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It's all just #forest and this #abutment.

Or at least I can frame things that way 😁

Insta insists on cropping the sky out of this pic. Sigh.

And here, #hidden in the #foliage, lies the other end of the #bridge

The old #bridge spanned this #river. The river somehow has no name; it just meets the #Ganga at Phool Chatti

The new framing the old. Where somehow the old is better maintained and more elegant than the new.

Spectacular #sunset scenes like this one are a bonus

...and away from the #chaos of the #city.

Birding brings me close to #nature...

Did you know that the middle seats at the rear of the aircraft have statistically the lowest fatality rate in an accident? See https://www.rd.com/article/safest-seat-on-airplane/

On a similar note, based anecdotally on my 18 years of experience working with various railways zones, here in my opinion are the three best run zones of the Railways:
South Western Railways
Southern Railways
Konkan Railways
Western Railways comes in a close fourth.

These organisations are run by professional railwaymen and women.

And where, then, might you find the kind of clowns who ignored multiple checks and processes, and caused the Balasore catastrophe?

South Eastern Railway and Eastern Railway top the list, of course
Northeast Frontier Railway
And the great East Coast Railways, under whose aegis Balasore falls
North Eastern Railways brings in the rear

What does this mean? It means that I'd hop into an SWR or SR train without a second thought. They'd go above and beyond to ensure my safety.

Edit: Oh wow. I found a statistical study from a decade ago that reaffirms that the southern tracks are safer than the eastern ones, and those in the indo gangetic plain. https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/Why-certain-zones-are-prone-to-railway-accidents/article15619040.ece

https://youtu.be/_RFTnb4nC-A

A very interesting take on the safety of Indian Street food versus expensive hotel buffets.

I never thought about it. Some of the street vendors I've eaten at, have been there for years. They wouldn't be there if they were getting people sick.

Gurgaon-walon, apparently there is a Gurgaon Reads that meets every Saturday evening at Leisure Valley. Wah bhai.

आज सुबह की photos की खेती

#Peaches, #apricots and #apples. And #fog. So much #fog. Or are they just #clouds?

They made a comic about me

Don't go into the #mountains in the #monsoons, they said. We've been driving through #clouds and the #rain for hours now. Wonderful #roads so far.

Petition to respell "puncture" as "puncher" in India.

(We need an Oxford/Cambridge or Merriam-Webster style authoritative dictionary of our own. With all our "misspellings", loanwords from South Asian languages, and unique grammatical formations, we speak an English that's entirely our own. High time the government recognised Indian English as a language that needs official attention and investment.)

How is "Army Brat" a literal personality type in India?

This morning, at a humble eatery on Wheeler Road, I met an old friend for breakfast. On the table across, sat a couple having a lover's tiff. The man, dressed in workmen's clothes, spoke animatedly. Whenever he paused for breath, the woman, dressed tip to toe in a burkha, would stuff a morsel of dosa into his mouth. Whenever the woman spoke, the man listened intently, then nodded. They didn't hold hands; the only contact was when her dosa touched him.

[I don't have a photo. They have their privacy. I had the privilege of observing true love operate.]

Fun Intended is the band name. In free fun events, Bangalore isn't behind Goa or San Francisco!

Oh, #Bangalore. For five days the traffic and chaos f*** with you. On the sixth day, the city soothes you back to life.

Or, perhaps, Marathahalli and Vasanth Nagar are chalk and cheese.

The king. Chilling brightly in the middle of Cunningham Road.

The guards smiled as I took the pic. He has a fan club 😁

https://aninews.in/news/business/business/thinvent-neo-5-newly-launched-mini-pc-aims-to-cater-to-a-wide-consumer-base20230619160309/

More #cloud #paintings, as night falls over the #japanesegarden in #Vasco. Is that #Grande in the distance, or #Pequeno?

#Clouds #painting the #sky last evening. View from #Baina beach, looking out towards #Pequeno and #Grande islands.

A surprise welcome at the #Goa airport yesterday.

Of course, no picture in India is complete without Modi shining through.

#Dabolim #dance #music

In Bangalore all of this week. Anyone wanna catch up?

So apparently I was out #birding two years ago, in #Pangot. Chasing angry wet #birds

We got to meet up with the skater girl. And watch her in action! And participate. Woo hoo.

When you buy gifts for your friends, and they like them ❤️

For too long I've shown up at people's homes, eaten their food, drank their wine, and then promptly gone to sleep on their couch. Someone finally gathered evidence.

