A little bit of the Punyanagari in Pune.

It's interesting to observe a place's timeline. It's fascinating to know what a city once was, and to live the thing it's becoming. Even as it embraces globalisation and comes of age as an 'upcoming metropolis', it's those few ancient structures that still exist, which give a threshold to the city's identity.

When you visit such areas of your own city, it's amazing how the modernity drains out to almost none and confuses you to believe you've stepped in to a 'multiple-decades-ago' scenario.

The feeling is almost euphoric.

6.35 a.m. inside Pune's Mahatma Phule Mandai.

Yesterday, I visited the 127 years old 'Mahatma Phule Mandai.' It's one of the prettiest vintage buildings in Pune, which roots the city's culture right from the time of the Raj. Made of stone, this structure is circular with eight entrances and appears Gothic and gruelling. In the pre-independence days, it was a central meeting place for reformers and the janta. And now it stands as the city's biggest 'Bhaji Mandi.'

6.40 a.m. inside Pune's Mahatma Phule Mandai.

Along with the overwhelming architecture, there were numerous other visual cues that took me back in the time, I haven't ever lived. 

Pune was once known as the Cycle City. And this is still so true of the areas around the Mandai. A lot of these Bhajiwallahs cycle here every morning and park their cycles against the wall opposite their stall. Yellow bulbs lit up the otherwise dark place and spread a warm, 'old-time-like' glow. It's beautiful.

6.40 a.m. inside Pune's Mahatma Phule Mandai.

You would still see vendors with a humble note-pad and pen doing the accounts. Vegetables shall still be weighed on this ancient tarazu (weighing scale) and not on an electronic weighing machine. When we talk about Digitalisation and the Internet, we forget that the opposite is also very true in a lot of places.

6.45 a.m. inside Pune's Mahatma Phule Mandai.

I really loved how cane baskets full of garlic lay stacked over tin boxes on a wooden platform. Also how a bulb hung down from a ceiling beside which was an old framed photograph. Probably the vendor's father lived in the era when this place became a Mandai.

6.45 a.m. inside Pune's Mahatma Phule Mandai.

Everyday lots of farm fresh vegetables come to the market. Along with that I'm sure there are lots of mice that breed here. And, to get rid of them you obviously have a lot of kitties around. These kitties keep bouncing off the onion sacks and old, kaput scooters, hiking away for a prey. That also explains for their friendly behaviour towards humans and vice-versa.

This cat actually paused; meowed away to glory as I clicked her. Unlike other stray cats.

6.50 a.m. inside Pune's Mahatma Phule Mandai.

If you've noticed the internal structure is still the same as it was back then. Also, you'll see a lot of kashta clad women around. You hardly see such women in most parts of the city these days. It indeed feels like being in a different era all together.

7.00 a.m. inside Pune's Mahatma Phule Mandai.

As the sun rises up, and as all stalls are put up a lot of people seem to stream in for vegetable shopping. It's been the same buzz everyday for years now.

8.00 a.m. inside Pune's Mahatma Phule Mandai.

There is a very pretty, but almost-in-ruins staircase there. This tabby perched on the staircase with grace and flamboyance as if it's her thrown. Wonder which all social reformers once went up and down these abandoned stairs, now taken over by cats.

8.05 a.m. inside Pune's Mahatma Phule Mandai.

This could have been one man who's seen Pune evolve. He probably comes here to be in his comfort setting and feel at home. Eyes closed, head lowered, palms intertwined, legs dangling, he sat there lost in a reverie, reminiscing.

8.10 a.m. inside Pune's Mahatma Phule Mandai.

And, his reverie breaks.

8.15 a.m. inside Pune's Mahatma Phule Mandai.

 Right outside the Mandai, and opposite a wada is this alley. There seem to be two shops opposite each other, yet to be opened. Locked old wooden doors, flaked paint, cycle, erected handcarts and a motorcycle-what a fusion of past and present! Minus the motorcycle I'm sure it looks like a 70 year old setting.

