Thirst

Thirsty barren lands... Thats the news everywhere these days. So, this snap is the one for the season.

Clicked in Madhya Pradesh, the centre of India, it depicts the story of everywhere. Clicked at sunset, you can easily observe the dark cracks on the land due to the shadows. Initially, when I looked at it, it seemed to resemble a jigsaw puzzle to me. I'm sure, if you try hard, you can make the map of your state too.

Sentenced

Anyone who's a lawyer here would understand at first glance that its the snap of a property that has been attached in a civil suit. Usually whenever a property is attached, both the contesting parties have a right to put their own locks to secure the premises. So, you might think the proper tag to be Attached. But I put it at an extreme contrast, as Sentenced.

Why Sentenced? Actually, if we see it from a non-lawyer's perspective, any property once attached has its fate decided already. The fate resides in Courts; District Court, High Court or Supreme Court. At the end, not even the litigants know why were they fighting. Thus, Sentenced!

The Last Warrior

This one's a chance click. I mean, I had been searching for a place like this for the past one year, but to no avail. And then, during my MP Trip, on my way from Guna to Shivpuri, on N.H. 3, I saw this tree, standing all isolated in a field. The first thing I uttered was- Bro! Stop The Car Now!!

Although the tag is very much self-explainatory, but I have a short prose written to explain what I wanted to convey by this snap-

The deserted lands tell the story
Of the end of our Earth’s glory.

From soothing green to barren brown
Man’s destroyed the God’s town.

Everywhere it’s pollution
And it’s got no solution.

Spoiling this motherly Earth
On which he took birth.

Leaving it bare skull
For “who cares?” is his principle.

Yet the hunger hasn’t stopped
Though more than his needs he’s robbed.

Towards inferno, our future’s turning
Coz the Earth’s burning.

And we’ve killed all from the past
This one seems to be the warrior last...!!

Stop!

This is the first snap in which I've asked someone to really pose for me. The model prefers anonymity, so I can't disclose her name here. Coming to the snap, actually its a glass pane of a door on which she stuck her hand, as directed. Clicking was easy, its just the idea that matters.

Freedom

Its an abstract title given to these bars. When I noticed them, I didn't think of it as a cage or something similar, but the first thing that came to my mind was Freedom. And its a mere word for anyone who's standing out of them, but worth a treasure for the one caged inside.

Chaos

I was in Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh), steeped in the royal legacy of its past, when it was the summer capital of the Scindia rulers of Gwalior. Earlier to that, Shivpuri's dense forests were the hunting grounds of the Mughal Emperors. Emperor Akbar captured herds of elephants for his stables here in year 1564. Anyways, when I visited the place, it was another story. All I could find were skeletons of trees. So, I clicked them. It looked all chaotic, their dried branches intermingled into each other; as if still trying to protech us humans from the Sun.

Unfurl

Hmmm... leaves, clicked from a close angle, such that they covered my whole viewfinder. Nothing special in this pic except that its soothing to my eyes (and I hope the same for yours too). I donno what plant species is it, but I loved the way leaf after leaf unfolded to give such a nice view.

Take Off

This one's a Dragonfly [Anisoptera] that landed on a cactus branch shooting up. I was trying to make my way between those cactii when I noticed it. It flew a few times, here and there, and then landed right in front of me, giving me just enough time to focus upon it and click!

The image has been shot in Guna (Madhya Pradesh). To capture it well, I took it at a low shutter speed of 1/30th of a second, aperture being F5.6. It was tough to go near it, coz it'd have just taken off in apprehension of any threat.

Rhythm

Guitar... one of the best musical instrument. I always envy people who know how to play it, especially coz I donno how to play this one (neither anything else!) Be it a simple 6-string, or a 12-string, the music is always good to hear.

Taken at my sister's farm house, the hand belongs to a Russian named Maraat who'd come to stay there for some time. An amazing guy at the instrument I must say. What attracted me to click this one was the way he maneuvred his hands to give us the best rhythm to hear.

Spill

Holi, the festival of colours (and my favourite one too). This is an old snap that I took during March, but somehow never could decide upon its tag. I love it when even after a month passes by after Holi, and we still are able to find the colours at places; creating permanent spaces for them. What has spilled is not the colour, but the fun and affection with which people play this festival.

Insignia

Why Insignia? would be the first question anyone would ask... and I have nothing more to justify than the thought that somehow I feel all the medal-alike marks forming this beautiful animal's feathers are nothing but the praises in his beauty.

I love peacocks, and when you have a home in Civil Lines (which are plush green in every city) sighting them around you is not a hard thing. This is another snap I clicked at my home. Peacocks are generally shy and they simply run away if you try going near to them. So, I had to go to my terrace to click this snap. It was a distant shot, and with my 18-55 mm Nikkor lens, it was impossible to shoot a close-up. Anyways, am saving some money to buy a better lens... till then, this is it..!!

Aura

The distinctive alive atmosphere that this lampshade generated attracted me to click this snap. As if, the light was a spiritual emanation surrounding the body of this lamp, making it come alive. I loved the aura so created.

I was sitting in a restaurant in Jodhpur when I clicked this one. It was my last day at NLU (call it my informal farewell dinner with my best friends).

Blackout

I was in Kota (Rajasthan) when I saw a blackout for the first time, in 2002-03. I know I shouldn't admit, but it seemed fun then. Today I was sitting in my room checking some snaps on my Nikon when suddenly electricity went off. In the limited sunlight coming out of the window, I could make out the outlines of this lantern kept there. Any person who needs more cues to actually click a snap of this lantern does not have an instinct for photography. Well, all these events just made me tag it blackout. The shot has been clicked at an extremely low shutter speed of 1/15th of a second, 5.6 being the aperture settings.

Suspended

These are dew drops suspended on morning grass clicked from an extreme macro zoom level. The snap might look artificial, but let me assure you its an original click. Taken from my Nikon L5, sharpness might be an issue, but nonetheless the pic is worth a view, especially for those who've never noticed the morning stranded dew on grass from such a close angle.

I clicked this one way back in winters of 2008 at our Hanumangarh home, but never got the time to upload it. The only problem I faced was that the temperatures were nearing freezing point and it was a pain to hold my Nikon still to click this one.

Scales

A leaf trying to scale the sky- what may matter be not the act but the intent. I was sitting in the lawn in front of my home and staring at the sky when suddenly this leaf obstructed my view; guess it was good enough an effort by it to get clicked. Its leaves are creating a look as if they're trying to create a measuring scale.

Solitude...

I was in Mehrangarh, the magnificent Fort of Jodhpur, when I clicked this one. Solitude, as is obvious, is the tag given to this man, standing all alone. Wearing a jodhpuri turban, he seemed to have been standing there only to be clicked. The beauty of the fort lies in its Jodhpur Sandstone, which is one of the world’s finest sandstone.

The present is a snap of a jharokha, a common architecture style followed in the desert districts of Rajasthan. This finely carved decorative window frame takes you back to royal Rajasthan, where kings appeared before their subjects on ornately decorated balconies. This large Jharokha is an example of the artistry of traditional craftsmen from Rajasthan. Their craft was previously meant only for Rajasthani royalty. For anyone who's not visited this place, I would strongly suggest... Its a must visit...!!!