Sometime in 1967, the photography bug bit me, and I got it into my head that I should learn photography. The closest I had got to art was getting a tight slap from the renowned artist Rathin Mitra. It was well deserved – I think I had drawn a ship on a sheet of paper and was planning to paint it. I may have mixed enough colours to paint a real ship.
I convinced my father to buy me a Gevabox, the most affordable camera available at that time. But, later in life, I realised it set him back by about 10% of his monthly salary.
Developing the photos was as much fun as taking them. So the first step was standing in the darkest part of the darkroom with the reel in a can of the developer, which fixed the silver iodide on the film roll darkening the areas exposed to light. Next, the fixer removed underdeveloped silver iodide, and a stop bath was used to complete the process. Finally, hypo was used to remove all traces of the fixing agent. I last developed and printed in a darkroom in 1982 at IIMA. It was a joy I was able to share with Smita. Today one downloads from the ultra SDXC drive directly into my computer. The smell of the darkroom is just a nostalgic memory. I have slowly replaced that pleasure with my struggles with Lightroom.
I have taken all the pictures in My Gevabox.
Table of Contents
Bhutan
Dochula – Bhutan
Buddha – Bhutan
African Safari
Birds of Tanzania
Lions of Ngorongoro
Greece
Sunset at Santorini
Monastiraki
Monastiraki (little monastery) is a flea market in the old town area of Athens. Clothing boutiques, souvenir shops abound. The square in the photos is Monastiraki Square which is named for the Church.
Monastiraki (little monastery) is a flea market in the old town area of Athens. Clothing boutiques, souvenir shops abound. The square in the photos is Monastiraki Square which is named for the Church.
Exarchia
Sunset at Chania
My Secret Garden
– all Smita’s hard work
Smita’s passion has been creating and maintaining the garden. There are various kinds of plants everywhere on the ground, on the terrace and over the porch. In a very green neighbourhood with tall trees with thick foliage, sunlight is in great demand. These plants have played hide and seek with the shade and grown despite the abundant shade.
Brahma Kamal – Night Blooming Cereus
BrahmaKamal or Epiphyllum Oxypetalum or Night Blooming Cereus is the flower of a plant that belongs to the family Cactaceae. It blooms late in the night and lasts for a few hours in one night. Flowering in the rainy season this plant is found in tropical rain forests. Though true cacti they are named Ëpicacti ” to distinguish them from their cousins that grow in deserts. It is propagated by herbaceous stem or leaf cuttings. The flowers are predominantly pollinated by bats and large moths
White Rose Greeting the Morning Sun – the overnight rain drops still not dried
Still Life – Vegetables in the Sun
Random Plants
A Visitor to the Garden – Not so still Life
Black Kite in My Garden in Bangalore
Orchids in the Backyard
Matchstick Bromeliad or Aechmea Gamesopala
The plant is a tropical plant
Random Plants at Home
Saussurea obvallata
This year (2023) we had an amazing season of Brahma Kamal. Yesterday (July 18, 2023) there were over 30 in the garden all in full bloom.
Brahma Kamal belongs to the Asteraceae family which is known in Hindi as Genda Family. The name of the species is Saussurea obvallata and is a perennial herb. It grows in Grasslands, rocky slopes, by streams usually between 3,000 to 5,000 meters and flowers around July. The plant is visible in the mountains till September after which the surface portion of the plant dies and then comes again in April.
It is the state flower of Uttarakhand where it is widely found. It is also found in the Himalayas China (West Sichuan and North West Yunnan). It is also found in Mayanmar. The Government of India issued a postal stamp commemorating the flower in 1982.
Kyoto Palace and Garden
The Kyoto Imperial Palace is a beautiful structure in wood. It was the palace of the Emperor of Japan till 1869 after which the palace moved to Tokyo. The Imperial palace has been located here since the late 12th century. The palace has been and is built in wood and was burnt down many times. The current palace was completed in 1855 and is modelled on the Heian palace.
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