Ghumakkar's Diary

And, as it comes to an end with an apt Theme: Night, I am publishing my attempts at Star Trail, these are not perfect but still. Each star is dedicated to the participants of PADE and the biggest stars are obviously for Sfurti and Ritu .   This first pic was shot at Padum, Zanskarr Valley . It was my first attempt at Star Trail and clicked it with a 30 minutes of exposure. Star Trails at Padum This second pic was shot at Lonar Crater . Some 45 shots of 15 seconds

As Ritu pointed out in her post , this PADE is challenging our creativity to come up with newer and better interpretations of the theme, we are falling short of it every other day. So, today again owing to a lot of writing already going on I surrendered to the challenge. publishing this conventional frame  that I shot last year on my Zanskar trip. This Commemorative plaque was presented to the Late Manoj Pandey Kargil Memorial by Abhishek Bachhan and signed by Amitabh Bachhan. It's the famous poem written by one of the most known and my favorite Hindi poet Shri Hariwanshrai Bachhan ji . Angee Path by Hariwansh Rai Bachchan ji (Click the pic o see enlarged version) This is my entry to  PADE Day 21 Theme of Frame . This picture post is an Entry to PADE-2013, a month long  Photo-blog  event. To know more and participate, click  here  or  here . Check themes  here .  

A late entry to PADE: theme Bridge, I wanted to submit something rather meaningful and not just material, but still. This one bridge is somewhere between Rangdum and Padum, in Zanskar valley. Not much significant, I liked this pic for its composition and color of sky that adds value to it. The sky is brighter, cleaner and blue'er ( if there's such a word ) in this side of World! This picture post is an Entry to PADE-2013, a month long  Photo-blog  event. To know more and participate, click  here  or  here . Check themes  here .  

Got a flight tomorrow early morning, am yet to pack. Procrastination has always been a sub-religion for me :D Well, this theme Layers gave me a chance to share something I academically and professionally belong to - Geology!  For us each layer of earth holds a clue to a million years in the Age of Earth, who as such is a Woman - that we Geologist try to decipher. As we get closer to know her, we face a new question unanswered. This shot was taken on my last year's just planned  trip to Zanskar . River at bottom should give an idea of the scale of layers... Each layer is worth a million years - zillion stories... Got to get to the bed soon....by the way I fell in the Love with the Ladakhi sky....it's naturally so blue.... This picture post is an Entry to PADE-2013, a month long  Photo-blog  event. To know more and participate, click  here  or  here . Check themes  here .  

This post is in continuation of Series of posts on my recent Zanskar trip. For the first part on Srinagar, Click here . Dal Lake Famous as " Jewel in the crown of Kashmir " or " Srinagar's Jewel ”, Dal Lake is the second largest lake of the state with a shoreline of about 15kilometers and covering 18 sq km area. While, Houseboats and Shikara (small boats or gondolas) bejewel the Lake, Mughal era gardens decorate its periphery. During winter season, the temperature sometimes dives sub-zero and freezes the lake. Sunset at Dal Lake Spread over 18 square kilometres, this Lake is essentially a part of a natural wetland which covers 21.1 square kilometres (8.1 sq mi), including floating gardens that are actually fenced and tied to wooden logs. These floating gardens are known as "Rad" in Kashmiri. The wetland is divided by into four basins; Gagribal, Lokut Dal, Bod Dal and Nagin. Lokut-dal and Bod-dal each have an island in the centre, known a...

Talked and planned over mails and phone-calls, I reached Srinagar a day before Dheeraj and company. I was expecting a VIP welcome at airport by a drive holding a ply card for me, as a friend has got booked a government rest house for me. But there was none, mobile network was down and there was no public booth near airport. All thanks to sh*thead insane  Nakoula Basseley   who directed a sheer nonsense movie to hurt public sentiments, and to control any outrage in the protest-affected Srinagar, all the mobile networks were jammed. After spending about an hour there waiting for the guy, I took a taxi and planned to book a hotel at Lal Chowk, one of the few places I know well about the town. As I saw the Heaven from the Sky As we moved through the streets, I could easily see what I read before in a    Curfewed Night . Streets were mostly empty or dotted by a few people here and there. It was a sunny day with a pleasant atmosphere but without charm . Shops were c...

Story of  Two Smiles and A Frown, Tale of the Richest Candy Lady of Town! Ladakh region provides an opportunity to appreciate the faces! One would just fall in love with them and the super innocent expressions they carry. My Zanskar trip proved to be an extravagant chance to capture few of those expressive moments, especially Smiles. These smiles we captured near Rangdum. We were distributing candies to the kids, when one of those kids asked us to give a few to a cute girl. She exchanged a mystically innocent smile when I handed over a few candies. Reason? She got her share moments ago from my friend on the other side of taxi, and what I gave made her richer than the guys there! She was so cute, that I couldn't resist offering her a few more :)  Following are the smiles (and a frown) telling the story... Mr Advocate (for the pretty Lady)'s Smile Richest Lady of the Kid-clan Mr Advocate after realising the Lady got hell more...

Back to Smiley Saturdays , would try to post few Zanskari/Ladakhi smiles through coming Saturdays. I shot this Smile, somewhere near Padum . We were reaching Padum, after a ‘not to remember’ night at Rangdum . Our first destination was Medical Centre, so it somehow explains what we had the last night. Entering Padum, shivering with cold (~6 o C ‘ only ’) we met two kids, returning from School with one kid having ‘ his shoes in hands ’, and they passed, what I strive to click, Smiles! These smiles were shot by NikonD5000, 18-55kit lens at 1/2500 f9 800ISO through the window of our moving taxi. I just fell in love with the kid with pink-cap :)

There’s saying, that whatever you may do, plan-replan, if He doesn’t invite, you just can’t pay Him a visit. So, it happened again with me. As blogged earlier, I couldn’t embark on the highly coveted Ladakh ride with Bisons in last July. I was waiting, accumulating leaves (and money too), planning, preparing for the ride for last one year and just couldn’t go. So, I re-planned it with a college senior and bullet enthusiast. Fingers crossed, not shared with anybody, tickets done, final planning started, route done and it cancelled. Partner got his leaves cancelled and thus the plan again crashed. I thought to ride solo, but recent cloud-bursts and landslides, that are rather common as the monsoon dies, killed much of my insane enthusiasm. I have been to Spiti eons back, and it seemed that a visit to North of it just not to happen soon... Shot somewhere in Spiti Valley, Keylong in 2007 At that time, I saw a retweet by Deepak Sir ( @Magic_Eye ).  Dheeraj of DeViL on WheeL...