There is a rather comforting predictability to life when one spends half of it observing the grand, chaotic circus of human behaviour. Whether it is watching a stray cow contemplate the existential dread of crossing a mountain road at a hill station, or observing the peculiar habits of urban dwellers by the Arabian Sea, the
Notes from the Parapet: A Moderately Successful Sunset Read More »
There is something rather admirable about flowers. They get on with life without making a fuss. They do not hold meetings to discuss their future, worry about missed opportunities, or lie awake at 2am wondering why things have not gone according to plan. They just get on with the business of bloom. Human beings, unfortunately,
The Flowers will Bloom Anyway Read More »
There are days when the world seems to have misplaced its sense of direction, its spectacles, and possibly the instruction manual on how to find your way back to sanity. The outlook is gloomy, the weather is behaving like a disgruntled landlord, the to-do list is breeding overnight, and one begins to suspect that the
Hope, Growing Wild Read More »
There is a precise, quiet sort of madness in preferring the company of paper and ink to that of actual human beings. While normal people were out making small talk, exchanging pleasantries, and forming those mysterious bonds known as “friendships,” I was usually tucked away in some mossy corner, clutching a camera and a thoroughly
Blame It on Archer: A Case for Avoiding Human Contact Read More »
It is an unwritten law of nature that we humans are, on the whole, a remarkably ungrateful species. One may be sitting in a garden on a quiet afternoon, watching a squirrel perform impossible acrobatics on a tree branch, or listening to rain tapping softly on an old roof, when a face from the past
Tea, Trees & Regrets Read More »
There was a time, not terribly long ago, when “serious photographers” looked at mobile phone photography the way aristocrats once looked at instant coffee. Useful in emergencies perhaps, but not something one admitted to enjoying publicly. One carried proper cameras. Heavy cameras. Cameras with knobs, dials, weather sealing, magnesium alloy bodies and lenses large enough
A Thousand Lenses and One Mobile Phone Later Read More »
There was a time when taking a photograph involved patience, uncertainty, and occasionally mild financial recklessness. You bought a roll of film with the seriousness of a man buying ammunition before a small war. Negatives mostly, slide film if you were feeling extravagant. Every frame mattered. Every click cost money. Photography, therefore, was less of
Film, Dust and Forgotten Mornings Read More »
There was a time, not terribly long ago, when a walk meant precisely that. You put one foot in front of the other, occasionally paused to look at something that wasn’t trying to sell you anything, and returned home feeling vaguely improved as a human being. No one measured it, no one posted it, and
Walking Slowly in a World That Won’t Read More »
There are, I am told, easier ways to spend an afternoon than standing at the edge of a crocodile-infested river in Maharashtra, balancing one’s dignity and camera with equal uncertainty. Most sensible people might opt for tea, perhaps a biscuit, and the distant safety of a veranda. Naturally, I chose the riverbank. It was one
A Quiet Afternoon with Crocodiles and Questionable Composition skills Read More »
There are days when one sets out with purpose, tripod packed with military precision, lenses polished to a devotional shine, and a firm belief that one is about to create Art. And then there are days when one simply ends up somewhere by accident, slightly underprepared, mildly dusty, and unexpectedly delighted. This, rather conveniently, was
A Sunset, Two Photographs and a very good Barbecue Read More »