DELHI - 6 : A JOURNEY IN SEARCH OF A MIRROR FOR YOUR SOUL !

When Ruby and I went to view Delhi - 6 yesterday evening, we were not too sure if this would be a worthwhile experience. We went to a picture hall after ages.... all our viewing now-a-days is through television !

As this film by Rakeysgh Omprakash Mehra started rolling on the huge screen in front of us, we could not but admire the superb quality of cinematography and music and fine characterisation by he main actors. At the same time , we admired the restraint ROM has shown in editing so that no shot drags on.

As the story unfolded, we saw how brilliantly Mehra has developed the story towards the climax scene-by-scene and brought the viewer standing in front his/her soul's mirror ! Ruby and I stood stood back in the cinema hall, with a few fellow-viewers, watching the 'mirror' Mehra presented at the end of the show framing the actors , deeply moved by this film, by the total experience . We came out of the picture hall convinced that only a Director of ROM's calibre could visualise and deliver a film of this quality.

Do go .... and view Delhi-6. It is not a feel-good movie. It is different from RDB. But, with no less a serious message, no less intelligently compiled !

Some artists are just brilliant : Rishi Kapoor, Waheeda Rehman and ... of course, Abhishek bachchan. Wnat a restrained performance he gave ! At every moment during the viewing, we saw 'Roshan' standing in front of us and not an actor whose name is Abhishek Bachchan.

Mehra's slips are easy to find. Many reviewers in Newspapers and TV-shows have done that . We are glad that we ignored the comments of such persons and did not miss out this film !

Once again : Please do go .... and view Delhi-6.

MALE-BONDING THROUGH MY CALWALK LENSE

DURING A HOLIDAY FOR WAGE EARNERS

When I was going through the photographs I took during my 'Calcutta Walk' in January,2009 ,I thought of writing a blog, a photo-feature on male-bonding , as captured during street photography.

Young man, staring at his friend through
a mirror of road-side hair-cutting saloon

My friend K, his nephew and I were out on the streets of Calcutta last month to visit a few churches and Synagogues of Central/Business district of Calcutta and do a bit of street photography as well. It was a Sunday... roads were empty and the we could have relaxed stroll through the footpaths of otherwise busy area. Food-stalls which remain busy throughout the week were empty.No carts on the roads.Shops with their shutters down.People sleeping, chatting, getting a hair-cut and strolling idly. On close scrutiny, we could realise that these people are mostly from our neighbouring states who undertake the menial's job during the week, earn their wages which go for the distant families' upkeep.



One thing that the photos bring out is the open expression of male-bonding. I read an article the other day in a newspaper where a Westerner has been quoted saying how often in India we find men strolling in public places holding hands! In Calcutta, there is another public expression of male-bonding : conduct of men bathing in public water faucets is somewhat similar to locker-room bonhomie !

Man scrubs his body and crotch while staring at that of his mate.



Well, Calcutta is unique among other metropolitan cities of India in this area. Calcutta has a river with numbers of ghats on its western fringe, numerous water-bodies and always-flowing road-side faucets. Scenes of half-naked migrant labour taking bath in public is a common scene. Bathers assemble in twos, threes as well as in groups , have fun and sometimes behave a little lewd.

A bather looks at his hard-on while his mate reaches inside his crotch for ablution!


Hmmm... may be Eve Sedgewick ( writer of Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire ) can evolve her theories on homosocial behaviour of migrant workers of Calcutta. She believes that that the term 'Homosocial' predates her in occasional usage, with a generic meaning: "'Homosocial' is a word occasionally used in history and the social sciences, where it describes social bonds between persons of the same sex" . Sedgwick's contribution, however, is the notion that the boundaries between the social and the sexual are blurry, fuzzy; thus homosociality and homosexuality are connected and can never fully be disentangled. She acknowledges that the nature of this boundary varies from society to society and from era to era, and even within one society. ( reference matter - wikipedia) .

Two persons sleep cozy in a make-shift bed through the lazy Sunday morning.

I post here a few photos with my observations and comments. I felt that some of these photos need a bit working through Photoshop , adding a bit of drama. Others are in black & white.

This subject is interesting to a street photographer . More of this in future.

TERRA COTTA TEMPLES OF BENGAL - VI

A JOURNEY THROUGH THE STRING OF BEAUTIFUL TERRA COTTA TEMPLES


Our dear Loken'sir' (Administrtor of group 'Banga' in flickr.com) suggested that I write about my current trips to Guptipara and Kalna after he read my last blog in przmm.blogspot.com. I wrote out the following note in the 'Discussion ' tread of 'Banga'.




WESTERN PILLAR OF RAMACANDRA TEMPLE @ GUPTIPARA


Hooghly district has a very rich heritage of terra cotta temples : Antpur, Bansberia, Guptipara and Kotulpur ( different from the village with near-identical name in Bankura district).



WESTERN FACE OF RAMACANDRA TEMPLE @ GUPTIPARA

Bansberia, Guptipara and Kalna ( of Burdwan district) are on the same rail ( Eastern Rail: Katwa section ) and road (Delhi Road -> Assam Road ) route. With careful planning, one can cover two of these three places in one day. But, Kalna has a large numbers of temples spread across the township…..in fact, Kalna has a very deep religious history. Though a good no of these temples are located in the same area, yet an ardent student of Bengal's religious structures can keep him/herself engaged for one full day.




BRINDABANCANDRA TEMPLE @ GUPTIPARA

Ananta Vasudev Temple @ Bansberia was constructed on 1679 AD . Ramcandra Temple @ Guptipara was constructed on AD . Pratepswar Temple @ Kalna was constructed on 1849 AD . All these temples have excellent terra cotta work on them, based on scripture as well as depicting the social scenes of those days. BrindabanCandra Temple @ Guptipara was constructed on 1810 AD. An aatcala temple with imposing size ( 60’ height) , it has paintings on the pillars, inside walls and ceiling ( beautiful painting of Saraswati) of the inside verandah and garbhagriha. The Temples’ complex @ Guptipara has two other temples, one of them being an early example of Jor-Bangla style.

Laljiu’s Temple as well as KrsnaCandra Temple have awe-inspiring structures with 25 spires. The later has terra cotta work of good quality too. They were constructed on 1739 AD and 1751 AD respectively.



KRSNACANDRA TEMPLE @ KAL, VIEWED THROUGH OUTER ARCHES OF RASAMANCA

Beyond these facts lie treasures of work….. of artists who created the oeuvre and those who ‘planned and visualised’ the same. We know little about these persons . I marveled at the Ramayana scenes , Rama-Krsna-Caitanya and the boats of Bansberia’s temple ; Nikumbhila yagna of Indrajit with Laxman and Bibheeshan stealthily approaching the site of yagna,gods viewing the Rama-Ravana battle from the sky, angry horses , Ruma ( ?) cowering under phallic prowess of Bali, monkeys toiling to construct bridge across the sea of Ramcandra temple ; Durga flanked by Ravana-in-prayer and Rama-in-harness postures , Kirtan singers of Navadwip, Krsna-Gopis reveling in Rasa-leela @ the top level of Pratepswar temple and the social scenes of Pratepswar and KrsnaCandra temples .



KRSNA-RADHA & GOPIS IN ATTENDANCE : PRATAPESWAR TEMPLE @ KALNA.



NORTH-EAST CORNER,PRATAPESWAR TEMPLE @ KALNA.

While I am working on editing of the 450+ photos we have taken during these two trips, I share a few of with my friends here and flickr.com. I shall be very happy to render any help to a visitor of these places.