GUWAHATI...FEW MORE SIDEWALK PAINTINGS

These are few paintings which i felt are worth posting...they cover approx 100...120 mt of the sidewalk wall ....i noticed these on my way to Sukreswar Temple Guwahati.

GUWAHATI.....SIDEWALK PAINTINGS

While passing through this road on my way to Sukreswar Temple i noticed these colorful sidewalk paintings,i couldnot resist myself from capturing them.These paintings depict different regional wears,dances,festivals......on asking a local hawker i was told that these are painted by students of an art school.....how right the information is i have no idea....just enjoyed them.

KAZIRANGA PART 1....IORA THE RETREAT

One of the major attraction of Assam is Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary.It covers an approx .430 sq.km.area. and is located on the banks of Bhramaputra,partly in Nagaon distt. and partly in Golaghat distt.It is open for the visitors from Nov. to April.It is inhabitated by the world's largest population of ONE HORN RHINO,many other mammals including tigers,elephants,,bisons,wildboar,swamp deer .Visitors come here for Bird watching too.People from all over the world visit here and this sanctuary is gaining its popularity ever.

Last Christmas holidays we made a trip to Kaziranga.It is 217 km away from Guwahati.We travelled by car and opted for this beautiful resort to stay overnite.We retired early to bed after enjoying a magnificient evening with good food,great Jhumoor Dance (performed by tea garden folks)and camp fire.We had to get up early in the morning to catch up the Elephant back ride.

KAZIRANGA PART 2.....WAITING FOR THE ELEPHANT RIDE

Next morning we left in the early hrs.of the dawn for the elephant back ride.As we finished drinking LAL CHAI(red tea) in a small tea stall...we saw elephants returning back with the first batch of visitors.It was a beautiful sight elephants emerging amidst the rolling mist.Our group was divided in two ,and we finally seated on elephant back.These elephants have authorised and well trained Mahouts.It is one kind of an experience.........off to spotting the animals...

KAZIRANGA ...SPOTTING THE ANIMALS

We walked through swamps and tall thickets of elephant grass.In our one hr. ride we spotted many rhinos,deers,wild boar...cameras never stopped capturing the shots.One thing bothering me was about elephants....they walk for more than three hrs nonstop.....must be tiring for them...mahout told me that for the rest of the days they have nothing else to do and they are well taken care of.Finally the ride came to an end.Kaziranga offers safari rides and bird watching tours too...but we left it for our next visit.

CHANDIKA'S BISONI

The varied kind of handicraft produced by Assamese village folks never ceases to amaze me.
Chandika hails from my husband's ancestral village Namkhola.This Rongali Bihu she gifted me this beautiful blue handmade bisoni(fan).She uses thinly sliced bamboo sticks,old used wool or colored threads,old clothings to make these beautiful fans.She made her very first bisoni at the age of eleven,whole house was very happy about it ..they had duck for dinner that night...until they discovered later that she cut her father's brand new muffler to get some wool.
Right now she is busy making a new one.AMAZING.

BIGGEST JAPI EVER

This Rongali Bihu this 40 ft. high Japi was displayed in Digholipukhuri Park......this is biggest Japi ever made.

The exhibit also provided some interesting facts

It talked about it's origin

And how it came to Assam

EVERY DAY IS EARTH'S DAY

My daughter had a special Assembly today in her school celebrating EARTH'S DAY.We made a badge together with a slogan 'every day is Earth's day'....which she proudly wore to the school this morning.She returned highly motivated and wanted to do something more,hence we decided to let her plant two saplings....we borrowed two tubs from our neighbour and her Aaita(grandma) helped her planting the saplings......at the end of the noon......happy kid,happy aaita,happy mom and i hope....HAPPY EARTH.

BLOOMING NOON

This afternoon my best buddy(another dentist ofcourse) called from Germany....she was explaining to me that how beautiful the trees look when its blooming season out there...i expressed her my desire to have some pics and prompt she was to get up and capture some pics for me......BEAUTIFUL.....the month of April is bloom time in Europe...these trees are in and around the place where she lives.

FRAGRANT MORNING....BLOOMING NOON

As i was offering diya while my morning puja,i remembered the gift my brother in law gave me two days back....an extra long pack of incense sticks."Bow(thats bhabhi in assamese) this stick burns for three hrs.and has four different fragrances durva,naivedya,bhupali,vibhinnata'...i was informed.



The wood end of the stick was too thick,i trimmed it accordingly with a knife to fit it in to the stand.Just like seasons ,the fragrance changed too...... i enjoyed the current one and waited eagerly for the next one.The home smelled beautiful......no big deal but these small things somehow make your day special....it had a very soothing effect on me.



Life has so much to offer us in simple ways....if only we are willing to find it ,see it,feel it and accept it.