Gigantic faith

This is one of the temples which is situated on the Pondy-TN border in the Tirubhuvanai village as we cross into Tamil Nadu from the eastern side. The specialty of the temple is that it is a Durga temple and is under a huge banyan tree said to be around 800 years old. Although its a far off distance we managed to trek around this area. The only thing to be feared was that it is a remote place and there were no street lights as it was getting dark. Shot in the September of 2010.

Welcome to Puducherry 2

This is the reception in one of the Achariya colleges - the Achariya Arts & Science College, Villianur (Pondy). Now at the base is a pocket sort of filled with water and fresh flowers as its a welcome symbol to be found everywhere in Pondy. At the center of India is the symbol of the Mother. Now she is a very famous personality in Pondy. As legend says she was Mirra Alfassa who was born in Paris on 21 February, 1878. 

At the age of thirty-six the Mother journeyed to Pondicherry, India, to meet Sri Aurobindo. She saw him on 29 March 1914 and at once recognized him as the one who for many years had inwardly been guiding her spiritual development. Staying for eleven months, she was obliged to return to France because of the First World War. She lived in France for about a year and then in Japan for almost four years. On 24 April 1920 she returned to Pondicherry to resume her collaboration with Sri Aurobindo, and remained here for the rest of her life.

At that time a small group of disciples had gathered around Sri Aurobindo. The increase of disciples led to the founding of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram on the 24th Nov, 1926. From the beginning Sri Aurobindo entrusted the Mother with full material and spiritual charge of the Ashram. After almost 50 years of work at every level, the Mother left her body on 17th Nov. 1973, at the age of ninety five. 

Invariably every shop, house, firm, factory, school and college sport a photograph of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. They are considered to be the spiritual leaders and path showers to everyone residing in Pondy.

So that was the trivia on them. Will be posting more of that and many more in the future blogs. Keep tuned..

Man's best friend

This is an early morning image taken at one of the juice stalls at Rue Suffren (Rue in French meaning street).

The owner of this shop also runs a parallel pet center. He has dogs, fishes, multi-colored parakeets, parrots and cats for sale.This is his family besides his species ( i mean his family members).

The specialty of this juice center is that the dogs are the guys who will always be there to welcome anyone. The biggest sight to see is in the morning when the owner cleans the shop. Any unwanted thing in the shop is picked up by the owner and thrown out. The dogs are used to seeing this routine daily and so they quite devotedly follow their master.

They also pick up the waste in their mouth, get down , run to the corner of the road and throw the waste.

This is a daily sight to see. No post editing done. Straight from my sidekick.

CWG Express in Pondy

The second last week of August saw the arrival of the CWG Express in Puducherry. Though it was a rainy day but still the people of Puducherry welcomed the express and the Queen's baton with open  hearts. From the morning till the next day the express was stationed in Peaceful Puducherry. Schools organised a trip for their children to visit the express so it was a picnic cum expo for the children. Not only the children but also the young and old alike were eager to see the express and the baton pass by as the baton passed through the city. The whole train right from the first bogie till the last was converted into an exhibition showcasing the history of the CWG Games and also was on display the Sports celebrities right from the yesteryears till now.

All the sporting events were covered right from athletics to shooting. The latest sporting stars to arrive on the scene Bindra and Saina Nehwal were the largest crowd pullers. India has a lot of sporting potential but everything can go allright sans controversies and corruption. The enthusiasm among children was worth seeing especially a lot of children are into a lot of sports and games these days since it involves a lot of recognition and fame.

Both of us were happy to see the people streaming in and the interest that the express and the baton generated. The CM and the Governor were the two people to welcome the residents of Puducherry as it was indeed a matter of pride and glory in the history of Puducherry.

Camouflage

Do you see a crocodile in the photo?... Well, neither do I... perfect camouflage :)...

Jokes aside, I liked the way the log blended in the sand... Shot at the banks of the Ousteri lake (Pondy) in the autumn of 2010.

Take off into sunset

Here is one more sunset shot. I sharpened the image in picasa. Again shot at Ousteri lake (Pondy) in the winter of 2009.

Lonely Barn

I took this shot on the way to one of our Vailankanni visits in the summer of 2010. I have been through this road many times, because this one is seen all the time i go there. This barn is I guess, kind of abondoned. Hope you like it. I added very little 'fill light' with Picasa.

Green reflections

This was shot inside one of the backwaters on Cuddalore Road (TN). This was absolutely serene. The water was still and the reflection was just perfect.

Big feet

Cozy winter wear.. It is really colorful (comfortable too). This picture doesn't do much justice to how it really looks. Its the best I could do. Shot at one of the French boutiques Kalki in main town Pondy..

Green !!

A refreshing pic taken at one of the resorts at the entrance to Mahabalipuram in the summer of 2010.

Giant Christmas Tree

These photos were taken with my sidekick at a local mall during the 2009 christmas season...

God's painting

Shot at the Pondy beach on one fine evening. This picture is coming straight from the camera. No editing done..

Fire in the Fountain

This is one of the images of the proposed meditation centres to come up in the heart of Auroville (Pondy) French architects working on this project. See how the outcome will be.

Stop and See..

I shot this picture during one of my road trips to Auroville (Pondy). This house cum cafe is located in the intersection of two roads outside the Auroville & the ECR Road. Built with the purpose of luring the French tourists who like the country-side looks. Liked the effect that sunlight was creating on this red structure. I did do a little crop and "I am feeling lucky" in Picasa. I kept the pedestrian crossing light in the frame because that is what gives it a "stop and see" effect.

Sunset

I shot this picture on our way to Madras. The sunset was so gorgeous, I did not want to miss shooting it.

Golden Lake - One last swim

I took this picture at a local lake near our home in the spring of 2010. It is called the Kanagam Lake. This lake is small but beautiful. Summer time sunsets are gorgeous here. Though this lake has blue waters, the sunset made it golden. This photo is coming straight from the camera, no Picassa touch.. Click on the photo and zoom to see a larger resolution version. Let me know how you like it.

Fountain magnificent

I shot this picture in one of the French boutiques called Kalki. They have this colorful fountain during the off-winter seasons. This particular day when I went there, it was really windy. And the water from the fountain was sprinkling all over. It was a nice scene. I wanted to capture the fountain with its colors, but the street light at the back kept distracting this view and spoiling my shots. I finally settled for this one.

Colors & Light

Back to Diwali Day. Floating lights (diyas - again Chinese makes)  in a crystal bowl. First two pics from the top and the last two from the bottom of it. Amazing mix of colors and lights. China is attractive - you bet !!

Deepavali Lights - the influence of China

Diwali Pics : Continued

Traditional Lamps giving way to the modern Chinese ones. This particular lamp would be a tough one to make using clay. Works on electricity with small bulbs instead of cotton to light up lamps :) ....sign of changing times.......... Seen at one of our colleagues place in Pondy on the October of 2009.

Diwali - Colors of Light

Diwali : The biggest festival in most of the Indian States is celebrated around the month of Oct- Nov by lighting up the lamps (diya/deepak), candles and bursting the crackers. You have the same feel here @ Pondy too especially when all the North Indians come out on the streets to burn the diya's and the crackers. All pics here are taken in burst mode but at low shutter speed and high zoom (around 4-6x). All crackers here are the one which burst in sky, hence u can see a little shake in the pics also.