A snowman in summery winter

The sky is as blue as summer in winter, the wet humid wind brings little relief to my streaming brow, the monotony of watching over a shopping mall appalls me in this hot winter,
held responsible for anything less than a terror attack in these tensed times post 26/11 he stands facing the heat with a branded umbrella from the store he guards,
my concern is for the cotton over stuffed snow man who cannot melt even if he wishes to....

Terror Terror all the way not a second to think....

Hi all,

I was wondering to make an first person record of the past weeks in Mumbai...and was collecting my thoughts when my sweet cousin sis of 13 yrs sent me something she wrote for her school article... I wound up grey cells and decided she has really voiced something that I wouldn't express in those many words. Here are her thoughts...

MUMBAI MERI JAAN- A WEDNESDAY IN MUMBAI…

Horns, buses, cars… people with hi-fi gadgets and hip-hop branded clothes… sound of waves lashing on rocks, a cool breeze… yep! It is Nariman Point in Mumbai, and this is what I could see all around me!

Next, we (mother, brother, Shanky baba- my uncle and I) were headed for a taxi ride around Nariman Point. I was overwhelmed with joy! I was seeing the city which mesmerized 7 years of my life and holds me spellbound even now- The city that never sleeps! I was reliving 7 years of my life after 6 years… my people, here I come!!!

There, I set my eyes on the Taj hotel for the first time in the 13 years of my life, hoping that I would one day stay here in one of its rooms! There was a huge crowd outside the Taj…why? India’s heartthrob (mine too!) and our cricket captain was staying there and was going for the IPL finals at Nerul… Dhoni! I was eager to catch a glimpse of him due to reasons mention above…

In the midst of this ecstatic (not to mention *blushy*) atmosphere, hardly did I know that the next time I would see it would be on the 27^th of November, 2008 (on T.V.), exactly 180 days later. I had absolutely no idea that I would see it ablaze with people swarming all around it. I also did not know that the same media which had come for Dhoni would then be there for a completely horrendous reason, which troubles me every second now… I didn’t guess that the feeling of joy would be emptied when I see the Taj on the 27^th of November, 2008 and instead be filled with the feeling of dread, fear and repulse cutting through me as my mother cuts veggies, or terrorists cut humans. Terrorists cutting humans… that shows how easily this feeling was killing me!

Two luxury hotels, a restaurant, a railway station and at least one hospital… hostages, deaths… Where I would have heard laughter and good wishes now rang with the sounds of gunshots and bomb shells.

More than 100 of my siblings now lay dead in the beautiful hotels and the hospital with a beautiful infrastructure. The hands meant for hugging their family after a long sickness, the hands meant for playing, the hands meant for writing love-letters…all stained with blood! The eyes now reflect what they cannot see! The taxi which would have got my siblings (known and unknown) nearer to their loved ones at times of anxiety and happiness now lies outside an airport, blasted into pieces… The sunlight which would have illuminated a perfectly busy city, a city with life, now illuminated a city ablaze… with people as well as fire, the element that cooked food was now cooking people!

What is the cause of this atrocious incident? Terrorism! A familiar everyday word isn’t it? But ask the terrorists and the victims; they will tell you about its dreadful and disgusting past, infuriating present and hopefully a future of nothingness… you will know terrorism back-to-back even without watching NDTV or BBC.

I know not the cause or solution to this… I only feel that the seeds of this horrible thought are sown by the misinterpretation of religion and well-watered by the people who misinterpret religion and feed it to innocent faultless minds, souls… My heart is overflowing with fear…

I just know and feel one thing at present- religion is humanity, and condemning other religion will not take you anywhere near God, it will only pull you away from the Lord.

The crime of criminal must be killed, not the criminal himself. Then only will this intolerably horrid incident never disturb minds as it does now…

Then only will people look at the Taj and rest assured, they will know that the next time they look at it, it won’t be on fire!

-Aishwariya Sunder

Short Sighted

The markets are spiralling downwards... investors standing like a goat in front of a hungry tigress, the world is tumbling for many, and the dollar is dipping away. What do I say in such a scenario, whom do you ask where is one going? Tensions are high in the market, job cuts round the corner, clients chasing down wealth manager, 30% growth expectation resulting in capital erosion. Among all this there is nothing much happening in the real world, orders are still coming, people are still working, value is still being generated, and the sun is still shining round the corner.



