February 2012 | PHOTO JOURNEY

Road Journey from Chandigarh to Amritsar via Phagwara !

It was 31st evening of December 2011, when we thought of visiting Amritsar from Chandigarh. Idea was to celebrate New Year on the way and move towards Amritsar on early morning of 1st Jan 2012. This Photo Journey described this road journey from Phagwara to Amritsar on 1st Jan 2012...There are lot of educational institutions between Phagwara and Jalandhar. And I am sure that you must have heard of Lovely University Jalandhar :) ... One of the campus is very near to Phagwara, Punjab ! Apart from universities, colleges and huge school campuses there were lot of Marriage halls on this highway. One of the photograph in this PHOTO JOURNEY will also show you the cars used in Punjab for marriages.There are some cantonment areas on this highway. Here is one of the photograph of CRPF Gate near Amritsar. Around this region, lot of javans were cleaning the space around National Highway 1 which connects Delhi with Amritsar City of Punjab.Folks working in farms of Sugar Cane in Punjab. Check out following link to know more about Sugar Cane - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SugarcanSugar Cane is one of the main crop of Punjab and there is a huge demand of Sugar Cane for sugar production. Apart from Punjab, UP has also a big Sugar industry to fulfill Sugar needs of most of the northern region of India and other parts.A Photograph of Flyover inside Amritsar City of Punjab !National Highway 1 is a National Highway in Northern India that links the National capital New Delhi to the town of Attari in Punjab near the India-Pakistan border. This was a part of Grand Trunk Road of Sher Shah Suri, that ran from Lahore to Bengal, built on earlier roads that existed from time immemorial. National highway authority of India divided it into two parts, north of Delhi, called NH 1 and south of it, called NH 2. The highway is maintained by National Highways Authority of India. This is one of the longest and oldest highways of India. Check out following link to know more about NH-1 (National Highway 1) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Highway_1_%28India%29There are few sugar factories on the way to Amritsar from Chandigarh. I think the above photograph shows one of the Sugar Mill at Phagwara, Punjab, India...There were lots of Jaggery and Orange vendors on both sides on this highway. We had some juice and Naresh also though of buying some Jaggery for his home. Above Photograph shows Naresh looking at Jaggery and thinking of the quantity he may want to take home.During this halt for buying Jaggery, we also thought of exploring the small Jaggery Production Unit on side of National Highway 1. Above Photograph shows the machine which is used to extract juice from sugarcane and kept in a huge container for further processing.Another Jaggery Production Unit on the way to Amritsar, Punjab. There were lot of such small units and Jaggery is generally in good demand. There is a separate Photo Journey on the process of making Jaggery out of Sugar Cane and can be checked at http://phototravelings.blogspot.com/2012/02/jaggery-production-unit-on-road-from.htmlThis whole stretch on National Highway, was beautiful. There were some natural caves made up of trees and green leaves hanging down... As usual there were lot of Toll Plazas on this highway as well. At times, distance between two tolls was too less and non-convincing to pay them tax.Punjabi Limousine on the way from Chandigarh to Amritsar !!! (Not sure if these were modified versions or not...A limousine (or limo) is a luxury sedan or saloon car, especially one with a lengthened wheelbase or driven by a chauffeur. The chassis of a limousine may have been extended by the manufacturer or by an independent coachbuilder. These are called 'stretch' limousines and are traditionally black or white. Limousines are usually liveried vehicles, driven by professional chauffeurs. As the most expensive form of automobile ground transportation, limousines are culturally associated with extreme wealth or power and are commonly cited as examples of conspicuous consumption. Among the less wealthy, limousines are often hired during special events (most commonly weddings and funerals). Check out following link to know about Limousine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LimousinWe were confused about our feelings for fog of early morning. Naresh was completely upset as he was driving the car and I was relaxed because of scenic views from my window :) ... Although people sitting on back seat were more worried as compared to Naresh :) ... Anyways, Fog didn't last for longer period of time and rest of journey was great Literally vapors were moving up out of these green fields of Punjab, India !!This photograph is my favorite. This came out well even when it was clicked from moving car. Most of the Photographs in this Photo Journey are clicked from moving car, so excuse in case find out shakes in any of these..A Photograph of Gate of National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar. To know more about various National Institutes of technology in India, check out - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institutes_of_TechnoloOverall this whole Road Journey to Amritsar and back to Chandigarh was wonderful with some of the closet friends & family members. After spending some time around Golden Temple, Jallianwala Bagh and Kapda market, we started our back journey. On the same night I had to come back to Delhi as Christmas vacations had ended on 1st Jan onlySo 10 holidays, around Christmas & New Year, ended well with this Road Journey from Chandigarh to Phagwara and then Amritsar. Hope to catch up with Naresh soon...

It was 31st evening of December 2011, when we thought of visiting Amritsar from Chandigarh. Idea was to celebrate New Year on the way and move towards Amritsar on early morning of 1st Jan 2012. This Photo Journey described this road journey from Phagwara to Amritsar on 1st Jan 2012...

Marimankanni Play during 14th Bharat Rang Mahotsav organized by National School of Drama, Delhi, India

Although it's late but it's better to be late than never :) ... So here comes the last Photo Journey from Bharat Rang Mahotsav 2012. This was a Malayalam Play directed by V. Abhimanyu and Playright by M.N.Vinayakumar... Let's check out this Photo Journey with more details about this play Marimankanni...The story of Marimankanni begins with the casual conversation of a group of youngsters who are discussing kathakali and Unnayi Warrier and who fall asleep at the end of discussion... These folks were having some dricks during the conversation and at times there were some hot arguments... Soon the palace of Karthika Thirunal, Maharaja of Travancore and the period when Nalacharithram, one of the masterpieces of Malayalam literature, was written by Unnayi Warrier unfold before them as dreamscapes. Bhanumathi, a woman who appears as a maid in the palace, acts as Unnayi Warrier's muse. The mystic and tragic story of Bhanumathi is interspersed with illustrative examples of women who were physically, intellectually, socially, emotionally oppressed by the shackles of society...Marimankanni is an exploration into the circumstances in which Nalacharitham was written. It depicts the historicity of the theme with a touch of fantasy, while adapting it to a contemporary mode of presentationJanabheri started out as a Kathakali promotion and performance group and later moved into theater. The group has organized Kathakali performances in over 500 venues. Its first theater venture was Marimakanni, based on the life and work of the legendary poet Unnai WarrierMarimankanni Play was staged in Kerala Kalamandalam and Ashirwad Theatre festival, Bihar. This play was also selected in International Theater Festival of Kerala (ITFoK). Janabheri has also produced an adaption of the play 'The Lover' by Harold Pinter. It's next prodcution, Yamadhoothu, an adaption of OthelloV. Abhimanyu, Director of this play. started his theater career aCast of the play includes Here is small trailer video of this play -YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO CHECK RED HOT - A Must-See play duirng 14th Bharat Rang Mahotsav 2012 || An Amazing Indian Theatre Play 'Grotowski - A Attempt to Retreat' by CHOREA Thenal School of Drama, Delhi, India || 14th Bharat Rang Mahotsav organized by National School of Drama, Delhi, IndiaSaurabh Shukla and Prieti Mamgain during RED HOT play at Kamani, Delhi || 14th Bharat Rang Mahotsav organized by National School of Drama, Delhi, India (RENDEZVOUS-3)RED HOT - Adapted from Neil Simon's 'Last of the Red Lovers' - Directed by Saurabh Shukla || 14th Bharat Rang Mahotsav organized by National School of Drama, Delhi, India (RENDEZVOUS-1)'The Water Station' - Directed by Shankar Venkateswaran || 14th Bharat Rang Mahotsav organized by National School of Drama, Delhi, INDIChandalika : A Bangla Play during 14th Bharat Rang Mahotsav 2012 @ National School of Drama (NSD), Delhi, IndiaAmazing Inauguration of 14th Bharat Rang Mahotsav @ Kamani (Organized by National School of Drama) || 8th Jan to 22nd Jan' 2012CHOREA Theatre Association (Lodz, Poland) presented a 'Grotowski - An Attempt to Retreat' during 14th Bharat Rang Mahotsav organized by National School of Drama, Delhi, Indiaरेड हॉट - नील साइमन के लास्ट ऑफ़ द रेड हॉट लवर्स का रूपांतरण - सोरभ शुक्ला द्वारा निर्देशित || १४वा भारत रंग महोत्सव, राष्ट्रीय नाट्य विद्यालय (दूसरी भेंट)Byomkesh; A Bengali Play Directed by Bratya Basu || 14th Bhartiya Rang Mahotsav 2012, Organized by National School of Drama'King of the Dark Chamber' on 8th Jan 2012 at Kamani || 14th Bharat Rang Mahotsav organized by National School of Drama, Delhi, InNational School of Drama is celebrating Tagore's 150th Birthday in Bharat Rang Mahotsav

Although it's late but it's better to be late than never :) ... So here comes the last Photo Journey from Bharat Rang Mahotsav 2012. This was a Malayalam Play directed by V. Abhimanyu and Playright by M.N.Vinayakumar... Let's check out this Photo Journey with more details about this play Marimankanni...

