Hello people! Cee’s put up a wonderful funny foto challenge this week, one that has dragged me out of my boring uninspiring world. Besides who can resist an opportunity to laugh or smile – well how about baring the teeth then?
At an outdoor event while the participants were readying, thise mom and child duo had a blast. It brought a huge smile to my face as they dashed about frolicking, jumping and generally freaking out without a care in the world. The little one was so quick on its feet that I could only manage a blur. The next one is a bit better.
Cute huh? That reminds me…
That’s a Minion! No it’s Superman err Superdog Scoobie Dooby Doo 😀 Dont miss the Royal Ignore pose.
What’s so funny you ask? Well how about you tell me the time?
A scarecrow in the garden but the gophers aren’t impressed. After all they aren’t crows 😉
As usual I left my favorite for the last. Take your time and read it carefully. Or at least until you find tomato sauce. And then turn the page
And marvel at the meal that echoes but most of all salute the spirit and the determination to survive despite all odds.
Have a wonderful weekend and do share your favorite foto or menu 😀
Hola people! I am terribly excited to be participating once again in Cee’s photo challenges. I didnt know how much I had missed them until now 😀 Thank you Cee! This one is a black and white challenge on the topic of circles and curves. Scroll down to see what I dug out from my archives – up to you to find the curves and circles. 😉
Starting with a demon mask to ward off any evil eye 😉
Moving in on a stationary bike 😀
Some shiny musical curves
A choosy guitarist, surely you can find a couple of curves?
Show off!
An English breakfast spread (from Dublin courtesy my lil sister and our friend)
A traditional Indian (more specifically Bengali) fishy meal served on a massive brass plate.
And here’s the original version at Rupali’s request! Did it help or worsen your craving? 😀
And end it with a finger-licking scrumptious butterscotch cake
Thank you for visiting! Do let me know which was your favorite shot. Have a super weekend.
This week’s photo challenge is about showing something twisted. So let’s see how twisted one can get…
Twisted metal rods that dot the rural landscape
Fed up with the twisted eyesores, nature takes things into her hands – when you can’t beat them, join them!
“Just a single cord is enough to be tangled” ― Munia Khan
“The reality of the other person is not in what he reveals to you, but in what he cannot reveal to you. Therefore, if you would understand him, listen not to what he says but rather to what he does not say.”Khalil Gibran
Once upon a time, I lived my life in this ‘green room’. Only the bed is missing.
“Man struggles to find life outside himself, unaware that the life he is seeking is within him.”Khalil Gibran
“The snow and the storm destroy the flower; but its seed they cannot kill.” Khalil Gibran
“You may chain my hands, you may shackle my feet; you may even throw me into a dark prison; but you shall not enslave my thinking, because it is free!”Khalil Gibran
The Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge this week is Lines. And guess what suddenly all I can see are lines 😀 I had to draw a line at the number of photos I dumped on unsuspecting visitors 😉
Let’s start on a high note okay?
Lines of wine bottles and delicacies to soothe the sugar cravings
Night lights and lines in a typical Indian Metro city. Any guesses as to exactly which city? Nope not Mumbai or Delhi 😉
Petals lined up in a neat circular pattern. That reminds me, enough of interiors! Let’s get hot and dirty.
The bare branched of the Plumeria or the Frangipani trees draw intricate lines in the hot summer sun.
One such tree though not of the trees which whiled away the time drawing lines 😉 This one is busy shooting lines at impossible angles that are in the process of being smothered by a green rash 😀
These Canna leaves have such interesting lines and am enjoying watching them blossom and grow with each watering.
This caladium leaf could easily be mistaken for playing host to a giant pink spider. Don’t you think so too?
Not just in life but in death too the leaves leave messages for us. What do you think it’s trying to say?
I think it is saying C you Soon 🙂
Have a wonderful weekend unmarred by any lines on your brow 😀
Don’t forget to pack it no matter where you go and even more importantly keep it handy – like your mobile.
Hmm not exactly what I was trying to portray, anyway
Yeah this is more like it 😀
Err how about an ice cream or two?
This one was too good to pass up 😀
Very creative dont you think? I just wish I had known about this a week ago – while attending a one week intensive workshop on how to save the world. Or something like that 😉
Before I sign off with these pearls collected from the internet and forwarded messages (i.e. none of these are mine) here’s a notice which may be of interest to at least some of you 😉
SUMMER CAMP FOR MEN
Evening classes for men. Starting this month!
Summer camp
Note: due to the complexity and level of difficulty of these contents, each course will accept a maximum of eight participants each.
Topic 1
How to fill ice-cube trays and why to fill water bottles before putting them back in the fridge.
Step by step with slide presentation.
Topic 2
Differences between the laundry basket and the floor.
Pictures and explanatory graphics.
Topic 3
Learning how to find things, starting with looking in the right place instead of turning the house upside down while screaming.
Open forum.
Topic 4
Health watch: bringing her flowers is not harmful to your health.
Graphics and audio tape.
Topic 5
Real men ask for directions when lost.
Real-life testimonials.
Topic 6
Is it genetically impossible to sit quietly while SHE drives?
Driving simulation.
Topic 7
Learning to live: basic differences between mother and wife.
Topic 8
How to be the ideal shopping companion.
Relaxation exercises, meditation and breathing techniques.
Topic 9
How to fight cerebral atrophy: remembering birthdays, anniversaries, other important dates and informing when you’re going to be late.
Admissions are open.
Which one do you think is most important or any that may have been missed?
This week for Becca’s Sunday Trees I bring one that has probably witnessed history that continues to hold significance today – from the precincts of the famous Chittor fort. I have previously shared several visuals from this place earlier as well but this particular tree overlooks the Sati sthal on one side and Jauhar kund on the other. I could not bear to take photos of the place where women burnt themselves along with the dead bodies of their husbands or jumped into it for fear of rape and slavery by plunderers and victors of wars.
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? 😉
Photo courtesy nephew
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.
Photos courtesy the niece in Nice err Lyon
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!
As I come out of my shell and explore my surroundings I can’t help but notice a unique seasonal feature around these parts. Spring and fall seem to coexist. Leaves carpet the roads and mounds of leaves dot the sides of the roads until they are carted off to their final resting place. And yet gardens are abloom with a riot of colors – pink purple yellow and magenta. The peepal tree outside my office is a case in point. It is almost bare with a few green leaves determinedly hanging on until they turn yellow and reluctantly make their way down to whence they grew to such dizzying heights. And yet whilst this tussle is on, a new unruly batch has already sprung up gung-ho and eager to make their mark in this world. I have been feeling too inhibited to click this particule tree but I did mix and match some photos in an earlier post – Peepal in Spring.
For this post I have captured a few contrasting images from the world around me. Come scroll with me…
Clutching at straws
Brilliant and defiant in death.
Life towers over and mocks at death – it is not for me!
Yet some die before their time
While others bloom despite all odds
Even when there appears to be no hope or escape
Only when we accept that ups and downs, life and death will happen can we move on and live life as she deserves to be led – wholly completely, entirely and unabashedly.