Of the human desires: Pokémon GO

Meanwhile in the world  

~  The whole world is left completely addicted to the new app “Pokémon Go” ~

Well not the whole world but yeah almost every smart phone bearer. And the latest person to join this bandwagon is me. ME. ME as in the guy in *the everyday me*. Okay.. Okay,  coming back to the point. So even I have started to play this game. I am reserving my opinion about this game because you all know what it would be..(Read: AWESOME!).  

I won’t be surprised if this game would be having more adult users. This game is based on the hit 90’s T.V show and most of today’s youth have grown up watching it. No doubt this game is such a big hit because it comes with a sense of childhood nostalgia which is very dear to all.

While there are some other factors which has also been contributed to the success, such as use of Augmented Reality (A.R) etc, I think the success of the app lies in some deeper human desires.

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One of them is having your childhood dream fulfilled. Raise your hand if you were one of those kids who used to dream about growing up and being a Pokémon master. Back in those days you must be thinking how cool it would be to follow Ash and his gang on their adventure.

It’s 2016 and tada! Your dream has been turned into reality and you actually have to travel places to collect Pokémons! As we grew and eventually “LIFE” happened, we came to know that things don’t always turns out as we want it to be.  Most of those dreamer kids are now stuck in a boring 9 to 6 job. This game gives nothing but an escape from reality.

Another thing which I notice about this game is the entitlement of power which it gives. Being able to “capture” so many Pokémon and being their “master” gives some sort of pride. The more you capture the better. It may sound bizarre but don’t you think it is similar to the man’s desire of having control or power over something? Moreover you battle different masters to take control over a gym and this power tussle continues.

The catchphrase used by the Ash is “Gotta catch ‘em all”. This brings me to discuss about the human greed. No matter how many Pokémon you catch, there will be hunger for more. It is analogous to the never ending satisfaction which we tend to have. We are always chasing a better life, always trying to increase the amount in our pay check. There are very rare people who are content with what they have. This game gives us one more reason to satisfy our thirst of “owning” more or rare things.

With so many things working out for this game, I don’t see the craze dying any time soon.

Before wrapping up, I would like to advice you all to be aware of the surroundings. And yeah if possible, do catch ‘em all!

Hope to see you in nearby gym! 

Do you like to dislike?

We all have our taste, opinion, preference and views over each and everything thing present in the world. Some let their choices known to the world pretty boldly, while other just nod along with crowd and don’t let their likes known. We all have likes and dislikes, but when it gets contradicted with someone else’s opinion, two things happen... either we let go off the scenario by saying “to each his own” or we fight with other persons to convince them about our choices.

So why am I imposing these “opinion” over you.. ?

Well, earlier this month, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that his company is trying to introduce a new button in FB which would help the user to let them express empathy. He discarded the idea about launching the much demanded “dislike “button along with the “like” button. Now, how this new button will work, I don’t know. But I would surely like to imagine the consequences of the infamous “dislike” button.

As I said earlier, every person has got their own taste. So if we want to get something reviewed by our friend in Facebook, we have to solely depend upon the comment section to read its review or count the number of “likes” it get. If we compare it with Youtube, it has got a dislike feature. There are times when we definitely want constructive criticism from people to let us know whether our work is good or bad. Now imagine there is an artist who publishes his work in Facebook. He definitely got some like, but he is unaware of people who didn’t like his work. He is a busy man so doesn’t get time to read all the comment posted in it. Thus he is not able to receive feedback properly. Now if he post the same thing in Youtube , with just a glance he would come to know how many views he got, how many people liked it and of course how many disliked it.

You all have to understand here that it is just a minuscule aspect that I’m talking about. But it is true that receiving honest review is hard without the “dislike” button. Let’s talk about the other side of the coin. What if the “Dislike” feature is actually introduced in it? I don’t know how much havoc it will create, but some things which I think that would definitely happen are....

“like” if you are Indian and “dislike” for Pakistani or vice versa

“like” if you are Hindu and “dislike” for Muslim or vice versa

 “like” if you are straight and “dislike” for LGBT or vice versa

“like” for Clinton and “dislike” for Trump or vice versa

Let me get myself clear first.. I don’t dislike any of the eight community/people mentioned above. I’m just using it as an example to explain about what could be the possible outcome of the dislike button. I’m sure all of you must have come across such post which spread hatred amongst a particular group of religion/race/creed/nationality or even paint a person in wrong light.

