Taj Mahal reopened

Within a month's time the iconic Taj Mahal Palace hotel has reopened. Though the antique and priceless artworks are lost forever, this century old historic and heritage structure stands upright mocking at the attackers. Let us dedicate this celebration to the innocent and brave people who lost their lives in the attack. To the high spirit of India ...

Treasure from Kabul

7th December 2008

Again San Francisco Downtown !!! I went there this time with a friend. I drove in the downtown summarizing my previous day's saga of driving on Bay St. As always, she agreed to some of my complaints, justified few others and laughed at many other complaints. Anyways, our destination for the day in San Francisco was Asian Art Museum on Larkin St. First Sunday of the month admission is free, thanks to Target. But, it was so crowded that I was pushed around a bit :) I have been here before, but this visit was particularly to see the changing exhibition on "Hidden Treasures form Afghanistan". The artifacts were from National Museum, Kabul.


The gold ornaments excavated from 5 tombs at Tallya Tepe were on exhibit and the gallery was packed with people. It was nice to know the story of how did the archeologists find this treasure and how did the ornaments look like on the remains of a namadic woman (of course a picture). Most of the jewelry was made of fine gold and in few of the artifacts there was inlaid turquoise. I wondered how did those Afghani Nomads wear so much gold, while (now) we get scared to be get mugged even for fake jewelry :):) I remembered an ad saying "Diamonds are forever" ... here I saw "Gold is forever too" :)

There was another gallery which displayed the Sundials and few other artifacts from Afghanistan. Most of the artifacts showed the signs of Indian and Greek influence. It was nice to witness what we had studied in our high school history classes ... Alexander the Great ... Kanishka, the great Emporer of Kushans who ruled his empire from Kashmir to Bactria ... Asoka the Great, the great Emperor of Mauryan dynasty ... etc ... who might have influenced the art and culture ... Unforunately photography is not allowed in changing exhibitions :) Below is the picture of an artifact displayed in South Asian gallery ...

It was worth a visit ...

The beauty of Golden Gate Bridge

6th December 2008

For a long time I have been thinking of going to San Francisco to get the pictures of this gorgeous bridge from all different angles. I thought I could go there one day and drive around the bridge and easily get great photos. But what I didn't guess was the perfect weather and natural light. Sunny day in Sunnyvale doesn't mean sunny and clear in San Francisco. And also the dramatic pictures from others photographers didn't come in one visit !!


I went on a spontaneous expedition to San Francisco, my first stop being Fort Point. Then I realized that I may have to go there several times to several of those places which offer great views of this bridge to get good pictures. That means there will be many more posts on GGB. On my drive to Fort Point, I missed a left turn and then I was lost. Driving in San Francisco offers you an inexhaustible supply of surprises. They do not excite you or delight you but can get you crazy. The surprises that San Francisco threw at me in the form of traffic and 'no left' turns and ups and downs in road gave me shiver in the spine. At one moment I wanted to just give up and in the next I trusted my instinct and found my way up the Bay st, my car roaring up while all the signal green :) As I was in Presidio the grey of the city was transforming to green of the National Recreation area.

After reaching the first parking spot there total perspective of my plan changed. Now, I was not a photographer but was a traveler ... I wanted to walk along the beach, I was looking for some kind of solace. I walked along the beach from Marina Blvd to Fort Point. I saw the Golden Gate Bridge in the hazy light ... all its red masked ... the sailboats lined below it and also lined the horizon dominated the scene. There were kite surfers around. Their colorful kites gave life to the whole scene there. They were flying like butterflies in a blue garden ... blue being ocean and sky :)

Though it didn't rain much this year it is very cold ... and the shore winds get chills from the bottom of the spine ... woooh ... as I passed the dog walkers in the cold ... some kite surfers resting ... young lovers giggling hand in hand ... some seagulls shivering in the cold ... I watched the red bridge, sailboats, kites and waves ... Inhailng chilly wind and my hair getting sticky with ocean salt ... I was not thinking about anything particular ... it was peaceful and lively ... As I was nearing the Fort Point there was another parking lot ... it was like a park ... I saw a small procession there for 'Stop global warming' ... may be if they stop cars (inclusing cabs) in San Francisco and allow only public transport we could reduce global warming considerably ... There was a trail and I could hike up to the bridge but I chose to be there near the ocean ... and then I decided ... I will go back there ... every now and then ...

Wonderous Sunset !!!

Last weekend I visited this beautiful beach at Big Sur. Big Sur is very popular tourist destination on the coast of California. What makes it popular is the high rising Santa Lucia mountain range right on the coast. This gives the coast a rocky, rugged look and watching the waves crashing into the rocks is out of the world experience. The fierce waves have carved numerous sea arches and sea caves. Some of these are accessible and some are not. One of such easily accessible beach is Pfeiffer Beach.


There are numerous small sandy beaches for people to enjoy. At places tourists are gifted with sights of harbor seals, their pups, sea lions and thousands of birds ... Some, like Pfeiffer Beach, offer colorful seaworld exposed to the humans in the form of tide pools and one can enjoy the beautiful creation of nature. This starfish was just there on the rock and may be was the most photographed creature in the world for that day :) There were few sea anemones around too ... since the tide was high going near to those rocks was not sensible act.


Pfeiffer beach offers one of the memorable sunsets. I can go there everyday to watch the sunset. I went there two consecutive days driving for two hours one way and still I feel the urge to go back to witness this gorgeous phenomena. As the Sun sinks down towards the horizon watching the golden rays and the Sun himself through the window of the arch is priceless. The body and mind get so rejuvenated by absorbing that divine energy from those golden rays.

There was a line of photographers with their lenses focused on this single thing called Sunset and constant sound of clicks apart from the roaring waves. As those absolutely brave and strong waves rammed the rock with maximum force the water gushed through the arch reflecting the golden sunrays. From the time the water gushed and the water returned back to the sea there was a shower of clicks.

After the sunset the colors of sky were dramatic. People around disappearing into the dark never make you feel lonely. There is always the company of countless waves coming to the shore to see you. Few pictures uploaded on Flickr.