Deceptive clouds

20 April 2018,

It's a hot Friday here in Bangalore and presence of clouds worsened the atmosphere (in terms of perspiration). The evening, thick clouds gathered over the baking city hoping to precipitate and thaw the mercury levels. I was at the Rachenahalli lake that time waiting for the brewing clouds to drift along the water-body and drench for considerable time. The clouds seemed heavy with moisture and for sure would bring down at-least 3cms of rains. I was curiously waiting for the clouds to move above the region but Alas! the wait looked everlasting. The clouds never appeared overhead :-(. The engrossment transformed into embarrassment in 30 min. Out of curiosity, I noticed that clouds were running from east to west while my position North-South. I was deceived by the thick clouds with not even a single droplet reaching the ground. It was then I realized that I was waiting for elusive storm to shower over the region. With utter disappointment, I shot few cloudy mood of troposphere. Eventually the sadness was offset by the splendid tonal contrast between sky & lake. The turbid lake added great contrast to the troposphere.

At the other end, the dazzling sun was smiling at my disgust. I shot him too but not with enough enthusiasm.

The clouds neither moved nor dissipated. It looked as if they were permanently glued to sky. I smoldered at the heavens and they quipped with distant roar still without a droplet. Never scorn at nature :D.

The Sun was still smiling over the western horizon looking at my futile wait. It was that time fickle mind realized, no more wait and elusive storm would never happen. I comprehended the situation and returned home with wonderful pictures but without a droplet. Thanks to the evening Sun without which capturing the eastern horizon would not have been so much inspiring.

Hope the pictures delight you despite the moaning scribble.

Linked to Skywatch Friday

After the rains subsided

As mentioned in previous post, the evening storms which lasted for couple of days eventually died. The city was once again beginning to feel the heat of summer. There were stray clouds hovering marking the end of the current storm period. I shot few HDRs in my DSLR to capture the beauty of atmosphere. Hope you enjoy them as well!

Linked to Skywatch Friday

Party over troposphere

While sunlight diffusing through the broken clouds creates magnificent crepuscular rays, it also gleams the water-body with vivid colors. Despite the humid/hot weather, the charm of nature provided warmth at the outset of weekend. A whimsical cloud formation at the dawn of march provided some spectacular images to be framed in mobile camera. The evening clouds gravitate me towards Rachenahalli lake to compose those dreamy landscapes. I was equally rewarded by the troposphere for the haste. Two days later, the city was drenched in heavy thunderstorms providing temporal relief from heat.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Linked to Skywatch Friday

Cityscapes

Hitherto, my attention was only towards landscapes. Here is an offbeat post on cityscapes for a change. Cityscapes never motivated me till date and this post purely for a change. Even though the interests on cityscapes are feeble, trying out new to variegate photography realms becomes necessity. In-fact, this policy can be generalized to any domains. Hope you enjoy the pictures :)

 

 

 

Weekend perceptions

17/18th Feb 2018,

As pointed out in earlier post, my DSLR is exhausting shutter cycles and ergo, I use mobile camera for most of the practices. However, it is hard to leave behind the mighty buddy. Few shots are composed from DSLR as well. The evenings of this weekend, I shot wide range of pictures during my casual walk along Rachenahalli lake. I still call myself as amateur and hence don't be surprised if the pictures does not meet your expectations :-). Hope the pictures enthralls your vision to some extent.

Linked to Skywatch Friday

The day after first rains

08 Feb 2018,

As predicted in previous post, the day after rains turned up pretty. The evening Sun shying between clouds presents majestic display of crepuscular rays shimmering the earth with dazzling orange light. I was at the right time in Rachenahalli lake to behold this beautiful artwork of nature. The mobile camera was suffice to capture the magnificent glory of nature splashing vivid hue over the water body. Hope you enjoy the pictures shot during that glorious day!

Linked to Skywatch Friday

Mahashivaratri Sunset

13th Feb 2018

In North India, looks like the celebration is on tomorrow. Here in Bangalore it is today. Considering the proximity, I would go for 13th Feb :-). Nevertheless, festivals are to rejoice with family, savor delicious dishes and internalize the morals of almighty. I don't mind the differences in celebration dates. They are hardly a day or two difference.

I eschew the normal path for my return journey nowadays primarily due to the breathtaking sunset at the Rachenahalli lake. Among all the lakes nearby my location, this lake triumphs. The Amruthalli lake lacks decent landscape. The authorities have not constructed esplanade throughout the periphery of lake in  Hebbal and Lumbini Gardens. Hebbal lake hosts beautiful landscape but lacks decent maintenance. The Rachenahalli lake on the other hand, hosts magnificent views of both sunrise and sunset all through the season. The renovated esplanade makes it even more comfortable for photographers and walkers. Even though sunrise and sunset spots are not the same, both the landmarks have beautiful landscape as backdrop. Despite the blemishes of cityscapes, this lake is my favorite spot for photo-shoot proximity to my area. Jakkur lake is another option but yet to explore it more.

The Shivaratri generally marks the outset of Spring season by carrying strong winds of change across the region. Hope you enjoy the pictures captured during the Shivaratri day on my way home. Let the god of simplicity, destroyer of evil, and energy bless us with peaceful, and colorful glowing life as Sun :-).

Here is a picture of Lord Shiva shot long time ago in Murudeshwara.

|| OM NAMO BHAGAVATHE RUDRAYA ||

 

OBEISANCE TO THE MIGHTY LORD

Passport renewal - Follow ups

I did not want to bloat the older post. This post is intended to track post submission of passport renewal application.

As mentioned in previous post, I was granted passport renewal without any police verification. What does it mean? For me it means to honor the the trust and maintain the dignity of nation wherever I travel.

Following are the SMSes received post submission of passport renew application

14th Feb

Passport renewal granted with no Police Verification.
Passport application is being submitted for print.

15th Feb

Passport printed is completed and a message will be sent once passport is dispatched via speed post.

16th Feb

Hurray! Passport has been dispatched via Speed Post consignment No.XXXXX :-).  Not yet updated in India post website :-(. "Consignment details not found" is the error.

17th Feb

Today I was able to track the consignment in India Post site during early morning. The latest update was the consignment reached Yelahanka facility. The server gets loaded in normal hours and its only by luck you can track at that time of day. After tremendous cycles of retyping captcha, the status was shown. I am hopeful of receiving the new passport at the earliest.

It's time to cheer!! Today at 2PM, I have my renewed passport at doorstep :-).  I was delighted that process concluded in mere 3 days! Thanks a lot for authorities for such quick action.

ITS TIME TO FLY :-)

Unfortunately delivery notifications from both Passport office and Post office hit the SMS inbox only on 19th Feb :-(. This is primarily because of India Post fault. The notification from Post office arrived late and perhaps, passport office delay ensued :-).

Overall, I was exhilarated by the hassle free renewal process!