Blooming Palash in Bhopal

Blossoming Palash Tree in Van Vihar.

Flowers of Bharat Bhawan, Bhopal

Here are some pictures of flowers in complex of Bharat Bhawan in Bhopal. A place not only for art lovers but for ones who enjoy clicking flora !

National Ceramic Workshop at Bharat Bhawan

National Ceramic Workshop is onging in Bharat Bhawan in Bhopal nowadays. It started on Feb 5 and will be going on till Feb 14, 2009. It has participants from 11 States & Union Territories. They are working on exhibits which will be on showcase on Feb 14, 2009. Some of the participants include Vibha Sharma from Delhi; Prasun Ghosh from Kolkata;Vishal Bhatnagar from Chandigarh, S Karthik from Cheenai; Shailendra and Devilal Patidar from Bhopal, Arun Panidt from Delhi and Brahmaswarup from Varanasi.

Purple sun bird at Bhopal

 Purple sun bird in Aakriti Gardens, Bhopal

Birds at upper lake of Bhopal !

Pigeons and Egret at rampants of fort in the upper lake, a view to see from VIP road when sun shines in winters !

Watering plants

The lucky ones - Water tanker watering plants on VIP road !

Indonesian puppets at Bhopal's Lokrang

Indonesian Rod puppets are attracting visitors to Bhopal’s Lokrang festival. Lokrang is a five day event held every year at Bhopal. It showcases the cultural and traditional heritage of India in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. It opened on January 26, 2010. This is 25th year of Lokrang. It not only showcases heritage it but also has a theme pavilion. This year theme pavilion displays ‘Puppet’. Puppets of forms like glove, rod string and shadow are being displayed at the show. It has puppets from nine Indian states like West Bengal, Orissa, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and some other countries like Indonesia, Turkey, and Vietnam.

Indonesia rod puppets are among the various puppets which have been displayed at Lokrang are being liked and clicked by many. Rod puppets have: three dimensional carved figurines which are manipulated from rods below the "stage." In addition to this the pavilion also has water Puppet from Vietnam that dance on water are also on display. It also has display of Shadow puppets, which have cut-out figure held between a source of light and a translucent screen. Shadow puppets from Turkey and Andhra Pradesh are on display.

Open bill stork

At Prempura Ghat in Bhopal

Flowers at Bhopal on Basant Panchmi

Solar Eclipse as seen from Bhopal

Pictures of Longest Solar eclipse which had dazzled India, as seen from Bhopal.

Pictures courtesy A. M. Faruqui

Another birding site !

Backwaters of Smriti van on National Judicial Academy road - a birding site

Cormorants enjoying saturday sun shine in Bhopal

Cormorants at Shahpura Lake, Bhopal - Cormorants do not have oil glands to keep their wings from getting wet. Each time they get out of the water, they sit on the bank for sometime and spread their wings for drying.One can see them in numbers in Winters at Shahpura Lake.

Merry X'mas !

 

St Mary's Church in Tulsi Nagar, Bhopal, and a tableau with theme on Global warming

Blue pansy butterfly

Sun loving winged wonder, seen here sitting on the bare ground in one of the office of Bhopal, this medim sized butterfly looked attractive for the camera !

Bhopal markets catch up for Christmas & New Year

Hangings outside shop at 10 number market for sale. Markets decorate and gear up for Christmas and New Year. Archies and Bakeries  are their best !

Bird's vila !

Birds on the wall on the rampants of the fort on upper lake of Bhopal

Traffic lights are new ad sites !

Traffic lamp posts are new ad sites in Bhopal. The one in picture is at 10 number market is an effort to reach directly into eyes of 'the customer'. By the way the place 'traffic light' where these boxes are hanged and the colour of ad 'red' is interesting !

Further traffic lights are also not working, am not sure what that indicates ?. But hope 'all' would be happy to help in case one meets with an accident !

Boat in water's of Bhopal's upper lake

Handicraft fair at Gohar Mahal

Handicraft fair at Gohar Mahal. This Palace built on banks of upper lake of Bhopal is normlly known for its fairs which are held almosr year round but more in winters. Now a days handicraft fair in onggoing.