I realized one thing, people have become very shortsighted, no one is looking at long term, the charts on the TV shows are increasingly becoming hourly, the analysis daily. Whoever generated value everyday, how can one generate profits everyday, and how can it ever reflect in the stock market everyday. I think this game has become a legalized gambling industry... nothing more.

PRAYER

The ventilator beeped on, the monitor displaying troughs and peaks rhythmically, a labored breath hissing its way down his throat acknowledged my arrival into the room, the room swathed in a greenish tinge as if the surgeon has left his aura behind, as I peeped in I froze, drinking in the scene, speechless thoughtless. An emotional shiver waved through my body for a second, rendering me light headed.

I was in the ICU of the Neurology Surgical ward of the Sri Sathya Sai Super Specialty Hospital in Bangalore. The hospital is a free hospital that believes in catering to all, and the message of Sathya Sai preaches adherence to once own religion and the respect and belief of all religions. In the age and times where Hindus and Christians and Muslims insecure about their future are converting and killing each other. Here I stood witness to a phenomena way surpassing religion or any ideal. The phenomena of a mother in prayer.

A mother in all her purness praying next to her hissing boy breathing through tubes in his throat who could only hold up his hand to acknowledge that he exists. The beeps and the lights matching the rythm of her shallow chant, she was reciting the quoran to her child. The child operated by man and supported by machines awaits his body to recover from the ordeal of an operation. A tumour removed from the brain of a rank holder who dreams to enter graduation this year. His hopes and his dreams are now hers, her life is meanigless at that moment wothout him she is non-existant. She clings on to the faith her religion stands for, she looses herself in selfless prayer. Her religion forming a gateway to her wishes. She sniffles and cries when she sees the doctor accompanying me. She draws a deep breath and continues her prayer.

And in the same breath elsewhere the fanatics of religions today render so many mothers childless...

MY GOLDEN SUNSET

The sounds of the universe surround me, the auto rickshaws twitter by, the trucks rumble on, the crows caw and my grandpa mumbles in his sleep besides me. Sitting next to him for the past so many days is a test to my patience, I am the watch and he is recovering from a heart attack at the age of 91. So in a way this relationship is funny. A room surrounded with the city sounds full of hectic activity and here are two souls trapped in two bodies, one starting out with life, restless and full of activity, while the other is exhausted, and wants to rest. Makes me wonder after 65 odd years this is what I am heading for? This thought makes all my petty desires, wants, likes and dislikes, friends and ego issues fly away through the open window. I deepen my breath and pull up my socks and start to rethink everything I was and I want to be.

The golden sunset smuggles into the room filtering through the drapes caressing my grandpa in the eve of his life as I await the dawn to get on with life and discover my path in search of my golden sunset...

Almost Pickpocketed...

Prodded by a friend and inspired by the talk of Raghu Rai I decided that today I shall be trying to capture moments from the energetic, enthralling, drunk, procession of Ganesha enthusiasts, celebrating this 100 odd year old festival.

So me and Dhiraj set out, after a lot of "should we go or no need to go" talk. Obstacles galore, we were swathed by lashing rains, and my desire to shoot died down so I stood at a random shop window next to a mannequin, two men came by and stood there as if like mannequins. I wondered is this the way we Indians are, always waiting for the rains to pass by. Taking the thought further, are we waiting on the world to change. I would never wait if it is raining, I have headed out to the cost of twice my camera getting repaired due to moisture. People can call me careless, but I can't help it, that is just plain me. So I headed out immediately, I could not imagine how I would have looked, a pot bellied mannequin. lol.

