Matheran Path

Matheran — literally meaning forest above head. True said; it's a forest over the mountain heads reaching 800 meters (2625 feet) above the sea level. It's a tourist hill-station, and has been declared as a "No Vehicle Zone". I took many photographs there. Below photograph is one of them. Maybe, you will see more photographs from Matheran in my future posts.

Clean and Decent Monkey

On the road to Matheran last month, quite surprisingly, I met this cute little fellow who was very well-behaved. I must say he was the most decent monkey I have ever seen in my life!!! :) Sounds funny, but we all know how troublesome the monkeys are — they will snatch your food, check your camera out, climb on your shoulders, etc. But this guy was quite decent. I went very near to him and he allowed me to take his beautiful close-up photograph. The original photograph that I have is 37 times larger than this one. I have put 2 actual-pixel-crops of that large photograph below the full-frame photograph to give an idea of how much detail I got when such a mischievous species became a fashion idol…

This is the full-frame photograph reduced/resized to fit in the blog…

Following 2 are the actual pixels photographs, cropped to fit in the blog…

His eye…


His hairstyle… :)

To Park or Not To?!

In the lane opposite to the Karve Road Telephone Exchange, there are 2 traffic signs contradicting each other. One says to park vehicles there on the odd dates, and the other says that it's a no parking zone! Enjoy the photograph friends…



To give an idea where this place is, here is the location map…

View Larger Map

Funny Hoarding!!!

Can you find out what's funny in the below photograph of a hoarding? I found 2 funny things. I am sure you will find them on the first look, but still, let me announce that I will let you all know next week what made me laugh and photograph this hoarding.

I am waiting to see your responses… All your funny comments are welcome…

Moon and Sun in One Photograph

At the sunset time in Matheran, I was able to photograph this amazing thing. Look closely, the Moon and the Sun are both showing their beauty and uniqueness in one scene. For those who wish to enjoy this photograph in detail, please scroll down; I have put in a larger image, which you can keep on scrolling until you reach the sun :) Matheran is a very beautiful place. Me and my wife were there for 2 days last month. We knew that the sunset point is a beautiful place and you get to see one of the most beautiful sunsets on the planet, standing 800 meters (2625 feet) above the sea level with giant mountains all around. We reached there just 10 minutes before the sunset time. We were not just lucky to see that sunset, but luckier because we were able to see the moon with sunset. Enjoy the large size scrolling photograph below.

I Found Them Again

I am referring to my Sharpeners on Bicycles post in which I showed a unique age-old process of sharpening knives using the "machinery" fitted on a bicycle. Exactly 23 hours back from this post time, I found him again, the same unique-man! This time, he had his cute little baby boy with him. He has named him Vicky. See the cute ponies in his photograph below. This time, I photographed the full bicycle to show the mechanism.

Full photograph of the bicycle. See how basic yet useful the design is; the rear wheel has an extra ring, which is used to power the rotating sharpener.


Vicky and the unique-man.

Parking Lot for Garbage

In these days of population burst, even the garbage is finding inadequate space to dump itself. There are parking lots for the waste. Here is a photograph of a parking lot that has good pink-colored garbage parked...

Garbage parking lot in Pune

Maintaining the Developing Developed

India is a developing country, but many parts of the metros are very well developed, and match the standards of the developed countries. When in Mumbai (Bombay as it was called till recent times) a few days back, I was able to catch this thing here, where the developed part of the developing country is being maintained. It was a sheer luck that the building with its modern design had just one glass window. To add on that, it was having a reflection of a worker cleaning the other side of the structure. Do you see the worker on the movable cleaning ladder in the reflection in the below photograph?

Modern structure and reflection on its window

Still Uncivilized?

People here are tired of requesting them to behave like literate and civilized citizens, but them will be them. Just 2 days after the notice put up in my office building, someone spitted on that. Why red color? Indians know it. For my overseas friends, it is due to chewing of a tasty (not sweet) desert, which is called "Pan". It gives a red spit, which is liked by most of those.

Don't throw garbage here [in English]


Don't throw garbage here [in Marathi]

Sharpeners on Bicycles

Have we forgot those good old days? Mmmm... I know we haven't. Hidden in the huge ocean of our memories are many things. One of the things unhid from that ocean of my mind a few days back when I saw a man who was sharpening the knives of a hotel's kitchen using the "machinery" fixed on his bicycle. My mind jumped back a couple of decades and the pictures of my childhood were suddenly played back. Most of the Indians do know what I saw. It has become a history now. But believe me, I saw it. I remember seeing this kind of sharpeners every couple of days when I was a kid. Now the small towns have developed into big cities, and seeing such old techniques is rare. Enjoy the photo friends…

Sharpening tools - Sharpener on a bicycle

Old Pune

Ever wondered how Pune was in the past? Believe me, it must be a heaven. Here are some of the photographs that I found on the internet…


Early Sassoon Hospital in Old Pune


Khadakwasla Dam in Old Pune (Perhaps Called Karakwasla Waterwork for Poona at that time). If the photograph was taken before the 1961 break of wall, you are looking at a wall that has become a history now — one of the rarest things you get to see.


