I attempted at some Architectural Photography at the Amber Fort using an ordinary digital camera.
Amber Fort (Hindi: आमेर क़िला, also known as Amer Fort) is located in Amber, 11 km fromJaipur, Rajasthanstate, India. It was the ancient citadel of the ruling Kachhawa clan of Amber, before the capital was shifted to present day Jaipur. Amber Fort is known for its unique artistic style, blending both Hindu and Muslim (Mughal) elements, and its ornate and breathtaking artistic mastery.[1] The fort borders the Maota Lake, and is a major tourist attraction in Rajasthan.[2]
Last month I took a 2 weeks break from work and went home to Kolkata. Notwithstanding the fact that I lost 2 days for traveling to and forth and a day on a business trip to Bangalore, I still had enough time for a family vacation in Jaipur. Jaipur is the state capital of Rajasthan, one of the most travelled Indian cities and we all had great time there.
We all love our rich heritage and architecture of Rajasthan but this post is about our national Animal, the tiger. This is about an appeal to save our Tigers!
We all sit and praise how beautiful creation the tiger is. But we probably do not realize that for our future generations it will be difficult to distinguish between a tiger and a dinosaur. Both of them will appear in the same page of our history books unless we rewrite history by taking things in our own hands. Majority of the world tiger population resides in India and so we are their only hope of survival. It is alarming that the total number of tiger in the wild put together from all over the world is short of 2000 and that too fast decreasing. No wonder the tourists return back from national parks with long faces and frustrations.
Rajasthan has a tiger sanctuary known as Ranthambore national park in a beautiful setup in the mountains and about 4 hours drive from Jaipur. Ranthambore was in the news recently for the much-hyped event of British Comedian Russell Brand and American Pop sensation Katy Perry's wedding. Celebrities including Jonathan Ross, David Williams and Rihanna had reportedly been there. That event took place just 3 days before we made our trip and we were told that they too returned back with the tiger being elusive to the celebrities.
We all gathered outside the park late in the afternoon on our top open canter and it was very exciting experience for all of us. We have never entered a forest on a open top vehicle before and none of us have ever seen a Tiger in the wild before. I had only seen a Rhino from a far distance riding an elephant but that was a long time ago. We were hopeful like everyone else but a bit skeptical too. It started well with the sighting of a few Sāmbhar deer and spotted deer.
Once deep inside the forest our guide got news from a passing vehicle that warning shouts of other animals were heard, indicating that a tiger was around. And then the wait started. It was testing our patience. Anticipation and frustration was coming and going like a sin curve, reaching a new peak every time. The driver and the guide were at their wit’s end deciding whether to wait in this place or go back to the earlier one or move deeper inside. As a result we ended up going backwards and forwards with no results. And so were many others!
Suddenly we found ourselves all alone and the guide took an instant decision to call off the wait rush back towards the stream. The driver floored the pedal and I switched on my camera... and as they say rest is history!
Let’s join our hands to save our tiger. They not only bring joy to us but also support the family of thousands whose livelihood depends on wildlife tourism. Let us stop them from ending up being part of bottled Chinese medicines or a wall hang in some wealthy household!We were lucky on this occasion, but lets try and make it happen for all!
I found these pictures while I was moving through some files while looking for some old documents which I needed badly. These have been lying in a corner in one of my external storage devices. A few years back when I was in Kuwait, I had visited Failaka Islands while we were in the process of designing a Resort. Returning back I had send off some postcards from Failaka to my friends. These were from the good old times when we still used to send letters via emails and have not migrated to the social networking sites. Those were also the days when my camera used to consume film rolls and was yet to migrate to memory sticks.
Failaka is a tiny Island and part of the state of Kuwait. When Kuwait was occupied by Iraq, Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi army was stationed there in large numbers. We could still see the marks of their presence after one and half decades of their departure!
As the Koreas are planning for something big and ugly after the barrage on the tiny island of Yeonpyeong in the western waters near the Koreas' maritime border, I find these postcards very relevant.
A strange question may it appear... But let me ask it anyways.
