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India’s largest salt lake. Designated as a Ramsar site (recognized wetland of international importance), Sambhar Lake is home to thousands of migratory birds, including its most famous visitor - the colorful flamingo. The lake has also provided salt for the local communities for thousands of years.

This boy was learning the ropes to navigate a boat. In the background is a pillar from the new bridge. The boat actually is a tree trunk, which has been hollowed from one side !!! No joints or planks mean zero maintenance.

Lalita sells little trinkets such as these ankle chains, to the tourists in Pushkar market.
She is 10 years old and last year started her schooling at the new free school for girls in Pushkar. It has made an enormous difference to her life, and happily for Lalita, her mum is overjoyed at the opportunity for her daughter, one that she never had.

Lalita is bright at as a button and has caught on fast. She speaks good english, which is taught at the school, and she is learning to read and write. Mum also gets to attend on Fridays where they help her to learn to read too.

Its a wonderful place and has provided a much needed educational opportunity for the girls of the little town.

A Morning scene at Podicherry beach side..usually a lots of people will come here for morning walking near beach side.. Morning Exercises good for health but waking up in early morning is very tough from wonderful sleep ;)

Same stor from this gentlemen..can't able to control his sleep.. Come on man its time for your Exercises :)

In a rural area outside Bhuj in the west of Gujerat, known as the Kutch area. The women in the rural areas go out at the end of the day to collect bundles of firewood for the evenings' cooking. They often walk a long way with these bundles on their heads, smiling cheerfully and gossiping. I tried to lift one of these bundles once and it is incredibly heavy.

I was just passing this doorway in the morning and spotted this little group waiting for their school to open - Cochin, Kerala, South India.

Two fisher men returning happily after selling their daily catch at fish market.

Explored. #323 on 15th Feb 2009

About 2500 years old, the main stupa at Sanchi is said to contain the relics of Siddharth Guatam, popularly known as Gautam "Buddha". Although many dynasties have added their own work over time, Ashoka of the Maurya dynasty had originally conceived the idea of building the stupas.

Above: One of the 4 gates to the main stupa at Sanchi. This, as the name suggests is the Northern Gate. This is also the most decorated as well as the most well preserved one.
The whole gate is divided into 22 sections with different carvings that depict various scenes. Example, Buddha leaving his home at Kapilvastu [not visible here though:)] etc.

Bharata natyam dancer of Sri Devi Nrithyalaya - Chennai (Madras), South India .
Bharata-natyam is one of the traditional Indian dances, other performing arts being kuchipudi, kathakali, mohiniattam, chhau, manipuri.
In this Classical dance form of Bharata natyam, the music and costumes play and important role. In these photos you can see different traditional dance costumes.
Devadasis , temple dancers, were performing nritta and abhinaya in the temples. They learnt "bharata natyam" at classical classes the history of mudras (hand gestures), songs, and performed their arangetram dances. You can buy dvds videos of Bharata_natyam. You can see famous Bharata natyam dancers in this Bharata-natyam picture.

my aunt lives right in front of a temple here in Kochi, Kerala nd last weekend when i got here there was a festival goin on for the Hindu God Lord Shiva who is a major Hindu god, and one aspect of Trimurti. In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the supreme God. In the Smarta tradition, he is one of the five primary forms of God.
The festival was lot of fun they had alot of people dressed up, even elephants, fireworks, loads of em. The road right in from of the temple that is more than a mile long was closed nd lined up with fireworks layers in gun powders nd once the sun had set they lit it it was like a big fireball with continous massive explosions. Overall it was alot of fun!!

Abhay, Leila, Dhriti and Jaswant gaze at me as I wander on the edge of the Thar desert as the sun rises one October morning. They are the children of nomadic gypsy folk who camp at the edges of the desert.

