Gaajan/Charak photos on Photojournale

I haven't been out on the streets with my camera for some days now. Sort of a sabbatical from photography; well if clicking the shutter is all that is about photography. However I worked on my photographs that I took during Bengali New Year celebration and published them on Photojournale:

"Rituals to celebrate Bengali New Year are many. Rural agrarian Bengal used to welcome the new year with the festival of Gaajan/Charak. It is a month long celebration that spans through the last month of Bengali calendar, Chaitra."

More text and photos at Photojournale : Photo journal stories and photo documentary from around the world

I am also putting some efforts recently to roll my new blog with Wordpress: Babbles of a deranged mind. This is in most part a text-only blog and in no way related to my photo-projects. I wish to let loose my ideas and opinions about the world around me through words in this place. I would really like to see you all in my new blog and hope you will find it interesting as much as this one.

Thanks for viewing!!

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Summer is approaching...

This is the last month of Bengali calendar, Chaitra. We are at the threshold of the summer season. Well the truth is we are already into it. Report shows persistent temperature rise in the country, and as a result we are having short lived winter, prolong and tiring summer and untimely rain and storms. Not long back there used to be occasional thunder storm and cyclone during this time bringing relief from heat and humidity; even I have seen it in my childhood days. We call this climatic phenomenon Kaalboishakhi. But from the past few years it has become a rare event. So now we are enduring a long and sticky summer season.

Like changes in climatic condition there are changes in cultural horizon also. Chaitra is the witness to a month long observation of some rituals, that in many cases spills over to the first month of the new year Baishakh. We call it Gaajan and mostly the people from lower rung of the society are the participants. This is a folk religious celebration where an aboriginal god is the central deity whose priest is also a member of the participating community though now a days the festival has been related to the Hindu god Shiva and a Brahmin is seen to take up the role of the priest. Likewise the festival has lost its splendor and ferocity of celebration in Kolkata and its suburbs. The original spirit can now only be found within some interior pockets of rural Bengal.

Social scientists and cultural historians have shown the celebration to be a fertility ritual for an agricultural community where people pray for good rain and fertility of their land in the wake of a dry summer season. It has been shown to be a celebration of marriage between the Sun God and the Earth. The Hindi speaking people from Bihar also worship the Sun God during Chaitra which they call "Chaiti Chhat". The purpose seems to be the same, that is to pray for fertility and good harvest.

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Shuva Vijaya Dashami

In English the title may be stated as "The blessed tenth day of victory" (though I am not a great translator). This is the day when, it is believed that, Lord Rama got victory over Ravana thus marking the victory of good over evil. Last Thursday was the day for this year.

On this day the four days long Durga puja festival in Bengal also comes to its end. Durga puja is the biggest get together event for Bengalees around the globe. Now is the time to bid adieu to our friends and relatives to get back to our work again.

The idol is taken to the river Ganga (or any near by river) for immersion. Some rituals are observed before immersion, like the ritual of vermillion (sindoor/bindi), farewell ritual using a mirror, greeting the idol with sweets before leaving for immersion, etc. On the bank of the river members of the family (girls and boys alike) perform free-style dance before the idol to greet the Goddess before bidding farewell for the year. Huge number of pople flock to the bank of the river to watch the ceremony and the balloon vendors, the candy sellers and other hawking people take this opportunity to make a few bucks on this festive season. But these days they are not alone; big names also arrange ad-campaigns at these sites to spread brand awareness.


In Kolkata one may also watch enactment of the battle between Lord Rama and Ravana (Ramlila); this year it took place in the ground near "Shahid Minaar". The show was arranged by "Punjabee Bradree" in presence of some ministers of the state and other dignitaries. At the end of the show it is customary to burn effigies of Ravana and his brothers by throwing fire crackers at them. This year, though fire crackers were thrown at them, the effigies could not be set on fire as they had already been soaked in water by city administrators in fear of a possible accident.

To see more photographs please check my Picasa web album.
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So I take a leap

Last Friday was my last day at my current day-job. It was in software engineering and so was high paying. My friends were shocked at my decision. Their concerns were quite logical. These days there are not many job that allow you to live lavishly, and just for a few thousand bucks people toil like anything.

But while my job was allowing me to buy expensive photo-gears, I was not able to buy time to use them. So it turned out either I have to stop thinking about photography or quit this job. I opted for the latter.

So what shall I do next? Try for some work in photography, in whichever area it is. Well this is only a short term solution I think. I look at myself as a photographic content developer, and as such I need to develop an understanding of the market where I shall be playing a role. I need to have a well chalked out career path in that market.

I shall keep sharing with you my friends all my experiences. For the time being I concentrate on finishing off the pending tasks. I just completed working on my photographs I took during Ganga Sagar mela at Maidan, Kolkata. I made a PDF book with them too. My friends have some good words to say about the PDF, but I want to hear it from you.

I present here only the partially completed version of the PDF, as the book is a bit big (6MB only). If you like to get hold of the complete PDF please contact me. Please provide me your full name, email id, profession you are in and a little bit of yourself.

Ganga Sagar (draft) - Upload a doc

Read this doc on Scribd: Ganga Sagar (draft)

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