Floating Beauty

Weekly Photo Challenge:Afloat

We share below a collection of photographs from our album that shows what afloat means to us. Enjoy! 🙂

1. The Floating City: Starting with an unusual way of expressing it; the floating lights in the night sky is the Queen of Hills, Mussorie as viewed from Dehradun. 

2. Floating Fire: Ever heard or seen floating fire? These “Diya’s” (a small cup shaped oil lamp) as seen in a Buddhist Monastery.

3. Floating plants and animals: The next two photographs are of the delicate water lily that thrive in water and the gracious swan that elegantly swims across a lake.

© 2015 Ahmad and Ahmad

Beauty and Blur

Weekly Photo Challenge: Blur

Quite often, images that are not taken intentionally can also produce beautiful effects. This photograph was taken with the purpose of a blurred background. But the absence of light on the focused image somehow created a completely blurred photograph which we found very much suitable for the current challenge. 🙂

© 2015 Ahmad and Ahmad

The Flower Band

Few months back, we visited a Nursery to purchase some plants for our small but sweet garden. While we were looking around, this flower just happened to catch our attention. This amazingly beautiful flower looked somewhat like a ‘Rakhi’. For those who are not aware, Rakhi is a band tied by sisters on the wrist of their brothers on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.

We were utterly amazed to see a real Rakhi! As told to us by the florist, the local name of this flower is “Rakhi Bail”. 

We found this to be the perfect picture for Jennifer Nicholewells’ One word photo challenge: Indigo.

© 2015 Ahmad and Ahmad

A New Day

A sunrise behind Sam Desert, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India.

Everyday is a new day,

A new beginning that tries to say;

Be as happy as you can be,

Be the change you want to see;

Keep it simple, keep it clean,

Live the life that you always dream;

Where there is a will, there is a way,

Be thankful to the Lord while you pray. 

This post is part of a Daily Post Photo Challenge: New, The Daily Post: Be the change and  Nancy Merrill Photography

© 2015 Ahmad and Ahmad

Hello Yellow!

 Yellow

If you are someone who loves Yellow, time to rejoice! You are not a dirty fellow. 🙂

Within the meaning of colors, yellow is perceived as a great communicator. Yellow is the color of the net-worker, working and communicating on a mental level. We share below two of our photographs that symbolizes yellow as a communicator. For details on the Colour Psychology visit: The Colour Yellow

Clicked at Naukuchiatal, Uttarakhand, India

© 2014 Ahmad and Ahmad

Ouch!

Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge: Week 41

Wondering who tried to screw this tree !!!

© 2014 Ahmad and Ahmad

The Twinkle

Bhimtal, Uttarakhand, India

Courtesy:  The Daily Post- Twinkle

© 2014 Ahmad and Ahmad

The Beauty of Black and White

The first thought that crossed our mind when we read about the topic for this week’s Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge:Open Topic was that, we can select any topic of our choice with no restriction. But then, this is just one way of looking at this topic. The word “Open” carries other profound meanings as well.

This is indeed a challenge!

Photo shops can easily create a black and white picture.  What we preferred to bring to our viewers was something original. We finally collected some of our photographs that were in Black and White and that could be related to the word ‘Open’.

The photographs we have shared were not edited and are in their original form.

Enjoy the real and original beauty of Black and White as we make an effort to relate it to the Open Topic.

1. The Passage 

( open: adjective- allowing access, passage, or a view through an empty space; not closed or blocked)

Clouds give a passage to the final rays of the Sun to reach the Earth before dusk. 

This photograph was taken in Bhimtal, Uttarakhand, India. An evening in Bhimtal. Very light shades of the blue and orange is also visible.

 2. Spread the Light

(open: verb- unfold or be unfolded; spread out)

Sunrays unfolds and spreads out as the Earth starts a new day.

This photograph was clicked in a cloudy morning, from Almora  Uttarakhand, India. We could not resist sharing this picture. Observe how a red ball of fire can open itself turning white and spreading light. Cannot think of a better way to represent ‘Open’.

3. The Truth

(open: adjective- exposed to the air or to view; not covered)

We are open minded when we have the courage to face the truth or accept the truth. So, what is the truth about life?

The truth is revealed by Nature- “there is light after every darkness.”

This photograph was taken in Munsiyari. The sun is seen rising behind the Panchachulli peaks. It was an awesome view as we observed the Himalayan peaks turn black as the Earth was giving way to sunshine.

4. Outdoor

(open: noun- outdoors or in the countryside.)

This is a view of a beautiful evening of Connaught Place, New Delhi, India. Many of the buildings in this area are white and the evening makes it a perfect view of black and white. The Sun is visible as a white ball.

