photography

Navarathri 2025

This year there was no celebration or festivities in our house for Navarathri as we don’t have any pooja in the house till my dads passing anniversary.

That does not stop us from attending other peoples Navarathri celebrations. We did get to go see a lot of Golus (Kolus), eat some good food (most of my friends had at least one non allergic item for me which was a big plus), sing songs (thanks to my guru who taught me a few songs just to sing for Navarathri in the last two months) and just see happy smiling faces all around.

The ladies were all beautiful as were the kids who dressed up. My friends definitely saw an improvement in my singing year over year. That is all thanks to my teacher. We did do a 15 minute class for Vijayadasami, with me singing in low volume from a hotel room right after I checked in. It was a long day but did not want to miss that class to get an auspicious start to this years learning.

Given the plans to blog a lot of trips, but being very busy at work, the blogs are getting condensed. So have added all the doll displays and unique dolls that caught my eye in just two galleries.. One in portrait format and one in landscape.

and one in landscape format..

As is now customary, did try to match San’s Sari’s with my shirts. She went out of her way to challenge me on some of the unique colors. My Ramarajan collection is diverse, but it has gaps. They will be addressed on the next India trip, whenever that may be!

Saraswati or sacchi paati, my grandmother who passed away two years ago has definitely blessed me this year with plenty of music. This year Jr. finally dusted off her alto saxophone and played a few songs at a friend’s place because he kept bugging her. That was heart warming to listen to.

There were not that many golus this year as a lot of my friends lost family and did not have a celebration to honor the departed. Still we all met each other in the same circles.

Next year hopefully brings us better circumstances and a celebration at home!

Revisiting Alamere falls after three years

Alamere falls near Point Reyes is an amazing waterfall that goes straight into the beach. Our first visit to this place was in 2021 in the middle of COVID. There was minimal socializing and we made the most of it.

In March we got a chance to go again. It is a long drive followed by a long hike. When you go with a group, both of those don’t seem long enough.

Given I have already described everything about this place, an updated set of photos and a video highlight reel!

Last time we went in November. This time we went in March.. the landscape on the hike was a lot greener, there were wildflowers that started coming out.. but it was windy and chilly both times.

It is now blog policy to open posts with a bench photo. Got a lot of yoga pose photos as well on this visit!

Had fun playing with the long exposure options in iPhone. Carrying the SLR up a 14 mile hike would have been an additional challenge.

went close to the falls and put the iPhone upside down on the sand to get this one.. had to crop it to a square shot. Water drops blurred part of the image.

When all surfaces are vibrant, had to stop and take pictures of small plants, lichens, buds… was slowing the group down a lot this time with the pictures..

The video highlights reel..

If all goes well, we will visit this place again in a few more years. The walk on the beach to the falls and the race against time is always interesting!

Pena Palace and Cabo De Roca in Portugal

The previous post in this series is here..

After Sintra, we drove to the Pena Palace. This was a humongous palace. There was a garden on the way to the castle and we got to walk a bit through it with our guide.

The guy who built the palace for his wife did not get to enjoy it with his wife. A staggering amount of money went into building this in three different styles and connecting them. The artwork, the architecture (columns, staircases, ceilings, arches) are all very distinct and different in these three parts. This is a must see for any architecture fans and architecture students.. just fantastic!

This is one of my favorite photos from the entire trip. Had asked her to go and peek from that turret structure.. she came out with such a beautiful smile.. while this is all I got on camera, the rest is in my head.

Another favorite.. this was the closest to a “bench photo” for this trip!

These pictures and videos don’t do enough justice to this palace. If you are visiting Lisbon, do NOT miss a visit to this palace.

We met a couple from New York and another from New Zealand and had great conversations with them throughout this day trip. We also took photos for the other group. After the walk through the castle, we sat at the Palace souvenir shop and got some sweet popcorn. Then off we went back to the bus for a visit to Cabo de Roca.

This is the western most point in continental Europe. It was extremely windy and we spent a good hour here walking to the monument and back.

A landscape gallery

and a portrait gallery

a video highlight reel of this leg of the trip

Then it was time to head to the last stop in the tour.. Cascais.. that in another post!