28 Jan 2010, 5:55pm
India photoblogging:
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  • India Photoblogging: Pune, 1985-1991

    I took a lot of pictures while wandering around Pune in the mid-1980s and early 90s. I was using a Minolta SLR which I still have somewhere in a box; digital cameras have now taken over completely, so I haven’t looked through the lens of my 35mm camera in a very long time. Getting interesting results when you’re photographing scenes on an Indian street is not difficult; Indian streets are inherently interesting. Here are some of my favorites.

    Somewhere in City section; I have a vague recollection this was in the vicinity of Appa Balwant Chowk, but that’s probably just my senility kicking in.

    Shukrawar Peth, most likely. Probably somewhere close to Phule Market.
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    Juna Bazaar, Pune, 1986

    Pune’s weekly junk market. I rode past this bazaar all the time, and finally got around to spending a couple of hours there with a camera, sometime in early 1986. I have always loved the bustle of street-level commerce; this place epitomizes a wonderful mix of high event density (on a moment-to-moment level) with the calm sense that “we have been trading in other people’s discarded objects for hundreds of years.”

     

    In 1988 I went there and bought a suitcase for my return trip to the US. It failed catastrophically, bursting all its seams, between Pune and Bombay, en route to the airport. Anticipating this, I’d bought a giant needle (4-5 inches long) and some string, and I sewed up the suitcase. It lasted until I arrived in New York, at which point I was able to borrow another piece of luggage for the trip to Boston. If this story has a moral, it’s probably something like, “Don’t buy shitty luggage.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    If you like seeing these India Photoblogging posts, please let me know, and I’ll do some more in days to come.

    25 Jan 2010, 11:00pm
    India photoblogging:
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  • Rajasthani Music: Tulcharam Bhopa plays Ravanhatta

    In 2000, Vijaya and I traveled to Rajasthan, staying in Udaipur and Jaisalmer. I have loved Rajasthani music from the first time I heard it, and it was really a treat to listen to traditional artists in both cities.

    The Ravanhatta (wiki spells it ravanahatha) is one of the oldest bowed instruments in the world.

    The bowl is made of cut coconut shell, the mouth of which is covered with goat hide. A dandi, made of bamboo is attached to this shell. The principal strings are two: one of steel and the other of a set of horsehair. The long bow has jingle bells.[1]

    The artists come from a lineage of bards, the Bhopas:

    Every prominent family of the land-holding Rajput caste, I discovered, inherited a family of oral genealogists, musicians and praise singers, who celebrated the family’s lineage and deeds.

    (snip)

    …unlike the ancient epics of Europe – the Iliad, the Odyssey, Beowulf and The Song of Roland – which were now the province only of academics and literature classes, the oral epics of Rajasthan were still alive, preserved by a caste of wandering bhopas who travelled from village to village, staging performances.

    Some Bhopas, of course, make their living performing for tourists. There were three or four ravanhatta players on the cobbled walkway up to the Jaisalmer Fort. We listened briefly to each; the one who really stood out to our ears was Tulcharam Bhopa, and we recorded a few of his pieces. It was early evening of Indian Independence Day, August 15, 2000.

    Here are some of our photographs of Jaisalmer accompanying the beautiful playing of Tulcharam Bhopa, whom I’m told died a few years ago.

    Khyal Photoblogging

    These were taken between 1985 and 1987, at various concerts in Pune, Mumbai, Miraj and Delhi. Enjoy:

    Bhimsen Joshi:

    Sawai Gandharva Mahotsav, 1985. He was singing a beautiful Todi, “Changai nainawa” followed by “Langara kankariyaa jina maaro.” Nana Muley on tabla, Purushottam Wallawalkar on harmonium.

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    Aparna Sindhoor Dance Theater: New Photos

    Ganesh Ramachandran took these photographs of the Aparna Sindhoor Dance Theater during the “Playing for the Planet” concert. I think they’re terrific.

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