I love studying people. I love exploring cultural and understanding how it has evolved over time. It was lovely wondering session for the wandering me. :)

Wavering

It’s like a pendulum,

Without its steadiness;

It’s like waves,

Without rhythm;

It’s like rustling leaves

Without the intuitive calm,

It’s like a quiver of the beating heart,

About to stop!

It is, a wavering relationship.

The Write Constipation

It’s a nasty, diseased like state of mind where a person who believes in his/her ability to bead together words as a form of expression, and has previously done so is unable to churn out anything, for reasons unknown. There is definitely no lack of thought, emotion or imagination (at times, imagination yes) and ideas, but it suddenly just does not seem to translate at all on paper.

The victim may initially disregard it as a ‘passing phase’ in oblivion or might not even realize it, thanks to distractions but will end up flustered and frustrated with one self. This is a stage between ‘having words’ and ‘having no words’, ‘an urge to write’ and ‘laziness’, ‘having lots to write about’ and yet ‘being blank’.

It feels no different than the other, the more common constipation; you want to get all of that out and experience ease and satisfaction.

It wouldn’t be hard to guess the reason for this piece and also what took me so long to post something new here. After reading my take on this acute form of constipation, you would be of the opinion that I spent the last six months in distress and boredom which I did for most of the time but, I also did a few interesting things.

I interned in Mumbai as a copywriter with one of these middle-sized ad agencies and I thoroughly enjoyed my stay. Without the comfort of my hometown veiling me, I could explore a city the way I wanted. I realized what it is to have the sea around or to witness a high alert in the city (I was there when Balasaheb Thackeray passed away and when Dadar station was dead empty and haunting at 8.30.p.m. It felt weird to stand at the window and see the Bandra-Worli sea link on the right, the Siddhi Vinayak Temple in the middle and the pyre smoke rising up from Shivaji Park, towards the left, all in one frame. Not to mention the heartbreaking cry- Parat ya! Parat ya! Balasaheb parat ya! And the white clad dots that oozed out of Dadar station, visible from another window. It all gave me goosebumps. ). Often, as I embarked on trains, stories would brew up in my mind, stories would happen around me but…I say this with extreme self-guilt…but I never got to capture those in ink even if I had the urge to.

Hadn’t it been a week since I came back home, I left for this beautiful, ironically very colourful desert state -Rajasthan. I journeyed through Jodhpur, Jaiselmer, Mt. Abu and Udaipur. I love exploring a particular region, knowing its people, its history and that’s precisely what we did there. I felt so many things when I toured all these ancient forts and havelis that I had so much to say but with much regret it never reached the paper.  After this, I had another trip lined up in January- a trip to Jaipur for the much awaited ‘Jaipur Literature Festival’. That was truly a literary treat! Getting to interact with a few of my favourite authors and discovering many new books to read was fun.

The immediate day after I came back I joined another ad agency in Pune and thus beginning another new journey. In these months of exile from writing but on a travelling and photography spree, it pinched my heart to do all the things I loved to do except writing. When I captured most of what I wanted to capture through my lens and not words I felt I’m betraying my first love...

At times, I sit here in office and wonder why I don’t write in the free time I get in between two tasks. I muse over all the things I want to write about and I could have written about and feel a little dilapidated. Then again, I try to be positive and forget all the self-nagging and self-pricking I’ve felt for months, push my self hard enough to make the saturated constipated bubble to burst and come up with this, not so shitty, shit!

Bokeh With Naked Eyes

Hello All,

Has anyone of you ever seen 'Bokeh' with naked eyes?

Recently I started going for a swim everyday, early morning. On day one, I swam a few laps and stopped at one end of the pool for breath. As I waded in the pool, relaxing I happened to look at my right where a huge tree from the next compound was leaning over, at some distance.

