Of People and Places

A view of Udaipur from the City Palace  From inside the city palace, Udaipur - I am struck by the colors of the houses in the city. From my vantage point, the houses look like nothing more than geometric shapes lending their own charm to the city of Udaipur. Their gaudy colors look somehow tasteful taken as a whole.  Stairwells going up, below, nowhere, everywhere. A half hidden mosque over here, a temple there. The ugly high rises are a little farther away. They may be sober in their color choice but they are definitely not very interesting - they look sterile - without the humanity that these older buildings have - aging and the people living inside them have given them a character. The Aravalis standing guard all around.  The Shadows divide property. And they don't even have to go to court for it! ( Lucky chaps) Lots of terraces perfect for kite flying. They are so close to each other, you could jump from one building to the other.  Interesting city, Udaipur....

Silver Jubilee Clock Tower, Mysore Sketchbook It's a delight to walk around Mysore Palace.   The palace itself is of course beautiful (I love it in the night) but you stumble on other interesting monuments like the Dodda Gadiyara or the Silver Jubilee Clock tower when you amble leisurely in the many streets that join the Town hall road.   Built in 1927 to commemorate the silver jubilee of Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV 's reign, its simplicity and elegance draws me to it.   It can be seen for miles around, but if you step closer, you begin to see that it's a great example of Indo-Saracenic architecture ( A combination of Indo-Islamic and Colonial British architecture) particularly in the beautiful dome. A sign-board tells me that this is a Rajputana style dome. Come to think of it, a lot can go wrong when you combine different styles, but this tower just works :-)  My only regret is that I did not hear the Clock chime! I am a big fan of Clocks that chime ( I...

  A page from my sketchbook - Pigeons flying in the morning sky, Udaipur A morning walk in Udaipole,Udaipur just after a harrowing train ride from New Delhi. On the main road, children on push carts full of kites smiled at me. Later, they would sell them to the tourists gearing up for Makar Sankranti. Kite flying is looked forward to during the festival here. The sun was up and there was not a speck in the sky, until the roosting pigeons on the electricity poles and shop signs above, shook themselves up, cooed to each other and flew away.  All my blogposts of this visit to Rajasthan -  A folk musician in Udaipur The Kite Runners of Jaipur Inside Ajmer Dargah 

A Black and White illustration of the Qutub Minar When January 2020 opened up this brand new year ( well now it is much jaded around the edges. Let's move on to 2021 already!), I had no idea that my trip to Delhi would be one of my last in a mask-free world. I am a little dazed about where my year has gone - things have changed so fast that I often go over my photographs and sketchbooks just to remind myself that those were actual moments and not just my imagination - That the months didn't just jumble up and drag on while time moved deceptively fast. One of the highlights of that trip was a walk from Saket to a tall tower that called out from way over there in the distance - the Qutub Minar.  A pen and watercolor sketch of the Qutub Minar I was worried if I was on the right road, despite very clear instructions on how to go but it turns out I needn't have worried. The Qutub Minar is tall enough to be seen for miles and I only had to continue on the same road. I have seen t...

A sketch of CSI Wesley Cathedral, Mysore We stumbled on The CSI Wesley Cathedral on one of our long rambles around B N Road in Mysore . It looked a pretty sight, framed with overcast clouds. The weather made it an absolute joy to be outdoors.  The cathedral is over 140 years old and is one of the oldest churches in South India attached to the Church of South India (CSI). Rev. John Hachian of the Wesleyan Mission sought support in England and collected funds to build this church.  One of the best things about having a sketchbook around at all times, is it lets me cherish moments like this one. And when I revisit the sketch later, it transports me back to the time I was at the place :) 

The illustration is of a drummer, in a Kandyan dance performance that we saw at the Oak Ray Regency in Kandy. Like the dancers, he is flamboyantly dressed, with a white turban, waistband and an ornate breastplate. The drummers' theatrics are just as interesting as the dancers, when  they give a sudden turn of the head to emphasize the beat.  This was the second day of our trip to Sri Lanka when we went from Colombo to Kandy, a lovely city surrounded by hills and plantation - the last capital of the Sinhalas. It is also famous for the temple of the Tooth Relic. Read all my Sri Lanka posts -  Galle Clock Tower in Sri Lanka The boatman on Madu river, Sri Lanka Feeding frenzy at the Pinnawala elephant orphanage Dutch canal in Wattala, Colombo In Beruwala, Sri Lanka The tunnel of trees in Madu River, Sri Lanka

Illustration of the Basilica of Bom Jesus, Old Goa  "Bom Jesus is to Velha Goa what the Taj Mahal is to Agra."                                                           - Manohar Malgonkar, Inside Goa Every tourist in Goa makes a bee line to the beautiful Basilica of Bom Jesus in Velha Goa, the part of Goa that looks familiar and exotic at the same time, depending on who you are.  To a European, the churches and convents must look familiar, and to an Indian, the coastal country, with its hills,beaches, lush coconut and palm trees must look ordinary, the same land that is attracting Europeans in hordes because it is so exotic! Everything,then, seems to boil down to relativity. The Bom Jesus Basilica is of religious significance - it preserves the body of St.Francis Xavier, the missionary who changed the course of history and whose trav...