Amritsar City is one of the main places to visit in Punjab, India || Punjabi City with Golden Temple, Jallianwala Bagh, Bagah Border,

When we talk about Tourism in Punjab, only Chandigarh and Amritsar comes into our minds although there are quite a few others places developed by Punjab Tourism Department. Out of these two Amritsar is more popular as a religious place or an old city with some historical importance. Many times people think that Amritsar is Capital of Punjab State of India !!! Let's have a flavor of Amritsar City through this PHOTO JOURNEY...Personally I love to wander in streets and old markets on Amritsar. Although at times it's irritating to walk in these narrow lanes which are not very clean. Especially in summers we can't even think of going there. In North India, Amritsar is one of the worst city if we talk about weather. It's one of the coldest city of North India during winters and same situation in summers. Summers become intolerable in summers because of added problems of pollution in old part of Amritsar. Amritsar historically known as Ramdaspur and colloquially as Ambarsar. Amritsar is a city in the north-western part of India, in Punjab State of the nation. It is the administrative headquarters of the Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India, although confused with Capital of Punjab State. This city is well known as the spiritual center for the Sikh religion. Amritsar is situated 220 kilometres of state capital Chandigarh and is 32 kilometres of Lahore, Pakistan and therefore, very close to India's western border with Pakistan.Anyways, Old part of Amritsar is still alive and still able to present a wonderful view of old havelis. It looks almost similar to Old Delhi which is widely known for it's heritage. Still there are lot of families living in these Haveli and don't want to move out of these narrow streets of Old Amritsar. For outsiders, it looks very odd but for local folks it's very obvious thing to happen. Most of the business families are staying in this region of the Amritsar. These Photographs are clicked near the famous Cloth Market of Old Amritsar. Katra Jaimal Singh market is basically full of Cloths and Saris. This market provide variety of cloths from synthetic silk to pure smooth silk or woolens. Apart fro cloths, market has more than enough for folks interested in handloom stuff like Phulkari, Artificial Jewellery or wooden articles. Check out http://www.traveliteindia.com/content/LocalMarketsAmritsar.aspx to know more about markets in Amritsar. Specific details about Hall Bazar, Guru Bazar, Katra Jaimal market, Kpda Bazar are available at - http://www.bharatonline.com/punjab/amritsar/shopping.htmlIt's almost impossible that someone visits Amritsar and doesn't come to Harmandir Saheb aka Golden Temple in Amritsar. This is most popular place in Amritsar and at times Amritsar is known by Golden Temple only. This place is quite peaceful even when lot of folks keep visiting the temple throughout the year. The best part is discipline and cleanness inside the Golden Temple Campus. Main Temple is situated in the middle of Sarovar and connected through one of the four sides of this campus. Most of the folks take a round around the lake which is considered as a religious process to get blessings of God.Amritsar boasts of being the main center of Sikhs' cultural, religious, and political history... This city also houses the Sikh temporal and political authority, Akal Takht, as well as the Sikh Parliament. Amritsar is also known for the tragic incident of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919 under British Rule. The main commercial activities include tourism, carpets and fabrics, farm produce, handicrafts, service trades, and light engineering. Amritsar City is known for its rich cuisine and culture as well. This City of Punjab is also home to Central Khalsa Orphanage, which was once a home to Shaheed Udham Singh, a prominent figure in the Indian independence movement.Golden Temple is one of the main places to visit in Amritsar City of Punjab, India. Langar at Golden Temple is considered as very tasty and auspicious food. I have been to Golden Temple thrice, but never had enough time to have some but surely next time I will try to make it. When it comes to Langar, somehow Anandpur Saheb comes to my mind which is a place near Nangal, Punjab. I cross Anadadpur many times when I go to my hometown in Himachal and at times stopped at the place and had Langar & Chai(tea)...On first day of the year (1st Jan 2012), whole campus of Golden Temple was full and there was a huge queue for main temple inside the lake. Here is a Photograph showing thousands of people inside Golden Temple Campus at Amritsar, Punjab, India.Amritsar is home to the Harmandir Sahib which is the spiritual and cultural center for the Sikh religion. This important Sikh shrine attracts more visitors than the Taj Mahal with more than one lac visitors on week days alone and is the most popular destination for Non-resident Indians (NRI) in the whole of India.There is enough space in Golden Temple Campus for folks to relax and spend some peaceful moments inside this religious place in Amritsar (Punjab, India). Such galleries are there in all four sides of Golden Temple Campus. Every gallery has suffiecient number of fans for summers and places are kept clean all the time. And most of the visitors serve for this cleanness activity, as almost no dedicated folks to do this. The word 'Seva' is used for serving at Golden Temple to keep this process running in best possible way. People offer their SEVA at different places inside the temple - Place where shoes are kept, Tea-Counters, Entry Gates, A huge piece of Bridge which connect main Temple with huge campus of Golden temple etc.Not sure if you were able to make out anything out of the photograph shown above. This Photograph shows bullet marks on walls of Jallianwala bagh in Amritsar City of Punjab, India. The board in front has some details about Jallianwala Kand in Amritsar where lots of people were killed in this ground by British Army lead by Mr. Dier.Now Jallianwala Bagh has become one of the main places to visit in Amritsar. It's very close to Golden Temple and in fact comes on the way when we move towards the main parking area for Golden Temple. Jallianwala Bagh was not in good shape this time and not sure if it's because of bad maintenance or some other reason which spoiled the magical look of the place. First time when I visited this place 10 years back, it back green and well maintained which was not the case this time.Shahidi Kuan aka Martyr's Well is on one of the corners of Jallianwala Bagh which has a museum inside it. This Museum at Jallianwala Bagh has lot of photographs about freedom fighters with some details about their lives and things they did during their struggle for freedom of our nation.Here a Photograph showing one of the visitor looking at photographs inside the Jallaianwala Bagh Museum and reading some facts about Freedom Fighters of India. With this Photo Journey to these main places of Amritsar completes and will share a separate Photo Journey on Wagah Border...

When we talk about Tourism in Punjab, only Chandigarh and Amritsar comes into our minds although there are quite a few others places developed by Punjab Tourism Department. Out of these two Amritsar is more popular as a religious place or an old city with some historical importance. Many times people think that Amritsar is Capital of Punjab State of India !!! Let's have a flavor of Amritsar City through this PHOTO JOURNEY...

Jaggery Production unit on the way from Chandigarh to Amritsar || Local Jaggery Production Unit in Punjab

During recent trip to Punjab, India we saw various small production units of Jaggery on the way. This Photo Journey mainly revolve around the process of Jaggery Production. Let's check out...Jaggery is a traditional unrefined non-centrifugal unrefined sugar, which is obtained from sugar cane, which is consumed in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. It is a concentrated product of cane juice without separation of the molasses and crystals which can vary from golden brown to dark brown in color. It contains up to 50% sucrose, up to 20% invert sugars, moisture content of up to 20% and the remainder made up of other insoluble matter such as wood ash, proteins and fibers... Whole cane sugar is much more healthy than traditional sweeteners. Unlike traditional brown sugar, vitamins, minerals and molasses are not displaced during the processing of the product. It is a much more natural alternative for this reason and preferred in Indian houses. At least it's in good demand in rural India.Folks sorting Sugar Canes from remains of these canes after extracting cane juice.As a first step, good quality sugar-canes are sorted and a huge machine is used for extracting juice out of those. Juice flows to a huge container from the machine you see in above Photograph. Of-course, someone needs to feed sugar-canes into this machine and also need to pull out the rough material created after crushing the Sugar-Canes.:) ... So here is the container where juice goes and this foam is removed out of the juice. After removing the clearly visible stuff out of the juice, it's put into thick cloth which is hanged on top of another container which will get comparatively cleaner juice, but still it doesn't take the shape for further processing to get Jaggery. Have a look at below photographs to see how the impurities are taken away from the sugar-cane juiceA Photograph with two huge packets of sugar-cane juice for removing impurities before processing it for creating JaggeryAfter these two basic steps of purifying Sugar-Cane juice, some chemical powder is used for further purification which makes impurities float on top of the juice and juice is put purified further. Finally when juice looks in good shape it is put in a huge container surrounded by an oven.Juice is continuously stirred and slowly it starts converting into red color. This is one of the critical step when proper care needs to be taken for having good quality jaggery. When it changes to reasonable thickness, it's taken out of the container and placed on a flat surface to get it cold. Finally jaggery pieces are extracted out of the surface and put in smaller containers to give a particular shape which varies from one production unit to other.Jaggery is made of the products of both sugarcane and the Date palm tree. The sugar made from Sugar Cane is both more prized and less commonly available outside of the regions where it is made. In Sri Lanka, syrup extracts from Caryota urens trees are widely used for jaggery production. This is considered the best quality jaggery available in local market and is given a higher value than jaggery coming from other sources.Check out following link to know more about Jaggery - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JaggeryAt times this Jaggery is further processed to sell in form that it can enjoyed by travelers on highway. Here is a photograph showing travelers stopping their cars outside these Jaggery production units to buy some stuff for their journey and home.Here is the proud owner of this Jaggery production unit near Amritsar City of Punjab, India.

