You know where I want to be today?

 Anywhere but wherever I am! 

This could be us...

 But we are not the fluffy bunnies, free from worldly rules and worries!

My beloved

And the second one.... 

 

Who knows...

As you'd know, I destroyed all my diaries a few days ago. In those diaries, I found two old cuttings also. While both spoke my mind in that era when I cut and kept those, I can't say I have seen any different days since. Anyway, here is the first one of those two cuttings. 

 

तेरा वैभव अमर रहे माँ, हम दिन चार रहें ना रहें

 

तुम्हारे बाद का मौसम

तुम्हारे साथ ये मौसम फरिश्तों जैसा है, 

तुम्हारे बाद ये  मौसम बहुत सताएगा !

बशीर बद्र ने ये शेर लिखा था अपनी किताब "उजाले अपनी यादों के" की एक ग़ज़ल में। शेर इतना प्रसिद्द नहीं था, लेकिन आज याद आया क्योंकि :

तुम्हारे साथ ये मौसम फरिश्तों जैसा था 

तुम्हारे बाद ये मौसम बहुत सताता है !

 

Solitude vivifies. Loneliness kills.

It's been so long since I have been wishing, thinking, planning to runaway to a place like this - with a waterbody, hills, vast expanse sans folks... if only I had the right folks to runaway with!  

Little Grebe

Went bird-watching after a long while and got lucky with 3-4 species. This little fisher was the most elusive though! 

 

To the world, with hate!

 

किस्मत जो बिगाड़ी तूने, मैं शेर बिगाड़ूँगा

आजकल लिखा तो कुछ नहीं जाता, कैमरा भी नहीं उठता। 

लेकिन कभी-कभार कुछ यादों के अंगारे जब हाथ जला देते हैं तो किसी और का कलाम बिगाड़ ज़रूर देते हैं हम। 

ऐसा हुआ दो बार पिछले दो दिनों में,  तो सोचा अकेले क्यों सहें। 

हम इस दुनिया से हैं नाराज़ इतने,

यहाँ कारे-मसीहा क्यों करें हम ! 

अब नीचे लिखी बिगाड़ पढ़ो और असली कलाम ढूंढ कर बताओ तो जानें !

 

मेरी किताब को पढ़ते - पढ़ते 

तुमने शायद सोच के मुझको 

छोटा सा इक फूल बनाया था।  

आ कर देखो, उस पर इक 

तितली बैठी है।  

कॉफ़ी फिर कॉफ़ी है 

मैं ज़हर भी पी जाऊं ऐ दोस्त, 

शर्त ये है कोई 

बातों में लगा ले मुझको। 

Portraits of a tired man

It seems I've crossed a Rubicon. I am at a point in my life, where I don't feel like telling any more stories. 

Don't you think that I'm out of stories. Not only the old ones are not fully told to anyone yet, the new ones are still piling. But...

It seems I've crossed a Rubicon. I am at a point in my life, where I don't feel like telling any more stories. 

It's not the stories that are tired. It's me, who has grown tired, old, bitter, and lonelier than ever before. Perhaps it's time for a final set of pictures, nay, portraits to hang, to garland, to forget.... and to end it all.

P.S. - the sketch and the painting and the keyring were gifted to me by some special friends, students, well-wishers. Don't judge it adversely though, for the portraits are well-made. It's the face that's twisted.

Blast from the last millennia

 Sometimes you think that you want to disappear but all you really want is to be found.

आस जो टूट गयी

फिर से बँधाता क्यूँ है 

बेनाम सा ये दर्द ठहर क्यों नहीं जाता

जो बीत गया है वो गुज़र क्यों नहीं जाता

सबकुछ तो है क्या ढूंढती रहती हैं निगाहें

क्या बात है मैं वक़्त पे घर क्यों नहीं जाता

वो एक ही चेहरा तो नहीं सारे जहाँ में

जो दूर है वो दिल से उतर क्यों नहीं जाता

तुझे चाहूँ बेतमाशा ज़हनसीब

 

Melodee hai chocolateeeeee

 

पुराना खिलौना

इक खिलौना टूटा फिर तो इक नया मिल जाएगा

मैं नहीं तो कोई तुझको दूसरा मिल जाएगा

 

चाय पियोगे?

