Visa Wise !

Did you know #2?

I learnt today that Kenya and Jordan offer visa on arrival to Indians! Thanks to the reditt user, udit99, who created a simple website: Visamapper. It lets the viewers see on a color coded world map, which countries require visa to visit and which do not! Isnt that cool?

The color code is as follows: dark green indicates visa on arrival, maroon means visa required prior to arrival,  light green says visa is not required prior to arrival, white indicates online application required and red means visa restricted/forbidden.

For a quick check, visit the the site at: www.visamapper.com

'Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.'
- Miriam Beard

World Press Freedom Day – May 3

Every day is a special day for someone, somewhere.....

Freedom of speech and expression is one of our basic rights, and freedom of the press is especially important to protect these rights.

World Press Freedom day is celebrated on May 3^rd every year. The purpose of this day is to reaffirm the fundamental principles that ensure freedom of the press, to assess the state of press freedom throughout the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence, and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

UNESCO marks World Press Freedom Day by conferring the UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize on a deserving individual, or institution.

Source: Manorama

'Our deeds still travel with us from afar, and what we have been makes us what we are.'

George Eliot

Swami Vivekananda Airport, Raipur

I was impressed by the various beautiful tribal art displayed at the Swami Vivekananda airport (formerly known as Mana airport) And the fact that it was easy to navigate around this terminal.

Spacious and beautiful interiors

Beautiful metal sculptures

Colorful artwork

Metal army?

Iron man?

This is the only airport located in the state of Chhattisgarh and was inaugurated on November 7, 2012.

Entrance facade

Lush greenery

It was awarded the National Tourism Award in 2013 for the best airport in the non metro category.  Surrounded by lush greenery, the terminal covers an area of 18,500 m² (4.6 acres)

Wide tree lined roads

Peak summer time - mercury rising !

'If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.'
- Cesare Pavese

History behind words….

‘Did you know’ series

My endeavor to share unique facts about the various places on this wonderful planet  continues…

And would like to share such queer oddities about the people, culture, traditions and places etc in this world on the main page of this blog, every week (am hoping to adhere to this schedule…..)

Here comes the first in the series.

Did you know #1?

Indian textiles have been long renowned for their fine quality and exquisite craftsmanship.

Amongst these are mainly cotton and silk fabrics. Some of the famous cotton fabrics whose names signify the history associated with them is:

Muslin: The finely woven textiles which the European traders first encountered was the fine cotton cloth from India carried by Arab merchants in Mosul (in present-day Iraq) So they began referring to all finely woven textiles as muslin.

Calico: When the Portuguese first came to India in search of spices they landed in Calicut on the Kerala coast in south-west India. The cotton textiles which they took back to Europe, along with the spices came to be called “calico’ (derived from Calicut) and subsequently calico became the general name of all cotton textiles.

Chintz: It is derived from the Hindi word, chhint, a cloth with small and colorful flowery designs. From the 1680s, there started a craze for printed Indian cotton textiles in England and Europe mainly for their exquisite floral designs, fine texture and relative economical price.

Bandanna (Any brightly colored and printed scarf for the neck or head): The term is derived from the word, bandhna (in Hindi is means- tying) and referred to a variety of brightly colored cloth produced through a method of tying and dying.

Source: NCERT textbook, Standard VII

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharlal Nehru