For a long time now, perhaps since 2005 that I have begun to click pics with my phone. Yes, you guessed right, of trees 😀 They had begun to work their magic on me and I just had to capture them, keep them with me so to speak. I often wished I had someway of documenting them, cataloguing them so that I could browse at leisure. Just a pipe dream, a waste of time. Time passed, I focused on home, career, academics until fan fiction happened. Blogging was the next logical step for my stories and yet some guiding prescient hand named my blog Stories and more.
And now after two years, the more bit often gives me greater happiness than the stories 😀 Anyhow to cut a long story short, this week I target two of my favorite photo challenges – Cee’s Happy themed fun foto challenge and the Daily Post’s Smile challenge. Let’s see if I can spark a bit of happiness and bring a smile to your face with my selection:
Good food can bring back the spark to the dullest of days and lives doesn’t it? Like my son declared some years ago “It’s almost impossible to be angry on a full stomach.” Since then I have noticed, it is harder to be upset after food – the next time someone at home is cranky you know what to do right? 😉
Then there’s nothing like some precious chillax time with friends while riding out the upheavals of academic pressures and life in general. This is one of those times when nothing matters but now 🙂
A beautiful sunset at the end of a less than idyllic day. A new day awaits and hope surges things can only be better.
You are just fooling around, clueless and untrained – something clicks and you have the near perfect shot, good enough to please even your own nitpicking self. The wonder of learning something new can give quite an unparalleled high, don’t you think?
When a little boy shows off his Tarzanic genes 😀
While his elders (and little girls!) prefer to take the more sedate route and dress up like their ancestors did.
Then there are other things that are guaranteed to bring a smile to my heart – chancing upon the white blossoms (or are they leaves?) of an unknown tree
A prefect green circle in the midst of a chaotic entangled bushy jungle
When life clings on and persists in the unlikeliest of places.
How the internet allows us to be there while sitting here – be it at the fag end of a day
or the beginning of a new day.
Of trees that perk up after long cold dreary overcast days and engage in a bit of arm wrestling under a perfect and gorgeously blue sky – from all the way from Dublin, Ireland.
Do you find joy and happiness in the little things of life? Did anything here make you smile? Do let me know!
But before I go, just in case these pics didn’t strike a chord, I must share this little piece to make up for taking up so much of your time:
“No sight so sad as that of a naughty child,” he began, “especially a naughty little girl. Do you know where the wicked go after death?”
“They go to hell,” was my ready and orthodox answer.
“And what is hell? Can you tell me that?”
“A pit full of fire.”
“And should you like to fall into that pit, and to be burning there for ever?”
“No, sir.”
“What must you do to avoid it?”
I deliberated a moment: my answer, when it did come was objectionable: “I must keep in good health and not die.” ― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
May you all keep in good health and not die – at least not a moment before one has to!
A surreptitiously taken photo of the fascinating insides of a bike in a busy marketplace.
The good old bicycle, the lifeline for many. I used to love cycling as a child and often wish I could cycle now as well, but I feel shy and embarrassed.
This one I have shared before, perhaps some of you remember. Quite an eye-catcher right?
A front view with minimal color. Which one do you prefer?
On the streets of Udaipur, while admiring a camel with its nose in the air.
The car and bike halt deferentially as the camel made its way sedately across the highway 😉
A bike parked near a distillation flask used to prepare rose essence.
Hmm not sure if those are the same bikes as in the previous pic. But the tree is definitely different – such character don’t you think? I’m fascinated by how trees don’t seem to have any requirement to follow rules. Anything goes and each to her own is their mantra. Yet each is particular and conscientious about fulfilling their CSR (corporate social responsibility) for the less fortunate. By just being, they replenish the oxygen in the air – isnt that amazing?
I was fascinated by this find and carried it inside for some special treatment
A collection of dried Ashoka tree leaves.
Banana leaves against a cloudy evening sky
Eucalyptus tree standing tall against the litchi trees. Don’t miss the fair elbows!
The greens attempts to tone down the exuberance of the reds
Next I have a really batty tree for you. Yes! those black things are bats waiting for darkness to fall.
A golden tree by the road
A mystery tree with strange tendrils hanging down like some exotic jewelry. Anyone know which tree? Ferdi?
The last one standing at the Chittorgarh fort. Oh the stories it could tell
This one’s having a really bad hair day 😀 Or perhaps it has seen some really hair-raising stuff in its heydays. After all this is the place for committing jauhar and sati.
I clicked this patch of clover leaves hoping to find a lucky four-leafed one at leisure. No such luck yet – what about you?
All neat and tidy, ready to toe the line and follow rules and regulations with not a hair out of place.
And then we have this place where there’s no sense or order, each to her own to be as she likes no questions asked. Which do you prefer?
And finally the Sun kisses this one good night 🙂
And steadies:
Look this way
And that way
A massive storage container. But I cannot quite fathom what exactly they stored – grains perhaps. But how did they scrape the bottom of the barrel? By climbing in I guess. Good place to play hide and seek but only if it is at least half full with solid stuff.
A view of the Chittor fort. These days, Sound and Light shows are held every evening on the lawns. Somehow in the sepia version I can hear the tinkling of anklets, perhaps a teasing laugh and the rustle of silk skirts. Can you?
