Tuesday, November 29, 2016

White Desert Story - The Nomads


“If this were so; if the desert were 'home'; if our instincts were forged in the desert; to survive the rigours of the desert - then it is easier to understand why greener pastures pall on us; why possessions exhaust us, and why Pascal's imaginary man found his comfortable lodgings a prison.” 
                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                              ― Bruce ChatwinThe Songlines.



White Desert Story - The Childhood


“and when all the wars are over, a butterfly will still be beautiful.” 



Himalaya Calling - The Character of a House





Salaam Bombay - The Lonely Boat





Calcutta Chromosomes - The River Story









The Character of a House - Ruins of a City, Old City, Ahmadabad


"Something always attracts us towards the ruins, because ruins remind us our fundamental problem: The problem of impermanence! Amongst the ruins we see the very end of our road! Whatever shows you the simple truth, it is your Master Teacher; whoever repeatedly recalls you of the plain truth, he is your good master!” 






Hungry Tides - Kafka & the Shore ....




If you look at the war, closely, you would know the necessity of destruction of a Space within that moment is inimitable for Time to travel. Travel beyond the remotest darkness and reach towards a point of Absolution.

An Absolution of White!

And similarly the waves are a necessity for the Shore to empty it's wet chest for a brief moment and let the moment of stillness to arrive in an otherwise continuous circular motion of Time!

(Bay of Bengal, Sunderbans.)


Hungry Tides - Conservation, Fables & The Land of 18 Tides!


In the land of the Sunderbans, ruled by tigers, tides, and the uncertainties of nature, there is a unique tradition of conservation and communal harmony. It is based on the villagers’ unflinching faith in Maa Bonbibi (forest deity) who is believed to bestow them with strength and protection against Raja Dakshinrai (tiger god) as they struggle to eke out a living in the mangrove swamps.

In most parts of the country, ‘Maa’ invokes Goddess Shakti/Durga and her many forms. Here, strangely, Maa Bonbibi does not refer to a Hindu deity. On the contrary, she is a Muslim goddess who protects everyone irrespective of their community. Hers is the presiding “forest religion” in the mangrove delta, deeply embedded in the social and cultural mores of the villagers and passed down from generation to generation.

Thatched shrines bearing icons of the goddess, accompanied by her brother Shah Jongli and mounted on the Supreme Tiger God Raja Dakshinrai, dot villages along the rivers. Chants of “Maa Bonbibi Allah, Allah” mingle effortlessly with “Maa Bonodevi Durga, Durga” as woodcutters, honey collectors and fishermen pay obeisance before venturing out into tiger territory. Muslims tuck in their beards and sit arm-in-arm with the Hindus before the idols; Hindus, in turn, have no qualms about praying to a Muslim deity.

“The forest and the tiger bind us together. A Muslim may pray five times in a mosque, and Hindus perform aarti in the temple, but when it is time to go into the forest we are all together in our prayers to Maa Bonbibi and her mount Raja Dakshinrai. A night in the forest is enough to teach you that,” says Kanai Mondal, a honey collector from Shaterkona village on Bali Island, South 24 Parganas district.

The legend of Bonbibi that has become folklore here finds elaboration in the novel The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh. The forest goddess was sent from faraway Arabia to the Sunderbans, or Atharo Bhatir Desh (Land of 18 Tides), to save its people from the tyranny of Dakshinrai, the demon king of the jungle who stalked and killed humans in the guise of a tiger. In this land, where 18 tides come together, the mythologies of both Hindus and Muslims have blended to ward off a common threat. Bonbibi’s origins therefore are not the Himalayas or the Ganga. Her story begins in Islam’s second holiest city -- Medina.

Legend has it that a childless Sufi fakir Ibrahim was bestowed with the promise of fatherhood by the Archangel Gabriel. He was blessed with twins -- a daughter (Bonbibi) and a son (Shah Jongli). When they grew up, the Archangel Gabriel appeared before them saying that they had been chosen for a divine mission. Gabriel said they should leave their homeland and go to this part of India to save mankind from Raja Dakshinrai, a wicked Brahmin. They obeyed and started their journey as Sufi traders. Raja Dakshinrai, or the Supreme Lord of the Jungles, had a passion for human flesh. But Bonbibi and her brother quickly overpowered him. They did not kill the demon but made him promise to stop devouring humans.

The fable further tracks the underpinnings of people’s faith in the deity through the eyes of two honey collectors. Dhonai and Monai set out to collect honey wax, accompanied by their young nephew Dukhe. A despondent Dhonai, unable to find any beehives, returns to his boat and falls asleep. Raja Dakshinrai appears to him in a dream and demands the sacrifice of human flesh. He reminds him that they had not done puja to him prior to entering the forest.

