picturesque vacations

Photo-Love Stay at My Super-Fun-Friend Shikha's House

2011-08-06T10:21:00.001+05:30

Night view of the city from her porch..

With my Vanshika

The colony at night..

Off to the pool..

Her 'Red'-Hot Living Room..

My amazing hosts :)

When Shikha scared the hell of out me..

All of us

Bombay...

2011-07-20T22:41:00.000+05:30

Nikki's Wedding

2011-03-13T10:53:00.000+05:30

Lamps and flowers

2010-06-27T12:28:00.000+05:30

Fell in love with these earthy lamps..

The Machan: Paradise on a Tree-house

2010-04-28T10:12:00.015+05:30

A royal old english classic movie deco: brass switches, brass lampshades, brass nuts and bolts on classic polished wooden furniture. Paintings of sepoýs and Maharajas on their horses with beaming faces. Copper binoculars in a wooden frame box hanging hanging from invisible threads on the wall. To tend to needs of music lovers there was 'Irock'- an ipod and radio player. Every detail of the room was so carefully thought over and exquisitely furnished.

Any guesses where were we?

- On a tree house made of tent, forty feet above the ground in a 25 acre hilly private forest in Lonavla, near Mumbai. The place is named 'the Machaan'.

Windmills, Solar Energy Generators, Cabbage plantation and 25 acres of hilly forest terrain. With a cooperative, caring and considerate staff. What a pleasure it was. We went for an hour's walk with a guide to discover the depths of the ravishing forest.

At the sunset point we could see the sun setting behind our tree house on a mountain.

Coming back to the house; a vast expanse of forests on a mountaineous land. Nothing else met the eye. Sky and trees was be all and end all. No sign of human existence in the radius of infinity of our verandah. One could roam about wearing baby diapers and only the trees would giggle. We became one with nature, in delightful luxury. A day's stay felt like a vacation in nature's paradise.

A day later when we were about to leave the nature's rich kingdom, the prince (Machan's owner's son) appeared and delighted us with his charm, knowledge and accounts of his family's endeavors to make environment richer and more animal friendly by preserving and restoring forests. It was all-in-all a splendid effort to make the world a greener and more natural place to live in. Our best wishes to the Ahujas for their terrific work.

Osho Ashram, Pune

2010-04-28T01:46:00.011+05:30

The Osho International Commune at Pune

As we reached the ashram lane, an air of green and calm brushed us. Frowns dropped, an internal smile began to lighten up our faces. On the inside it was a different world, with no memory of the ordinary human life. The domination of trees over the land and birds and insects in the environment brought a memory to us. A memory of what is Nature , Natural and New . As we entered the ashram, we were taken aback by the architecture that greeted us. Everything was black!! D darkest jet granite formed the whole of reception. All walls and buildings were black. Apart from the black, wherever the eye could stretch, it could see only tallest, greenest and largest of trees.

Utopia created by men for meditation in the lap of nature. Well kept, nurtured and loved Nature. Water streams gushing out of trees.

A sparkling white marble buddha situated in the middle of a pool of sparkling water. Impeccable. The next day when we crossed the buddha, someone had put a fresh huge red rose in its lap! It was like a rainbow adorning an already stunning day.

There were different areas each had its own essence, its own kind of activties. Like Cafe Buddha, Cafe Zorba, Radha, Meera Hall, Pyramid,

One cannot imagine that such a place couldexist in a metro city.

People of all colours and nationalities greet and smile at one as if they've know one for years. There is a freedom of expression and behaviour in the air. Be what you want to be. Shed all your consciousness about how you look and sound. Just become a baby again..

Innovative Film City, Bangalore, India

2009-12-01T12:56:00.004+05:30

The most awesome place in Bangalore is Innovative Film City.. Not just out of India, its out of the world.. They capture one's fantasy and take one deep into the other world.. the surreal world...like inside a movie or something!

Balmy Days at Gokarna

2009-11-05T20:11:00.004+05:30

Shacks at Gokarna

2009-11-05T07:52:00.003+05:30

Immaculate Coasts of Gokarna

2009-11-05T07:38:00.007+05:30

the cactus said, "kiss my flower with your eye"

2009-10-30T15:30:00.003+05:30

On the Highway to Rains

2009-06-27T16:12:00.004+05:30

Daman

2009-06-27T15:32:00.007+05:30

Camping at Raigarh

2009-05-22T22:55:00.004+05:30

Conversations with Nature

2009-03-18T21:59:00.008+05:30

On wildlife safaries, I so feel that trees talk.. Talk among themselves. And they re all unique. Every tree tells a story.. I felt so emotionally connected to trees in Ranthambhore.. Its a wildlife sanctuary. Its all about trees and trees and trees and ofcoz the animals too :)

Lets Hug Trees!

2009-03-18T21:02:00.001+05:30

On the way to the Ranthambhore Fort

2009-03-18T20:44:00.000+05:30

Bullock carts and huts

2009-03-17T14:03:00.005+05:30

Rajasthan

2009-03-17T13:26:00.006+05:30

Quicksand and Cobwebs..

2009-03-17T11:40:00.000+05:30

Finding beauty in ruins

2009-03-16T23:49:00.000+05:30

Fond of such structures

2009-03-16T23:05:00.001+05:30

huts and forts..

Flowers - A subject no photographer can say NO to!

2009-03-16T21:08:00.003+05:30

Shot these at Ranthambhore

Ahmedabad

2009-03-16T09:46:00.003+05:30

The less known side of Ahmedabad..

Few Clicks from my Goa holidays

2009-03-16T09:11:00.001+05:30