Time to walk past the injustice.

Happy dussehra folks.

Dussehra  is a festival of celebrating the victory good over evil. Mythology goes that lord Rama defeated an (equally powerful and hardworking) enemy asura Ravana, and in that remembrance is the festival of Dussehra rooted till date.

The story is good, inspiring. So far I havn’t heard of a concrete proof that lord Rama or Ravana actually ever existed. Like we know Harrappa and Mohen-jo-daro did, and so did the Egyptians and the Mauryas and so on. Still majority of the people around the world take it for granted, obediently.

So, lets take advantage of what that we actually have. The “idea” of celebrating  “victory of good over evil”. How can it help us today. We spend insane money and time on rituals, gifts, and sacrifices, war and blood, for God almighty. But we never get the take home message. The festivals actually offer us solutions and commandments to make lives better. We “celebrate” and then cry over the present day situations of inflation, corruption, crime, terrorism.

Now, if you look at act of celebrating good over evil, it almost makes me laugh. The evil, read as corruption, pollution, injustice, terrorism is flourishing like never before. And on the other hand, like we never question godly things, we never question the people responsible for it either. It is as if we have taken it for granted. The power cuts, rising prices, poverty and bomb blasts are equivalent to floods, earthquakes, volcanoes and the untimely rain exactly when you forgot the umbrella. There’s not much we can do about it. So why do we celebrate today’s day in the first place ? we have become like lab-rats running in a wheel. The more we are pinched, faster we run, but never realize that we have sharp teeth that can bit and kill as well..! fight, if at all we do is amongst ourselves, over limited opportunities, never against the authorities drowning in luxury, tightening the knot every time over us for their amusement.

Many would say that it is an offense to think and question gods and their festivals. Fine, do the gana- bajana routine by all means and have fun. Only don’t associate the heroism of a victorious act over it anymore. That’s not happening, never will unless, we the people wake up and give it back in their  face. Once the party of symbolic victory is over, very next moment we would be back to petty quarrels, cribbing and whining, greasing palms, spitting the side-walks, stealing, reserving casts and sub-casts, and so on and so forth. Ohh yes, and not forget the “hope” called “vote” and “election”. More fake that any of the reality shows on T.V. these days, and the little money that can buy the ‘leaders’ our support

I also learnt from Wikipedia the 10 things we should try get rid of, every Vijaydashmi :

Kama vasana (Lust)
Krodha (Anger)
Moha (delusion)
Lobha (Greed)
Mada (Over Pride)
Matsara (Jealousy)
Manas (Mind)
Buddhi (Intellect)
Chitta (will)
Ahankara (Ego).

Time to loose hope and get things done, I guess..hmm ?

Aahh..bitter thoughts on a holiday…hate it, but cant help it..

Have a super day,

Happy dussehra once again

If clicking on the below picture doesen’t take you to the blog page, the you can find it under ” Travel With Me ” tab, on the right corner of the menu bar above.

enjoy.

Hello there..lovely sunset isn’t it ? amazing, interesting asymmetry of the silhouettes on the either sides. A bunch of people walking into the scene from the right, and a couple absorbing the serenity on the left. Living in the western coast of the country brings you home to some spectacular performance of light, sky, clouds and people, truly worthy of the ‘golden hour’ of the day epithet.

What makes me think in this picture is that the various stages of friendships/relationships that we pass through in our lives. The flamboyant , reckless, rebellious youth giving way to a calm, contemplative, wise human being. Fortunate are the few who manage to keep alive the zest throughout their lives. The others ones who cannot become old. Yes, old age, I think can is more to do with the lack of energy in your mind than in the muscles. I am not the best person to comment on it, but makes sense doesn’t it ?

Also this picture stirs me up because it was shot in Mumbai. A place I associate with utter chaos. To find such a sight, and people to enjoy it too, in a city always pacing up, is a great experience. These words often ring in my ear when I witness natural such beauty : “to live for freedom, sunshine and a little flower..”

Enjoy.

Hope you all are doing great.

I felt like sharing this picture, especially so because it perfectly captures the festive spirit the holy month of Ramadan. I am a foodie to the core and first time visited a street specially dedicated to Iftar, in my locality. And boy..!! delicious food , sight, sounds and smell enticing you from all 360degrees..!!

The experience not only filled my belly but also my neurons. I realized that i general the common man, irrespective of the religion/creed is all the same within..a believer in peace, hope, love and care.

enjoyy..!

Hi, so what is so special that all you budding photographers are up to today ? not much if you ask me. I think its that time of the year when you can raise a toast to none other than… yourself. Yes, you, the creator behind the lens, the worshipper of light, the alchemist of composition, trying to bend every bone in your body to get that magical POV. This day, marks the invention  of the Daguerreotype, a photographic processes developed by Louis Daguerre.  On January 9, 1839, The French Academy of Sciences announced the daguerreotype process. A few months later, on August 19, 1839, the French government announced the invention as a gift “Free to the World.” Another photographic processes, the Calotype, was also invented in 1839 by William Fox Talbot (it was announced in 1841). Together, the invention of both the Daguerreotype and Calotype mark 1839 as the year that photography was invented, also, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created the first photograph around the same time. But I am not going to bore you stiff with facts best displayed on Wiki. The reason I feel this day,19^th august should be marked with big neon sign in ones calendar is because I believe today one should take an opportunity to hold back, close your eyes, turn around and reflect on how time just flew by in front of your  lens.

