Effects of globalization on ancient Kumbh

Modern Kumbh

Haridwar welcomes a traveller with all the jing bang of a small town that India offers. A "dry" town I must warn you, it is strewn with typical small by-lanes of thousands of shops selling trinkets to statues to water bottles and actually who would miss the Coca-Cola and Pepsi food co (a branding strategy which has beaten almost every religious crusade). What amazed me was the modernity of this holy town famed to be the spot where amrut or nectar had spilled, is another commercial hub of selling globalized products and goods. And Kumbh Mela 2010 not only takes the spiritual energy to the next level but also the sales figures of all the merchants and brands. Modern man is getting homogeneous in nature. Almost every city is loosing its own character and is taking on a single look of a boring town scape which could be anywhere in the world.

And yet when the hordes of Nagas spilled forth into the streets, one could get a glimpse of what it would have been thousands of years ago, when religious branding was more prominent than global ones. Symbols have been a part of any group or ideology, but todays symbols of globalization is seen mixed with traditional symbolism - marking an era of the acceptance of the west, the respect of the past cultures and the redefinition of faith for a common man.

Drought of rain or humaneness!

Dirty wet small by lanes, full of green cattle refuse mixed with rain water sloshing the main entry points of every village I visit, rural India makes me question, who is actually progressing? People laughing and smiling at the camera with torn shirts, eating one meal a day, living off daily labor, employed for two to three weeks a year. The state of drought ridden Bundelkhand is shameful. At the same time in Mumbai our progressive metropolis, huge posters of the next upcoming television series "Jhansi Ki Rani". The famous girl/queen who hails from Jhansi (Bundelkhand), and who led the 1857 mutiny against the British is displayed. While Bundelkhand suffers in 2009, people on their television sets are glued to the soap opera of a young actress enacting the "Queen" who gave her life up for the freedom we enjoy.
I am no journalist my statistics are hearsay not confirmed, but what I surmise the root cause of the poverty and helplessness there is a combination of fraudulent government 65% and the nature driven drought 15% and the caste system 20%. Some snippets of my experience there I will try and put in words. Or let the pictures speak for themselves. Pics are still embargoed...let me begin with Mumbai...

"A man's face is his autobiography. A woman's face is her work of fiction." - Oscar Wilde.

A competition on magnum blog triggered me to think of some photographs which I have shot of my friends and on assignments, I realize I have a very unfair balance of men over women. To illustrate Mr Wilde's point I picked two from my archives.

Delhi 6

9 am, I check the weather it says 40 degrees, and I moan. I am here in Delhi. Last Saturday on the way from the airport I was greeted by a man in a velvet jacket peeing on the pavement. I realized no amount of concrete roads can change us. It rained for twenty minutes which has effectively stalled my evaporation. As always this country amazes me. Put the camera out of a moving vehicle and you are greeted with life at every turn. Heat, sweat, rains nothing deters us. It is the law of the jungle again. The survival of the fittest. The unrelenting nature is a safer destination than the disparity caused by man to man. Yet this is my country and we are changing daily, progressing into a more material existence, I love it every moment of it.... Enjoyed shooting these...

Worlds Roof Top has Internet

A sudden phone call out of the blue landed me up on an life altering trip to Leh, considered the Worlds rooftop. The view is literally breathtaking, in the sense there is seriously less oxygen up there, so listen to your guides before hand. The Ladhakhi culture, simplicity of the people and the harmony with nature is amazing. Complimented by snow draped beauties looking over your shoulders all the time. The true balance of nature and a major source of clear drinking water to sustain civilization itself, the Himalayas is pristine beauty redefined.

The disturbing fact is I am destroying this beauty day be day by leaving a carbon footmarks in almost every activity I do. The only escape to mankind when the earth will collapse under the pressure to sustain mankind are these mountains. I couldn't help but snap when the moment came by.

Half Year Review...

Mumbai was attacked by 10 mongrels in the name of religion and invisible lines we call boundaries, everyone was apprehensive about safety. Stock markets crashed and people lost funds by the buckets, inflation pinched us even more. Then came the looming uncertainty of the Nuclear deal, a no confidence and then elections itself. Then the turnover happened, the government went stable, the markets revived and we think we all are again on a growth path. Monsoons were delayed and only with 50% predictability. The year 2009 seems to be a lot of ifs and buts.

Not to mention the International news, end of the tyrannical Bush and emergence of over-hyped Obama. China doing funny things as always. North Korea launching a few missiles. A few Pakistani launching grenades at a cricket team. Srilanka flaunting Prabhakarans body. Newspapers and magazines shutting down in the US. Racial violence in Australia.

Is it me who is this negative or is it the media that thrives on negativity all the time... I wonder.

As they say, " the darkest hour is just before the dawn".

Cute Childhood

The eruption of consciousness and awareness of this dangerous and merciless world is cushioned by nature in the form of two responsible experienced adults. Who smooth a child's way to adulthood. The rules of the mad world are taught to you for free,unconsciously your path is shown to you. Your words and actions are molded in their images. We are effectively a mixed bust of our parents and mentors.

And yet we want to be individuals, not affected and not cast in their shadows. A nightmarish statement for a teenage girl is "you look like your mom", guys may dread the fact that the father is balding. And yet in search of ones own identity we see them as old fashioned and old school we seldom realize they see us as that toddler who needed their hands to learn to balance his/her first steps.