Just wondering; is this what a stairway to heaven would look like? Framed by an elaborately, and intricately, carved arch and solid, brass-studded, mahogany doors? An ethereal figure-in-white ascending before you as you await your turn, next?

Temples, mosques, churches- all purport to get you closer to heaven, and to God. Do they? Really? Just wondering...

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Nikon F75, 28-105mm
Fuji 400ISO
2005, Jain temple at Khaaraa Kuwa ni Pol, Near Fernandes Bridge, Ahmedabad.

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The modern city of Ahmedabad was founded, on the banks of the river Sabarmati, by Ahmed Shah Abdali in the year 1142AD or thereabouts. Over centuries the city has changed much, as most cities are wont to, now spanning a good 20 kilometers or so from one end to another; The 52 gates (or Darwaze), which at one time stood sentinels to the outermost periphery of the city's walled defences, now lie battered and buried in the very heart of a city bursting at its seams.

Given the harsh climate (often over 45 degrees celsius in the summer with only a month or so of monsoons in a year) and the lay of the land (leeward side of the mountains and all that) the city has evolved, over centuries, into a tightly woven warp and weft of intertwining, narrow streets called Pols with tightly packed houses bordering each side of the street; the architecture and street planning especially suited to battling the mostly harsh, arid climate. The newer, sattelite townships that have sprung up in recent years, of course, bear no resemblance to the Ahmedabad of old, but that is another matter entirely. The pols have always harboured vibrant, tight knit communities and even today continue to be the throbbing center of commerce and trade in the city. That apart, the way of life as typified by the pol is rapidly on the decline even as several organisations including the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and Alliance Francaise have been working for years to restore the pols to their former glory and have the entire walled city declared a World Heritage Site.

Sunday afternoons in the pols, though, tend to be a mostly quiet affair with most of the shops downing their shutters and most people prefering to sit out the afternoon heat in the relative comfort of their homes. This picture was taken on a typical pol sunday as I sat outside a closed shop smoking a cigarette, looking out at the world and it struck me that here in the pols, despite the outward degradation, not much has changed since the days of Ahmed Shah...

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Nikon F75, 28-105mm
Fuji 400ISO
2005, Near Fernandes Bridge, Off Gandhi Road, Ahmedabad.

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I met this little girl on one of my usual jaunts in the heart of old Ahmedabad. She sat there, comfortably ensconed in her grandfather's lap yet, inexplicably, and inconsolably, crying.

I tried the usual gamut of 'kiddy chatter' to get her attention and, maybe, make her give up the bawling. Nothing worked. Until I took my camera and started fiddling with the controls, that is!

This is a picture of her, tears still wet on her cheeks, but curiosity most certainly aroused. I'd like to think that after I walked away she forgot about crying for a bit.

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Nikon F75, 28-105mm
Fuji 400ISO
2005, Near Fernandes Bridge, Ahmedabad.

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Depending on what religion you believe in, or have been brought up to believe in, the concept of God may be, variously-

a. An object of great and superhuman power to be feared, revered and make sacrifices to
b. A benevolent messiah sent to earth to deliver the people from all sin and misery through his own life of utter hardship
c. An omnipresent, all powerful entity who promises eternal heaven, and all the pleasures thereof, in the afterlife to those who follow his tenets faithfully and selflessly
d. Any other definition, as many possibilities of which exist as there are religions in the world

If you've grown up, like I have, to shun organised religion and believe that God is a personal concept to which you may be unable to ascribe a physical form; a concept you may also be reluctant to discuss openly with others of a different opinion then the definition set increases itself to include at least as many more variations as people who have their own personal concept of a God.

But no matter which God you believe in and what powers you ascribe to him/ her/ it, the concept of a God only makes sense to me if it helps people live more amicably with each other regardless of their own individual religious/ spiritual preferences. Most people, however seem to take the opposite view. To them their own God, suitably sanctified by the relevant religious body, stands head and shoulders above all other Gods by virtue of the reason that he is real and the others are not. That he exists while the others are figments of the imagination of misguided people. It is sad to see so many wars fought, and so many people killed, in the name of religion.

We have created, for ourselves, Gods and then put them behind bars; Gods that bind our minds rather than set them free.

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Nikon F75, 28-105mm
Fuji 400ISO
2005, The little shrine just outside Sunday Market, EllisBridge, Ahmedabad.

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The flower vendor and her little kid- a study in a contrast of priorities. This, I suppose, is what the world looks like from down there.

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Nikon F75, 28-105mm
Fuji 400ISO
2005, Outside the Swaminarayan Temple, Kalupur, Ahmedabad.

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Caught on film-
A frozen moment,
of waking life, framed,
in a hundred fragments.

