental buildings which have survived despite the passing of two centuries. Amongst buildings with high associational value is ‘The Retreat’, one of several quaint colonial bungalows, which served as Sir Winston Churchill’s residence in 1896. It was during his sojourn at Secunderabad that the redoubtable statesman first met his early flame Pamela Chichele-Plowden, daughter of the then British Resident at Hyderabad, at a polo match. Churchill, then a subaltern in the British army was the star performer of the meet and is said to have swept the lady off her feet. Their courtship, which lasted till 1902, was amicably terminated in England.”

Hoping to have a great tenure here. I AM LOVING IT. More pictures in next post.

I moved again to a new city……

If you don’t like where you are

Move, you are not a tree

That was not the reason I moved

I moved because I ought to

Not because I was deprived of anything 

Rather it was time to detach myself 

My husband had completed his tenure 

Two years gone and it was time to pack

Time to leave my work place, 

beautiful house, lush green lawns, 

Wonderful friends, the fields, the plateaus 

Everything related to that place 

Moved to a new land, finding my roots

Searching for the new world, my world, our world……

It’s easier said than done

The experience makes me stronger 

At the same time I want to stay longer

Adapting to every situation

Leaving behind all that you achieved 

In terms of profession and personal 

My son is again a new kid on the block 

And I am a new member in the ladies meet

The scene looks too chaotic in the beginning 

Slowly it becomes manageable 

That’s why was away for last few months 

Juggling with boxes and cartons 

Altering curtains and filing rations 

Wandering, what would have happening 

in the lives of my blogger friends 

But used to snore like pig after day’s slog. 

Now that the house is functional 

I look forward to have more interaction 

Life is a big roller coaster…. Moving faster

SOUTH MUMBAI CST(VT)

Believe me Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), formerly Victoria Terminus (VT), is the most attractive and historical buildings in Mumbai.

 A UNESCO World Heritage Site and an historic railway station in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India which serves as the headquarters of the Central Railways. 

It was designed by Frederick William Stevens who was inspired and influenced from Victorian Italianate Gothic Revival architecture and traditional Mughal buildings. 

The huge station was built in 1887 in the Bori Bunder area of Mumbai to facilitate the Golden Jubilee function of Queen Victoria. 

The new railway station was built on the location of the Bori Bunder Station  and is one of the busiest railway stations in India. It serves as dual terminal for both long-distance trains and commuter trains of the Mumbai Suburban Railway.  

In March 1996 the previous name was changed to its present one and it is now known simply as CST (or CSTM).

As I always say that South Mumbai is actual Mumbai where you get the feel of old culture and victorian era. Rest of the city and Navi Mumbai is just like any other crowded cosmopolitan city, a concrete jungle. So my vote goes to south Mumbai. 

WHAT’S INSIDE THE CHEST?#write photo

Thursday Photo Prompt: The Chest #write photo

sue-vincent-chest

What’s inside this ancient chest?

That’s what an old man told

Who bought this box of secrets here.

“Accounts of wars, chronicles attest

 Moist uniforms, commander’s behest

Those who were buried, taking rest

Swords of kings, helmets of soldiers

Blood stained arrows pierced through chest

Rust coated knives, broken shovels

Saga of bravery, story of blood test

Tears and pain of kith and kin

Tortured souls wounded and dead

Crushed dreams, young widows

Kings turned monks to fulfill quest

The chest is like archives to dead and arrest

How can you miss a tainted crest !”

Let’s find out those magical keys

And open this corroded mystery

Oh, the keys were bent and pressed

The old man had thrown it away and said,

“Don’t take the war devil out

If you want a peaceful nest.”

STROLLING INTO HISTORY 

Yes, very true. As I strolled across the magnificent fort of Jodhpur, a living testimony that recalls the glorious past of Indian Rajput kings, I loved peeping into the history that recounts the chronicles and legends of Jodhpur’s rich past.

In other words, I strolled across the marvels of architecture  and grandeur they were associated with, not to miss lush green lawns of palaces, colorful textile market of Jodhpur(a historical city of Rajasthan, India).  Enjoy the stroll. 

The fort you see in pictures are of famous Mehrangarh Fort, I visited today. Few words about it from Google Uncle:

“The fort stands a hundred feet in splendor on a perpendicular cliff, four hundred feet above the sky line of Jodhpur. Burnished red sand stone, imposing, invincible and yet with a strange haunting beauty that beckons . Much has been written about the Citadel of the Sun, for truly, it is one of the most impressive in all Rajasthan. So colossal are its proportions that Rudyard Kipling called it “ the work of giants”. Today, it is acknowledged as one of the best preserved fort in India.”

QUENCHING THE THIRST

It is a well known fact now that the world is facing acute water shortage and condition is worse in Inda having nine of its states are struggling with draught. 

No wonder animals are also effected badly. Below are the pictures I clicked day before yesterday during my morning walk. 

When I saw him sitting on the water pipe I could make out what was going in his mind. I offered him my wter bottle but he coldn’t get the hint. He rather started giving me dirty looks as if trying to convey his displeasure to capture him in action!

He waited for few seconds for me to go away but in no circumstances I wanted to let this opportunity go waste. Finally he had to give in and Voila ! I cuptured his action in my camera. So satisfying to see him quenching his thirst 😊