DC, 24.6.2012

as i have mentioned earlier we were in DC last Sunday... it was our first time in the Capitol... but the trip was more like 8 hours of driving and 8 hours at DC. so we did not really have the time to explore the city. we had gone there  to spend some time with our friend, Anupam who had come there to attend a workshop-conference. He had been put up in hotel Mariott Courtyard Chevy Chase at Wisconsin Avenue, Maryland. 

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since the hotel area was just a few metro stops away from the Capitol area of Washington DC, we decided to take a quick peek of the Capitol. so we took the metro to the Metro stop.... from where we walked a few blocks into the Capitol Area and saw the....

 Washington Momument...

rickshaws in USA (well in India these are common. but weren't really expecting them in DC)

    the Lincoln Memorial from a far...

the Jefferson Memorial from the other side of the Tidal Basin... where we also took a little break to feed Pradyot his dinner while he and Anupam chatted about.... i guess the weather and things like that :)

We then strolled down to the National World War II Memorial.. where we spent some time soaking our feet in the cool area and watching the ducks floating by.

 

 till it was time for us to take the road back.......

and then the most exciting and unexpected thing happened....  as we were walking by the White House zooming our cameras to get a good picture i suddenly spotted the President.....

and his family coming out of their abode for a walk in the White House Gardens... not sure if it was  really them i asked Nishi and Anupam to check.. but by then the activities of the security-officers had already confirmed that it WAS the President.... however since our cameras aren't the greatest so the only souvenirs we have of the day are these distant/blurry images of the President....

and the pleasant memories  of meeting a good old friend in a foreign land.......

aadab hyderabad....

yesterday while doing my rounds of blogosphere I stumbled upon 

Madhu Gopalan's lovely blog aadab hyderabad where she celebrates hyderabad and everything hyderabadi ! 

it reminded me of my hyderabad visit this august.

 i was there for the math-congress. but inspite of my 10 days stay, 

 i did not manage to see, smell or taste enough of the grand old city of the Nawabs and the Nizams... 

i however did manage a visit to the Charminar and  Laad Bazar, - the lane adjoining the four towers

which lies dotted with a myriad of colourful lakh and glass bangle shops....  

here are some of the photographs from that colourful  Hyderabadi lane...

me and sweta inside Charminar..... a narrow flight of stairs lead us there....

Inside the Charminar....

an ariel view from Charminar of the surrounding galis...

Mecca Masjid, as seen from Charminar..

The Hyderabadis....


the four towers and the tower clock...

Charminar, Hyderabad, August, 2010 .............
 till next time ... Khuda hafiz hyderabad ||

Kolkata.......

i believe each one of us who have lived in Kolkata for a while or have visited the city for a longish span of time have found a reason to fall in love with it .  though the old buildings of the "British-amal*"( as the Bengali's put it) which dot the administrative circles of the city, render it a charm of its own...... and the tramlines and the hand-pulled rickshaws are modes of transport that are specific only to Kolkata, they do not define this city for the likes of us.... for me, Kolkata isn't one of those cities where you simply trod the streets with your camera appreciating natural beauty or the architectural layouts.....

its appeal is of a different nature....  while some streets in Kolkata are better referred to as gourmet's paradise, others are the lanes for the book lovers and hordes of "aantels*" alike.... who are ever so ready with their suggestions and opinions on art, literature, music..... and life.   and if you are in one of those streets and you are unsure of which book to buy or which CD to pick from the racks of Music World, ...... in Kolkata you can always be assured that a voice will guide you from behind... a voice who recommends with such conviction that without further ado you are driven to purchase precisely that which has been recommended.... in this city it is not unusual that introductions happen over such recommendations and end therein... it is a city where poetries by Tagore and not just graffiti adorns the walls of  metro-stations.... it is a city where the localites wait for "boi mela"(book exhibition) with the same eagerness as Durga Puja... and at any time, any place  Tagore or Shakespeare is quoted for you in some context....     these are the nuances  that sets this city aside, lending it a flavour, a life and a charm of its own ...

besides the numerous tram-rides and "phooca-treats," these short uncalled-for yet pleasant interactions with complete strangers over a book or a CD  signature off  my experiences with Kolkata, the city of joy,- the city which i now call  home !!

[photograhs by google search] 

(*amal is the Bengali word for era)
(*aantel is a derivative for intellectuals  in Bengali. it is the word that best describes the cigarette smoking ubiquitous Bangali young-stars clad in jeans-kurta and kolhapuri chappals, carrying a jhola on their lean shoulders, who spend a considerable time of their college days in addas at Coffee house..... addas that revolve around politics, philosophy, foreign films, books and poetries..... )