Monkeys, Langkawi , Malaysia.
This mama and baby duo sat on tree trunk watching life pass by.
December 04th, 2012
Candles, Langkawi, Malaysia.
Candle offering in a Buddhist temple. The temple was surrounded by lots of plants and trees, butterflies fluttered around. It was a quite and serene morning.
December 13th, 2012
Bee suckling honey from the heart of dwarf waterlily, Henry Island, India
Short nearby trips doesn't really excite me because they do not usually have that element of excitement. However, this was different, it was family time. Gladly accompanied my parents, uncle and aunt. Was pleasantly surprised how much enjoyed myself and the number of photo opportunities that was present.
December 14th, 2012
Buddhist Monastery in Ladakh, India
It was a pleasant surprise to find that this photo was selected as 'Photo of the Day' in Photoburst.net!
This site is dedicate to select, publish and promote travel photography. Truly an honor to have my work published there, as the standard of selection is quite high.
Incidentally this image also features on the 'Home Page' of this website.
This site is dedicate to select, publish and promote travel photography. Truly an honor to have my work published there, as the standard of selection is quite high.
Incidentally this image also features on the 'Home Page' of this website.
December 15th, 2012
Mount Kailash, Tibet
First sneak peek of Mt. Kailash from the courtyard of a monastery guesthouse was not exactly impressive. The following morning when a slice of first light kissed the top edge of the mountain, it was impossible to look away. Weather in this region changes with amazing swiftness, shortly after the sunrise it was extremely hot followed by thick wreaths of inky black cloud moving in rapidly towards the peak, just after a while the snow on the dome was glittering in the sun. The silvery peak surrounded by the Kailash Range appeared as the Almighty in concrete form.
According to Sarat Chandra Das, a Tibetan and Sanskrit scholar who also worked as undercover agent for the British Intelligence Service in his book 'A Tibetan English Dictionary with Sanskrit Synonyms' (first published in the year 1902), mentions that the probable source of the Sanskrit name Kailasa may have been derived from the word 'kelasa' which actually translates into crystal.
The landscape in the surrounding area simply put is stunningly beautiful. Trekking here is frightfully arduous with thin little air making the lungs burn and ache, heat and rain bearing down alternately. It is a challenge unlike any pushing one to the limit of endurance, demanding absolute fitness or tremendous faith. Each year the number of casualties and death among pilgrims remains quite notable.
Gusman, the Nepali Sherpa had a fantastic sense of humor. In his attempt to make things easy would often crack me up with dry wit and for the first time in life also making realize that laughing could be physically this taxing!
The most interesting aspect of the Himalayas is its geological history, it has been long established that the present day Himalayan belt was a huge sea. Among other things the walls of Kailash peak consists of conglomeration of pebbles cemented together which must have been outcome of the oceanic upheaval that occurred approximately about 100 million years ago.
In the year 1846 Lt. Henry Strachey of British Army on a clandestine trip to Tibet, measured the peak at 6, 400 m / 21, 000 ft. It was much later that the peak was correctly measured at a height of 6, 714 m / 22, 028 ft.
Due to the many semantic factors and religious beliefs that had wrapped the region in thick layers of mysteries, climbing the summit had been unthinkable. However, during the year 1985 the Chinese government brushing aside all religious sentiments invited celebrity mountaineer, adventurer and explorer Reinhold Messner to conquer the summit of Mt. Kailash. He was all set to add another feather on his cap until was dissuaded by colleagues.
Though it is a tradition among mountaineers to refrain from tackling Mt. Kailash because of its religious significance, in the year 2001 Spanish mountaineer Jesus Martinez Novas came up with a unique idea. He wanted to broadcast a message of peace from the Himalayan peak believed to be the naval of the earth and abode of deities by innumerable. International protests within the fraternity halted the first ascent of Mt. Kailash even though Chinese authorities had gladly given permission.
Standing at a mere height of 6, 714 meters the sacred peak in not considered to be particularly challenging by climbers, but so far it has not been conquered. In present times when cynicism rules, the myth and legends surrounding the Mt. Kailash continues to be. What Italian Tibetologist Prof. Giuseppe Tucci wrote after visiting Tibet in the year 1933 still holds true. Indeed Mt. Kailash is still believed by many to be the naval of the earth, the ladder which links heaven and earth, the great rock crystal palace of 360 gods.
