Resident Black Buck at Sikandra

Black buck in the lawns of Sikandra Fort (tomb of Emperor Akbar), Agra. The lawns are thankfully out of bounds for us humans.



Visit Camera-Critters for more shots of fauna

Drive out of the maddening city is definitely worth it,

...won't you agree? - finding yourself by this lakeside,...,...with the right patch of green, ...... and with some very pleasant company, ......watching the tree-tops, sunlight filtering through the foliage, ...... and the crescent moon making an early appearance in the clearest of true blue skies, ...... yes, definitely worth it!
Where? - Keetham Lake within Sur Sarovar Bird Sanctuary near Agra, which also houses the restricted and protected Agra Bear Rescue Facility
Visit plenty of worthy worlds here

Glimpses from Surajkund Crafts Mela 2010 - 1

Isn't that rich! Finest offerings of India's multilingual, multicultural, pluralistic richness from 29 states and 6 Union Territories are all on display and sale for a fortnight at the Surajkund Crafts Mela.
Hay, straw, jute, metal, textiles, clay, paper mache, paper, wood, porcelain, bamboo - that's the variety of material used by artistic hands to produce thousands of articles ranging from small keychains to solid furniture. Applique lampshade (Orissa)
Hay portrait (Kerala)
Pottery (Khurja, Uttar Pradesh)
Wooden Sculptures (Tamil Nadu)

Tanjore Paintings (Tamil Nadu)
There were stalls from a few neighbouring countries - Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Gross National Happiness! - Bhutan's stall
Tajikistan's ware
The carpet-seller from Afghanistan
Masks, Batik designs and coconut shell carvings from Sri Lanka
We wandered around taking in the sights, and came content away with pleasant memories and stuffed pixels.
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Iron Pillar and Qutub Minar

The Qutub Minar and the Iron Pillar, with a Jain temple re-used pillar in the foreground
For a walk back in time, stroll at leisure anywhere within the Qutub complex in Delhi. The complex initially housed 27 Hindu and Jain temples; which were destroyed to give way to victorious armies' monuments. The Iron Pillar dates from the 5th cenury CE, or even earlier.
Intricate carvings
... and disfigured sculpturesThe tallest brick minaret in the world...
Practical history lessons!
My takeaway from our visit? The impression that this country has always granted all that every visitor demanded of her, even if the intentions were malafide - just like this tree at the entrance to the complex. A contented neem that lives and lets live umpteen other species under it - like Bharatvarsh (India) will ever continue to do...
Visit many more wonderful worlds...