Next I have a selection of doors – an ordinary wooden locked door
A grade higher – a designer door. It is clearly the residence of someone of some importance.
Just beyond the gate is the battlefield where the Rajputs fought the invaders. Elephants were used in battle and to hammer the gates open. And hence the spikes at the height of elephant heads to injure them – innovative but tragic for the innocent participants.
A steep flight of stairs and as the warning sign indicates very low roofed as well. The City Palace at Udaipur is a maze of such flights of stairs from which there is no escape especially for the scrunched up outsider. Smart thinking eh.
A BW version of street art – the previous post of Cee’s 
Back to the palace walls and its intricate design.
Woody branches waiting for spring to pass before growing leaves to protect itself from the blazing Sun. Strange isn’t it that trees undress during winters and dress up in summers?
See anything you like? The elephant in the middle seems to be a rip off from the one at the City Palace
And why not? Unmatched in size and strength, they are a symbol of power and invincibility.
This is a replica of Chetak the famous horse of Maharana Pratap. Chetak is still revered for his bravery and loyalty towards his master and hence the snout signifying elephant-like strength.
One of the horses of the current Maharaja in its stable.
A saddled horse waits for potential riders with his master.
A decked up camel looking for parking space amongst cars
I tried to capture a bird in flight – did you notice the twig in its beak? An architect!
Look who’s here to catch a flight! How many can you see?
Kitty ponders on the meaning of life – to descend or not to descend
An adopted stray dog chills out on his brand new bed
Loved the coils of the snake in this sculpture
Look who’s taking a stroll on the highway. But of course they are blessed with divine protection. One is the vehicle of Yama Lord of Death and the other a favorite of the Lord of the Lords.
Kalika Mata Temple an 8th-century temple at Chittorgarh Rajasthan India. The upper parts of the structure are more recent.
Vijaya Stambh is an imposing victory monument built in 1448 AD. Constructed of red sandstone and white marble, Vijay Stambh is nine storeys tall with a height of 37.19 meters and a base height of 3.0 meters. Another version and other details are in an earlier 
The inner structure of a modern day cafe
And now time for my latest craze – the teak leaf. It’s massive with such well defined structure don’t you think?
Howzz that for intricate structure?
A leaf decaying but the structure, unlike for other stuff, is the last to go.
The neat structure of a handmade woven stool made of reed and rayon strings
I am, in all honesty, not a big fan of roses but this one’s near perfect structure and symmetrical asymmetry was captivating.
Two pigeons out for an evening walk
A bit of a deep discussion on household matters perhaps? She seems to be giving him the push to do something…
He yields but she doesn’t seem to happy with his choice of bedding for their little one does she?
There aren’t any birds here but these were the cages for the carrier pigeons who acted as trusted couriers between kings, queens and paramours.
Birds in the walls of the palace – such long graceful necks don’t you think?
Oh look that’s a bird, no it’s a plane…darn it. But it sure does look like a bird doesn’t it? No? Well, I need to get my eyes tested. 😉
Caught this philosophical and reflective robin on the wall of an ancient temple
And this one wears a stuffed glassy expression. Perhaps it spotted his boss while playing hookey 😀
There’s Scooby and his toy penguin.
Gorgeous stunning mirror mosaic work popularly known as ‘inlay’ in India most commonly seen in Rajasthan.
And another one.
Yes that’s a bird – 
An impressive tree, I think, a mango tree perhaps. If so she would have been stoned, prodded and climbed all over the entire long summer. But undaunted, unconcerned she has continued her journey to reach for the sky.
I come closer. She allows a money plant to drape her like a scarf, even allow a lamp to rest on her curves.
Hey wait! That’s no drapery – it’s growing out of her. Just another surrogate mother for one who is not even her kind. My kind? she asks. What’s that? All life is my kind.
Just look at those wounds and scars. Don’t they hurt? I ask. No she shakes her branches.
Liar. I choke on tears as I walk over to the other side. Her silent howl of despair unheard in this vast preoccupied universe.
I was, as you can see terribly enamored and bedazzled by this window and couldn’t resist sharing another look – the evening look. Missed the other one – 
Then there was this Coffee Zone right above a horror house. Don’t miss the wrapchics on the left – very innovative don’t you think? 😀
Next I have some jazzy colorful clothes for you to admire and gaze at with bedazzled eyes. No they aren’t for sale.
These jazzy dresses are meant for tourists to wear and pose for photographs. Most hill stations have these and once my son too was lured in and dressed up in a purple kingly gown wielding a sword. 😀
After those heavy dresses, time to give the eyes some rest by gazing upon the bare zigzag branches of yet another bindaas tree 🙂
A warm winter afternoon on a long weekend – any guesses on how many would be dozing or snoozing at a time?
The zinc laden Aravali mountains in and around Udaipur, Rajasthan. Can you see it shining and reflecting the sunlight?
Those are the zorb balls – in case you didnt know. I didnt! Apparently they are the in thing and are available in aqua, ground and body versions. You can get in, singly or in groups and then enjoy being thrown around. Looks like fun – from far! 😀
Stories and more 