And lo! I can't believe what I saw. Through the green foliage and brown branches, came in the sun's rays to form little round perfect circles; perfect shimmering circles; the circles in photographic terms we call 'bokeh'! I tilted my head a little, moved around a bit, blinked and pinched myself to make sure it wasn't a illusion I was seeing out of chronic overdose of my recently developed passion for photography.

No, I wasn't imagining stuff! It was RIGHT THERE, the BOKEH! It looked like a perfect picture. The foreground part of the foliage which was nearer to me looked comparatively stark while the middle part of the tree which was further away was all simply bokeh!

It was mesmerizing. I couldn't believe my eyes. Trust me, it is the most prettiest bokeh I've ever seen. Later I realized I could see a very soft bokeh on other trees as well but not as perfect as this one. Now how do you think it happened?

I have nearsightedness, that is I can see closer objects in focus but the objects far away are seen out of focus by my eye. I wasn't wearing my contact lenses then and there was water on my eye which probably acted as a lens showing me,  major part of that tree as an aesthetic blur.

I wish I could capture what I saw with my eye and show it to you. As I write this, the memory of that bokeh-d tree manifests in my mind. I wish there was a system to digitally transmit this vivid memory to my blog for it is one of the most beautiful and natural things I've ever experienced. The memory goes beyond still photography for when the branches sway with the wind so does these shiny circles. No, its not something you'd see in a video for its so much more magical and so much less man infused and the movement is really very slight.

Now, between laps when people stop to gasp for breath I stop to catch the glimpse of this stunning eye-candy. :)

Have any of you experienced this? Is it a regular thing or something unusual? Please share your experiences here. :)

A Very Happy World Photography Day to All!
Keep Clicking!
Cheers.

Bro-Sis

Have you ever done that? :) Sat on the window sill with your younger sibling; watching the passers by, cracking jokes, saying silly things? I used to do this a lot with my younger brother. Finding amusement in small things, TOGETHER, is what strengthens the bond between siblings. :)

Spotted this duo from the balcony of my house the other day and it reminded me of my childhood. :)

65th Indian Independence Day Fervour!

Fergusson Road,
Pune,
15th Aug 2012 (Morning)

65th Independence Day Celebration.

Beginning of the tri-colour bangles' meme!

Urban Celebrations 1!

Urban Celebration 2!

The traffic police

Outside a chai stall!

Natives' with the tri-colour along with their usual 'zhenda-patakas'

Messi celebrates Indian Independence?

The fervour

Selling flags for a cause. The money collected was to be donated to an orphanage!

"

I am an Indian, and I'm proud of it!

I'm as old as the country!

A street scene

At Fergusson College Gymkhana

The Flags

Waking up to Rains

This year the rains have been late beyond expectations. Every year, by 15th July I've had enough of rains, enough of the dull grey atmosphere and enough of wet days. But this year the sun shined brightly till mid July, and people awaited heavy rains with anxiety. I woke up to the pitter-patter of rain, first time this season a few days ago. The feeling was awesome! Stirring up to consciousness and realizing its raining. Then, shifting in to a comfortable position, lying under my cozy warm blanket and drifting to a half asleep state to the hum of raindrops. It was heavenly.

Finally making an effort to get out of  bed, I pull up the curtains and let the faint monsoon sunlight stream in. I smile. I open the windows wide open and stare out. It is breathtakingly beautiful! I'm awestruck with the minute details that mark the beginning of monsoon and also that make this mundane world pretty. I hop to my shelf and bring out my camera, oblivious to the freshness in the air, oblivious to how the change in weather makes me feel serene, calm and happy...

Below are the few shots I took. They don't capture monsoon as a whole season but I've tried capturing the things that made my eyes twinkle the day I woke up to the first heavy rains of the season. :)

Rain drops

I love the way the buildings seem to fall down down upside down through the drops!

A trickle down the roof

Saw these beautiful pearls curled up the raining, the moment I woke up

A tear of happiness?

Jewel  donned branch