The Power Of Celebration

“People of our time are losing the power of celebration.
Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained.
Celebration is an active state, an act of expressing reverence or appreciation.
To be entertained is a passive state–it is to receive pleasure afforded by an amusing act or a spectacle….
Celebration is a confrontation, giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one’s actions.”
(From “The Wisdom of Heschel” by Abraham Joshua Heschel)

This was shot from the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) during the celebrations of Dev Diwali on the occasion of Kartik Poornima.
The festival of Lights is a mark of welcome to the Gods as it is believed that they descend on earth on that special day.
In the evening under the full moon reflecting in the holy waters each ghat is performing Ganga Aarti with vedic hymns chanted by priests in order to please and welcome the Gods.

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Sacred Moments

“A ritual becomes the match that lights the kindred celebration candle of sacred moments long ago… tantalizing these entombed spirits to surface again.”
(Wes Adamson)

This was shot from a boat on the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) during the celebrations of Dev Diwali on the occasion of Kartik Poornima.
The festival of Lights is a mark of welcome to the Gods as it is believed that they descend on earth on that special day.
In the evening under the full moon reflecting in the holy waters each ghat is performing Ganga Aarti with vedic hymns chanted by priests in order to please and welcome the Gods.

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© All photographs are copyrighted and all rights reserved.
Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.

Life Itself

“And what can life be worth if the first rehearsal for life is life itself ?”
(From “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” by Milan Kundera)

This picture was shot at Scindia ghat in Varanasi (Benaras) where a few young men were enjoying the freshness of dawn in the holy waters of the Ganges.

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With A Sprinkle Of Golden Dreams

“Are you looking for gold, friend?
Look around you; anything useful to you is pure gold, pure silver!”
(Mehmet Murat ildan – Turkish author, b.1965)

This picture was shot at Scindia ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).
Two friends were finishing their daily yoga exercises in the river.
It was at dawn when reality is still foggy with a sprinkle of dreams and allows the holy waters of the Ganges to become gold…

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The Free Soul

“The free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it – basically because you feel good, very good, when you are near or with them.”
(From “Tales of Ordinary Madness” by Charles Bukowski)

This man was among a group of homeless people staying nearby Jama Masjid in Old Delhi.
Their faces could easily show that life was not easy for them but they were carrying a kind of grace and deep happiness…
It was nice to spend a moment with them, I was feeling “good…very good”, certainly because like this man they were free souls…

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The Traceless

“My place is the Placeless, my trace is the Traceless ;
‘Tis neither body nor soul, for I belong to the soul of the Beloved.
I have put duality away, I have seen that the two worlds are one;
One I seek, One I know, One I see, One I call. ”
(Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī known as Rumi – Persian poet and Sufi mystic, 1207-1273)

I met this man nearby Jama Masjid in Old Delhi.
He was homeless and his life seemed to be tough however there was an amazing happiness in his eyes as if he had reached what he was seeking for since a long time…

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A New World

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”
(From “The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934” by Anaïs Nin)

Those men where sitting under a big umbrella in front of the Vishnu Temple which is at Manikarnika ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
They seemed to be good friends and they responded my jokes quite easily…

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With Love, Admiration And Respect

“It may be important to great thinkers to examine the world, to explain and despise it.
But I think it is only important to love the world, not to despise it, not for us to hate each other, but to be able to regard the world and ourselves and all beings with love, admiration and respect.”
(From “Siddhartha” by Hermann Hesse)

This statue of Buddha is on the south side of the central tower which rises 55 metres (180 ft) of the Mahabodhi Temple (“Great Awakening Temple”) in Bodh Gaya in the Indian state of Bihar.
It is the location where Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, is said to have attained enlightenment.
The temple, a Buddhist stupa, the most sacred site in Buddhism is visited regularly by both Buddhist and Hindu pilgrims (many Hindus honor the Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu).
The holy Bodhi tree is near to the temple to the western side.
According UNESCO, “the present temple is one of the earliest and most imposing structures built entirely in brick from Gupta period”.

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Beautiful in my eyes

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”
(Confucius – Chinese teacher, politician, and philosopher, 551 BC-479 BC)

This teenager belongs to a dhobi wallah’s family, I met her a few days ago near Rani ghat along the Ganges where she was helping her brother with some laundry.
She was happy and I found that she was beautiful.
I made several portraits which she enjoyed to see on the screen of my camera.
Today only I realize after watching those pictures on my computer that she had a skin disease covering all her face and body but I decided to remove it and to show her the way my eyes saw her for the first time…

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The Ultimate Hustle

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“If you want something from an audience, you give blood to their fantasies.
It’s the ultimate hustle.”
(Marlon Brando – American actor, 1924-2004)

This is a portrait of Bollywood actor, anchor and dancer, Hussain Kuwajerwala shot in his green room after a performance on stage.

Hussain is a popular TV star who is acting the leading role of the first-ever Bollywood musical, “Zangoora, The Gypsy Prince” at Kingdom of Dreams since 2010.

Recently we have been working together and it was amazing to see how much Hussain is giving to the audience.
His performance requires an incredible physical effort and concentration which he carries with a high professionalism.
In many ways his work reminds of Marlon Brando’s early movies.

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