Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Feb 10, 2012, 3:00 am
Hello everybody, I am back at last! We had a wonderful time at Sringeri and Samhith’s thread ceremony went off very well. However, its been even more hectic since I got back, so I haven’t been able to write at all L This post is almost a week overdue, but as they...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Jan 24, 2012, 3:43 am
A question I was regularly asked at one time was:”So, you are a Tamilian. You must have learnt classical music and Bharatanatyam, right?” It was a question which always succeeded in irritating me, for I had nothing to do with either music or dance, despite being a Tamil...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Jan 19, 2012, 4:24 am
In this, his second guest post, Niranjan continues his reminiscences of his Kutch trip, with a more detailed report of the fifth day spent on the Rann of Kutch. To read his earlier post, click here. We started from Zainabad to ...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Jan 16, 2012, 12:33 am
This is a guest post, written by my cousin, Niranjan Chandrashekar. Niranjan is based in Delhi, and loves to travel and explore. His latest passion is for photography, a hobby which began with a brand new DSLR, but is soon becoming an obsession, as we keep telling him!!!! After much per...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Jan 14, 2012, 11:04 pm
Any festival is a reason to celebrate, and Pongal happens to be one of the important ones. Here is the kolam welcoming you to our home.... This year, the festival   has brought along an unexpected deluge of books, and what better way to celebrate than read!!  It all began with ...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Jan 12, 2012, 9:58 pm
Udaipur is the lake city of Rajasthan.  Most of the state might be a desert, but Udaipur, with its five huge interconnected lakes is blessed with not just a perennial water supply, but the lakes also keep the city and its environment cool, even in the sweltering hea...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Jan 12, 2012, 4:57 am
A bull which drove away invaders, three buffaloes said to be demons, a lake once said to have been filled with ghee and a temple once covered in lime to protect it – we couldn’t help but smile as we listened to these stories about Achalgarh. We had a day free at M...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Jan 10, 2012, 4:57 am
As a student of Mumbai University, I always regretted the fact that I never had to visit the beautiful campus at Fort, commuting to the Kalina campus instead. Every time I was in town, I walked along the Fort Campus, looking up at the clock tower, slowing down to take a closer look at th...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Jan 6, 2012, 4:43 am
Returning home after a ten day break, completely offline and unreachable, it was a pleasure to get back to my computer, to open my mailbox and see what all I had missed! Yes, I am still catching up, so those of you to whom I have not replied, please bear with me! Logging on to Facebook, ...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Jan 6, 2012, 12:30 am
Welcome back, and Wish you all a wonderful New Year!! I am back at last from my trip - the last one of 2011 and also the first one of 2012. I was accompanied throughout by some wonderful weather, the cyclone Thane throwing no hurdles in my path, just a lot of clouds and some rain to enli...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Dec 24, 2011, 11:00 pm
Wishing you all, all the very best for the coming year... and indeed all the years ahead! P.S. That's our very first christmas tree... one Samhith and I decorated with much enthusiasm! And this is Samhith's own work... with some of the ornaments we bought...... its a...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Nov 3, 2011, 4:20 am
October is over and November is here. Before I know it, the year will be over! And I am nowhere near catching up with all the posts I have to write. October brought in so much travel, from the unexpected Club Mahindra Bloggers Meet to another unexpected Diwali trip to Sringeri. There is ...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Oct 23, 2011, 3:36 am
In an area surrounded by mountains and inter-crossing rivers, a waterfall comes as no surprise. However, when you enter a gate just off the highway, drive along a lane leading into a dense forest of teak, and then alight to walk through a narrow path cut amidst the ...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Oct 22, 2011, 1:28 pm
The Kosi river forms the eastern boundary of the Corbett National Park, and Club Mahindra’s Corbett Safari Resort is located on its banks. The winter had begun to set in, and the river was just a narrow stream, though flowing quite deep and fast at some stretches. ...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Oct 21, 2011, 12:46 pm
Our school library had a system where we were only allowed to choose among books that were considered ‘suitable’ for us to read. Raised on a steady diet of Enid Blyton books, I still remember the first time we were given one of Jim Corbett’s books to read. Our...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Oct 7, 2011, 1:51 pm
The Chedda Nagar Murugan Temple has an interesting way of celebrating Navaratri. The focal point of the celebration is the elaborate homam (sacrifice) which is conducted over all the nine days of the festival. The temple is packed with devotees waiting for a glimpse of the sacrifice offe...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Oct 7, 2011, 1:06 pm
Over the last ten days, I have taken you along on a tour through the South Indian celebration of Navaratri in Mumbai. It is now time for something different. I usually try to take Samhith for the Ramleela as well as other Navaratra Pandals. Dandiya is something I havent been able to intr...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Oct 7, 2011, 12:49 pm
Some of you might be bored of Kolus by now, after seeing so many over the last few days! However, before I close the Navaratri chapter for this year, here are the last three kolu arrangements for this year..... The Fine Arts Society, Chembur, has a mammoth 15 step...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Oct 7, 2011, 1:26 am
