New Delhi - Tumblr Posts
Lying back in my bedroom at the end of the day, and enjoying the view of a reddish horizon, as the sun dives deep into the other side of the world.
Riding across the Delhi Ridge - It was an after-rain weekend and we had to ride to the outskirts of Delhi for some left-out works, passing through what's famously known as Delhi Ridge. The ridge is a northern extension of the ancient Aravalli Range, some 1500 million years old (compared to just 50 million for the Himalaya). The Delhi Ridge is said to be the green lungs for the city and protects Delhi from the hot winds of the deserts of Rajasthan to the west. It is also responsible for earning Delhi the tag of the World's Second most bird-rich Capital city after Kenya's Nairobi.
You admire my affinity toward clouds. And that's why i call you Aficionado. Clouds were almost the starting of another world for me.
See, there's almost a rainbow there! i spotted a tiny one among the piles of evening clouds.
You then stared at it for a while with a smile and said, I'm confused which rainbow should i look at.
And you turned towards me and never looked away.
The evening sun over the garden, from the balconies of Humayun's tomb, an old picture from my collections.
Sunset at Dil-khusha, Delhi. //Mixed Media
Hauz Khas, Delhi
A part of Siri, the second medieval city of India of the Delhi Sultanate of Allauddin Khilji Dynasty (1296–1316), Hauz Khas Complex houses a water tank, an Islamic seminary, a mosque, a tomb and pavilions built around an urbanized village with medieval history traced to the thirteenth century of Delhi Sultanate reign.
Firoz Shah Tughlaq(r. 1351–88), the most prolific of the Tughlaq builders, restored the abandoned Hauz which then came to be called Hauz-Khas (Royal tank). At the same time Firoz Shah built the Madrasa-e-Firoz Shahi as well as his own tomb at a focal point in the complex. The connection between the buildings and the royal tank was strengthened by the sets of steps leading down from the madrasa to the tank. On the other side, the buildings were edged by a beautiful garden. During the 13th to 15th centuries, Hauz-Khas, surrounded by an impressive madrasa, the tomb of an emperor, and a number of smaller tombs, mosques, and other buildings, invariably figured in the descriptions of the city by visitors in glowing terms.
Above pictures of Madrasa-e-Firoz Shahi (‘College of Firoz Shah’), an institution of higher education, endowed by the emperor himself, had a reputation as a premier centre of learning (Calligraphy, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, grammar, Islamic law and jurisprudence and the Quaran). It employed teachers who were scholars of note, and attracted students from far and wide. The buildings were arranged in a L-shape around the south-eastern corner of the hauz (tank), affording a good view over the expanse of water on one side and on the other, the upper level rooms overlooked a garden filled with flowering shrubs and fruiting trees. The top storey of the madrasa had open-pillared rooms while the lower storey had arcaded rooms with small residential cells for students. The dark cells had narrow openings for light and air and small storage niches. The structure was built of rubble masonry, combined with blocks of neatly-cut quartzite. Much of the exterior was originally covered in white plaster and painted in bright colours, with golden domes. The ornamentation that can still be seen consists primarily of some incised plasterwork and simple carving.
Bride's Toilet (1937) by Amrita Sher-Gil. National Gallery of Modern Art, India.
Self-portrait (1930) by Amrita Sher-Gil. National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.
Sleep (1932) by Amrita Sher-Gil. National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.
Klara Szepessy (1932) by Amrita Sher-Gil. National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.