The plan initially started of as a trip of 10 days, having had to cut short due to another work related travel to at least a sexy sounding location of Austria. So in the short span, I only considered doing Chennai, Delhi and Agra, sadly missing Jaipur.
Anyways, India as you probably have figured out is the epitome of organized civil chaos. The first hour upon embarking upon daylight, I was caught looking at everything like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. The sheer insanity of it was greater than I expected. Never mind the lack of personal space, never mind the 46 degC heat and the dusty streets… those I had anticipated to a certain extent; but the constant assault to the senses was something else with everybody wanting to be a small time entrepreneur (read con man and swindler attempting to make a quick buck at any opportunity). The mantra within 30 minutes was anyone who attempts to help you, even at ticket counters is out to get your money… Solution to that is, that only grumpy people are genuinely doing their job. This primarily includes public transport, where aside the metro any cab or taxi driver will charge tourists several times the meter price. Solution, good cop- bad cop when the brother was around…
Now, buildings and architecture are typically Moorish colonial type designs, of which I’m a huge fan of. Sadly, not much was taken care of or undergoing major renovations in preparation for the Commonwealth Games a the end of the year, so smog and dust get to places where even sunlight find difficult. The usuals being the Taj Mahal and forts are breathtaking and very pretty. But I bet one can read about most of it in architectural journals.
The interesting and most annoying elements are the same. People.
One general thing I did like about India was the sheer color and character of people, it didn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, the brightness of color and the contrasting characters of both color and inhabitants was profound and spoke to me greatest of all. Going past the very thick exterior of extortion and con-manship, I learnt that people responded very well to attempts to speak with a shaking head. Mostly, this amused most locals and in return, I did get some interesting shots and conversations including appearing in countless cameras of locals (with jumping shots, silly faces and the works).
Admittedly, I’ve not uploaded the second batch of photos yet as they were on the brother’s camera (we have the same cameras, so we used different lenses on each and swapped cameras a million times). Some of my favorite encounters are broken down
a. Group of barbers
From across the street, they shouted and asked if I wanted a street side shave and what not… sadly, I did shave in the morning and upon showing them my stubble-les chin and a funny face, they burst out laughing. I particularly loved the crisp starched linen white shirts and tailored trousers, big glasses and immaculate moustaches. To me, that is the classic postcolonial Indian style… It’s a pity that the shot was a little blurred as I was getting used to the brother’s autofocus preferences.
b. Cricket Boy
Within 30 minutes of the barber posse, I came across a group of boys playing cricket at the sidewalk. Cricket is not a sport but a religion. It takes precedence over local affairs and politics on the frontpage of most daily publications. Back to the boy, now what I did was happen to catch a stray ball and leveraged it for a series of photos before being told of by kids. I really wanted to play a round but was cautioned by my voice of reason (younger brother). Now this child was about 8 and looked surprisingly stylish with a cheeky grin, blue striped shirt and dark green khaki shorts matched with white-laced shoes, the look tied together by a red threaded band on this wrist and a well used bat.
Anyways, India as you probably have figured out is the epitome of organized civil chaos. The first hour upon embarking upon daylight, I was caught looking at everything like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. The sheer insanity of it was greater than I expected. Never mind the lack of personal space, never mind the 46 degC heat and the dusty streets… those I had anticipated to a certain extent; but the constant assault to the senses was something else with everybody wanting to be a small time entrepreneur (read con man and swindler attempting to make a quick buck at any opportunity). The mantra within 30 minutes was anyone who attempts to help you, even at ticket counters is out to get your money… Solution to that is, that only grumpy people are genuinely doing their job. This primarily includes public transport, where aside the metro any cab or taxi driver will charge tourists several times the meter price. Solution, good cop- bad cop when the brother was around…
Now, buildings and architecture are typically Moorish colonial type designs, of which I’m a huge fan of. Sadly, not much was taken care of or undergoing major renovations in preparation for the Commonwealth Games a the end of the year, so smog and dust get to places where even sunlight find difficult. The usuals being the Taj Mahal and forts are breathtaking and very pretty. But I bet one can read about most of it in architectural journals.
The interesting and most annoying elements are the same. People.
One general thing I did like about India was the sheer color and character of people, it didn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, the brightness of color and the contrasting characters of both color and inhabitants was profound and spoke to me greatest of all. Going past the very thick exterior of extortion and con-manship, I learnt that people responded very well to attempts to speak with a shaking head. Mostly, this amused most locals and in return, I did get some interesting shots and conversations including appearing in countless cameras of locals (with jumping shots, silly faces and the works).
Admittedly, I’ve not uploaded the second batch of photos yet as they were on the brother’s camera (we have the same cameras, so we used different lenses on each and swapped cameras a million times). Some of my favorite encounters are broken down
a. Group of barbers
From across the street, they shouted and asked if I wanted a street side shave and what not… sadly, I did shave in the morning and upon showing them my stubble-les chin and a funny face, they burst out laughing. I particularly loved the crisp starched linen white shirts and tailored trousers, big glasses and immaculate moustaches. To me, that is the classic postcolonial Indian style… It’s a pity that the shot was a little blurred as I was getting used to the brother’s autofocus preferences.
b. Cricket Boy
Within 30 minutes of the barber posse, I came across a group of boys playing cricket at the sidewalk. Cricket is not a sport but a religion. It takes precedence over local affairs and politics on the frontpage of most daily publications. Back to the boy, now what I did was happen to catch a stray ball and leveraged it for a series of photos before being told of by kids. I really wanted to play a round but was cautioned by my voice of reason (younger brother). Now this child was about 8 and looked surprisingly stylish with a cheeky grin, blue striped shirt and dark green khaki shorts matched with white-laced shoes, the look tied together by a red threaded band on this wrist and a well used bat.
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