bread and breakfast, gautam nagar

bread.

and some fruits for breakfast.

while one runs an early morning errand.

and wait for the bus to come.

life of a vehicle

carrying more than they were made to carry is the speciality of vehicles in india.

and there is no designated resting place for them once their use is required no more, like the one here waiting for the end at a garden in imphal, manipur.

another one rots at sri fort auditorium in new delhi.

brand new. it will also meet the same fate though.

(for more images in this series, visit end of road for iconic vehicle)

warning signs, yusuf sarai

some walls

and some pillars don't want to be peed on.

impending death of a much-loved bookstore, connaught place

april 2010. anil book corner in connaught place is a favourite among english students of delhi university and enjoys a regular stream of loyal readers. the bookstore occupies hardly any space. it is like a big window stacked with books on the outside. it offers new and old titles at throwaway prices. the shop is over 30 years old and has survived all the structural changes that took place in the colonial connaught place area. 

april 2011. owner anil kumar says he gets books wholesale from publishers and distributors. he doesn't stock pirated books. there is a good exchange system at work — foreign tourists and locals barter their favourite titles with the store. the lonely planet series of travel books are abundant here.

but the bookstore may not survive the latest round of makeover at connaught place. the delhi metro rail corporation has been digging up the area for almost two years now with no end in sight. "we may have to shift elsewhere," says anil. so goes the tale. readers will lose another one of those few bookstores across our cities that pay personal attention, unlike swanky stores where they give coffee and snacks but a plastic sense of 'readinghood'.

here comes the hotstepper, safdarjung enclave

deer park in safdarjung enclave springs a surprise on the otherwise uncaring urban life outside the boundary walls. nestled between the busy hauz khas village and green park market, few people have seen the activities that happen within the zoo-like area.

follow the leader.

watching the world go by, or more specifically, watching joggers, children, elders and lovebirds go by.

up close and personal.

and now, here comes the real hotstepper! minus a leg.

ganesha

the elephant-head god ganesha is immensely popular among hindus, without any restrictions on the kind of affiliations they have. the range of ganesha art is also wide and varied. from pencil holders, to door hangings to decorative living room items and even keychains, ganesha rules.

  

he is everywhere.

dilli haat is important for craftspersons to survive since there is hardly any market left for them nowadays. located in south delhi, it also has some stalls selling regional cuisines of most states in india, though the authenticity of the food has been questioned sometimes.

rajpath

rajpath, or the royal street, leads to the office of the president of india and other important ministries. but monkeys are known to like playing about on the premises of government buildings, unaware of security restrictions. government employees and file-pushers often share lunch tiffins with the monkeys, blurring the line between the two species.

national handicrafts and handlooms museum (crafts museum), new delhi

little ones get ready to perform at the crafts museum.

it is one of the least-visited interesting places in new delhi. the core collection of the museum was put together in the 1950s and 1960s to serve as reference material for craftspersons whose hereditary traditions were fading on the face of modern industrialisation.

for sale. good for living room decor. choose your pick.

india gate

some say the gateway of india in mumbai is the real gateway to india because if you come from the sea and cross the gate, you actually set your feet on india. but if you cross india gate from one side to another, you still find yourself in delhi. india gate, hence, is not the real gate of india.

but one can try going through it for fun.

it was known as the 'all india war memorial' before it became india gate. names of soldiers who died fighting for the british empire in world war 1 and the third anglo-afghan war are engraved on the monument.

maybe you can't just go through the gate. the indian air force guard will stop you.

gandhi smriti, new delhi

mohandas karamchand gandhi

 "i will give you a talisman. whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. will he gain anything by it? will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? in other words, will it lead to freedom for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."

joseph lelyveld 

"it (biography) does not say gandhi was bisexual. it does not say that he was homosexual. it does not say that he was a racist. the word bisexual never appears in the book and the word racist only appears once in a very limited context; relating to a single phrase and not to gandhi's whole set attitudes or history in south africa. i didn't say these things, so i can hardly defend them."

hampi, karnataka

hampi in karnataka is where modern-day hippies go to chill out. some people call it the second goa. this t-shirt shop is right on the main street, and the temples are just a few steps away. 

  

fashion and food. hampi has perhaps one of the best collection of ethnic wear. urbane yet appealing to the original tantra crowd.

 the virupaksha temple is hampi's pride. its towering size greets you warmly when you get down at the bus stop. the locals come here everyday. how lucky.

jawaharlal nehru university

a documentary shows the manipuri pung cholom dance. it is usually performed before enacting the ras lila. the first manipuri film festival in the capital was held in march 2011. organised by the manipuri film development corporation, critics said the event was staged to use the government-given funds before the financial year ended. good questions: what was the the film development corporation doing for the last 20 years? 

a pena player welcomes the audience on the first day of the festival.

books about the northeast were sold at the festival; the titles were not necessarily about films.

we meet him here again.

guru rewben mashangva, a naga folk-pop singer, tunes his guitar before a performance.

watching the show, alone.

a cameraman waits for the projector screen to start.

sariska

on the way to sariska national park. a motley group of biking 'enthu cutlets' bunk work to live the life, even if only for two days.

nobody saw a single tiger. but the good ride saved the day.

decades ago vietcong soldiers lurked in the fields in south vietnam to kill their enemies. modern-day shamik seems to be re-enacting those times in the fields of rajasthan.

http://www.facebook.com/castrolbiking

dilli haat

two different personalities testify a street artist's skills, on whose shop people sit for half-an-hour to get their sketches made. dilli haat, new delhi.

fort cochi, kerala

"many will call me an adventurer — and that i am, only one of a different sort: one of those who risks his skin to prove his platitudes," ernesto che guevara had said. his adventures have taken him far and wide, and now he rests at this house in fort cochi, kerala.