Against tERROR

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Candle Light March Against Terrorrist attacks in Bombay.
Near Jantar Mantar, New Delhi
December 2008

It has been a mayhem in Mumbai (Bombay). I am usually not the one to talk about my political inclinations but we desperately need a leader with some resolve. My heart also goes out for Pakistan which is equally inflicted with such terror attacks. They are suffering from what they started and funded, which no longer seems to be in their control. But what scares me most is that unfortunately the willingness to resolve this issue, at the political level, still seems to be missing.

Chandratal - the moon lake

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Chandratal, Lahaul, Himachal

July, 2008
Nikon D80

Situated at approx, 4270m, the crescent shaped bluish green lake has its own charm. It's one of the bigger alpine lakes of this region (around Manali).

Snuggled in between the ChandraBhaga range and the barren mountainscape, Chandratal is at the source of Chandra river and is fed by meltwaters from the Chandra glacier. From here one gets a beautiful unobstructed view of the peaks of the Lahaul range, Mulkila peak (6517m), Minar (6172m), Talagiri (6279m), Tara Pahar (6227m) to name a few.

Balance of power...

Balance of power..., originally uploaded by Mohit Gupta.

Shot @ Inle, Myanmar
Nikon D80.

While lazing around in one of the "floating" markets in Lake Inle, I saw this balance of "power". A man was selling onions using these weights. I don't know what the battery weighed but people were trusting the weight and the price. It wasn't a surpise, it reminded me of the numerous "jugads" we see around in India as well.

The "balance" led to a number of thoughts...the balance of "power" is rather an "imbalance" in this country. While I traveled through Myanmar via road (for whatever small time I did), I did see the abject poverty people live in. Having lived in India that's not new to me, but the state of affairs in Myanmar is worse.

And now I just can't imagine life of people who got affected by the cyclone...

After the rain...

Noida, June 2008
Nikon D80, 105mm Nikkor

Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships. ~Ansel Adams

:-)

Light patterns

Schwezigon, Bagan, Myanmar
February, 2008

Once is an Instance.
Twice may be an accident.
But three times or more makes a pattern
- Diane Ackerman

Schwedagon Monastery

Nikon D80
Yangon, Myanmar (Burma)
January, 2008

Schwe means Gold. And there is just an overdose of gold and golden color in Myanmar :). I had always associated austerity with Buddhism. For me the sense of grandeur and Buddhism as a religion never went along. But the preception changed after this visit to Myanmar. Just to be clear I am not saying its bad, I am just talking about my perception. The kings in Myanmar have really spent a lot in building these Buddhist temples. Schwedagon has a 76 carat diamond at the very top of the temple.
The Pagodas don't have a pre defined shape and it seems to vary with the form of Buddhism and the country they are in. Burmese Pagodas are bell shaped in form.