Kusum is a leprosy survivor ....she weaves bags and table clothes using the traditional charka ... the hospital where I work has provided some space for her weaving equipment as part of their community programme the bags are sold for Rs120/piece

I haven't had a chance to see the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" yet but, and sorry for sounding preachy, sadly for the overwhelming majority of Indians born into poverty... that's exactly the same way they will die.

In the lanes of the Laad Bazaar at Charminar, if you are dazed by the gleaming bangles and take a walk inside...there are workshops where you can give orders for embroidery. This saree that this Karigar was making had already taken him 10 days. Apparently this saree would 15 days of concentration, ardent efforts to complete! Was quite a sight!

A very dear friend, Eren, who went to India with me last year, and Gajendar, our guide in Hampi. Gajendar, a PHD student working on his own book about the history of Hampi, was a great guide and a very sweet and decent person. We were lucky to run into him in the tourism office among all the so many tourist guides in Hampi. He also introduced us to this incredibly delicious snack called chilli, a deep-fried piece of dough with a whole chilli pepper burried in it. It's HOT!! It is seriously hot but equally YUMMY :)) We ended up eating it everyday. Don't leave Hampi without trying it!

With no exaggeration, not a single moment in Hampi goes by without fascinating you. Every step you take will reveal so many hidden beauties.

There is just so much to say about Hampi that I don't even know where to start. Google it. I mean it, really, read about it. You'll see that it's well worth your time. It is one of the most astonishing places that I have ever seen!! It's full of ancient temples, monuments, ruins from the Vijayanagara Empire scattered all around a vast area, most of which are still erect and absolutely amazing. It's located on the banks of the Tungabhadra River.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Gandhar is his name. hes the night watchman and a caretaker for a farm that my friend owns. always in his thoughts, a lone rider

......We shall lose our job and livelihood !
This is a ticklish question ! For all these years a batch of women conservancy workers are manually carrying water up the hill to the public toilet maintained for the visiting tourists at Adhirappilly falls in Kerala.
( I thank Mr.Ezhil Ramalingam for his idea in taking these candid shots ! )

"e.m. bypass" is one of the busiest route here in kolkata... once upon, this whole region was used for cultivation... but now a days, sky scrapers are increasing so fast that these peoples harvesting field is dramatically declining.....

This is Fort Kochi in Kerala very close to the new bridge that joins that island to the Willingdon Island due north and east.

Close to the bridge is an area full of saw mills on the shore. One of the days I saw an elephant engaged by a saw mill owner to re arrange his stack of wooden tree trunks on the roadside.

Photographing elephants is a tricky business as the dark hide does not light up too well in a photograph and you have to be wary and careful to not get the elephant irritated. One has seen in Kerala and Assam, enough damage caused by elephants to be wary and watchful of them and maintain a safe distance,

It is a marvelous sight to see the effortless ease with which the elephant goes about picking up the tree trunks and stacking them. What really is amazing however is the grace and finesse with which the great animal does the work. Delicate and heavy, both at once.

Tapo Ratna has been a Jain Sadhu for the past 9 years. She is 32 years old. She is part of the "Svetambara" order, a very strict one. She is holding the "Rajurharan" in her hand, the symbol of that order. I met them in Mysore and spend a day walking with them on january first from Mysore to Brindavan..
On this image, you can see all her belongings next to her. The red bowl is called a "Patra". They can't use cars, buses, electricity, light..... etc.. They dress in white cloth.

I'll post a few pictures of my encounter with them.

Jaila has a small cart selling the usual knick-knacks, but also some very fine quality photographs of Pushkar some taken by her husband, others by Travelers who have donated their work.

The students union at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, on 10th February 2009, organized a demonstration to protest against fee hikes, renting out university space for commercial purposes, and tampering with the reservation policy for students from deprived sections. The protests saw students participating in large numbers: their enthusiasm could not be dampened by a sudden shower or strong cold winds; soon, the sun reappeared in its warm glory as the protests continued with feverish sloganeering, agitated speakers with fingers raised to question all injustices, and refreshing songs in chorus reverberating in fervent claps.

