NOEL ELLIS' GOOGLE BLOG

PINK CITY MAHASHIVRATRI   LT COL NOEL ELLIS   20/II/2026   India is a land of festivals and celebrations. With so many Gods, Goddesses and Deities to seek blessings from, there is an event happening everyday somewhere in the country. That’s why we are such a vibrant and vivacious country.   The festival of Mahashivratri is one of them. It is the "Great Night of Shiva," which is a major Hindu festival celebrated annually in the Phalgun month to honour Lord Shiva, marking the union of Shiva and Parvati. It is also the night when he performed the Tandav dance (the cosmic dance of creation, preservation, and destruction).   Devotees observe fasting, meditate, and perform ‘Abhishek’ or anointing Lord Shiva’s idol with milk and honey to gain spiritual growth, inner stillness, and self-realization.   My cousin, a renowned photographer in a popular daily, shared photos and videos of the event on his return from the Mahashivratri celebra...

  We recently returned from Jaipur after meeting friends and relatives. The onwards journey was in the new Orange and Black ‘Vande Bharat’ train. Before we settled down, we were at our destination. A real superfast train with excellent services it was.   A sneak peak of the pink flamingos at ‘Sambhar Lake’ was a heartwarming sight. We could only get a glimpse of them as they were very far.   What caught my attention were the ‘Aravali hills’. They dote the landscape all the way to Jaipur. The eyesore was the way they were being gnawed upon, slowly and steadily. One by one people have taken the rocks piece by piece. The towering hills are now small ‘hillocks’. Most of them have been obliterated. Sad, but that is how this oldest mountain range is being destroyed.   The ‘Pink City’ has turned into a total concrete jungle. Urbanisation was distinctly visible. Our family was there to receive us at the station.   There were some green spaces in betwee...