During recent trip to Punjab, India we saw various small production units of Jaggery on the way. This Photo Journey mainly revolve around the process of Jaggery Production. Let's check out...

Pure PHOTO JOURNEY with Palash Sen of Euphoria Band || A Rocking Photo Journey with Music Lover Palash Sen

All these Photographs are dedicated to Palash Sen, Lead Vocalist of Euphoria Rock Band of India. Palash Sen performed brilliantly in Winter carnival 2012 of Adobe Systems India. All these photogrphs are from Steller gymkhana, Greater Noida where Adobe Carnival took place on 19th Feb 2012. Apart from Rocking performancing by Euphoria Rock Band, there were some performances by inhouse Bands of Adobe. Apalash Sen was no doubt star of the evening and he was extremely energetic. He was Doctor initially and then formed this band in 1998.

Street Walks around Old Amritsar region of Punjab, India || Cloth Market, Amritsari Kulche, Hanuman Temple & so on...

During recent visit to Amritsar City of Punjab, we spent significant time in exploring old part of Amritsar City which was quite interesting. It's almost similar to some of the oldest cities with some main markets and has lead in some of the important businesses running in North India. Let's have a Street Photo Journey to know more about the Old part of Amritsar City..After visiting Golden Temple and Jallianwala Bagh, we thought of visiting Cloth Market of Old Amritsar. Amritsar is a most popular place in North India for Cloth Market. There are lot of cloth factories around the city and most of the cloth in North India is distributed form this place and some of the merchants only deal in export. It was an interesting walk and the lanes inside this market look more like Delhi's Chandni Chowk where lot of businessmen run business of millions in extremely small shopsSome of the havelis in these street were quite old, but still looking good. At times, it's hard to believe that people live in these streets but most of the times people don't want to leave these streets as they have very strong bonding in the social circle there. Mainly it's found that people in such regions of big cities are more social than the ones live in apartments or newer parts of the cities. Amritsar is situated around 220 kilometres northwest of state capital Chandigarh and is 30 kilometres east of Lahore, Pakistan and therefore very close to India's western border with PakistanSomehow I have some bad stories associated with these streets of Amritsar. Approximately 10 years back I was in Amritsar during Holi time and was passing through these streets. By the time I reached my destination, I was completely drenched in colorful water. Children from high buildings were continuously bombarding balloons filled with colorful water :) ... And it was hard to figure out probable dangerous areas :)... Amritsar is a city in the north-western part of India and situated in Punjab State. It is the administrative headquarters of the Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. Amritsar is well known as the spiritual center for the Sikh religionSome of the houses in these streets looked quite old but still very well maintained and it seems that most of the business families of Cloth Market are still living in these regions and they like the place like anything.Somehow Cloth Market was closed on 1st day of the year 2012 and only few of the folks were doing some cleaning in there shops. These streets are dedicated to different type of cloth. E.g.- There were some of the streets where only wedding cloths can be found and on the other one only blankets, bedsheets etc. There are few other markets around the cloth market in Amritsar - Jewellery Market, Steel Market etc...Here is one link which talks about some of the main markets in Amritsar City of Punjab - http://www.traveliteindia.com/content/LocalMarketsAmritsar.aspA rickshaw loaded with lot of cloth pieces/bunches.Here is a wonderful which talks about various eating places for Vegetarian and Non-Veg folks, Sweet Shops, Markets like Dry Fruit Market, Hall Bazar and some basic tips about traveling to Amritsar - http://www.traveltoamritsar.com/travel-guide.htmlOne of my friend bought lot of steel stuff for his kitchen and he was in full mood of doing shopping in Amritsar. At least he was happy about the fact that his car fully utilized to take the stuff from Amritsar to Chandigarh :)These were few of the Photographs from Old Amritsar and keep watching this place for more Photo Journeys from Amritsar City of Punjab !

During recent visit to Amritsar City of Punjab, we spent significant time in exploring old part of Amritsar City which was quite interesting. It's almost similar to some of the oldest cities with some main markets and has lead in some of the important businesses running in North India. Let's have a Street Photo Journey to know more about the Old part of Amritsar City...

Bands of Adobe India - Wishing Well and Sattv during Winter Carnival 2012 @ Steller Gymkhana, Greater Noida

Before everyone forget about amazing Winter Carnival by Adobe India, I thought of sharing another Photo Journey with two inhouse bands of Adobe - Wishing Well & Sattav (सत्त्व). Although I have least details about these two bands but the performances were brilliant and hope that photographs below would be able to show you the passion of these folks...Neeraj Kakoty, a prerelease program associate, sets the pace with his power drumming. His style of immaculate drumming is the back bone of all that Level 8 used to do. A drummer by the age of 13, he grew up listening to Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden et all and idolizes the drumming gods like Neil Peart, Dave Weckl, DannyCarey (Tool) and Steve Gadd. After watching his idols perform live and playing for a band that opened for the 'Gypsy Kings' a few years back in Canada, he has always dreamt of having his own band. Besides the passion for the drums, he is a storehouse of good humor and wackiest jokes.Ankur Prakash on Keyborad, although he also plays guitar. In fact, he is a popular Guitar Instructor and many of the folks in Adobe have been taught by him.Amit Khulbe on right - Amit 'The Blues' Khulbe went for a rock concert during his college days, more out of curiosity than interest. As Amit recalls, his immediate reaction was to get hold of a guitar and start strumming. Ever since, there’s no looking back for him. With major in influence from bands like Scorpions, Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest etc., Amit with his free owing guitar techniques and improvisation de nes the sound of the band. His love for dishing out great leads and earthy solos is transcended only by his love for free jamming sessions. (These details are picked from one of the PDF talking about their band in initial days :) )Shannon Victor Peter on Stage @ Steller Gymkhana, Greater Noida !During the evening two in-house bands performed before Euphoria and it was great beginning of this event. Wishing Well is one of the Adobe's in-house rock bands, which was formed in 2005. Wishing Well is formed of -Shannon Victor Peter as VocalistAmit Khulbe as Lead GuitaristBhavneet Singh Ahuja on Rhythm GuitarNeeraj Kakoty on DrumsGaurish Kshirsagar on Bass GuitarAnkur Prakash on KeyboardWishing Well plays rock music and there is some news that they will soon come up with self compositions too :)Sattva is the second band which is newly formed Hindi Fusion Band with 7 members of Adobe India. सत्त्व was formed 3 months ago and these folks have been practicing stuffs since then. सत्त्व is still in early stage of writing songs, so they mostly do covers of movie or band songs. Sattva consists of - Mili Sharma - VocalistSwagat Konchada - VocalistBhavneet Singh Ahuja - GuitarAnuj Batta - Flute & KeyboardNeeraj Kakoty - DrumGaurish Kshirsagar - Bass GuitaAnkur Prakash - Guitar

Before everyone forget about amazing Winter Carnival by Adobe India, I thought of sharing another Photo Journey with two inhouse bands of Adobe - Wishing Well & Sattav (सत्त्व). Although I have least details about these two bands but the performances were brilliant and hope that photographs below would be able to show you the passion of these folks...

