Kashele Folks

Recently visited a village called Kashele, near Karjat in the district adjoining Mumbai ,  accompanying  someone who was working on a project concerning carrying of drinking water by women in villages, and making things a bit easier for them.   

These are photographs taken around 8 am. The children were up and about, and very curious as to what we were up to.   

This area is usually very green, at the year end.  With the approaching spring and summer, it gets  a golden tinge, thanks to the harsh sun and depleting water.

Clicked on my Canon EOS 1100D

Magic Drops

 Gutta cavat lapidem (Dripping water hollows out a stone)
        -  Ovid, Epistulae Ex Ponto, Book 3, no. 10, 1. 5

I've always been fascinated by water drops.

More so when I try to photograph them. 

The following is an experiment I did,  trying out High Speed photography.  

This is a photograph of a water drop falling from a tap into a very plain glass bowl.

Taken on my Canon EOS  1100D.

Light Painting Photography.

Light painting is a photographic technique in which exposures are made by moving a hand-held light source or by moving the camera. 

 By moving the light source, the light can be used to selectively illuminate parts of the subject or to "paint" a picture by shining it directly into the camera lens. Light painting requires a slow shutter speed, usually a second or more. Light painting can take on the characteristics of a quick pencil sketch.

Taken on my Canon EOS 1100D DSLR camera.

Long Exposure Night Shots.

Long-exposure photography or time-exposure photography involves using a long-duration shutter speed to sharply capture the stationary elements of images while blurring, smearing, or obscuring the moving elements.

 Long exposures are easiest to accomplish in low-light conditions, but can be done in brighter light using specially designed cameras.

 Long-exposure photography is often used in a night-time setting in order to produce a near daytime effect in the photo. By leaving the camera's shutter open for an extended period of time, more light is absorbed, creating a brighter product. If the camera is stationary for the entire period of time that the shutter is open, a very vibrant and clear photograph can be produced.

Taken on my Canon EOS 1100D SLR camera between 19:00 hrs and 19:30 hrs today.

As seen from the campus guesthouse.

A small pond on the opposite side of the guesthouse.

Sacred Lamp Of The Day....

"The sacred lamp of day
Now dipt in western clouds his parting day". 

                                           ~William Falconer

Trying out the new camera on a weekend evening on the shores of Powai Lake.

Taken on my Canon EOS 1100D SLR camera.

A Morning Celebration.

Today 26th January, 2012. The country celebrates the Republic Day. 

Where I live, it is celebrated at the Gymkhana Grounds with march pasts by security personnel, senior cadets, school children and small kids, the latter making a sincere effort as the band plays. Awards are presented, the flag is hoisted by the head of the institution. 

Our gymkhana grounds are next to some hills.

An unusual feature of our Republic Day is the simultaneous flag hoisting done on the hill top by students as the flag goes up at the gymkhana grounds followed by the national anthem.

For very small children it's a morning with balloons and playing on the grounds while others listen to speeches.

 Some others too, seriously contemplate the proceedings.

 

 Great choice of seat for a better view of the parade.

 Some serious athletes playing on the basketball field trying to send the balloon up through the hoop. Who says it must go only down through the hoop !!

 The flag hoisted on the hill top.

 

JAI HIND!!

Tough & Standing.

My maternal grandfather(Appa)'s ancestors came from a village in Kokan, much inland from the coast.  History is available, for  7 generations before my grandfather. 

We travelled to this place to pay our respects .

The house is situated away from  the road, sloping down into the rice fields below. Surrounded on three sides by wide green rice fields, and coconut and mango groves  in the distance, the house stands facing it all.  5 generations lived there. And the last 2 generations  moved to the big cities of Mumbai and Pune.  

Facing the rice fields, is the samadhi (memorial)  of the  person who is considered the  original ancestor, and everyday, a lamp is lit in an alcove at the memorial.

Something tough and resilient about the structure, that has seen ups and downs, good days, bad days, bad weather, torrential rains, , and possibly, hundreds of years before,  a full running house; there is even a lock hanging  above one of the doors.

Today,  it stands, watching it all,  completely overrun by the  greens....

(The above has been written for me by my mother.She had visited it,  first 52 years ago with my grandparents ,  and now with me,  and was able to explain the history to me)

Taken on Canon A530 point & shoot camera....