So I walked ahead came across a very energetic young crowd dancing for their Ganesha and I was enjoying shooting the energy they had, till I reached the spot where the epicenter of all the energy was, the LalBaugh cha Raja. ( to know more about this idol pls google) I was below in the throngs, and I looked around for my co-patriot photographers and I saw Ritesh Uttamchandani on the bridge. So excited I put my hand in my pocket to fish out my phone to give him a call and guess what! I find another hand there receding, I gripped the hand like a leech and swung around and luckily my elbow caught his chin and out fell my phone from his hand. If Gandhiji was alive today he would have found his reflection in me in terms of physically hurting someone, I can never get myself around to hit someone so I was glad it happened automatically. But I was so angry that I shouted my guts out and local people around me hit him a bit. In all the pandemonium I never shot one image of the guy, that would have been a cool shot to have. Anyway there were cops and they took him away. So I decided I would just leave from there, as there were a million people around and someone else can pick my pocket too and guess what I feel another hand in my pocket on my way out, this time I literally pulled him by his collar and marched him down to the cop without one word, and the cop put him in a standing van. As I was leaving from there I noticed a good 8 to 9 stalwarts sitting inside..well a sense of false security came over me, I am not the only one being robbed I guess. I felt safe again....lol.

Please enjoy the pictures below..I tried to catch the action in my images, I am so sad I could not record the sounds for you...well next time for sure.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Andhakaar... Blackness

Enter Bihar and you are thrown viciously back in time, I would not say time stands still, I would rather say time is moving backwards. The state that hosted the enlightened Buddha, groomed princesses like mother Sita and was the center of culture and learning with institutions like Nalanda today boasts of corruption, poverty and ignorance. Electricity which is seen sparingly is a luxury of the rich and the shopkeepers. This flood as the media is projecting is much bigger than what it seems, it is annihilation, a young restless river changing course and all man made efforts failing to stop it. It has swiped away thousands, stranded lakhs, displaced millions and there is no going back on this one, the waters will not recede, the river flows where their children planned and hoped for a future. All the 30 lakh people are refugees in their own land. The story is not about death the story here is not about property loss, the story here is about ignorant, simple, poor people who hardly had anything at all before have nothing today, absolutely nothing, blackness, nothingness. My effort here is to recreate this blackness, this nothingness, and I hope I can achieve that.

With this frame of mind I headed out for the past few days and I thought I was doing a great job till mother nature thought let me rattle this guy up, make him reconsider his allegations, or rethink where he actually stands and she played her trick, she bought in the darkness.

Day 3 and I headed out in the afternoon with my friend Dhiraj for shooting relief camps, medical facilities etc around the rescue area, we reached the spot and there was bad light to shoot, so loitering around we reached where the rescue efforts were going on. The army was here, navy expert divers were here and everything was in full swing. it was around 4:30 pm and generally no one goes out so late as the villages are around two hours ride, but one army boat was heading out and he knew the way. The journey was tumultuos right from the begining, we crashed in to a few trees, a few submerged houses, got stuck in the mud, I got down in the river and pushed once. All this delayed us further and we reached the village in fading light. We were hurrying, and the army were new to the area and they had no clue of the route and the twilight set in. The boat had the capacity of twenty five and there were hundreds lined up walking towards us. We promised them we would be there first thing tomorrow and headed out quickly.

And then the lesson began, it began to get dark, it was a new moon, the light very faint, the boat was misbehaving as always, with so many women and children onboard I was a bit skeptical about our making it safely in some light. One local man was guiding us, he had lost his father and his mother was recovering from injuries, his wife and children were onboard this boat. We were taking right and left till we landed on a road, we heard swift current somewhere nearby, we had no torch to navigate. The cold air, the rumbling of the angry current and the starry darkness leaves you numb, you rethink your whole life, the basest fears resurface and all your priorities take a backseat. You are set in darkness, like everything around, you have nothing. Then the army guys get into rescue mode, the send sos signals, we blare the horn, lights are flashed from the home base, we follow the light home, there are boats sent towards us. After travelling a while we reach the source of the light only to find another boat stranded there equally cluless of where to go. I was so angry with I dont know what!! and then the process repeated, the sos sent again, now we had torches from the other boat, torches were flashed skyward. i learnt a lot of army tricks on this ride and then we decided to take the road through villages as no one was ready to face the current.

