Take52 Challenge: Week 6 – Ancient

Ancient…such an evocative word. It has an inherent strength that conjures up visions of lost grandeur and beauty; and of staying power…of things that weather the onslaught of time and the human race and survive long enough that they are transformed from merely old to majestically ancient. For this challenge the first thing I thought of was Nature, coz what could possibly be more ancient than Her! Everything about her is Ancient – the Sun, the stars, the Moon, the Oceans, the Mountains…so many fantastic photo opportunities. But a lot of group members had already done a fabulous job of capturing those and so I settled on this vintage silver pendant that I bought in Delhi 2 years ago. I don’t really know how old it is…and it’s certainly not Ancient in the way I wanted it to be, but it will have to do.

I do have pictures of a lot of Ancient things in my archives…London for example is choc-a-bloc with Ancient; Lisbon is teeming with Ancient as of course is India. The Taj Mahal, The Red Fort…centuries old…excellent examples of Ancient architecture and relics of an ancient history. And yet ancient is relative too…for a flower, ancient is a matter of days at most, perhaps weeks. I dug up a few pics I’ve taken over the years…it was fun as always 🙂

The Taj – a ancient symbol of enduring love. 2 decades in the building!

A beautiful antique figurine of Lord Krishna I found in our hotel in Pondicherry.

Hubby’s old ancestral home in Goa…probably close to a century old.

An ancient tile mural on an old building in Lisbon.

I love the headlight on this vintage car!

The most ancient of them all!

As one flower ages…new beginnings…

An ancient invention!

The Lighthouse @ Fort Aguada, Goa. A favourite spot of mine 🙂

The Tower Bridge built (1886–1894)…One of my favourite London icons.

I hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend 🙂

NaPoWriMo – Day 22

As I said in my earlier post of the Day, Travel is most definitely on my mind 🙂 And coming across this old lighthouse picture seemed fated! I love Lighthouses – the fact of them, the reason they exist, their inherent mystery and romanticism – standing as they do alone, where two worlds meet – land and ocean! What’s not to love?!

In Goa, on Aguada Hill, a 20 minute drive from my house, stand two lighthouses within the precincts of the Fort built by the Portuguese in 1612. The old one, the one in my picture, is a wonderful structure with loads of personality – A Grand Old Dame of four-storeys built way back in 1864 and the oldest of its kind in Asia, and one I love to visit 🙂 She’s retired now, has been for a long while, a newer younger version exists to do the job; but her cracked, mossy walls, the shattered glass of her windows and her rusty weather-vane crown stand testament to a Life spent in unstinting, selfless service. Think of all the things she must have witnessed, all the yarns she could spin if only she could talk!

For now however she stands in somber silence, watching the world go by. I often wonder what she’s thinking!