Museum Treasure: The golden throne of Maharaja Ranjit Singh

The Victoria and Albert Museum (or the V&A) in London has a fantastic collection of artifacts from India, that includes textiles, jewellery, paintings, weapons, etc. While many of these have been purchased by the V&A, some of the exhibits have been acquired during annexation of the princely states of pre-independent India by the British. One such exhibit is the Golden Throne of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, which was acquired as State property in 1849 on the annexation of Punjab.

The golden throne of Maharaja Ranjit Singh

A morning at Marina Beach

The Guest Post Series on “My Favourite Things” has contributions by those sharing my interests in travel, books, music, and on issues that I am passionate about. Though the guest posts are not always by fellow bloggers, the guest authors are always those who have interesting experiences to share.

Today’s guest post is by a fellow blogger, Puru of Shadows Galore, who writes about his travels, photographs, memories and more. I eagerly wait for Puru’s travel posts as he is always visiting and writing about places that I have wanted to visit. My favourites are his posts on Sri Lanka and Angkor Wat. His series on Learning Photography is simple, easy and with instructions that actually work. In this post, Puru presents a photo essay on a morning spent at the Marina Beach in Chennai.

My last few days in Chennai saw me exploring the city and going to places where I had always thought of going but never actually did. So today I went to Marina Beach, the third longest beach in the world and the largest in Asia. Of all the beaches in Chennai, it happens to be the most dynamic and hence the most well known.

So early at 4:30 AM, I woke up and started for the beach with my camera. It was quite dark yet and the horizon had just started turning a few shades lighter. As the sun rose, I took a lot of photographs and I am sharing some of them here for you:

A crow signals the day break

Travel Shot: The wandering pianist

The candidness of street photography is something that I admire and appreciate. But it is also something that I feel inhibited to try it out myself as I feel very self-conscious about taking such candid shots. That is perhaps one of the reasons why you will rarely find people in my photographs.

But sometimes, people photo-ops are so compelling that my camera is out and the picture taken in no time. Like this wandering pianist I came across in London.

The roses at Regent’s Park

Work-wise, mid-March to mid-May is a little crazy for me—my department works on all days without a break during this period. Though my colleagues and I (and our families) are used to the punishing work schedule, it does get a little stressful at times. And that’s the cue to take a break, even if it is for a short while. We have our different ways of de-stressing. I do it by taking a little walk, talking to a friend on the phone, reading something funny, going through my digital photograph collection …

Earlier today, when work and deadlines loomed and threatened to overwhelm me, I decided to take a break by taking a walk. A virtual walk. A virtual walk in Regent’s Park, London—one of my favourite places in the world. Regent’s Park is one of the Royal Parks in London and has over 100 acres for outdoor sports activities. Located in Central London, the Regent’s Park is over 400 acres in size and includes the world-famous Queen Mary’s Gardens. The official website claims that the Gardens have 400 varieties of roses, as well as a collection of delphiniums and begonias.

During my year in London (2008-2009), it was a place that I walked in, relaxed in, picnicked in … It was a place that gave me refuge when studies or homesickness overwhelmed me. It was, in many ways, my own personal space in spite of being a public park, something that wasn’t too difficult considering I lived opposite the Park ! I have such a connection with the Park, that even thousands of miles away in Mumbai, it is not too difficult to do a virtual walk whenever I feel like, especially when I have photographs of Regent’s Park. One of my favourite sets of photos is of of the roses at the Queen Mary’s Gardens

Travel Shot: The Chinese fishing nets of Cochin

Cochin or Kochi is a beautiful city and a photographer’s delight. I was in the city for 2 days in November in 1998 as part of a larger and a very memorable trip along the West coast of India (you can see a couple of pictures from that trip here and here). Even today, I can vividly recall the sights and smell of Jew town, the spice markets, Cherai beach and of course the strange-looking, but extremely photogenic Chinese fishing nets.

Chinese fishing nets at Cochin

It was late afternoon when we reached the area where the Chinese fishing nets were (I can’t really remember the area now). And what a sight it was. The cozy winter sunlight made everything look soft and dreamy. And the Chinese fishing nets looked delicate as if they were spun out of air and sunlight and sea-foam. The gentle wind made the nets mirror the rippling sea waves. It was a magical sight.

So magical, that I had no recollection of taking this photograph. It is only when I developed the film roll (yes, it was that far back) and saw the photographs that I found this one among the set.I found this yesterday among some other photographs and decided to share it with you here.

The Chinese fishing nets in Cochin are probably one of the most photographed “sights” in India and that too from all angles and all possible moods. Just type these words in any search engine and you’ll know what I mean. And yet, each photograph is special as it captures the mood through the photographer’s lens. Just like mine.

So tell me, have you photographed the Chinese fishing nets of Cochin? Do share the link in the comments section. I would love to see your images and the mood that you have captured.

Travel Shot: The white peacock

The Leeds Castle in the Kent county of England is a beautiful castle and located in very picturesque settings—the kind that’ll take your breath away. The extensive grounds offer opportunities for picnicking, playing golf, jousting tournaments, knight school, and so on.

The man at the ticket counter was very helpful in pointing out the various attractions at the Castle. So, when he told me not miss seeing the peacocks, I didn’t really believe him or pay much attention to this fact. Having seen many peacocks in India, they were not really on my priority list of things to “see” in the Castle.

But as it happened, I didn’t really have to go looking for the peacocks; they happened to be loitering near the path I was taking to the Castle. I actually heard the peacocks before I saw them, or rather I heard the “oohs” from the adoring tourists. It’s only when I saw the first one that, I couldn’t help “oohing” myself ! See for yourself:

The White Peacock at Leeds Castle