Travel Shot – Page 4 – My Favourite Things

Travel Shot: The confluence of blue and grey

Posted on September 29, 2013September 30, 2013 by sudhagee

Karcham, in the Kinnaur District of Himachal Pradesh, is a pretty ordinary looking place and one can be forgiven for dismissing it as just another Indian town. However it is not “just another Indian town” as I found out.

This is where the highway (or rather the dirt track that passes for one) bifurcates into two — one leads to Kalpa and the other leads to the Sangla Valley. It is here that the Karcham Wangtoo Hydroelectric Plant is situated. And it is at Karcham that the Sutlej and the Baspa rivers meet.

Baspa, Sutlej, river confluence, Kinnaur, — The blue Baspa meets the grey Sutlej at Karcham

According to a Kinnauri legend,

the rivers Sutlej and Baspa are brothers, with former being the older one. Sutlej was the more serious and sedate sibling, and Baspa the mischievous one. Like all siblings the two were rivals for everything, including whose name should be retained where their waters joined at Karcham. It was decided that whoever reached Karcham first would get the honour of lending his name to the river from that point onwards.

And so the two rivers set forth towards Karcham. Baspa, the faster of the two. He rushed forth through valleys and gorges, but was easily distracted and stopped to play with other streams and take mini diversions. On the other hand, Sutlej flowed slowly and steadily towards Karcham. And we know which type of person wins, right?

Sutlej reached Karcham first and that is how the river from Karcham onwards is known by that name even though it contains the waters of Baspa as well.

Wherever I travelled in the Kinnaur region these rivers were never too far from me. If the Sutlej was within my sight from the Kalpa side, the Baspa kept me company in the Sangla Valley. Two brothers, so different in looks and character, both heavily dammed, and yet in their own ways lifelines for the regions they flow through.

The confluence is stark and one can easily pick out the blue of the Baspa and the grey of the Sutlej. It was a sight the kept me mesmerised for a long time.

PS: Isn’t the Kinnauri folktale delightful?

Travel Shot: After the Friday prayers…

Posted on July 10, 2013July 11, 2013 by sudhagee

In a corner of a large walled garden, just before the main entrance to Humayun’s Tomb entrance in Delhi, is the Afsarwala Tomb and Mosque complex. I found myself outside this small complex after entering the walled garden through an enticing doorway one cold and drizzly afternoon in February

It was a Friday and the Jum’ah prayers were over. The mosque was empty except for a man and 2 boys who were rolling up the prayer mats.

Afsarwala Masjid, Delhi, Ramadaan Kareem, Jum'ah prayers, Friday prayers — Part of the Afsarwala tomb can be seen on the left. The mosque is right ahead and 3 figures can be seen rolling up the prayer mats

Initially all three of them were rolling mats on their own without any kind of interaction between them. Then, suddenly, the boys decided to do the task together. And amidst giggles and playful shoves, the two boys rolled up mats together, which the man then collected and put them on one side.

Once all the mats were rolled away, the man got down to the task of counting them. Meanwhile the boys started picking the dried leaves from the mosque courtyard in an attempt to keep it clean. But it was a windy day and the more leaves kept falling. The boys didn’t seem to mind and ran all over the courtyard chasing the leaves and each other and much gleeful laughter.

It is always wonderful to see children at play and I would have loved to linger and watch these two boys, perhaps talk to them and the man about the mosque and the service they carried out. But I had a meeting to attend as my cell phone alarm reminded me rather persistently, and I left rather reluctantly. For the remainder of the day, I was smiling away: right through the meeting, the return flight back to Mumbai that night… And I am still smiling as I type out this post.

Dear reader, tomorrow is the first day of the holy month of Ramzaan in the Indian sub-continent and I take this opportunity to wish you all Ramadan Kareem. 🙂

Travel Shot: The floating church

Posted on February 14, 2013 by sudhagee

On that beautiful summer’s evening in 2009, after a day spent exploring London’s Docklands, I came across this near the West India Quay DLR station.

London, Floating Church — St. Peter’s Barge or London’s Floating Church

St. Peter’s Barge claims to be London’s only floating church, but for me it could have been the world’s only as far as I was concerned. For till then I had not seen or come across anything like this and have not till date. 🙂

The fine print revealed that the floating church had a crèche for children, personalised prayer service as well as the terms and conditions for hiring the barge for ‘Christian occasions’. I was really disappointed to find no one around as I would have loved to know see more of this church.

Have you ever come across something like this? If yes, please do share your memories and experience in the comments section.

PS: The photograph does not really convey the floating nature of the barge and I apologise for that. When I took the photograph, I had no idea that I would be blogging about it in the future. 😉

Travel Shot: The orange smiley

Posted on January 1, 2013January 2, 2013 by sudhagee

A rainy day in September 2011. It is mid-morning and I have just completed a climb of the Pavagadh Hill to visit the Mahakalika Temple on its summit. It has been a tough and painful climb, partly because of the steep steps, and partly because of a sprained ankle. By the time I finish with the darshan at the temple, I am quite bad-tempered with pain and just want to get back to my hotel room and rest my ankle.

I decide to take the cable car back to the base and as I make my way to the cable car station, I see something that stops me. It is a smile. A beautiful smile beaming away at me from a small roadside shrine built under a tree. It is a smile that literally shines and sparkles amidst other expressionless, almost dour faces surrounding it. It is an open, wide and happy smile, and one so infectious that I forget my painful ankle and smile back in turn.

Continue reading “Travel Shot: The orange smiley” →

Travel Shot: 50 shades of grey

Posted on November 18, 2012November 19, 2012 by sudhagee

I don’t like grey as a colour to wear.

But grey as a colour elsewhere is a different story altogether. I love using grey while doing a page layout for a report or a book or even a cover design. I love the greys that one can see in a cloud covered, rain-soaked monsoon sea in Mumbai. I love it if I can bring in a touch of grey into the frame while photographing.

One day, I managed to capture not a touch of grey but a whole range of greys from a dark stormy grey to a light wispy grey, with about 50 shades of grey separating these two.

This photograph was taken almost at the end of a great day spent exploring the Docklands of London and travelling by the DLR. This was at Canary Wharf the heart of London’s financial district and also its central business district. The steel and glass and the moody grey skies put up a great show for photo-ops. I took quite a few, but this one remains my favourite. I find it interesting how the grey dominates the frame, but does not overwhelm or depress. And I love that little touch of red and glassy green from the windows, which adds that something special to the picture. It’s almost like poetry !

Don’t you think these different shades of grey convey power, business, purpose and beauty all at the same time?

Travel Shot: Durga visarjan in Varanasi

Posted on October 23, 2012 by sudhagee

It was the day after Dussera in Varanasi last year. Around 2.00 pm. I had just returned to my hotel at Chausatti Ghat on the banks of the River Ganga after a morning at Sarnath and then wandering and photographing in the alleys near my hotel. As I entered my room, I heard the sounds of drum beats and conch shells. In a place like Varanasi, this really should not have been unusual, and besides it was the festive season. But 2.00 in the afternoon was rather unusual for such sounds.

I grabbed my camera and rushed to the balcony. As I peered over the railing of my 3rd floor balcony, I saw a group of people bringing idols for visarjan (immersion).

I was a little surprised as, traditionally, Durga visarjan should have ended the previous day that is, on Dussera. But as the hotel manager told me later, the ghats along the Ganges get extremely crowded on Dussera day, leading to some visarjans taking place even 2–3 days after Dussera !