Yesterday I promised I'd keep the next one calm. I think the pictures from the Lodi Garden should fit that bill fairly well. I'll do my best to do the same. I'm even going to type slower.
And to offer proof of my good intentions I'll also start off with a little pastoral tune that, for the first time, also has me blatantly pointing out the reference for this entry's title. That way you don't have to wonder. See. No worrying. Everything shall be revealed. Isn't that calming?
Interestingly enough, or perhaps not, the song is somewhat apropros in that, were you to wander around the Lodi Gardens on a nice sunny Sunday afternoon like I did, you would not be able to help but notice all of the young lovers nestled in the crooks of tree roots, amidst bushes, lazing on the lawns, the young women perched on one leg of their gentleman like Radha and Krishna. I however am not Jayadeva, and this is not the Gita Govinda, so I'll just stop there.
"And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva... So tweasure your wuv."
Nor am I S. Morgenstern.
I said calm. I didn't say I wouldn't ramble.
See, even typing quietly now.
The Lodi Gardens takes up about 90 acres, and it's current layout goes back to 1936 and Lady Wellington, but it also got a make over in 1968 by J.A. Stein (my books says J H but it is wrong - I looked it up). It's a beautiful garden, full of a variety of birds, a nice little lake, some wonderful walking paths, and some lovely old tombs, mostly dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. The park gets it's names from the tomb of Sikander Lodi for example.
This is the Athpula bridge.
And this is the Bara Gumbad, not a tomb, but an entrance to the attached mosque.
And this is a fellow playing cricket. The gentleman out of frame with the bat is about the same age. Everyone plays this game here. Everyone.
Okay, I can't say everyone. I have yet to see any women playing cricket. Not to say it doesn't happen, but I just haven't seen it. But with an overall population of 1.25 billion, and accounting for roughly 44 million males under the age of 3 and therefore likely not quite playing yet, and 31 million males over the age of 65 and, the above picture to the contrary, spending their time now watching rather than playing, that still leaves around, given the 1.1:1 overall male:female ratio, 545 million men playing cricket.
Is there anything calmer than statistics?
Perhaps some of that pastoral setting I had promised.
And a few animals.
And a tomb.
And this is the Sheesh Gumbad. Next to the Bara Gumbad, it is a tomb built around the same time as Lodi's, but no one is quite sure who is actually buried here.
And then here finally is Lodi's tomb.
Now, as I alluded to yesterday, I'd come to the Lodi Gardens with the DPC - Delhi Photography Club, a group on Meetup that my host Neha had recommended. For the record Neha makes great recommendations, and I am very thankful for them.
I'd arrived early, with the intent to wander the neighbourhood a bit first, and then maybe take in some of the gardens on my own and take the 'catalog shots' as I now think of them - the pictures that show a place, rather than the 'story' shots, like I plagued you with in my post on Barcelona. I still owe you other pictures from there. Yes, I do remember.
En route to the gardens the meeting time shifted from 3pm to 4pm, so I then gained an additional hour to wander.
The pictures you've seen so far are the pictures I took on my own. Now we're going to walk around a few select spots in the gardens (Bara and Sheesh Gumbad, and the little lake by Athpula) and you can decide for yourself if I'm a better photographer when surrounded by 20 or so people with DSLRs and a passion for using them.
There came a point when alot of the group fixated on these kids playing, and then primarily on the little one in the striped top, as she was seriously hamming it up for the lens.
I thought the photographers made for a more interesting study.
The one in red is Rohan, the surgeon I mentioned who has been kind enough to show me around one of the hospitals where he works, and who will hopefully be showing me around the other later today. Beside him, and I sadly do not remember his name, is a young man who travelled from a town 90 minutes away from Delhi to come to this Meetup. He studied Engineering, and was planning on going to Vancouver to continue his education, but has remained at home to help run his father's business. I so wish I remembered his name. I so suck. Anyway, he's been into photography for less than a year, but has already entered his photos in some competitions and placed third in one of them.
The fellow below right was the first person I got talking to when we gathered, and whose name is Dheeraj. We're hopefully going to hook up again for I don't know what.
All that to say that I got to meet some great people during this photo-walk, and while some of them were definitely continuing the holy war of Canon vs Nikon, others were happily talking about healthcare, supporting startups, Neil Gaiman (I had no idea he was married to Amanda Palmer by the way), and showing each other a shot or two every once in awhile. At least, those were the conversations I found myself in the midst of.
Then there was this delightful young man and his friend, who proceeded to mug for us all, and then tumble, contort themselves through rings, and work the crowd for some very well earned rupees.
And then the sun went down.
Water fowl by the bridge.
Twilight.
See? I promised you calm, and what'd I give you?
Calm.
I am now typing so quietly and gently it's as if a soft breeze could blow these words from th e
p
a
g
e
.