Celebrating spirit of the childhood

Bhopal, Dec 5, 2009 : More than 300 hundred children participated in Masti Ki Pathshala organized by Aarambh, a non governmental organization with support from UNICEF held at BHEL sports club, Berkhera.

Children from Aishbagh, Bajaria, Kabadkhana, Annu Nagar, Atal Ayub Nagar, Indra Sahayat Nagar participated in the various event held to mark the day. Children participated in various track & field sports activities during the day and cultural programme like song and dance in the afternoon. Games stall were installed where children enjoyed during the day. The programme was part of events to mark 20th anniversary of Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Demanding justice

Hundreds of gas victims took out torch rally on Dec 2 evening from Bhopal talkies to factory site, demanding justice. Led by the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, an NGO, the victims walked carrying blazing torches and shouting slogans that revealed the fire in their wounded hearts, ‘‘Bahut ho gaya pacchis saal. Bhopal ko insaaf chahiye". (Picture courtesy A.M. Faruqui)

Bhopal Gas Tradegy

The killer tank from which gas leaked and killed thousands

Statue of mother with her two kids, remind us of the pain

Painting painted on wall behind the Statue, on struggle and pain of people

Slogans painted at wall of the closed killer factory

Some pics which remind us of Dec 3, 1984.

World AIDS Day - Rally by medical students

Rally being taken out by students of Gandhi Medical College for spreading awareness on HIV/AIDS and voluntary blood donation in Bhopal city on eve of World AIDS Day.

From the fence at Van Vihar

One could see number of spot billed ducks across the fence on Saturday morning from Van Vihar in Bhopal. It is awesome site though many got missing on Sunday !

Whistling teals zipping Bhopal !

On a Sunday morning, whistling teals zip around the bhopal's van vihar. Whistling teals can be sited in numbers in winters in Van Vihar, national park of Bhopal. It is quite interesting to hear and see this gregarious ducks which flock here.

Swan at Upper lake in Bhopal

Red Munia in Bhopal

The Red Munia, is a sparrow-sized bird of the Munia family. They are popular cage birds due to the colourful plumage of the males in their breeding season. Their normal habitat is open grassland and paddy fields. They breed in the monsoon season. The species name amandava and the common name of avadavat is derived from the city of Ahmedabad from where these birds were exported into the pet trade. The beak begins to turn red in May and darkens during November and December. The beak then turns rapidly to black in April and the cycle continues.

Child rights meet at Bhopal - Children Day special

Dalit Adhikar Manch held children's meet at Gandhi Bhawan in Bhopal to mark Children's Day. Children and NGOs from 14 districts of Madhya Pradesh participated. The meet was hosted by Dalit Sangh in support with NGOs from 14 districts and Action Aid. It was an opportunity for children to speak out their views, enjoy play and voice their opinions. Adults not only listened and interacted withy them but also welcomed the children who were on dias. A booklet Child rights in Hindi was also released by children. Children were also distributed children’s newsletter titled ‘Bacchon ki Pehl’ which is brought about child reporters, a initiative oif Dalit Sangh supported by UNICEF office for Madhya Pradesh.

Large Cormorants come home !

As winter sets in large cormorants flock trees in Van Vihar in huge numbers. They have started doing so, though not in numbers as one sees earlier, may be they have got late !!. In picture taken yesterday wherein large cormorants can been seen on a tree in Van Vihar, the national park in Bhopal.

Pied Kingfisher at Bhopal's Van Vihar

The Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) is a water kingfisher and is world's third most common kingfisher. One cannot miss it, with its pied shade along with its noise it is visible. But is very jittery so one needs patience to click unlike the other kingfishers which are 'photograh friendly'. This one eats fish, and will also take crustaceans and large aquatic insects. It usually hunts by hovering stationarily over the water and dives down bill first directly below to catch fish. Th picture has been taken at Van Vihar at the aviary section of the park.

