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.

The Problem of Plenty

Historically, we as Indians had everything we need to exist, rivers, rains, we formed the greatest way of society and life... we were called the "Aryavansh", "Bharathvansh", and many proud and famous names. The country practically flowed with milk and honey. Natural protection of the Himalayas kept the cold winds of the north away. We remained isolated for centuries forming a thought process that is way ahead of even today's society we live in. We had place for everyone in our hearts. We were by far the most " Developed" society ever.

Then came the looting invaders from the north and diluted us, and came the religious crusaders and converted us, and those of them who stayed converted us even more. The people following the original way of life were branded as Hindu's and the younger religious groups converted us with the promise of redemption. Once an holy man said "There are only two religions in India, Hindus and converted Hindus." We were ruled we were changed,and today we are looking ahead at a different world.

We are redeveloping in the cast of an acceptable society by the people who ruled us. We are remaking ourselves in the identity of others. Many I speak to here are distressed, not too happy with the unnecessary competition we are forced into. The laid back way of life which we practiced is preferable to many. Worship of nature and the practice of self perfection so ingrained in our culture is forgotten in the daily traffic jams and salary raises.

My boss recently pointed out one small fact to me, he said "we are sitting in a cafe like an Englishman, drinking Earls Grey tea and talking in English wearing a shirt and a pant and we are comfortable about it. This is cultural invasion." I wonder what would be to redevelop in our own cultural way, to rethink and customize old traditions in the modern era... I wish I had the power to influence and walk back to the mature society my super ancestors actually enjoyed.

In this context please see this video of Nandan Nilenkeni very thought provoking...

http://www.ted.com/talks/nandan_nilekani_s_ideas_for_india_s_future.html

SAMASTHA LOKA SUKIHNAW BHAVANTHU!!!

Means To an End

I have realized now, one can be taught to sing very well, but what he chooses to sing is his choice generally. There is no easy path to self actualization, the only way I think is to listen to yourself.

Now making these heavy statements is easy, but the real inspiration is from the king of kings himself, Sebastian Slagado. An one hour talk can change the fundamentals of my thinking it self. One may consider me gullible but to the contrary I am too adamant in my views about social justice.

A lot has changed on this earth since Salgado, Steve, James, Bresson, walked the streets of unknown countries trying to make the first world realize social and economic crisis and their implications on their lives. Making me think "Photojournalism touches the social responsibility of the rich." I remember my friend saying, I photographed one laborer and went to give him his artistic print where there was smoke, fire everywhere and his sweaty back can be seen. Extremely good photograph, but the man in that quarry looks at it and says... " I can't see my face'.

The reason these few 100 photographers all over the world have stood out among a million others who had technically the same skill and content is their approach. They had a burning passion to tell something they used photography as a medium, a means to an end.

I realize today it is "cool" to be known as a documentary photojournalist. It is "cool" to be carrying two 1ds mark3 and go to a third world countries and shoot prostitutes and social stories. There are a million individual photographer websites not to mention at least a few hundred photo agencies all over the world trying to represent the best talent. Everyone almost speaking the same story, everyone almost singing the same song. To an extent that being different is one of the motives of photojournalism. The "technique" and the "look and feel" of a photograph has taken center stage rather than the "content" these masters wanted to talk about.

The ends of photography is something that was clear to me when i started out, but reaching where I have reached now I realize I have make an assessment does a photograph has power to move an audience in today's times. Does photography actually have the strength in it for the video game, wolverine generation?

Is photography still a means to the end of voicing the truth, and talking about the have not or tell an unsaid story or to document time. Is anyone listening out there to the cacophony of all of us photojournalists and documentary photographers or is it time for me to move on and find a stronger medium to speak out ...

Saying all this, I must share this brilliant video of our dear Salgado. I never met the man but his work speaks for him...

Flying...

The task at hand is mighty,
the winds of change blowing hard,
the sands conspiring to form a storm,
I stand alone, indecisive and confused,
making up scenarios and scaring myself,
I look back for support and see the world sleeping,
I look up to see an ever darkening sky

A single bird flies high above, oblivious of the storm way below,
I realize what I need is a teacher to teach me fly...

Simple Joys of Life

This morning I got up to a sunny sultry morning, and looked around to break the heat, when I found my neighborhood cook aunt has sent me breakfast, hot Poha with Chai. The smell made me close my eyes for a few moments, arch my back and sink in the moment.

I have hardly found that feeling in the greatest successes I have had in my short life....

Channel V vs Natures V vs V as humans

A street that led to nowhere was shrouded by dust back lit by the rising sun, unseen yet penetrating it gave way to unknown destinations. The moment I am picturing housed four characters availing the streets services, all on foot walking to their destinations. A lad with a spring in his step walked towards his new found job while a labourer was marking red flags to dig into the tarmac. A child with his mountainous burden on his back walked towards an impending imposition, while the fourth personality, a photographer looking around for a pretty scene..
I tipped my head and looked skyward only to be numbed, as cranes and storks were flying in V formation making their late descent into the backwaters of the Arabian sea. The scene exhilarating and the moment divine. I looked down again and my characters had moved on now there were more characters and more interactions more scenarios and I looked up again and there was magic again. Where do I actually belong, in the skies or in my mind or on the street.

And what were the birds thinking, "wow look at them, so busy and unpredictable whilst we do the same things over and over again... "

I plan to go back to the street tomorrow and I am sure I will meet all my characters there engaged in the same tasks, lost in their own worlds. And me lost in theirs...

Nature so beautiful and man its epitome of creation yet is lost so much in himself that he fails to see how disorganized he has gotten trying to outdo his fellow man... while incessantly nature proves and reproves to us that she is right and way more prettier...

whilst I know 50 years down the line the only V my child's children will know would be channel V...

Me...History....Conspiracies... and Obama

Nothing to tell...

As I was wondering what to write in my blog I felt there was nothing to write as I am overwhelmed. I feel like a speck in this ocean who really does not affect anyone or anything. What happens happens irrespective of my decision making/irrespective of my will. Then why exercise choice? why exist ? why go through the karmic cycle? why the emotional trauma? why the mental blocks? why laugh? why cry? If you don't affect the world the world never affects you. If it is equal and opposite then why instigate the cycle further. Is nomadic life answer to all the problems of todays 'society' that we have fragmented over generations. We entertain ourselves with luxury, leisure and war and then crib what have we done, why cry when you can live on trees and be as happy if not happier. My belief in society is at its lowest after seeing some conspiracy theory videos.... One for my readers to explain my gloom...

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=9IjYY0YrO6Q

If that was staged and history controlled, I hate the sleazy thought process that led to it... At least the heroes and villains of yore were straightforward they put their own head at stake.

How much can Barak Obama actually change history is for generations further to witness but like all Hollywood and Bollywood flicks too much hype seldom does good...

Loved this pic from the most photographed event in history...

Obama a personal moment