Skywatch Friday - Sights from my window

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 5/3/2013 6:58:00 AM

'As the summer sun rages, I hide inside the house while Samhith makes the most of his summer vacations playing outside with his friends, unmindful of the heat. I have been busy though, for the last few weeks, and haven't been able to write at all. Today, for Skywatch, are some images I clicked in these past few weeks... my only respite from the sun and the pending work....The gorgeous Golden Laburnum has bloomed outside my window..... Right now, they cover just a few branch(...)'

Read full article

Ashoka Flowers

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 4/23/2013 3:22:00 AM

'The only good things about summer are school holidays and the vibrant colours that surround me. This is the time the Ashoka tree outside my window blooms, and these gorgeous red flowers brighten my day each morning....For years, I didn't even know that the Ashoka tree bore flowers. And then, one summer, they did. It was only when I read up more about them did I realise that most of the Ashoka trees we see around us - the tall, pillar like ones - aren't even real Ashokas. They a(...)'

Read full article

Snapshots from Mumbai - Salt And the City

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 4/22/2013 5:46:00 AM

'Vast tracts of land cut up into squares - each filled with water... and sometimes, a white mound by the side.... These are the salt pans which line the highways leading into the city of Mumbai.....At one time, this tiny island was only inhabited by fishermen, who caught the fish, which were then plentiful, made salt from the same water that gave them the fish, and stored the fish with the salt. They made their living from the sea, and considered it their God. That time has(...)'

Read full article

Book Review: Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 4/21/2013 5:55:00 AM

'In his introduction to Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie writes –“As I placed Saleem (born at the midnight moment of Indian independence) at the centre... I understood that his time of birth would oblige me immensely to increase the size of my canvas. If he and India were to be paired, I would need to tell the story of both twins. Then Saleem, ever a striver for meaning, suggested to me that the whole of modern Indian history happened as it did because of him; that history, the li(...)'

Read full article

Storming Sewri Part 4 - Uncovering hidden secrets

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 4/13/2013 9:38:00 AM

'It has been a hectic week, and I am so glad it is over! My computer had crashed, and then the internet did, and by the time they both got back, I have had loads of work piling on. Catching up with my posts has been a priority, so, in an attempt to at least complete one set of posts, here is the final in the Storming Sewri series....The paved path leads us uphill, but the hill is scarcely visible. All we can see are tiny tenements lining the path on either side. As we climb further, (...)'

Read full article

The Cauvery and her stories at Coorg

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 4/11/2013 5:00:00 AM

'Long, long ago, it is said, a crow overturned a pitcher of water. No, I am not talking of the Aesop’s fable, but instead, the story of the Kaveri. As the legend goes, sage Agasthya held the sacred Kaveri in his kamandalu (a vessel for holding water) to perform his rituals. Meanwhile, the gods pondered about how they could liberate the river so she could enrich the whole land, and help the people, instead of being confined for the sage’s use alone. It was Ganesha, the elephant h(...)'

Read full article

Storming Sewri Part 3 - The Sewri Christian Cemetery

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 4/10/2013 6:43:00 AM

'It’s been a while since I wrote about my Sewri Walk with the Travel-Logs. My short trip to Coorg and all the unfinished work I found when I got back, resulted in the blog being neglected for quite a while. My son’s holidays begin next week, which implies that I will have even less time for the blog, so here is the next part in the Storming Sewri Series –Flamingoes and the Fort – these were the two things I could count among the things I knew about Sewri. It was only when I ventured (...)'

Read full article

Skywatch Friday : Nature v/s Development

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 4/5/2013 5:31:00 AM

'For Skywatch Friday this week, here are our winged visitors, the flamingoes, seen against the backdrop of the Industrial skyline...I have always wondered about what it is that brings the Flamingoes to Mumbai, year after year. The city is among the most crowded, a concrete jungle, always in a rush, and not always very hospitable. However, even more baffling is their choice of location - the Sewri mudflats as well as the mangrove forests near the creeks. Neither of these appears, at f(...)'

Read full article

On the trail of Maharana Pratap

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 4/4/2013 5:01:00 AM

'Rajasthan is most well known for its beautiful palaces and forts. The impressive architecture, the intricate detailing, the royal touch....much has been written about it. However, there is another face of Rajasthan – that of the Rajputs who fought for their land, for their freedom from outside influences. Among them, there is no name that shines brighter than that of Maharana Pratap. Maharana Pratap... from the museum at HaldighatiMaharana Pratap was the eldest son of the Mewar King(...)'

Read full article

Breaking the travel jinx

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 4/3/2013 3:54:00 AM

'Cooped up at home for over 3 months, we were in dire need of a short break. Which is why, we made use of the Holi and Good Friday holidays to escape from the city. Our destination - one which has eluded us for years, which we have booked tickets to, twice, and had to cancel both times. We hoped to get, as they say, 'third time lucky', and we did, heading out to Coorg for a too-short vacation, just to break the jinx!I have been back for two days, and the time has been spent recuperat(...)'

