Golden Temple is a unique building, which hypnotizes any photographer or visitor of any religion or nation; its mesmerizing, bewitching, spellbinding, magnetizing, enthralling – I can go on till I exhaust my own vocabulary and that of the entire universe. Trust me, a visit to Golden Temple is a soul stirring experience of life time. Whenever I go there and I see any `first time visitor’ to Golden Temple, I see them gasping with reverence at the main entrance gate itself. Where almost all first timers just stop and love to absorb the first glimpses. Trust me, it’s that life time moment and experience, which is hard to forget. Once you have entered the Golden Temple complex, then you are disconnected with the outside world, most people wish if they could spend all their lifetime there and would be very happy to involve with `kar seva’ (anykind of service for cleaning of floor, utensils, Langar – the holy kitchen). All visitors, known as Sangat at Gurudwaras, sit around the holy Sarovar (water tank) `parikrama’ (the banks and the path to complete a circle around Golden Temple) and listen to Shabads of Gurubani. The tranquility is spellbinding for the soul.

The regular visitors, mostly local Sangat, who visit Golden Temple, everyday before they begin for their daily chore, stop at the entrance point after descending the first flight of steps. I see God on the faces of the Sangat which stops at this point, they stand with their eyes closed and hands folded, murmuring words to endorse their wishes and repentance for their sins. I think, they beg to God to forgive them for the sins they did the previous day, lest He punishes.  How silly we are, majority of  us forget the right way, I think, its to ask for `Satbudhi’ (wisdom to think the right way). If we are blessed with `Satbudhi’ then we will not do anything wrong and no fear of punishment by God. I am sure, this world of `devotees seeking blessings and making wishes’ must be having quite an amazing spectrum of desires of human beings. Most of us, go there and beg for all the niceties of life, comforts, blessings for anything which can make people comfortable and happy and leaders to make other jealous and envious of us. May be, I am no exception to join this practice, I do beg to Him. I do not know whether my wishes are right, I ask to bless me with plenty of `Satbudhi’ to be a good human being, give me work, will to work, keep me honest, keep me healthy to do my work, I assure You that I will work and I am sure You will take care of me. A good religious preaching by spiritual teachers is that if you have faith in Him and yourself, then no need to even utter a word, He will take care, He knows. The root cause of all the troubles to our own life is that we do not have faith in anything, we are always worried and keep making calculations and make wrong projections to ourselves and thus majority are utterly unhappy.

One day, on one of my photography visits to the Golden Temple, I noticed people were in direct communication with God for those few moments, I think, He must be allowing these kind of calls at this spot. As you can see a different expression on the faces of people for these few moments. Some rub their head and some their nose on the floor, to please Him. They are `in trance’ for few moments. I wish people could carry these moments with them home and remain with these expressions all the day, this world could have been a heaven. I love capturing these expressions with my camera now.

My experience as a photographer at Golden Temple, has been unmatched by any other place on this earth. What I enjoy, apart from the solacing atmosphere, is no restrictions of any sort on anyone, can you believe this! Anyone can enter anytime of 24 hours, no restrictions as long as you respect the basics of visiting any Gurudwara i.e. cover your head, no shoes or socks, etc. Its such a free world at the Golden Temple – total freedom – as long as you are within `maryada’ – the norms. There is no pressure of anykind on anyone to make anykind of offerings, if wish to make then there is no specifications on miimum or maximum. On my travels, I have experienced some nasty things about offerings at religious places. At the Golden Temple, you are free to visit any place of worship, no bar based on caste, creed, colour, religion, etc. Whenever, I have requested any devotee to consent me for a photograph, they happily agree.

How lucky are the  denizens of Amritsar! We all may think that they all visit everyday. Alas, we all falter!

Slideshow

12►

Taj Mahal (also “the Taj”) is one of the seven wonders of the world, and established historians have noted that its architectural beauty has never been surpassed. And is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles.  The Taj is the most beautiful monument built by the Mughals, the Muslim rulers of India. Its stunning architectural beauty is beyond any kind of description in words, particularly when seen at dawn and sunset. The Taj wears different looks in different weather conditions of all seasons and the time of the day, like a married woman looks in different colours of her dresses and jewelry – there is mesmerising glow on it in the light of the full moon, on a foggy morning, the Taj looks as if suspended, especially when viewed from across the Yamuna river, at sunset and sunrise it entices all the photographers as the glow of the last and first light transforms it into a big jewel.

In 1983, the Taj, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as “the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage.”

Like any other photographer, I was fascinated to photograph the Taj. The day I bought my first digital SLR Canon 20D at Delhi, I drove straight to Agra and spent a week around the marvel. With everyday spent around the Taj, it fired up the intensity of my love to photograph it, which I have never had with any other subject. During all the winter photo sessions, I stood shivering behind the Taj at 0515 hours in winters (used to get get up at 0430 hours), I could not touch my camera tripod with bare hands, it was chilling. Also, I have scorched myself  under the Sun of June, I have stood chest deep in the muck of Yamuna, which doesn’t have much of water content, I have slipped and banged my bums on human excreta many times (lost count now), sometimes the level of the muck flow increases and when it recedes leaves an evenly thin coating of muck behind on ground, which is nothing other than the sewerage flow of whole Agra city. But my passion always took over me and I could not see all that.

