Anika Choudhary

This pretty cloud adds such an aesthetic vibe to the picture doesn't it? This is precisely why I love fluffy clouds. They can make any picture look pretty and aesthetic. Clouds stay white until they are like a thin layer. The moment a cloud becomes thick, it turns into a gray color as light is not able to pass through a thick cloud as nicely as it can pass through a thin cloud. Fun fact- Clouds can last for only 4-6 hours. But, some groups of clouds have been in observed to last for more than 14 hours and travels long distances before they evaporate. Before this, I didn't even know that a cute cloud could have such an interesting background. Did you?

It feels so relaxing to look at a beautiful sunset after a hot day, no? And we can enjoy this relaxing sunset even more because during sunset, the temperatures go down and we can go outside without the fear of getting broiled by the heat. 

Today is the auspicious day of Buddha Purnima! Buddha Purnima is celebrated every year in the month of April/May on a full moon day to mark the birth anniversary of Gautam Buddha. Gautam Buddha (Siddharth Gautam) was a great monk born to King Suddhodana and his wife Maya. Before Buddha entered this world, many sages predicted that he would grow up to become a great monk or a great ruler. In the fear that Buddha would become a monk and leave home, King Suddhodana never allowed his son to go outside the palace until he was 29 years old! As soon as he was allowed to leave the palace, Gautam Buddha saw four things- a dead body, a sick person, an old man and a sage. By seeing the sage, he got inspired to find the main cause of sadness in human life. Sometime after this, he left the palace to achieve enlightenment. He meditated under a Bodhi tree for 49 weeks when he finally got enlightenment at 35 years of age. He left this world 45 years after, at the age of 80. 

These are 3 of my 4 adorable pet budgies. Budgerigars or budgies are friendly, cute birds from Australia and are a parakeet species. Did you know that a budgie can have upto 3000 feathers covering its body? They can also rotate their head 180 degrees! That is pretty impressive, huh? Budgies are also the best birds to keep as a pet.

I am a huge fan of travelling to any places like Haridwar, Rishikesh, Nainital etc. But, I especially love going a on the banks of the holy rivers of India. This picture  here is a picture of the river Ganga. This river flows from the Himalayas (in the north) to the Bay of Bengal (in the east) and is 2,525 kilometers long! Did you know that the river Ganga is the home for endangered animals like the Ganges shark and fresh water dolphins? Sounds pretty cool, doesn't it?

This is such a beautiful picture of a Rudraksha tree, isn't it? Rudraksha trees are only found in mountainous regions of Nepal and Himachal Pradesh because these trees require low temperatures and a pollution-free environment to survive. Rudraksha trees can live for up to 100 years and are woven into a 'mala' which is used for repetitive prayer. I had never seen a Rudraksha tree before and felt very blessed to have been able to see this holy tree. 

This monkey looks pretty chill and relaxed doesn't he? And the temple behind him just gives an amazing vibe. Did you know that Indian monkeys are called rhesus macaque and they can live up to 35 years in captivity?! That's a long time! These monkeys are also very naughty, because they are known for stealing things.