5. The Open Challenge

(open: noun- a championship or competition with no restrictions on who may compete)

Black mountains and White patches of clouds in the sky with the white ball makes a perfect picture for The Open Black and White Challenge !

Hope you had a wonderful journey as you traveled through the immense beauty of Nature and could listen to what Nature had to Open up with.  :-)

© 2014 Ahmad and Ahmad

Way of Life !

“Do not worry about going fast; you are not in a race. Do not think of going far; you cannot defeat death. Just walk. Enjoy the journey.”     —- Ahmad & Ahmad

This post is part of two challenges: Cee’s which Way Photo Challenge: 2014 #23 and Nurthuring Thursday

In response to the Challenges, we share below few of our photographs that actually describes the Way Of Life!

Here they are:

1. Beautiful

Clicked at Birla Institute of Applied Sciences, Bhimtal, Uttarakhand, India.

Our life is sometimes beautiful, straight, smooth, supportive (represented by the green tress, if you could not guess that) and with available directions to show us the way to our destination.

 2. Indecisive

Clicked at Terrace Garden, Chandigarh, India.

In many instances life puts us in a situation where we are not sure which way to go; whom to follow, whom not to follow. The choice is ultimately ours! 

 3. Twists and turns

Clicked at India- Nepal Border (Dharchula in India and Darchula in Nepal)

Sometimes our life changes its direction as we climb up the path of growth. This is seen through the changes we undergo, in our thoughts, behaviour and way of living as we cross childhood, adulthood and old age.

 4. Challenge

On way to Munsiyari, Uttarakhand, India.

Our life offers us many hurdles. These hurdles may be in the form of depression, rejection, fear or failure. It is up to us if we wish to go back, wait or go ahead and face the challenges. 

 5. Struggle

Inside Bijrani, Jim Corbett National Park, Ramnagar, India.

Life is not always smooth. (represented by the gravels on the road). Though we know the way, it demands hard work and patience as we move ahead. 

 6. Unsolved Mystery

On way to Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, India.

Finally, life is an unsolved mystery. However smooth or straight the way is, or far it may stretch, after a point it goes out of view. To relate, we are heading towards infinity, towards the unknown!  

How would you describe your way of life? 

© 2014 Ahmad and Ahmad

Lost in space

Since childhood we have been hearing about meteorite attacks on mother earth. The thought of a huge rock hitting the surface of the earth with immense impact always left us with an awesome feeling and multitude of questions wandering in our minds. The thought of space always left us spell bounded with a hope to travel to space sometime and experience the darkness; before bidding farewell to mother earth.

Whenever we plan for a holiday we usually try to cover those areas less covered by tourists. With an adventurous spirit and the mind of an explorer, we started to Google for amazing and strange places in India. And lo and behold- we found one! The Lonar Crater!

Crater? Are we dreaming? A crater in India? Does it really exist? We were curious. The curiosity and the childhood dream dragged us to Lonar crater.

As we sit to pen down our experience, we are not sure if you are wondering or just thinking- what is the big deal? It is just a crater. Indeed. The cab driver also responded in a similar way. He said, “There is nothing to see in Lonar Crater. It is just a large and deep hole, (about 150 metres deep and approx. 1.8 km in diameter !) on earth with water at the bottom.”

But as we already did some homework before the visit we were destined to go. We were excited to take a close look at this ‘hole on earth with water at the bottom’.

We started off early morning at 6:30 am ready for the 160 km drive from Aurangabad in Maharashtra, India, to see the wonder created on earth by space. Finally we were there! Though we could not make to the dark space above our head, this was as close as being lost in space.

We stood speechless and wondered how the asteroid must have hit the earth! What could have been the impact?

Honestly this feeling cannot be expressed in words.

We provide below few pictures of Lonar crater and give you few moments of silence to feel the impact of this huge event.

Satellite Image of Lonar Crater

Lonar Crater from the top

Basaltic rock sample taken by scientists

Bed of the Crater

Back to the top after trekking approximately 1400 feet

Lonar Crater in Buldhana District of Maharashtra, India is the world’s third most impressive impact crater formed more than 50000 years ago when a 2 million tonne meteorite impacted the earth. The Lonar lake’s salinity is 10.5 times that of sea water making it difficult for any species to survive. Yet scientists have found various living organisms here.

India’s Lonar Crater began causing confusion soon after it was identified in 1823 by a British officer named C.J.E. Alexander. Lonar Crater sits inside the Deccan Plateau—a massive plain of volcanic basalt rock leftover from eruptions some 65 million years ago. Its location in this basalt field suggested to some geologists that it was a volcanic crater. Today, however, Lonar Crater is understood to result from a meteorite impact that occurred between 35,000 and 50,000 years ago.

Reference: Earth Observatory-NASA

© 2014 Ahmad and Ahmad