Enjoy the Paintings, Jammu and Kashmir, Letters to self
Published on 29/11/2022
Comments 51

The Colours of November : A Photographic Journey

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Second last month of another year will be done soon. December knocks or not it has arrived. Many a times words feel weighty and probably this could be one thing for a writer which is nearly impossible to establish through his writing. A long Silence. Or the absence of presence. He may distract and not talk about a certain thing or may even carve out a poem. But silence is something that is personal to any breathing being.

This November was that silent noise for me. It came as it is going. Like life, like age. It is not I who feels older still but only while observing my parents. streaks of hair, dehydrated skin, puffed eyes. Things are certainly moving towards a direction.

It was a busy month. Filled with many memories that we as a family collected, and me in my own archival way. Away from expectations or even results. May be I have learnt the way of a writer. Yet still I am and will always be ‘in-practise’ an imagemaker first.

Sharing the times that were November.

First day of November saw me travelling to Jammu/Kashmir on a short trip via the newly popular Vande Bharat Express.

Looking outside the window of my Hotel-(Image 1)

Found one lonely horse finding anything to eat on a Jammu street. The mountain behind is the the gateway hill to the Vaishno Mata Shrine Katra City, Jammu.

Can we call it Plant-Life art?

For building blessings. On way to Udhampur, Jammu.

Jammu is also known as the City of Temples. On one recommendation went to visit one ashram of Baba Sridhar.

Ashram had two beautiful hexagonal shaped ponds behind me. I made videos of them. They had two big crabs of different colours. And other had fishes and a tortoise.

This amazing Travel Writer has been an inspiration for not his writing actually, i couldn’t read him much but the resolve he showed throughout his life for travels. At a time when India grappled with abject poverty and whatnot, Rahul Sankrityayan was travelling all over the world on foot writing, archiving, translating and experimenting with religion. By the time he left the world, he was a Marxist.

Volga To Ganga is his masterpiece to the world. Not an easy read but an important one for me.

Notice Board at School

A Sadhu reading a News Paper in Delhi

A Self Portrait on the last day of four year association with my Wrestling coach.

And the next night, I went to watch a film after 6 years(Dangal). I don’t go to cinema watching even often but this film called ‘Kantara‘, pulled me in. An absolute beauty. It was me and may be 8 more people in the hall. But it was like ‘less the better’.

Saw this face sitting well in Bal Bhawan, New Delhi

Our Bharat(India), it says, as the girl watches had an exhibition showcasing pottery, photographs, utensils and paintings from 1000 BC to the current times.

An image of a hut, children sitting in front and 50-80 year old pots kept as an ode to the old times.

The magic mirror room called for a Selfie on the Picnic Day.

After a long tiring day, School children and teachers sat for one last image in front of the newly placed Subhash Chandra Bose statue at the War Memorial, India Gate in New Delhi.

A walk in the Lodhi Garden. (Image 1)

A walk in the Lodhi Garden. (Image 2)

A walk in the Lodhi Garden. (Image 3)

A walk in the Lodhi Garden. (Image 4)

Sun setting behind an avalanche of human nests.

Its growing cold as December’s wintery breath has already started clouding the pond, frosting the pane, obscuring summer’s memory. Hoping that the last month will see us walking through the dew in the morning grass, that it will bring joy and colours. And a promise for a peaceful, more stable future.


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Thank you.


If today is the first time you have arrived on The Road to Nara, you are heartily welcome ~ Namaste

If you have any suggestions, please write in the comment box or feel free to write to me at narayankaudinya@gmail.com


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I will take this opportunity to introduce you to About me and importantly;

As a co-traveller, my Ten Learnings from several years on the road, before you coarse on your own Road to Nara.

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Also, You will be happy to know about My Little School Project. If you wish to come over for a visit someday that you must, you will be heartily welcomed here

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To visit other long-term photographic works, please visit here.

Follow my works and walks as I document Rural Indian Subcontinent at 
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

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This entry was posted in: Enjoy the Paintings, Jammu and Kashmir, Letters to self
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by

Hi, I am Narayan Kaudinya. And i welcome you on this journey, the Road to Nara ! I am an Ethnographer and a practicing Indologist. I did my masters in History and further learnt Sanskrit, Yoga and Nerve-therapy. At 24, pushing most academic sounding, office sitting works away, i felt compelled to know and understand the world and my country, Bharat/India. I travelled, and as it happened i took up teaching in Kashmir and further up in the remote villages of Baltistan in the foothills of Karakoram Ranges. For around three years and many states later there came a time when i felt that it was only while teaching i learnt how to laugh, to see, feel, breathe, love and cry -with children, and mostly resource-less parents in the harshest-freezing border conditions. I write, and work as a documentary photographer and Filmmaker, with numerous published, exhibited and some awarded stories. In my travels and life i have let nature lead me, the divine mother, and as a Yogin, my resolve here is to share my experiences and thoughts as honestly, and through them to blossom in everyone the power and possibility in pursuing your breath, that you seek your true nature with courage and curiosity. Here, on this road i will share my spirit, my love for nature, the elements of life that are us. And in doing so, i'll be happy to see you along.

51 Comments

  1. Yetismith says

    Wonderful photographs. I have fond memories of my all too brief visits to India. I also hope for peace.

