Firing Squad

The easy availability of digital SLRs and affordability of large lenses has made everyone a photographer these days. But is that good? You be the judge. I am posting three photos below which were taken in and around Kolkata and posted on Facebook. As an amateur photographer myself, all I can say is that it makes me extremely uncomfortable to crowd around a non-celebrity person like this, especially during a religious ceremony or private moment. Click on the photos to view larger.

In Kolkata during Chhath Puja. I forgot who the photographer is.

At Bagh Bazar, Kolkata on Durga Puja Dashami day. Photographer: Lopamudra Bagh

A village child in Langolpota, near Kolkata. Photographer: Arpit Kr Saha

I could provide more examples, but I will stop at three. My friends in Kolkata tell me such scenes are common at every event these days. Also, half-naked poor village children are usually made to pose for hours, often made to run repeatedly in the sun or climb trees, so that every photographer in the group can get his or her best shot. A friend even heard a photographer telling someone who had come to place a wreath on a grave on All Souls' Day to weep more, since weeping would make the pictures better.

I wonder where this is headed. I don't want to judge, but it seems now everyone is doing what only a handful of photojournalists used to do earlier. As I said, I feel very awkward intruding into someone's personal space like that, and I could never support making some stranger (unless it's a paid model) pose for a "natural" photo. I feel waiting for the right moment and clicking the perfect shot without telling people to pose - that's what makes a great photograph. I am here to shoot life as it happens, not movie publicity stills.

What do you feel about the issue? Do you think I am just being cranky because I cannot be part of these festival shoots, or do you think things need to change?

2012

In one of my favourite scenes in the superhero movie "The Avengers" that came out earlier this year, the evil god Loki tries to threaten Iron Man by saying, "We have an army." Utterly unperturbed, Iron Man promptly replies, "We have a Hulk." For the last twenty-three years, whenever we have been threatened by cricketing armies from anywhere in the world, we could always retort in the same way as we always had our own Hulk ready to fight for us, to give us hope, and probably even lead us to a victory. Not any longer. The world didn't end in 2012, but the god of cricket definitely stepped down.

Manhattan after Sandy (Source)

Speaking of the apocalypse, the real 2012 was in no way as interesting as the movie version. Yes, the city that always gets devastated first in any disaster movie since King Kong is still recovering from hurricane Sandy, but it is still a far cry from the end of the world. There are, of course, hundreds of hurricanes in the world every year, but it's not everyday that I end up in the middle of one. Those three days without power and little contact with the outside world would be hard to forget, at least for some time to come.

The Mayan apocalypse was obviously an urban legend. The world can hardly be expected to end just because the guy making their calendar ran out of paper (or stone). However, humanity did suffer a number of setbacks in this year, be it in the deaths of people like astronaut Neil Armstrong, writer Sunil Gangopadhyay and sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, or due to inhuman crimes like the Newtown school shooting and the New Delhi bus rape case. Once again, I find my opposition to gun ownership in the USA and support for capital punishment in India justified, although I would have preferred if I had been proved wrong. On the positive side, Ajmal Kasab was finally executed, although some people said he died of dengue before he was finally hanged. Either way, it was a good riddance.

For me, the year was a mixed one, exactly like all other years. On the negative side... actually there's a lot, the least of which were my laptop's hard disk dying abruptly, and I losing my iPhone. On the positive side, I have been super busy with my research and I think I can finally see the light at the end of my Ph.D. tunnel. Whether that is daylight or the headlight of an oncoming train, only time will tell. But for the time being, the only thing that I can do is move steadily towards that light. In the process, I had to forego my annual India trip this winter, although I did manage a couple of other trips, to Las Vegas and Washington, D.C.

Moth art created by Alex Hatjoullis

As the five regular readers of this blog know, I am an amateur photographer and I post my pictures on a few websites. This year, a number of these were liked by critics (which means other photographers, probably) and showcased on the homepages of the photo websites aminus3.com, jpgmag.com and fotoflock.com. I was asked to write a short article for the last of those websites and even won a prize for a photo posted there. What's more, I got offers from two different people wanting to buy my photos, although I am yet to see any real money. Also, Mr. Alexander Hatjoullis, who is an artist living in the UK, created a pretty artwork based on one of my photos. As opposed to people who steal photos without informing the photographer, this gentleman actually asked for my permission before using the photo, and then sent me that limited-edition high quality digital print of his artwork which you see here.

So that's pretty much it for this year. For the time being I have my hands full with a lot of academic and non academic work, which includes reducing weight and learning to drive. You can say I have started on my resolutions even before the new year arrived. I won't make any false promises - blog posts here will be sporadic at best for the next few months to come. However, I'll try to write more posts on my Bengali blog from time to time, so that should be counted as good news if you can read Bengali. Or maybe that's bad news, depending on how you look at it. In other words, 2013 will be just like 2012, as far as I am concerned.

