Archive | January 2013
Weekly Travel Theme: Walls
The travel theme by Ailsa this week is ‘Walls’.The pictures here are from ‘Sarkhej Roza’ which is the Dargah(tomb) of the sufi saint Hazarat Sheikh Ahmed Khattu Ganj Baksh(1338-1446). It was with his blessings that Sultan Ahmed Shah laid the foundation of the city of Ahmedabad.
The latticed stone walls
A boy caught peeking..
Light filtering in through the lattices
words from the Quran on the walls of the mosque at the site..
Weekly Photo Challenge: Love
“Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For Love is sufficient unto love.
– Khalil Gibran (The Prophet)
not much is needed to be said about a mother’s love..
.. or for that matter, a father’s!!
Weekly Photo Challenge: Beyond (2)
The pictures here have been taken by my daughter, when she was 15 years old, during her school trip to the ‘Rann of Kutch’, a salt desert on the western tip of the state of Gujarat in India. ‘Rann’ means a salt marsh. Beyond the green cover or the rocks all you can see is the salt, dazzling white or pink in color, so much so that even the distinction between the land and sky is blurred.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Beyond
Have been travelling to the Himalayan regions of my country now for the past 5 or 6 vacations and have fallen in love with the mountains. They are awe-inspiring and beautiful at the same time. These pictures are from the eastern part of the Himalayas, from the north-east state of Sikkim. It is also close to Darjeeling which is famous for its tea gardens and the ‘Darjeeling tea’. A land of rivers and mountains that extend beyond one’s vision. 
The Teesta River
The mountains covered with clouds seem to be reaching the heavens beyond
Mountain Roads!!
The tea gardens extending way beyond the mist
the sun setting beyond the layers of mountains
Weekly Travel Theme: Up
This week’s Travel Theme is ‘Up’ . A couple of years back we visited the ‘Qutub Minar’ during a trip to Delhi. It is the tallest minaret of India with a height of 72.5 meters and made of red sand stone and marble. The base diameter is 14.3mts which narrows to 2.7mts at the last storey. It’s construction was started by ‘Qutud-ud-din Aibak’ in 1192 but was completed by ‘Illtutmish’. It is also declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
13 Amazing Tools for an Amazing YOU in 2013
By Tarun Soni and Alpha Sanford
Life does not give you a house without having to build the house one section at a time. That section of the house including its posts and beams do not come attached to each other, rather you need tools to put them solidly together.
As in building a house, life is like that.
You need tools.
You need guidance.
You need more than your hands.
Below are 13 powerful tools for 2013 to make this year more meaningful, happier and successful:
1. Prayer – and if you do not pray, take silence. The power of being quiet is immeasurable. Try two minutes a day and you will find yourself more fulfilled and more confident.
2. Positive Attitude – it’s easy to be influenced by the negative forces around – but if you allow yourself to…
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Illumination(2)
These stone lattices at the tomb of a sufi saint are illuminated by the setting sun outside creating soft light inside and gives a sense of calm and peace to the people, who come to offer their prayers at his grave.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Illumination(1)
Come festivals, and all buildings are decked up with colorful lights. Here is a Gurudwara during Diwali, all lighted up.
(Published in the Business Standard, 8th January 2013)
In times of trouble, turning to the great epics is always useful: their ancient bloodstained lines are reminders that we do not have a premium on violence, rape and corpses.
Over the centuries, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata have become India’s default epics, eclipsing the Rajatarangini, the Cilapatikkaram and other equally powerful legends in the mainstream imagination. While this is a loss, both epics offer an insight into the way rape works in India.
Five stories of rape and sexual assault from the epics are particularly useful. The Ramayana has the abduction of Sita by Ravana, and running parallel to it, the disfiguring of Surpanakha by Rama and Lakshmana—two atrocities, not one, that trigger a war. The Mahabharata has the public assault on Draupadi at its heart, the abduction and revenge of Amba, and and the sanctioned rapes of Ambika and…
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