LORD OF THE MINDS

Which way to take???
Shot at the way to Tornetrask, the path divides into two and only one took towards the lake... We really were unsure which one to take...







Breathtaking!
Shot at Tornetrask, this photograph captures the absolute beauty of the place...








Along the King's trail, this was one of the spots where you actually feel you are over the river flowing below... A beautiful spot for photographers!








Shot at Abisko National Park...










Hiking in the snowy King's trail... Walking in the wilderness...









No words to explain this...

Taken at the 1st floor of the Denon section of the Louvre, this photograph shows a lady admiring some spanish paintings. A beauty admiring another beauty?






Taken at the Sulley section during the Masterpieces tour, this photograph shows one of the sculptures on display - The Venus De Milo. The background makes for a wonderful contrast. :)






Taken from inside the Denon section of the Louvre Museum, this photograph captures the entrance and one facade of the museum beautifully! :)







Taken at the entrance of the Versailles palace, this photograph shows TK sporting his "Universitie Paris" sweatshirt with the statue of King Louis XIV in the background. A king in the making??






Simply beautiful... I don't need to tell you where I am! :)








Taken from the spot that best captures the beauty of the Eiffel tower!









Cross-posted on: Facebook

Shot at Montreux, this photograph shows Mirchi onlooking Lake Geneve. The falling evening sun's glows on him makes for an amazing scene.







The Swiss alps from atop Mt. Pilatus










A totally fortunate incident, we got the chance to attend a laser show on the history of Switzerland at the Parliament in Bern. One of the best I had seen, this photograph captures one era depicted during the show.






Basel city in the night!

P.S. I just love the night life of Europe!!





Taken at Interlaken West during the 2-hour hiking we did from Thun to the station, this photograph shows a poster in front of a stable. The tagline was catchy!












Cross posted on: Facebook

The wind was breezing past my hair. I could feel every moment of my existence, every breath I was inhaling. The landscape was beautiful, crystal clear, and mesmerizing. And it was getting bigger and bigger, closer and closer by the moment. I was falling rapidly, falling under gravity.
It had been a month that I had been in Copenhagen and had started getting used to the Danish food and culture (mainly through the numerous parties that I was attending). Even though I was undergoing an internship at a Danish startup, it gave me enough time to travel around Europe (Eurail pass zindabad!) every week. I had already been to Sweden, Netherlands, Oktoberfest at Munich, Koln, Berlin on my travels. A bit of work, a lot of travel and a whole bunch of fun; Life as an exchange student at Copenhagen Business School was certainly an experience that I was enjoying. Eastern Europe was the next region I wanted to explore and Prague was the first city on the route.
So 15th of October 2011, after a night out party at Copenhagen's A-bar; our group of 9 boarded the DBahn to Berlin, where after a change of railways, we would be taking the direct train to Prague. Lack of sleep, lots of booze and whole lot of dancing meant most of us slept the 8 hours journey to Berlin. But once we changed trains, everyone was up and awake to experience the scenic route to Prague. It surely didn't disappoint us. Beautiful combination of hills, rivers greeted us on the route between Dresden and Prague. Upon arrival at Prague, we chose to walk to our hostel. A quick changeover and we were out to explore the night scene in the city.
Prague as a city is not too big, so you can walk to any location if you got the time and intent. We chose to do just that. A short walk took us to the Old town square where the Astronomical Clock Tower (voted the most boring tourist attraction :P) greeted us. Nice, but we were more interested in the clubs in the city. Recommendations from fellow exchange students had suggested that the crowd in the clubs in Prague is amazing and we weren't disappointed. 3 hours of amazing dance performances set the mood for the weekend and we came back home satisfied.
16th October 2011 was the D-day; THE experience that we had brought us to Prague - our first SKYDIVE. All 9 of us got ready and reached Old Town Square by 10am where a cab was waiting to take us to the skydive arena. During the one hour drive, the expectation was building up as was the nervousness. Anyone looking anxious was instantly cheered up but everyone had that fear in the back of their minds; the fear of something going wrong.
The scene of the skydive arena made up for the anxiety on the way. A lush green air strip, bright clear sky, hardly any clouds, certainly no fog. All in all a (rare) perfect day for skydiving. The instructors divided us into groups of 4 each and my group was lucky number 1. They took us to the changing rooms where the suits greeted us. A lot of instructions, introduction to our jump partners and we were ready to go. In the plane, I was slotted as the third to dive, giving me the luxury and horror of seeing 2 of my mates disappear before my own. As the flight took off, I experienced the same visuals when I used to take my flights before. The hangar becaming smaller and smaller, the people on ground reducing to tiny ants. But the realization that I would be jumping off soon was creeping up. My jump partner kept showing me the height via an altimeter. Slowly the ticker moved to 4200m when the lead showed a thumbs up sign and opened the back door. Our moment had arrived.
Jayant was the first to dive. His partner took him to the edge where they waited for 3-4 seconds and then he was go. The guy simply vanished in front of my eyes. Then it hit me! I was about to do the same in a few seconds. Mohit was second up. Cool guy, he actually opened his arms while jumping as if jumping into the swimming pool. I pulled the rope up and took my position. For a few moments my feet were in the air but my body wasn't. The chilly air kept hitting my face which had only the eye mask on. That moment I shuddered. I wanted to come back, get some courage in. But no chance. My partner pushed and I was in the air, falling.
For the first 5 seconds, I didn't know what hit me. Everything was revolving. My partner brought me in a chest down position and then I realized I was actually falling under gravity. The air kept gushing through my hair. It filled my mouth as I tried to scream forcing me to shut up. I could feel every breath that I was taking. The landscape was so clear, I could make out the lakes that we had encountered on the way around the air strip. I suddenly realized there was no need to fear anymore. If it had to happen, it would happen. It wasn't in my hands anymore. 50 seconds of free fall and the parachute opened. There was a slight jerk and my body became straight up. I realized that I was safe now.
My partner gave me the parachute to guide and I took us on a short ride around the area. Hanging in the air was fun and it certainly makes you feel like a bird. Three minutes of sailing around and slowly I slide down to the ground. Success! Relief! Victory! I pumped my fist in the air as our group grounded alongside me. We hugged each other. Someone got us our camera and we went about shooting our after dive experience. Each one had a different tale but one thread was common - the feeling of falling under gravity.
The rest of the weekend was spent in walking tour around Prague, absinthe shots at different clubs and a night walk around the mesmerizing Prague palace. When we boarded the 17th morning DBahn to Berlin en route to Copenhagen, we were tired. But the feeling of success ringed in our head. We had had probably the most awesome adventure sport in Europe, the highlight of our Euro trip on student exchange.

