Cousins.....

Cousins....., originally uploaded by swapnild.

Give the kids a mobile phone with camera and doze off in the afternoon and this is what happens.

Me back from Tarapur.
All the pictures in this collage are take by my cousins aged (3,6 and 12) and all of them are without any parental guidence.

Its amazing how they have captured all adults sleeping.

Benchmark

French Windows, originally uploaded by swapnild.

Anita's house at Kotagiri, definitely one that will come to mind when I sit down to plan for a house of my own.
More pictures Here

Keystone Foundation, Kotagiri

Keystone Foundation, Kotagiri, originally uploaded by swapnild.

Mission Statement:
Our Mission is to enhance the Quality of Life and the Environment with Indigenous Communities using Eco-development Approaches

Rui And Merab

Rui And Merab, originally uploaded by swapnild.

Rui's prayers evening are legendary
"God, thanks for the ceiling, Amen"
or
"God, thanks for the the place to keep my TV, Amen"

Merab

Merab, originally uploaded by swapnild.

Met Merab over the weekend at Kotagiri.
Went on a long walk around the hills with this angel and Mr. Pluto, who's the friendliest Dalmation ever.

Swapnil: What's your favorite subject?
Merab: History.
S: What are they teaching you?
M: History's just started. First there was the early man. He roamed around all over the place, they called him Nomad.
S: Who's the first man that who stood upright.
M: (thinking) Huh!
S: Who started walking on two legs.
M: Hmmm .... Hmmm.... I dont know his name.
S: okay, what happened to early man.
M: He used to roam all around and then he discovered fire by accident.
S: Was it a TRAIN accident?
M: NOOOO... He took two flint stones and rubbed them together.
S: Flint stones the cartoons?
M: Hmm....May be.
S: Wilma and Freddie?
M: They took the both of them and rubbed their noses together and there was fire.
S: !!!
M: and thats how they became husband and wife....

Storyteller...

Aditi's latest book is out...

Penguin Books India > Book Detail: "Timeless tales from all over India

From Bengal to Bastar and Kashmir to Coorg, there are stories that have been handed down generations: bedtime stories for children, fireside stories for travellers, who have heard these tales, wondered at them and repeated them to others. In A Twist in the Tale: More Indian Folktales, Aditi De collects forty such stories from various parts of India and retells them with dollops of humour.

A friendless crocodile, a timid mouse and a vain fox are among some of the eccentric characters that appear in this book. There is also a clever princess, a hapless priest with heron feathers flying out of his mouth, and galleries of rogues. Strange happenings are not uncommon, so a nail tree grows out of nail clippings and a beetle saves a man from the dungeons. Full of the details of everyday life, festivities and food, these ageless stories have seldom been so exciting and such fun. Accompanied by Uma Krishnaswamy’s brilliant illustrations, this book will introduce the magic of Indian folktales to a new generation of readers."


Book can be ordered online at
Indaitimes
Penguin Books
NBC India

Normal is...

"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it."
~Ellen DeGeneres