No, this isn't one of my pics...! This was taken by the pretty woman from three posts back. But I liked it so much I persuaded her to let me post it here (with due credit, of course). I think she has a wonderful eye for detail. I also think she should take up photography in earnest. But then she has a mind of her own...

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Nikon F75, 28-105mm
Fuji 400ISO
2005, The mirror shop at Sunday Market below Ellisbridge, Ahmedabad, India.

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For sale-

Chai- Rs. 3 (7 cents)
Bun and butter- Rs. 7 (17 cents)
Bun, butter and jam- Rs. 9 (22 cents)


Daily sale-

Chai- Rs. 15,000 ($375)
Bun and butter- Rs. 7000 ($175)
Bun, butter and jam- Rs. 900 ($22.50)

Total daily earning- Rs. 22,900 ($572.50)


Daily expenses-

Milk- Rs. 3000 ($75)
Water- Rs. 1250 ($31.25)
Buns- Rs. 4400 ($110)
Butter- Rs. 4400 ($110)
Jam- Rs. 40 ($1)
Tea Leaves and Sugar- Rs. 500 ($12.50)

Total daily expenses- Rs. 9190 ($229.75)


Overheads-

Bribing the cops to keep his roadside stall safe- Rs. 1000/month or Rs. 33/day (85 cents)


Total daily profit- A whopping Rs. 13,677 ($340) !!
Brilliant economics, that! Maybe I should switch to selling tea by the roadside!!

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Nikon F75, 28-105mm
Fuji 400ISO
2005, At Roothraj Tea Stall, University Road, Ahmedabad, India.

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The entire family was travelling from Mumbai to Pune for my younger brother's wedding. We'd been on the road for well over four hours with numerous breakdowns along the way. First the airconditioning conked, then the fan belt gave way and later one of the tyres was punctured. Everyone was tired, frustrated and just about ready to give up and turn back (figuratively speaking, of course). And then, towards the fag end of the journey when we were about 20 kilometers outside our destination, I looked across from my seat and I saw this. And there, framed in that one moment, was the distilled mood of the entire day.

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Nikon F75, 28-105mm
Fuji 800ISO
2005, Mumbai-Pune Road, India.

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Nikon F75, 28-105mm
Fuji 400 ISO
2005, On the balcony outside my house, Ahmedabad

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This post seems like a long time ago, but guess what..? The bicycle still rusts there..! Talk about longevity. So here's a slightly different viewpoint and mood.

Ahmedabad is a scorching 45°C during the day and I guess that shows somewhat in the picture...

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Nikon F75, 28-105mm
Fuji 100 ISO
2005, Ahmedabad, India

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I started this blog, quite atypically in fact, with a post about the bucolic bovine. Atypical because I've never consciously thought of myself as being especially fascinated by them. Until I wrote that post, that is...

This is 'Cow Revisited' or 'Bovine II' or whatever it is that cathces your fancy... Fact is, it's a sequesl beyond the slightest shred of doubt. And, as sequels go, not particularly up there with the original (though even that may not have been quite so high up either).

Rest assured, though, that there's another cud-chewing post coming up very soon. As far as this blog is concerned the cows have come home...!

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Nikon F75, 28-110mm
Kodak 100 ISO
2005, About 12 inches from the cow's face, Ahmedabad, India

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White for calm.
Red for anger.
After all, there's all kinds of gods, and you never know which one you might need?!

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Nikon F75, 28-110mm
Kodak 100 ISO
2005, The little shrine at the sunday-market below Ellisbridge, Ahmedabad, India

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In India it would be very difficult indeed to go anywhere at all without bumping into the ubiquitous crow (a little like the ravens in London). As far as Indians are concerned, survival wise, the crow is the winged rat- Living anywhere, and off most anything.

Ahmedabad is one of the few cities in India, however, where this phenomenon is startling by it's absence. Due to the unique topology, and the lifestyle of the people who've made this city their own these last few hundred years, it's the pigeons that have come to rule the roost, so to speak. These thoroughly pesky birds have completely nudged the wily, and hardy, crow out of it's ecological niche here!

Peskyness notwithstanding, there's few sights as enchanting as a bird-on-wing...

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Nikon F75, 28-110mm
Kodak 400 ISO
2005, Swaminarayan Temple in Kalupur, Ahmedabad, India

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It's very, very difficult to catch my mother in a casual frame of mind. Perhaps it's a hangover from her days as a hard-nosed woman economist in a mostly-man's-world. This is her, captured in a rare candid moment.

Who says 60 somethings aren't pretty?

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Nikon F75, 28-110mm
Kodak 400 ISO
2005, Mum's home, Ahmedabad, India

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Sometimes an otherwise ordinary night, following an otherwise ordinary day, suddenly transforms into something a little less mundane because of one magical moment; a moment that makes the entire day worth it!

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Nikon F75, 28-110mm
Kodak 800 ISO
2005, Ahmedabad, India

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