an Elephant in a Park?

in lucknow, there's a really old park called 'haathi park' (haathi is hindi for elephant)

gudia didi, nan, ma, mami n priya taking their last pics b4 they get crushed under the elephant, or mammoth rather. its huge!
thats me, trying to pascify the giant by stroking it's right tusk. yes, it did the trick!

while nan took our pic, this hobbit walked past and got intrigued... hehe.

priya had to be coaxed into getting onto a slide as well, forget bigger rides!

bought my new shades; titan fast track, INR 800-something.

that round thing behind me, it didnt work, i tried to move it from inside, but its wheels r rusted!

no, we didnt go to a 'Rhino Park'! it was in the same park. hehe. we found, its head was a good place to rest.

mami posing for the cam.
priya got frightened from the rhinocerous and ran up this rope net.

i havent seen a slide like this before, with rollers instead. felt like trying, but many ppl were watching!
i have no comments for this. cute though.
mami's scratching the rhino's right ear, since rhino's dont have tusks,

they have horns, but it doesnt work there.
i have no words to describe wat nandini's doing here.

eventually, priya gathered the guts to climb through the elephant's opening on its lower surface, to climb on top, she took nan along.

haha, its not even free, even such cheap thrills costs Rs.3/person .

waving celebrities, on their royal elephant ride!

priya didnt come on this dragon rollercoaster (mini) , well gd decision too, children came out crying frm this one. but it was fun. very fast and sharp turns almost broke my neck.

that was it. out day out in Haathi Park, we did go to the attached Buddha Park, and did our paddle boating too/

visiting cousins

monimama and me sleeping comfortably in the afternoon. haha/

later when bittan nani's family visited, we were at the charbagh railway station to recieve them.

while waiting i couldnt resist the sight of these coolies chatting, so captured it. quite artistic, dont u think ?

saloni met us for the 1st time, as far as i know. our cousin studying pharma in pune.
went touring with these guys, anjali mami, sisters suhani and saloni.
this is at hanuman setu temple! illegal to take photo! hehe.
eventually we reached the bada imambara, through the Roomi Gate behind us!

thats the entry gates to the imambara and labyrinth (bhool bhulaiya)

the beauty of old architecture in lucknow, typically seen here.

good to see renovation going on . these cultural heritage sites must get the attention they deserve

nan and saloni in front of a grt looking monument.

walking towards the bada imambara.


nan, saloni and anjali mami.

there u go, that freak in yellow jacket checking out the estrogen point!

hehe.
me and saloni and the gr8 monument!

from the top.
inside the bhoolbhulaiya, they said, this leads to old underground secret passages that went far and wide, as far as delhi! Ripley's believe it or not!
then we went to the chota imambara!

suhani and priya, the bichade yaar!

this is a pigeon carved on glass, and it actually is made of intricate writing of arabic.

inside the chota imambara, chandeliers frm all over the world.

saw the clock tower from the roof!

suhani enjoyed having lots of teheri!

and her dance on dhoom2 songs!

i arrived at home

priya came to recieve me at the airport, with mama, mami, ma and nandini. poor guys had to wait hours 4 my delayed flight from delhi.

came home and met everyone, munna nani, sheetal and family, shyam mohan and family, pappu mama and family...

all went to sahara ganj mall in hazratganj and priya had lots of icecream.

met the 'baccha' of the house, sheetal's son (my bro in lko)
he's so damn cute, with his 2 lower incisors, and big chubby cheeks.
i just loved to smell his typical 'baby-odour'

and here's another baby, moni mama!mayank sharma from nairobi,kenya. priya's papa, my mama!
sad he didnt stay long after my arrival. missed my bdae too.

and he surprised us by showing his hidden talents, he's acted in a comic skit brilliantly, back in kenya, and even sang the opening and closing songs of the event!
i m proud of moni mama, and mami, who's talent we already know!


met bittan nani! haha, she's the fun nani from maharastra! had loads of fun with her chatting away in the afternoon sun, on the gulley outside the house.

went to see abhiraaj and he was asleep! thats coz i found out later he's working at a call centre night shift. fun job actually!

eventually, rajni nani, gudia mausi and kiddos visited for a few days, and we visited markets and restaurants for dinner. here mami's posing while priya looks at her new barbie.

while we waited for our food at Royal Cafe!

,

they reached lko early

nan reached lko with ma, its our nani's home. and its the place where we spent our childhood , born and brought up. Lord Krishna with Radha. nan and indumati sharma (munna nani with love, our grandma) . so cute.

priya, my cousin from nairobi,Kenya. we all went thru this phase in our childhood , dressed up as gods! haha.

priya and nan.

these dudes r guys frm the shiamak davar dance troup, which came to lko and nan and her friend raina joined it, along with priya.

little did they know, nan and raina, that they'll end up having a crush on the guys! haha.