A travel blogger from Kolkata, India
Hi, my name is Moon. I am a content developer by profession and a travel blogger by passion. As a traveler, I want to explore every nook and corner of my beloved country India and beyond and share my travel stories on my blog. I have written for Hipmunk. You can check out more of my Hipmunk Hotels and Destinations posts here: https://footlooseforever.com/category/travel/usa-hotels/
In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge:“Scale.”
While roaming around in a resort garden in Shantiniketan a couple of weeks ago I noticed this tiny moth resting on the leaves of this common calendula which seemed so big compared to this beautiful little creature!
“I can give not what men call love, But wilt thou accept not The worship the heart lifts above And the Heavens reject not,— The desire of the moth for the star, Of the night for the morrow, The devotion to something afar From the sphere of our sorrow?”
I agree with Svetlanathat it feels good to be appreciated for whatever you do, especially when you pour your heart into it. So when the nomination for the versatile blogger award came from my blogger friend Svetlana it was a rewarding experience. Please accept my heartiest thanks, Svetlana. When it comes from you who has literally seen the world it means a lot to me.
Read about ‘maverickbird’ Svetlana’s fabulous journeys from South East Asia to Latin America and enjoy a visual treat with vivid photographs of nature, lifestyle and culture of different places across the globe. You can follow her blog at maverickbird.com.
My second Versatile Blogger Award nomination comes from Vartika who is a techie with an artistic vision. I feel honoured to receive the nomination from a genuinely versatile blogger Vartika. You can follow her reviews (on books, movies and games) as well as interesting writes on life, humour, society and spirituality at https://vartikaforu.wordpress.com/.
However, the Versatile Blogger Award has some rules to follow and those are:
Display the award on your blog
Thank the person who nominated you
Share 7 facts about yourself
Nominate 15 blogs
Link your nominee’s blogs and let them know
Seven facts about myself
Honesty, simplicity and decency are some of the virtues I like to see in people.
Painting was my hobby when I was in school. I loved to paint in watercolors. I would like to share one of my school day’s creations here with you – The Tree and The Shepherd Boy
Now the hobby of painting has changed to photography.
My New Year resolution has been exercise regularly, but I have hardly exercised in the last one month. 😛
I have gastritis and doctors told me to forget about spicy food but I cannot resist this delicious, sinful thing and often get scolded by my mother for that.
I love nature very much. I always dream of living in a cottage by a riverside with mountains and forest in the backdrop.
I eagerly wish to visit Europe, Canada and Egypt before I die.
Well…here I need to stop because these are the blogs I can recall at the moment. Though I know I need to mention 15 blogs as per the rule. But you know rules are meant to be broken…sometimes… 😉 🙂 Jokes apart, there is always scope for updates later…isn’t it.
So, keep blogging. Keep reading others’ blogs and keep appreciating good works. Thank you! 🙂
Last Friday (30 January) when I was walking towards Victoria Memorial Hall for a quick city tour with a friend I saw this tree standing tall with its bare branches spread in all directions. It looked beautiful to me. I don’t know why so many people hate winter, because I have heard from many of my friends and acquaintances that they don’t like winter at all. Winter brings with it a lot of memories for me. My childhood memories of winter are still so fresh! Winter means variety of pickles, fruits, home-made sweets and outdoor activities.
And most of all, winter sets the path to a fresh new beginning. Winter too has a poetic beauty that I saw in this bare tree.
Drive my dead thoughts over the universe Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth! And, by the incantation of this verse, Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind! Be through my lips to unawakened earth The trumpet of a prophecy! O, wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
~Percy Bysshe Shelley
So, do you like winter? Or hate it? Share your reasons with me… 🙂
“That on a wild secluded scene impress Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect The landscape with the quiet of the sky. The day is come when I again repose Here, under this dark sycamore, and view These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts, Which at this season, with their unripe fruits, Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves ‘Mid groves and copses. Once again I see These hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little lines Of sportive wood run wild:”
Lines quoted from one of my most favorite poems, which I can relate to this theme – LINES COMPOSED A FEW MILES ABOVE TINTERN ABBEY by William Wordsworth.
‘How often do you travel in your city like a tourist?’
Can’t remember exactly where I read this but that simple question moved me very much. How it feels being a tourist in my city – I have never thought that! Thanks to an old friend who has never been to Kolkata before, I became a tourist in my city for the first time. 🙂 He called up a couple of days ago to say that he will give a brief visit to Kolkata on Friday, 30th January and asked me to be his guide for the city tour.
There are so many things to see in Kolkata. Although born and brought up in Kolkata I haven’t yet seen all of them. So, I readily accepted the proposal. Fortunately, it was a cool morning yesterday with a partly cloudy sky, ideal for soft snaps. So, what could be better than to start with Victoria Memorial Hall, the most beautiful monument in Kolkata?
Wide-open greenery all around, cool breeze blowing my hair and the unmatched architecture beauty to behold it felt awesome inside the Victoria Memorial ground!
Kolkata’s very own Victoria Memorial Hall
Victoria Memorial Hall Museum
The monument was built in the memory of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). Its unique architecture is a wonderful blend of European and Mughal style which is a treat to the eye. The museum inside the building houses an extensive collection of photographs and oil paintings depicting the history of Kolkata in time of British rule including a pictorial chronology of the monument itself. Every evening Light & Sound (Son-et-Lumiere) shows are held in the Victoria Memorial Hall ground.
The museum remains open every day except Mondays from 10 am to 5 pm. Entry fee for Indians is Rs 10 per head and for foreigners it is Rs 150. However, if you are not interested in history and museum you can just buy a garden ticket and sit in the garden as long as you want till 7 pm. Click here for more details.
How to Reach There
The best way to visit Victoria Memorial Hall is to take metro rail to Rabindra Sadan station. From the metro station walk (2-3 min) towards Cathedral Road, named after St. Paul’s Cathedral located midway of the street. You’ll walk past Kolkata’s cultural hub, Nandan complex – Nandan, Sishir Mancha, Rabindra Sadan and take right turn to Cathedral Road. Then walk for another 10 minutes to Queens Way to reach the main entrance of Victoria Memorial ground.
P.S: If you want to have the royal feel of British colonial era take a ride on horse drawn carriages lined up right in front of Victoria Memorial gate. However, a royal ride comes with a ‘royal’ price. Last time I heard it was INR 150 for 15 minutes. 🙂
enjoy a horse drawn carriage ride at the heart of Kolkata
How cunningly nature hides every wrinkle of her inconceivable antiquity under roses and violets and morning dew!~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
When we started for Choukori from Ranikhetit was raining cats and dogs. It rained all night as we took shelter inside our cozy room. I can’t remember when I fell asleep to wake up to a beautiful morning flooded with soft sunlight that touched the ground through a thin veil of morning mist. I grabbed my camera and ran to the garden. See what I found… Nature in its purest form. 🙂
The expression of an artist is best conveyed through her canvas. One fine morning, while strolling along the Ghats of Varanasi I found her absorbed in her creation.
“The painter has the Universe in his mind and hands.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci
Expression: 2
“Love is the ultimate expression of the will to live”. I captured these two ‘love birds’ expressing their affection for each other amidst the ruins of Chittorgarh Fort on a romantic evening.
“Love is the ultimate expression of the will to live”
Expression: 3
My sweetie pie…my little nice…she is just one year and nine months old and a bundle of joy. She wants to grab everything that interests her. This time it was my camera! 🙂
“While we try to teach our children all about life, Our children teach us what life is all about.” ~ Angela Schwindt
How to Reach There
Footloose Forever 