Pride

Being born and brought up in India, I do come from a conservative community. I have always had an open minded attitude towards concepts and cultures. But at times when I experienced those cultures and concepts for the first time, my open-mindedness momentarily betrayed me. When I was at the LGBT Pride parade in Köln, Germany, this very thing happened. It was the first time I was in the vicinity of gay and Trans- community. For a little while, I admit, I did feel very awkward and scared. But 10-15 minutes there and I realised that these people are as human as I am and made of flesh, blood and bone, the way we all are.

After a lot of rainy and gloomy days, we luckily were graced by sunlight, of course with intermittent clouds. They never leave me alone in Germany. During the parade I observed a lot of weirdly and at times partly dressed people having fun on the streets – a rare sight in Germany. For once, everyone was happy and celebrating. Lots of gifts, chocolates and flying kisses were being showered during the parade. It was very funny to see curious kids and ‘not so familiar with the western world’ tourists being amazed and surprised by everyone participating in the parade. And there were these other set of kids who had accompanied and were supporting their parents, who were participating in the parade. I felt really happy that these kids were growing up in a new world which treats and respects individuals for who they are and love them no matter what.

At the end of the day, after the joy of the moment faded, I was left with a little bit of sadness. These people today had to fight their own self, the society and the norms just to be themselves. Some of them probably have been suffocated for ages living as a person they do not relate with. I’m very happy that things are changing now – at least in the west. Hope someday this freedom and social acceptance is available to every individual.

A rough idea of the wonderful day is available as follows as a photo essay of 15 images I thought would define the environment that day. I did not, as usual, shoot the procession itself.

Some other pictures could be viewed on my Flickr stream

Camera: Nikon D7000 with Nikorr 18-55mm

Köln Karneval

­How important is Culture? I would say, very. It defines civilizations, nations, creeds and also individuals. Culture is a crucial entity that defines a person. It shapes one’s habits and carves one’s liking. Culture might be handed through lineage or might be just a choice. But it exists; through actions, food, clothes etc.

I have moved to Germany just 8 months back, and my stay so far has just strengthened this philosophy for me. Most of the German cultural events are usually celebrated in private for example Christmas or Easter. Though the Christmas markets are pretty beautiful, the 2 prominent days of Christmas are celebrated indoors when rest of Germany is a colder version of the Thar Desert.

I was proven wrong by the onset of spring. Spring and summer brings the sunny side out of these people. That brings me to the main topic of this blog post. The Karneval or the Carnival. It is primarily a community celebration popular in the Nordrhein Westphalia state of Germany. The significance and details of the Karneval are positively available on Google so if you feel too interested, look it up. I never have. So if you do look it up, do share it with me.

In a nutshell, the Karneval is a street parade, party and beer time for the natives of the state. What impressed me is the temporary and sudden change in the attitude of the people. The otherwise private Germans who would trash my camera if I point it at them, were extremely camera friendly and jovial.

I had an important exam to write in 3 days but I was not going to miss the Karneval. I went to Cologne on the Karneval Sunday and attended Rose Monday in Aachen itself. Just to be clear, I did clear my exam, though barely. Anyway to describe my experience in brief - Lots of bright coloured costumes were well complimented by the sunlight, which we were lucky to have. People were happy and merry with bottles, at times crates of beer roaming the streets of the city. Kids, which includes me, were excited to collect biscuits and chocolates that are distributed by the parade. The entire city was in a state of Chaos, of course a controlled chaos. They just don’t let anything out of control. It was first time in months I got close to feeling like in India. It was absolute fun.

The parade goes on for quite a while. It is full of horses, clowns, costumed groups etc. Lots of cameras were pointing at the parade as expected. So those pictures you could check on Google. I chose to differ and tried to look away from the parade and at the crowd. And trust me, the crowd never lets you down. So here are some off beat Karneval images which I hope you like and which help you get an idea of the things that go on around the parade and not just in the parade.

Some other pictures on my flickr page - www.flickr.com/abhishekdani

Camera: Nikon D7000 with Nikorr 18-55

Peths of Pune

In the last few months I was in India, I have walked a couple of times clicking pictures through the streets of old Pune, the real or original Pune if I may call it. I usually walked with a couple of my friends and fellow photographers who I really bonded with through this hobby. I came across so many nice people and nice places that it changed the way I looked at my city. I have grown up in a Pune far different than what I saw on these streets. The mean ‘Puneri’ attitude really was not as prominent and all the perceptions and fears I had about the people from the city slowly proved to be wrong to quite an extent. There were no situations where a smile did not ease the tension in the air. A simple smile made me one of them and they returned my gesture with a smile as well.