As we made our way through a village, let me picture the scene... a boat with rescued families and journalists, pulled by army personell wading in the water, visibility is next to zero. Night sounds of water gushing and forest like noises, swishing of the soldiers feet and ocassional moan of the women chanting...ganga mayya, kosi mayya... and your own thoughts haunting you with the worst probable scearios. I was devastated. The progress was snail pace but we were approaching the light slowly. Then we stuck gold!!!

In between nowhere, miles away in a flooded village there were villagers having dinner. Everyone was shocked, and one of them actually a boatman knew the way back around the bushes. Then we were waiting in the darkness for the next 45 minutes and I was getting impatient, time was around eight in the night around 4 hours in the water already. So I called out and one local guy walked over, so i asked him what was the delay about, he casually replies, oh the guy who knows the route has just sat for dinner, he was eating for 45 minutes. fifty people's life was in that guys hands if he can take us in a safe route where the current is low, and he is having dinner!! I cannot understand some people.

So finally we headed out and now the sirens got louder, the light got bigger, radio contact was established and we finally reached the source of the light, a rescue boat of jawans with a searchlight on board and they navigated us back safely. The point when i saw the light and the boat will be unforgettable, a moment of reckoning, an end and begining of all the wishes and death scenarios my mind had created for me, an assurance of life and dreams of the future, and love for the mere fact that I exist.

Nature in its own way proved there is an end to the darkness and we just need to find the way, help will come from unexpected quarters. (who expected to find a villger there)

I have tried to recreate this experience in photographs....hope I did some justice to the experience.

Green Daze...

Traveling in "Patna Super fast" looking out of the window I am left in a green daze. Serene beautiful green fields spotted with white corn shaped grass, beautiful yellow white cottages situated inbetween nowhere basking in the golden sunlight, butterflies flittering around and birds gliding by. Heaven must shy in comparison.

To me this sight seems to be a temporary relief as what I am going to witness in the next few hours is death, destruction and sorrow. I am on my way to witness the largest evacuation of people ever in this country, the displacement of 30 lakh inhabitants of Bihar due to the flooding of the Kosi river. The green fields, the beautiful light and the chirping birds no longer make any sense to me.

I am traveling in a second class non ac compartment with some really costly gear to one of the poorest states in our country and I am mortally afraid to flip my camera out and snap away. My friend and co traveler Dhiraj was dead against it, yet we did manage to shoot each other just to keep some memory.




As I am approaching my destination now after journeying for the past three days, I am nervous of what is in store for me. I have never shot floods and I can hardly swim in a swimming pool. The urge to document this historic evacuation has bought me this far, and I pray that I can do some justice to an event of this magnitude.

I am left staring out of the window in a blue daze...

Independence Day Again

Here we had our independence day again and I observe the spirit of Indianness coming forth with the intention to make a quick buck. Patriotic movies are shown, patriotic songs are played and patriotic feelings surge forth from every media channel in order to increase their trp's. Radio shows are giving away independence day freebies. The general public is happy with one more day of holiday and unhappy with another dry day. Things move on but somethings don't change, for the past 18 years of conscious existence I have seen children selling flags every year incessantly without fail. It makes me wonder was our independence a compromise in the hands of the diplomats and politicians? Do we as people of this country actually follow democracy for the people?
My independence day would be the day when these children actually get off the streets, go to school, choose their leaders and decide the future of their country. Jai Hind!!!

Mumbai Blues

Mumbai... a bustling city teeming with millions, teaches a million lessons a day, lives a million stories a day, does it ever stop, does it ever take a breather, where is the time? Everyone is running...now and forever.

Environmental Pollution and Global Warming

Look what we have done!!!!!!!


In 1931, the same year he died, Edison told his friends Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone: “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”

It makes me wonder is it all worth it? I would have been as happy in a tree throwing seeds at my friends...

Mumbai Rising

How tal will things get before our lands gives away, who is responsible for natures destruction?

The Real Heros

The madness of cricket is seen through the IPL,

The escort the Indian cricketers got after their 20-20 world cup win was breathtaking.

I wonder what kind of escorting the soldiers from Siachin glacier or Kargil get when they get home. I wonder if they get paid enough to build a house for themselves, I wonder if they are proud of us the common citizen? Do we know who these nameless faces are who died for us?Does life mean so little to us? Their blood is on our head.