 

पार करना है गहन यह अन्धकार...

इस पार प्रिये तुम हो मधु है 

उस पार न जाने क्या होगा 

 

बेचैनी

नक्शा उठा के कोई नया शहर खोजिये 

इस शहर में तो सबसे मुलाक़ात हो गयी 

.....

 

Have you ever seen a bull this cute?

From the Bull Temple, Bangalore 

 

2022 calendars to 2021 calendars (and also, two hornbills at Sirpur lake)

 

And cut

Closing the series with this last picture of Bada Ganpati Temple, Ujjain. 

Although I have a few more elephant pics to go, I will share them eventually, when I have regained the elephantine patience to tell the stories again. 

Bade Ganesh ji sada sahaay.

 

And one from Ahmedabad

 

A painting gifted

 

Chokhi Dhaani, Indore

 

The logo of

 

Dubai - Swarovski Shop

 

Bali, the loveliest island

 

Bangkok Temple Tour

 

Cambodia again

In Siem Reap, there are many ancient temples including the famous Angkor Wat complex. You can do the whole (and very long) temple tour on the elephant back also. It would be costly, slow, and tiring but well, you can.

And the ornate elephants are so friendly and curious, they often come too close to moving cars. Many a time, they take away the food items too. Like the one above came very close and looked inside the car but luckily, no food was visibly around.

 

One more from Bangalore before we go international again

 

Was that easy? Now spot the elephant in this one

From a temple in Mahalakshmi Layout, Bangalore.

Spot the elephant

This is from a wedding ceremony decoration in Chennai, the only Tam-Brahm wedding I ever attended 

(I loved the ceremony then and more later because it brought what a lovely person)

 

More from Southern India

I love the level and sanctity of detailing in South Indian temples.

Some more from the South coming soon. 

Track change

A herd from Bannerghatta National Park, Bangalore. 

 

Naathdwara

And this is a special one. 

This is from the outer wall of the temple of Shreenath Ji from NathDwara. The temple is special because it houses the original Moorty of Shreenath Ji from Vrindavan from ancient times. The priests took the Moorty from Vrindavan to Mewar to save the destruction ordered by aurangzeb the rascal. 

Out of Jaipur but still in Rajasthan

 

The most well-known face and the story from Rajasthan - Maharana Pratap and Chetak. Did you notice - Chetak has a pseudo-trunk on his face? This was to trick the elephants into thinking of the horse as a young elephant and therefore, not attacking it. This is a scene from the battle of Haldi Ghati, which ended in a stalemate, and soon after, Maharana Pratap regained the whole of Mewar. Interestingly, Mewar was the only region in the whole of Rajputana, which never submitted to the mughal invaders. If you visit Udaipur and Chittor, the opulence is less than Jaipur but the valor and pride are a million times more (and deservingly so). 

Last one from Jaipur

This is from the Ambergarh fort. There are three ways of climbing the hill - on foot, by car, and on an elephant. I had the car but walked on foot so as to capture the elephants. 

Two more of two each from Jaipur

The upper carving is from the Amber Garh Fort of Jaipur. These are the welcoming auspicious elephants. 

The lower carving is from the Patrika Gate of Jaipur. These are the fighting war elephants. 

 

And a modern one from Jaipur

 Jaipur is full of elephants in various forms and roles. This one is at Patrika Gate, Jaipur - the four elephants are worshipping Vaibhav-Lakshmi in the middle.

Question - can you guess who are those at the top, riding on a horse and a chariot pulled by twin blackbucks? 

From a Jaipur Museum

 Notice the variety of sizes, postures, and purposes. 

Is he laughing?

 The expression on this elephant is so vivid as if he is laughing. This is from a painting inside a cave in Ajanta. While only few paintings remain in a good shape, the sample is good enough to imagine the evolved senses of ancient Indians. 

Ancient Elephants

 These are from the caves of Ajanta - the real poetry in stone.