All posts filed under: India

Remembering India, Climbing Charmundi Hill, Mysore, Karnataka— a very long time ago

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Timeless memories in an ancient place, feeling welcome. A pilgrimage back in time, my time. Apologies ((I just realised that images here are not protected from being downloaded. That’s a little unfortunate and is the reason why I am not sharing my favourite images of the temple and sights on Charmundi Hill. I need to ponder if I am ok with giving these visual memories away without a meaningful price. I used to offer some of my images on Society6 for print on demand, but that wasn’t really worth it either. The occasional pennies..)) Anyway here we go  the MEMORY of ascending Charmundi hill.  I lied, we didn’t climb it, we took our rented scooters and at sunrise made our way from Gokulam, driving through Mysore city and up Charmundi Hill. Back then India was another world to me. It took me a long time to acclimatise and settle into the experience. The sounds, the incense sticks… … the views, the people. I am so glad that I got to experience the magic of this place. Magic …

Exploring an idea for a photo session

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One afternoon I managed to persuade my partner in this intercontinental love affair, to cover himself with a paste made from Thanaka powder to take some yoga photographs… It was a fun session, but what absolutely didn’t work was to apply an ‘effect’ as a neat idea with nothing more than the effect in mind. I couldn’t tell you ‘why’ this seemed like a good idea. But it did yield something a little different. But is that enough? Maybe.. What is thanaka ? It is a powder made from grinding the rind of a specific tree (than aka tree?). It is applied to protect against the sun, a natural sunscreen. This is what I understand. There may be more to it than this little soundbite of mine.

Memories of India: visual diary entry

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The photos in this post aren’t all my favourites, nor the best from their sets, but what I could easily, without placing too much attachment on perfection, upload to share some of the scenes I lived within, for a brief moment in time. {above : an average street scene in Mysore, India.} {above : a large pebble rock, on top of one of the hills I climbed, unfortunately I am not sure if this was during a temple visit near Mysore or later in Hampi, India.} {above : an average street scene in Mysore, India.} {above : an unusually quiet street scene in Mysore, India.} {above : a typical street vendor in Mysore, selling household goods, India.} {above: photograph from a trip we took to Bylakuppe, Tibetan Settlement, 3-4 hours by bus from Mysore, India} {above: photograph from a trip we took to Bylakuppe, Tibetan Settlement, 3-4 hours by bus from Mysore, India} {street scene from Mysore: Man helping himself to water and struggling turning the tap off again}{street scene from Mysore: Man helping himself to water and struggling turning …

Missing India

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India, a photo by Birgit Deubner on Flickr. I miss this crazy country. Whenever I think back to India I can’t arrive at one conclusion. Such a raw place. I think of it as honest in that all of life, its highs and lows, it’s hopes and despairs are out there to see. India doesn’t appear to hide much. Not a country now that I feel as safe in anymore (as a woman) as I would have done in years past, before the media finally paid attention to the plight of women. But I don’t think that India was safer then, but my own ignorance created illusions of safety. And we all know that illusion can create reality, too.