Bhopal's Winged fly

Plain Tiger Butterfly at Bhopal's 12 Shed. Plain Tiger is a medium-sized 'winged fly' with a wingspan of about 7–8 cm. The body is black with many white spots. The wings are tawny the upper side being brighter and richer than the underside. The apical half of the fore wing is black with a white band. The hind wing has 3 black spots around the center. The hind wing has a thin border of black enclosing a series of semicircular white spots.

This is commonest of Indian butterflies and is a familiar sight to practically everyone on the subcontinent. It flies from dawn to dusk, frequenting gardens, sipping from flowers and, late in the day, fluttering low over bushes to find a resting place for the night.

The Plain Tiger is protected from attacks due to the unpalatable alkaloids ingested during the larval stages. The butterfly therefore flies slowly and leisurely, generally close to the ground and in a straight line. This gives a would-be predator ample time to recognise and avoid attacking it. Inexperienced predators will try attacking it, but will learn soon enough to avoid this butterfly as the alkoloids in its body cause vomiting. The butterfly also has a tough, skin to survive such occasional attacks.

Bhopal's Cat !

An evening at a Bhopal lake

Crackers light Bhopal

Crackers light Bhopal on Gyaras, post Diwali

Squirrel climbing on a tree

The busy bee !

Bhopal is nice !!

A bird flying over bhopal wetlands

Hoshangabad ghat

Pix of sethani ghat at Hoshangabad, district of Madhya Pradesh

In - flight bird over bhopal

Elegators, Van Vihar, Bhopal

Elegators basking in sun at Bhopal's national park - van vihar

flowers of bhopal

Why can’t Gulmohar area of Bhopal get roads like Char Imil ?

If you happen to come to new Bhopal via Habibganj Railway Station and had to visit Gulmohar area of Bhopal, in the capital city of Madhya Pradesh, your journey on any vehicle will tell you the way roads towards Gulmohar deteriorate.

Till one is circumventing Arera Colony roads will be okay but the moment you move towards end of Arera Colony and turn towards Gulmohar, right from Dhantwari complex road will start to taper down. Bumps on your vehicle due to potholes and broken roads will tell you different story. You will feel that you are approaching one of the worst areas of Bhopal. But mind you have a look at property process it is pretty expensive. A basic Bungalow there may cost you about 25 lakhs, but the lanes in which that are located will have no roads.

Now for moment let’s visit Char Imli area of Bhopal which is just 3- 4 kilometers away from Gulmohar. Oh man what a road, smooth, But how come such a difference –
- Well people of power bureaucrats, Minister and some in media stay here. Any pothole is repaired immediately. While for years resident of Gulmohar have been crying nothing moves. ??

Roads of Gulmohar are not only one in question; there are many areas like Gulmohar in Bhopal. The question arises Why cant they get roads like Char Imil in Bhopal ? The only answer for this they have to make sure that people of power move in that place?? Or else if they decide ‘not to vote’ in coming election or else nothing will change in their kismat !

Bhopal bikers need safety focus

Biking is new 'mantra' with young ones, these days. Bhopal has many youngsters who perform heroic acts on bikes and get the due media attention. Bhopal has many, who do all kinds of stuff on these bikes, be it standing on the bike, zipping around, driving on front or back wheels, and all those things, which the bike inventors must have not even thought about. They probably made this vehicle to transport people!

Thanks to the available roads in Bhopal, and media attention, this keeps them going. They are like local heroes, motivating many other young ones to take risk to compete with them. Nobody stresses upon helmets and precautions, for that matter helmets are only compulsory in the rulebooks, not on the roads.

They have more incentives now. In August, Bhopal had Moto Soccer, a football match between two teams, namely Indian bikers and Biker boys, in which these men played soccer with bikes. Indian Bikers team defeated Bikers Boys to win the Mayor Trophy Moto Soccer event. The winner of the match was decided by penalty shoot out. Thankfully, the match was played with drivers wearing helmets.

Occasionally, one can notice a cavalcade of bikers on roads of Bhopal. Tens of bikes are often seen zipping around the roads of Bhopal on weekend evenings, replicating Pune bikers’ Sunday shows. All this sounds good, but catch is that one needs to undertake the ‘so-called’ heroic acts with due precaution and care with minimum risk, which is not there as of now. And finally, the petroleum conservation guys should also reach out to these young ones and tell them about the value of non-renewable resources.

