The Other India

“Don’t need to ask. If you ask, they will say no. Just make a picture.” This is what Nils Heininger's companion said two years ago when both of them were exploring one of the lesser known shantytowns of the country. Today I happened to read an article written by Nils Heininger who is a photographer, traveller and Anthropology student whose area of focus is Culture of India .As a part of this, he had travelled across the country and lived his life with different communities including the Balmiki Community, a well-known minority group of India. But what captured my attention was his passion towards photography and views on Photo Journalism.  The article started off with his entry to the world of Travel Photography. According to him, 'Travel Photography' is an overused western term which basically means that a foreigner exploring a place and capturing pictures of exotic people , but Nils's version for the same is entirely different and for him the concept of Travel Photog...

The Hollywood Colony , Life of a Timekeeper :   The neighbours came in all the time and it was only joy I could see everywhere. The whole community was very friendly, they even have their own football team and cricket team. Meanwhile the house owner offered me the second tea of the afternoon, it tasted exactly like the first one, so delicious and I believe it was purchased from the same place which I had previously. Mr Mohan sells watches in the streets of ‘ Karnavati ’ for his living. He showed me the beautiful watch collection he puts up for sale every day. It was all well arranged on an 8-grilled stand made of steel. The watches were of different colour, shape, size and price. That display of watches were without a doubt a candy to my eyes. Mohan’s mode of business was to get money in advance from a local financer to fund himself for purchasing the watch and he sells them for a higher margin and keeps the profit. He receives approximately a margin of Rs 50-200 on each watch he s...

      The Hollywood Colony - A Memory :  One fine noon post lunch I took my go pro and started into the streets of Ahmedabad. The sun was soaring up high over my head. Camels were resting on the either side of the roads and I could see a couple of tea shops here and there .My throat had dried up and my goal for the day was still not accomplished. It was to visit a home in a slum from one of those streets. Grabbing my slippers from the backpack I kept moving forward until I reached the streets of the famous Hollywood Colony, one of  Ahmedabad’s famous slum. Still unsure how that place got such a name , but it is believed that it came from the inspirational works of a photographer named ' Kannagi Khanna'  who framed a woman from this village as a movie actress. I sauntered through the narrow walk ways of the Hollywood colony where houses and small businesses occupy two sides of the cluttered path. One thing that amazed me (Which we do not get to see in most...