Dusshera has come and gone, but I am not done with my Navaratri posts. There are a couple of interesting golus and lots of pics I still have to share with you, but I am interrupting my Navaratri series to tell you all about an event we attended yesterday. It was so exciting and so much f...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Oct 4, 2011, 4:30 am
Some of you have been wondering where we get all the ideas for our kolus. The answer is actually quite simple - from each other! We keep looking out for ideas, and happily pick up others's ideas for our own kolu! Why else do you think Samhith is so eager to go and visit others' kolus? Besides,...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Oct 3, 2011, 4:45 am
Any festival signifies a hectic time, but none more so than Navaratri! We have to visit all our relatives and friends to see what they have come up with for the festival, catch up with all the kolus in the vicinity, see the latest arrangement at the temple, and over and above all this, w...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Sep 29, 2011, 12:57 am
For the last three years, the focal point of our Navaratri Kolu has been Samhith's train set. Our entire decoration is arranged around the track, and o0ur tunnel last year was a huge hit with all the kids! It was no surprise therefore that Samhith wanted a tunnel this year too! With the ...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Sep 27, 2011, 1:26 am
Its time for yet another festival - one which gives me the maximum opportunity to use my creativity - Navaratri - the festival of nine nights.  These nine nights (and days) are dedicated to the goddess in her myriad forms, and this festival is a celebration of not just the m...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Sep 23, 2011, 2:16 am
The fourth cave at Badami is the only Jain cave among the four. This is also by far the simplest cave, though there are quite a lot of renditions of the Jain Tirthankars. This was also the only cave which the school students gave a miss, so it was practically empty! Unfortunatel...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Sep 20, 2011, 1:09 am
Badami Caves Part 1 Badami Caves Part 2 My main worry while on our tour of Badami and surrounding places was how Samhith would react to seeing just sculptures and temples all day long. He had tired of temples after Aihole and ...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Sep 19, 2011, 12:07 am
Please read the first part Badami Cave Temples Part 1 (if you haven’t already) before reading this one! The caves at Badami have become quite a tourist attraction, and also a popular spot for school picnics and
...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Sep 17, 2011, 12:45 am
The main attractions at Badami are the rock cut cave temples. Carved out of the sandstone cliffs in the late 6th and 7th centuries, these caves have a verandah at the entrance with pillars cut into the stone. This leads to a pillared hall or mandapa, which in turn le...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Sep 14, 2011, 7:06 am
Huge red sandstone cliffs are all we can see as we drive into Badami. Soon, the lake comes into view, and the two sets of cliffs which attract thousands of visitors to this small town become clearer. Opposite us we can se...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Sep 11, 2011, 11:30 am
Those are the words which resound through the air as we bid goodbye to the Lord. Literally, they would translate to 'Glory to the Lord! Come again soon next year', but to the devotees who bid goodbye to the Lord with these words, it means so much more.  To them, ...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Sep 10, 2011, 8:25 am
Tomorrow, we bid goodbye to Ganesha, and have to wait for one full year before he arrives again. I have taken you along as I visited Ganeshas all over Mumbai, and there is just enough time to share with you the last one for this year........ This one is the one in our colony - the Chedda Nagar Ganpa...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Sep 9, 2011, 6:22 am
A festival is all about getting together, and what symbolizes it more than the Ganesh Chaturthi which brings together the most disparate of Indians? On the 9th day of the festival, as the Lord readies to go back to his abode, Arti from My Yatra Diary has managed to get together 4 of us bloggers ...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Sep 8, 2011, 6:21 am
Matunga is a place closely associated with South Indians living in Mumbai. I remember braving the train crowds as a child, visiting Matunga to see the Ganpatis, and especially the serial lights strung up all along the roads. I was then brought here by my uncle. Later, as I studied at Ruia College, I...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Sep 7, 2011, 1:50 am
Now that our own Ganesha has left, we have time to go and see a few more Ganeshas around us.... Here are a couple of interesting ones we came across.... This one was Krishna-style, with a flute and Gopis in attendance..... This one was simple, sort of like the Dagdu Sheth Ganpati in Pune... but we ...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Sep 5, 2011, 1:22 pm
.....A Small experiment and some thoughts it threw up..... We bid goodbye to the Lord at our home today. For those who are new to this blog, here is some background information.... We had placed 3 Ganesha idols in our Puja this year. The first and main one was made by me, and I tried to make it a li...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Sep 4, 2011, 10:30 pm
One of the most interesting things about the Sarvajanik Ganpati Pandals is the pains they take to decorate it, especially to relate a story. While it is certainly a great stage for bringing social issues to the fore, even a mythological or historical tale has its plus points, especially if it is int...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Sep 4, 2011, 3:05 am
It is time for us to reflect..... That is what this Ganesha at Chembur station seems to say.....