Along the scenic route from Dresden to Prague...
The changing landscape made for this beautiful photograph...







The enchanting Prague Castle...
It took three attempts to get the amount of exposure right. But the effect was so beautiful that we shot it from multiple sides.


All smiles before the dive...
Taken at the Skydive arena when the instructor was giving us all the necessary gyaan to have a safe dive... We were so fascinated by the spacesuits and the moments before the jump that hardly anyone heard the safety instructions...




Taken at the skydive arena, this photograph has Tanmay overlooking the runway (or whatever it was..)... I liked the combination of the subject in front and the plane in the backdrop..






Taken from the famous Charles bridge of Prague, the photograph captures the mesmerizing night line of the city... A visual treat..







Cross posted on: Facebook

Ever seen a ballerina dancing outside a store (rather on the outside wall) showing off the designs? Well, Berlin has it all. Awesome concept!!








An Indian dance performance at a Bengali gathering in Germany! Awesome stuff... Although I must admit it wasn't the best of the performances I had been to but the sheer delight of seeing one in Europe surpassed every other emotion... Good performance nonetheless (the lady sure was sweating)..





Taken at the bridge when you are about to enter the museum island, this photograph shows Payal di posing in front of one of the oldest monuments in Germany, house to some 19th century sculptures.







Taken at the museum island, this picture shows Mirchi in front of the Berliner Dom... The island makes for a true visual treat... No wonder we were clicking pics and my sister got bored.






Taken at the East Side Gallery, this place is like a palette where artists (or some random crazy people) have just come and painted some graffiti... Somehow the ideas clicked and it became a tourist spot... Fascinating, isn't it?







Cross-posted on: Facebook

Taken at the Alkmaar Cheese factory north of Amsterdam, Holland; this photograph shows all types of cheese they had on sale. With lotsa cheese to taste for free, this tour was truly a cheesy one...







Taken at a souvenir shop in Delft, Holland this photograph shows the prominent souvenirs that one associates Amsterdam with. "Good girls go to heaven, bad girls come to Amsterdam"






Taken at the Dam square, this tower is a national monument... A place for frequent parties and events; I loved the architecture of the area.








Taken at the world-famous Madame Tussauds museum located at Dam Square; this photograph is just at the start of the show which narrates the history of Holland.






I amsterdam!







Cross posted on: Facebook

Taken at the City Hall, the photograph depicts a lady checking up messages on her cell. What I loved was the combination it made with the walls



Taken at the Vaxholm harbour which is a 30 min ferry ride from Stockholm harbour, the evening sky made for a remarkable shine in the water. The combination of water, sky and harbour makes the photograph breathtaking.



Onlooking the east side of Stockholm from the harbour behind the National museum, the city gives an amazing view.







This picture depicts the Vasa ship which was extracted 333 years after it sank in 1628 on its maiden voyage. The archaeologists have done a wonderful job preserving it and converting it into a museum.



Taken at the Vaxholm harbor, one of the major islands of the archipelago of Stockholm, the picture shows TK looking over the beautiful sea ... A tantalizing mix of clouds, land and sea.






Cross posted on: Facebook

Taken at one of those places which reminds you of your watan, India Palace (or for that matter any good Indian restaurant) is what every Indian craves for when he/she goes to foren. Located in Central Copenhagen near Norreport, just the smell of a 135 DKK Indian buffet was enough to get you nostalgic.




Taken at Norresgade, one of the pool roads connecting Norresbro and Norreport, the picture depicts the superb afternoon sunny scene in Copenhagen. A walk beside this canal is beautiful and its no wonder that you would see a lot of people jogging on both sides.





Taken outside the Osterport station, this picture depicts the Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art. One of the rare places of art which don't get too crowded in Copenhagen.







Taken at the edge of Osterbro's Churchillparken, this picture depicts 'The Little Mermaid' or rather Den lille havfrue on the edge of the harbour. A popular tourist location, I actually discovered it during a morning walk around the park. The statue is actually under copyright after attempts by several sculptors to make copies of it around the world. Also, it was taken to Shanghai last year for an expo; the first time it had been moved after being installed a century earlier.

Taken at the Amalienborg Palace, the main residence of the Danish monarch, this picture depicts the Brockdorff's Palace or Frederik VIII's Palace. A popular tourist destination, this too I discovered during one of my morning walks. The location has actually four separate palaces all guarded by the special guardsmen (you can see one at the bottom right corner of the picture).