Bhopal traffic needs smaller rotaries

Several squares of Bhopal have rotaries, which are not only have large circumference, but even have strangely big heights, which are much above the eye level of person driving a car or scooter.

One who is driving cannot see across rotaries and it becomes a cause of many road accidents in Bhopal. ‘Obstructive rotaries’ as they are called now, though look good, but are mainly place to erect statues of important dignitaries. But naturally whenever that happens the same is inaugurated by eminent politician and also gets him good public image.

In the process of showing the city beautiful and pleasing political leaders the planners of the city never realized that they are building obstructive rotaries that will hamper and obstruct traffic. Some rotaries in Bhopal are just out of proportion with the road width, some do not leave any place for pedestrians, while few are squares on slope. Rotaries were also needed everywhere, some crossing could have done without rotaries by putting up a simple signal light system. Eagerness to install statue, state bodies went with construction of these rotaries.

Though the solution lies in removing statues, making these rotaries smaller and smart. And in place where they are not required install a simple traffic management system. Problem is that decision like this needs a strong will as it involves removing statues of dignitaries, which could be erected again in a park. But also is the justification as to why all these rotaries were build in first place, few of them have been very recent. Though proposal have been mooted and one rotary in Bhopal as been made smaller. But issue is that we need to do it as soon as possible or else we will be loosing lives of people on roads.

Bhopal station parking is chaotic & charges exhorbitantly

If you happen to receive someone or leave someone at railway station and had to park one’s car at Habibganj or Bhopal railway station in capital city of the state of Madhya Pradesh you end up paying Rupees ten as the parking rate. Interestingly elsewhere in Bhopal it is Rupees two, while at Railway Stations of Bhopal and Habibganj have differential rate, Why? Probably no one has answer. Also if you come twice in a day you may have to pay twice.When you pay two rupees at any other place in Bhopal someone helps you to park and take out your vehicle but at Habibganj and Bhopal Railway Station, no one helps.Worst is the time when important train departs or come, if you came bit earlier before the train’s departure or arrival, you will find difficult to take out your car as people had parked wherever they find space and no one manages the space. And there is no one from the parking contractor who helps, then why does one pay this price? Parking is paid for a service rendered for construction, maintenance of the space and manages to park vehicles in a systematic manner so as to ease the traffic flow.In addition to exorbitant charges parking contractors here exploit young boys, by hiring them, against law and they are paid low salaries and are expected to do menial jobs in addition to cutting receipts and collecting money.But who cares not many, parking at Bhopal tends to be a money spinning machine to benefit few.

Bhopal tradegy - Protest in NYQ

On Dec 3 1984, Methyl Iso Cynante leaked from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal which consumed thousands of lives and people still many many more have been affected. The people of Bhopal still suffer from the effects of a disaster and seeking justice. Several activist groups led by Amnesty International held a demonstration at New York yesterday demanding measures by the Indian government to address issues concerning to the victims of 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. More one hundred activists and around 50 activist groups protested outside the Indian Consulate in New York and called for constitution of a special commission to look into matters like rehabilitation of the victims and quick legal action against Union Carbide and Dow Chemical. (pic of portrait outside Union carbide factory in memory of thousands who lost their life)

Hum Tum !

Comic characters Hum and Tum as shown in the film Hum Tum, painted by 'DS' on a rock in the walking lane at Bhopal's upper lake .

Hum Tum were comic characters which have their own animated sequences in the movie 'Hum Tum. Hum Tum was the movie which was directed by Kunal Kohli, produced by Aditya and Yash Chopra and had Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerjee playing the lead role as Karan and Rhea. The movie is about the encounters of the two main characters until they, after several years and various meetings, become friends and finally fall in love at the end of the movie. Their state of relationship is also shown in the movie in form of Hum Tum animated characters, as Karan the main lead (played by Saif) was the cartoonist in the film.