Which, again, is saying something for a blog.
And to offer proof of my good intentions I'll also start off with a little pastoral tune that, for the first time, also has me blatantly pointing out the reference for this entry's title. That way you don't have to wonder. See. No worrying. Everything shall be revealed. Isn't that calming?
Interestingly enough, or perhaps not, the song is somewhat apropros in that, were you to wander around the Lodi Gardens on a nice sunny Sunday afternoon like I did, you would not be able to help but notice all of the young lovers nestled in the crooks of tree roots, amidst bushes, lazing on the lawns, the young women perched on one leg of their gentleman like Radha and Krishna. I however am not Jayadeva, and this is not the Gita Govinda, so I'll just stop there.
"And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva... So tweasure your wuv."
Nor am I S. Morgenstern.
I said calm. I didn't say I wouldn't ramble.
See, even typing quietly now.
The Lodi Gardens takes up about 90 acres, and it's current layout goes back to 1936 and Lady Wellington, but it also got a make over in 1968 by J.A. Stein (my books says J H but it is wrong - I looked it up). It's a beautiful garden, full of a variety of birds, a nice little lake, some wonderful walking paths, and some lovely old tombs, mostly dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. The park gets it's names from the tomb of Sikander Lodi for example.
This is the Athpula bridge.
And this is the Bara Gumbad, not a tomb, but an entrance to the attached mosque.
And this is a fellow playing cricket. The gentleman out of frame with the bat is about the same age. Everyone plays this game here. Everyone.
Okay, I can't say everyone. I have yet to see any women playing cricket. Not to say it doesn't happen, but I just haven't seen it. But with an overall population of 1.25 billion, and accounting for roughly 44 million males under the age of 3 and therefore likely not quite playing yet, and 31 million males over the age of 65 and, the above picture to the contrary, spending their time now watching rather than playing, that still leaves around, given the 1.1:1 overall male:female ratio, 545 million men playing cricket.
Is there anything calmer than statistics?
Perhaps some of that pastoral setting I had promised.
And a few animals.
And a tomb.
Unless your name is Buffy, you probably can't beat a tomb for calm. This particular tomb is the tomb of Mohammed Shah Sayyid, and is the earliest of the tombs in the garden, dating back to 1444.
And this is the Sheesh Gumbad. Next to the Bara Gumbad, it is a tomb built around the same time as Lodi's, but no one is quite sure who is actually buried here.
And then here finally is Lodi's tomb.
Now, as I alluded to yesterday, I'd come to the Lodi Gardens with the DPC - Delhi Photography Club, a group on Meetup that my host Neha had recommended. For the record Neha makes great recommendations, and I am very thankful for them.
I'd arrived early, with the intent to wander the neighbourhood a bit first, and then maybe take in some of the gardens on my own and take the 'catalog shots' as I now think of them - the pictures that show a place, rather than the 'story' shots, like I plagued you with in my post on Barcelona. I still owe you other pictures from there. Yes, I do remember.
En route to the gardens the meeting time shifted from 3pm to 4pm, so I then gained an additional hour to wander.
The pictures you've seen so far are the pictures I took on my own. Now we're going to walk around a few select spots in the gardens (Bara and Sheesh Gumbad, and the little lake by Athpula) and you can decide for yourself if I'm a better photographer when surrounded by 20 or so people with DSLRs and a passion for using them.
There came a point when alot of the group fixated on these kids playing, and then primarily on the little one in the striped top, as she was seriously hamming it up for the lens.
I thought the photographers made for a more interesting study.
The one in red is Rohan, the surgeon I mentioned who has been kind enough to show me around one of the hospitals where he works, and who will hopefully be showing me around the other later today. Beside him, and I sadly do not remember his name, is a young man who travelled from a town 90 minutes away from Delhi to come to this Meetup. He studied Engineering, and was planning on going to Vancouver to continue his education, but has remained at home to help run his father's business. I so wish I remembered his name. I so suck. Anyway, he's been into photography for less than a year, but has already entered his photos in some competitions and placed third in one of them.
The fellow below right was the first person I got talking to when we gathered, and whose name is Dheeraj. We're hopefully going to hook up again for I don't know what.
All that to say that I got to meet some great people during this photo-walk, and while some of them were definitely continuing the holy war of Canon vs Nikon, others were happily talking about healthcare, supporting startups, Neil Gaiman (I had no idea he was married to Amanda Palmer by the way), and showing each other a shot or two every once in awhile. At least, those were the conversations I found myself in the midst of.
Then there was this delightful young man and his friend, who proceeded to mug for us all, and then tumble, contort themselves through rings, and work the crowd for some very well earned rupees.
And then the sun went down.
Water fowl by the bridge.
Twilight.
See? I promised you calm, and what'd I give you?
Calm.
p
a
g
e
.
Which, again, is saying something for a blog.
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