At the time when cyber bullying is at its peak, introduction of the “dislike” button will give more fuel to hate. Social media is filled with those people and thankfully they don’t have access to this mischievous button yet !!!

In the end, I want to conclude that, it is for good that we don’t have “dislike” button in most social media. I can’t imagine how bad I will feel if someone dislike my post and expresses it openly over social media via the count of the number of dislikes I have got. Having said that, I always welcome criticism and feedback from all my readers around the world!

So, while Prime minister of India, Narendra Modi ,gets interrogated by the Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook,

 Do you still “like” to “dislike”??     

Why social media is bringing the old days back:

Today’s generation finds themselves lucky because they have access to one of the most powerful tool , i.e. the internet! With the advancement of the technology, we can access internet on almost every platform and it is always available on our finger tip. Sounds like a quite progressive society right? Well , I disagree.

Remember the early eras?? Those dark olden days, where the judgement was given by the group of kangaroo courts or a group of mobs. People were falsely accused of crimes but still they were executed without any proof. The practise of witch hunting?? Does it ring any bell in your mind?

You must have watched movies in which mob armed with torches and forks, surrounds a criminal and then banish him from the village or execute him. Can you believe those days are back? But this time, virtually.

  Facebook created history few days back, when a billion users logged in on one day. This shows how people are more present on the social media these days. But it have given rise to new set of so called activist who have spread their web on the internet. These are called the slacktivist!

Admit it, we all have come across some online petition “Which would save the world” or something as ridiculous on various social media. And I guess you all know who are responsible for them. But forget about slacktivists, even the regular man is influenced to teach lesson to a wrong doer in social media.

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But this online passing of judgement has actually turned into cyber bullying, often psychologically disturbing the person targeted.

Few days ago, a student of Delhi university snapped a pic of a guy in a traffic signal and posted it on Facebook, stating that she was molested, abused and intimated by this guy. She even filed a police complaint against the guy. Guess what happened? The girl’s post went viral and she was lauded everywhere in the Indian social media. She even got cash reward from the chief minister of Delhi. Meanwhile, the guy was arrested, he was declared “national pervert” by one of the leading news channel in India, and was made poster boy of chauvinist Indian male.

Let’s forward to next day, the guy got out from the jail and told his version of the story which implied that the girl was at fault. Even an eye witness said the similar story. And thus the attention shifted back to the girl. As fast as she was raised to  pedestal, it took no time for the netizen to throw her from her throne. She was ridiculed, made fun of, and it was concluded by the netizen that she did all this drama to shoot into limelight. The great Indian media also somehow found a “fact” that she has some political aspiration!!! The guy was treated with sympathy and was even apologised by one of the most famous Indian actress on twitter.

Did you find one thing missing in the above story? The judgement by the law!!! The court judgement is still not out and police too has not confirmed who is at fault. But the great Indian netizen and even the media had already passed the judgement!!  And this is what needs to be stopped. According to me the girl did the right thing by snapping the pic of the guy and filing a complaint in the police, if she felt that she was abused. But her step to post the pic in the social media was a very bad, immature and horrible idea. She should have waited for the court verdict. And even if the guy is at fault, I still feel sorry for him. He went through a lot of cyber bullying and was even declared a “national pervert” by a news channel. Of course coming from a middle class family, he doesn’t have the resource to sue such a huge media channel.

The moral of the story?? The netizen have turned into group of lawmakers who pass judgement based on emotions and allegations. They don’t care about the victim’s psychological condition and give their verdict without caring about the law. And if this doesn’t seem similar to you like the old age practise of witch hunting or execution, then I’m sorry to hurt your feeling :-/

We all have got right to share our views, opinion on social media. But we also need to be cautious that we don’t overstep our right by indulging in bullying, harassing someone or worst, passing judgement on some cases!

Now, if you want an online petition to be signed by me, it should be of barring these buffoons who misuse the power of social media...

Finally,

Three cheers for Social media!!

Fighting with inner demon!!

