‘Tis is the season of love, the month of Valentine plus we have an extra day to celebrate this month of February as it is a leap year. Here are some pictures from my travels around showing that love and romance abounds if one strives for it. The journey does not mean love for a fellow human being, there is love in the innocence of the child and it is also found in the maturity of the old. One can romance nature or find love in things we want to do. So live it up and enjoy this small photojourney by Chintan.

The child loves everything he does – here he is romancing the water hose and living life. (Friend’s Kid : Lonavala, India)

Things we love to do exhilerates our mind, body and spirit – a truly meditative experience (Jackson Hole, Wyoming, US)

The young heart flutters when it meets that special someone. (Campos De Jordao, Brazil)

Mutual affection and love shared (London, UK)

A new year has arrived, bringing with it new dreams and hopes! Every year we make plans, sometimes even chalk down a few resolutions, and as the year progresses, these get lost in the daily activities while other times it seems like Life has other plans for us. Nithya shares a few photographs that she says are all about looking at life from a different angle.

One morning my husband called me at home to say “I have been granted a few days off, shall we go to Rajasthan on a roadtrip?”. I was taken aback and questioned him on this sudden plan. But, eventually did give in, and off we went on a road trip from Mumbai to Rajasthan, making the most of the journey. As we drove along, we spoke about life, the years that had passed by and how much our lives had changed. It now revolved around the children, putting our own personal dreams on the back seat. That was when we decided to change things.

We made a pact to set aside time for each other, and for one self, doing whatever we pleased for that hour or few minutes. It was as if we were looking at life from the outside.

As we roamed the streets of Udaipur, the palaces overwhelmed us. But what caught our eye were the many windows across floors, which was a common factor in all the structures. It felt like the Gods were giving us a sign, asking us to step back, and start afresh….

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

Here’s wishing you all a Wonderful New year!!

“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people,

you might better stay at home.” – James Michener

While travelling and wandering around new places, it is always fun to observe, cherish and capture the beautiful sights and scenes.  It could be a pillar or a simple poster, or maybe a child playing along the street, but these little things make such a world of difference when we look back on the journeys.

Vishesh Unni, a CA student and an avid blogger who loves weaving beautiful poems with words shares with us some of the shots he had taken when exploring temples and streets across new and familiar towns.

African Violet- A burst of pink from amidst the dark leaves..

Demigod- Statue of a demigod. Shot at Nelliappar temple, Tirunelveli

Lamp and grains

M: Aarti, this is the Common crow... They seem to be romancing and lost in their own world 

Me: oh yes, how pretty… I dont think i’ve seen these before.

Ani who was walking ahead with her son exclaimed..  ‘Hello, we see the common crow all over back home, what is wrong with you both” *gave us a stern “stop being children” look*

Me: Ahem, Ani, this is not a crow… this is a butterfly di.. it is called the Common Crow

Ani: Oops.. my bad, was wondering why you girls are gushing over the boring crow…

During our brief stay at the Coir Village Resort, we saw quite a few Butterflies, but i remember the Common Crow, which is quite uncommon in other parts of the country.. It became a game of sorts, we would keep a look out and start signalling for the others to join in whenever we spotted an interesting butterfly, bird, insect, or bug. At the end of the trip, we dint know who was a child, the actual 2 year old or us 4

The beautiful butterfly called ‘Common Indian crow” we saw quite a bit through our stay at the Coir Village Resort in Kerala.

Wiki: It is found everywhere in India, right up into the mountains till 8000 feet. Occasionally it swarms in the low, wet jungles of South India due to the abundance of its food plants which are spread over three orders of plants.