Rain gods have been very quick to listen to my requests of some showers to bring the mercury down.

It was just 2 days back that I posted an entry yearning for some drops from sky, and now I am joyous with the wishes getting fulfilled in just a day’s time.

The season received its first monsoon rains yesterday evening and a bit today morning. The temperatures have reduced drastically with a cool breeze around. The city looks clean now with a good wash up from top to bottom. The roads have regained the tar color and texture.

Welcome rains!

People looking forward to monsoons! Or is it me only?

The heat wave is persistent for a long time now, need to cool off with artificial means in a region which was considered naturally air conditioned. This is global warming at its peak?

Could be and I was looking for moist clouds to get condensed for a much needed respite. On this weekend, while strolling in one of the up town markets, I felt some drops falling from sky, giving a hint that ray of hope is on way.

Waiting to welcome the monsoons even after the problems I know. Humans are just amazing creatures :)

The trip to Simla or Shimla is a one which I absolutely loved. It was during my college days on a shoe string budget. One of our friend was from Sanjauli, a local place around 5km from Simla and all 4 of us stayed at his house in a cold winter month.

The family was very warm in welcoming us and looked after like their own kids. The stay was an absolute delight with the cottage on a hill slope with a wonderful valley view. The cottage was aptly named "Pleasant Cottage",Sanjauli.

In our stay of 4 days, there were snow fall on 2 days. Once when we had gone to Kufri which is around 20km from Sanjauli and second time was a heavy, on our last day of journey. I think it was more than 2 feet of snow on that day.

Snow falls for tourists is a big attraction and the news spreads like wild fire. People from around 200km distance in the low lying areas just rush to play with white fur and enjoy the day making it a family/friends picnic event. From a local residents perspective, it can be difficult to manage the daily household chore. The roads are closed and only specific chained wheels vehicle can maneuver. The water supply is cut and many other routine works which are expected, go for a toss in such situations.

I have shared some photo of my trip in a gallery. Follow the link below to see the beautiful slopes of Shimla, Sanjauli and Kufri.

GALLERY LINK

Hebbal Lake is en route to Bangalore International airport and offers some good variety of birds for photography. An early morning outing with like minded fellow photographers from BWS (Bangalore Weekend Shots) in a group of 10 people made a good outing meeting new people and knowing more in the field of photography.

Any group outing is bound to teach you something, be it tip or a trick to free the motion of flying motion. It has taught me many such small tip which i have felt are extremely helpful in field while shooting.

It is very interesting to feel the voices of different birds and then concentrate even harder to sight the bird. There have been occasions when the bird was sighted and then as I get ready to freeze the shot, the bird flies away.

It is sometimes disheartening to wait patiently for long in tracking the bird and then bird just gives you a glimpse and flies teasing away. But that is also the exciting part wherein the shooter runs around silently to photograph the bird following their voices.

Follow the link below to find the gallery for this place.

If you would like to go there, try an early morning outing when you can capture the sunrise as well behind the trees and emerging from under the lake.