A North Eastern view

There is a huge "beel, " a natural water body outside Agartala airport, the reason why it is called Singh er beel. Visibility was poor because of the monsoon clouds that flitted in and out of the view

The air corridor crosses Meghalaya State, the abode of the clouds, before touchdown at Guwahati, capital city of the State of Assam, the largest among the seven sister States in the North Eastern parts of India.

Mountains that seemed to reach out to the sky ...

On the banks of the Brahmaputra, one of the largest Indian rivers that flows through Guwahati 

It was difficult to get pictures, with sudden gusts of rain and fast changing light, but the riverbank was glorious!

A quick tour of the town and cricket, of course! Cricket flourishes throughout the sub continent

And the War Memorial ( 1939 - 1945)

Went for lunch to a place that serves only Assamese cuisine, for travel is not complete without local food and flavour. And talking of flavour, found typical Assamese architecture to be quite charming!

There was no time to explore further, to the Vashistha Ashram (hermitage) or the Famous Kamakhya temple of the Mother Goddess, which was closed for five days during our visit. Back to Mumbai, and there was a glorious sunset in the skies at 38000 feet, above the rain bearing clouds ..

7:45 p.m. Time to go to sleep :)

Briefly, Chennai

Daylight faded as one arrived in Chennai. The Marina beach, stretching for 12 kms, is the longest beach in the world and tucked away in one corner, opposite the Fort St George, is the MGR memorial, erected in honour of the movie star turned Chief Minister of the State of Tamil Nadu

It was hot, sultry and there was so much salt content in the air that the camera lens and my specs, both misted up as soon as we got out of the car. Decided to call it a day 

And then, encounter with a DJ..

Mantu Singh, spinning mostly MTV stuff but with lofty ambitions!

The city looked refreshingly cool and clean in the morning. To one accustomed to the filth and sheer pressure of population in Mumbai and Kolkata, Chennai was decidedly nearer to civic heaven of sorts and almost all buildings wore a fresh coat of paint

The new Chief Minister smiles down to her subjects, near TTK Music Academy at Royapettah, where we had a Seminar

And then, back to Mumbai where the laburnum outside my bedroom window was in full bloom, welcoming the imminent onset of the monsoon!