There's no place like Home!

No, really, there is, quite literally no place like India. The land of so much colour, contrast and some incredible people.
Let's start off the journey with God's Own Country, shall we - Kerala.

Yes, this is how people travel in the monsoons, one handed bicycle riding is quite the rage

Oh. you were expecting something more conventional? Like beaches and backwaters? Fear not! we have that too!

yes, yes, three very excited children at the beach...

...which they had all to themselves. Almost

More beach

and backwaters. 

Did I mention Fort Kochi? That is a different animal altogether. We decided to travel by the Kerala Water Transport (Arun having long ago decided that the rickshawallahs were bleeding us dry and he was having none of it)

who knew? Graffiti filled walls in a communist state

The chinese fishing nets strictly serve the function of  tourist attraction. The actual fishing is done by that guy crouching below it with a string in his hand

In the barges, all manner of vehicles and people abound. I'm surprised it didn't have people hanging off the rails. 

My favourite bit was this though- in our balcony. These little sun birds building their nest.

Incredibly shy things. Had to stay well hidden to capture them in action.

I also happened to spend a few days in Mumbai *sigh*. Not long enough. Never long enough. Although I had more than enough of the death-wish laden traffic.

ONLY in Mumbai will you find posters that were made by posh people for posh people, never mind that the aam-aadmi is never going to get the LoTR* reference (*a friend kindly helped me correct my literary reference. I had erroneously attributed the quote to GoT. Thank you, Amruta!) 

soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur...

Re-use! Re-cycle! even if it's an old wheelchair and the man is using it as a balloon stand. 

In a country where cricket is a religion, seems a fitting monument to the God.

morning walkers

This, is NOT a haunted house. This is, in fact a dear friend's office space. I am happy to report, they are still alive as we publish this.

Bombay was not all concrete jungle. there were patches of hope.

Naturally, no trip to India can be complete without the festivals, and we had our fair share - Raksha Bandhan, Gokulashtami, Ganesh Chathurthy and Onam!

No onam is complete without a Pookalam, is is?

Our clay Ganpati. home-made and prayed. And immersed. Pudhchya Varshi Lavkar yaa!!

That is not Pickwick turning suddenly brave. That is a very life-like Elephant Mannequin all decked up for Onam  

There were of course, the incredible contrasts, from beauty being appreciated on the ramp to being neglected on the road...

...from pets being lovingly brought up to animals being cruelly imprisoned...

... but most of all, it is the sum of the people that make up incredible, inimitable India! Until next time, I will miss you.

Ballooning in the Cotswolds

"A place of outstanding natural beauty" the tourist blurb says. Well, I was about to find out.
The Cotswolds aren't too far away to drive from London. Took us about a couple of hours to get there, and straightaway, you know that the information brochure does not lie. It was like I was transported back in time. There isn't even 3G in this place! But what it did have was ballooning - and weather Gods permitting, we were about to take off, after eleven unsuccessful attempts at praying for decent weather over weekends.
The snaps simply don't do justice to the amazing beauty we witnessed during the ride.

Hot air to get the basket upright. We then had to scamper in real quick before we were untethered from the station wagon

Looks like an image from Google maps, doesn't it?

Clear skies with visibility right up to the sea!

Keeping us alight

One of the most beautiful sunsets I've seen....

We were treated to a spectacular show by Mother Nature

The man, the moment, all very moving.

We Landed in a field - in the middle of nowhere.  The  pilot had to signal  the balloon chaser (yes, that is his profession, I'm not making this up) with giant flames shooting up into the night sky to guide him. Don't even ask how we packed the balloon up!

who knew landing the balloon and packing up would be more adventurous than the balloon ride itself!