Visual treats along Rajanukunte-Chikka Madhure route

05 May 2018,

I was suffering mentally from a hectic day and was desperate to escape from shrieking city for a while. I chose to ride towards Chikka-Madhure via Rajanukunte and I was blessed with numerous treats. Even though the intention of visit was for seeking divine blessings of Lord Shani, I was flabbergasted by the divinity of nature.

Ride life with no expectations and you would be happy forever. It may seem cliche but that was my experience today. Being Saturday, my only aim was to visit the famous Chikka-Madhure temple to seek the blessings of Shani Maharaj. It was more than the blessings as my bike meandered through the Chikka-Madhure Rajanakunte stretch. I never envisioned such a wondrous journey. It was visual splendor portrayed by mother nature which almost wiped out my traumas at first sight. What a magnificent way to start the journey.  The thrilling stretch is shrouded with verdant tall vegetation, flanked by beautiful coconut/areca-nut plantations, adorned with intermittent lakes, and the strolling cattle. A positive ambiance is radiated by nature throughout the journey. The well paved winding road provided relaxing ride and assisted in seamless landscape gazing. Also the healthy pre-monsoon showers from past 2 weeks had further spruced up greenery of landscapes.

I can't count the number of stops en-route. Every inch is worth enjoying for a landscape aficionado. The only lamenting part was I could not spend healthy time in Chikka-madhure lake and as well beholding golden Sun sneaking through verdant fields. But that did not dampen my spirits at the end of day. I would like to visit again during monsoon season to cherish the moments with nature.

Beautiful Chikka-Madhure Lake

At the end of day, I had splendorous visual treat, divine treat, and as well treat to taste buds :-). On closing note, a great respite eventually.

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Isolated storm

May 22, 2018

On my way back from office I was fortunate to witness the phenomenon of isolated storm thanks to evening Sun. This is not something unique or unusual. Whenever the cloud covers entire atmosphere or in absence of Sun, we can't visualize the distant storm. It is only when isolated monolithic nimbus cloud flashed by the sunlight we can see the storm pounding the earth. This time too I witnessed such isolated storm thanks to golden hour Sun. The ravishing display of warmer yellow and cooler blue tones are always eye-catcher for landscape nerds. Despite being not located in exotic place, such beauty of nature adds charisma to the bleak landscape. In middle of narrow rugged road, I stopped bike and clicked few photos. Hope you enjoy the evening show at troposphere!

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Barging and brawling nimbus clouds

May 11, 2018

The sky began rumbling smoothly here in Bangalore at 5pm. This indicated us to leave the office and reach home at the earliest. En route, I stopped by Rachenahalli lake to grab the picture of barging nimbus clouds. These clouds also behave enigmatic sometimes. The clouds were moving from west to east. Concurrently another storm was brewing at eastern horizon. I was confused if the storm would really hit our place. When I was pondering over the direction of clouds, the troposphere roared and flashed intensely dissuading from further photo-shoot. It was like "Go home you insane human, don't ever try to challenge nature". I had to submit to the warning and consequently rushed to parking area and rode to home safely. As soon as I entered house, the cacophony aggravated and moisture laden nimbus clouds were right beneath our area. Soon it's entourage followed (gusty winds, thunder, lightning) and storm ensued. The clouds were extremely heavy that in a jiffy, they condensed. The roar of heavens lasted for nearly 90 mins with thick droplets. The crashing sound made us feel as if there was intense battle between clouds. The intimidating lightning made us to close the curtains. The windows were trembling. For a moment, I was awestruck by the nature's might. I don't know the reason behind such an intense pre monsoon rain but surely it was the most horrific of the season.

And the sky was like

Don't kill time,
Reach home
before I chime!

And the warnings turned out to be true. The battlefield over troposphere culminated in intense storm shed drenching the city with almost 2 inches of rain.

On Leaving note,

Rain Rain don't go away,
Keep the summer at the bay

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The charismatic rural world

Moments before my little boys landed in my house, I set out for a short photo-hunt through the coconut plantations hoping to get best perceptions. Once little boys are in, you would be holding them more than camera :-).  In my intense hunt, I discovered many hidden perceptions which I could not perceive from years. Undoubtedly, I deem it as one of the best photo hunts of the year in my tiny village. The winter Sun was glowing and atmosphere was crystal clear. A 30 minutes of short walk along the plantation conceived memorable landscape beauties on the digital sensor. I was cursing myself for myth of finding beauty at distant locations while it's nearby your house. Eventually, beauty of nature captured and satisfaction was the end result.

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This week's sunset at Rachenahalli Lake

The fag end of winter presented some of the haze free sky with dazzling sunset. It was final moments of the year after which the summer would smear the city with haze. My mobile saw the beauty as well and amplified my excitement by capturing beautiful shots. The mobile camera surpassed my expectations today. The pictures did justice to the aura of golden hour time by producing vivid colors. A minimal edit in snapseed provided finishing touch to the landscape frames. This was one of the heartfelt photo-walk along the lake with high degree of satisfaction.

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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.

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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!

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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!

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