Echo of Silence April 28, 2008
I moved into a new house recently and had my family visiting for a week. Their visit has left behind many silent echoes…..
Flowers & Fire March 22, 2008
I moved to a new address and to my delight have a garden next door providing flowers, squirrels and birds waiting to be captured on lens. Thank you unknown neighbour!
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Today, believers across India celebrated Holi by burning Holika – representing the triumph of faith over evil. My neighbourhood burnt a Holika of its own and caught in the picture above is a woman doing the rounds of the fire while sprinkling water from a lota. Faith is such a faithful thing to have.
How the Chinese won me over October 1, 2007
On a recent visit to Malaysia, I had the good fortune of being in Taiping on 25 Sep – the Chinese mooncake festival (aka mid-autumn festival or lantern festival). Accompanied by our local contact, we spent 3 wonderful hours relishing the crowd that had congregated at the Lake Garden. Hundreds of families lighting candles and traditional Chinese lanterns resembling animals, cute round faces, etc. The presence of large number of children made it a treat for the senses and also doubled as great subjects to shoot. It was evident that ‘family’ is a vital social unit amongst the Chinese. Most of the crowd consisted of parents with young kids, and independent youth groups. The family groups had elders either helping or watching the kids as they went about their tasks of lighting candles with endearing sincerity. Even with a crowd of few thousand packed into a not very large area, there was hardly any din or feeling of being crowded. On the contrary, the human chatter highlighted the overwhelming sense of calm and love that pervaded the Lake Garden. Thank you, Taiping, for a memorable evening!
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Ganesha! dude, you rock September 19, 2007
This past Sunday I went in search of the Ganesh idol that appealed most to me. Ambling through the crowded bylanes of the old city area, I came upon many forms of how the Lord is seen by his worshippers. What surprised me was the sheer scale of democracy in the visualisation. There were no two similar idols. Each devotee had and took the liberty to see Lord Ganesh in his own image. Hinduism, for all its ritualistic baggage is, even today after 5000 years, like a young religion ready to experiment. While I cannot comment on how spiritual the devotees are, what can be concluded safely is that this joyous freedom will ensure Hinduism stays around for another millenia.
Early in my assiduous two hour search, I came upon a Ganesha sculpted as a young, go-getter 19 year old. Mounted on a snazzy bike and ready to vrroom into your heart. Perched right in front was a photographer to take a shot of your kid out on a ride with the most worshipped Hindu God. I waited until the next kid was propped onto the pillion.
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Wonder what the kid is looking up at. Maybe praying for a safe ride?
There was some more that I received, courtesy my S6500fd bridge camera. And that was instant attention and hurried clearing of the front deck so that I may take my shot. Which left me feeling a little guilty. But then who knows, maybe Ganesha willed it such. What an attention grabber he is – nothing short of a film star!
Guldasta 
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