Walking along, I came upon a nook in the wall celebrating “the end” with graffiti. An immaculately dressed gentleman sat there playing the violin. At ease with himself and his surroundings, he continued playing as we exchanged smiles. As the music played, I asked for his permission and photographed him at peace surrounded by the chaotic graffiti.

Violinist in Florence

I feel fortunate and blessed to observe my niece at close quarters in the everyday things she does.  I marvel at how she picks up new things and her curiosity, her ability to grasp new things.

Here are some of the moments she presented to me…

At the playground, she loves to play with the swing, the slide and to pick up and throw the little pieces of playground surface materials like wood chips and shredded bark mulch.  On being asked what she is doing as she throws the chips away, she always replies – ‘tafai!’

(i.e. she is doing ‘safai’ in Hindi or cleaning up the place).

On the steps up to the slide, it is time for a peek-a-boo. As she says, ‘peet-a-boo!’  Here, she is lost in thoughts after pausing for a peek-a-boo moment.

Peek-a-boo

At the beach, she totally loved the sand and the way the grains flew in the wind. Her mom showed her how to cup sand with hands and release it slowly. The little kid spent the next hour ‘showering her baby’ with sand.

Sand shower for her baby

In the afternoon light with the sun on her shoulders, she pauses her play to look at me through the tunnel in her tent.

Through a tunnel of love

When I showed her how to hold a small drum, she would remember the ‘dam-moo’ (for damroo) from time to time. Here she surprised me by bringing the drum to me and then, proceeding to drum up her own beat.  Her expression says it all.  The delights of drumming.  Maybe, we will join a drum circle one day.

Delight of drumming

The water baby that she is, she loves getting into water.  She is taking swimming lessons.  When you ask her what she did on the day of the class, she would say in a sweet, lilting voice – ‘teet-teet!’ For the uninitiated, it is ‘kick! kick!’ as instructed by her swim teacher.  On this particular day, she started the water in jacuzzi, stood on the edge and wanted to ‘teet-teet’.  Here, she shows us the fish as the water drains after this soak session.

My fish

Yes, she is all of a year and a half!

Long back I wrote -
“At any point in life, the child within, devoid of any sophistry, wants to roam free. But, the adult self, having learnt the artificiality and bound by the society, walks in the direction opposite. This is life, at the crossroads, where the child and the adult meet……”

And, I get to see her at the crossroads everyday.

I met Tony Riga on the banks of the Seine in Paris, France.

"My identity"

It was a beautiful evening in Paris and I was out walking along Seine with my camera when I saw a man with a fantastic painted mask posing for pictures with two friends. Introducing myself, I offered to take their picture. I spoke little french and they spoke little English.  After taking a couple of pictures, the friends of Tony left.

Language aside, we were able to communicate.  Here are a couple of portraits from the photo session with Tony who it later turned out is a multi-talented person with many interests.  Tony self-painted this beautiful Guyanese face mask as well.

"Holding my thoughts"

"Within reach"

I have many wonderful pictures from the session with Tony that I hope to share at a later time.

Thank you Tony for being there for my camera!

Happy New Year!

As I photographed this colorful beach scene, Sebastian approached me and smilingly asked who I was shooting for.  Always nice when somebody is interested in your work and your equipment.  It turns out he is an actor in Chile and on being asked if he would like a picture, agreed to pose for me.  I had him jump next to one of the numerous colorful umbrellas along the beach.

Walking along the beach, I met Latrisha with a dazzling smile.  Her bikini matched the clear green waters nearer to the beach and I wanted to take a portrait of her.

While photographing her, my cell phone rang and after answering my phone, I put it away in the side pocket of my long shorts.  Little did I realize as the waves came onto the shore that my phone was getting drenched in sea water as I sat along the beach to get a better angle.  My moto Q died a watery death that evening.

There are very colorful life-guard stations along the south beach.  Each life-guard station is painted different.  While photographing one of these stations, I saw Kiwi with a cute smile, big innocent eyes and dreadlocks with silvery beads.  As I approached her dad for a photo, she became shy and would not smile at all.  She had just come out of the water and water dripped out of the beads onto her face.  All I wanted was a smile from this cute lil’ kid.

Somehow, she took a liking to the flash on my camera with its’ big diffuser and looked at it with curiosity and dead serious eyes.  So, I showed her how one could trigger the flash by pressing the test button.  From then on, it was a child’s play for her and she took an immense delight in pressing the test button, time and again.  I like this portrait that shows her delight in having fired the flash by pressing the button yet again.

It was a good day for people-watching and meeting beautiful strangers on the Miami beach.  I vowed to return earlier in the day another time…

San Francisco has a sizable Chinese community and the largest Chinatown outside of Asia. In 1849, with the discovery of gold and the Gold Rush in California, a large number of people moved to California to seek fortune. Among these were many Chinese, who came to work in the gold mines and on the railroad. Today, Chinese New Year is celebrated in San Francisco with street festivals and a big parade with dragons, dancers, people carrying colorful flags, banners, lanterns, and drums and firecrackers to drive away evil spirits.

Whenever possible, I try and go to a Chinese New Year parade, for it gives me a glimpse into an ancient culture and its modern adaptations.

I photographed these Beijing Opera artists on the occasion of Chinese new year a couple of years back.

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Embrace the old, explore the new.

I lifted my camera, smiled and waved to him gesturing if I could take a picture. He smiled back and nodded and posed as I clicked a picture. Scanning both sides for oncoming traffic, I crossed the road to compose tighter and then clicked a couple of pictures. I wanted to ask his name and address so I could send him his picture but he spoke no English and I spoke ‘poquito’ Spanish. We spoke by gestures; I would show him what I wanted and he followed my gestures.

After shooting some colorful street portraits while he played some flute and guitar for me and my camera, I handed him one of my cards hoping he would email me but he didn’t. At times like these, I feel I should learn more of Spanish; even though a smile always conveys happiness and one’s good intentions. If you know this musician, let me know ‘cos his portrait certainly made my day.

Here’s wishing the beautiful couple – Amber and Pratibha – a very happy married life!

Such is life…high up in the sky, feeling the invigorating, refreshing air. Carefully holding on and enjoying the ride. It’s New Years’ eve and another year is passing by. Be safe and have a great time. I will, I am sure.

I see you…
looking at me in my dreams
Mirror, mirror on the wall
am I dreaming after all?