A Quick PHOTO JOURNEY of Jallianwala Bag in Amritsar Coity of Punjab, India

This time New Year was celebrated in Punjab and on first day of 2012, we were in Amritsar. Apart from main attraction of Amritsar Town , Golden Temple, we also visited Jallianwala Bagh which around Swarn-Mandir only. Let's have a quick Photo Journey to Jallianwala Bagh...There is a museum inside with some of the old Photographs of freedom fighters form Punjab and people who were present in Jallianwala bagh during The Jallianwala Bagh massacre... On side of each Photograph, there is a detailed note to describe the life of person and various achievements during their lifetime. The gentleman above is reading description for one of the photograph inside the museumHere is a path which leads to the Museum and Shahidi Kuan inside Jallianwala Bagh @ Amritsar, Punjab, India !!Jallianwala Bagh is a public garden in Amritsar in the Punjab province of India and houses a memorial of national importance, established in 1951 to commemorate the murder of peaceful celebrators on the occasion of the Punjabi New Year on April 13, 1919 in the Jallianwala Bagh MassacreMarks of bullets can be seen on the wall which surrounds Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. Some of the marks are covered by a glass-wall to better protect them for future.The Jallianwala Bagh massacre is also known as the Amritsar massacre which took place in the Jallianwala Bagh public garden in the northern Indian city of Amritsar and was ordered by Brigadier-General Reginald E.H. Dyer. On Sunday 13 April 1919 Mr. Dyer was convinced that a major insurrection was at hand. He banned all meetings and hearing a meeting of 15,000 to 20,000 people had assembled he marched his fifty riflemen to a raised bank and ordered them to shoot at the crowd which included men, women, and children. Dyer kept the firing up for about ten minutes. Official Government of India sources estimated the fatalities at 379, with 1100 wounded. The casualty number estimated by the Indian National Congress was more than 1500 with approximately 1000 killedDyer was removed from duty and forced to retire but he became a celebrated hero in Britain among people with connections to the British Raj. The massacre caused a reevaluation in the Army's role in which the new policy became minimum force and the Army was retrained and developed suitable tactics such as crowd control. Historians consider the episode was a decisive step towards the end of British rule in India.(Courtesy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacreThere is a small structure in the middle of this garden which looks like a temple. It seems Mr. Gandhi was protected in this area and many people surrounded him when force of Mr. Dyer was firing continuously in Jallianwala Bagh. We are not very sure about this fact, as this is told by the driver accompanying us. This structure inside Jallianwala Bagh also has various marks of BulletsThe 6.5-acre garden site of the massacre is located in the vicinity of Golden Temple complex which is the holiest shrine of Sikhism. The memorial is managed by the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust, which was established as per the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Act passed by the Government of India in 1951There is only one entry into the Jallianwala Bagh and it's extremely narrow. Apart from two wheelers, no other vehicle can pass inside the Garden, although vehicles are not allowed inside. This place was not very maintained during the time we visited and not sure about it's situation otherwise.Check out more about Jallianwala Bagh at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh

This time New Year was celebrated in Punjab and on first day of 2012, we were in Amritsar. Apart from main attraction of Amritsar Town , Golden Temple, we also visited Jallianwala Bagh which around Swarn-Mandir only. Let's have a quick Photo Journey to Jallianwala Bagh...

Adobe Winter Carnival 2012 at Steller Gymkhana, Greater Noida with three rocking bands - Wishing Well, Sattva and Euphoria !

Recently Adobe India organized Winter Carnival at Steller Gymkhana in Greater Noida. There were some rocking performances by three bands - Euphoria which needs no introduction and two others from Adobe. Wishing Well and सत्त्व ! Let's check out this Photo Journey to know more about this rocking evening...Here is a Photograph showing one of the Guitarist in Euphoria Band and two girls in the background.Two Guitarists of Wishing Well Band on stage @ Steller Gymkhana, Greater Noida !Adobe-ians enjoying rocking bands during Sunday evening of 19th feb 2012 ! These are some of the folks standing in very first row, close to stage and enjoying the dance moves on various songs performed by Wishing Well, Sattva and Euphoria...Palash Sen, Lead Vocalist of Euphoria Band !Palash Sen is an Indian doctor turned lead vocalist of the Indian band Euphoria, and also a songwriter. Palash Sen used to compose songs from his college days itself in University College of Medical Sciences, his first composition in college was 'heaven on seventh floor' as his hostel room was on seventh floor. Palash Sen also known as Polly and is said to be the godfather of Hind Rock. He is the first person who sang in Hindi on rock music with tabla and flute. He launched

Recently Adobe India organized Winter Carnival at Steller Gymkhana in Greater Noida. There were some rocking performances by three bands - Euphoria which needs no introduction and two others from Adobe. Wishing Well and सत्त्व ! Let's check out this Photo Journey to know more about this rocking evening...

Rocking Concert by Euphoria Band at Steller Gymkhana, Great Noida || Adobe Winter Carnival 2012

Last Sunday (19th Feb 2012) Euphoria Band was in Greater Noida for Adobe's annual Carnival and had an extremely energetic performance. Let's check out this Photo Journey to have a feel about the carnival...Euphoria is an Indian Rock Band from the city of Delhi, India. Euphoria is an Indian rock band with a twist, considering they play rock music in Hindi. With an unparalleled mass appeal and critical acclaim, Euphoria is considered as one of the biggest bands of the subcontinent. Euphoria was put together by Dr. Palash Sen and his friends in New Delhi in 1998. Euphoria The Band is a also considered a sole of the pop music wave which hit India in the mid nineties. (Courtesy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphoria_%28Indian_band%29) To know more about Euphoria band, check out - http://www.dhoom.com/theband.htmHere comes Mr. Palash Sen with unmatchable energy. Euphoria band hit the stage at around 8:00 pm and kept rocking till 11:30 pm. Most of the folks were standing near the stage and enjoyed the evening. Band performed really well and it was commendable the way they performed flawlessly without any hurry to close down the show. Although Palash was not well and having some back problem. After this show, he again went for Bed rest and we wish for his fitness for more rocking shows around the world Here is what Euphoria posted on their official Facebook page after this concert at Steller Gymkhana - 'Thank you Adobe for a night beyond incredible.. Thank you Concepts and Solutions for the flawless organization and arrangements.. One of the best corporate crowd ever! You guys made each inch of pain that Palash bore, worth it.. He's back to his beloved bed rest, and we're hoping that he is fit and fine for the last leg of Euphoria's Feb tour..'Whole rocking session was quite interactive and Palash shared lot of facts about intelligence of boys with appropriate reasoning in favor of girls :)Euphoria Band consists of - Dr. Palash Sen, Debajyoti Bhaduri, Ashwani Verma, Prashant Trivedi, Rakesh Bhardwaj, Amborish Saikia, Vinayak Gupta, Vaishali BaruaKrutika MuralidharanHere is official Website of Euphoria to know more about the band, the work they have done so far and lot more... - http://www.dhoom.comEuphoria will again be performing at Adobe Banglore on 26th Feb 2012 - http://www.dhoom.com/concerts.htmPalash Sen at his best during Adobe carnival 2012 at Steller Gymkhana, Greater Noida !These were just glimpses of the event and more photographs will be shared from this rocking evening at Steller Gymkhana.

Last Sunday (19th Feb 2012) Euphoria Band was in Greater Noida for Adobe's annual Carnival and had an extremely energetic performance. Let's check out this Photo Journey to have a feel about the carnival...

A Wonderful visit to Rocking Garden of City Beautiful of India || Rock Garden in Chandigarh, Punjab

Recently we again visited Rock Garden of Chandigarh and it was again a delighting experience to see some creative stuff made out of junk or recycled material. Let's take a quick PHOTO JOURNEY to this wonderful place created by Mr. Nek Chand..Here is a photograph of a huge stone carved into a circular shape and looks like a tyre with a whole in middle. The text written over this stone in English and Urdu is saying that the place where this stone is located signifies the location from where Mr. Nek Chand started creating Rock Garden. There is a small hut at this place.There are many things made up of things like Bangels, Electric material, broken crockery etc. But some of them looked plain creations of cement and stone, like the ones shown in above Photograph. This may be something different which is not clear from the appearance of these ladies standing at a high wall in Rock Garden of Chandigarh, Punjab. The background has of course some broken pieces of tilesThe Rock Garden of Chandigarh is a Sculpture garden in Chandigarh, Punjab State of India which is also known as Nek Chand's Rock Garden after its founder Nek Chand, a government official who started the garden secretly in his spare time in 1957. Today Rock Garden is spread over an area of forty-acres and Rock Garden is completely built of industrial & home waste and thrown-away items... The very first photograph is my favorite but never able to understand that how these clay-pots can be considered as thrown-away or Home waste. From the structure, they look like placed together in original form.Rock Garden is situated near Sukhna Lake and it comes before Lake when we go from Rose Garden. It consists of man-made interlinked waterfalls and many other sculptures that have been made of scrap & other kinds of wastes (bottles, glasses, bangles, tiles, ceramic pots, sinks, electrical waste, etc) which are placed in walled paths. Inside the Rock Garden there is a dedicated path which takes you through a guided tour till the end point and takes back to exit gate of Rock GardQuietly sitting men at Rock Garden of Chandigarh in Punjab State of India. It's really amazing to see such wonderful masterpieces and not sure who continue the good work till date. Rock Garden is one of the main tourist place of Chandigarh and probably each Tourist try to witness this marvelous piece of Art.Towards the end of Rock Garden, there is a huge ground. This place is one of the popular picnic station for children. Lot of space to play, enjoy Camel ride and much more around the space. There is a huge complex with different types of mirrors installed. These mirrors are some special effect mirrors which make you small, tall, distorted with various angles etc. It's fun to spend some time in front these mirrors and do some laughter-therapy :)There are some water bodies inside the Rock Garden which makes this place more interesting. Apart from two man-made waterfalls, there are some canals around the place and kids love to play around these. This places are also more popular for Photography :)During spare time, Mr. Nek Chand began collecting materials from demolition sites around the city. He recycled these materials into his own vision of the divine kingdom of Sukrani choosing a gorge in a forest near Sukhna Lake for his work. The gorge had been designated as a land conservancy, a forest buffer established in 1902 that nothing could be built on. Chand’s work was illegal, but he was able to hide it for eighteen years before it was discovered by the authorities in 1975. By this time, it had grown into a 12-acre (49,000 m2) complex of interlinked courtyards, each filled with hundreds of pottery-covered concrete sculptures of dancers, musicians, and animals.People of different ages and fro various walks of life come to this place with different expectations. Nowadays Rock Garden has become one of the main place for city couples, but of-course not as good as Rose Garden :) ... I remember one of the visit to Rock Garden, when we had to come back as it was full of young couples and we had started feeling guilty about the fact that we were breaking their privacy. This time, it was completely different and I was happy to see everyone enjoying in their own way, without any problems.Children with their Mom at Rock Garden and their Dad clicking a memorable moment at Chandigarh, Punjab !Whatever Mr. Nek Chand was doing was in serious danger of being demolished but he was able to get public opinion on his side and in 1976 the park was inaugurated as a public space. Nek Chand was given a salary under title 'Sub-Divisional Engineer, Rock Garden' and a workforce of 50 laborers so that he could concentrate full-time on his work. It even appeared on an Indian stamp in 1983. The Rock Garden is still made out of recycled materials, and with the government’s help, Nek Chand was able to set up collection centers around the city for waste, especially rags and broken ceramicsWhen Mr. Nek Chand left the country on a lecture tour in 1996, the city withdrew its funding and vandals attacked the park. The Rock Garden Society took over the administration and upkeep of this unique visionary environment. The garden is visited by over five thousand people daily with a total of more than twelve million visitors since its inception which is incredible.So apart from Sukhna Lake, Rose Garden, Sector-17, Shanti Kunj, Sector-42 Lake; Rock Garden is one of the main place to visit in Chandigarh and it's a worth a visit.