Fearing the wrath of the tiger god, Dhonai decides to sacrifice Dukhe. He leaves him in the jungle to be killed and eaten by Dakshinrai. Just as the demon is about to pounce on Dukhe, in the guise of a tiger, Dukhe begins praying to Bonbibi. She appears before him, and saves him.

A bitter fight ensues between Shah Jongli and Dakshinrai, leading to the latter’s defeat. Bonbibi sends Dukhe home on the back of a crocodile and bestows him with enormous wealth. Dukhe then establishes a shrine dedicated to Bonbibi in his village, ushering in the tradition of puja to the forest deity.

“This tradition has deep roots in the principles of conservation,” says Pradeep Vyas, Director, Sunderbans Biosphere Reserve. “Known by many names and forms -- Bonbibi, Bonodurga or Byaghro Devi (tiger deity) -- she is a personification of the forest. The faith of the villagers in worshipping her and Raja Dakshinrai before entering the forest is a reaffirmation of their commitment to forest and tiger conservation.”

“There has been an attitudinal shift in the last 10 years,” Vyas adds. “Today the villagers do not kill a tiger if it strays into their village. They promptly intimate the forest department and our rescue teams rush to the spot to trap/tranquilise the animal and release it back into the forest. Often the tiger may walk back from the human landscape to the forest on its own, and the process is simpler when the animal is not provoked or harassed, compelling it to strike in self-defence.”

In a bid to spread awareness among local people about issues ranging from global warming and eco-tourism to rainwater harvesting and conservation of tiger habitat, the Sunderbans Development Authority periodically organises Bonbibi utsavs (festivals) dedicated to the forest deity. Primarily a state government effort, the objective is to reach out to local villagers and showcase achievements. Subhas Chandra Basu, Member Secretary, Sunderbans Development Authority, explains that free health camps, awareness camps on the right to education, conservation, etc, are organised. The event, which began in 2002, has since been organised on various islands between the months of December and March. It was last organised in 2009, before Cyclone Aila devastated the Sunderbans.

Local artistes perform Bonbibi jatras, or enactments of tales of valour by the forest goddess. Indeed, this has become an art form synonymous with the Sunderbans. “We take pride in bringing before the world our folk culture,” says Parbati Mondal. She plays the lead character of Bonbibi, in a 17-member theatre group from Gosaba Island. “My father-in-law lost his life in a tiger attack,” she says.

The local theatres are imbued with bucolic charm. The characters are loud, flashy and overstated; the performances melodramatic. Yet the climactic point of the plays and their underlying message is loud and clear: If the forest exists, then the tiger lives, and only then can we flourish.

“Call it their rustic tenet of faith or their pride in the age-old traditions, but eventually it is all interwoven with the same basic policy of conservation that we are so vehemently trying to spread,” Basu concludes.

Reference : Amitav Ghosh ( Bon Bibi Legend and 'Ethnic Cleansing' of India's Forests) & Kalpita Dutta (Infochange News & Features) and my personal travels and subsequent discussions with Fishermen, Local communities & Forest Officials. 









Hungry Tides - Memories of an unforgettable land.


How had it happened that when choosing the men and women who were to be torn from this subjugated plain, the hand of destiny had stayed so far inland, away from the busy coastlines, to alight on the people who were, of all, the most stubbornly rooted in the silt of the Ganga, in a soil that had to be sown with suffering to yield its crop of story and song ? 

It was as if fate had thrust its fist through the living flesh of the land in order to tear away a piece of its stricken heart .

- Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies (Ibis Trilogy, #1)


Hungry Tides - The White's Silence


I know nothing of this silence except that it lies outside the reach of my intelligence, beyond words - that is why this silence must win, must inevitably defeat me, because it is not a presence at all

I look at me.I do not find anything worth a story, other than a deep penetrative murmurs of the shores I have left behind.I see a huge swarm of whiteness, gathering my feet and the soils receding away furthermore...

I know the tides are hungry, now, for a sacrifice! 

(Frazerganj beach, Sunderbans, India.)

Hungry Tides,The Land of 7 Tides - A fisherman's story



"He always thought of the sea as 'la mar' which is what people call her in Spanish when they love her. Sometimes those who love her say bad things of her but they are always said as though she were a woman.

Some of the younger fishermen, those who used buoys as floats for their lines and had motorboats, bought when the shark livers had brought much money, spoke of her as 'el mar' which is masculine.