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Sep 2, 2011, 10:30 pm
As I do every year, this year too, I will take you along with me as I visit Ganeshas in and around my locality. I start the series today with our favourite Ganesha at the moment. This Ganesha has been installed in our neighbouring building, and Samhith went over to take a look as soon as it arrived....
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Sep 2, 2011, 1:42 am
Yesterday was a day for celebrations - and as is usual for any mass celebration in India, filled with the noise of drums and brass bands, people dancing on the streets, and loads of colour being thrown in joy! Even heavy rains didnt dampen the enthusiasm, even as Ganesha idols continued to be brough...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Aug 31, 2011, 11:16 pm
This blog has been selected by Blogadda for the week's Spicy Saturday Picks, 3rd September, 2011! Click on the image or the link above to see the other wonderful posts on the list! Ganesh Chaturthi is here and Mumbai is all set to welcome its favourite God. The most interesting thing about Mumbai's...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Aug 29, 2011, 4:41 am
Kitchen gardens were something I had only read about in books! Then I heard of Urban Leaves, and visited their city farm on a water tank in the Maharashtra Nature Park, and was hooked! More than me, it was Samhith, who, I must say, was fascinated by the idea of eating vegetables plucked directly fro...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Aug 26, 2011, 1:05 pm
Considering how much I enjoy festivals, and coming from a family obsessed with celebrating not just our own, but every festival we come across, I had thought myself to be fairly well up to the mark when it came to knowledge of festivals celebrated in India.... at least those celebrated in the parts ...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Aug 26, 2011, 1:52 am
Badami was the capital of the early Chalukyas, from the 6th to the 8th century AD. The city was then known as Vatapi. The name came from the legend of Sage Agasthya who destroyed the demons Vatapi and Ilvala here. As the story goes, Vatapi and Ilvala were demon b...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Aug 23, 2011, 10:22 am
This was the sight which greeted us as we entered Aihole, and it is probably the best description of Aihole that I can ever give. Amidst the village houses suddenly rises the spire of an ancient temple. The beautifully carved walls are hidden behind new concrete structures, and the shrine itself, n...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Aug 22, 2011, 5:31 am
The month of July brought with it a host of festivals. Some were small ones, celebrated without much ado, while some involved a lot of preparation. Some were small ceremonies celebrated quietly at home, while some were big affairs, with hordes of people coming home. July ha...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Aug 18, 2011, 6:39 am
Today’s Mumbai Mirror's Cover Story… Article - If … brought a smile to my face. Yes, I fitted that headline to a T!  I have never bribed a traffic cop! Though this does not really apply to me, because ...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Aug 8, 2011, 10:30 pm
When I won the World Environment Day Contest held by Pratham Books, I was thrilled! Any prize is exciting, but nothing beats a book received as a prize! And I would be getting a copy of their latest offering - "A King Cobra's summer"! From the moment I told Samhith I had won a prize, and that ...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Aug 8, 2011, 12:45 am
Samhith's fascination for snails is well known to all those who read this blog! This monsoon was no different, though the enthusiasm has worn off a bit for me, and I refused to take pics of every snail we saw! He, of course, continues to look for them, and at last count, we had at least 20 big...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Aug 5, 2011, 1:00 am
The Mumbai Skyline, over-set by monsoon clouds...... Walking along Marine Drive in the pouring rain brings back memories of my college days when I walked the path alone. So many years later, I walked the same path, this time with my husband and son! A memorable experience i...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Jul 29, 2011, 10:30 pm
These are probably among the commonest of birds, but here, the Jungle Babblers are sitting on some beautiful works of art, which are equally uncommon...... We saw these birds wherever we went, and I did take many photographs...these two were taken at Chittorgarh..... ...
Comment - Like

Anu S. posted an article on A Wandering Mind - Jul 28, 2011, 10:31 pm
We saw these ducks on the way to the Dhyanalingam at Coimbatore..... Does anyone know what they are called?
Comment - Like