Posts from — February 2012

The last week has been a quiet restful week with a lot of laziness. The fatigue caught up after we returned and I spent a lot of time with my feet up. Didn’t get all my blog posts out but did get a lot of reading done.

Saturday saw us getting really busy – the house getting cleaned and organised before the dogs came back. Oh yes the highlight of the week is the dogs are back! Life now falls back into a routine with the dogs causing sweet distraction.

The dogs aren’t really very demanding but they force us in to routines and patterns. I’m someone who doesn’t like routines and patterns, they bore me and I keep trying to escape them. But with the dogs I have to fit into some form of schedule.

Routine (Definition): A sequence of actions regularly followed; a fixed program. A set of customary and often mechanically performed procedures or activities.

The dogs have to be fed on time, which means the meat has to be taken out to thaw or kibble soaked on time. It isn’t a huge chore but it still is a to-do and I hate to-dos. (Don’t think anyone likes them ) The dogs require certain things to be done regularly – food, check-up, pooper-scooper, exercise… Like I said it isn’t a lot but with them around things get done, it can’t be pushed to tomorrow.

I’ve had this internal to-do battle for a while now. I don’t like the routine but still try to stick with it. When I miss, I feel guilty – three dogs looking up at you saying ‘where’s my food?’ – only makes you guiltier. That said I’m glad they bring routine to my life, I get a lot more done with them around.

I’ve seen that with kids too. Easy to skip a meal when its just you but try getting a kid to skip a meal and you’ll bring the roof down. They live a timed life and force you into their timelines. In some obscure convoluted way its a good thing they bring order to chaos else you’d have a lot of lazy people like me.

But is lazy bad? After all we have but one life, why get so busy? Do you follow a routine? Do you like the routine? Need dogs or kids to enforce the routine?

Some days are just not great. All is well with the world and there’s good things happening around you but there’s just something, a little niggly-wiggly something that makes the day not great.

Today is that kind of day for me. I just don’t feel on top of the world, more like the bottom of the hill. It a good day – sun shinning, clear skies, smiles and all that but there’s just something thats making me feel down. Its a downer day!

But I have a remedy for that I have this lovely dress that just makes me feel great. Its a little green-blue-yellow stripped dress I picked up a few years ago. I loved it the minute I saw it. It was meant for nine years olds but hey, why should that stop me. A little alteration and it fit me just fine.

I love its colours and twirly-ness. Wearing it just makes me feel like dancing so its perfect for a down day. Every time I start to sink the skirt swishes and makes me smile. The dress makes me feel like I’m twirling in the middle of a yellow field. (Guess thats my idea of simple pure joy). it doesn’t make the day a great one but it does make it better.

Its my getaway to my secret place. We all have those, right? Little things – photos, postcards, mementoes – things that take us away to that happy place. Do you have a getaway? Something to take you away for just a bit? Something that will smooth away all wrongs for just a bit? Make the world alright even if its just for a bit?

Photo Credit: Eye4Art

The last two weeks have been fun, I travelled, met some very interesting people and just had a ball. We photographed two weddings at two corners of India and each was so different.

We started our journey with a quick trip to Kovilpatti my ’sasural’ or as I see it my second home. From there on to Tuticorin for Hemanth and Mala’s wedding. Theirs was a simple wedding yet ‘hat ke’ or different. Hemanth and Mala added a little bit of themselves to the wedding process and I was glad to be a part of it.

It was a simple ‘nadar’ wedding where an elder gives a little speech and blessing followed by the boy tying the ‘magalsutra’ (its the Indian equivalent of a ring) or thread signifying marriage around the girls neck. There are some more speeches and the wedding’s complete. Hemanth and Mala added to the ritual by having a fusion wedding the day before with a bridal march to choreographed music and a theme. That was a nice twist to it all!

From hot seaside Tuticorin we rushed to freezing cold Jaipur for another wedding. This one was on a grand scale in palaces and heritage resorts. North Indian weddings are long affaires that go on for three to fours days. They are a riot of color and ritual. I don’t know if I’d like to be the bride in all of that but I definitely enjoyed watching it all through my viewfinder.

After almost four years I picked up a camera again and saw the world through a viewfinder. I hadn’t realized just how much I had missed photography in the last few years. Telling a story with pictures the way I see it unfold is cathartic. It gives you a voice beyond words, and I love hiding behind my camera and seeing the world unfold in front of me.

Its been a great two weeks filled with so many things I love – travel, people, places, rituals. I realized I enjoy weddings, they say so much about people and our culture. This year is a year of experimentation for me. I want to try out as many new things as I can and find myself in it all.

Of course all this travel also meant that I didn’t have internet connectivity everywhere so I’ve missed putting up a few blog posts. I hope to make up for this in the next couple of days.

Here’s a quick photo journey of the last two weeks… [These's are Che's pics, I hope to put up mine soon ]

Its been a great two weeks travelling across India, meeting friends and seeing places after years. I’d gone to Jaipur last 5 years ago and so much has changed! This year has started of so well, can’t wait for the adventures to unveil through the year!

I’ve used this picture thrice but what can I say… I just love it!!!

In the last two weeks I’ve seen some spectacular sunrises and sunsets on the road… Here’s one Che captured…