Read full article

Storming Sewri Part 2 - The Sewri Fort

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 3/26/2013 7:06:00 AM

'I first read about Sewri Fort in an article on the various forts in Mumbai. Every time I visited the Sewri Jetty to see the flamingos and other birds, I wondered where the fort was. A friend later told me that it was just off the road we took to reach the jetty. Unfortunately, ardent birdwatchers aren’t always heritage enthusiasts, and I never found company to go to the fort. Much as I love to explore, going into a deserted and ruined fort alone didn't seem the safest thing to do,(...)'

Read full article

Storming Sewri Part 1 - Flamingos

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 3/25/2013 5:47:00 PM

'Last weekend, when I asked Samhith if he wanted to accompany me to Sewri, he replied, “But I have already seen flamingos!” I tried explaining that Sewri wasn’t just about flamingos, but he remained unconvinced. I signed up for the Sewri walk by Travel-Logs nevertheless, and dragged him along, remembering a time when Sewri, to me, meant even less.  While I was growing up in Mumbai, Sewri was simply a railway station on the Harbour line. That is, till the flamingos began arriving(...)'

Read full article

Skywatch Friday - Reflections

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 3/22/2013 3:46:00 AM

'For skywatch today is this photo which I clicked from the salt pans which line the Eastern Express Highway, near Mulund. The Reflection of the tall buildings in the water accumulated in the salt pans was a sight I could not resist.These salt pans don't just provide a change from the monotony of the tall buildings, but also attract a huge variety of birds to this concrete jungle. The Bhandup Pumping Station, which is on a lane leading towards the creek from these salt pans, is a(...)'

Read full article

Book Review: Barfani Baba; To Amarnath, Happily - By Aabha Vatsa

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 3/20/2013 6:29:00 AM

'‘Amarnath’ one of the names of Lord Shiva, implies not simply that He is immortal, but that he is beyond immortality, above the concept of life and death, the one who controls all, death included. That is the very concept behind the holy shrine where He is known by that name. The Amarnath cave is situated in a terrain which is certainly among the toughest to cover, and the idol isn’t just a stone, but ice, or rather, water, which has no beginning and no end; which takes different fo(...)'

Read full article

Birdwatching at Bhandup Pumping Station, Mumbai

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 3/19/2013 6:20:00 AM

'Sunday mornings are meant for relaxation... to catch up on some much needed sleep. But when opportunity beckons, even the little chap who struggles to get out of bed for school, is up and awake with the first ring of the alarm, eager to be on his way. Such a long awaited opportunity came our way this Sunday, with the BNHS organising a bird watching trip to the Bhandup Pumping station. A pumping station is where the sewage from the city ends up, and finds its way into the waste water(...)'

Read full article

Skywatch Friday - On the riverside

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 3/15/2013 3:44:00 AM

'For Skywatch today, is a scene that could be from anywhere in rural India..... a riverside scene....A cowherd brings his cows and buffaloes to the river... they drink and they bathe... and so does he. I clicked this somewhere in interior Maharashtra, while on our way to the Lonar Crater, but, as I said before, it could be from any part of the country.'

Read full article

Faces in the Crowd: The Innocence of Childhood

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 3/13/2013 11:56:00 AM

''The Innocence of childhood' is a much used and cliched phrase, which barely seems to apply these days when kids seem to grow up faster than we can think... in every way. And then, to see a child, completely immersed in herself, enjoying herself to the hilt, totally unaware of those around her... is a sight that warms the heart! A few days back, I attended a dance programme at the temple in our complex. The performance was one among many, held as part of the temple's Shivaratri(...)'

Read full article

Nageshwar Temple, Aundha Nagnath

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 3/10/2013 8:38:00 AM

'The Rudram chanting (hymns dedicated to Rudra, or Lord Shiva) seemed to fill the entire space. The sound reverberated within the small, cavernous shrine, the stone walls echoing the words over and over again till the air itself seemed to pulsate with the same rhythm as the chanting. In such a charged atmosphere, the simple act of placing a bilva leaf on the Shiva lingam and pouring water on it, seemed much more than a mere ritual. It was this divine experience that made our visit to(...)'

Read full article

Birds from my window - Oriental Magpie Robin

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 3/6/2013 9:08:00 AM

'It has been a while since I posted photos of birds, so here is one I see the most these days - the Oriental Magpie Robin.There are three of these birds in our garden, and I see them frequently flying around, and can hear their distinctive, melodious call even before I see them! Capturing them on camera, however, has been another matter entirely, and I managed these only because the birds were nice enough to sit on the window ledge near my house, and also pose for a while o(...)'

Read full article

Snapshots from Mumbai - Maharashtra Police Headquarters

Author : Anuradha Shankar      Blog : A Wandering Mind      Date : 3/5/2013 8:06:00 AM

' The Maharashtra Police Headquarters is a landmark at Colaba, for the road leading towards the Gateway of India. However, it wasn’t always known by this name. This was once the Royal Alfred Sailor’s Home, built in the 1870s to accommodate 20 officers and 100 seamen. It was originally conceived in 1870 to commemorate the visit of Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, who laid the foundation, during his visit, at the end of Hornby row. However, the location was later changed, an(...)'

Read full article