JNU remains the last vestige in the Indian intellectual mindscape, ferociously guarding left ideologies in both its liberal reason and radical grandeur. This is the same campus where the multinational Nestle was asked to shut shop a few years ago, where every social and political event in the country elicits an opinion and a response, where rightist political leaders dread stepping in and are hooted out when they mistakenly do so. Ironically, the visual landscape of the campus has changed in the last few years. In perceptibly 'soft' ways this space is no longer sacrosanct, brand visibility is up, times are changing, but the fight is still on!

Parijat Academy

It was a long conceived vision of Uttam Teron to instil love for learning in the underprivileged children whose parents have to struggle hard to make both ends meet. The Parijat Academy is the realisation of that vision.
A majority of the parents of these children labour hard to earn their livelihood and also sell home made rice beer to meet their family expenditure.
Established in 2003, and starting with just four children in a small room with a pair of desk and bench, this secular and non profit school at present has 478 students.
Education is free for these children, who are now learning subjects like Assamese, Hindi, English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Environmental Studies, Moral Education, Drawing, Recitation and Music.
What is really a treat to the eyes is the view of these children, who would have never gone to a school, punching at the keyboards of the computer.
The school also has library facility for the children, which is being supported by a non resident Assamese couple.
The school covers nine tribal villages – Pamohi, Mahguapra, Deosutal, Garchuk, Mainakhorong, Dhalbama, Nowagaon, Garoghuli and Garbhanga.
Though not too far away from the capital, this area is plagued by myriad problems. The area lacks health care facilities. The literacy rate is very low. Children, specially the girls, are required to take care of household works and are deprived of education.
“We want 100 percent poor children to be educated. For this, Parijat Academy is providing free education to the children. It will take 15 to 20 years to bring the desired change in this area. It is a long term project. But we have made a beginning,” said Uttam Teron.
The hilly track to Garbhanga is motorable only during winter. Amidst this gloomy atmosphere, Uttam Teron is bringing rays of hope to the people. Uttam is planning to adopt two schools in Garbhanga and sponsor a few teachers from Parijat Academy for appointment in these schools.
I read about Uttam some years ago and was in contact with him through mail, encouraging him to open an account in some bank where people can contribute directly to the account.
Yesterday I got this reply.

To
Joe

Sir,
Today I got the ICICI bank account number of Parijat Academy.
Now you can directly transfer to this account.

details

ICICI Bank Ltd
Account No. 054301001492
Account Name: Parijat Academy
Branch: Fancy Bazar
Address: Ohio Shoping Complex, M G Road
Fancy Bazar, Kamrup District
Guwahati-781001, Assam


Looking forward to hear from you

Sincerely

Uttam Teron
Parijat Academy
a school for underprivileged children
Pamohi, P.O. Garchuk, Guwahati-781035, Assam
mobile: 9864041711

The term Siddis (also called Habshi) refers to a Negroid people in India.
They are the descendants of slaves first brought to parts of Pakistan and India by Arab merchants in medieval times from the Bantu-speaking parts of eastern Africa.

In Western India (today's Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra), the Siddi gained a reputation as being physically powerful and fiercely loyal. This made them popular amongst the local princes as mercenaries.
Most of the original Siddis live in the Sindh region of Pakistan, and the Gujarat region of India, and some mixed with local Indian people.
Courtesy: Wikipedia

From the belly of the crowd, he emerged, wrapped in fury and paper flames, head dangling like a Chinese dragon, hissing, spitting, retching his hatred onto the mesmerized audience. Behind him, an army of drummers pounded the beat of a thousand hearts.

We met this guitar strumming mom when exploring the village.The taste of the strong milky tea which she offered us still lingers in my mouth.

I met this brave old lady at the Khonoma village(20 kms from Kohima).Inspite of the heavy load of wood which she was carrying her smile was intact.