Exorbitant parking charges at Bhopal's stations

If you happen to receive someone or leave someone at railway station and had to park one’s car at Habibganj or Bhopal railway station in capital city of the state of Madhya Pradesh you end up paying Rupees ten as the parking rate. Interestingly elsewhere in Bhopal it is Rupees two, while at Railway Stations of Bhopal and Habibganj have differential rate, Why? Probably no one has answer. Also if you come twice in a day you may have to pay twice.When you pay two rupees at any other place in Bhopal someone helps you to park and take out your vehicle but at Habibganj and Bhopal Railway Station, no one helps.Worst is the time when important train departs or come, if you came bit earlier before the train’s departure or arrival, you will find difficult to take out your car as people had parked wherever they find space and no one manages the space. And there is no one from the parking contractor who helps, then why does one pay this price? Parking is paid for a service rendered for construction, maintenance of the space and manages to park vehicles in a systematic manner so as to ease the traffic flow.In addition to exorbitant charges parking contractors here exploit young boys, by hiring them, against law and they are paid low salaries and are expected to do menial jobs in addition to cutting receipts and collecting money.But who cares not many, parking at Bhopal tends to be a money spinning machine to benefit few.

Bhopal duniya 1 - Little dreams in young eyes

IT IS MONSOON, a time when Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh, is at its best. In one part of Bhopal lies Bittan market which is a prime shopping centre and hosts big showrooms like Reebok, Allen Solly, and eateries like Barsita, Amer Bakery and CCD’s. It caters to young crowd from all over Bhopal.

On Monday, Thursday and Saturday evening it hosts a makeshift vegetable market that caters to people staying at Arera Colony, Shahpura, Char Imli, Gulmohar and surrounding areas. It is quite popular among the area residents as one can get vegetables at comparatively a low price.

Though others enjoy the rain, for vegetable sellers it is not a pleasant experience. Rain directly affects their sale. Due to heavy rains, not many people come for purchasing the vegetable and prices of vegetables also go up. I also got a chance to visit this vegetable market where I met Nadeem, a young boy, who was sitting next to his father and selling vegetables. He goes to school in morning and is a student of fifth class in the government school (though he should be in much higher class as per his age but may be he joined the school late). In the evening on haat days he sits next to his father in the haat lane. He wants to play and enjoy like other kids and does not want to sell vegetables. He has a dream in his eyes. Like others he wants to study and work in an office. But it is the need, which makes him help his father in earning a good sum. “It is better rather than roaming around,” says his father. Nadeem is not the only child, who is into vegetable selling, several other children can also been seen involved in attracting customers and helping their parents in selling the veggies. They are not only a helping hand for parents, but they earn additional income for the family. In Bittan one gets one mentioned space per person, so normally they get the space next to their parents to sell vegetables. Extra space means extra 23 rupees per day (Rs 15 for lights, Rs 4 for the corporation and few rupees for tea) but this way one can display more vegetables and attract more customers so better sales and more earning.

Five-year-old Rohit was sitting next to her mother and was busy selling vegetables.
Too young to understand the bargaining tactics, for Rohit it is a matter of survival. His father had lost the job and his mother runs the family by selling veggies. She was also feeding her one-year-old child, brother of Rohit while selling. In addition to Rohit and Nadeem there are other children like Suraj who roams around and sells lemons in Bittan. In Bhopal vegetable markets lemons are mostly sold by young boys. Suraj normally earns about Rs 50 /60 each time haat is there, which helps him earn extra bucks. Part of that amount goes to his family and another part he keeps with himself to fulfill some of his own wishes. Rohit Nadeem and Suraj are still lucky ones of the lot. There are children like Kanchan and Rajni whose parents do not have a shop here so they beg for money /vegetables and take home whatever they can. These little girls do not study in school. It is at these markets they get to earn a bit.

Children like Rohit, Nadeem, Kanchan and Rajni do add to the income of their respective families but they have left their childhood far behind. They have their own little dreams in their eyes. Many of them may not want to sell vegetables and have an ambition of doing something big. But the big question here is who will provide them the opportunity—opportunity to study, opportunity to grow, opportunity to get jobs and the list is long one. Or they would end up doing what their parents are doing and will never be able to realize the dream, their little eyes see…