Urban Residents of Bhopal

This is an on-going exploration of our urban areas starting with the beautiful city of lakes- Bhopal!

Our urban parks and forested areas provide countless experiences and opportunities for us to reconnect with nature. This is a short compilation of some of my captures made in the few visits to Bhopal over the last 6 months. Most of these are what you call "generalist species", that can thrive is a wide variety of environmental conditions.

Which of these have you observed in your city?

Land of shifting Landscapes

A trip to this small South American Nation last year left a lasting impression on me. The Cajas National Park is about 20km from the historical city of Cuenca. A truly beautiful 'Spanish' town with a rich history. Starting early in the morning, the very first thing we did was to exchange our shoes for Gumboots. We then drove from 2000ft to 3000ft in a few minutes. Scenes dramatically changed. The weather, as already warned, got unpredictable. A drizzle would start and give way to blinding sunlight in a matter of few minutes.

We had arrived at our first trail. It was gloomy and the sky thick with mist. No wonder these were called the cloud forests. Thick woody climbers criss-crossing around us, with little light entering the forest floor and a drizzle with not a single drop reaching the floor.

Leaving the cloud forests behind we drove further to 4000ft to the next trail. The landscape was dramatically different here. A high altitude wetland surrounded by lichen covered rocks.

Weather even more unpredictable, open skies yet not a sight of the sun. the conifers, grasslands and wetlands all could be experienced from a single place.

Spending few hours of the day at Cajas, I was mesmerised by the diversity and would recommend a 3-4 day trek that will take you to the core area of the park.

Ushering in the New year

The Hindu calendar starts with the month of Chaitra, the start of the spring season and in some places the harvesting season. The first day is celebrated as Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra, Yugadi in Karnataka and Ugadi in Andhra Pradesh & Telangana.

In my city of Thane the celebration of Gudi Padwa is in many ways special. This year I finally got a chance to document it.

Drums lined up for the procession

A musician performs on the street

A flag bearer dances in the middle of a ring of smaller drums surrounded by the larger ones

Drummers in action

The drums start with the gong

Drummers in action

People dressed as Maratha warriors, rulers and saints

traditionally dressed musicians

Traditionally dressed women waiting for the music to begin

Ladies dressed in traditional ‘Nauvaris'(Nine yard sarees) dance to tunes old and new

Man with a gong

Dance of the drums

Young flag-bearers

#people #festivals #photography #India #life #documentary #totallythane