Portfolio - Life

Ambala Railway station, one in the night
There are some visions that are so typical of the charm of India. Trains resting on grimy platforms, a beggar grinding tobacco next to a sleeping dog, air thick with syrupy brew of tea… there is a lot of story lurking behind this picture…a lot of ironies. Bustling about our lives, we find no reason to pause and give visions like this a thought - they are too mundane. Or are they?

Chitkul Village, Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh
A shaft of sunlight catches a mother and son getting ready for their daily chores. It’s an endearing vision. But in the deep shadows around them nestles the grind of the day waiting at the doorstep… soon the mother and son will go their own ways - the son to the nursery under the sky and mother to the forest for firewood. The father?
In the village square playing cards and drinking the local brew.

Mariyang Village, Arunachal Pradesh
What’s a little bit of spilled blood between friends? Day-in, day-out, it’s only amongst themselves these tribal kids are going to play, fight with and grow up. For them, the word ‘outside’ in ‘the outside world’ is akin to the moon and the stars that shimmer in their night skies. As the world outside jostles with indulgences like gigabytes, ICBM’S, sensex and Mc Donalds, for them it’s the couple of squirrels they must trap for dinner that’s on agenda.

Kanpur Railway Station
So much for the hullabaloo about midday meals for children…
Some visions stick on you. They play like a silent jerky montage on your conscience long after the poignancy of the moment has faded into distance. A family of travelers lunched and dumped the leftover poorie - aalu in a garbage bin. The rest I needn’t say.
What made me reach for my camera?
…maybe the pain was too much.

Bayal Village, District Kullu, Himachal Pradesh
As I sat close to his weather beaten countenance and a characteristic odour of buffaloes emanating from him, Alam Ali ponders a question put by me “where did your forefathers come from?” The answer probably lies between the lines on his face.
Gujjars - gypsy herdsmen living off livestock and their products - have existed in north India and Pakistan since millennia. With buffaloes their mainstay, and a vast geographical spread, a substantial percentage of milk comes from their deras (or camp).

Half way up the Vaishnu Devi Shrine, Jammu & Kashmir
Sleep is contagious. This carry - the kid to top hire was no exception. As I cooled my heels, I sighted this duo in a blissful nap. The trusting parents? Well... an hour later they emerged from what is called the ‘Ardh - Kuwari cave’, situated half way up the hill.

Rirkhmar village, District Kangra, Himachal Pradesh
Half way down a steep hill one fine summer day, I was invited by the pradhan (village head) for a cuppa. The family believed - as a geologist - I was checking their land for bounties underneath. I knew more... the firewood - smoke infused tea would be too good to resist. As they bustled about to entertain me, I caught the action first hand.

McLeodganj, (Dharamsala), Kangra Valley, Himachal Pradesh
Are they the monks who sold their Ferraris?
With His Holiness the Dalai Lama living not two hundred meters away, intimacy of east and west mingle in a riot of lama - maroon burning up a McLeodganj street. Being in this capital of Tibet-in-exile is a hit any day.

Chandigarh Railway Station
We have heard of first class resting rooms and we have heard of second class resting rooms. Obviously there is another one...the platform class. Snuggled in blankets to ward off the chill of a January night, a family sleeps the agony away. Some visions ask direct questions. Can we ensure a minimum standard of decent living to each citizen of our country? Can we uphold the self-respect of our fellow folk?
The answers are painful.

Village Chitkul, Sangla Valley, District Kinnaur, H.P., India
Out of ten girls that manage to clear their twelfth standard in Kinnaur, not every girl’s parents think about higher education in a college. Girls want to go out, study…do things, but the illiteracy of the parents shackle them. They can only turn to look back at the bustling world of wonders outside.

Kangra Fort, Himachal Pradesh, India, March, 1997
Gazing out of the window in the queen’s ruined living room, one cannot fail to appreciate the formidable location of the fort—secured by precipitous cliffs on three sides and a heavily guarded entrance on the fourth.

Nilo Kalan, Punjab, India, February, 1997
Huddling for warmth in a corner inside her home, this young Jat girl appeared quite oblivious to her poverty.

Jung Village, Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, India, March, 1994.
With mothers away in the fields, little girls must learn to tend to household chores. It includes lugging their infant siblings on their back, queuing up in front of the lone water tap in the village, shooing the hens back into the pen…
…and among other things, sewing a button on her father’s shirt.

Chandni Village, Sirmaur, H.P., India, May, 1993
One of the poorest districts of Himachal Pradesh, Sirmaur is a home to millions of unfulfilled desires. One such longing is evident from the expression of this poor village belle.

Seobagh Village, Kullu, H.P., India, July 1998
The villages’ very own waterfall cascades to draw many people from nearby villages during the summer months, especially the children, who must chill out here after the tedium of the school.