Bright Boats & Lighthouse Love

My sister and I chanced upon the Anchuthengu / Anchengo beach  when we went in search of a historical "fort" in Quilon district of Kerala. She had to write an article about the ASI (Archeological Survey of India) monument and on our way back we chanced upon this very beautiful, unspoilt, colourful beach and lighthouse.

Let me begin by telling you a little about the fort that rubbed me up the wrong way!! To read about the history and importance of the fort, please read my sisters article on the same here. The once beautiful fort complex is now just a mass of concrete. All in the name of conservation. Or so the ASI believe. The beautiful local red laterite stone has been replaced by concrete everywhere. Its a shame and one sure way to rile me is to show me all that concrete taking over a heritage site. My fellow heritage lovers and professionals will understand how irritated I felt that day. I'm going to leave the pictures of the fort for another post (some of them are in the article), along with more cribbing. Obviously.

The one good thing that came of that trip was the beautiful beach and lighthouse. If it wasn't for my star of a sister who dragged an irritated me to discover the surroundings, I would have missed out on all those colours! We walked through a group of houses in front of the fort, through a tiny alley to get to this stretch of the beach. The fishing boats were ashore and a few fisher folk out and about but that's just it. Tranquil and unspoilt. Well, apart from all the garbage, plastic and otherwise, that choke our beautiful beaches.

The bright blue sky and sea, colourful boats and brightly painted houses are a common sight in Kerala.  Everybody here seems to think beige is boring and I couldn't be any happier!

Lighthouse Love

So very Kerala!

See what I mean about all that concrete? hmmmmpppfff!!!

Tree wave

Aah! The beach!!!

Who needs modern technology?

I wanted to steal that icebox!

I'm watching you!

Whoever thought of those colours is a star! Fishing star!

Into the blue

Taking shade

Perfect perch!

Thats what Kerala's houses look like these days. Miami, watch out!

Sigh!!! Garbage anyone?

Guggenheim Geometry

When asked to design The Solomon R. Guggenheim museum for New York, Frank Lloyd Wright said "I can think of several more desirable places in the world to build his great museum, but we will have to try New York." To Wright, the city was overbuilt, overpopulated, and lacked architectural merit.


New York City, much like every other metropolis is over photographed too, especially architecturally. At the Guggenheim, I had to fight with myself to avoid shots of the building. Google can get me those. I thought the geometry of the building, the lines, circles, triangles, curves, the light and shade etc made interesting patterns. Im sure these have been photographed to death too but hey! So i kept my wide angle lens firmly in my bag and went on to play with geometry. I went monochrome on these pictures except for a dash of lovely red in two. Perfectly justified, don't you think?  

Spot the Bird

  

Yellow Fever

Part 1 of my New York City adventure.
Im not sure why I have a sudden YELLOW fetish. I see it everywhere. It cheers me up every time and I fall in love with it over and over again. I have yellow shoes and bags, cushions, cups and plates and even a yellow cupboard. I want a brick house with a bright yellow door. Damn, I even want a yellow camera. This must be the kind of fetish thats bordering on obsession.

Sorting through my NYC photographs I couldn't stop laughing (theres something so bright and yellow about laughter isn't it?). Apart from the obvious yellow taxis, there was a punch of happy yellow everywhere and my yellow-trained quirky eye didn't let me down one bit. So here is my take on NYC. Bright, happy and cheerful. Oh! and I promise theres only one picture of the yellow taxi!

Why yellow? Why not white? There must be a reason.

Pigeon crossing

Now thats just perfect!

Look at me!

I heart NY too and how cute are those Vanjis!!

Yes, M&M's are my favourite and that bag is pure happiness!

Wouldn't the statue look great in YELLOW? I bet she would be smiling then!

I had to throw in at least 1 taxi!