The COMPLETE relationship

 

All those 'entities' any relationship should encompass... 

Festive PUNE - Set 1

LOCATION: PUNE, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA

YEAR OF VISIT: 2011

The trip was planned by my mother in a very short notice. It was a perfect surprise visit. Mother wanted to cover almost all the holy places in the city and charted out a tight plan. As always, I trusted my 'instinct', my 'eye for detail's and my 'obsession' in connecting with a city, as I got into the car with my parents. The trip lasted for less than a day. Yet, I somehow ended up clicking nearly 450 photographs of very interesting and 'irrevocable' scenes of the city. Let me warn you in advance that this only 'one' of the faces of this city.
I shall be uploading the pictures in parts for both of us to enjoy the images better.This set emphasises on the street life of the city.

Have a great stay here and catch the 'whiff' of Pune.

A buffalo is decked up and given a re-vamp as a part of custom followed during the most famous festival of India, viz. Diwali.

Some Sanskrit texts are written and etched on its hairy skin. Its horns are coloured 'saffron' plausibly because it is the colour of sacrifice.

The organic 'squares' outside the temple inevitably form the 'spill out' space or 'interaction' space for the city dwellers.

CAPTURED AT:  Dhagudu Sheth Ganapati temple.

One of the many interesting faces I have come across in my life. His deep eyes unsettled me.

CAPTURED AT:  Dhagudu Sheth Ganapati temple

The 'shlokas' are painted on the walls of the temple. In earlier days,, such holy texts were 'engraved' on the 'masonry' facades of the temples.

CAPTURED AT:  Dhagudu Sheth Ganapati temple

 The queue system like in any other huge temple works efficiently here too. Those huge decorated bells are for the occasion of Diwali.

Lord Dagadusheth Ganapati himself sits there giving darshan to people inside the temple and outside, thanks to the glass facade.

An old man tries to get a glimpse of the Lord from the street.

CAPTURED AT:  Dhagudu Sheth Ganapati temple

A lady offers auspicious flowers to the Lord.

CAPTURED AT:  Dhagudu Sheth Ganapati temple

He smears the holy ash on a devotee.

CAPTURED AT:  Dhagudu Sheth Ganapati temple

CAPTURED AT:  Dhagudu Sheth Ganapati temple

Engrossed in his own wealth.

I was fascinated by this lady's 'balancing act'!

The MIGHTY pigeon

Judging the book by its cover

Might end you up arrested under power

The LINES speak his LIFE

Those lines of constant worries or surprises??? 

You never know...

The TICKING phenomenon

Past can be blur, Past can be dark
Past might haunt you and might tear the mask.
Every tic of the hand, freezes an irrevocable moment
Hence drown the dark past with the bright present.

LIGHT CONDITIONS: Natural day light.

The ever distracted ME

FOOTNOTE: This is an attempt at self-portraiture. My world is vast. But its all restricted to art. This picture speaks about the culturally rooted girl that I am and yet my eyes see beyond any thresholds. I owe it all to my camera.

Tireless HOPE

My world was vast...I was happily swinging in it

My world was simple...I was happily scratching my butt

Then you happened.

and I saw the dead end.

As I squeal tirelessly, I find fingers at me and that amusing smile

Now I am tired...all I do now is sit and hope all the while...

I SEE in the darkness

Deep within the darkness in you, keep your vision bright and clear.

LIGHT CONDITIONS: Nokia E 63 Mobile torch light.

A womb OUTSIDE a womb.

I find infinite peace now...I will soon lose it...

I will end up spending a whole life trying to claim it back...

So let me sleep for some more time...

Let me be one with peace. 

FOOTNOTE: This is a picture of my cousin sister's second son Anirudh. He is just 20 days old. I went to visit her and cuddle him for merely 2 hours. Unfortunately he was sound asleep and he seemed to be too much in peace to be woken up! What attracted me to this composition before clicking the picture was that, the fabric in which he was being rocked resembled the 'womb' in flesh, color and coziness. It recreated the real image of him inside my sister's womb! Hence I came up with such a caption. 

LIGHT CONDITION: Diffused sunlight filtering through the curtains of the bedroom and further through the fabric. 

Serene PONDICHERRY

LOCATION: PONDICHERRY, TAMILNADU, INDIA

YEAR OF VISIT: 2011

If there ever is a place of ‘liberation’, a place of ‘soul’, a place of 'originality', a place where natural and supernatural entities ‘co-exist’, and a place that is yet ‘grounded’, then it has to be Pondicherry.

Personally, I enjoy traveling and experiencing the city alone. Here I bring you the ‘feel’ of the city through my work. If by viewing the pictures, you are 'urged' to visit the city, nothing else can be more 'honorable' to me. I wish you a great journey and stay here.

 

 THE MOTHER ASHRAM 

The very source of inspiration for the city.

A place to where you lose yourselves in the fragrance of exotic flowers, surrender at the 'samaadhi' of Shri Aurobindo and The Mother, and find yourself within you.

VILLA BLANCHE - The 'White' town

Being the base of French quarters during the French and British rule in India, a remarkable influence of French rule can be witnessed in 'a' part of the city. Racial discrimination was expressed in terms of architecture by demarcating the city into 'White' town and 'Black town'.

The White town encompassed the typical French principles of designing; well zoned streets for parking, pedestrians and structures.

The amalgamation of French and Indian elements of architecture is vivid in this picture.

 

 GOLCONDE: A dormitary for The Ashram
This structure is a living example of The Ashram's principles.
Relish its quality interiors via the link I have attached to the name.

My eyes do not miss the details. They form the most trivial and exhilarating part of any world. 

The brilliant simplicity of this wooden door framed contrastingly with the rugged grey RCC column and beam with a blank white wall serving as the perfect background  swept me off my feet.

 

          

     

The Indian sentiment is to be noticed in the picture on the left. The mask of a 'rakshasa' (the devil) is displayed on the exterior walls of many houses to ward off the evil eye.

 

 

 The vibrant colors and the artistically carved details speak Indianess in every respect. It seems to be a habitat of a French person from the name plate.

And now I take you to the 'breezy' side of Pondicherry.

 This woman was bewitching. I saw myself in her. She was enjoying her lone moment the way I do. It looked as if she was listening to the waves and smiled back with absolutely no inhibitions.
She was one with the city. She made my day.