The Bund Bridge in Old Pune on Mula-Mutha River


The Government House in Old Pune (The University Building Now)


The Grand Stand and Race Course in Old Pune


The Temple of Vishnu at Parvati in Old Pune

Ice Formation or Frozen Huge Wave

Check this out friends... Below are some photographs that show as if a huge wave suddenly got frozen. I am sure it's not what it looks like, but is quite surprising. I think it is a gradual natural process that has created such a marvel. The photographs were taken by Tony Travouillon — a scientist working in the Antarctica.

New Year Resolution for 2009 as Informed by Domino's

I'm a very big fan of Domino's pizzas. I have subscribed to their WOW Club. So I often receive their promotional emails. Recently, I received an email in which there was a very good New Year Resolutions Notepad shown. I have done some editing work on that and have posted it as follows. Hope you all will like. I am waiting for your comments…

Potato Dumplings or Vada Pav as we Indians Call It

Perhaps the tastiest food considered by Maharashtrians is Vada Pav. It is a dumpling made of potatoes. People can't resist when they see the stall. I give it 5 stars on the spicy taste. On my way back from Mumbai yesterday, I realized again how important it is to eat this junk food to survive. People just rushed over to get their snatch when the train took it's halt at Karjat — the most famous Vada Pav selling place on the earth, believed to be cooking the tastiest Vada Pavs in the world. The demand is so high that the sellers have a uniform! You didn't get it, did you? Let me explain. There are innumerable sellers out there in Karjat who sell the taste. The biggest brand is Divadkar. They have so many employees/agents, that they have provided uniforms for identification. It's silly, but it works. People prefer to buy from the sellers that are in Divadkar's uniform!!! I don't know what happens to them. It's like throwing a ball when there's a dog beside. It's just that the people don't return it to the giver when they catch the ball.

One of the many selling fellas was this poor guy who couldn't run anywhere when I looked at him with an eye telling "I'm gonna catch you on my camera". He was simply standing on the rail tracks, just as many were. Have a look how cute he is…

The Vada Pav Agent, Selling Potato Dumplings or Vada Pav as we Indians Call It

Reactions Tool

Reading through 24/7 I always find something new to know and share. I got this information a while back. I have implemented it myself. It is the Reactions tool. Can you see the small named check-boxes under my posts? Yes, that's the feature. Seems to be a nice tool. Click here to see for yourself I will check the responses for a few days and will keep it if it pleases me :)

CST — Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Previously Known as VT — Victoria Terminus) after the 26/11 attack

I went to Mumbai (previously called Bombay) yesterday for some work. On my return to Pune, I preferred coming by train as it is the most cost-effective way. When I reached CST, the memories of the 26/11 attack came to my mind. I was just imagining how tragic and horrifying the incident was. I imagined how I would have felt if I was in that situation. Although what I felt in the imagination was extremely bad, I know I could not get the real feeling of how the preys of that killing would have felt that day. Can't understand why misery, revenge, ill-intentions take over humanity. What could be in the minds of the terrorists that lead them to do such an act? I believe the children there are hypnotized from day 1 of their lives.

As I always do, I have taken photographs, this time of that bad feeling…

CST Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus or VT Victoria Terminus after 26-11 attack


Pragati Express Train on platform number 10 at CST Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus or VT Victoria Terminus after 26-11 attack


Commuters at CST Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus or VT Victoria Terminus after 26-11 attack

Ghajini Parody

We have always seen parodies of different movies; I've seen those of Harry Potter also! A few days back, I received the below artwork :) on email. Looks so funny!!! I wonder how men will survive now. Ghajini on one side is showing that it is setting records. On the other side — the evil one :), the film is made-up so comic. There are shows running on different channels, emails getting forwarded, SMSs, and what not. All making a fun of it.

Enjoy the art friends…

New Year 2009 Resolution

What is the New Year Resolution? Seems like the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has Tree Cutting in the To Do List. Following is a photograph that I took on the New Year Day — 01 January 2009. I hope this was not intentional considering the location of the tree.

The photograph was taken at the Model Colony Lake Park.