They spoke of her as a contestant or a place or even an enemy.

But the old man always thought of her as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favours, and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them.The moon affects her as it does a woman, he thought."

- Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

Hungry Tides - The Last Try...



But in the dark now and no glow showing and no lights and only the wind and the silent harshness of the tide, he felt that perhaps he was already dead.

He put his two hands together and felt the palms. They were not dead and he could bring the pain of life by simply opening and closing them.He leaned his back against the tide and knew he was not dead.

He reached out for his aluminium bowl and was trying to feel the emptiness of the vessel, to remind him the hungry ones waiting in his muddy hut.Today like any other day he cannot go empty hand.

He is praying for the fishes to become good to him. At least, now. The hunger is too unbearable like the darkness and he is hoping to have a last fight with it. The future is uncertain.He is the last one from the folk lores of the land of 7 Tides and a fishermen's village.

The village is slowly vanishing with its people. And so would his family, sooner or later. It's the last ditch for him to hold on to the family and save the folk lores of the seas...


Thursday, November 24, 2016

सहरनामा", An Abstract of a City - Short stories of a city called, Ahmadabad.



"कहानीया, बस , तीन लफ्जो की होती है,
लेकिन, क्यों और कैसे ।
बाकी सब बाते है।। "


All stories are a lie.In bits and pieces... 





- Night Walk in Ahmadabad with Cine Prime Lens DS 50mm, 1.5T. 

सहरनामा", An Abstract of a City - Short stories of a city called, Ahmadabad.


"ढूंढता रहता हूं ऐ ‘इकबाल’ अपने आप को,
आप ही गोया मुसाफिर, आप ही मंजिल हूं मैं ।"



"I loved the city.We were anonymous, and even then I had the sense that cities were yielding; that they moved over and made room.

I loved the spread of the lonely night. Loved how the dim faint yellow bulb, waiting for a shape to walk in, sometime, and bring a fresh array of noise. 

I could never imagine how much I loved noises, until the silent lips of the unknown man, looking out for words. Words he wanted to utter but no one to hear..."





- Night Walk in the old city of Ahmadabad with Cine Prime Lens DS 50mm, 1.5T. 


Salaam Bombay - Let us run away (Love in the time of Trucks)



In the '80s, listening to Elvis and others on the radio in Bombay - it didn't feel alien. Noises made by a truck driver from Vasai, Colaba, seemed relevant to a middle-class kid growing up on the other side of the world.That has always fascinated me.

And what most fascinated me is the thought of having a Truck, that would one day help me pick up the neighbour gal i love and run away. Run away far from the madding crowd and just look at her face properly. For Once!



Salaam Bombay - What will you wear?


Bombay is the Retail capital of India from the previous partition era with its huge array of goods and spread of market.What makes it unique is the diversity of such markets making the city a paradise for all sorts of people.From the riches to the poor.

In an interview with The Newyork Times Karl Lagerfield from the House of Channel said that the emergence of fashion begins largely from a popular culture and he rates Bombay for such inspiration only after Newyork and Paris.

A good flea market is a shopper’s and fashion designers paradise and Bombay is definitely one of that!

The flea or the street markets in Bombay offer a good deal of opportunities for the shopaholic to indulge in luxuriant shopping. Who would miss a chance to buy the most stylish and fanciful attire that too at a good bargain?

Shopping at the flea markets of Bombay is as essential as visiting the Gateway of India! So here is a small insight of the shopping paradise of the city of Bombay 



1. Colaba Causeway-

This is one place where you would get everything, quite literally! Handicrafts, clothes, books or jewellery; anything that you could possibly think of. And when you get tired drop-in at the Leopold’s Café, one of the most famous hangout areas in Mumbai.-

2. Linking Road-

A vibrant amalgamation of traditional and modern, this place is one of the most crowded places of Mumbai. Avoid visiting this market on Sundays if you don’t like congested areas.-

3. Crawford Market-

Nestled in a historical colonial building, this is one of the oldest markets of Bombay. Fruits and vegetables are its specialties. There is also a special area devoted to pets of all kinds.-

4. Fashion Street-

This place has the highest fashion quotient in Bombay and the locals can swear by the same. With over 150 stalls, Fashion Street is quite popular amongst the youngsters.-

5. Chor Bazaar-

Initially, this was not actually a thieves market!The mispronunciation of British changed the name of this place from Shor Bazaar to Chor Bazaar and then eventually it lived up to its name! If vintage is your taste, strive through the crowded lanes of this market to get your hands on some of the most unique items of all times. -




Street Walk in Colaba, Bombay. Film Photography, Provia.