A mountain unlike any.
Winner of the "Daily Travel Photography Contest"held by PHOTOBURST.net
According to Sarat Chandra Das, a Tibetan and Sanskrit scholar who also worked as undercover agent for the British Intelligence Service in his book 'A Tibetan English Dictionary with Sanskrit Synonyms' (first published in the year 1902), mentions that the probable source of the Sanskrit name Kailasa may have been derived from the word 'kelasa' which actually translates into crystal.
The landscape in the surrounding area simply put is stunningly beautiful. Trekking here is frightfully arduous with thin little air making the lungs burn and ache, heat and rain bearing down alternately. It is a challenge unlike any pushing one to the limit of endurance, demanding absolute fitness or tremendous faith. Each year the number of casualties and death among pilgrims remains quite notable.
Gusman, the Nepali Sherpa had a fantastic sense of humor. In his attempt to make things easy would often crack me up with dry wit and for the first time in life also making realize that laughing could be physically this taxing!
The most interesting aspect of the Himalayas is its geological history, it has been long established that the present day Himalayan belt was a huge sea. Among other things the walls of Kailash peak consists of conglomeration of pebbles cemented together which must have been outcome of the oceanic upheaval that occurred approximately about 100 million years ago.
In the year 1846 Lt. Henry Strachey of British Army on a clandestine trip to Tibet, measured the peak at 6, 400 m / 21, 000 ft. It was much later that the peak was correctly measured at a height of 6, 714 m / 22, 028 ft.
Due to the many semantic factors and religious beliefs that had wrapped the region in thick layers of mysteries, climbing the summit had been unthinkable. However, during the year 1985 the Chinese government brushing aside all religious sentiments invited celebrity mountaineer, adventurer and explorer Reinhold Messner to conquer the summit of Mt. Kailash. He was all set to add another feather on his cap until was dissuaded by colleagues.
Though it is a tradition among mountaineers to refrain from tackling Mt. Kailash because of its religious significance, in the year 2001 Spanish mountaineer Jesus Martinez Novas came up with a unique idea. He wanted to broadcast a message of peace from the Himalayan peak believed to be the naval of the earth and abode of deities by innumerable. International protests within the fraternity halted the first ascent of Mt. Kailash even though Chinese authorities had gladly given permission.
Standing at a mere height of 6, 714 meters the sacred peak in not considered to be particularly challenging by climbers, but so far it has not been conquered. In present times when cynicism rules, the myth and legends surrounding the Mt. Kailash continues to be. What Italian Tibetologist Prof. Giuseppe Tucci wrote after visiting Tibet in the year 1933 still holds true. Indeed Mt. Kailash is still believed by many to be the naval of the earth, the ladder which links heaven and earth, the great rock crystal palace of 360 gods.
A mountain unlike any.
Winner of the "Daily Travel Photography Contest"held by PHOTOBURST.net
December 21st, 2012
In the Land of Headhunters, Uttarakhand, India.
During my road trip in Uttarakhand, saw this butcher's shop where the head of the slaughtered animal was hung outside. It was a way to let customers know what meat was being sold and how fresh it was!
It seems the photo editors in National Geographic finally are pleased with my photographic endeavor and the previous one (published) was not a fluke as I thought! This shot got selected in the Daily Dozen section of National Geographic. Photo editors select some photographs from thousands submitted that show case a special event/moment. Basically something that stands out though it may not be eye pleasing or technically perfect. These photographs stand a chance of being published in the National Geographic magazine.
It seems the photo editors in National Geographic finally are pleased with my photographic endeavor and the previous one (published) was not a fluke as I thought! This shot got selected in the Daily Dozen section of National Geographic. Photo editors select some photographs from thousands submitted that show case a special event/moment. Basically something that stands out though it may not be eye pleasing or technically perfect. These photographs stand a chance of being published in the National Geographic magazine.
December 27th, 2012
Butterfly ready for honey suck, Uttarakhand, India
The year is almost over and in the coming year there are quite some plans for travel lined up. Wishes had wings to avoid all the fringe complications related to travel, especially when one needs to cross man made boundaries.
