Oct 122014
 
Karwa Chauth Moon

  Pictures of Karwa Chauth Moon So like many years this year also the moon of Karwa Chauth decided to get late and make my dear wife wait more before she could break her fast. Though I am pretty sure all Indians know what Karwa Chauth is, but since desi Traveler gets lots of traffic from US, UK, Europe and Australia  ( though I am not sure it is the desi diasporas in these countries or natives who read desi Traveler )  it would not be wrong to give some gyan about Karwa Chauth. You see in India most [Continue Reading By Clicking Here…]

Sep 272014
 
Making of Ravana in Tatarpur Village Delhi

Making of Ravana for Sale: The demon king gives livelihood to hundreds of people Navatri or the nine nights is a period when most of the country prepares for Dussehra and is Ram may (राम मय). The stories or Ram’s victory over Ravana is enacted in form of Ram Leela ( no not the Bhansali version with bullets doing ballet with Bollywood belle Dipika Padukone, but the real one with bows and arrows ) across the country, especially north India in form of stage plays with the good winning over evil. But as the good old Winston Churchill said [Continue Reading By Clicking Here…]

Apr 082014
 
Travel Tuesday Picture: Holi in Kerala

Holi Hai :  International Travel Bloggers Play Holi in Kerala Holi is one of the most colorful festivals of India.  Countless poems, paintings, songs can be found celebrating the joy of Holi. There was a time when no Bollywood movie would be complete without drenching the heroines white sari in colors of Holi.  Even latest movies like  Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani, had the mandatory Holi song,  even though they are in the cold mountains of Manali, which was actually Gulmarg. Anyways this post is not about the movie or Holi in movies, it is about how Holi is considered  an [Continue Reading By Clicking Here…]

Jan 162014
 
Kite & Fanush Flying on Sakranti

   Kites & Fanush Flying Festival on Sankranti Sankranti also known as Pongal is a major Indian Festival and one of the few Hindu festivals based on the solar calendar. Essentially a harvest festival it is celebrated with great fervor in agrarian communities. In Punjab, it is celebrated a day before Sankranti or Sankranthi in form or Lohri and in south India it is called Sankranti or Pongal depending on the region. Kite flying is a major tradition in India on Sankranti, though in parts of India kites are also flown on 15th of August, to celebrate Indian Independence [Continue Reading By Clicking Here…]

Dec 242013
 
Christmas in Bangkok- Picture from the past

Christmas Tree and Snowman in Bangkok As this is Christmas time, our daughters have decorated a small Christmas tree in our living room. Nothing fancy just one of those plastic trees that you get in the mall, but they very lovingly decorated it with lights, colored balls, bells and other toys. The younger one is totally fascinated with the same and spends a lot of time looking at the tree.  Now Christmas is one of the biggest festivals around the wold and though  Christians are a very small population of India, Christmas is one of the biggest festival in [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…]

Oct 312013
 
desi Halloween and memories of Tesu and Jhanji

  Halloween in India  I remember when I was a kid in Delhi, we had a fun festival before Diwali in which boys will carry a small toy made of sticks with a clay head called Tesu, who was slain prince from Mahabharata to neighborhood  homes and ask for money or goodies. The girls in turn will have a small perforated clay pot with a small Diya lighted in it and they too will go to the homes in neighborhood and sing ” Jhanji do jee Jhanjee do” The boys will sing: “Tesu do jee Tesu do” and continue something [Continue Reading By Clicking Here…]

Oct 252013
 
New Life for Old Diyas For Diwali - Going for a Green Diwali

Celebrating a Green Diwali – Reusing Old Diyas For Diwali Diwali is around the corner, the biggest festival in India, celebrated by the majority of India in a big way. We will all light Diyas and candles, burn crackers and exchange gifts. But like most festivals in India be it Ganesha Chaturthi, Durga Puja or Kumbh Mela, Diwali also leaves a trail of destruction, pollution, and garbage around us, all in the name of celebration. I  always try to make my travels and life as green as possible in today’s age of fossil fuels. So from celebrating Green Ganesha to [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…]

Feb 232013
 
Pictures of Kumbh Mela Allahabad by Vijay Jata

Naga Sadhus & other pictures of Kumbh Mela Allahabad  There are a lot of things that happen only in India and it is just not possible to find a parallel of them anywhere in world. Kumbh Mela is one such relegious event. I sorely missed going to the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad due to various reasons.  I badly wanted to go, when our photography group HWS or Hyderabad Weekend Shoot were planning to go there. But as they say in India you do not go to a holy place, the holy place calls you. So when the photography group returned [Continue Reading By Clicking Here…]