Jan 262015
 
Fountains near India Gate- Slow Shutter Speed pictures in Night

Low Light Photography: Capturing Fountains in Lutyens’ Zone near India Gate When I visited India Gate while circling around the endless circles of Lutyens Delhi I saw some of the fountains illuminated for the coming 26th January Festivities. We decided to park on the side of road and I calculated the time the traffic signal was taking to change. It was about 120  seconds between the lights change. But as the traffic was coming from all four directions I typically had about 60 seconds to rush to the middle of road, set up the tripod, compose and click the [Continue Reading By Clicking Here…]

Oct 222014
 
Diwali is a festival of Lights

    Celebrating an Eco Friendly Diwali: A festival of Lights Diwali is the biggest festival in India celebrated across regions and religions.  It started as a festival of lights when as per Ramayana Lord Ram returned to Ayodhya after spending 14 years in exile in the Jungles.  When he returned to Ayodhya triumphant after defeating demon king Ravana the citizens of Ayodhya illuminated the city with oil lamps, hence starting the tradition of ” Festival of Lights “. Notice  Diwali or Deewali or Dipawali is a festival of lights, I am not sure when the tradition of burning [Continue Reading By Clicking Here…]

Nov 252013
 
Kartik Purnima On Varanasi Ghats

     Holy Dip on Kartik Purnima at Varanasi Ghats Millions take a holy dip in Ganges on Kartik Purnima. I was  in Benaras or Varanasi this Kartik Purnima and observed these thousands of people taking a holy dip in the chilly waters.  I was feeling shivers just by looking at them. But what amazed me most was that though most of the people were total strangers to each other in such close proximity with hardly any space between them. Yet thousands bathe together in such perfect synchronization, that one wonders who is directing them? And the colors! Oh [Continue Reading By Clicking Here…]

Nov 132013
 
Colors of India

  India in Colors To understand my love for colors of India, please read the first paragraph of this post on Bonalu festival.  Here I am just giving some random colors of India, that I clicked without any specific thought in my mind. But these colors are another way of looking at India the most colorful of country where colors have a very deep-seated cultural and religious meanings. The most significant of them being red, while  Saffron and Green finding a place of honor in our National Flag also.   What do you say? What colors you associate with [Continue Reading By Clicking Here…]

Apr 172013
 
Book Review of Business Sutra By Devdutt Pattanaik

A Book Review of  Business Sutra-Devdutt Pattanaik Now you may wonder why I am doing a book review of Business Sutra by Devdutt  Pattanaik  in desi Traveler, a travel blog.  Now since desi Traveler loves all things desi  and as I have spent my share of life energy chasing Luxmi  while being a corner room critter for US companies I thought I would be able to do some justice to this wonderful book. In Business Sutra Devdutt Pattanaik takes you on a mythological journey using symbols, stories and rituals to relate to how we look at doing business and [Continue Reading By Clicking Here…]

Apr 102013
 
Making Rangoli Designs in India

Rangoli Making From Wiki: Rangoli, also known as kolam, is a folk design art from India. Rangoli are decorative designs made on living room and courtyard floors during Hindu festivals typically consisting of bright colors. They are meant to be sacred welcoming areas for the Hindu deities.The ancient symbols have been passed down through the ages, from each generation to the next, keeping both the art form and the tradition alive. The patterns are typically created with materials including colored rice, dry flour, (colored) sand or even flower petals. Similar practices are followed in different Indian states: in Tamil [Continue Reading By Clicking Here…]

Feb 272013
 
Significance of Red color in India

What is the significance of Red color in India ?   Red is a very auspicious color in Indian culture. From the red saree that the bride wears on her wedding day to the red bangles, red sindoor that married Hindu women put in the parting of hair red is everywhere. A wedding invitation card is not considered complete unless it’s colored red on the corners.  In some parts of India housewives will make rangoli of white color in front of their doors but on festivals like Sakranthi they will make a special rangoli with Red as the central [Continue Reading By Clicking Here…]