India
Overwhelming, frustrating, draining, confusing yet fascinating, charming, exotic, and rewarding – India is blessed with many wonders. When someone tells me with a spark in their eyes that they have seen India, I have a little smile on my face. I often ask, “which one?” A stark contrast is hard to ignore between India’s many cultures, traditions, languages, cuisines and what not. Then there is economic, religious, political and other divide that is on display.
I have had my fair share of like-dislike relation with India, even though I am a native of the land. The more I look at it, the more it surprises me. And I think the best way to enjoy India is to enjoy it as a tourist – by being curious, being a ‘visitor’ of the country who is fascinated by what actually is the daily life in India. And walking around with a camera lets me do that.
A collection of images taken since 2016, this growing album showcases how I see India – and Indians.
2016 – Ongoing
March 2022, Jaisalmer: A woman in Khuri village poses for a picture with water pot on hear head
March 2021: A God man poses for a picture under Ahmedabad’s Ellisbridge
March 2022, Jaisalmer: A man smoking chillum
March 2021, Ahmedabad: A young boy enjoys ‘chuski’ or shaved ice at the busy Sunday market
May 2022, Ahmedabad: Muslim men offering Eid al Fitra prayers at Jama mosque
March 2022, Ahmedabad: A man praying at Ashtapad Jain temple
April 2022, Pushkar: A religious procession
A crowd of devotees during the daily gum benzoin or frankincense burning ritual. Burning gum benzoin is a common daily or ceremonial practice in Indian households, temples, and shrines.
March 2022, Jaisalmer: Women filling drinking water from a well in Khuri village
March 2022, Jaisalmer: Women in Khuri village returning home with pots of water filled from a well
March 2022, Jaisalmer: Camel rider and guide Jitu poses for a picture with his camels
March 2022, Jaisalmer: A man with his camels near Ghadisar lake
March 2022, Jodhpur: Landscape as seen from Jaswant Thada
March 2022, Jaisalmer: Inside Thar desert
March 2022, Jaisalmer: An abandoned village near Khaba fort
August 2022, Ahmedabad: Men walking past a truck with Mother India movie poster painted on it
March 2022, Jaisalmer: A woman milks a cow at Khuri village
June 2018, Konark: A woman at Konark Sun temple
March 2021, Ahmedabad: A woman praying at Shah-e-Aalam shrine
Who’s Caged?
An illustration of Hindu deities Lord Rama, his wife Sita, his brother Lakshmana, and Lord Hanumana.
February 2021, Ahmedabad: A man prays at Rani Rupmati mosque
December 2020, Ahmedabad: A man praying at Jama Mosque
April 2020, Pushkar: Bandwallahs at a religious procession
March 2020, Jaisalmer: A free public computer kiosk in Khuri village
March 2022, Jodhpur: A boy prepares to jump in a stepwell
February 2022, Ahmedabad: Inside one of the pols
November 2021, Ahmedabad: Houses inside a pol
The Jama Mosque of Delhi
Mandore Gardens, Jodhpur
Safdarjung Tomb, Delhi
March 2022, Jodhpur: Jaswant Thada cenotaph serves as a cremation ground for the royal family of Marwar
October 2018, Pushkar: A young boy at Pushkar fair ground smiles as he poses for a picture
2018, Ajmer, Rajasthan: A milkman with orange turban and big moustache smiles at camera
2018, Ajmer, Rajasthan: A milkman in colourful turban poses for a picture
October 2018, Pushkar: A ‘sadhu’ poses for a portrait at Pushkar Ghat, Rajasthan
March 2022, Jodhpur: A woman speaking on phone by a window of the Jodhpur fort
An elderly woman photographed at Ahmedabad’s Sunday market
March 2021, Ahmedabad: A chicken up for sale at Sunday Market seems intrigued by the camera
A mystic man in Ajmer
November 2021: A young girl with bangles poses for a picture in Ahmedabad
2018, Ajmer, Rajasthan: An elderly fruit vendor at a market
June 2018, Bhubaneswar: A man at a temple
March 2022, Jodhpur: A seller at a traditional fair in Salawas village
November 2021: Chickens for sale at Ahmedabad’s Sunday Market
March 2021, Ahmedabad: A man buying chickens at Sunday market where different breeds of chickens are available for sale at highly varying prices
May 2022, Ahmedabad: A street food vendor places a paan in his mouth
June 2018, Puri: A paan seller
December 2020, Ahmedabad: People collect food donated by Jalaram Temple
February 2020, Delhi: A tea shop in old Delhi
A young boy working at a tea stall
February 2020, Delhi: Pedal rickshaw drivers playing cards during their afternoon break a few days before the first ‘lockdown’
Curious kids look at the camera. Ahmedabad.
A girl poses with Namaste gesture.
A boy returning from school stops to buy a kulfi.
November 2020: A farmer poses for a picture in Matar, some 40 KMs from Ahmedabad
A young girl in Ajmer
A young girl in Ajmer
A municipality health worker at a rapid Covid-19 test booth in Ahmedabad poses for a picture.
A woman waits to exchange her clothes for utensils
A man with cow in streets of Pushkar
A man missing an eye
A group of people performing religious ritual in Ajmer
Donate or else…
Milk pots on motorcycles
Henna-painted hands of a woman wearing colourful bangles. Ahmedabad.
A boy helps his mother with a cellphone, Jaipur.
A woman holding picture of her family. Photographers carry portable printers at Pushkar ghat and offer instant photography service to visitors.
A woman smoking beedi in Pushkar
March 2022, Jodhpur: A man who says ‘everything is in the hands of the almighty’ responsing to a question regarding his good hair and beard
A man who is taking shelter in a sewer pipe shows his bruise and explains how he was thrown out of his house by his brothers.
April 2022, Ahmedabad: A goat and its owner share water from a plastic bag
A woman and her child, Ajmer – III
A woman and her child, Ajmer – II
A woman selling fruits in Ajmer.
Colours at Pushkar ghat
A man working at an eatery in Ajmer.
October 2018, Ajmer: A man frying imrati, an India sweet similar to jalebi
November 2018, Jaipur: A temple as seen from an abandoned building
Built of yellow sandstones, the Jama Mosque was built by King Ahmad Shah – I, the founder of Ahmedabad.
Carvings at Hutheesing Jain Temple – II
March 2022, Jodhpur: Figures for sale
March 2022, Jaisalmer: A painting outside a house depicting details of a wedding
