some reflections on reflections
Berlin Sphere
This is a strange looking structure in Berlin; a huge glass sphere full of mirrors on the inside, and a gigantic staircase spiraling around the perimeter all the way to the top. See the reflection of the top of the doom in the picture.
And from the top, one gets a good view of the city.
Remembered the Gol Gumbaz of Bijapur, a trip I had grudgingly made with my (now late) Dad when I was just about to begin my engineering – the first (and unfortunately only) trip with just the two of us. It was amazing how travel brings the travellers together – after that trip I had understood him a lot better (quarreled with him a lot lesser) 🙂 Why is it that we are unable to see the value of people we take for granted? Anyway, there we were inside the dome, in the balcony in the upper part. We both stood on opposite sides of the massive dome – I could see him far away on the other side. Yet when he spoke, I literally jumped! Because it seemed like he was standing just next to me! I spoke too, and he responded clearly. Luckily there were no other visitors at that time and it was very silent and peaceful. We tried with decreasing loudness, finally almost whispering, and every time the sound was crystal clear, such was the acoustics of the dome. Anyway we were done with the experimenting when a gang of visitors walked in
chattering loudly.
Coming back to this glass dome in Berlin, I wondered aloud to my friend if there could be any special purpose to it. He replied yes there is, these people have too much of money, they just dont know what to do with it, so they build something like
this. His funny explanation comes to my mind many times while wandering around in the West.
Date: Wednesday, July 26, 2000
Allegedly Art
Had come across some vague structures like this earlier, but this was the ultimate. Maybe somebody didnt know where to throw the remnants of some construction material. Or maybe it really is beautiful, though I wonder in the eyes of which beholder?
Location: Some city in Germany.
Date: Wednesday, July 26, 2000
Mirror Mirror in the Tram
There were so many glass sheets in the tram that I could see ghost-like reflections of my friend (sitting beside me) all over the tram. Not all are discernible in the photo though.
Location: Dusseldorf, Germany
Date: Thursday, July 13, 2000
Sailing Ahead
On a map, saw a large blue patch in the middle of a green patch in a map and guessed there might be something worth exploring on a weekend. Turned out to be right – this was a huge lake with many walking tracks and forest all around its perimeter. A typical example of nature coexisting within city limits in Germany. Location: Dusseldorf
Sphynx
In a science museum in Essen, Germany
Date: Monday, August 28, 2000
Kaledioscope
This was a huge kaledioscope into which one could peer into what seemed to be a spectacular bottomless abyss. Here my camera peered in, with flash.
Location: science museum, Essen, Germany
Date: Monday, August 28, 2000
The Taj
The majestic monument known all over the world as the symbol of Eternal Love. I had my doubts whether it was all just hype, but they vaporized when I stood in front of it. Spent an entire day just soaking in its beauty, photographing it from every possible angle.
Apart from the foreigners, I was surrounded by people from all over India – speaking all kinds of languages… Hindi, Tamil, Telegu,
Kannada, Bengali and Malayalam were those I could recognize. It was a beautiful display of national integration, so many people from all over India coming to visit the magnificent structure that was common to all – just like the love that it symbolizes.
Date: Wednesday, November 21, 2001
One light – a thousand reflections
This is the roof of the Sheesh Mahal (Jaipur), made entirely of glass/mirrors. Somebody said that a single light could produce thousands of reflections. I took a picture with the flash on and the result was terrible – it was just one white patch. I *desperately*
needed a very small source of light… like a candle! “My kingdom for a candle!” I wanted to cry out… and one of the tourists came forth with a lighter, and that did the trick 🙂
Date: Sunday, November 18, 2001
Temple of a Crore Lingas
KotiLingeshwara Devasthana is a very unusual and beautiful temple in Kolar district, Karnataka. Though I’m not particularly religious, I like temples having that serene ambience and this was one of them. As the name says it – there are over a crore stone Lingas and a single GIGANTIC one.
Date: Saturday, December 9, 2000
God’s own reflections
This was while sailing through some lovely backwaters near Ernakulam, Kerala. As you might guess, this is the reflection of the shore,
inverted by 180 degrees (a trick picked up from photo.net).
Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2001
More backwaters
The lady walked there with just the right colored saree adding to the beauty of the scene.
Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2001
Lake of Five Hundred Temples
Pushkar Lake has 52 ghats and ov
er 500 temples around its banks. A walk around the perimeter could take quite a while but the view of the temples from across the lake (only a fraction is seen in the photo) is well worth it. It is the only place in the world having a Brahma Temple.
Date: Friday, November 16, 2001