Outdoors

 

O is for Outdoors, where each one of these was shot...

Owl sculpture in Bath, UK.

The label. Many of these sculptures were dotted around the streets, done 

by different artists with different interpretations 

Oil tanker in open waters. Nadi, Fiji.

On the road. Upstate NY, USA.

Walking by the Ocean. Natadola, Fiji.

One of the most famous prehistoric monuments. Wiltshire, UK.

The old and the brand new. View from Karbabad Fort, Bahrain.

Plenty of Os in that picture! Bridge on Guadalquivir, Seville, Spain.

Oak leaves. Carmel, IN, USA.

On the way to Ras al Jinz turtle sanctuary, Oman. The sanctuary is
directly opposite Jamnagar in India. 

That's O for outdoors.  Hope you've enjoyed the photos. Happy A-Zing! - if you're participating. And happy cusp season to you, if you're not! 

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2024

Many

 

M is for a Multiplicity of images... and here are the first lot. 

Mural on Lower Circular Road, Kolkata, India.

 Cincinnati, OH, USA.

NCSU, Raleigh, NC.

More murals. Pedestrian underpass near Trafalgar Sq, London.

Restaurant on Arab Street, Singapore. 

M is also for Miniature - which ties into my N as well. 

Netsuke on display at the V&A Museum, London, UK.

Of course an explanation is necessary - here it is.

Pounding glutinous rice...

Can't help but marvel at the intricacy of the work....neat or what?

Nifty, no?

That's M and N. For memories and nostalgia.  Hope you've enjoyed the photos. Happy A-Zing! - if you're participating. And happy cusp season to you, if you're not! 

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2024

Long

 

L is for Long shadows at the higher Latitudes in winter Light, or even when the sun gets a bit Low elsewhere. 

Paris, 2010.

Neuse River Trail, USA, 2024..

Raleigh, USA, 2023. 

Kolkata, 2019. 

Aberdare National Park, Kenya, 2017

Adar, Bahrain, 2021.

Cordoba, Spain, 2015. 

Look at your shadows. The shadows tell you what the light is doing. ~ Nick Tresidder, Photographer. 

Tip on photography, but also a life lesson lurking in there. I'll keep looking, as best as I can. 

That's all for now. Hope you've enjoyed the photos and the quote. Happy A-Zing! - if you're participating. And happy cusp season to you, if you're not! 

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2024

Item

 

I must be the easiest letter by far in the A-Z. It's a word all by its own self. Just like A. Spoilt for choice.  

In this instance though, I is for India Gate. Also an arch monument, but quite different from the Gateway of India which I mentioned in my previous post. 

India Gate is a war memorial to about 74,000 service personnel, mostly Indian, some British, who fell in WWI between 1914 and 1921 in the Far and Middle East and East Africa. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the main architect of New Delhi and also a member of the Imperial War Graves Commission.  Lord Irwin, the then Viceroy, inaugurated the memorial in 1931.

India Gate, New Delhi. The focal point for the Republic Day celebrations.
A few changes to the monument since independence in 1947.

Very popular spot with both residents and visitors.

Staying in Delhi, J is for Jama Masjid, a somewhat older building built by  Shahjahan, the same chap who built the Taj Mahal. It has played a political role during the colonial era and remains in active use even now. 

Contre jour at Jama Masjid. A mosque in a very typical Mughal style,
built in the 1650s. 

And for K, I have Kulfi, which is a traditional Indian frozen dairy dessert, sold by vendors known as kulfiwallahs and in restaurants throughout India, particularly popular during the hot summers. The recipe is from the Mughal era, records show that saltpeter and  ice, imported from the Himalayas, were used for refrigeration. 

Kulfi is made from evaporated milk and flavourings, packed into metal moulds and immersed in slurry ice. Originally the dessert was flavoured with cream (malai), saffron (zafran/kesar), cardamom (elaichi), rose and mango. Nowadays you get them in many different  flavours - strawberry, apple, avocado. This one hereunder is narangi kulfi - orange, at a favourite restaurant in Lucknow.

Narangi kulfi - loved it the first time!

 

So went back for seconds on the next trip!

Incidentally, kulfi is not whipped and therefore it is a denser dessert which keeps frozen for a longer time once unmoulded. Another must-try item if you're in India. 

That's I, J and K done. Hope you've enjoyed the photos. Happy A-Zing! - if you're participating. And happy cusp season to you, if you're not! 

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2024

Given

 

Well, G is for Ghat ...what else?...here's one on the Hooghly river right here in Kolkata. Named after James Princep, the first editor of the Journal of the Asiatic Society. He is famous for deciphering the Brahmi script. Btw, the Hooghly is a tributary of the Ganges or Ganga and therfore is also considered sacred. 

Princep Ghat on the Hooghly. . 

View of Dakshineswar temple and its adjoining ghat.

And G  is for the Gateway of India in Mumbai, built more than a hundred years ago to commemorate the visit of George V, the first British monarch to come to India. 

Gateway of India - it's an arch monument, built in 1911.

G is also for Gulls which fly alongside as the ferry makes its way over the waters to Elephanta  Island, locally known as Gharapuri. Rock cut caves on the island go back to the 4th/5th century, super deep history wherever one happens to be in India. 

The view from the ferry as it starts out - next to the Gateway is
the iconic Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, another heritage landmark. 

They keep flying alongside for about half an hour and then turn back.

It's a pleasant experience to watch them as the ferry proceeds and the city noises gradually fall away. 

Trimurti, or tri-statue/deity inside the caves. The most important
sculpture, carved in relief on the south wall. A representation
of the Hindu Holy Trinity of Creator, Preserver and Destroyer. 

That's my G n H posted. It's all a bit haphazard. But haphazard is good too. Pantzing is healthy sometimes. Hope you've enjoyed the photos. Happy A-Zing! - if you're participating. And happy cusp season to you, if you're not! 

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2024

Flying

 

F is for  what I call Flying clicks ...here are some from  far away and very long ago to not so long ago...

Athens, Greece. Dec 2009.

Cairo, Egypt. Aug 2011.

Heathrow, London, UK. Jul 2018

Bahrain. July 2021

Singapore. Apr 2022.

Delhi, India. Dec 2022.

Fiji. June 2023

Kentucky, USA. Dec 2023.

That's all for now. Happy A-Zing! - if you're participating. And happy cusp season to you, if you're not!

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2024