Raja Rani

So What does this title make you think is the image I have posted below ?

Did you think it was the photograph of a royal couple from my Rajasthan tour .....

Or maybe a couple of twittering, fluttering birdies on the tree ......

or .... flowers ?

butterflies ?

or two little chubby kids decked up as the royals all set to make their school stage debut ?

well ... well .. .. all very good possibilities... but in this case its something that very few could have imagined... 

RajaRani is really a very filling experience. 

It is a feast to the eyes and the heart (not for the weak hearted though) .

It is a coolingly sweet experience, full of bright colors and multiple tastes.

Raja Rani is a ...hold your breath, its about to go creamy cold !.....DESSERT , served at Shiv Sagar !  Made up of 3 different flavors of icecream precariously balanced on thin wafers. All of this balanced in a bowl full of rabdi and dry fruits. Richly decorated with varak, RajaRani is a simply yummy combination of Pista, Strawberry and Mango ! 

Can you finish it all ?

Night Queen

My Friend Sonali has big terrace. She is an absolute gardener and loves to surround herself with all kinds of flowers and plants. Her big terrace is one big garden. So this season we got talking and she mentioned that her Brahma Kamal was ready to bloom anytime. Ofcourse I wanted to be around to click them when they did. Thanks to her, I was able to click these beauties.

Botanlically called the Epiphyllum oxypetalum this flower blooms once a year and only for a night.   Lot of Indians called the Queen as Brahma Kamal after Brahma Dev. The blooming of this flower in ones home is considered a very auspicious sign. 

The blooming of the flower brings along a strong sweet smell which legend says dispels evils from all the corners of the home. Don't know if it is true or not, but it surely does invite moths from afar.

If you want one of these all you need to do is to plant a leaf of the plant (no seeds / no seedlings) and it will grow into a 4-6 foot high plant. The flowers usually bloom in July- September so give it enough time :).

Splash

Remember the days when your were kids and went to trips and picnics by the water.

Do you remember throwing stones in the water. Competing for the highest number of jumps of that flat stone on the water surface, or just throwing the stone in the water to create a splash. As I wandered around Sinhagad one sunny day , a couple of kids brought all these memories back with this SPLASH

Some Stills ....

On a rainy day .....

The mood builds up ....

He prepares ......

He unfurls his plumage ....

And he dances ....

Round and round .....

Calling his mate ....

Twirling ... Swinging ...

Standing tall ...

Reaching out

Mrunmay's Ganesh Utsav

So this year Mrunmay was like reallllly enthusiastic about Ganesh Utsav. He was all set to bring Ganpati Baapa at home and then enjoy the 10 day festival. He helped prepare for the pooja. 

He also participated in the pooja at Baba's side, wanting to perform 'aachaman'. (I will wait to see what he does after his 'munj' . After a while though he got bored and played outside. The aarti was fun time for him given that he got to play the zhaanj. 

Talked a lot about having tons of Modak and Panchakhadya but hardly even tasted it. What with Dada Ajoba and Kaka Ajoba over he was getting all the pampering :).  Atya on the next day of the pooja was an added bonus for a fun filled weekend.

Then it was time to visit all the Ganpati Baapa's of the town. We roamed all over kothrud, sahakar nagar, bajirao road etc..

We saw a lot of ganapati's and the one Mrunmay liked was had a 'Kumbhakarna' in the display. So now we have Mrunmay imitating 'Kumbhakarna's wakeup laugh' so very often.

Dhol Tashe greeted us near Shaniwarwada where smaller mandals and societies were going in for visarjan on the 7th day of the festival. Mrunmay was mesmerized by the music and the instruments. Obviously he wanted to try his hand at the dhol, but I managed to convince him that he needs to grow up a bit for it.

Didn't even realize how quickly days flew by and it was visarjan time. Mandar and I made big plans to take Mrunmay to show the visarjan procession. But I chickened out from going into the crowd on the 4 wheeler bridge, so we settled for S. M. Joshi bridge and spent a good long hour out there, watching the visarjan from the bridge. With every visarjan Mrunmay shouted '1 - 2 - 3 ....bye bye'. Followed by 'Ganpati Bappa Morya'. Even now he suddenly bursts into 'Ganpati Bappa Morya'

We saw a couple of procession on Karve road and Mrumay alternated between the Kangaroo bag and Baba's shoulders.

The day ended with a lot of junk food and a last look at a Giant size Vithoba and we reached home signing 'Vithoba Raja Rakhumai Raani ....."

Sunbird's Breakfast

Sinhagad

Sinhagad is located around 30 km from Pune on a hill which is roughly 800 meters high.  This is one of the favorite day treks for the adventure lovers from Pune. For the more relaxed ones, a road leads right upto the foot of the fort. The trek from the car park upto the fort's center is light and refreshing.

The road always has a bunch of potholes with the heavy rain it receives but is still a good ride both in a four or two wheelers.

Strategically located along a line of forts Rajgad-Trona Sinhagad (formally called Kondhana) was one of the most important forts during Shivaji's reign.

Sinhagad is know for the famous battle in 1670 when Tanaji Malusare recaptured the fort from the Mughals. The Mughals had heavily fortified the fort on all sides except one very steep cliff believed to be impossible to scale. Tanaji scaled this cliff with the help of a rope tied to a ghorpad. (A Big Lizard like Reptile)  His message to his men before initiating the climb was "Dor sutala teri tondatun awaaz nai" meaning 'Not a sound even if you fall to your death'.  It takes courage to ask this of your men and a blinding faith of the men in their general to follow a command like this. And it was this courage and this faith that helped a handful of Marathas to fight against the hordes of Mughals guarding the fort and claim it for their own.  Sadly, the great warrior Tanaji was lost in this battle. Shivaji on hearing this said "Gad aala pan sinha gela" "We won the fort but lost the lion". Kondhana was renamed 'Sinhagad' as a tribute to Tanaji. 

Sunset from the yacht

The flow

Lonely on the beach ...

Meandering .....

Driving down from Pune to Goa is always wonderful. The entire route is picturesque. Alternating with valleys, ghats, mountains and rivers. We came across one such meandering river .. and we had to stop to admire its flow.

Surya Baapa che Rang

My son love the sunset and the colors it sports. He calls this 'Surya Baapache Rang' .. colors of the Sun God :)

Backwater Sunset

Aaabad group of hotels have a wonderful location in KumarKom, Kerala. This shot has been captured right from the hotel room. 

Helsinki skyline

Ganesh Pol, Amber Fort Jaipur

Blissfully wet !

Diamond staircase, Bikaner

Maharana Pratap Singh

Doli - Mehrangarh Fort Jodhpur

'Doli'  is a closed carriage in which the bride leaves for her husband's place. In the old days this carriage used to be carried by 4 people. The Royal barat used to be made up of thousands of people, horses, elephants, camels and what not. The Royal Dolis were very ornate, with gold brocades as above and even gold Doli's in some cases