Tomb of Abdul Rahim Khan-e-Khana

On Mathura Road, on the way to Nizamuddin Railway Station is the Tomb of Abdul Rahim Khan-e-Khana, (1556-1627) an Indian Sufi poet popularly known as Rahim. He was a poet at the court of Mughal emperor Akbar and the son of Bairam Khan, a great Turkish statesman, warrior and caretaker of Mughal emperor Akbar.

Abdul Rahim Khan-e-Khana was among one of the nine Navratna's of Akbar's court. He loved Indian civilization and was also an accomplished poet and an astrologer. Although he was of Iranian origin, and a Muslim, he was a great devotee of Lord Krishna. As he belonged to the Bhakti period, he wrote couplets in Hindi in praise of Lord Krishna. He also had an exceptional command over Sanskrit language.

Among other accomplishments, he  wrote two works on the subject of Astrology- Khet Kautukam and Dwawishd Yogavali, which are still referred by people interested in Astrology and also translated 'The Memoirs of Babar' from Turkish to Persian.

Lodhi Garden

Lodhi Garden; the minute one hears that a photographic shoot is scheduled here, a collective groan goes up, because for a photographer at Delhi, Lodhi Garden is a place where one has 'been there, done that'. One does not realise that sometimes visiting a place is more to meet friends and to hone your skills rather than find new stuff......

Well that is what one thinks, but then once you are there, you realise that, hey, there are new things to shoot and new stuff to capture.

 From flowers, to rainbows, the gardens are a veritable paradise.

My very first shoot at the gardens yielded me stuff, that was lovely. Later shoots were not as enthusiastic and that was reflected in the kind of photographs one took.

Then came along Photosensitive, where Shailan and Jogi make it clear that they are not looking for anything other than the best, so then the exploration started....

With new angles, and new ideas, sometimes when one is seeking, even the God's do lend a hand and offer you

awesome sunsets,

swirling clouds

and of course, a rainbow :-)

....... add this to friends willingly posing for you, as Pratibha and Rita did during the photowalk, and Lodhi Garden comes alive with the sound of clicks.

Phool Mandi once again.....

The flower market at CP is a place that has been visited and revisited by every photographer, but every new excursion brings forth new surprises and images. The phool mandi is also about seeing conflicting worlds, of beauty, fragrance along with deprivation and decay. Buyers and sellers form a conglomerate, of diverse colours, shapes and sizes. The phool mandi (hindi for Flower Market) is a study of services, offering you everything from start to finish of the flower arrangement industry. In the sidelines are some totally unrelated but essential services being offered, including, the ubiquitous 'chai wala', a guy selling hot idlis and vadas, people offering to clean ears, people offering packing services, my car parking attendant who come all the way from Azadpur to assist people in parking their cars, for a sum of Rs. 10, and several other such people. In addition, we are joined by the regular inhabitants of this parking area where the market (temporary - only from 0430 hrs to 0900 hrs) is organise, and these are the drug addicts. If is not uncommon to see them in the fringes, heating pieces of metallic foil. This mix of the sublime flowers and the mundane is what characterises India.