December 28th, 2012
A Valley in Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, India
The shadow and light interplay in throughout the Tibetan Plateau is a common phenomena. It was an outstanding, almost a magical moment when the clouds drifting overhead caste a shadow on the entire valley floor. Everything looked very different from how they did few minutes back.
Winner of the "Daily Travel Photography Contest"held by PHOTOBURST.net
Winner of the "Daily Travel Photography Contest"held by PHOTOBURST.net
December 30th, 2012
Candle March held on December 22nd in Kolkata, India
On 16th December 2012, a 23 years old paramedic student along with her male friend - an IT professional after watching the new Ang Lee film 'Life of Pi' in a theater boarded a public bus in New Delhi, the watch face read 21:30 hours.
The bus had no other passenger, the driver and the crew members totaled to six. After the initial teasing and taunting by the bus cleaner, her friend protested, that is when the actual horror started. He was beaten unconscious and she was raped, violated, brutalized and savaged by the men. Later, severely injured and stripped both were thrown off from the bus on the road side. Found still unconscious they were admitted in hospital. The nation was shocked and outraged, there had been a burst of violence against women in every form in recent years, banners and posters screamed slogans "Don't teach your daughter to stay at home...instead, teach your son better".
On 22nd December, 2012 thousands took to road across the country. Government was forced to hear voices of common people through rallies, mass gatherings, demonstrations, candle marches, silent protests, posters, banners and slogans. The majority demanded the arrested guilty to be tried in fast track court, harshest punishment to be meted out, an amendment in existing rape laws in India and even introduction of death penalty.
We live in a gender biased country where birth of a male child is celebrated while female feticide and infanticide persists. Cheating, violation (both body and soul) and brutality against women are endorsed through words 'It was a mistake." Families instead of imparting and installing right values stand behind the culprit and try to wriggle out with legal loophole or by flexing money/muscle power. Women are subjected to ridicule, taunts and nasty comments for getting cheated, duped, molested and/or raped. The victims are established as culprits by the social system, while the guilty often go free with head held high. The trauma of the women continues manifold while these 'men' are hailed as heroes who had been maligned wrongly.
Mothers who give birth to such perverted monsters not only should you hang your head in shame but also beware because these cowards do not distinguish between other women and their own mother/sister/daughters. Families go ahead and protect them till one of yours get violated.
The Delhi rape victim succumbed to her injuries on 28th December, 2012 in a hospital in Singapore and police has slapped murder charges among other things on the criminals.
The bus had no other passenger, the driver and the crew members totaled to six. After the initial teasing and taunting by the bus cleaner, her friend protested, that is when the actual horror started. He was beaten unconscious and she was raped, violated, brutalized and savaged by the men. Later, severely injured and stripped both were thrown off from the bus on the road side. Found still unconscious they were admitted in hospital. The nation was shocked and outraged, there had been a burst of violence against women in every form in recent years, banners and posters screamed slogans "Don't teach your daughter to stay at home...instead, teach your son better".
On 22nd December, 2012 thousands took to road across the country. Government was forced to hear voices of common people through rallies, mass gatherings, demonstrations, candle marches, silent protests, posters, banners and slogans. The majority demanded the arrested guilty to be tried in fast track court, harshest punishment to be meted out, an amendment in existing rape laws in India and even introduction of death penalty.
We live in a gender biased country where birth of a male child is celebrated while female feticide and infanticide persists. Cheating, violation (both body and soul) and brutality against women are endorsed through words 'It was a mistake." Families instead of imparting and installing right values stand behind the culprit and try to wriggle out with legal loophole or by flexing money/muscle power. Women are subjected to ridicule, taunts and nasty comments for getting cheated, duped, molested and/or raped. The victims are established as culprits by the social system, while the guilty often go free with head held high. The trauma of the women continues manifold while these 'men' are hailed as heroes who had been maligned wrongly.
Mothers who give birth to such perverted monsters not only should you hang your head in shame but also beware because these cowards do not distinguish between other women and their own mother/sister/daughters. Families go ahead and protect them till one of yours get violated.
The Delhi rape victim succumbed to her injuries on 28th December, 2012 in a hospital in Singapore and police has slapped murder charges among other things on the criminals.
December 31st, 2012
Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, India
Wishing friends, visitors, buyers and prospective buyers A Very Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year!