Uncategorized – Page 9 – Shutterbugged

Waving in the air…

January 28, 2013August 26, 2018Posted in UncategorizedTagged abstract photography, Eid, flags, Indian festivals, mumbai, sky1 Comment

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Ciao

Intl Saturdays 26: Wat Arun: Temple of the Dawn

January 25, 2013August 26, 2018Posted in UncategorizedTagged architechtural marvel, architechture photogaphy, Bangkok, Burmese, Erawan, International Saturdays, Khmer architecture, Lord Aruna, Lord Indra, Old Bangkok, religion, Temple of Dawn, Thai, Thailand, Wat, Wat Arun3 Comments

As promised, here are the photographs from within the Wat Arun complex. This temple looked markedly different in appearance as compared to other Wat’s i had seen till then in Bangkok. There were no elaborate wavy sort of roofs around the complex, no excessive use of the golden colour on the structure and no sort of sanctum sanctorum so to speak. On reading up on the temple in its complex learned that the architecture is Khmer, which is of Cambodian origin.

Wat Arun is a blend of Khmer and Thai architecture and commemorates the the Indian god of dawn Aruna – ah the amalgamation of cultures! One thing that is conspicuous about Wat Arun is the intricate detailing on the main structure – called as ‘Prang’ – and also the surrounding four structures. You will notice that a lot of the material used to adorn the sculptures and the temple exteriors is broken piece of glazed porcelain.

The temple has these insanely vertiginous stairs leading upto the third terrace which has Lord Indra or as he’s popularly known in this part of the world Erawan riding on a multi-headed elephant on all the four sides. These stairs may look normal from the ground up, but as you ascend you realise that it is quite a steep climb and you will not dare to climb without holding on tightly onto the side railings.

Like i mentioned above, the main ‘prang’ of the temple is surrounded by four smaller prangs. As you are climbing up the main prang and enter the third terrace from where you can get a beautiful view of this temple town and the Chao Phraya river, you hear a pleasant and repititive sound. You can’t realise the source immediately, but if you stare hard at the top portion of the picture, you will notice some golden coloured leaf-shaped structures. They are in fact windchimes which add an element of sound thereby taking the spiritual experience to a whole new level. A zoomed in image is attached below.

The temple-guards of Oriental origins are found around the complex and with fine liveries at that.

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Ciao

Intl Saturdays 25: Glimpses – Wat Arun

January 19, 2013August 26, 2018Posted in UncategorizedTagged architechture photogaphy, Bangkok, Daily Life, International Saturdays, Old Bangkok, Temple complex, Thailand, Wat, Wat ArunLeave a comment

As you are crossing the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok to go Old Bangkok which houses the kings palace and a lot of temples also known as Wat’s, you come across these wonderfully architectured temples that take you back in time. This is what Wat Arun looked like as I was heading towards Old Bangkok. We shall go in next week.

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Ciao

Kai po che…

January 14, 2013August 26, 2018Posted in UncategorizedTagged Ahmedabad diaries, Daily Life, dhaaga, Kai po Che, kite festival, maanja, occupations, Old Ahmedabad, Sankranti2 Comments

I wasn’t a great fan of flying kites, thanks to an adventure where i ended up flying a kit so far away, i exhausted my cousins entire spool. He was furious as it had a lot of his ‘katri maanja’ (thread with glass shards) which he had paid a royal sum of Rs. 50 to acquire – over a couple of weeks!

While i was doing the heritage walk in Old Ahmedabad with friends, we came across this maanja being made. The person on has a paste of rice, mixed with a natural saffron dye. But the main ingredient here is the presence of finely ground glass in that paste. The thread is tied taut at two ends and this guy with the ball of the coloured rice with ground glass goes to and fro, as though he is playing the sitar. I didn’t see him with any gloves and felt kind of concerned, but this fellow didn’t seem to care.

So wishing you all a Happy Makar Sankranti. Or as they say in Ahmedabad – Kai Po Che:)

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Ciao

Intl Saturdays 24: Club Sega

January 12, 2013August 26, 2018Posted in UncategorizedTagged Club Sega, International Saturdays, Japan, Japanese culture, Sega, Shibuya, street, Tokyo, video gamesLeave a comment

Now we’re talking!

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Ciao

Intl Saturdays 23: The Shibuya couple

January 5, 2013August 26, 2018Posted in UncategorizedTagged Daily Life, hairstyles, International Saturdays, Shibuya, shibuya crossing, street photography, street portraitLeave a comment

Shibuya is a shopping and entertainment district in Tokyo. It is also referred to as the Times Square of Japan, a title which i absolutely do not like as i feel it is not fair to compare the two. Yeah i get kinda peeved at such trivialization of places.

When in Tokyo, you just have to see the Shibuya Crossing (will put up pictures and video of that in the future). It is quite famous and anyone who has seen Lost in Translation will have seen the controlled chaos that is this insane crossing.

I found the place to be a treasure trove for people spotting, like the squares in European cities that i had read about. Came across this well-dressed couple who were probably handing out pamphlets. I really liked how one-half of the dude’s hair colour matched with the coat that his girl was wearing. Notice how she is standing straight, another Japanese culture i had covered previously on this blog.

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Ciao

Intl Saturdays 22: PUNX

December 29, 2012Posted in UncategorizedTagged Daily Life, Harajuku, International Saturdays, Japan, Japanese punk, punk, street photography, street portrait, TokyoLeave a comment

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Intl Saturdays 21: The Harajuku Boy

December 22, 2012August 26, 2018Posted in UncategorizedTagged Daily Life, Harajuku, International Saturdays, Japan, markets, street photography, street portrait, Tokyo3 Comments

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Intl Saturdays 20: The Otaku Edition

December 15, 2012August 26, 2018Posted in UncategorizedTagged Akihabara, culture, Daily Life, gamers, International Saturdays, Japan, Japanese culture, nerds, otaku, street photography, Tokyo2 Comments

After getting overwhelmed at the Akihabara mall which houses anything and everything you can think of in terms of electronic gadgets, i exited through a gate which gave me this sight. Now being a tech scribe, i know what it is to be obsessed with a game and all that, but in my case at least, it’s limited to when i am sitting in front of a system at home (or office, Yes gaming is a part of the office culture and not frowned upon). Generally my type of gaming is in isolation. My office pals do indulge in LAN gaming with Quake, Tribes Ascend, Counter Strike, but i’ve realised that i am not really great at these games. I am more of the Max Payne, Hitman, Mafia third-person shooter type of gamers.

Bottomline: Gaming is not really mainstream here.

Here though i was fascinated to see the obsessive gaming at a group level. These nerds, popularly called Otakus can be found all over Japan. At Akihabara in particular, it just makes sense for these gamers to gather and try out the latest games that they have just purchased. I did notice a lot of old-style GameBoys in the crowd. (This is one thing i fell in love with about Japan: a respect and loyal following of everything retro, whether it’s old-world gaming pads or film photography. You just know that these cultures will never die in the Land of the Rising Sun.)

Even while all of them were engrossed in their game, they still had the sensibility to leave enough space on the pavement for passersby. You can’t help but smile:)

Take Care,
Ciao