A Favorite Thing

One of the favorite things

that I like to do is reading.

And when I am reading,

I like to bookmark the pages.

So a small collection

is building up slowly.

Some for the words,

some for the colors,

some because they are a gift.

There's a reason why I like them all.

There's a reason why they are my favorite.

Now,

Which one do you like the best?

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5'o clock

Frankly speaking,

I missed the prompt.

5 A.M. I was sleeping

and perhaps snoring.

5 P.M. I was helping a boy

from the block with some

mathematics questions.

It totally skipped my mind.

And here I am sitting

without a picture to share.

Or may be not.

If an old photograph

taken precisely at 5:40 A.M.

will be thought eligible.

It is part of stoned wall or fence

from our neighbors house.

And talking of older pictures

there is one more that

I would like to share.

Lord Ganesha

in different hues.

Courtesy - my personal collection.

The first one from the left is the only one I bought.

The other two are thoughtful gifts

from thoughtful people.

Linking with Friday Fences ~# 56 @ Life According to Jan and Jer

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Mark of duty

Yes, the indelible ink on the finger there

that says out loud

I exercised my right.

I exercised my vote.

And hopefully wisely.

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Television

The prompt television takes me

back to the times

when we all used to

gather in the big drawing room of ours

to watch the favorite serials on

a set that looked very much like this.

Over the years,

the looks of television have undergone

huge changes until recently

when the wall mounted LCDs and LEDs

are in vogue.

I am pretty sure

it would have gone a step or two beyond

that too and I am yet to catch up with it.

A television looking like this

is certainly out of scenes

but it was so much more homely.

In case you are wondering

this machine is still functional.

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Breakfast

Breakfast

It has been a couple of days

since "Karwa Chauth"

which is

a late autumn festival

which falls on fourth day

after the full moon,

in what we call here the month of Kartik,

( somwhere in Oct/Nov, this year it fell on 2nd Novemeber, 2012)

and which is observed by rigorous fasting by married women

for health, longevity and happiness of their husband's lives.

The festival is best loved by me for

the reason I pictured.

The "Fenian",

a clarified butter (ghee) based preparation,

which is ideally a part of "Sargi",

gift from mother-in-law to the women

happens to be quite nutritious.

So, I buy a huge supply for myself,

good enough to last me a season

and I enjoy steaming bowl of

milk enriched with "Fenian"

for my breakfast.

Already my mouth is watering.

What is your tempting breakfast platter holding?

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Colour

Colors

represent the zest and zeal of life and living.

Each color

making the pallet of life

gorgeous.

For those who are guessing,

these are crayon sticks.

And for those who had guessed it already,

well, pat on your backs.

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Something beginning with 'C'

Something beginning with 'C'

With festivals almost every week,

I cannot think

of anything other than 'C'hocolates.

and that too

the 'C'adbury 'C'ollection,

the regular as well as the 'C'elebration series.

Sweet tooth, Naaah!!!

I guess I have a chocolate tooth.

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Morning Sky

 The morning sky

today was very dramatic.

Like somebody

picked up a brush dipped in white

and brushed across with it

in a deep blue canvas.

And then added a little bit of greens

and a little bit of moon too

Wishing you all a splendid time.

Linking up with SkyWatch Friday - Season 6, Episode 9

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Beyond the fences

Beyond the fences

lies the history.

"The Barselas"

Rain washed and inviting.

If it is history from this one,

it is buildings from the other one.

Looking at fences on other side from the fence on this side.

Linking up with

Life according to Jan n Jer

Have a blessed week ahead.

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And we have a magician in the house

Believe me, when I say this

we have a magician in the house.

OR

A Little Magician would be better to say.

As they say,

seeds are sown right in the childhood itself.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

presenting before you

Harjas, The Magician :

with all his props and accessories.

It so happens that our little boy

Harjas had a fancy dress competition in his school.

And the theme was

"What do you want to be when you grow up"

To which the prompt reply was

"A scientist"

"Ohk, that will not need much preparations.

Just a wig and some test tubes would do the trick"

But the idea did not generate much excitement.

Neither with him nor with us.

Then the Professor Google came to our help

and I found this picture on the net

I wish I had copied the source also.

