Switching on Winter

I love light. As a child, I was known to switch on all the lights in the house because I loved it so (and then get a lecture from one of my parents about electricity costs and wastage). I have an associated fascination for lamps and string lights and streamers and candles and tea lights and lanterns..even bright resplendent full moons. I can almost imagine The Significant Other nodding his head vigorously at this admission as he recalls all the times we've been out and I've been busy admiring the lamps and light fixtures in the place while he tries to talk to me.

And that is the reason why winter in London is a miserable time for me. The mere six hours of dull grey light in a day are just not enough for my soul and now that I am a grown-up, I also realise the significance of electricity costs and the ramifications of wastage and have to unhappily adhere to grown-up norms of prudent living. Pah.

And so, when they put up Christmas lights in London - although a bit too early - I'm certainly not one of those complaining. Last night they switched on the lights at Regent Street and Oxford Street and I was there in a flash, soaking it all in.

I wasn't the only one, though. The moon seemed to be taking it in too (much to my delight).

I certainly needed the cheer.

(Another version of this was published on Metrotwin Mumbai and one of these photographs appeared on Londonist this morning).

On Londonist Again

The awesome Londonist gave me a nice little birthday gift by using one of my pictures to headline one of their posts again.

Disapproving looks
Originally part of this post

Previous pictures that made it to Londonist - this and this

Muchos Gracias, Londonist and Sally B! That's about all the Spanish I can speak!

Another London will continue here, as soon as I can recover from my fantastic trip to Spain. And of course, watch out for a lot of Spain on this blog - you really didn't think that I would return empty handed from there, did you?

Saying Thanks!

Two updates from me:

1. The good people over at Londonist have paid this little blog a huge compliment by interviewing me about it. I am totally floored. You can read the interview here. Please do read the last bit and let me know what you think of the prints for charity idea. [I'm particularly interested in contributing towards Child Welfare and Animal Protection Societies].

A Private Island in The City
Previously seen here.

2. Londonist also recently ran a photography competition in collaboration with Slowdown London, called Slow Exposure. The submitted photographs needed to identify with the essential ethos of the Slowdown London project, as well as with the quirky, positive, eclectic image of Londonist.

I am thrilled to report that two of my photographs (one of them above) were selected in the top 30 that will be exhibited for a whole month (24th April to 24th May) at the Ray's Jazz Cafe at Foyles (Charing Cross, London). Do please drop by the exhibition if you're in London (entry is free). Londonist is also organising a Private view and Party (RSVP) on the 1st of May at the same venue, where the top 5 winners will be announced. I'll be there, and I'd love it if you drop by and say hello! (I'll be the deliriously happy one). See you there!

And a huge thank you to all of you who've so far commented on or about this blog- here or elsewhere; sent informed critiques and suggestions my way; taken the time to dwell over the pictures and the stories I try to tell and continued to encourage me. I might not be in action for a few days but promise to be back soon with a whole lot more.

A secret way to pause

I shouldn't be doing this. I shouldn't be telling everyone about this pristine patch of verdant riverside, a protected piece of natural heritage that lies almost in the middle of London. Heck, it's my very own private secret, shared with a bunch of other Chiswick residents and well, perhaps a bunch of Barnes-ers on the other side of the river. But since I promised, here goes. Sigh.

If you haven't seen the map of London and happen to be around the mad Hogarth Roundabout on the A4, I bet you'll saw your arm off if I tell you that you could get to this if you walk southwards for less than five minutes.

(click on pictures to enlarge)

You'll get your first glimpse of the Thames, surprisingly close and within reach, as you hit the Chiswick Mall - a pretty road lined with houses from various periods - some as old as the 15th Century! Then you'll realise that the A4 seems far away - the sounds of traffic are replaced by those of lapping water, the ducks, gulls and other birds, and well, the occasional huffing runner or cycler. The Mall gets partially flooded in high tide and you can see ducks happily floating around on what was a tarmaced road a few hours back! In low tide you can walk down to the rocky riverbeach with a book or a camera or just your solitude.

The Mall continues down the embankment that follows the curve of the river. Along this sit gated housing estates, a boating club, a posh cafe, and a Church with a cemetery (which I'm saving for yet another post).

Some of these houses have their private gardens across the Mall - overlooking the river. Oh my, how I'd love to own one of these quaint little patches, never mind a house to go with it.

On the other side is the river, and the Chiswick Pier, where I've spent many an hour just listening to the sounds of the river (broken by the roar of an airplane on descent course to Heathrow, every few minutes. Aarrgh.)

The occasional raft will speed by, sending the gulls flapping. You might occasionally meet someone mooring their houseboat here. At times, you might come across someone feeding the gulls. You could watch the sun go down behind Dukes Meadows. Or you just might be 'accompanied' by another soul simply mesmerised by the river.

And then you get to the Thames Path - the protected National Trail that goes all the way down the river to almost as far as you care to walk - well, actually upto Greenwich via Battersea. You would need a sturdy pair of legs to walk that. Adjoining the path lies the Dukes Meadows, that I wrote about here. This is the stretch that's my favourite - nothing else in London calms me down or gives me a pick-up when I need it the most.

The little fluffball at the back was valiantly trying to 'scare' me at this point, sending me into a fit of giggles. That agitated him even more, but he was called off by his laughing owner before he could do anything about it. Oh my.

I feel lucky to live within minutes of this divine patch. It gives me the perfect excuse to pause and reflect, to take a break from my urban life, to recharge my batteries. You should do that too, but hey, go find your own! :)

Another on Londonist

After this little surprise, there's another. Kind Londonist have used another of my pictures (see below) to headline their post.

I clicked this one at Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea on Tuesday, where they have an excellent new exhibition titled "Unveiled: New Art from The Middle East". My post on it, with the picture in context is here.

Hat tip: Anjali, who kindly brought my attention to it!

Photo of The Day / Caption Contest

How funny does this look?

The good folks over at Londonist have picked my photograph from my previous post as Photo Of The Day and are running a funny caption contest on it! I'm doubly pleased by this - one, of course, because they picked a picture by me; and two, because I'm quite a patron of wittiness myself and would love to see what people come up with. So please hop over and unleash your funnies on them in the comments section.

Also, if you live in London and don't already know about the Londonist, I strongly recommend adding them to your bookmarks - it's an excellent collaborative resource for what's going on around town - the quirky, the eclectic, the strange and hidden side of London that the newspapers won't tell you about.

Hop over now!