In June 2007, I went to photograph people congregating behind the Taj for the celebration of Ganga Dussehra. It is a local fair to Uttra Pradesh (one of the states of India). On my first such shoot, while I was shooting large congregation bathing in that murky Yamuna River, composing the Taj in the background, I had to be in my underwear, as I was not prepared for the kind of shots I was being offered by the festival. On my previous shoots, I used to avoid touching the water flowing in Yamuna, with my feet even. I was moving around very carefully, while holding two cameras up in air in my both hands, scared of slipping and hitting the cameras on ground first. But then the inevitable happened, I slipped on the thin layer of muck and then discovered that it changed my life and my view of the shoot. I was sitting on ground comfortably all over to shoot and regain those lost shots, which I had missed in last one hour, it was like losing virginity – thereafter no worries. I sat all over without any hesitation and was rewarded with some excellent photos. All this gets eclipsed when your passion makes you blind for as a while.

Now, I love going behind the Taj Mahal, on Yamuna side, on my each visit to Agra and the kids of Kacchpura village love to tag along with me on each shoot. After the shoot, its a ritual to have tea at the `cart mounted tea stall’, with the whole gang and my driver. My driver has never been able to understand why I visit this area again and again, why I am not tired of photographing  Taj. After this ritual, I take my driver to `Ram Babu Pratha Walla’ at Belan Ganj in Agra. You have to visit this place to believe and enjoy the best `prathas’ you can ever taste in India. This routine has been evolved to keep my drivers in good humour and motivated to bring me in the morning hours when he loves to sleep. I get up at 0430 hours to reach the entry point on the road near the village Kacchpura village at 0515 hours and be in Yamuna riverbed at around 0530 hours. And the driver has no charm to get up in the morning and then wait indefinitely in the jeep for me, while I am shooting. So, I pamper my drivers at `Ram Babu Parantha’ shop.

Why I reach there so early? Most of you may wonder about me being there with my cameras, behind the Taj so early in the darkness, much before the sunrise. I am sure some readers may ridicule me being there so early. I like to scout around the right spot in the river bed for the day-break and then have enough time to deploy my camera tripod, lens cleaning, filter mounting rings, etc. I do a stock check of each pocket of my photographer’s jacket, to ensure that I know where is what and in case I need anything suddenly, I can pull out things without any confusion. By being there right in the nick of time, I do not want to be caught running around by the first light of the day and then the rising Sun, likelihood is that one may trip over something as well. I am always there at the right spot and be ready in advance to catch the royal structure making shapes in front of the crimson light, at first light of the day-break. And when fog adds to its beauty, its like newly married lady shows her face through the veil slowly. Its simply mesmerising, ecstasy!

No words can express my joy of each day I spend behind the Taj. Though, I will try to do that through my photos of the Taj, posted here in its gallery.

Slideshow

12►

Nile is a dream river for every visitor and photographers love to photograph everything around this great river.  Egypt presents the visitor with many striking contrasts, particularly in its landscape and in the ancient, Christian and Islamic elements of its heritage. Signs of Westernization and tradition are sometimes found in startlingly incongruous juxtaposition, bur more usually the new is adapted to blend harmoniously with the old.

Nile – the great river which flows down its entire length has united Egypt, and which indeed is the creator of the country. Without the Nile, Egypt would not exist.  The great majority of its estimated 80 million live along the banks of the Nile River, in an area of about 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 sq mi), where the only arable agricultural land is found. And cultivate the land as their ancestors have done for thousands of year. This narrow, fertile valley is flanked by the desert- a desert which is always threatening to take over the cultivation. Today, controlled by dams and barrages, the Nile no longer floods the country every year. The building of the High Dam at Aswan flooded the whole of the Nile valley between Aswan and the frontier with Sudan, creating Lake Nasser. Preserved from the threat of devastating floods, Egypt is now protected from the dangers of famine by the regulation of the water.

Egypt has a landscape which is surprisingly varied, but all of the terrain derives from a combination of water and sky, cultivation and desert.

Dervish Dance/ Sufi Dance Video

MORE INFO ABOUT EGYPT

Slideshow

1234...678►

I live at Panchkula (Haryana, India) and consider myself very lucky to be living near its famous Cactus Garden, sadly not very well known amongst the denizens of even this modern city, as it should have been. Thanks to all the moronic superstitions, which had some reason to come into practice, people do NOT grow any kind of cactus or succulent at home. Most Indians believe that its not a good omen to grow cactus at home. I may agree with a logic for not growing cactus at home, where there is small space and kids are around, cactus thorns being a safety concern. Lest they get hurt by the steely strong thorns of cactus. But some obtusely brains have created a superstition -`since cactus grows in desert and arid place, it brings unhappiness like desert in the house and the family’. How silly ! On the contrary, cactus gives me immense inspiration – it grows in harshest conditions, needs no extra care, still smiles with flowers, fights hard life all alone (sort of alone, otherwise ecosystem does support them to live). In fact, cacti and succulents are great plants to grow for decoration, need far lesser space (not much of spread slow growth) and abysmally scanty water supply. If you are away for a holiday, most of the cactus varieties can survive for a month without water.