My last post ended with a semicolon,, so this is the final part which I was supposed to talk about. In my last post I talked about project semicolon and the ordeals through which people with problem such as depression has to go through.

I have titled my post as “Fighting with the inner demon”. The demon which I am talking about is not some mythical creature. It is in fact something which exists in our brain. It is something which pushes us towards the darker side of our soul. The demon could be anything: it could be stress, a problem, a memory, an incident… it could be anything. But the most difficult part comes when we can’t understand what this demon is or we can’t recognize this demon of ours.

But it isn’t that difficult. When you are completely honest with yourself and introspect yourself thoroughly you are definitely going to find this demon, which is actually the root cause of your entire problem.

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Many times, finding the demon is easy. It is there only, inside us. But when the matter comes about accepting it, many of us get the cold feet. It is a true fact. We don’t want to believe that this demon is eating us up. We then live in a complete state of denial. But you know what does being in denial leads to?? The growth of your demon!! So acceptance plays a huge role in fighting that demon away.

Next step is coming out of the closet. Now this phrase is usually used with discussing or rather revealing someone’s sexual orientation. But here I’m using this phrase collectively for all people who had been hiding something from the world because of the stigma attached to it. We all know that telling the world that we have some mental stress or ailment is usually frowned upon and hushed down in many societies. But I want to request you, please come out of your closet. There is nothing to be ashamed of. But, choose wisely about the people to whom you want to pour your heart out. My suggestion is to confide to your immediate family member. If you think that is not safe, then tell it your closest friend. If none of this is suitable for you, then go and search for the support group in your city. If you come from a remote corner of the world, then find some online support group. If even that is not possible, then maintain a journal and write all these feelings down. I bet you… if you follow one of the above options, you would feel some weight has been lifted from your heart!!

My last step is fighting and killing that demon!

There are many ways in which you can shut out that demon forever in your life.  One of them would be making peace with your inner self. If something wrong happened in past, correct it. If your life is not the way it was meant to be, then make it your way or deal with it!!

Some demons are just scars which can’t be corrected or dealt with. For that the solution is to simply avoid them. Avoid the scenario in which you get low or depressed. Keep yourself busy.. Channelize your negative energy into something constructive. Workouts, meditate, paint, draw, sing, dance, write, or watch a movie!! Do whatever you like!!  These steps are surely going to kill that filthy demon away or send it back to faraway lands!!

So this is my way of fighting with the inner demon… if you have any more suggestion…then please do let me know!!

Project semicolon: why your story is not yet over

Recently I came across a pic in a social networking site, and it really moved me!!

The pic was of person’s wrist having a semicolon tattoo. That really intrigued me. I followed the hashtag and found out that it was about a certain project semicolon. The Google bug bit me and soon I was reading about this wonderful project which was started by Amy Bleuel. Project semicolon is a help group which motivates people who are struggling from depression, suicidal thoughts, self harming habits, anxiety and other mental illness. A little history about the project from its website.

“

 This began in the spring of 2013, when Project Semicolon Founder, Amy Bleuel wanted to honor her father whom she lost to suicide. Through the semicolon symbol many related to the struggle of depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide and their will to continue on. The title, “Project Semicolon,” also represented a goal – to believe that this is not the end but a new beginning. “

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Now for all of you who is wondering why the symbol “;” , i.e of a semicolon. Well, when a writer doesn’t want to end a sentence, they use a semicolon. Similarly, here the hope is to reassure the victim that their story is not yet over. And that’s such a great hope they are giving out.

Many of us can’t even understand the pain a depression patient goes through. The saddest part is that they don’t come out to people about their suffering because we all know that mental illness has some stigma attached to it. Also the patients are afraid to confront with themselves and admit that they are suffering from it.  A survey says about 5% of total world population suffer from some sort of depression related illness.  That accounts for the people who admit to it, but there are many other who are living their lives in a dark shadow.

These are the people who need reassurance and help from us. You may never know, but someone in your family can be suffering from it! A simple request to all of you… if you fail to realize their pain, then please at least don’t make them a subject of mockery!  

I really appreciate what this project is doing. I would request you all to go their website once and understand the concept in much better way. You can read about the website here

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Those who suffer from such problem and are reading this article … I wanna give you a BIG virtual hug!!!