Except for one thing. I will not be able to see one little man play for India in a one day match again. A man who has played in more than half the matches ever played by India. A man who has scored more runs in World Cups than eight complete test playing nations. In spite of everything else that happened around the world, I'll probably remember 2012 most as the year when Sachin Tendulkar retired from one-day cricket.

Shenandoah Caverns

Underground rock formations

When we travel and see fascinating places, how much of the experience is our own?

I mean, obviously the sights and sounds that I experience are completely mine, but the thoughts that they evoke - aren't they shaped by the books that I have read and the movies that I have watched? Can I ever visit Jaisalmer and not think of Sonar Kella? Is it possible to see kash phool and not remember Pather Panchali? Similarly, when I went to see Shenandoah Caverns last Sunday and spent an hour in a real cavern for the first time in my life, at least half my mind was occupied with the experience of little Tom and Becky down in their cave, and fears of getting lost. But the other half was filled with natural wonders beyond my imagination - sights that I had not expected even after looking at pictures of underground caverns.

The "Diamond Cascade"

Not that I didn't know what to expect. The principle is simple enough - the minerals in porous rock layers get dissolved in water and then, as the water drips down into a cave one drop at a time, a little bit of water evaporates from each drop and leaves behind a small mineral deposit that grows into rock icicles over millions of years. Stalactites (the ones that hold "tightly" to the ceiling), stalagmites (the ones that "might" join the ceiling one day), flowstone and draperies are a few of the rock formations that result from such a situation.

Flowstone

As I have said before, I cannot fathom geological time periods. My patience is of the variety that wears thin when an egg takes too long to boil. So when I see impressive rock chandeliers and frozen waterfalls of shimmering crystals, I can hardly imagine the time Nature took to create them. It's not even a volcanic landscape - a lava plateau - that suddenly explodes in front of everyone. This work is of the slow but steady variety, and water drops falling around me in the cave were a constant reminder that Nature's masterpiece is not yet finished. The caverns may look the same to us humans ever since they were discovered, but slowly and surely, they are changing before our very eyes.

Although the Shenandoah Caverns are very small as caverns go, my words are still inadequate to describe them in full. Thankfully, there are electric lights installed that enable photography, and guided tours available that explain every feature for captioning the photographs. Therefore I will stop here and make way for a few more photographs.

Draperies and stalagmites. Everything here was formed naturally

The "Capitol Dome Stalagmite"

"Rainbow Lake," an underground reflecting pool

This translucent rock formation is called "cave bacon"

Superstorm

When one wants to tell the story of a hurricane, there are several ways. First, there is the first-hand account of one whose house was destroyed, or whose dear ones were killed. Then, there is the impartial newsreader-style narrative: winds at x km per hour, y million affected, z gallons of water flooded the city, etc. accompanied by pictures meant to shock and awe. I realized this week that there is also a third way - that of a person who is affected just enough so that they do not have any means of knowing exactly what hit them, and how much. I am going to try and tell the story of hurricane Sandy the third way. I will give a chronological account of what happened, and stay away from superlative figures as much as possible, since I came to know those figures much later.

Thursday, October 25: A friend tells me there's a hurricane headed this way. Since I had seen the hype surrounding Irene last year, I hardly pay attention. Besides, I had too many deadlines to meet.

Saturday, October 27: I cancel last minute plans to go to Central Park to shoot fall foliage the next day, and to attend a special service at Ramakrishna Mission in New York City on the occasion of Durga Puja. Weather.com predicts strong winds and rain over the weekend, but I am too busy with my other work to check a detailed weather report.

Sunday, October 28: My cousin calls me up from Edison to find out how prepared I am. He expresses concern that there is a 10-15% chance of his roof being blown away. In the meantime, my university announces a holiday on Monday. New York City closes all public transit within the city as well as to and from New Jersey. Deciding to make some preparations, I go out to the supermarket in the evening and buy a few cans of cooked beans. There are no candles to be found, and like last time, the bottled water shelves are empty. I also fill up all the pots and pans in the house with water and charge all electronic devices.

Monday, October 29 (Morning): I and my friend Atreyee go to our friend Amrita's house down the street around 10 in the morning for a lunch invite. Amrita's husband, who works in NYC, has his office closed as well. Amid strong winds and drizzle, the power flickers on and off as we have lunch and watch hurricane Sandy hit Atlantic City about 200 km away on TV. Around 5:00 pm, I and Atreyee return to our respective apartments. By now, it is clear that something is about to happen.

Sandy in action - taken from my room

Monday, October 29 (Evening): The wind grows strong and the drizzle turns to steady rain. By 7 o'clock the storm is already shaking the trees in front of my apartment like crazy. Then, the power goes. I switch off my laptop, light a candle and listen to the storm outside. My apartment building is a sturdy brick building and it does not budge; my only concern is the windows may be blown in. My ex landlord calls to check on me, and informs me that a huge tree has fallen in his garden, probably damaging the roof. My university declares Tuesday a holiday as well. Over the next few hours, I hear the wind make sounds like I have never heard before, and see the trees shake like I have never seen them shake before. There is also a persistent violet-blue light that lights up the clouds intermittently. It  is probably lightning, but it is unlike any lightning I have ever seen before.

