Posts Tagged: people
At the beach
“We are like children building a sand castle. We embellish it with beautiful shells, bits of driftwood, and pieces of colored glass. The castle is ours, off-limits to others. We’re willing to attack if others threaten to hurt it. Yet despite all our attachment, we know that the tide will inevitably come in and sweep the sand castle away. The trick is to enjoy it fully but without clinging, and when the time comes, let it dissolve back into the sea.”
~Pema Chödrön
I took this random candid shot at the beach at Fort Kochi. The little family looked really cosy with the baby engrossed in making sand castles while her parents looked indulging at her efforts. Reminded me of my childhood…… the first time I saw the sea……. and this vast expanse of different looking mud (sand) and of course so much water……. water as far as the eye could see……. touching the sky and the sun and all those stars…….. millions of them!!! The place was Puri in Odisha. It was the first time I saw the sea or that much water. It was a revelation. I wouldn’t let go of dad’s hands and held on tight. Living among the hills….. with two rivers that dry up by winter……. witnessing so much water and all that noise of the waves was monumental. I have never forgotten that first. Also made my first sand castle 😀 I had taken a very long time to build that one also was very meticulous about it. It was a lopsided structure looking like a hill and I had taken a lot of pain to make a tunnel through it and decorating it shells that I had collected in the beach….. It also had a garden wall and a garden. Most of the time the whole structure crumbled down only to rebuild it all over again. Writing on the sand with my newly learnt vocab and drawing crazy stuff on the sand only to see all of it wash away by the waves.
I have often tried to recapture that innocence and built many castles over the years in different beaches in different states and countries……. still that first castle that I had build in Puri remains in memory as my favorite. I can probably build better castles today but the innocence of the first one is just a memory today.
Taking a break…..
street vendors in Kolkata
Flower vendors on the streets of Kolkata
The Jhal Muri and chanachur and bhel vendor.
These street vendors are usually very busy and the crowds that collect block the entire footpath. I took this pic in the afternoon when the streets and footpaths were relatively empty.
The Blushing Bride….. New beginnings
“No, this is not the beginning of a new chapter in my life; this is the beginning of a new book! That first book is already closed, ended, and tossed into the seas; this new book is newly opened, has just begun! Look, it is the first page! And it is a beautiful one!”
― C. JoyBell C.
Rickshaw walas taking a snooze
Any trip of mine to Kolkata doesn’t seem complete without a few pictures from the street and particularly the rickshaw walas from the street. The old world charm…… (I am not going to try to justify the right or wrong aspect of the human angle to hand pulled rickshaws because it is the only source of income to many Indians) is unlike any other city in any other part of the world. I took the above pictures on my trip to Kolkata last week….. as the rickshaw walas took some time off between trips to catch up on their power naps. The monochrome effect seemed to bring life to an otherwise lazy picture also lending it the old world charm.
Climbing high!!!
This pic is again one from the archives. I took this pic in 2007 with a manual roll camera. I don’t remember where I took this pic but I remember hubby climbing a fence and smiling his way up. This was too good a shot to resist. I love this composition and it is an absolute delight to watch even today. I haven’t done any editing to it except for monochroming it. It is absolutely perfect!!!
A walk uphill
“Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead.
Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow.
Just walk beside me and be my friend.”
― Albert Camus
This is a candid picture that I took in Panchgani. A group of friends were exploring the tableland. It was a brilliant composed opportunity….. too good to miss. The camaraderie among them was obvious and the interaction between them gave me a brilliant candid shot.
Childhood….. Titir
Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.
~Rabindranath Tagore
This is the picture of my niece Titir. This is the first time I met her and she was already so big. My trips to Kolkata are so rare that probably the next time I meet her she would be a big girl. But I am glad that I met with her to treasure atleast one picture of her and lots of moments to cherish and remember.
Elegant beauty……. Dance poses
- Dancing is not just a movement.
When a movement becomes ecstatic then it is dance.
When the movement is so total that there is no ego, then it is a dance.~Osho~
