All posts tagged: A photographic essay on Death

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 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 …