My friends keep updating Facebook - our neighbouring city Harrison is being evacuated due to flooding. I suddenly notice that my new smartphone only has about 25% charge, and feel like kicking myself for not charging it since the morning and checking Facebook on top of that. I start up my old laptop and charge up the phone with that until the laptop battery goes dead. Then slowly, with a small battery-operated radio plugged in my ears, in spite of the most terrible howling outside, I drift off to sleep.

The reason why we had a 66-hour powercut

Tuesday, October 30: The sky is cloudy, but bright. The storm has stopped, and the rain is almost a nonexistent drizzle. The apartment is cold and without power or hot water. I step outside with my camera. Fallen leaves and broken branches everywhere, but doesn't seem like it did any real damage. I call home to let my parents know that I am fine, then wake up Atreyee and call her to my apartment. Together, we cook the most delicious mixed vegetables using whatever we had in our refrigerators, which included a large potful of pumpkin scrapings that had come out of my Halloween pumpkin. We also cook frozen chapatis until we lose count, fry large pieces of fish, and then have the most elaborate lunch in ages. We keep the leftovers out on the fire escape since the outside temperature is under 10 degrees Celsius.

That's the house where I lived before

The radio, in the meantime, has been spewing depressing news. Lower Manhattan is waterlogged, two major hospitals evacuated, millions of people without power - things seem bad. The storm, it seems, teamed up with the full moon to form the most magnificent storm surge ever recorded. The 13.5 feet surge had filled the subway and PATH tunnels with water and clean-up would be painful. After lunch, we decide to walk to my old house to see the damage. Here, we get to see what the storm must have been like. During the half-mile walk, we find eight full size trees completely uprooted. They have brought down electricity wires and poles with them, and the whole place is a mess. The tree in the garden of my old house has missed it narrowly, but fell on top of the lovely Japanese maple in the garden. On the way back, we realize that traffic lights are also out of power, and traffic is unusually unruly. Our university, meanwhile, declares that it will remain closed until further notice.

In the evening, my cousin's email tells me that the sidings of their house have been torn away, and they are staying with the neighbours, also without power. We spend the evening reading books by candlelight, something that I cannot say I did not enjoy. In the meantime, inquiries have been pouring in from my friends and relatives in India - they say they are horrified by what they see on TV. We do not have power or Internet; we don't know what they have been seeing. We have another elaborate meal and then Atreyee heads home to her apartment as I settle down for an unusually early bedtime.

Wednesday, October 31: Same routine as yesterday. Cook elaborate meals with still-intact materials. Use the fire-escape as fridge. Go for walk after lunch. Read by candlelight in the evening. Only difference - some stores are open today, as well as an ATM. Most stores are still out of candles, and people are buying the rest like there's no tomorrow. People are also charging their phones in the power outlets at the stores - something that had not occurred to me. I charge my smartphone in the morning using the charge of my laptop and then keep it off all day, switching it on every 5-6 hours to check mail. Walking is a pain - no driver wants to stop at an intersection with the traffic lights out, and pedestrians who want to cross must stop cars by their gestures and cross dangerously, India-style.

Oh yes, Halloween is postponed to November 4 by governor's order.

Thursday, November 1: Finally, at 1:00 pm, power returns. The weather is usually gloomy, with occasional sights of the sun. A squirrel finally tears through my packaging and claims his share of food from my outdoor larder. Our university says they will open on Saturday. We go for a walk in the park and see even more fallen trees. We also look at the images from the coastal areas, from New York City, and from other storm affected regions for the first time. Houses floating in the ocean, boats on the road, entire parking lots submerged, water rushing into subway stations like the movie Titanic. Horrifying indeed!

Meanwhile, Edison, Harrison and other parts of New Jersey remain without power, and there is a 6:00 pm to 6:00 am curfew in many cities.

Friday, November 2: Today. There was a half-hour powercut, but otherwise life is fast returning to normalcy. Trains to our university, however, are still not running and there is no news when they might start. Let's see if I can go to school on Monday.

Candle-light reading away from the Internet:
the only thing about hurricane Sandy that I truly enjoyed

Momentary Rhyme

"স্ফুলিঙ্গ তার পাখায় পেল ক্ষণকালের ছন্দ।
উড়ে গিয়ে ফুরিয়ে গেল সেই তারি আনন্দ॥"

"The spark, in his wings, found momentary rhyme

He flew up and burnt out, that's his happy time."

~Rabindranath Tagore (translation by me).

I lost my iPhone even before I could use it for six months. So it is back to a normal phone for me for the time being - one that cannot be used for reading/ writing blogs. I bet my laptop must be rejoicing right now.