But wait,,, this article is NOT YET OVER!

I will continue this part soon where I will talk about addressing the inner demons;

Finally

Three cheers for project semicolon!!

World Environment Day:

Hey there everyone,,,,, today is World Environment Day….. a day when all of us will shout the slogan of going green and then promise to be more “sustainable” in future and then we may even click tons of pics while planting a sapling, which will sure to get you more than hundred likes in Facebook and Instagram or Retweets in Twitter! So? Did you click your “green”-fie today and then just went to sleep forgetting to water those sapling of yours…?

Sorry for being sarcastic but I know we all are a bunch of hypocrites…who would only like to shout on these things, and blame government for everything ( that’s the easiest way out I suppose).

We can’t ignore about environmental issues, I mean we REALLY can’t!

First thing of all,,, my habit of knowing the significance of a date. Well as per Wikipedia ,5^th June is celebrated as world environment day because on that day United Nations Conference on the Human Environment began way back in 1972.

Every year they come up with a slogan for environment day and this year’s is

 'Seven Billion Dreams; One Planet; Consume with Care' ,again thanks to Wikipedia.

If you think I am going to give you a lecture about global warming and pollution, then you are absolutely wrong. Just a humble request , if you really care for environment do something for it… and those who don’t, then please don’t pretend to be Mr./Ms. Green in front of your friends .

And my fellow Indians…. Two facts for you:

13 out of 20 most polluted cities in the world are in India.

Ganga and Yamuna ranks in top most polluted rivers in the world

So we really need to act NOW!!!

Finally,

Three cheers for Planet Earth!!

Net Neutrality....

If you have been browsing internet lately… and are one of those people who like to check out the trending hashtags in various social platform,, you would have by now surely stumbled across the term “NET NEUTRALITY” and #SaveTheInternet.

So what exactly is this net neutrality….

It is mainly a concept which the internet service providers(ISP) uses to give access to you over various internet websites. According to this concept, the ISP should provide access to all content regardless of its source. They are not allowed to control how and where you use your data.  The same bandwidth , hence the same speed is to be provided to all the websites and they can’t charge us extra money to use any particular website.

But off late the ISP have been thinking to revamp this system. They are making this in bid to provide better internet access , by going to control the traffic flow.

Let’s take an example. Suppose there are two website namely X and Y. The ISP  may charge more money from the website companies to provide better bandwidth to them. X is a multi-billion company whereas Y is a start-up website in it’s initial stage, but with  lots of scope. Of course ,X could provide much more money to the ISP in order to make its website works fast… but what about Y? it would run slow!! And this would not only hamper the startups, but also the regular internet consumer , like you and me. Different package could be introduced in the market, which may allow us to use only a certain no. of websites, and demand extra charges if we want to browse other website. Just think what are we going to do on those Saturdays where we spend the whole day simply surfing!!!

Fortunately, the net is still neutral but you can help in keeping  it secure. Please send your mail to this website. It would send a complaint to TRAI(telecom regulatory of India) and help you understanding the concept of net neutrality in better way!!!

Lastly,

Three cheers for net neutrality!!

#SaveTheInternet   

International’s women day:

Here you go ladies… A day dedicated to all of you, a day where you can proudly embrace the womanhood, a day where you can indulge in lots of male bashing, a day when every male member of your family or friends treats you specially, only because your calendar screams 8^th of March , with the huge hue of pink in it!!

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As I am always interested in knowing the significance of dates and the history behind it, let us know some past development about the women’s day and why it is been celebrated on 8^th march.

During the 1900s, there was actual oppression being carried on the women. In the western countries, even though the ladies where equally participating in the work force and handling the household responsibility, there was a lot of discrimination toward them. No voting rights, less wages and many other issues forced the ladies to demand equal rights for them. So, the Socialist Party of America, decided to observe national women’s day on every last Sunday of February until 1913.  In 1910, Copenhagen hosted the International Conference of Working Women, where Clara Zetkins, a German leader floated the idea of international’s women’s day.

It was celebrated for the first time in countries like Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19^th of March.  But how come 8^th of March came into existence?

