Suspension bridge at Vancouver

Clicked some leaves against the sunlight in this rainforest.

The suspension bridge at Capilano is in this rainforest and it is one of the tourist attractions of Vancouver.

The video gives you an idea about the height of the bridge from the river bed. If you are prone to motion sickness or have fear of heights, then be warned that it can sway quite a bit with a crowd on the bridge.

The bridge was originally made of hemp ropes and cedar planks.
Some of the tools used in those days to put up the bridge.

There are more smaller bridges connecting the treetops.

There is a Cliffwalk which is the latest addition around the place.

Noticed a tree while walking on the cliff walk. The angle that it has taken while growing.

Nature has its own way to find the sunlight especially in a rainforest where trees are dense.

I spotted a solitary owl on one of the tall trees and took some snaps. It being noon, the lighting was not favourable and it cast some sinister shadows on the owl's face.

It was our first experience traveling by Alaska Airlines to Vancouver and found the airline pretty good.

Talking of Vancouver port, it is considered to be one of the most beautiful ports in the world. Some of the old and the new co-exist on Burrard St. at Downtown.

Saw some trolley buses on the way from the airport. I remember this was in use in the late 60s in Bombay (now Mumbai)

Not far from Burrard St is the "Canada Place" conamed as "Komagata Maru Place" in honour of an incident when the Komagata Maru steamship (also known as Guru Nanak Jahaz) brought 376 Punjabis (337 Sikhs, 27 Muslims 12 Hindus) to Vancouver, most of whom were denied entry, detained for two months with lack of medical aid, food or water and then forced to return to India where many were killed by British authorities.

There are other pictures about the history of the place, displayed along the harbour, like how they cleared the big trees:

Saw some seaplanes (used for sightseeing) landing at the same location.

Mauro Mansion

The first impression that one gets is that of a Zebra that is behind bars. Actually its an open cabinet for hanging your clothes.

This is in one of the rooms of Mauro Mansion in Amsterdam. A nice and cosy place next to the canal.

What I found was that there is something unique in each room.  Like who would expect a barber’s chair in one of the rooms, but it is there and the guests like it.

From an angle these look like some ducks perched on the wall of the room. This is actually a painting on one of the walls of a room.

These non plastered wall give it a different look. I noticed the table fan on the cupboard.

From across the road (or rather across the canal) it makes a pretty picture with the Basilica standing tall in the background.

I always wanted to get a profile picture showing only half of the face and the other half being in the dark. I think I accidentally got it when the owner of Mauro Mansion, Mr Berry, was explaining to me the finer details of his place. It also shows you the view of the canal from the room.

 And this is where you get your breakfast. Oh I forgot to mention this is a Bed and Breakfast joint very close to the station. (just three minutes walk from Amsterdam Centraal)

If you take a closer look at the ceiling, you will see that the beams are of two colours.  Mr Berry explained that as per the rules of Holland you can repair the place, but care should be taken that the new wood should not look like antique. I think that is a good rule framed by the authorities so that the tourists are not mislead.  The beam you see on the side is 400 years old and it is Oak.

If you have noticed the hat in every room, it is like a logo for the Mauro’s B&B. Mr Berry said that at times its funny too, like some customers come down and say “I think your previous customer forgot their hat”

Talking of coming down, this spiral staircase may look artistic to some but I had a good grip on the banister rail.

Couldn’t resist a click of this Indian hotel which is on the other side of the canal.

You have just sealed your fate

 

Like one young girl in Bangalore said "If a rape victim can fight for her life for 13 days and if the Government can send her to Singapore for treatment, then what is stopping the government from sending the Rapists to Saudi Arabia for  a fitting punishment"

The Indian Governance and the Government - you have sealed your fate today.

You have just lost the next elections. 

The Great Indian Weddings

Attending weddings are fun, or so it may seem to most people.

Have attended quite a few and I must say each region (of India) has a different way of celebrating the event.

Some of the most sober (and poker faced) ones are the ones that I have seen in my own community. The guests just come, eat and go. Some of them don’t even bother to wish the couple. And after reaching home they discuss about the amount of gold the bride was wearing (or should have worn)

Recently I attended a Bengali wedding in Calcutta. There are a lot of rituals and customs that are followed, but on the whole it was fun and colourful.

It was nice to see that all the guests took a keen interest in the proceedings. I tried to capture most of it on video but it was a tough fight wading through the multitude of the relatives who were milling around the couple.

I was lucky as far as the lighting goes, as the marriage hall was very spacious and well lit. I also found that every time I was strategically placed so that all the events were happening right in front of me.

Even though there was an official photographer, you could see that practically every one was trying to capture a slice of the action. 

I managed to get a lot of footage but the challenge was to edit and compress it so that the viewer would not get bored . Finally I managed to do it……. a three day event compressed to 33 minutes. Attaching here a part of it (about 10 minutes) 

Like I said before, it is colourful and lively.

Girl Child Education

It may come as a surprise to many that in India half of the girls get married before they are 18.

The burden of poverty and the low status that girls have in society pushes them out of school and into labour.

If a family cannot educate the children, the girls would be pulled out of the school first. Then they are encouraged to take up menial jobs to supplement the household income.

To add to these woes we have the female infanticide incidents. If you look a little deeper the problem lies in the thinking cycle of an average Indian.

The minute a girl child is born, the parents think of it as a “paraya dhan” (somebody else’s property) who is going to grow up into a tree and bear fruit for somebody else’s family.  And then the feeling sets in that all money invested in that girl child is going to be a waste. And this includes the money spend on education.

Dowry and marriage expenses are some of the things that haunt a family (especially in the lower echelons of society)

 I think there is some truth when they say "educate a girl and a complete family gets educated"

Shakira the “waka waka” girl, came down to India (as the UNICEF goodwill ambassador) with the intention of promoting girl child education. She cites some good examples on why it is a good deal for the state to invest in the girl child education.

I think she is doing a good job in highlighting such issues and taking it to a higher level of exposure.

You can hear it from herself –click here.