Salaam Bombay - The Character of a House (The Magen David)




This house is supposedly older than the first British settlement in Bombay Presidency and dates back to early 1700's when Bombay was governed by the Portuguese and owned by the famous Jewish Trading family.

Now the emblem on the house is called The Magen David ( Shield of David, or as it is more commonly known, the Star of David ) which is the symbol most commonly associated with Judaism today, but it is actually a relatively new Jewish symbol.

It is supposed to represent the shape of King David's shield (or perhaps the emblem on it), but there is really no support for that claim in any early rabbinic literature.The symbol is not mentioned in rabbinic literature until the middle ages.

Scholars such as Franz Rosenzweig have attributed deep theological significance to the symbol.For example, some note that the top triangle strives upward, toward G-d, while the lower triangle strives downward, toward the real world.

Some note that the intertwining makes the triangles inseparable, like the Jewish people.Some say that the three sides represent the three types of Jews: Kohanim, Levites and Israel. Some note that there are actually 12 sides (3 exterior and 3 interior on each triangle), representing the 12 tribes.

While these theories are theologically interesting, they have little basis in historical fact.

The symbol of intertwined equilateral triangles is a common one in the Middle East and North Africa, and is thought to bring good luck. It appears occasionally in early Jewish artwork, but never as an exclusively Jewish symbol. The nearest thing to an "official" Jewish symbol at the time was the menorah.

Isa Khan's Tomb - Arches of the Mughal Architecture.


One of the prominent feature of Mughal architecture directly related to defence are kanguras, or battlements.

Kanguras were not a Mughal invention; they had been around for centuries in India before Babar arrived. In fact, kanguras—in the form of roughly triangular or rectangular shapes—can be seen crowning the walls of early medieval forts in Delhi, including Tughlaqabad.

Well before the Mughals took over, kanguras had become decorative elements of architecture.This is why rows of kanguras can be seen in buildings of a very varied nature, all the way from mosques to tombs, sarais, and (of course), forts and palaces.

{ Kanguras (battlements) atop the main gate of the Agra Fort.}

Another architectural element that had been in use long before the Mughal period was the Pishtaq, or niche . At its most basic, this is a quadrilateral shelf-like niche let into a wall.

These started off (like the kanguras and damaagas) as a practical element of architecture: Pishtaqs could be used as a shelf, to store items, and to hold lamps to illuminate a chamber.Unlike kanguras or damaagas, however, pishtaqs retained their functionality, as a receptacle for lamps.

{This row of Pishtaqs at the Red Fort are in front of the Rang Mahal.}

In pre-Mughal Delhi, for example, Pishtaqs were very common as a form of decoration in mosques. (especially during the era of the Lodhi Sultans).

An example of a highly ornate Pishtaq, from the Lodhi-era mosque at Bada Gumbad (Delhi) and Isa Khan's Tomb in Nizamuddin (Delhi). 

One interesting example of Pishtaqs fulfilling both functional and decorative roles is in garden pavilions. For example, at the Saawan and Bhaadon pavilions in the Hayat Baksh Bagh (at the Red Fort), a series of Pishtaqs carved from white marble cover the front part of the platform.

During the heyday of the Mughals, these Niches used to hold silver vases filled with golden flowers during the day, and burning lamps at night: a pretty sight indeed.

{In Delhi's Hayat Baksh Bagh, a view of cusped arches and a chadar, at one of the garden pavilions.}

Garden pavilions also often incorporated another important feature of Mughal architecture, the Chadar.

Chadar is a stone slope which acts as the bed for a water channel when it descends from a higher level to a lower one.The chadar is lightly carved with a pattern of shallow scallops or similar repetitive patterns.Water flowing over these ripples pleasingly.

{A Chadar - a carved slope for a water channel - at Red Fort and Isa Khan's Tomb.}

Lastly, one architectural feature that is not just typically Mughal, but can actually be traced back quite specifically to Shahjahan’s reign.

This is the ‘ Daantedaar Mihrab ’, also known as the denticular arch , the scalloped arch , or the cusped arch , because it consists of a series of semi-circular scallop-like cut-outs that form the inside of the arch.

{An example of a cusped arch - at Safdarjang's tomb, Humayun's Tomb.}

Some believe that Shahjahan himself invented the daantedaar mihrab ; at any rate, it is also commonly called a Shahjahani arch

The Humayun's Tomb - Characteristics of Indo-Islamic architecture


Humayun's tomb (Persian: آرامگاه همایون‎‎ Maqbara e Humayun Turkish : Hümayun Kabri ) is the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun in Delhi , India . The tomb was commissioned by Humayun's son Akbar) in 1569-70, and designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyas, a Persian architect chosen by Bega Begum.