But what do we know are the cricketers, and their faces...

Graffiti on the Streets of Mumbai...

Graffiti on the streets on Bandra Mumbai.... very colourful and creative...

Graffiti on street

Photography Not Allowed!!!

Last night I was at a contemporary art photographers exhibition in NGMA south Mumbai. Loved Pablo's work. As I was looking around I saw this sign "photography is not allowed", paradoxically the exhibits were photographs themselves (see pic above). Photojournalists and street photographers are facing this problem of 'off limits' or 'no photography zones' thus reducing their canvas to paint their pictures. I cannot see a rationale behind charging them a fees to shoot at some place as common as the railway station. The thought of permissions many a time deters me to shoot an image which could be decisive. I and my colleges shoot anyway, and sometimes face the consequences, but the reason for no photo zones or permissioned photo zones eludes me. Please add your views on the same.

As I was returning from the exhibition I met this good looking taxi driver. Young chap from UP. I was suggesting to him to try modeling as an alternative career and I learnt he pursues bachelor's degree in commerce (bcom) during the daytime. I was amazed at his spirit, he drives the cab the whole night. I have read about this in books and biographies of great men. This was one of the few encounters in real life.

As Shakespeare would have put it " He wears the rose
Of youth upon him" I am impressed and inspired. Way to go!!!

BUDGET BLUES

Caption: Men cook flatbread as an international flight passes overhead near the airport in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008.

India awaits the new federal budget for 2008, supposed to be an election friendly one, but I am sure I am going to be taxed even further, India's GDP is down by 1 %, lets see where we go,

INDIA's NEXT LEAP

For the last few days I am on a whirlwind tour of meeting billionaire CEO's in India and there is an interview before I take pictures. I cant yet name any as the story hasn't been run yet. But everyone of their talk had one common point.

The question in all the cases was, where do you see India going?

The answer commonly proposed was, India neesd to transform itself into an innovative hot bed. A land where people can innovate and where the next IPOD,s and Nano's come from. I can see us taking the innovative steak across the world but not in our own homeland. There are a million reasons for it and I am not the best person to comment on that. They say we missed out the first industrial revolution 300 years ago. Can we as a country start a new one..... It just sets me thinking...

INDIA GROWTH

The Indian story of growth has been on the media scanner for over a few years now. The economy opening up, high performance, infrastructure growth, salaries on the rise increasing the disposable income, there are new malls and shopping culture setting in, families with high value for money attitude are changing their outlook. It looks like the best of times.

I was in a a shopping complex yesterday and was seeing signs everywhere, end of season sale buy 2 get 2 free, 50% off flat, etc etc etc. So tempted I walked in and saw a shirt and really liked it, The price tag said INR700 and it had me thinking, what percentage of Indian population can actually spend this kind of money on one shirt... and to say the least, is it a reflection of the developing only for a few, is the 12% growth much talked about actually tickling down???

I have my doubts...


8 year old boys play in a garbage dump, they are paid Rs10 and a meal for collecting scraps for Rs100. exploitation at every level...

WORLD PRESS AWARDS!!!

The most prestigious awards of the Photojournalistic world is released tonight and I hate it. The single picture that should be the picture of the year is not iconic at all. The pic is about a war which only concerns one country, USA and another land called Afghan. The rest of 148 odd countries care two hoots about the war there. Even if it lasts forever it is just a money making arms deal for the United States. Why should World Press go to a pic of a Soldier sitting there. How is it of any global consequence anyway. I have been extremely disappointed. By the way all the pics are out of focus... is this world press arty photography awards... can anyone justify the World Press Photo of the year for me????

www.worldpressphoto.org

Some Great Work

I came across the work of Stephanie Sinclair in the Vii network through a friends recommendations. Loved her work. Please go through the same.

Click on the link below and search for her name and bingo!! her photographs appear... (kidding)

http://viiphoto.com/vii_network.html

Also please look at Benjamin Lowy and his work India work...

http://prashanthpix.com

Restarting My Blog

Hi All here I am restarting my blog for pictures that are lost from public view as they are deemed super arty shots and not meant for news...so enjoy the frames...

Starting with this one...