Figurine in Wood

Figurine in Wood, originally uploaded by ReemaS226.

Found this strange figurine engraved in a tree.

Taken at Mala factory at Panchgani, India.

Noel at Paris

Noel at Paris, originally uploaded by Nomadic Journal.

“There’s more, much more, to Christmas than candlelight and cheer; It’s the spirit of sweet friendship That brightens all year. It’s thoughtfulness and kindness, It’s hope reborn again, For peace, for understanding, And for goodwill to men!”

Merry Christmas to all!!

Christmas or Noel is such a beautiful time of year in Paris – the lights on the boulevards, the beautiful windows and displays in the stores, the hope of snow, the happy faces in the streets. Walk down the Champs Elysées any evening around Christmas time and marvel at the gorgeous lighting displays along this avenue, truly delightful and which will definitely get you in the Christmas mood!

The Eiffel Tower at Noel.

Aaloo Chaat

Aaloo Chaat, originally uploaded by ReemaS226.

Aaloo Chaat is a famous street food of India.
The original chaat is a mixture of potato pieces, crispy fried bread, gram bean and spices, but other popular variants included Aloo Tikkis (garnished with onion, coriander, hot spices and a dash of curd), bhel puri, dahi puri, panipuri, dahi vada, papdi chaat, and sev puri. There are common elements among these variants including dahi, or yogurt; chopped onions and coriander; sev (small dried yellow noodles); and chaat masala. The ingredients are combined and served on a small metal plate or a banana leaf, dried and formed into a bowl.

Meandering River

Meandering River, originally uploaded by ReemaS226.

Fame is like a river, that beareth up things light and swollen, and
drowns things weighty and solid. ~ Francis Bacon

River Krishna taken at Mahabaleshwar

The Park Bench

The Park Bench, originally uploaded by ReemaS226.

“Love is what makes two people sit in the middle of a bench when there is plenty of room at both ends”

No Privacy

No Privacy, originally uploaded by ReemaS226.

Everyone doesn’t have the luxury to bathe in the privacy of their bathrooms.

Sanitation Statistics of India
==================
12.04 million (7.87 %) Urban households do not have access to latrines and defecate in the open. 5.48 million (8.13%) Urban households use community latrines and 13.4 million households (19.49%) use shared latrines. 12.47 million (18.5%) households do not have access to a drainage network. 26.83 million (39.8%) households are connected to open drains.

The status in respect of the urban poor is even worse. The percentage of notified and non-notified slums without latrines is 17 percent and 51 percent respectively.

In Memory of The Queen

In Memory of The Queen, originally uploaded by ReemaS226.

On the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901, Lord Curzon, who was then Viceroy of India, placed before the public the question of setting up a fitting memorial to the Queen. He suggested that the most suitable memorial would be a “stately”, spacious, monumental and grand building surrounded by an exquisite garden.

The Victoria Memorial, located in Kolkata, India is a memorial of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom who also carried the title of Empress of India. It currently serves as a museum and a tourist attraction.

The memorial was designed by Sir William Emerson in an architectural style similar to Belfast City Hall. Earlier asked to design the building in the Italian Renaissance style, Emerson was against the exclusive use of European styles and used Indo-Saracenic style, incorporating Mughal elements in the structure.

Bracts

Bracts, originally uploaded by ReemaS226.

In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often (but not always) different from foliage leaves, for example being smaller, larger, or of a different color or texture.

The Flame

The Flame, originally uploaded by ReemaS226.

“The beauty of flames lies in their strange play, beyond all proportion and harmony. Their diaphanous flare symbolizes at once grace and tragedy, innocence and despair, sadness and voluptuousness. The burning transcendence has something of the lightness of great purifications. I wish the fiery transcendence would carry me up and throw me into a sea of flames, where, consumed by their delicate and insidious tongues, I would die an ecstatic death. The beauty of flames creates the illusion of a pure, sublime death similar to the light of dawn. Immaterial, death in flames is like a burning of light, graceful wings. Do only butterflies die in flames? What about those devoured by the flames within them?”

~ Emile M. Cioran quotes (French philosopher, b.1911)

Waterdrops on Leaves

Waterdrops on Leaves, originally uploaded by ReemaS226.