Recently we again visited Rock Garden of Chandigarh and it was again a delighting experience to see some creative stuff made out of junk or recycled material. Let's take a quick PHOTO JOURNEY to this wonderful place created by Mr. Nek Chand...

A Beautiful walk from Pir Bindli to Monolithic Temples of Masroor in Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh, India || 3 Kilomters walk from Pir Bindli to Masroor

It was an unplanned visit to Ellora of Himachal Pradesh aka Masroor Monolithic Temples in Himalayan State of India. Main plan was to explore Wild Wings of Pong Dam, but this place was just 10 kilometers from our guest-house. It was early morning when I took bus from Nagrota Surian to Dharmshala which dropped me at Pir Bindli. Let's have a quick Photo Journey from Pir Bindi to Masroor which was 3 kilometers stretch on foot...This was really fortunate that I didn't get direct bus till Masroor and had got this lovely opportunity to walk for three kilometers from Pir Bindli station to Masroor Monolithic Temples. btw, by Monolithic Temples we mean a series of Temples made up of carving a huge Hill in Himachal Pradesh. This series of temples was situated on top of a Hill Station. More photographs of Masroor Monolithic temples can be seen at http://phototravelings.blogspot.in/2012/02/ellora-of-himachal-pradesh-maintained.htmlOn the way from Pir Bindli to Masroor we saw various birds although could not capture most of them. This whole region is extremely rich in terms of natural resources and wildlife which is very well conserved by Wildlife department of Himachal Pradesh, India ! The bird above shown in Grey Buschat, which was flying very fast from one branch to another.Masrur is exactly three kilometers from Pir Bindli. This meter-board shows that I had completed one kilometer walk towards the temples of Masroor. Road between Pir Bidli and Masroor is amazing and good number of buses move between Nagrota Surian & Masroor.This whole walks was wonderful due to pleasant weather around Dhauladhar mountains of Himalayas. Above Photograph shows a tree of Gooseberries with few of the fruits on it. Although there were very few gooseberries as compared to regular seasonHere is another photograph of Grey Buschat in silhouette form.Another Photograph showing more Gooseberries on the way from Pir Bindli to Masroor Monolithic Temples in Himalayan State of IndiaThere are few villages on the way and houses in hills are really amazing. Here is a photograph showing Buffalo tied to a rope outside a houseThere are many other places to visit around this area like Kangra, Dharmshala, Palampur, Baijnath, Bir Billing, pong Dam, Mcleodganj etc. There are many Photo Journeys from these plays and you may want to check themPalampur @ http://phototravelings.blogspot.in/2010/07/glimpses-of-palampur-town-with.htm McLeodganj - http://phototravelings.blogspot.in/2009/12/random-journey-to-mcleodganj-with-my.htmBir Billing - THE place for paragliding - http://phototravelings.blogspot.in/2010/07/travelling-camera-sharing-some-high.htmDharmshala - http://phototravelings.blogspot.in/2011/04/tour-de-dharmshala-stadium-quick-photo.htmPong Dam - http://phototravelings.blogspot.in/2012/02/maharana-pratap-sagar-aka-pong-dam-lake.htmBaijnath - http://phototravelings.blogspot.in/2009/08/historical-shiva-temple-baijnath.htmlThis early morning walk form Pir Bidli to Monolithic Temples of Masroor was unmatchable. Wonderful weather made it more exciting with muscial sounds of birds all around and green/fresh vegetables in the fields on both sides of the road. Apart from vegetables, there were some fields of wheat which is main crop of winters in Himachal Pradesh.A lady enjoying sunbath in courtyard of her home with slanted roof. These slanted roofs are typical examples of houses in Himachal Pradesh and roof is basically made up of slates which are created out of the shiny rocks found in mountains which get snowfall in winters. These rocks are considered very strong and that's the main reason these slates are created out of these. If you have ever gone to Bhagsunag, you must have such black rock on those hillsIt was time for folks to come out of their homes and move towards offices. Many folks from these villages walk down to Pir Bindli to get bus for their offices and some of the them try to catch the first morning bus which comes to Masroor.And here was the final reward of the walk. This photograph shows Rockcut Temples of Masroor which were carved out of a huge hill in Masoor. There is a wonderful view of Dhauladhar Mountains from this place.

It was an unplanned visit to Ellora of Himachal Pradesh aka Masroor Monolithic Temples in Himalayan State of India. Main plan was to explore Wild Wings of Pong Dam, but this place was just 10 kilometers from our guest-house. It was early morning when I took bus from Nagrota Surian to Dharmshala which dropped me at Pir Bindli. Let's have a quick Photo Journey from Pir Bindi to Masroor which was 3 kilometers stretch on foot...

Wild Wings of Pong Dam : A Series on Migratory Birds we saw at Pong Water reservoir during Winters of 2012 @ Himachal Pradesh India || PART-4

Hope you have enjoying this Series on various birds of Pong Dam. So far we have shared three different Photo Journeys with various birds from Pong Wetland of India. All information shared about the birds is provided by experienced Birders and then later we did some research through web and Birding books. Here comes the fourth Photo Journey but we are still working on finding details about few of the birds in this Photo Journey...A flying Skylark which was sitting on this wooden piece for a long time and we tried to go closer as we had not enough zoom to capture her in our cameras. This was wonderful bird and while flying it looked more beautiful. Above Photograph doesn't do the justice with beauty of this photograph of a Skylark in Pong Dam, Himachal Pradesh, India.The Skylark is a small passerine bird species. This lark breeds across most of Europe and Asia and in the mountains of north Africa. It is mainly resident in the west of its range, but eastern populations are more migratory, moving further south in winter. Even in the milder west of its range, many birds move to lowlands and the coast in winter. Asian birds appear as vagrants in Alaska; this bird has also been introduced in Hawaii, western North America, eastern Australia and New Zealand. More details about skylarks can be checked at - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylark The pipits are a cosmopolitan genus, Anthus, of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. Along with the wagtails and longclaws, the pipits make up the family Motacillidae. The genus is widespread, occurring across most of the world, except the driest deserts, rainforests and the mainland of Antarctica. Pipits are slender, often drab, ground-feeding insectivores of open country. Like their relatives in the family, the pipits are monogamous and territorial. Pipits are ground nesters, laying up to six speckled eggs. More details about Pipits can be checked at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PipitDuring two days of Pong Dam visit we saw following birds, out of which some of the birds could not be captured in our cameras.-Common Coot, Kentish Plover, Little Ringed plover, Sand Lark, Little Stint, Common Teal, Gadwall, Northern Pintail, Grey Heron, Northern Shovler, Northern Lapwing, Pallas Gull, Grey Long eared bat, White Fronted Goose, Eurasian Thicknee, Black Kite, Ruddy Shelduck, Little Cormont, Common Sandpiper, Common Redshank, Little Egret, Bar Headed Goose, Common Pochard, Wegcon, River Tern, European Shag, Wired Tailed Swallow, Black Headed Gull, Brown Headed Gull, Great Egret, White Wagtail, Tufted Duck, Pied Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail, River Lapwing, Slender Billed Gull, Red Wattled Lapwing, Spotted Redshank, Common Redshank, Pipit, Egyptian vulture, Black Winged Stilt, Common House Martin, Red Rumped SwallowWe are still looking for identification of these birds from Pong Dam Lake in Himachal Pradesh, India ! So if you know about the name of this bird please comment back with details and that will be extremely helpful and appreciable.This is a again a bird which needs identification for PHOTO JOURNEY. So if you know about the name of this bird please comment back with details and that will be extremely helpful and appreciable.Flying Pintails at Pong Dam Lake in Himachal Pradesh, India.Ruddy Shelduck enjoying sunbath around the shoreline of Pong Dam Lake in Kangra region of Himachal Pradesh State in IndiaAbove shown photograph is White Wagtail !The White Wagtail is a small passerine bird in the wagtail family Motacillidae, which also includes the pipits and longclaws. This species breeds in much of Europe and Asia and parts of north Africa. It is resident in the mildest parts of its range, but otherwise migrates to Africa. It has a toehold in Alaska as a scarce breeder. In some areas, notably Britain and Ireland, the sub-species Pied Wagtail predominates. White Wagtail is an insectivorous bird of open country, often near habitation and water. It prefers bare areas for feeding, where it can see and pursue its prey. In urban areas it has adapted to foraging on paved areas such as car parks. It nests in crevices in stone walls and similar natural and man-made structures.The White Wagtail is the national bird of Latvia. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Wagtail to know more about White Wagtail.

