The photographs are courtesy my husband, Sanjoy. An avid traveller, he also takes pictures as a hobby. These are his thoughts penned by me.
People
don’t do this where I come from. They don’t go backpacking around South East
Asia and they don’t go chasing lost civilisations across the atlas. The reasons
for this are many and complex, to sum it up it is simply not in our culture.
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| The photographer at Huen Tsang Temple. Sun Moon Lake, Nantou District, Taiwan |
I
have been living away from home for far too long and the novelty, maybe, of
luxurious resorts and touristy locales have lost their charm to me. I wish I
could say I did everything I ever wanted to do, but that would be untrue. I
only got to fulfil a small fraction of the dreams I held, and in an ironic way,
it seems that as I go about ticking things off my ‘bucket’ list, I add up more
and more at its end. It is wonderfully addictive, in a very fulfilling,
worthwhile sort of way! And although my ‘bucket list’ is now, four years later,
much longer than when I started, that is because such experiences change you in
your very core, teach you things about yourself, your abilities and desires you
had no way of ever knowing before. I consider myself privileged and feel
extremely thankful for everything that led me to the eye-opening experiences I
had, the people I met and all the marvellously diverse things I learnt from
them.
A photograph captures not only a snapshot in its best light, but it also captures memories of the grains that come off the temple walls on my fingertips as I trace the etchings, the Buddha face, the teeth of the Guardian Lion, how hot the sun felt as I climbed the steep and uneven rocks to capture a sunset. A photograph is all of that and more.
Apsara dance at Seam Reap, Cambodia
The exquisite ancient sites litter our planet like treasure maps to our past. Be it the relics of temples on the Nile or in forests of Cambodia, their artworks, architecture and artefacts remind us about our humanity as well as our mortality. One of my personal favourites among the lost cities that I have travelled to is Petra in Jordan. This desert city flourished on frankincense, myrrh and spices until an earthquake destroyed its water system. It was lost to Western knowledge for 1000 years. Petra's architectural mix of Roman, Greek and native Nabatean buildings are carved into the hillside's red rock.
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| Hindu mythology on the walls of Angkor Bhat, Seam Reap, Cambodia |
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| Ruins of Luxor, Egypt |
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| Facing history at Petra, Jordan |
One
of the pleasures of my travel is meeting people and getting acquainted with
different cultures. Many are alarmed by some of the countries I have visited.
They only hear negative stories and stereotypes perpetuated by the mainstream
media. And so, it bears repeating: traveling illustrates the inherent kindness
in the world. Yes there are dangers out there, but the friends I met these past
four years have welcomed me into their homes, and generously offered their time
to share a piece of their culture with me. When I take candid shots of people
from various cities of the world, they remind me of the generous hospitality I
received in that country.
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| The tattoo guy of Vigan City, Phillipines |
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| Walk on the Great Wall, Beijing, China |
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| The Terminal, Subarnabhoomi International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand |
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| Early morning at Old Quarter, Hanoi, Vietnam |
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| Architectural wonder, Sheikh Zayed Mosque, Abudhabi |
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| Supervision, old lady, Vigan City, Phillipines |
Last
but not the least; travel is not complete without the wonder of architectural
splendour. Each country offers a variety of landmark monuments steeped in rich
cultural heritage and also in trend setting modernity. From the mosques of the
mid-eastern countries depicting the geometrical symmetry of Islamic
architecture to the Zen like minimalism of clean lines and monochromes of
modern buildings, travel shows us all.
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| Rolling hills of Batan island, Batanes, Phillipinesiew from the top, Halong Bay, Vietnam |
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| Misty morning at Sun Moon LAke, Nantou district, Taiwan |
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| Rolling hills of Batan island, Batanes, Phillipines |
Travelling
has taught me to respect how different our lives can be, but even more the
shared commonalities. Travel made me look at each new conversation and
experience as a chance to learn something new and carry home a nugget of wisdom
or a nuance of culture from foreign shores.
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| Traditional Balinese dancer, Indonesia |