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  2. gabychops says

    There are many good writers but what makes Narayan so special is demonstrated in his today’s photographic journey in a spectacular manner. As always his efforts are to elevate his beloved country, Bharat/India to the deserved appreciation, and is he succeeding? More than even he expected! From the first opening journey’s photo of the elegant Bharat Express, we are aware of the unstoppable development of India’s economy among so many countries. The photos showing the stone blessing would be an interesting addition to many tourists’ and natives’ albums of travel memories. The equally unmissable are the photos of parks and gardens, full of stone walkways in the Lodhi Garden, including trees and buildings of imposing structures.
    We already know how truly brilliant Narayan’s school is, and so the photos from the very recent picnic just offer further proof, especially when children are taken to sit in front of the recently placed statue of Subash Chandra Bose at the War Memorial, a lesson in Indian history at its best. Another photo shows what works so well to elevate Narayan’s school to one of the best in the country, and that is one of the many inspiring notices on the school walls that influence children as the ideas sip into their minds while they see them every day.

    We, not so tall, would love to have the address of the wrestling coach who stretched Narayan to the most impressive height or lenght.

    The atmospheric photos of New Delhi would have anyone booking the reservation on the first flight possible. From the exquisite parks and gardens, where against the backdrop of huge trees sits a Sadhu reading a newspaper while a little monkey plays to a spectacular photo of “the sun over the avalanche of human nesting”.
    I have no space to mention every exclusive location that we were offered, and so in conclusion – New Deli is the place to be, and Narayan is the best guide.
    soI do hope someone at the Head Office of Touristy Development is reading this and seeing who to invite to a meeting.

    Once again, Narayan created this masterful photographic journey to read and look at many times. Thank you.

    Joanna

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    • Narayan Kaudinya says

      What shall I say dearest Joanna. You are amazing with words and your affection is like a blanket. I am enveloped by your words and their warmth.

      It is beyond words and even feeling. Thank you.

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      • gabychops says

        You know by now, Narayan, that I only write what I genuinely believe in.
        The photographic journey is a magnificent tribute to my favorite country and seeing those images made my day. It would be a dream come true if I could see Bharat one day but it is in God’s lap at the moment…

        Joanna

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    • Narayan Kaudinya says

      It is true that I will be more than happy to be a guide for anyone who wants to travel this country Joanna. And I know you will plan someday too. 🙂

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  3. anne leueen says

    Thank you for sharing these wonderful photos of our month. You have been busy it seems. Enjoy the last month of 2022 and best wishes to you and your parents for 2023.

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  4. Chaya Sheela says

    Beautiful pictures, Narayan. Each picture speaks volumes.
    I like this caption, “Sun setting behind an avalanche of human nests.”
    Image three, the beautiful arch framing the tree is gorgeous.
    Thank you for sharing.

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  6. C.A. Post says

    “Things are certainly moving towards a direction.”
    Yes, for those who do not know Jesus, the only thing certain in life is change.
    For those who know Him, there is some small knowledge of that direction and what will happen soon. He is coming back, though no one knows the day nor the hour.
    I pray that many wonderful people of India will be ready, and that they will be blessed and have delightful lives.
    ❤️&🙏, c.a.

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    • Narayan Kaudinya says

      Thank C.a Jesus is one of the forms of the one divine. There have been quiet a few messenger since time memorial.

      Thanks for writing c.a. Always a pleasure 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      • C.A. Post says

        However, Jesus did not allow for being only “one form of the divine.”
        As someone has said, for someone to make the claims that the historical records show Jesus made, “He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse . . . But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” (C.S. Lewis)
        If one investigates the records of Jesus’ life stories and compares to Hindu, Buddhist, Zoroastrian, Mormon or Jainists’ beliefs, one will find the evidence clearly pointing to Jesus as the “Only Begotten Son of God.”
        And when one considers the effects His life had on the world, compared to these other religious leaders, it becomes undeniable that He must have offered something very different from them.
        ❤️&🙏always, c.a.

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        • Narayan Kaudinya says

          Thanks for writing dear C.A

          You know I am no one to doubt what Jesus said or not but I can certainly doubt his followers who in him name might have said or done violence. I am sure of one thing, no messenger of god will allow violence in the name of god.

          Also we West cannot be compared with the eastern Philosophy, and more so that which originated from India – as time, circumstances, environment and practises have been completely antagonistic since the beginning.

          Thanks again C.A for your thoughts. I hope people are getting ready for another round of Christmas 🙂 My wishes.

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          • C.A. Post says

            Of course, many have done terrible things in the name of almost all religions and continue to do so. But be careful not to judge what Jesus IS by what some do in His name. That would be like evaluating Beethoven’s symphonies based on a fifth-grade music class playing his concertos. 😉
            In all religions, look to the root, how it began, if it is reasonable to believe, if it explains the universe as it is, and if it leads me to a life that will be pleasing to The God Who Is.
            ❤️&🙏, c.a.

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            • Narayan Kaudinya says

              Exactly dear C.a, looking to the roots and above all how it has effected the world in the longer run. I am sure its time enough we know what religions have done to the mankind. For sure, have not been able to teach them well. Because, right now the we are going for wars. Just hope that they dont go for the nukes!

              Liked by 1 person

  15. Mabel Kwong says

    Enjoyed this post about your November. Experiences and memories are good things to live and collect. Lodhi Garden looked like a tranquil walk. Enjoy your winter and take care.

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  17. kalantzianastasia says

    Thank you very much too, dear friend! Do always take good care of yourself and your beloved ones! Health, Love and Peace to your life! Greetings from the cold but sunny Greece!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  19. Lakshmi Bhat says

    When I saw the stones piled, I remembered our visit to Kukke Subramanya temple. Kumaradhara river flows nearby. There too devotees keep stones on top of each other. It is fascinating. Kantara was very popular here. I don’t think there were people who did not see it. Thank you for sharing the photos.

    Liked by 2 people

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