All posts filed under: Uttar pradesh

A Demon Who Loved Music

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A Short History of Folktales in India Folktales are Oral stories that are passed down by the elders to the younger generation. For centuries, folktales have been a crucial medium for preserving cultural traditions and teaching the youth to understand the world around them. A Folktale from Uttar Pradesh A poor Brahman grew sick of being poor and set out on a pilgrimage to Kashi, the holy city. After walking many miles in the sun, he stopped in a shady grove to rest and eat the stale rice he had packed himself for the journey. As he squatted under a tree to answer the call of nature, he was startled by a deep unearthly voice that said, ‘Don’t.’ He quickly got up and looked about him for the source of the voice. He could see no one around. He then walked to a nearby pond to rinse his mouth when again he heard the voice say, ‘Don’t!.’ This time he went ahead and rinsed his mouth, not heeding the warning but when he unpacked his …

HALF Way in or Half Way Out- Reflections on the Blog, Year and Life

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I left Delhi again. And you know, every time I leave Delhi for a town or even a city, I am surprised with how pleasant the life is outside. First thing that you always notice moving out of Delhi is how vast and wide-ranging the sky becomes. There are no more glimpses of Moons and Suns between buildings rather you become an observer of a painting happening.

10 Secrets about Maha Kumbh Mela of 2025 that Each of us Should know

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Tonight is Paush Purnima night as I right this. And it marks the start of the largest and the Oldest Congregation of Humankind ever meeting at the Sangam of India’s three ancient Rivers Ganga, Jamuna and the legendary Saraswati. The Maha Kumbh Mela of 2025 is set to take place in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, from January 13 to February 26, 2025. Kumbh literally means a kalash “Pot” or “pitcher” in Sanskrit. and has significance going back to the times unknown. It is the most remarkable gathering of ascetics from all sects, traditions and cults in India. The Kumbh Mela is believed to commemorate the legendary event of the churning of the ocean (Samudra Manthan) when the nectar of immortality (Amrit) was discovered. It is said that a drop each of this divine nectar fell into the rivers from the ‘pitcher’ the kumbh at four locations where the Mela is held, giving these places immense spiritual significance. Bathing ritual is the most significant ritual performed at Kumbh. Although taking a dip in the sacred waters on …

End of an Era

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My grandfather who saw through most of the 20th century, someone who was highly expressive yet quiet; one who taught us to be firm, to stand and lead in the times of crisis, one who moved mountains during the Indian Independence movement as my grandma used to narrate his stories; my grandfather was a formidable figure in his younger years, one who was known to attract problems only to solve them like a pro, one who knew how to remain content. He was probably the first one who enticed me into smoking a hookah, an old Indian way to smoke a water-pipe. He loved nature and above all his teak tree under which he sat and slept for over five decades. Here with my Road to Nara family, I wanted to share that my grandfather died last month on the auspicious day of Diwali in the early hours of dawn. Partially, it was the reason for my absence from the site. Even though it was strange how people and even in the family were waiting …

The Phenomena Of Mind or Conquering The Internal Nature: Raja Yoga

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Since the dawn of history, various extraordinary phenomena have ben recorded as happening amongst human beings. Witnesses are not wanting in modern times to attest to the fact of such events, even in societies living under the full blaze of modern science. The vast mass of such evidence is unreliable, as coming from ignorant, superstitious, or fraudulent persons. In many instances the so-called miracles are imitations. But what do they imitate? It is not the sign of a candid and scientific mind to throw overboard anything without proper investigation. Surface scientists, unable to explain the various extraordinary mental phenomena, strive to ignore their very existence. They are, therefore, more culpable than those who think that their prayers are answered by a being, or beings, above the clouds, or than those who believe that their petitions will make such being change the course of the universe. The latter have the excuse of ignorance, or at least a defective system of education, which has taught them dependence upon such beings, a dependence which has become a part …

30 Moments that I was Grateful for in 2022: Last Visual Notes of the Year

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January of 2023 is going to get over today. And for once I wanted to take out time to examine my last year’s archives before new year starts finding ways to create new journeys, i desired to assemble together those times; Journeys, though only handful they were, to keep them safe, here and create a reason to keep coming back, whenever needed to smile, over and over. Hence for one last time before we leave it all to memory and ongoing Life: One memory which will roam for long is going to be the death of my grandmother, and the times spent in the village along the river Ganges Mother posing on the roof of an Ashram, on the banks of Ganga in Haridwar was a memorable time. THE JOURNEY TO KASAR TEMPLE – ALMORA The first assignment came to document the sacred Kasar Devi Temple in Almora and finding a new home there like my own family, where we took a detour to visit a remarkable museum dedicated to Govind Ballabh Pant in Almora …

