Just About Everything

We went for a short trip to West Sikkim, India a couple of years back. I was going through the pics and got reminded about what a lovely trip it was! View of the Bliss Resort surroundings from our room We stayed in a village resort by the name of "Bliss Resort" in Biksthang , West Sikkim.It is on the way to Legship from Jorethang. We went there in the early October. View of Kunchenjunga from our room at Bliss Resort Bliss resort was truly blissful. We spent a couple of peaceful and happy days there. We could see the Kunchenjunga range clearly from our room. While there, we visited "Khecheopalri lake" which is around 34-35 kms north-west of Pelling, Pelling was around 2 hours from Bliss resort.It is known as the "Wishing lake" and is considered to be sacred. "Khecheopalri lake" was breathtakingly beautiful! It was a spiritual experience for me. The lake does not have a single leaf floating on it inspite of being surrounded by forest! The serenity ...

Decided to get up very early last weekend....I have been much too lazy:( Just don't feel like getting up early in the morning. This morning was different however... We got up at around 4.30am and went on a long drive and get into some bird watching. We did not have a very fruitful day bird watching wise...but we enjoyed the drive a lot. Long tailed Shrike Ashy WoodSwallow We did around 100 kms only. There is a lovely stretch from near Science city (in Kolkata) on the way to Basnati (towards Sunderbans) not very lovely to begin with...but gets better when we enter the vicinity of Sunderbans. Water bodies on either side of the road and lots of green. The monsoons making the green greener. I just love the monsoons... We stopped at small little shops to sip hot tea and munch on hot samosas and jalebis...sometimes these little things make me feel so good...just feel happy to be alive. Sharing some snaps that we captured during this drive...Long tailed Shrike, Ashy Woodswallows, white t...

Posting some more bird pictures. Some of these birds are endanged. These have been captured by Soma Jha. Intermediate Egret Asian Openbill, Black-heahed Ibis and Intermediate Egrets that breed in some villages near Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India during the monsoon months. The Ibis is endangered. Black Headed Ibis Asian Openbill

Tunganath Trek Some more pictures captured by Soma during her trip to Uttarakhand. The Shiv temple at Tunganath, is one of the five kedars- others being Kedarnath, Madamaheshwar,Rudrana th Kalpnath. Tunganath is at an altitude of 12,140 ft and can be reached after a 3 and a half km trek from Chopta. Tunganath temple Shiv temple at Tunganath is no t as frequented as the temples in the other kedars. On the way to Tunganath Bugyal or meadow According to a popular legend, Pandavas were seeking the blessing of Lord Shiva in order to do penance for their sins of Kurukshetra. Shiva kept avoiding them. While escaping he took the form of a bull, according to the legend, different parts of the bull's body appeared at the five kedars.The bull's hump appe ared in Kedarnath, his belly in Madmaheshwar Temple, his limbs appeared in Tungnath, his head made an appearance at the Kalpeshwar Temple and finally his face appeared at the Rudranath Temple. A pilgimage of all the five shrines is cons...

Posting some absolutely beautiful pictures clicked by my cousin Soma, who is an avid birdwatcher. She had a wonderful trip to Uttarakhand recently. The birding trip was organised by Mr Yashpal Negi a bird expert, who runs the Mandakini Birdwatchers Camp at Kakragad, Uttarakhand located 40 km from Chopta (chopta is the nearest road head)and 33 km from Devprayag. Blue Capped Rock Thrush The Himalayan Monal was seen near the Shiv temple at Tunganath. Pika (with a baby) is a hamster like mammal found in high altitudes. Rufous Bellied Woodpecker

Summers usually are not the best of seasons in India.Where i live, it is hot and humid and the sun shines with such brightness that one feels one might get burnt in seconds. But there is a gem that i really-really wait for in this season....Mangoes Almost everything becomes bearable because of mangoes. Yes, such is my passion for this fruit! I almost feel like the guy in the ad for Maaza.But, truly speaking nothing can replace mangoes. There is so much variety of mangoes to choose from in India. I remember spending almost all our summer vacations in our ancestral home in our village in Malda, West Bengal.The mango orchards in our village, infact in that region, produce some excellent varieties of mangoes. I used to skip breakfast and lunch too (sometimes...if i was allowed to) 'casue I wanted to feast on mangoes.I used to implore to my mom to not force me to have the usual lunch, all i wanted was to indulge in mangoes. After all I could indulge myself this way only once a year! Not...

Sharing snaps taken of Barn Swallow and chicks at Mirik. Mirik is a small valley about 50 kms from Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. Barn Swallow with chicks Mother Barn Swallow feeding the young ones