(A lesson for next time)

and we knew in our hearts he was going to enjoy being a magician.

The royal feel, the cloak and magic - all so fictional and all so magical.

We found him a black satin shirt and trouser.

We decided to do away with the vest, it being sweltering outside.

Mum stitched the cloak and also put an insignia on the back with silver ribbon.

He had bought black formal leather shoes

for his annual day dance performance

and we decided to use the same this time also.

Then I found this tutorial

How to make a magician hat

This done, we proceeded to make his wand.

We used the same chart paper as we used for the hat

and decorated it with a red and silver paper.

This gave it both strength and shape.

The last step was to teach a trick or two.

And again, who better than Professor Google

http://magic.about.com/od/libraryofsimpletricks/Easy_Magic_Tricks_for_Beginners.htm

We chose the magic tube trick and made him a blue tube

(seen in the collage above too)

and put in the light blue ribbon.

As a standby,

we taught him a magnetic pencil trick also.

The final topping was to teach him his lines.

And the magician was ready to rock the show.

I am imagining the little boy of ours

walking up on the stage mumbling,

"Good morning everyone,

I am a magician.

I believe

The power of thought is the magic of mind.

Now let us enjoy a magic trick.

Can you see this tube ... 

is this all empty ...

If so, from where does this ribbon come ...

It comes from magic

and all the magic comes from learning.

Thank You."

He won the competition.

But

he told me that after the performance

he scared away the bullies showing them his wand

and telling them that he would make them fly in the air.

Oh well, you lose some you gain some.

This is what I had been doing

this last week.

Have a wonderful week ahead.

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Pictures from 1st May, 2012 - 6th May, 2012

It is May already.

 I have been participating in this photo a day challenge

for most of the year now.

I did miss a few days in March

but other than that, I have been pretty regular with my challenge posts.

This month's challenge has wonderful themes to keep our cameras occupied.

This week, I thought of sharing my pictures in the form of collage and in a random fashion.

I created these using Photovisi

in order to have more options than those offered by Picasa 3.

I started with a basic theme for collage

The first picture is for prompt - Peace (May 1st, 2012)

The lines are photographed from a poster in my room.

The next picture is for May 4th, 2012.

Fun - so many animals in a conference - absolute fun.

And a cat sitting next to a dog - real fun.

These are the toys my nephew plays with and it is fun to see him playing with them.

The next theme I chose for my collage was from the category Organic.

Starting clockwise

3rd May, 2012 - Something you wore

5th May, 2012 - Bird

6th May, 2012 - You

and 2nd May, 2012 - Skyline

Something you wore :

Contact lens, kajal and a golden watch - somethings I wore on 3rd May, 2012

Very uncharacteristic for me - and all three things

I usually prefer my specs to lens

and a silver watch to golden.

Add to it, I actually used kajal.

A real achievement. I have had an eye liner for two years now

but have never used it once.

I have no explanation for any of this.

Bird :

I chose a pigeon again.

Well to put it, pigoen was the only bird that was in vicinity.

Almost all of my bird pictures have been with pigeons.

I will share my collection of these in the next post.

Oh Yes! I have enough to share in a separate post.

You :

I tried playing around with my picture.

Adding effects to it.

I liked the one with pencil sketch on a book page very much.

Skyline :

This is early morning.

When sun is about to rise.

I find that the most beautiful times of the day.

The fresh morning air,

the waking up to a sunny day,

getting ready for the day ahead.

Wonderful.

Have a blessed week ahead.

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Week 18 of Year 2012 in pictures

I have been taking a few days off from my job.

And what have I been doing all this time?

Enjoying a weekend outing and clicking lots of pictures.

Enough to cover all the pending prompts from last week or rather April, I should say.

Two of the pictures have been clicked by my father.

He is very good at clicking the pictures.

I can only marvel when he handles the camera.

So, back to sharing the photographs

22nd April, 2012 : The last thing that you bought

I have been improving my professional wardrobe with kurtis.

That I have not been able to wear them yet is another story.

I had actually purchased three - the third one is black.

23rd April, 2012 : Vegetable

Tomatoes - what better than these to cover the prompt

My original idea was to do something cooked.