It was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent, and is located in Nizamuddin East, Delhi, India, close to the Dina-panah citadel also known as Purana Qila (Old Fort)that Humayun founded in 1533.

The Islamic rule in India saw the introduction of many new elements in the building style also. This was very much distinct from the already prevailing building style adopted in the construction of temples and other secular architecture.

The main elements in the Islamic architecture is the introduction of arches and beams, and it is the arcuate style of construction while the traditional Indian building style is trabeate, using pillars and beams and lintels. The early buildings of the Slave dynasty did not employ true Islamic building styles and consisted of false domes and false arches.

Later, the introduction of true arches and true domes start to appear, the earliest example is the Alai Darwaza by the side of Qutb Minar.

The different religious beliefs are also reflected in the mode of construction and architectural styles. The Islamic style also incorporated many elements from the traditional Indian style and a compound style emanated.

The introduction of decorative brackets, balconies, pendentive decorations, etc in the architecture is an example in this regard. The other distinguishing features of Indo-Islamic architecture are the utilisation of kiosks (chhatris), tall towers (minars) and half-domed double portals. As human worship and its representation are not allowed in Islam, the buildings and other edifices are generally decorated richly in geometrical and arabesque designs.

These designs were carved on stone in low relief, cut on plaster, painted or inlaid.The use of lime as mortar was also a major element distinct from the traditional building style.

The tomb architecture is also another feature of the Islamic architecture as the practice of the burial of the dead is adopted.The general pattern of the tomb architecture is consisted of a domed chamber (hujra), a cenotaph in its centre with a mihrab on the western wall and the real grave in the underground chamber.

To this general tomb architecture, the Mughals added a new dimension by introducing gardens all around the tomb. The Mughal tombs are generally placed at the centre of a huge garden complex, the latter being sub-divided into square compartments, the style is known as char-bagh. The Mughals also built large gardens in various levels and terraces on the char-bagh pattern. 

Scholars trace the evolution of the char-bagh pattern of gardening to the original land of the Mughals, the Kabul Valley, where depending upon the landscape and terrain, gardens and residential complexes were laid out. The Mughals inherited this garden type and superbly transformed it according to the new terrains in India. Thus, evolved a transformed style of char-bagh pattern of gardening.

The Mughals are also credited to have introduced the double dome system of dome architecture and the pietra-dura style of inlay decorations. 

source: Archaeological Society of India. 

Calcutta Chromosomes - Colonial Stories

Calcutta Chromosomes - The Legend of Ivanhoe

Calcutta Chromosomes - The Legend of Ivanhoe

Calcutta Diary - Colonial Stories

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Abstracts of a City - Ahmadabad

White Desert Story

White Desert Story - Dada Veer Jaan

Calcutta Diary - The National Library

The city defeated me. It refused to be bent into shape; it stayed a willful, sprawling, sinful place. It even told me as much. When i walked through the gutted wreck of old building of National Library , i tripped and fell over a piece of rubble -- a graying stone. When i got to my feet and dusted myself down i saw that it read, in Latin, 'Resurgam' -- 'I Will Rise Again'...

Calcutta Diary - The Tramways

White Desert Story - The Moonlit Night

White Desert Story


White Desert Story

Monday, November 21, 2016

White Desert Story - The Widows

This series celebrates the scent and aroma of womanhood in the White Desert. I was going through the images and what made me feel so unique and exciting is that these women are unconventional to the traditional sense of "Widows" in the Indian context.

If you see them carefully you would find in them a reflection of "Maurya", the celebratory  protagonist of J.S.Synge's Riders To The Sea. Like Maurya these women must have weathered all storms of life and death and yet there is a stark and yet poignant grace in their characters.

There's a colour in them which defies the barrenness of the landscape. Young and old alike they share a bond. A bond in their abject fate and yet together they stand and face life.

Actually I saw them celebrating life in their very own manner with grit and determination written all over their faces. There's an unique and unimaginable sense of melancholia in them which is so distinctive than the traditional way a widow is seen in India. And I think it has lot to do with the terrain of White Desert.

As if they are the Riders of this White Desert!

Calcutta Diary - The National Library

The Rusty Ruins were the remains of an old city, a hulking reminder of back when there'd been way not too many people, and everyone was incredibly intelligent. And Brilliant in their love for knowledge, and that which helped them outgrow slavery and build a design - of a Nation!




Calcutta Diary - The National Library



Himalaya Calling - Character of a House.