The attitude of the people is drastically different from the people living in the extended part of the city. Walking through the narrow lanes was initially scary because I had a lot of perceptions about the people that reside there. But after a few walks it really became easy. I felt the fear was just in my head. You have to believe that the person in front of you is a good person and means no harm. That makes our thoughts and minds free from negativity and fear. There is a famous saying where I come from – ‘People are never bad. Situations are’. My experience on the streets just strengthened that for me.

What I miss in Pune as a city, is character. Pune is a city with historic significance and yet there is not much evidence about it. The old buildings – Waadaas, as they are called, are slowly being changed in to modern day buildings. I don’t blame anyone for that. But I wish Pune did have better character as a city. The people on the contrary, are really amazing. They are bound by the innate Puneri attitude, even though they might be diversified by language or religion.

Now it has been almost 6 months that I have been living in Germany and I realize how vibrant and active the culture and life is in India. There are so many unique, colourful and lively places and characters hidden in the small streets of Pune, from daily wage workers to body builders or ‘Pahilwaan’ as they are called. Words fail me when I try to explain what the city feels like, one reason being my lack of vocabulary, but you would have a spend a few weeks walking through these streets and talking with people to understand what I mean.

From the picture I tried to paint about my wonderful city, I would not suggest people to turn tourists and go exploring the city. It is just the way I see it or rather feel it. According to me places are to be experienced and felt and not just visited and looked at. May be for you, you would not see any of the above said things. But you could always go for shopping, if not anything else. I do not have much more to write and would just let my pictures speak.

The pictures are the ones I rejected from my Flickr wall because they do not stand strong as good street photographs, but are not too bad either. You could check my Flickr wall for others.

Also interesting are the pictures of Pune a friend and fellow street photo enthusiast takes. You could check Sanket Garade's flickr account too.

If you are looking for even better photographs of Pune and places around, you could also have a look at my good friend Swapnil Jedhe's website. He is a renowned and brilliant photographer and a great mentor as well.

An upgraded version of this photo essay 'Peths of Pune' can be found on 121clicks.com too.

 Camera: MY OWN Nikon D7000 with Nikorr 35mm and Nikorr 18-55mm

Manoranjan Nagari

The experience of an Amusement Park is easy to explain. It’s just like Diwali! Lots of brightly lit structures, joyous cheers of children and parents, tired of running behind their joyous children. It’s just like Diwali! Everything that seems fun is dangerous, everything that tastes delicious will end up giving you diarrhea and every little thing is suddenly expensive. It’s just like Diwali!

There is this travelling amusement park called ‘Manoranjan Nagari’ that travels through India and halts at various cities for 5-6 weeks. One of their destinations happens to be Pune. I had been desperately waiting for them when one fine day I saw their advertisement in the local paper and decided to grab the opportunity. So there I was, one Sunday evening, with a borrowed camera and no intention of going on any ride, standing in middle of jam packed park with no idea of where to start.

It does take a few minutes, couple of smiles and a lot of fake answers to the question, ‘For which newspaper do you work?’, before you really blend in and get a couple of pictures. But once you get started, the possibilities are unlimited. You see a lot of children having the time of their lives, and lot of parents enjoying along or annoyed with their kids and of course a lot of tired grandparents. Young couples have started to flood these Parks too since sitting on the Z-Bridge has become too mainstream!

But my attention was caught by the most neglected and ironically, most detached breed of humans – The Amusement Park workers. Working in the very epicenter of Mirth, they had not a smile on their weary faces. These people come from various parts of India, travel along with the group, stay in small shanties and get unimaginably low pay. My heart goes out to them. But I’m proud of such people who hard work over beggary. It’s a bold choice and I respect them for that.

Moving back to the happy things - the Manoranjan Nagari is a ‘Color and Light’ bonanza. Brightly lit rides yielding colorful patterns are a treat to the eyes and the thrilling swivelling motion patterns, a treat for the brave hearted. It is great place where the Grown-ups can rekindle with their childhood and the girls can fulfill their secret desire – to yell on top of their voices! It is a place where time will fly by and the kids will never have had enough.

Yet people resent from going there because they think it’s too cheap. It is a place we deserve, but not the one we need right now. So we’ll criticize it because it can take it. Because it’s just not an amusement park. It is a silent guardian of childhood, a watchful protector of emotions. A Dark Knight!!!

Camera: Nikon D5100 with Nikorr 18-105