But I was stacking up refrigerator with some things when I saw these

and these looked so tempting and delicious.

Some of them demand an early attention

and I am always ready for tomatoes ... tomato soup, tomato in veggies.

24th April, 2012 : Something you're grateful for

One word answer for this one - 

Life is full of countless blessings.

So, I am most grateful for being able to live the life that I have.

Ups and downs, smiles and  tears - all being a part and parcel of this living.

Beautiful and wonderful.

25th April, 2012 : Looking Down

We were on a short but enjoyable pilgrimage this weekend.

Looking down from the third floor

of the place where we stayed put for a few nights,

I found pigeons huddled together.

There were pigeons every where around us

and it was fun watching their antics.

The recess was out of reach of the cleaners and therefore, the mess.

All the time, I had been wondering about the results of this photograph

but I think, it is tolerable on the whole.

26th April, 2012 : Black + White

"I bow to thee, Mother" ("Vande Mataram")

This flame burns day and night and reminds us all

of the sacrifices that earned us our independence.

Amar Jawan Jyoti @ Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar

27th April, 2012 : Somewhere you went

This weekend I was off to Amritsar Sahib - me, my family and my sister's family.

We visited The Golden Temple, Jallianwala Bagh, Gurudwara Shaheedan Sahib.

We also visited another place Naushehra Sahib, 

which is one of the religious seat for our community too.

A satisfying trip altogether.

(Photograph clicked by my father)

28th April, 2012 : 1 PM

1 PM is usually the time I help mum with some chores

like getting the laundry downstairs from the terrace.

I am, generally, not much help when I am at home.

So, I find simple tasks that are within my reach.

Hanging the clothes for drying and folding the dried laundry

are some of the tasks that I participate mostly in.

29th April, 2012 : Circle

Circle reminds me of just one thing - the dartboard in my room.

We bought it with great hopes of improving concentration

but a few tries left lots of marks on the walls

and little on the board

and now, it is no more than a showpiece on the wall.

But I love it and am not willing to trade its place with anything else.

30th April, 2012 : Something that makes you sad

Back to Jallianwala Bagh - the bullet marks on the wall

definitely leave one sad.

They speak loudly and silently about what happened on that fateful day.

They speak of the pain, the bloodshed and they speak of the tears

My father clicked this one for us.

The challenge for April is done.

May begins tomorrow. New set of prompts.

New share of pictures.

Stay blessed always.

P.S. I am glad I did these prompts with Canon and Sony

rather than my mobile.

Anyways, the mobile camera application needs some fixing and patching.

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3rd April, 2012 : Prompt - Mail

Prompt - Mail

Back home ... Ah, it sounds synonymous to being back to life.

And now that I have come back ...

I have so many things to attend to.

(I was away only for a week but it definitely seems like I was gone for a good while.)

I expected it to be like this ... me relaxing and basking in the glory of home-return, nephews running all around me, mum counting on my help getting things done around the house ... 

But mail management was not on my list.

Anything but mails

So it definitely surprises me to find an inbox that is flooded for a change ...

and it has taken me all day to sort it all out.

(Secret - I love an overflowing inbox.)

Add to it

the mails that I received in post.

So, whole day long, I have been reading and writing responses ...

attending to priority papers and all.

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17th March, 2012 : Prompt - Green

Prompt - Green

A simple prompt and even simpler response.

You say green ... and I am reminded of a little green purse of mine.

And it is special because this was my first purse ever.

And this has helped me stack so many stickers, the "rakhis" that I have collected over the years, the spare cash, the passport size photographs ...

this holds all the short comic strips that we used to get with chewing gums

In short this is my treasure trove.

I moved it to a better place for clicking a better photograph

Usually, it hangs in my closet

Happy St. Patrick's day ...

Go green :)

Photographs clicked by Sony Cybershot DSC-W80

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16th Feb, 2012 : Prompt - Sunglasses

Prompt - Sunglasses

Sunglasses or sun glasses are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can sometimes also function as a visual aid, as variously termed spectacles or glasses exist, featuring lenses that are colored, polarized or darkened.

: Source - Wikipedia

I go by the part that the sunglasses can sometimes function as a visual aid ...

So, I clicked ... my routine glasses ...

they are my sun glasses ...

my shade glasses ...

my rain glasses ...

