All Saints’ Day at Skogskyrkogården

Skogskyrkogården, Stockholm’s Woodland Cemetery is a serene patch of green in the heart of the city. It is a place of remembrance, a place to take a pause, and think back upon loved ones. Graves and tombstones line up by the thousands under the soft shade of pine trees. The landscape is peaceful in itself. The architecture of the five unique chapels align completely with the tranquil environment. Everyone is welcome to visit this UNESCO World Heritage Site and take in the placid surroundings at their own time and in a respectful manner. This place is beautiful any time of the year, but if it were possible to say so, a few degrees even higher on the evening of All Saint’s Day or Allhelgonadag on the 4th of September. This evening, following a time-honored tradition, hundreds come to the cemetery and light a candle in memory of a dear departed soul. You hear meditative music from organs of one of the chapels. Many people leave behind souvenirs, flowers and letters, all made with love and remembrance. Even if you personally don’t have a loved one resting in peace at Skogskyrkogården, a visit on this evening can be quite a humbling experience.

 

Objects in the mirror…

Every road trip that Mr.A and I brings so many transient moments like this one captured in the side view mirror of our car, when we feel we own the road, the landscape, the world! And they make me wish if only I could hit a pause button and hold on to this feeling a little longer. But as they say, objects in the mirror are closer than they appear, so are those memories held closer in our minds than we know, and they come back to us at inadvertent occasions to surprise us and bring a smile on our lips…

In response to the weekly prompt “Transient” on The Daily Post.

There’s more of the weekly photo challenges on Sunny District, hope you enjoy them, too!

Off to India!

I’m off on a trip home for the holidays, all the way to India! So excited, I can hardly wait to get there. There’ll be three weeks of meeting family & friends, visiting my favorite hangouts, eating the choicest delicacies prepared by my Mum & Grandma. Going back to the childhood home I grew up in, the alleys I played in and the street food that can be matched by no other. Also on the list is a New Year’s Eve party with old friends from school, many of whom have been married since we last met, so there’s going to be new faces to see, and new friends to make. I visit Delhi, Akash’s home, that I have grown fond of over the past few years. Plus I take him to his first visit to Kolkata, the city of joy, and get a chance to show off and share a place that I am so thrilled to revisit. There is so much I look forward to during the next three weeks, I know they will pass by in a flash but I hope I can make the most of the time & bring back good memories to last me till the next trip home…