While American and western European ladies where raising their voice, the Russian women began a strike called ‘Bread and Peace’ in response to the death of more than 2 millions soldier in the war. The Czar rule of Russia finally budged in to the demands of the women, granting them many rights, including right to vote. This historic day was 8^th of March. In 1913, this date was declared as the official date to celebrate womanhood.

When you read all this, we all will feel that the woman had came a long way to get the due respect which they all deserved. This year , the UN theme for International women’s day is “Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity”.

Sadly, in India, there is still a lot of development to be done. Women need to be educated, female feticide practice has to be eradicated; the mental and physical abuse has to be stopped.

Of course, the ongoing incident of rapes proves that a much lot has to be changed.

But how to change the mindset of people?

My answer is education. Not just the bookish knowledge, we need to educate women as well as men, with the moral teachings…

 And what about educated but misogynist men?  Well , lots of awareness program which may help to tone down the patriarchal rules of the society.

I also want to plead the already empowered women to please step up and help those women who are in urgent need of social upliftment, rather than indulging in silly male bashing and calling themselves “feminist”.

While we talk about the degraded status of women in all over the world, we sometimes neglect the great feat achieved by them in various fields. There are many women who are head of a state, doctor, inventor, athlete and many more. Did you know, In 2012 London Olympics , women competed in all 26 events but men were not allowed to participate in two events , which were synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics. It is this sort of distinction or achievement which will encourage the women to walk equally with men.

For conclusion, a very hearty congratulation to the World no. 3 Women’s Badminton player , Saina Nehwal, for clinching Silver in All England Championship and becoming first Indian women to do so!! I am sure your achievement will surely inspire lots of Indian girls to achieve their dream in sports and breaking a lot of stereotypes.

#MakeItHappen

Finally, three cheers for women!!!      

The last stop!

In my previous post , I described about the two destination I visited while I was in Mumbai. Apart from attending infinite family gathering( weddings, house warming ceremony, etc), I didn’t go much around in Mumbai. Instead I went to a pilgrimage…. Yea… right!

So I am not a religious person but I couldn’t say no to that trip. Apparently the whole family had gathered after such a long time, so it was quite exciting to be a part of such a trip where more than fifteen people travel together.. chaos certified J. And it’s also isn’t bad to take god’s name some time.

We were going to Nathdwara, a town in the western Indian state of Rajasthan. It is home of the famous Shrinathji temple. Nathdwara literally translate to “gateway to god”. We all boarded a train to Mavli, another sleepy town in Rajasthan, so as to reach our destination. One thing you have to agree, about travelling in a train in India, is the beautiful  view.!!

We reached Mavli early in the morning and it was freezing there.

 From there we had a 20 minute jeep ride and finally we arrived at our destination. All the exhaustion due to travel was vanished at once after having a look at this royal hotel we were staying in. The room had got a beautiful view of the town.

Before visiting the temple, we decided to go to a nearby town called Kankroli. It has a famous manmade lake called Rajsamand Lake.And it was  breathtaking….

 After visiting some relatives in Kankroli( my relatives exist in almost every western Indian city) we returned to Nathdwara.

It’s quite an old town. It was all evident because of the narrow street.

 Before the path to the temple began… I found this gate… apparently used in earlier days keep wild elephants away.

I don’t have any pics of the Temple as electronic gadgets were not allowed inside the temple premises( as is case with many Indian temple). This was followed by souvenir shopping and tasting local cuisine… yummy!!

The next day we went to Gandhinagar, capital of the Indian state of Gujarat , to visit my aunt( I told you so….). After spending quality time with them, we boarded our train back to Mumbai from Ahmedabad, the largest city of Gujarat and the fifth largest city of India. No prizes on guessing that we did visited our relatives staying in Ahmedabad before boarding the train : /

My visit to Mumbai ended after attending one more wedding (yeah! Truly).. And finally the day came when we boarded the flight back to Bhubaneswar.

So after giving you a long detail about my travel destination… what am I offering you? Well it’s just a fact that i want to convey, that you don’t have to plan a particular day to go visiting any place. Even if you go to a new place for work,,, have some time for yourself and try to soak in the place’s beauty and grace. We may think of travelling to places far away, in a different country … which is good no doubt… but do remember that there could be a beautiful, sleepy town nearby, whose history, whose soul can be as amazing as those exotic foreign location.