A Visual Diary Of a Day In My Village

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I do not live in my village. Neither I get to spend time there any more. But there are days when the news comes like the fresh winds after Rains. That grandfather is calling. He turned 101 this month. And well who knows he could be even more or less as there was no way to document it in those days. On paper he was born in 1921. Rains. Photography has become like that elusive rain for me. I have stopped photographing like I used to. I do not use any of my three cameras and 8 old-world manual Nikon lenses anymore, that I had carefully and proudly bought. It was through my 20mm and 35mm lenses that I taught myself to photograph day in and day out. To an extent I always felt a sense of belongingness that they knew what I want to see every single moment and day of my outing with them. But times strangely changed or did I? More after I started using ‘Road to Nara’- my blog as a …

Silent Poems From My Ancestral Village; A Photographic Tribute

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These images come from my village. Right here where my grandmother sits peeling potatoes, there i was born. But left within three months as I was told. The hand you see on the wall comes on Indian walls when a daughter leaves the house after marriage. This home also witnessed my earliest phase when I first started making photographs with our only family Kodak Film camera KB10. These are some of the Earliest images from my village home and probably the only time I could photograph my grandmother, peeling potatoes. Made in 2005. : ँ : Thank you. If today is the first time you have arrived on The Road to Nara, you are heartily welcome ~ Namaste : ँ : I will take this opportunity to introduce you to About me and importantly; As a co-traveller, will take you through the Ten Lessons I learnt from several years on the road, before you coarse on your own Road to Nara. Also read: Top 9 Most Read Posts of 2022 : ँ : You might also like to know about My Little School Project. If you wish …

The Last Journey to Ganga and Scenes from my Ancestral Village : A Photographic Essay

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Visiting Grand Parents used to be the only time when the Joy of having many umbrellas multiplied the possibilities of games, laughter and Humour. But one day without any knock, or warning grandmother died an exceptionally unusual death. All those years the perception that I carried of association, I could never feel it again towards my birth home, my birth courtyard, after grandmother was gone. No sense of belonging. My village had started to look congested. May be that was why parents must have left it. In 1982. On the mud terrace of our ancestral home, fragrance of cow-dung cakes still brings to my mind the nostalgia of my grandmother cleaning the courtyard every morning. Even before the sun would rise; while telling me with love to keep sleeping. Upla* are still used for cooking and cleaning. And just last week were also used for lighting the pyre of my uncle. Father’s eldest brother. Death of a family pillar changes a lot of dimension. For one It brings overwhelming, repulsive, abominable silence in homes. I …

When Krishna calls. A dream life of an Australian Photographer from Paris : Travels in Vrindavan

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“O Krishna, the stillness of the divine union, which you describe, is beyond my comprehension. How can the mind which is so restless, attain lasting peace. Krishna, the mind is restless, turbulent, powerful, violent. To tame the mind is like to tame the wind.” – Srimad Bhagvad Gita  I was in my early teens when on my grandmother’s fierce insistence, parents took us on a tour to Mathura and Vrindavan. Krishna had supposedly entered my grandmother’s dream. She lost her sleep, and waited for that day when she would touch the earth of Krishna’s birth. And encircling the epical, ancient, holy Govardhana hill,  गोवर्धन पर्वत on her bare feet. The sun was setting in the land of braj as we arrived, the winds started blowing, grandmother’s eyes went backwards; her body calmed, voice started mumbling the words known to every wall and each monkey sitting on them, as they could  be heard from myriad mouths. Narrow lanes of brick, tall walls wearing Mughal attires turning holy, as the time turned blue like romance, the colour of Krishna, Yamuna …

A Brief History of Time and Walking in the Ancient City of Varanasi

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– All say i have gone on my mother, slanting slope with a dead end like nose, high cheekbones, eyes watching from a socket, paler complexion. Today when i lied beside her listening, i saw a few lines sketched around her lips, tight forehead, intense she looked, and looked old. I leave for Kashmir the day after for a month and wanted to post this write-up which i wrote six months ago on the ghats of Benaras. I am drunk tonight. … Holi city, indeed Crowded by boredom Of new and the old Japanese is written on the walls, Telugu, Gujrati, Hindi, Marwari and deity of the falling doll, Walls are tall as lanes are narrow concluding steps Going towards the flow Ganga looks like one today The sun is shining on the polluted dark A bark flows with the river, with a free body, swelled liked a shapeless balloon Him, crows are murdering more. But the noon is calmer here, they say, river trudges up from there background chantings and prayers from sound systems …