Some not so drunken dancing

A lovely evening spent catching up with old friends.

More magic from #Alvekodi

#Karnataka #incredibleindia #clouds #sea

I don't think we've ever experienced anything quite like the #Alvekodi #Sea Walk.

#Karnataka #incredibleindia #clouds

#Maravanthe is the opposite of #BabaBudanGiri. It looks better in pictures than when you're actually there.

#Karnataka #nature #indiaclicks

Being #blue at the #Alvekodi Sea Walk.

#sea #Karnataka #Ambedkar #clouds

#Maravanthe was a bit of a let down. I suppose it's the kind of place that only looks glorious in drone pics.

#Karnataka #India #indiaclicks #incredibleindia

So many big #fish in the #Tunga river.

#Karnataka #nature

Baba Budan Giri. Pictures cannot capture the beauty of this place.

#nature #Karnataka #naturephotography #india

The view from #Sravanabelagola.

You can almost see the curvature of the earth 😳

#clouds #Karnataka #panorama

So, the kids went to the OG Amoeba on Church Street today

(Warning: noisy)

I've been unable to work for some days. So we stepped out tonight for a change in scenery and some fresh(er) air. Spending the night #camping at an #arecanut #farm.

The Southern Plains Grey #Langurs also took full advantage of the foliage in the forests of #Dandeli to hide.

#nature #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #wildlife #indiaclicks

The other fascinating creature in the hills of #Dandeli is the #Malabar Giant #Squirrel or shekaru. This cute and majestic animal lives high up on tall trees. It's bushy tale is a sight to behold as it scurried from one place to another.

#nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography

This pair of Malabar Hornbills was way up in the trees, well hidden. And it was a cloudy morning. Hence I've had to do some post to bring out the details of the pics.

#birdsofindia #birds #Dandeli #Goa #nature #naturephotography

In January we went camping in Dandeli. There we met the Grey Malabar Hornbill, a.k.a. dhanesh, gobre vaayre or kaldal hakki.

#birds #goa #Dandeli #birdsofindia #nature #naturephotography

This tube was destroyed by the kids within minutes of this pic being taken. Fun times :-D

Throwback to when we went camping by the Terekhol river.

A sea eagle story. In four parts.

Yeh mile the hamein, kabhi. Abhi camera mein se nikala.

A question about the generation gap.

I've been briefly hospitalised (all well now). My son X is my attendant. There was a question I needed to ask the nurse, so I told X to go ask them at the nursing counter on the floor.

X instead pressed the bell to call the nurse. I told him that's inappropriate. He insisted it's her job to come and answer questions. My opinion is that she should have to come only if there is a procedure to be done on the immobile patient. If it's just a question then X can walk down and ask.

So here's the generation gap thing: my opinion is that unemployed kids have no right to order anyone around for anything.

Aren't school going kids, like, lowest down in the socio-economic hierarchy? The nurse's job is to attend to patients, but at least she has a job. This guy has no job. And it's his summer vacation. Why can't he leg it to the nursing counter instead of just sitting around.

His counter argument is that, well, what is he supposed to do at a restaurant then? Not call the waiter? Waltz into the kitchen and generate the KOT himself?

Has me bamboozled, this one. What's your opinion?

Internet hivemind, need help with trip planning.

What are some good places to see between Kovalam (Chennai) and Goa in the heat of May? We have marked some places on the attached map, between D and J. The numbered items are all the places we considered visiting.

(The map is gonna be hard to see on a phone. You'll need a desktop to zoom in and see.)

Dates of travel: 19 to 23 May, Pondicherry (firm dates). From 24th, surfing at Kovalam, and then onwards to Goa. Come see us when we are in Pondy, Kovalam or Bangalore?

Things of interest: nature - water bodies, birding, surfing spots, hills. Adventure activities. Things not of interest: temples.

आप दिल्ली आएं, बारिश हो जाए, और आप Zorba में हों। और क्या चाहिए?

Throwback to our caravaning+camping trip to Himachal four years ago.

They're having a prom!

(No, they haven't finished school yet.)

His favourite part of the Prom

Something about this gesture, of a senior student encouraging a junior through the finale performance of Imagine...

Kavin made his big screen debut today, in a ̶h̶o̶m̶e̶ school video.

The part where Nilay appeared was too hilarious for me to be able to record.

The big boy is in the red hat at the back

Somebody cleaned up nice today

More dancing at the annual day