We visited the South of Spain two years ago in 2019, the summer before the global pandemic. This region is know as the Andalusia. Malaga town is the capital of the Province Malaga in this region. It is the birth place of the painter sculptor Pablo Picasso.
Meghalaya means 'Home of the clouds'! Megha is a cloud and Alaya means home! And it literally is that. It rains almost throughout the year.
It is difficult to believe that unrest has broken out in Jerusalem. We did feel the tension though all was peaceful and beautiful when we visited the Holy City, holy to all three major religions of the world, Christianity, Islam and Judaism. We first sighted Jerusalem from an Observation Point, high on the hills surrounding the city as we approached from Tel-Aviv. The most striking structure on the Temple Mount in the Old city of Jerusalem is the Golden Dome, Dome of the Rock, Second Temple in Judaism. The Western Wall, also called the Wailing Wall, circles the Dome of the Rock, Second Temple of the Jews and the Al Aqsa Mosque. With restrictions to enter the Temple Mount, this wall is the closest to the Temple and used by Jews to pray. There are separate sections for men and women to pray.
I describe this beautiful Old city in this blog.
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Traveling out of the country to the Western world in the nineties taught me that what you wear is a ‘signal’ and you are judged by it. In the world today where travel is restricted due to the pandemic and meetings and classes are conducted online the ‘dress codes’ have changed. But Calvin is still making a point here!
I started writing this blog Unni-Verse in 2016 and the first post I wrote was titled ‘Worldly Wardrobe Woes’. I was at my daughter’s place in Chicago and reflecting on my sense of traditional/ethnic wear and the Western choice of clothes. Today I came across this Calvin and Hobbes cartoon in the newspaper and was reminded of the same, social norms or mores (characteristic customs and conventions of a society) with regard to dress.
Hobbes is stating the norm or mores of the Western way of clothing where in summer everyone strips down to the bare minimum! “Don’t you get hot wearing long pants in the summer?” Long pants out, shorts are in!
In my post of 2016 I recorded a similar ‘Hobbes’ sentiment as expressed by ladies in New Haven, Connecticut. I reflect in my earlier post “In the early nineties, when I was a post-doc at Yale University…
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I enjoy visiting informal markets, hats (in Hindi), market fairs. In this blog I put together photos and notes on informal markets I observed in different parts of the world. Each is unique in its own way.
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| Lac Bangles, Bapu Bazaar, Jaipur, Pink City |
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| Art Bazaar, Moscow |
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Its been a year and three months since we have been locked at home in Ahmedabad, except for our brief escape to the Polo Forest (see 5 posts on this blog here). So escaping to Jaipur by air and then by road from Jaipur to Agra was a great adventure. Here I record life on … Continue reading Escapade: Enroute Jaipur to Agra
Regent Canal in Central London is this two level canal and we witnessed this amazing boat crossing from one level of water in the canal to the other level! Take a look at the videos of the crossing!
One Friday afternoon while we were casually strolling around King Cross area we came across this amazing boat crossing across the Regent Canal which was at two levels. There were boats parked on both sides of a Canal gate which was at two different levels. While we were wondering how this was supposed to work we saw this amazing feat accomplished manually, A gatekeeper opened the gate to allow water to flow out and level the two parts of the canal. As the boat at the higher level slowly came down to the lower level, the gates opened and the boat crossed over. Surprising only one side of the gate was opened and we wondered how the boat would come through. To our delight the boat was skillfully manipulated through the single open gate by the boatman!! See video of the crossing.
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I travelled to Pittsburgh a couple of years ago. Pittsburgh is very different from other cities in the US. First its topography is undulating and it has three rivers Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio. The Allegheny River and Monongahela River unite at Point State Park to form the Ohio River. It is an amazing site from the top of a hill on … Continue reading Visiting Pittsburgh: Unusually Picturesque City!
We were a Gang of 10 in Stellamaris College Hostel in Chennai, India, a few decades ago. We continued to keep in touch and met one-on-one often enough. But with WhatApp becoming popular we formed a group online. Soon the conversation turned to meeting up. With everyone so busy we never thought we would make … Continue reading College Friends reunite: Peermade, Kerala
This is the fifth in the series of posts on our visit to Polo Forest. See the earlier four posts on the Heritage Palace, Vijaynagar, the natural beauty around the forest, the ancient Shiva Temples and the Jain Temple ruins, Angkor Wat of Gujarat here. Polo Forest turned out to be a dream for exploring fascinating sites. After our … Continue reading Polo Forest: Maharana Pratap’s Hideout