Sunglasses like these are not a part of my wardrobe ...

 

Source - Wikipedia again

This is because ...

I use the contact lens only occasionally ...

and surgery ... oh, I just can't stand the thought of it ...

I find my spectacles the most comfortable so, am sticking to their use for as long as I can.

Photograph clicked by Sony Cybershot DSC-W80

P.S. I assure you all that as soon as I get prompts with the object in my reach, I will post better pictures.

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9th March, 2012 : Prompt - Red

Prompt - Red

Red chilies!!!

It so happens that yours faithfully was working in the kitchen when she remembered the prompt "Red".

And what could be better than this ... a reminder of my culinary experiments.

Working with spices is real fun and they add so distinctive flavors.

I am only learning and there is so much ...

I have also been busy packing my red back-pack for a weekend trip.

So, a happy weekend to you all.

See you all on Monday.

Till then, have fun.

Photographs clicked by Sony DSC-W80 Cybershot.

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6th March, 2012 : Prompt - 5PM

Prompt - 5PM

Fever or no fever,

duty is duty.

Especially when duty calls for teaching kids who sit for exams tomorrow.

So, 5 P.M., I was busy with my students. Optics, integration, jumbled sentences ... everything and anything.

The desk is strewn with papers and books.

And it is an early start tomorrow again.

Tomorrow ... when the town will be celebrating "Holi" and we will be celebrating the derivations and numerical questions.

Happy festival of colors to everyone and happy "holi"day to all those who get their day off.

Photograph clicked by Sony DSC-W80 Cybershot

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Skywatch again ...

I see the moon

The moon sees me

God bless the moon

And God bless me ...

God bless us all ...

Participating in the Skywatch Friday : Season 5, Episode 34

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3rd March, 2012 : Prompt - Your Neighborhood

Prompt - Your Neighborhood

I love this prompt ...

It was a spotless blue sky ...

sun, more sun and more sun ...

So I could click safely ... I know the results on any other day would have been disaster.

I had a chance to run my camera all around me and

then it was all click, click and click ...

So, let me take you around my neighborhood 

(I have never done so many pics for one prompt as I did for this one)

So, here we go ...

The first one on the list is ...

Yes, a heritage site ...

Called "The Barsela Smarak" ...

Age - 486 years only ... the funeral tablets of the royalty ... the tombstones that seek out the blessings of the guardian angels so that the departed may rest in peace.

I had to do an aerial view because I do not think I could have managed the height of some of these tombstones from a closer range.

And needless to say, I feel proud of this neighborhood ...

Second on the list would be ...

A GUN factory

Do not re-read ... I actually said a "gun"

The grey building in this photograph is the Hasbee Gun Factory ...

What is so important about living near a gun factory ...

Oh well, that IS a constant reminder that the gun factories in Mandi town are the sole licensed producers of guns in North India ...

There are other places all over India but search North India ... well, that is going to bring you to my neighborhood.

Then of course, there will be houses (in all shapes and sizes)

But it is not just a concrete jungle out here.

There are sprawling greens too as you can see here 

and here

The building hiding in the trees there is a rest house.

But I do not have to look out that far for the greens. I look down from my window and I find

luxuriant greens right in the heart of our concrete forest.

Photographs by Sony DSC-W80 Cybershot

I know I have been a little biased towards Canon one ever since I did the "night" prompt last month

But I confess I missed it today ...

or rather its 12X zoom

So, you know what label to expect tomorrow...

Have a great day ...

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2nd March, 2012 : Prompt - Fruit

Prompt - Fruit

Winters make the fruit baskets smile.

And nothing can beat the lush juicy oranges and the iron rich bananas ...

Nothing ...

Afternoon sun (it can get very hot at that time)

Sitting in shade ...

Cool breeze on sunny terrace (if you can imagine this ... I had no way how to take pictures of that)

and enjoying bowl full of fresh fruits ...

served exclusively to me ...

(After all studying and teaching needs a healthy me ;) )

I wish I had some grapes left so that I could get in some purple and green shades here ...

But

I am glad to be sharing my fruit time with you all ...

Photograph clicked by Sony DSC-W80 Cybershot

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