& flows the life

After a long 5years of silence, I thought of coming back to this space once again. There had been a lot of events during this period. The most important of them all was my shift to Delhi from Chennai, a city very close to my heart.

I shifted to Delhi in mid 2015. It is a common phrase that Delhi dilwalo ka shahar hain (Delhi is the city of big hearted people). More than the big hearts which struck me immediately on shifting was the scale of things. Talk of any thing in Delhi, it would be 3-4 times bigger than that in Chennai or Kolkata. It took me sometime to get habituated to the scale.

Colours of the evening sky

But for me, from the very beginning it was quite monotonous. Home to Office and office to home quickly became a boring routine. One of the major reasons of such monotony is the present curve of my life. In this curve my child is away, first for higher study and then for work. It is me, my wife and our fights.

New Delhi Railway station

During this period my photography took the last bench. My job demanded a lot of time and energy; week ends were the only time for rest. At times, I could clearly hear the cursing of my cameras.

Cafe Bae, Jaipur, Rajasthan

The only respite from the boredom used to be our short trips to nearby places. I love mountains and  always had 2/3 trips to Himachal Pradesh and one or two to Rajasthan planned for any opportunity to come. I undertook a few family trips even without prior hotel booking, which was a strict NO in my dictionary. Only during such trips I used to do some photography, thanks to my wife who always support my hobby. At times, I used to tell her to wait or be on her own when I would try many angles; she had never complained in any such occasions.

Varanasi 

In Delhi, almost on daily basis I used to miss my Chennai days when I used to go to photography tours along with my friends on regular intervals. During those days in Delhi, I started to use my mobile phone. To my surprise the result started coming quite good although I always had mediocre smart phones, not the high ended ones with multiple lenses, low light capabilities and all those.

A community Durga puja in Delhi

It was quite simple; take photos, process in phone app and it’s ready to view..

In one hand it was simple because I can take photos drawing least of attention but on the other hand it took me sometime & a number of failed attempts to assess the capability of the phone camera and start getting presentable images.

Delhi metro station

This new mode of photography offered me unlimited opportunities to take photos. The mobile phone lenses are super wide and hence they are great for travel and street photography. I started off with full vigour. Initially I started experimenting on whatever and whenever basis. At times I even had stopped on my way back from office to capture evening skies. After lots of trials, the photos became somewhat presentable.

A hotel in Tirupati

Afterwards, in many occasions I used mobile phone even when I was carrying my two cameras. Through all the ups and downs of life I realised my love. Whether my photos are going to places or not, only thing that matters is photography supplies me the oxygen. Whenever I pick up my camera (or mobile phone) I forget all else. It relieves my stress, my pain, my anxiety and let my heart takes over.

City Centre I, Kolkata

A whole new world opened up. although it was not serious photography, I started to fulfill my craving in any situation and anywhere I could spot a chance. The sense of composition was challenged every time. Sometimes I could make good use of the opportunities and at times I failed miserably. All the photos I have put in this article are taken by mobile phone and they are some of my favourites.