Hope you have been enjoying this Series on various birds of Pong Dam. So far we have shared three different Photo Journeys with various birds from Pong Wetland of India. All information shared about the birds is provided by experienced Birders and then later we did some research through web and Birding books. Here comes the fourth Photo Journey but we are still working on finding details about few of the birds in this Photo Journey...

Wild Wings of Pong Dam : A Series on Migratory Birds we saw at Pong Water reservoir during Winters of 2012 @ Himachal Pradesh India || PART-3

Hope you enjoyed last two parts of this series with Grey Buschat, Grey Heron, Black headed Gull, Bar Headed Goose, Ruddy Shelduck, Intermediate Egret, Little Cormorants, Little Cormorants, Little Ringed Plover, Black Kite, Black Winged Stilt, Common Sandpiper, Common Teal, Great Thicknee and Great Tit Etc. If not, just check the earlier parts @ PART-1 & PART-2 before continuing this part with more birds from Pong Dam Lake...River Lapwing standing on single foot near Pong Dam Lake in Himachal PradeshThe River Lapwing is a lapwing species which breeds in Southeast Asia from northeastern India to Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. It appears to be entirely sedentary. Formerly also called Spur-winged Lapwing... The Masked Lapwing of Australasia was at one time also called 'Spur-winged Plover', xompleting the name confusion - particularly as none of these is a plover in the strict sense...River Lapwing resembles the closely related Spur-winged Lapwing of Africa, and has sometimes been considered con-specific. The species name commemorates Alfred Duvaucel. For more details about River Lapwing, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_LapwingRiver Tern Flying on top of Pong Dam Lake in Himachal Pradesh... I fell in love these birds during two days of Pong Dam visit. River Terns fly amazingly on top of the water and at time flight is extremely smooth with no wing movement. Overall shape of the birds makes it better while flying. The Indian River Tern or just River Tern is actually a bird in the tern family . It is a resident breeder along inland rivers from Iran east through Pakistan into India and Myanmar to Thailand, where it is uncommon. It does not occur in Sri Lanka. Unlike most Sterna terns, it is almost exclusively found on freshwater, rarely venturing even to tidal creeks. This species breeds from March to May in colonies in less accessible areas such as sandbanks in rivers. The bill of River Tern is yellow and the legs are red. River Tern has a black cap in breeding plumage. In the winter the cap is greyish white, flecked and streaked with black, there is a dark mask through the eye, and the tip of the bill becomes dusky.Northern Pintail flying from shoreline towards the lake @ Nagrota Surian, Himachal Pradesh, IndiaThe Pintail or Northern Pintail is a widely occurring duck which breeds in the northern areas of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migratory and winters south of its breeding range to the equator. This is a fairly large duck, with a long pointed tail that gives rise to the species' English and scientific names. The Northern Pintail's many names describe the male's two long black tail feathers, which in flight look like a single pin or twig. These feathers are very distinctive, accounting for a quarter of the total length of the drake when in full plumage. Fast and graceful fliers, pintails are equipped with long wings, small heads, and long necks that seem built for streamlined aerodynamics. Both sexes have blue gray bills and gray legs and feet. The drake is more striking, having a thin white stripe running from the back of its chocolate-colored head down its neck to its mostly white undercarriage. The drake also has attractive gray, brown, and black patterning on its back and sides. For moreetails about Northern Pintails, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_PintaiNorthern Lapwing moving slowly during evening snacks around Pong Dam Lake in Himachal Pradesh..The Northern Lapwing is also known as the Peewit, Green Plover or just Lapwing, is a bird in the plover family. It is common through temperate Eurasia. It is highly migratory over most of its extensive range, wintering further south as far as north Africa, northern India, Pakistan, and parts of China. Northern Lapwing migrates mainly by day, often in large flocks.Northern Lapwing again in some deep thoughts :)Northern Lapwing is a wader which breeds on cultivated land and other short vegetation habitats. Three to four eggs are laid in a ground scrape. The nest and young are defended noisily and aggressively against all intruders, up to and including horses and cattle. In winter it forms huge flocks on open land, particularly arable land and muddy wetlands like Pong. More information abotu Northern Lapwings can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Lapwing Northern Pintails floating in Pong Dam Lake in Himachal Pradesh, India Pallas Gull @ Pong Wetland of India The Pallas Gull or Great Black-headed Gull is a large gull. Palas Gull has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus. Pallas Gull breeds in colonies in marshes and islands from southern Russia to Mongolia. Pallas Gull is migratory wintering in the eastern Mediterranean, Arabia and India. This gull nests on the ground, laying between two and four eggsPallas Gull is a very large gull which is nearly the size of the largest Great Black-backed Gull and it is easily the world's largest black-headed gull. In all other plumage, a dark mask through the eye indicates the vestiges of the hood. The call is a deep aargh cry. Young birds attain largely grey upper parts quite rapidly, but they take four years to reach maturity. Pallas Gull birds are predatory, taking fish, crustaceans, insects and even small mammals. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallas%27s_Gull to know more about Pallas Gull Pied Kingfisher flying just above the water level of Pong Dam Lake in Himachal Pradesh, India.This is one of the birds which I liked the most through binoculars. This is also known as White Kingfisher by local folks. Pied Kingfisher looks amazing when it's sitting. I could not manage to capture Pied Kingfisher sitting :The Pied Kingfisher is a water kingfisher and is found widely distributed across Africa and Asia. Their black and white plumage, crest and the habit of hovering over clear lakes and rivers before diving for fish makes it distinctive. Males have a double band across the breast while females have a single gorget that is often broken in the middle. They are usually found in pairs or small family parties. When perched, they often bob their head and flick up their tail. More information about Pied Kingfisher can be checked at - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pied_KingfisheA flying Red Wattled Lapwing near agricultural land around Pong Dam Lake in Nagrota Surian The Red-wattled Lapwing is a lapwing or large plover which is a wader in the family Charadriidae. It has characteristic loud alarm calls which are variously rendered as did he do it or pity to do it leading to colloquial names like the did-he-do-it bird. Usually seen in pairs or small groups not far from water but may form large flocks in the non-breeding season, which is winter. For more about Red Wattled Lapwing check out - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-wattled_LapwingA pair of Red Wattled Lapwings finding something to eat around Pong Dam Lake in Himachal Pradesh, India.Another River Tern flying on top of Pong Dam Lake in Kangra region of Himalayan State..You may Also Like Following PHOTO JOURNEYs -Wild Wings of Pong Dam - Part 1 Bar Headed Goose @ Pong Water Reservoir, HP, IndiaFirst encounter with Ruddy Shelducks around Pong Dam LakeDifferent Types of Cormorants at Pong Water Reservoir in HimachaEllora of Himachal PradesA Photo Journey with Bird SilhouettesA Quick Visit to Pong Dam and surrounding areas of the LakSunset Moments at Pong Dam Lake in KangraA Photo Journey with Rural Himachal - Nagrota Surian on the bank of Pong Dam LakeSome Passionate Birders and Wildlife Professionals at PongBird Counting Seminars at Wildlife Department, Pong Dam, Kangra, HPSecond part of the Series - 'Wild Wings of Pong Dam'

Hope you enjoyed last two parts of this series with Grey Buschat, Grey Heron, Black headed Gull, Bar Headed Goose, Ruddy Shelduck, Intermediate Egret, Little Cormorants, Little Cormorants, Little Ringed Plover, Black Kite, Black Winged Stilt, Common Sandpiper, Common Teal, Great Thicknee and Great Tit Etc. If not, just check the earlier parts @ PART-1 & PART-2 before continuing this part with more birds from Pong Dam Lake...

