City of Four Towers

Hyderabad - Pictures taken on our trip one year back.


The famous Charminar (literally, four towers or minarets), the most famous landmark of Hyderabad. It’s actually just a clock tower in a roundabout, in the middle of a really congested old part of Hyderabad, fascinating for the amount of traffic and people. There’s no place to park, and cost us 500 rupees to view, nope, not the entrance fee, but some ‘incentives’ for the policeman not to impound our car for stopping at the roundabout.


Golkonda, the olden fortress of the kings of Hyderabad, it used to be an independent kingdom.



Tombs of the Qutb Shahi Kings, who once ruled Hyderabad, India


9-month old Justin with Papa


Mommy at the tombs, Hyderabad


The Buddha, at Hussain Sagar, Hyderabad's central lake. (Hyderabad's full of lakes)


Hussain Sagar, with the Birla Temple in the background


Birla Temple, Hyderabad


Jagannath Temple, in a suburb of Hyderabad


Justin, at the Inorbit Mall, Hyderabad


A view of the surroundings from Inorbit Mall, Hyderabad


An edible version of Lord Ganesh, the elephant god, in Inorbit Mall, in conjunction with the annual Ganesh Puja Festival (September)

One Year of Daund

The Pyramids of Daund - made of bagasse (sugarcane waste), stored temporarily for the making of paper pulp


Bagasse in the monsoon, note how the colour changes from golden yellow to greyish brown

Yeah, we’ve been holed up for one year now, here in Daund, as of August 1st. Happy Daund Anniversary to us! Not that there’s anything exceptionally happy about being stuck here, doing 6 & a half days work a week from 7.30am to 8pm daily! With wife and baby stuck in a small flat the whole time, and usually turning grumpy by the time I get back home... What a life! Anyway, here’re the highlights ...of being stuck in Daund (make the best out of whatever you have, right?)

This place is an agricultural paradise, sugarcane, grapes, wheat, maize, millet, papaya, chiku, etc, ...but mainly sugarcane... it’s after all one of India’s main sugar producing area.


Fields of sorghum (front – green), wheat (middle – yellow) and sugarcane (back)


Means of transportation for sugarcane – bullock carts; and tractors with trolleys piled so high that if they hit an unlevelled patch of road, they topple – main cause of traffic accidents but who cares, sugar rules here!


Where clothes are washed – irrigation canals (if you’re lucky)


Wheat fields interspersed with ‘drumstick’ trees and red flowering plants (don’t ask me what they’re called, said to be of medicinal value)


Fields of some plant used for making natural fibres (nope, don’t know the name)


The same field at a later stage, full of yellow flowers (it’s not mustard – see previous post on Bharatpur – Apr 2008)


The general landscape in the area – boulder-strewn fields and temples on hill tops, this one at Warvand, on the Pune-Solapur Road


A well flanked by a Flame of the Forest Tree, Chaufulla, Pune-Solapur Road


Sunset at Malad, Pune-Solapur Road


Temple of the Tree, Kurkumbh, Pune-Solapur Road


Maharashtrian grape seller, Yavat, Pune-Solapur Road

The Heart of Portuguese India

Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Panaji, Goa

Here're more photos of Goa, these ones are of Panaji (Panjim), capital of the state of Goa, India.


River front, Goa - lined with floating casinos


Karishma and Bharat (our trusty driver), getting a taste of Goan food - The Upper House restaurant, Panaji, Goa


A park in Panaji, opposite the Upper House restaurant

St Francis Xavier, the Incorruptible

Anu and Karishma at the Church of St Cajetan, Old Goa


Basilica do Bom Jesus, Old Goa, where the body of St Francis Xavier is kept

St Francis Xavier was one of the missionaries who founded the Jesuit movement. The Jesuits are famous for being one of the earliest organizations to spread Christianity to East Asia (in the 16th Century). They were the first missionaries to venture into Japan and Borneo, among other places. St Francis Xavier died from a fever on an island off the coast of South China during one of his missions. He was buried on a beach on the island. When they exhumed his body after about 3 months to be transferred to a more permanent place, they found that the body had not decayed. His body was then transferred to Malacca (which was under Portuguese rule at the time) and kept there for about a year before being transferred permanently to Old Goa where his incorruptible body is still kept. While the body is incorruptible, many parts of his body have since been removed as relics and are now spread all over the world. Nope, we’re not allowed to see the body, only the casket, but I’ve heard that the church offers the body for public viewing once every ten years. And no, I don’t know when that is.


Church of St Francis of Assisi (this is a different St Francis from St Francis Xavier)


Interior of the Church of St Cajetan


Statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus opposite the Se Cathedral, Old Goa


Church of St Francis Xavier of Assisi from the main Old Goa road


Little terrifier, in Old Goa




Basilica do Bom Jesus from different angles


Interior, Basilica do Bom Jesus


The Casket of St Francis Xavier

Palm Fringed Beaches and White-Washed Churches

Anjuna Beach, Goa, India

Our one last trip before the monsoon hit India this year. Bloody hot in Goa, coz it was the peak of summer, right before the monsoon. The bad news was that parts of Goa wore a semi-deserted look, the foreign tourists had more or less evaporated, (the urban beaches, where most locals favour, were still full of locals), breakfast was impossible to find as most restaurants including hotel kitchens were closed in the morning (unlike peak season), and the famous Wednesday Flea Market and the Saturday Night Market in Anjuna were closed for the season. The good news was that hotels were clamouring for guests, hence cheaper, and the beaches were not as crowded. Many of the hotels had actually closed down in preparation for the rainy season, some were removing curtains and linens to store for the next tourist season, so there you have it – our little Goan adventure.


Justin at Vagator Beach, Goa


Having a splashing time at Vagator Beach


Vagator Beach


Family photo at Anjuna, Goa


Deserted Anjuna Beach


A beach side cafe at Anjuna


Deserted Anjuna's Wednesday Flea Market


Sunset at Anjuna, Goa


Anjuna Beach Resort, our hotel for the trip


Feeding the little cowboy


Baga Beach, lots of locals, lots of activities


Another sunset pic, Anjuna