Tag: Telangana

IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

TEXTURED PHOTOS

Are you also like me and love collecting textures whenever you travel from one place to another? I think monuments, old buildings, or for that matter anything and everything a bit oldy-goldy has an interesting texture to it. I have slowly started collecting them and maybe someday I will have a good number of them. This photo below has a combined texture of a wall of a monument, an old page from ‘The Bible’ and maybe one of Michaelangelo’s Gothic paintings. You might see that painting if you move about a feet or two away from your monitor. I don’t normally process all my photos with textures, but once in a while something really interesting pops up. What do you think?

ST MARY’S CHURCH

Hehe, I don’t know why I have such an absurd title for this post but I found it funny enough 🙂 I think it has got something to do with that Trinitarian formula and churches and Hollywood flicks. No matter how many movies I have watched having an element of Christianity in it, whether it be about exorcism or chasing away the ghost I always hear them saying this.

While inside the St Mary’s Church, Hyderabad I thought it would look something like those churches of the Western world from the Renaissance period. But, this had not much of those glitter and shimmer. Not many colourful glasses and panes, but simply wooden and cemented arches. Anyway, since I was already there I thought of taking a few pictures when the security guard nudged me from behind and said I couldn’t take pictures inside. “Oh cmon man! I am doing God a holy service by taking his beautiful picture and you don’t want me to do that?!!“, I thought. Moreover, there was no one inside. I think he was more interested in performing his exorcism on me and didn’t let me go ahead. Anyway, I had already taken a few pics by then Mr Guardy-doodle-doo! 😀 High-five!!

by Categories: Hyderabad, IndiaTags: , , , , , , , , , 14 Comments

12.12.12 : AGAIN WE BEGIN!

Yet again, it has been a long time since I last posted anything. I apologize for that. But, I do have my own good reasons too. I had gone to New Delhi for about a month or so. Good news is, I have lots of pictures from the trip 😀 Now, I am not the one who will join the ‘post-a-day‘ brigade and start posting a picture everyday (Hehe, then I will have to declare myself photo-krupt = photo+bankrupt in just a few days! 😛 ) But what I can definitely tell you is, I will try to post more often.

For those of you who may know (and those who don’t 😉 ) from September-end till mid-January, India goes into something what I call the “celebratory mode“. That being said, there are lots of festivals during this period in the calendar. From Ganesh Chaturthi in the South to Durga Puja in the East; from Diwali to Muharram and from Guru Nanak Jayanti to Christmas to Makar Sankranthi, there are so many things happening that my friends often complain they become fat during this part of the year (eating sweets, of course 😀 ). So in-case you’re planning your Great India tour, I just gave you a few reasons! (Oh wait, I actually skipped so many)

Talking about Diwali, it is regarded as the festival of Lights. Beautifully decorated clay lamps are lit, firecrackers burnt and sweets are exchanged between family and friends. This picture of the Buddha Statue in the centre of Hussain Sagar lake in Hyderabad, India was actually taken last year. It has a funny story behind it.

I was strolling around the lake when a drunkard sat across a bench opposite mine. Seeing a camera in my hand, he started laughing hard and saying something in a language I wonder even the martians won’t understand. Maybe he was asking me to record him and make a kindergarten movie! 😀 Although not sure, but I hear that wine is an integral part of the South Indian culture. I left that fella in his own funkadelic world. Here’s another picture of some colourful lights from outside a temple.

by Categories: Hyderabad, IndiaTags: , , , , , 15 Comments

The Journey Begins !!

… laces tied … bags packed … and I am ready for the ultimate hop … and as  Neil Armstrong would say “One small step for a Man, a giant leap for Mankind”.

Namaste 🙂 and a very warm welcome to Hopping Across Cultures. I know that my brothers and sisters in Europe and the Americas would be smiling, as my warm’ness  is doing rather too less a thing to prevent the cold waves from hitting, but you get me. 😉 And at the same time, I thank you from the core of my heart for accompanying me in this journey, and I hope you enjoy every moment of it.

This being the first post, let me begin by saying what ‘Namaste’ really is! You will be shocked that most of my fellow-men use the word everyday, but don’t really know its deeper meaning 😀 It goes something like this : “The divinity within me salutes the divinity within you”. In other words, it means  bringing the palms and fingers of your hands together, and bowing to the God in the other. The syllables ‘Na’ and ‘Ma’ means “Not Me” and ‘Te’ means “Thee or God”. So, ‘Na’ and ‘Ma’ refers to the ego that steps back in reverence to the God. So “Namaste” also reminds us that we should all treat each other with love and respect because that same God is in all.

Here, watch this :

Now, that you have watched the funny video by Pastor Smith, I welcome you once again. Namaste!

Being from India, and the World knowing India as a peaceful country with lots of colours and traditions, my first image is of a beautiful temple from Hyderabad. I will talk about it in a later post. Till then, I wish you the very best. Happy Journey!! 🙂

by Categories: Hyderabad, IndiaTags: , , , , , , , 3 Comments