And it’s always nice to meet your family member after a long gap!!!

All the pics imported from my bro’s Instagram account.

Vajreshwari temple: a sign of thankfulness to the deity

So, in my last post I talked about how the Maratha and the Portuguese sweated it out in the creek of Vasai to hold the position of those islands.

Vajreshwari is a town located around 25 km away from Vasai. The town gets its name from the Temple built in the honor of the goddess Vajreshwari. It was known as Vadavali earlier. So this was the little details about the town.

The temple was built in year 1739, yup, the same year the Portuguese lost the battle of Vasai to the Marathas. Chimaji Appa, the commander of the Marathas, set his camp in the city of vadvali on his route to capture the Vasai fort. There, he used to pray the local diety. For three years the fort was not captured by the Marathas. In his prayers, Chimaji Appa promised the goddess that he would built a grand temple for her, if she blessed them the might to defeat the Portuguese.

When the Portuguese were finally defeated with the capturing of the fort, Chimaji build the temple to keep his promise.

If you look outside the temple premises, you would find a wall barricade in the shape of a fort.

It is because the temple was the designed on the grounds of Vasai fort.

Also at the entrance, you would find a tower like structure called “dipamala”.

The place is surrounded by hot water springs, which you could find crowded with the people dipping into (which I found very unhygienic).

The temple structure is not that overwhelming, but quite unique because of the fort like architecture. Also, it gives you an insight of what happened in the past. Visiting Vasai fort without visiting Vajreshwari is like leaving a task incomplete.

P.S… the instagram bug has bitten me… so you can view my profile here. I would not ask you all to follow me… it’s up to you to decide…. (but deep in my heart I know you would…)

You all would ? Right?

Vasai : the lesser known erstwhile Portuguese colony in India

Happy New Year people!!

I am beginning this year’s post with my travel destinations. My exams ended on the 8^th of December and I boarded  a flight to Mumbai from Bhubaneswar on 10^th of December.

Yes, i travelled from the eastern most part of the peninsula to the western most part.

 A note to be taken, my whole extended family and my relatives lives in Mumbai (with some few exception). So I didn’t go to Mumbai for vacation, instead I was there to meet my entire family member.

My relatives lives in various suburbs of Mumbai,but I went to my uncle’s home , who lives in Vasai.

It is a northern suburb of the city. The city is also known as Bassein, which is it’s English name. This name is derived from the Portuguese name “Baçaim”.

India was a former British colony, but many of other empire too had their colony in this vast country. Example : Pondicherry was a French colony, Goa was a Portuguese colony. Ask anyone to name a former Portuguese colony in India, and the first answer you will hear would be Goa. But Vasai was one of the most important Portuguese colony whose name is somewhat lost today.

 The Portuguese first visited the place in 1509 under Francisco de Almeida. At that time, the Portuguese were on their way to make Goa their colony, which they did successfully by the year 1510. The islands of Mumbai , were not that of importance at those time. Gradually, the place was passed to the British in 1661 as part of dowry of Catherine of Braganza.

Today , Vasai is a part of the city. The only Portuguese trace that is left is the grand Vasai fort. It’s full name in Portuguese is “"Fortaleza de São Sebastião de Baçaim “  which translates to "the fort of St. Sebastian of Vasai". Under the colony, the fort was called “ corte da norte “ or the northern court, thus becoming the head quarters of the northern islands to Goa.

The fort was eventually seiged by the Maratha Empire in the 1739 during the battle of Vasai. The Maratha Empire was led by Chimaji Appa and the Portuguese were led by Captain Joa o Xavier Pinto.

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Statue of Chimaji Appa
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This battle led to the construction of another historical site, Vajreswari Temple, which would be covered in next post.

The fort was not a very nice experience for me as I reached there quite late in the evening. But, even in the dim light , the fort's grandness didn't hide.

If you look through a tourist point of view, this is an amazing place, and the history associated with it makes it even more interesting.

Apart from the last two pics, rest all pics are sourced from my brother's shutter( PS: not that crappy map), so if you like those pics, you can follow him on instagram here