About Stories. A Moment of Cogitation.
Photography, Life, Chai. Some of you may remember that I had started a series of posts under the heading–“My Camera & My Chai”. It never went away, but it has been hibernating for a while. The reason I have chosen this tagline is that I believe that photography is about stories. Sometimes, a chat or a moment of cogitation over a cup of chai helps to move your thoughts along and broaden your perspective on life.
When you allow yourself a pause and take a deep breath, then a realization may dawn upon you: life is too short, and a good laugh helps to move things along.
My Camera & My Chai
When did I write blog posts under the title “My Camera & My Chai”? I had traveled to Rishikesh in March 2014, one year after my corporate bosses gave me the boot. The kick was hard and hurt my butt a lot! In fact, the boot hurt my ego much more!
Anyway, we say by a country road, at a local open-air restaurant, and drank some chai. The air was cool, and the breeze fresh. This is in sharp contrast with Delhi, where the air is foul. Apart from this, the sound of the Ganges flowing with loads of joy, cheered by the knowledge that this is the last place the waters are clean, calmed us.
That afternoon, my friend and I sat in the dhaba, drank our chai, gaped at the women walking by, and felt at peace with the world. In these moments, waves of philosophy and feelings of goodwill to humanity pass through you.
It was in those moments of cogitation when I realized life was about stories. Initially, when I wrote my posts, I filled them with my form of dry humor. Then, after a few posts, I realized the humor was becoming forced, so I stopped.
My Thoughts & A Meandering River
My thoughts are meandering like a river, with no aim, no direction. At some point, they will reach the oceans or merge with a larger river. I don’t know, and I am quite content with this. Let it flow!
Anyway, anyway, anyway. When I wrote about photography, I asked myself what angle I should take. I explored a few possibilities:
1. Write about all that nice technical stuff. I decided against this because there are many people who ooze technical wizardry.
2. Write about the story behind the photos. This also can be soporific.
3. Write about my interpretations and stuff you with some pop philosophy/psychology/ sociology. In short: stuff you with garbage.
4. Or write the stories behind the photos, give you a smidgeon of the processing flow, add in some pop-garbage and try to weave something compelling.
In the end, I decided on the fourth option.
At the very end, welcome to “My Camera & My Chai”.
And, welcome to photography, life, and chai: they are all about stories of life.
Welcome to my moments of cogitation.
Last: be nice to me!
