Raipur’s Ghadi Chowk!

It has been a long time since I have seen a clock tower in any city. I am sure that most of the cities around the world have some form of a clock tower either working or in ruins.


But, we either take such places for granted or miss them completely in our daily bustle. This clock tower at Raipur is in the heart of the city and it has been maintained very well.


Locally known as ‘Ghadi Chowk’, this place is actually considered an important landmark in Raipur and most people, even in this technological era, synchronize the time on their watches with that of this clock tower.

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The Green and Beautiful Side of Raipur!!

Raipur is a developing city and the capital of Chhattisgarh and as is with every developing city, this one too faces some challenges. One of the outcomes of this development is the cloud of dust that seems to surround this city everywhere.


At first instance, I felt I had entered into a dust bowl, but as I started exploring the city, I found some splendid green pastures.


Just a short distance away from the heart of the city is ‘Gaurav Path’ and this stretch looks clean, green and beautiful. The roads are wide and there is hardly any pollution in the air. The sidewalks have well mowed green lawns and trees.


The best part are the beautiful sculptures, carvings and paintings on the walls of ‘Gaurav Path’. Everything has been tastefully done and the local municipal corporation are playing their part very well to help keep this place an environment friendly zone.

 
I just hope other developing cities in India are doing their bit to preserve the environment.

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Popular Technique to beat the Indian Heat

This year, the central states of India – Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh had an extreme summer with temperatures consistently hovering above 45 degree Celsius. As I personally spent a couple of weeks travelling these states in this sweltering weather, I can surely vouch for its ferocity and the painful sunburns it left behind.


And this is where I learnt a valuable lesson when I saw the locals who were covered from head to toe. And the lesson is that you cannot beat the heat, but you can make it bearable by covering yourself completely. That way, you escape the ferocity of the harsh sun’s rays and thereby the ensuing sun burns. Very effective I should say after I gave it a try!

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Street Photography from Raipur – The Capital of Chhattisgarh!

A sweltering hot summer day took me to the bustling streets of Raipur a couple of weeks back. Raipur is the capital of the state of Chhattisgarh in India.


It was interesting to note the atmosphere around me. And since the day was extremely hot, most of the atmosphere was tuned into escaping the heat.

 
This capital city has a very old-town feel and most of the baazars have small stores and movable ones too. The ones that caught my attention were the moving juice and ice-cream carts and the sunglass stores that were selling cheap sunglasses in all shapes, frames, colours and sizes.


The juice carts were selling everything from lemon juice to chuski (native Indian coloured ice powder) to chach (beaten up thin yoghurt) to lassi (beaten up thick yoghurt) to jal jeera (a cool digestive drink). And these carts were doing good business as all these drinks aids in cooling down the human body.

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