Two canoes lay in pursuit of our lone shikara. A loud Kashmiri confab is exchanged as the two boatmen row with increasing vigour. One of the boatmen has obviously won as the other boatman discontinues his pursuit. Dal Lake is a floating garden of sorts and what garden (floating or otherwise) is complete without flowers. The lone canoe is painted a wild jaipuri pink and is one the many floating tourists traps on the Dal. On the side of the boat I read, ‘Prop : Mr. Bashir alias Mr. Wonderful Flowerman’ . The name seems to be a remnant of the flower-power sixties. His canoe is a tiny sampler of flowers.
“I sell flowers madam and gentlemen”, he spurts out in an English accent born somewhere between Kashmir and England.
'I have blue sunflower seeds and lotus seed.’
‘How bout some bulbs? I got tulips, daffodils. Very good and colourful’
'What lotus seeds have you brought?'
'I have six-colour lotus seeds. And wild orchid and wild tulip.'
‘I have not brought any money with me.’
'You buy and send me the money later.'
‘Here’s a wild iris for the beautiful lady.’
I am beginning to wonder if yellow daffodils will ever bloom in the Mumbai.
17 comments:
- Mridula said...
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Lovely lovely pictures Akshay. The Bulbul shot is superb! And Srinagar by Dal lake reminds me of Amsterdam.
- May 08, 2006 10:03 AM
- amit varma said...
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Stunning pics. Thanks Akshay.
- May 08, 2006 11:08 AM
- Aps said...
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Wonderful photographs.
PS: Maybe a photoblog with exif info of the photos would also be a good idea. - May 08, 2006 2:45 PM
- Kapspeak said...
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simply awesome!!
- May 08, 2006 3:56 PM
- Wild Reeds said...
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Akshay,
Your pictures are a visual FEAST. Unbelievable. Keep it up. - May 08, 2006 5:09 PM
- ജെയിംസ് ബ്രൈറ്റ് said...
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Akshay,
Your pictures looks like paintings.
Good work and my congratulations.
I reached here through Jo's blog.
James - May 09, 2006 4:58 AM
- a correspondent said...
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I'm speechless, something that happens very rarely.
- May 09, 2006 10:25 AM
- flygirl said...
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splendid photos *thank you*!
- May 09, 2006 12:29 PM
- AlterinG Abhishek said...
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AMazing pics..
did u take them - May 09, 2006 4:47 PM
- hullabaloo said...
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wonderful flower man! how lovely and happy-looking.
- May 11, 2006 4:59 PM
- Vj said...
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images of a lifetime
- May 14, 2006 7:39 PM
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i loved that post on the *flowerman*...
fantastic photograhy, and good writing! - May 14, 2006 9:17 PM
- the Monk said...
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dude, great pics...
- May 15, 2006 12:57 PM
- Arun said...
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Beautiful pictures and nice stories. I would like to go there one day..
- May 15, 2006 2:03 PM
- GuNs said...
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Hey awesome pics man ! Just one question...have you digitally enhanced them? The colours look too good to come out in any normal camera.
Do take a look at my blog http://peacewithguns.blogspot.com and also my photogallery at http://greatguns.zoto.com
I would love to hear any critique/comments on my photos on that gallery. There is a 'comments' section available for each photo and if you think there is anything I could do to make the photo look better, please key that in. I am a photography enthusiast and I've just bought my first digital camera, a Panasonic Lumix FZ-20 last month. I am still learning the ropes and any help whatsoever is welcome !!
-PeAcE
--WiTh
---GuNs - May 17, 2006 2:50 PM
- Pooja Aggarwal said...
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Great pictures - can't seem to get enough of them. Favorite in this set is that of the flowerman on the boat.
- June 14, 2006 11:46 AM
- mathew said...
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wow..cool snaps...ur blog is a visual delight!!
- July 03, 2006 6:17 PM
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