                                  We as photographers are constantly in turmoil. In search of the next adventure, the next big model, the next big project. Sometimes I feel we take the words “My best photo is the one I’m going to click next” quiet too literally. With the advent of digital tech, even my pet iguana wants to be a photographer..!! The speed at which people are thinking/executing/exhibiting /selling photographic art Is fast approaching the boundaries of possibility. We are forgetting far too many things than we can remember. The attention span is nanoseconds at best. Where is the time..!!

Take a deep breath, lets ponder. What possibly makes a photograph different? Why does photography as an activity even exist? As of now, there’s hardly anything unseen, any place unexplored, any composition untried in the thousands of years of history of visual art. It’s the ability to freeze a moment in time which would have otherwise been lost in the mundane life, and be able to derive visual and intellectual pleasure from it later on what makes photos so special.

                                    Our mind remembers life in images, not in moving video clips. Visually, we memorize things by its color, texture, emotion, expression and context. It is the ability to preserve that experience that makes photography so special..! Imagine you are out near a fountain with your toddler. The splash of at water on his little face can be enjoyed best when you can fully absorb the sight at the leisure of your couch, may be a few years later, with that same young man now sitting besides you. The same moment would have otherwise been lost while worrying about your tiny tot catching fever or breaking a tooth while you were at it actually. Many events in history would probably have not been that impactful without images.

We celebrate photography every time we pick up the camera , isn’t it? Turn the tables around today. Kiss your camera (not a sloppy one;-), spend some time hearing its nuts and bolts again, get your own pictures clicked, meet and share pictures of people you must have clicked with them, go to your fav places just to chillax, rather than shoot.
ENJOY.

Thanks for dropping by, would love to hear from you..!

Not long before I remember gladly watching the the T.V. and unfurling the flag on two days of the year. I used to feel special and glad about the whole country being painted with the tri-color. But then, primary education ended, the ‘Civics’ text book took a back seat in some remote corner of my memory, left to wither in solitary confinement. By this time I had also understood the meanings of the terms corruption, politician,inflation,land mafia, diesel mafia, terrorism, scandals, bomb blasts, reservation, Right To Information, etc etc…..cut to today, when in the backdrop of violence and unrest I fail to realize the ‘happy’ and ‘independence’ angle of the whole ‘happy independence day’ celebration.

when I think over it, I can only share happiness today with Indias citizens who have  been bearing the grind for so many years. With its soldiers who still believe in dedicating their lives for the country. With a few people who are taking the heat head on. With the few people in the govt. machinery who are still trying to keep the extinct species of honesty alive..

my words fail me now. The independence from the evils of corruption and violence would actually be a worth celebrating occasion.

This is a song by a band called the “Indian Ocean” which beautifully presents the topsy turvy state of affairs in this country :

This picture clicked by me got published as as center spread in the above magazine.

The story the picture represents is about online groups which meet up in real life and carry out interesting activities.

you can find the original picture here :

http://www.flickr.com/phot​os/vishaltomarphotography/​5855331019/in/photostream

the article can be found here :

www.youthincmag.com/index.​aspx

Not to mention the havoc human race can raise over ego clashes among leaders, fight for religious supremacy, hunger to govern the masses… sounds like a race to value anything else more than human life itself. Amidst all this despair, anger and frustration are we the common people even counted..or becoming the baddest beast of the jungle only ensures a life less hassled.

P.S.  a quote I had read just struck me : “Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.”

                                                                                                – Margaret Young

Thanks for dropping by, would love to hear from you..!!

This brings us to another trip with Mumbai Weekend Shoot. This time, the place is Asangaon, a far flung suburb of Mumbai, practically untouched with the evils of industrialization (almost). i happen to live close to this place, but never imagined it to be such a picturesque treat. The day was full of discovering new landscapes, jaw dropping landscapes, creatures of more colors than this LCD screen, pristine air and a camera to go with..what more could you ask for..!

Till now, all I new was that this was a place from where people travel every morning for hours to reach the business districts of Mumbai, and come home in the evening to their humble abode.

ISO 6400 ! kudos EOS.!!

yess..there is no match to a piping hot cup of tea, some hot snacks and a photo-walk in the countryside to go with

I like my landscapes dramatic and heavy, impactful, larger than life. HDRs come in handy especially for such pictures.

The Monarch

After we reached Asangaon, many of us scattered away to different places to leave nothing unexplored.
Me and some of my friends decided to walk to a near by temple called Manas Mandir, I had heard about. It is a Jain temple situated in the lap of blossoming green hills. The walk to it was certainly our best decision for the day.

This man could have easily been me. Even I was lost in thoughts throughout the whole journey. I had heard about the place quiet often as trains regularly stop here, but had no idea what to expect..plus it was raining like crazy a few moments back, I had almost dropped the plan.

Hope you enjoying your monsoon too..! thanks for dropping by.

Comments and critique invited.!!