Did you ever happen to adopt any part of this universe or to be more realistic a particular place in the city that you live in as your own. I guess knowingly or unknowingly everyone has a special place like this all the time. As kids these spaces are very pronounced and visible to all. It may be the unused corner of the room where one takes refuge after getting a scolding or the shade in the garden that one rushes to after completing homework and the list is endless. As we grow older and older it gets split into separate segments for separate actions and some of them are very formal while some are relatively more private and personal. There are many such places and to name a few there could be a few locations to hang out with friends; places to hang out with a closer friend and sometimes a spot to sit and reflect. The last one in the list is the one that I was referring to at the beginning. Physically you may not anywhere close to own those particular spots or place and they may not always be public property either, but you can still adopt it spiritually.
The attached images are of my piece of sea and beach which I had adopted while I lived in Kuwait. This is a tiny section of the gulf road cornice where we used to go for walking and jogging. I had adopted that piece of sea with the tiny beach as mine. My tiny beach used to be covered fully under water at times and in its shiny sandy self at other. I used to feel very sad if someone else was occupying that place.
This is the place where I used to visit once in a while on and sit on the fence with my legs hanging to reflect on Life…the present .. the Future and sometimes on the Past...
How does one define the Credit Cards? Are they the basic necessity of life or a necessary evil or do you call it an ally who have the potential to ruin your life if let loose! The card companies are very aggressive in promoting their products and it is true that these companies are striving to enhance their services to further promote customer satisfaction. To entice customers, banks have introduced cards that boast a wide range of benefits.
Benefits
There are a wide variety of benefits starting with introductory gifts and following that up with offers of the like of cash-back, Air miles, free holidays. As you can take your pick of the offers, it means you can make the most of your credit cards and if you do your research well it will definitely be to your credit.
Cash Back Credit Card is the perfect solution for those who need a little more savings to stretch their monthly budgets. Cash Back Cardholders get a fixed portion of their daily expenses refunded in the form of hard cash. While most cash back cards usually offer cash back benefits on transaction made at select retailers or based on spending slabs, the card that I use offers flat 5% cash back for all purchases.
Loyalty cards
Loyalty card schemes are increasing in popularity. Super markets, bookshops, hotel, shopping centers and even spas are offering incentives to keep customers visiting then regularly. Research says that loyalty cards can influence customers spending decisions. These programs see high returns and works as a clever marketing tool that is beneficial to both parties. We feed sad that we could not redeem our last set of incentive points of our supermarket loyalty card in Dubai.
Avoid Debts
The principle prerequisite of using a card is to avoid the debt trap. To get it right one need to follow some fundamental rules. Here are a few from the experts:
Stick with one card (It is difficult and I myself have quite a few)
Learn the difference between ’need’ and ‘want’ for each purchase you consider making.
Charge your card only that much which you can pay off in full each month. Never carry a balance. Do not max out your cards or charge up to the limit, even if you intend to pay off the balance in full at the end of the month.
Ignore additional credit card offers.
Safety matters
One has to take extreme measures to secure the cards so that these are not misplaced or stolen. Follow these simple tips to keep your credit card safe.
Ensure cards are stored safely
Keep sight of the card at all times – don’t let a merchant swipe it through multiple readers or keep it to run up a tab
Never disclose your pin to anyone
Encourage the use of new, more secure technologies whenever you shop, if they don’t use it already.
The morning after
What to do if your credit card is used fraudulently. The following procedure could be very useful as advised by the expert.
Notify the bank immediately to cancel your card
Keep the card in your possession so you can show your bank you still have it, in case the transaction was made elsewhere.
Remember you last transaction so you can identify all fraudulent use.
Complete a dispute form or follow your bank’s procedure to confirm you did not make the fraudulent transactions.
Your bank will then instigate an investigation.
Islamic Credit cards
Banks in the Middle East are looking at Islamic credit cards as a sector with potential for huge growth. While they operate in a similar way to conventional credit cards but these niche products are governed by Shariah law which requires them to be interest-free. Following this principle most of these products are based on Shariah complaint interest-free Üjrah” concept whereby only a fixed monthly maintenance fee is charged against the outstanding balance.
A few interesting fact about Credit cards:
While the Credit Cards are made of plastic these days the first t credit cards were made of metal.
The first bank credit card “Charge It” was invented by John Biggins in 1946.
The first Credit card company was Diner’s Club and it was founded in 1950 by 3 individuals: Frank Mc Namara, Bloomingdale and Sneider.
The American Express Company was formed from the merger of 3 express transport companies in the USA.
In 1958 American Express issued its first credit card to coincide with its 108th anniversary.
The original name of the now popular VISA card was “Bank Americard” and it was issued by Bank of America.
The original name of “Master card” was “Master Charge Card”.
