My Favourite Things

The Ganga Aarti in Varanasi

Posted on October 22, 2011August 18, 2014 by sudhagee

Every tourist guide-book (national or international) worth its sales, as well as articles or blog posts on this Varanasi, online discussion fora, and word-of-mouth recommendations mention the Ganga Aarti at the Dashashwamedh Ghat as THE thing to do in the city. I had read and heard so much about the Ganga Aarti that it was on my list of “must do things in life”. So when my Varanasi plans got finalised, it was quite natural that everything revolved around seeing the Ganga Aarti.

On my very first evening in Varanasi, I saw the Ganga Aarti from my hotel room. Well, technically, I did not exactly see the aarti; rather, I witnessed the people participating in the aarti and saw the whole area lit up with a beautiful golden glow from the lamps.

varanasi 2 — People gathered to watch the Ganga Aarti at the Dashashwamedh Ghat from the river side. View from hotel room

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Dussera in Varanasi

Posted on October 20, 2011October 27, 2011 by sudhagee

6.15 am, 6th October 2011. It is Dussera day or Vijaya Dashami. I am standing at the steps of Chausatthi Ghat in Varanasi, outside my hotel, taking in the early morning scene before me. The sun has just risen and the ghats and the Ganga are bathed in a rosy light. Many tourists are already out on an early morning boat ride, while many more are walking towards the nearby Dashashwamedh Ghat to go on one. Still more people are walking purposefully with puja offerings, while others are having a dip in the holy Ganga and saying their morning prayers. Temple bells can be heard in the distance, as do morning aarti prayers at a nearby shrine. Continue reading “Dussera in Varanasi” →

By the Ganga in Varanasi

Posted on October 16, 2011October 27, 2011 by sudhagee

Just a little more, I tell myself as I follow the hotel attendant up steep stairs to my hotel room.

I am in Varanasi after what seems like a long, long day. A day that began with an early morning flight to Delhi getting delayed, leading to my almost missing the connecting flight to Varanasi. And then there was this ride from Varanasi airport through the most crowded roads I have been through in recent times. All this was enough to stress me out on the very first day of a holiday that I had started planning in May this year.

When the hotel attendant opens the door to my room, I can’t believe my eyes. The view is exactly as the hotel website claims it would be: an uninterrupted view of the river Ganga or the Ganges or Ganga ji as the locals call it. All my tiredness and irritation vanishes in an instant as I sit down on the chair in the balcony and let Ganga ji take over.

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Travel Shot : An… er… village scene

Posted on October 13, 2011October 15, 2011 by sudhagee

What happens when enthusiastic designers and planners go overboard about a theme or take their brief too seriously? See for yourself.

2nd September 2010: Reproduction of a village scene at the Almatti Dam Gardens

You can see the above reproduction of a village scene and other scenes as well along with, dinosaurs, birds, giant turtles and frogs, crocodiles, naked little boys, Krishna frolicking with gopikas, etc. at the Almatti Dam Gardens, in northern Karnataka. Though the large gardens are beautifully laid out, the whole effect is spoiled by placing sculptures, statues, and what-have-yous like the one above. The effect is unbelievably cheesy. You can see more such photographs here.

Have you come across something like this before?

Mumbai Lens: Bats at my bus stop

Posted on October 7, 2011March 31, 2014 by sudhagee

If you happen to be at the Punjabwadi bus stop in Deonar (Mumbai), just outside Saras Baug society, do pause for a minute. Or two. Over and above the din of the traffic, you will hear another kind of noise—lots of screeching and screaming. No, no, don’t look around for the source of this noise, look up into the trees and this is what you’ll see:

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Museum Treasure: Gold, silver, copper, diamond

Posted on October 4, 2011May 18, 2017 by sudhagee

The Sedgwick Museum of Geology in the university town of Cambridge (UK) is, to put it mildly, a fascinating place. It has a fantastic collection of fossils, rock specimens from all over the world, as well as a large collection of minerals and metals. On a visit to Cambridge, this was one of the places I chose to explore. I loved their unique collection, but what really caught my attention was a display of the natural or native forms of gold, silver and copper, as well as a natural “solitaire” as found in its host rock, Kimberlite.