Wild Wings of Pong Dam : A Series on Migratory Birds we saw at Pong Water reservoir during Winters of 2012 @ Himachal Pradesh India || PART-2

Continuing this series of Photo Journeys with Wild Wings of Pong Dam, here comes the second Photo Journey of this series. Let's check out this one with new birds we met during Bird Counting Activity at Pong Dam Lake in Himachal Pradesh, IndiaThe very first bird of this Photo Journey is 'Grey Buschat'Grey Buschat is found in countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. And I think this was not Migratory bird for Pong Wetland, but not sure. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. And this one was not exactly found near the lake. We saw it on the way while moving from Forest Guest House in Nagrota to the Lake-side A Silhouette of Grey HeronMost of the time we were walking around the Shoreline of Pong Dam Lake and all birds were against the light for us. Only few like Bar Headed Goose and Ruddy Shelducks were on other side. So I thought of trying some Silhouette Shots and some of them came out really well due to amazing shapes of these birds in air and around the lake.The Grey Heron is a wading bird of the heron family Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe, Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in the milder south and west, but many birds retreat in winter from the ice in colder regions. It has become common in summer even inside the Arctic circle along the Norwegian coast. (Courtesy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_HeroGull floating on top of Pong Dam Lake @ Himachal Pradesh, IndiaDuring this trip I was most impressed by activeness of Gulls and River Terns although not sure if these birds are so active by their nature or not :) ... There were different types of Gulls and people were actually identifying gulls with exact features and for me all of them were Gulls :) ... Gulls are typically medium to large birds, usually grey or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They typically have harsh wailing or squawking calls, stout, longish bills, and webbed feet. Most gulls, particularly Larus species, are ground-nesting carnivores, which will take live food or scavenge opportunistically. Live food often includes crabs and small fish. Gulls have prophylactic unhinging jaws which allow them to consume large prey. Apart from the kittiwakes, gulls are typically coastal or inland species, rarely venturing far out to sea The large species take up to four years to attain full adult plumage, but two years is typical for small gulls. Large White-Headed Gulls are typically long-lived birds, with a maximum age of 49 years recorded for the Herring Gull. If interested in more details about Gulls, check out - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GulIntermediate Egret walking around backwater streams of Pong Dam Lake in Himachal Pradesh, India The Intermediate Egret or Yellow-billed Egret is a medium-sized heron. It is a resident breeder from east Africa across the Indian Subcontinent to Southeast Asia and Australia. It often nests in colonies with other herons, usually on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs. Two to five eggs are laid, the clutch size varying with region. This species, as its scientific name implies, is intermediate in size between the Great Egret and smaller white egrets like the Little Egret and Cattle Egret, though nearer to Little than Great. Breeding birds may have a reddish or black bill, greenish yellow gape skin, loose filamentous plumes on their breast and back, and dull yellow or pink on their upper legs (regional variations). The sexes are similar. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermediate_Egret for more details about Intermediate Egrets...Large CormorantLittle Cormorant with spreaded wings @ Pong Dam LakThe Little Cormorant is a member of the Cormorant family of seabirds: Aptly named, the Little Cormorant is small in comparison with other cormorants, only 55 cm in length with an average mass of 440 gms. Salim Ali describes the Little Cormorant as a 'glistening black duck-like water bird with a longish stiff tail and slender compressed bill sharply hooked at the tail.' It is a resident species in most of tropical south Asia, commonly found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Viet Nam; additionally, it is a vagrant species in Afghanistan. The Little Cormorant is not a migratory bird... it dwells year-round in trees near a water sourceDuring two days Pong Dam Lake, I used to see Little Cormorants after every 10 minutes. Not very sure but these birds seemed friendly to others, as many times we spotted little Cormorants with either Gulls, Herons or Egrets etc. More photographs for Cormorants can be checked at - http://phototravelings.blogspot.in/2012/02/different-types-of-cormorants-at-pong.htmLittle Egret with Black Headed Gul The adult Little Egret is 55–65 centimeters long with an 88–106 centimeters wingspan and weighs 350–550 grams. Its plumage is all white. The subspecies garzetta has long black legs with yellow feet and a slim black bill. In the breeding season, the adult has two long nape plumes and gauzy plumes on the back and breast, and the bare skin between the bill and eyes becomes red or blue. Juveniles are similar to non-breeding adults but have greenish-black legs and duller yellow feet. has yellow feet and a bare patch of grey-green skin between the bill and eyes. The subspecies nigripes differs in having yellow skin between the bill and eye, and blackish feet. Little Egrets are mostly silent but make various croaking and bubbling calls at their breeding colonies and produce a harsh alarm call when disturbed. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Egret to know more about Little Egrets.The Black-headed Gull is a bold and opportunist feeder which will eat insects, fish, seeds, worms, scraps and carrion in towns, or take invertebrates in ploughed fields with equal relish. This species takes two years to reach maturity. First-year birds have a black terminal tail band, more dark areas in the wings, and, in summer, a less fully developed dark hood. Like most gulls, Black-headed Gulls are long-lived birds, with a maximum age of 63 years recorded in the wild. Check more about Black Headed Gulls at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-headed_Gull . At Pong Dam Lake, I loved their flight and the way they take whole round of the lake by flying on top of iFlying Little Ringed PloverThe Little Ringed Plover is a small plover which we saw around the backwater spots of Pong Dam Lake. Adults have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with one black neckband. They have a brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes with white above and a short dark bill. The legs are flesh-colored and the toes are all webbeLittle Ringed Plover finding something to eat around Lake shore..This species differs from the larger Ringed Plover in leg color, the head pattern, and the presence of a clear yellow eye-ringLittle Ringed Plover keeping an eye on movements around him while eating something on Lakeside..The breeding habitat of Little Ringed Plover is open gravel areas near freshwater, including gravel pits, islands and river edges in Europe and western Asia. They nest on the ground on stones with little or no plant growth. Both male and female take turn to incubate the eggs. They are migratory and winter in Africa. These birds forage for food on muddy areas, usually by sight. They eat insects and worms.Little Ringed Plover heading towards deep water in Pong Dam Lake, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, IndiaHaving said that Little Ringed Plovers find their food around muddy areas, we also found them near to the water and finding stuff to eat. A Little Ringed Plover calling friends to join on a island for party... More about Little Ringed Plovers can be checked at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ringed_Plover

Continuing this series of Photo Journeys with Wild Wings of Pong Dam, here comes the second Photo Journey of this series. Let's check out this one with new birds we met during Bird Counting Activity at Pong Dam Lake in Himachal Pradesh, India.

Wild Wings of Pong Dam : A Series on Migratory Birds we saw at Pong Water reservoir during Winters of 2012 @ Himachal Pradesh India || PART-1

