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  • Women workers inside Mehrengarh Fort, Jodhpur.
  • The Blue City - Brhampuri, behind Mehrengarh Fort.
  • Whirling Male Dancer inside Mehrengarh Fort.
  • At the Blue City of Brhampuri, which sprawls below Mehrengarh Fort.
  • On Market Street in Pushkar.
  • At the famous Camel & Cattle Fair at Pushkar.
  • She sells silver jewellery - Pushkar.
  • Housewife of  the Bisnoi Clan near Jodhpur.
  • 04.-Dancers-on-Sams-Dunes-Jaisalmere..jpg
  • Made for colourful dreams - Bisnoi Village Resort.
  • Courtyard at Bisnoi Village Resort.
  • A Jain temple in Osian.
  • Narrow alley at the fisher folks village of Vasai Koliwada, on the western coast, about 60 kms north of Mumbai.
  • Stylish fisher woman selling dried shrimps at the weekend market at Nirmal village near Vasai.
  • Getting married on the Annual Wedding Day at Vasai Koliwada - to save costs engaged couples get married on a particular Sunday in the year.
  • Catching tadpoles, Sapna Nagari, Panvel,  south of Mumbai.
  • At the Vasai village pond.
  • At Shrivardhan, along the Western coast, 250 kms. south of Mumbai.
  • Old shepherd and his flock, not too far away from the sea.
  • Armada of fishing trawlers setting out from Shrivardhan.
  • Buggy ride at dusk on Shrivardhan Beach.
  • Snow Range with some of the highest peaks in the world, as visible from a ridge near Tonglu.
  • Naga Chief - Presiding at Hornbill Festival at the Naga village of Kisima, near Kohima.
  • Spear Dance - performed by a Naga tribe at Hornbill Festival, held every year in December.
  • Naga Warrior and Head Hunter of yesteryears.
  • Naga Warrior's wife - spreading tea leaves to dry in the sun.
  • A Naga youth of today.
  • Lounge of the boutique hotel, Razhu Pru in Kohima
  • Modern Naga Woman - she teaches at a school for children of the tea estate workers.
  • Tea Pickers at the Sayeang Tea Estate.
  • Fields of patchouli and lemon grass with a distillation plant of patchouli in the background.
  • Tea plantations as far the eye can see.
  • Section of Shiyong village lit up by the early morning sunlight.
  • Morning chore at the village.
  • The local gunsmith - supplies to the local farmers and goons alike, ostensibly for protection from wild animals.
  • Relic of a bygone era.
  • Hand-pulled Rickshaw, one of the last few remaining around the Park Street area of Kolkata.
  • A rare sight in South Kolkata.
  • Fisherman with the typical fishing net and an aluminium pot on the edge of the river Hooghly, passing through the village of Bouriya, near Kolkata.
  • Towing path for river boats along the Hooghly.
  • In the shadow of an old banyan tree in Bouriya.
  • Vidyasagar Sethu - one of the modern attractions of Kolkata.
  • River boats, used for ferrying across the Hooghly, between Kolkata and Howrah.
  • Ganga Sagar Mela at the head of Bay of Bengal - one of the largest religious festivals held on Sagar Island, which is otherwise practically uninhabited.
  • Leaving with a Prayer - Prayer flags & Whistling Bamboos, on the way to Megma, a midway stop-over on a popular trekking route in the Himalayas in north Bengal.
  • Cowherd of Toglu, enroute to Sondekhpu, a popular trekking destination.

TRAVEL. Travel and photography go hand in hand. At least for me. Travelling without a camera is almost an anathema. A camera, especially a digital one with instant play-back, helps to connect with the local people. Strangers become friends. Doors open. People invite you to their homes, a privilege few tourists are lucky enough to enjoy.

There are many lands to visit as yet but, here is a modest presentation of a few places visited, over the last few years, in India and the South East Asia.

MAHARASHTRA AND RAJASTHAN. Maharashtra has one of the longest coastlines along the Western Ghats with mountains, hills, rivers and of course the Arabian Sea. Fertile and almost evergreen.

In contrast Rajasthan is land locked, mainly arid and desert land. The landscape is seemingly barren and bleak to the casual observer. Nevertheless, Rajasthan is one of the richest in architecture and culture with magnificent forts, palaces, unique architecture in its 'havelis' and, of course, the very colourful attire of both women and men who make up for the bleakness of the surroundings.

WEST BENGAL AND NAGALAND. Two thousand kilometres away, across the country, in the east is West Bengal. Farther east, on the other side of Bangladesh, are the seven hill states in the North East. Nagaland is the eastern most of them, bordering Myanmar.

With the mighty Himalayas in the north and the Bay of Bengal in the south, where the Ganges and its tributaries shed their watery loads, West Bengal is like Maharashtra in many ways. Fertile, evergreen and rivers and lakes abound. People of both the states are also alike in many ways. Nagaland, another childhood dream destination, atop the Naga Hills, is worlds apart from the rest of the country. It is a mixed blessing that the people have still managed to retain much of their tribal culture, which is gradually disappearing in the name of 'progress'. For pristine nature and sheer grandeur of the mountains, and the simple, loveable people there are not many regions like Nagaland.

 
All images apart from those commissioned are available for sale

© 2014 Swapan Mukherjee. All rights reserved.
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