My horoscope this morning began: “You’re eager to proudly shine your light now that the radiant Sun is illuminating your 10th House of Career”

This turned out to be strangely accurate as not only was one of my images featured on the wonderful Photobotos website this morning, but I also was informed that I had been nominated for a ‘Shine On’ blog award (which seemed doubly apt considering that today’s moon is supposed to shine brighter than any other this year).

So, thank you very much Anne Bell at Tales Along the Way  for nominating me. I’m honoured that someone writing such a great, informative and well written blog about India considers my site worthy of a nomination.  (Incidentally, I highly recommend visiting Anne’s site if you want to discover more about life in India through a visitor’s eyes)

THE RULES OF THE AWARD ARE:

1. Display the award logo on your blog.

2. Link back to the person who nominated you.

3. State 7 things about yourself

4. Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link to them.

5. Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award requirements.

So, here are 7 things about myself:

1. I am passionate about photography – I just don’t feel complete without a camera in my hand!

2. I am a perpetual traveller. I have visited most countries in Latin America in recent years I have lived on a sailboat in the U.S. and the Bahamas. Last year was spent in Italy and I am currently exploring India and Nepal.

3. My top five favourite countries (in no particular order) are India, Italy, Mexico, Guatemala and Cuba.

4. I also think that London is, in my experience, the greatest city in the world.

5. I am currently teaching photography at Banjara Lodge in Thanedhar, near Shimla. I’m discovering that it is almost as rewarding seeing people less intimidated by their cameras and more enthused about photography as it is taking photos myself (almost!)

6. My hero is  Steve McCurry . I am so in awe of his talents and dream of being able to capture the moments that he does with images of such beauty and empathy.

7. My parents never cease to be an inspiration to me with their boundless energy, numerous talents, endless thirst for new knowledge and understanding of the world; plus a general zest for life.

Now I nominate ( in no particular order!):

1. Golden aura girl (nice travel blog about India)

2. Feed5Fast2 (great healthy recipes especially for those following the 5:2 diet)

3. The Very Best Top Ten (this site is a lot of fun – and addictive!)

4. A Certain Slant of Light Photography (lovely photos!)

5. Life Less Greedy  (inspirational stories)

6. A Diplomat’s Daughter (a new blog about a Diplomat’s daughter in India, which I think is going to be very interesting!)

7. Illustrated Bites (beautiful illustrations relating to food and cooking)

8. Make Something Mondays (sharing the creative things that folks are doing around the world)

9. Kiwi Gypsy (an amusing, observant and well-written blog about ex-pat life in India)

10. Dhamma Footsteps (a beautiful blog, in design, photos, words, everything!)

11. Distant Drumlin (another great blog close to my heart about someone in India who also has strong roots in England and Ireland)

12.Thirdeyemom (a very nice bog about this lady’s travel to various places)

13. Mumsnothavingchemo (a very informative blog about alternative treatment to conventional cancer therapy, with a happy ending regarding her mother!)

14.Wayfaring Jamie (a very nice blog that speaks from the heart)

15. Steve McCurry’s blog (I know he doesn’t really need any recommendation, but I encourage anyone that appreciates photography to sign up for it!)