So far we have shared around 8 Photo Journeys form Pong Dam & Masroor and here comes a series on Birds we met during the two days of official Bird Counting by Wildlife Department, Himachal Pradesh. This whole series is divided into four parts, where we shall share photographs of different Birds our Travellingcamera could shoot...The very First Photograph of this series shows 'Brown Headed Gull'. Gulls are birds which are most closely related to the terns and only distantly related to auks, skimmers, and more distantly to the waders. Photograph of this Gull was clicked when we were in a boat and going towards the other shore of Pong Dam Lake. I am not very sure if this is behavior of a Gull but most of the gulls were seen flying on top of water most of the time. Until the twenty-first century most gulls were placed in the genus Larus. Check out more about Gulls and different variants as per their features at - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gull'Bar Headed Goose'Bar Headed Goose were in largest number in Pong Water Reservoir of Himachal Pradesh. Here is separate Photo Journey on Bar Headed Goose, which can be checked - HERE 'Black KiteThe Black Kite is a medium-sized bird. Unlike others of the Accipitridae group, they are opportunistic hunters and are more likely to scavenge. They spend a lot of time soaring and gliding in thermals in search of food. Their angled wing and distinctive forked tail make them easy to identify. There was group of 12 Black Kites around the Lake shore. Most of the birds arund were moving away from this flock of Black Kites. This kite is widely distributed through the temperate and tropical parts of Eurasia and parts of Australasia and Oceania, with the temperate region populations tending to be migratory. Several subspecies are recognized and formerly had their own English names. The European populations are small, but the South Asian population is very large. More details about Black Kite can be checked at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Kite'Black Winged Stilt'The Black-winged Stilt, Common Stilt OR Pied Stilt is a widely distributed very long-legged wader in the avocet and stilt family. There were around 8 such birds moving around the shoreline. During 45 minutes, I didn't see them flying and were continuously finding something to eat. Opinions about this bird differ as to whether the birds treated under the scientific name H. himantopus ought to be treated as a single species and if not, how many species to recognize. We saw these birds on wet areas around the shoreline of main lake. These birds were eating something from the wet soil with some grass on it. The portion of land seen above in Photograph was very near to the shoreline of Pong Dam Lake. Check out more about Black-Winged Stilt at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-winged_StilCommon SandpipeThe Common Sandpiper is a small Palearctic wader. Common Sandpiper and its American sister species, the Spotted Sandpipers make up the genus Actitis. They are parapatric and replace each other geographically... Stray birds of either species may settle down with breeders of the other and hybridize. Hybridization has also been reported between the Common Sandpiper and the Green Sandpiper, a basal species of the closely related shank genus Tringa. More information about Common Sandpiper and other relevant species can be checked at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_SandpipeCommon Teal with Little CormantCormorants were again in huge number at Pong Dam Lake and there were different types of Cormorants around Shore line of the lake. Small Cormorants to the ones with orangish brown breast and few with white spots around forehead. There is a separate Photo Journey dedicated to Cormorants and can be checked - HERE Cormorants are fish eaters and can be seen oding some clever actions around water bodies. These birds are most hated in pong Region of Nagrota Surian because local folks feel that cormorants reduce their income by eating lot of fish, which is technically denied by Conservation departmentCommon Teals with Great ThickneThe Great Stone-curlew or Great Thick-knee is a large wader which is a resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka into South-east Asia. This species prefers gravel banks along rivers or large lakes, and also beaches. Great Thicknee tends to be wary and flies off into the distance ahead of the observer, employing powerful, rather stiff wingbeatsThe Great Thick-knee is a large wader at 50–56 cm, and has a massive 7 cm upturned bill. It has unstreaked grey-brown upper parts and breast, with rest of the underparts whitish. The face has a striking black and white pattern, and the bill is black with a yellow base. The eyes are bright yellow and the legs a duller greenish-yellow.While flying, the Great Thick-knee shows black and white flight feathers on the upperwing, and a mainly white underwing. Sexes are similar, but young birds are slightly paler than adults. The call is a wailing whistle, given mainly at night, as with other birds in this family. The Great Thick-knee eats crabs, large insects, and other animal prey. More details about Great Thicknee can be checked at - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Thick-kneCormorants with Black Headed GulThe Black-headed Gull is a small gull which breeds in much of Europe and Asia and also in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory, wintering further south, but some birds in the milder western most areas of Europe are resident. Some birds will also spend the winter in northeastern North America, where it was formerly known as the Common Black-headed Gull. As is the case with many gulls, it had previously been placed in the genus Larus. More information about Black Headed Gull can be checked at - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-headed_GulCormorants with a Gull and Grey EgreAn egret is any of several herons, most of which are white and several of which develop fine plumes during the breeding season. The distinction between a heron and an egret is rather vague and depends more on appearance than biology. The word 'egret' comes from the French word 'aigrette' that means both 'silver heron' and 'brush' referring to the long filamentous feathers that seem to cascade down an egret's back during the breeding season. More details can be found at - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EgretFemale Common TealThe Eurasian Teal or Common Teal is a common and widespread duck which breeds in temperate Eurasia and migrates south in winter. The Eurasian Teal is often called simply the Teal due to being the only one of these small dabbling ducks in much of its range. The bird gives its name to the blue-green color teal.Common Teal is commonly found in sheltered wetlands and feeds on seeds and aquatic invertebrates.This Photograph was shot from the boat which is one of the main reason that bird has got direct lighting which was main challenge when we were walking around the shoreline of Pong Dam LakeMore information about Common Teal can be found at - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_TeaGreat ThinkneGreat TiGreat Tit was not shot around the lake but was seen near Forest Guest house which is surrounded by huge trees. Various Great Tits were flying from one branch to other, while playing in a group. These birds were always making some sounds while flying from one tree to another.The Great Tit is a bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central and Northern Asia and parts of North Africa in any sort of woodland. It is generally resident and most Great Tits do not migrate except in extremely harsh winters. More details about Great tit can be seen at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_TitSince I know least about birds, names were told by some experienced birders from Chandigarh and Delhi. After that details are pulled form Wikipedia !More photographs of Pong's Birds will be shared soon...

So far we have shared around 8 Photo Journeys form Pong Dam & Masroor and here comes a series on Birds we met during the two days of official Bird Counting by Wildlife Department, Himachal Pradesh. This whole series is divided into four parts, where we shall share photographs of different Birds our Travellingcamera could shoot...

Bird Counting Seminar at Wildlife Department, Pong Dam in Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh, India

Wildlife Department of Himachal Pradesh organizes a two days event for counting Birds in Pong Dam. Idea of Bird counting is for better future planning on the basis of data and trend of Migratory birds in Pong Dam. Trends like - Why numbers of a particular bird is increasing and other is decreasing, Is there any change in Migration Routes or Jet Streams etc. For example, some of the birds are not coming to Pong because people have stopped sowing Paddy in agricultural land around Pong Lake. Let's go through this PHOTO JOURNEY to know more about seminar sessions conducted and other fun during two days at Nagrota Surian Forest Campus..The very first Photograph of this Photo Journey shows three active members of Chandigarh Bird Club. Above Photograph is showing the main person who is successfully conducting this activity for last 9 years in Pong. He is Mr. Devender Singh Dhadwal, who was Range Officer in Pong and recently promoted and going to Great Himalayan National Park as Deputy Director. Mr. Dhadwal is very dedicated and passionate about Birding. He has also written a book on Pong under name - 'Wild Wings - Pong and It's Birds'. Most of us were very impressed by him and heard lot of good things about him from local folks, his juniors and seniors as well. His knowledge about birds was a clear example for his dedication and level of interest in his job !!During theses two days of Bird Counting, a Seminar was organized for local folks, Wildlife Professionals from various parts of Himachal Pradesh, Birders from different states of North India and few Photographers like me. During this Seminar, Mr. Dhadwal told about main migratory birds which come to Pong every year, how the migrations happen and what are main factor that timings of these migrations vary from one year to another etc. Apart from basic knowledge around Migration mechanism, Mr. Dhadwal also raised some points about respecting the lifestyle of birds and their own ecosystem. As a Photographer I could relate to it and many of the Photographers need to respect the very basic things about the nature and life around them. That's most important thing before anything we doBasic seminars happened at Forest Campus in Nagrota Surian. Folks from Chandigarh, Delhi, UP, Chamba, Khajjiar, Kullu, Kaza, Hamirpur, Manali and lot of other parts of Himachal had come to join for these Seminars. After some knowledge sharing sessions, 21 teams were created to do counting in different parts of Pong Dam Lake. Team Leaders were decided on the basis of knowledge level of each individual about Birds. Mr. Dhadwal had made some slides with photographs of birds and each of us had to name those birds. Some of the folks sitting in the room had 30 correct out of 30 birds shown on the screen.Here is Mr. Satish Gupta, Divisional Forest Officer in Hamirpur and Pong Water reservoir comes under him. He visit the place frequently and also loves to click Photographs of these colorful birds. In above photograph he is keeping an eye on team creation for counting process, as this is one of the important activity for Wildlife Conservation department.After the formal seminar sessions, there were some snacks and bonfire planned near main Guest House inside Forest Campus of Nagrota Surian. During this some of the birders were invited on stage to share their experiences about Birding in Pong and how this interest built for watching Birds by visiting different places in World. Sarbjeet Kaur was first one to share her thoughts about Bird Watching and how it started in her life. She is an active member of Chandigarh Bird Club and this was second time she was visiting Bird Counting at pong Dam. She is quite regular in Uttrakhand as well.Here is Mrs. Joshi, who is again a Birder from Shimla. She is a Professor by profession and love Bird watching. This was first time when she came to Pong Dam for Bird Watching. Her journey with birds started long time back when she was doing her researcher work during Ph.D. Since then she is regular bird watcher in Shimla region and also try to chase similar opportunities around Himachal Pradesh state of IndiaFinally some folk dances of Himachal were presented by students of DAV School Nagrota Surian. Children had prepared very well and gave amazing performancesThere were some mix dance steps of Himachali Natti and Punjabi Bhagra. This particular region of Himachal is touching to Punjab and was initially part of Punjab only.After few dance performances on Himachali Songs, a skit was shown on a very relevant topic where local people try to catch birds as they feel that birds destroy their crops and fish count goes down due to Migratory birds. At the same time, shown another side when forest department share appropriate information with local folks that birds are friendly and should be treated as guests in this Wetland of Himachal Pradesh.

Wildlife Department of Himachal Pradesh organizes a two days event for counting Birds in Pong Dam. Idea of Bird counting is for better future planning on the basis of data and trend of Migratory birds in Pong Dam. Trends like - Why numbers of a particular bird is increasing and other is decreasing, Is there any change in Migration Routes or Jet Streams etc. For example, some of the birds are not coming to Pong because people have stopped sowing Paddy in agricultural land around Pong Lake. Let's go through this PHOTO JOURNEY to know more about seminar sessions conducted and other fun during two days at Nagrota Surian Forest Campus...

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