Manish who is fondly known as ‘Munna – The Informer’ (‘A Wednesday’ fame) has been a gifted find as far as my conceptual fashion imagery is concerned. We had the opportunity to work together only once but I am greatly impressed by the sheer professionalism shown by him I am hopeful that he will be the face of much more photo shoots, which I am planning over the next few months. Already there are two projects that I am investing much energy to get done with this model turned actor.
The following are few selected shots from my last shoot with Manish. Feedbacks are most welcome…
Shooting ‘Munna - The Informer’
The GYPSY voyage to the Promised Land…
Life experiences trigger actions within one to find the real meaning of existence and purpose in life. It seems that the GYPSY is finally in one such voyage. I find myself seeing new landscapes with new eyes. I pass through red-hot deserts, lush green valleys. I pause at places and savor the richness of moments and continue on this great voyage. Being unattached to the events and people in my life I am taking sure steps towards the Promised Land. Once I reach there every dreams will be realized, my struggles will end. The struggles of life have become inevitable. They have helped me to concentrate on my voyage more than ever. Struggles – they are now an opportunity. I embrace them and transform them to my advantage.
Magic is bound to happen. The magic will be real in the Promised Land. As Henry Miller puts it, “The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware – joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.”
Images will be the trump card for all the magic spells. Creativity will break loose as never before. The world will be mesmerized; it will open its eyes and see dreamers realizing their wildest dreams. Even as I write this and even as you are reading this all the positive vibes in the world are conjuring up in favor of this GYPSY.
For whom
Why am I in this voyage and for whom I am doing all this? My cocoon years are far over and I am on this journey to realize the purpose behind my existence. I travel for myself but at the same time I do realize this all our lives are deeply connected. So essentially I am on this voyage for you as much as it is for me. More importantly I want to make my good Lord proud who without any spec of doubt called me a special person.
You are welcome to join me coz I am beautiful and wonderful beyond imagination. Harmony! Peace! Love! - That’s what I am. You will never want for more.
The journey that took 25 amazing years
“You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.” – Henry Drummond
25 years of life I have sojourned here with civilization and have managed to survive and celebrate my birthday in all its grandeur. I realize that most of the people who were there during the glory years of my life where no longer to be seen anywhere in the scene. It was but a bunch of new invited friends who occupied my room. Being the host I was rallying in my room taking care of the needs of my friends even as my mind was weaving numerous intricate questions and their puzzling answers. I did ponder about the vanity and deception of life. I concluded that there is no use looking at the many odd things that went wrong in life. It would be much more fun to continue on the journey ahead and enjoy all the bliss that life has to offer me.
But apart from all this what made the day even more interesting was the fact that my day started off and ended with enriched feelings of love and hope. Both of them where missing in my life for a rather long period and personally it was good to see myself cherishing those emotions however short-living it might turn out to be. It also enabled me to chitchat with the good Lord wherein I saw myself flipping through the pages and reading portions from the Book of Life. At 2 am I yawned and then laughed off the events of the day (they were too good) and went to sleep. As my eyelids closed the realization was deep down in my heart – “Tomorrow things will be different, life would show me all its masks and I will grin back at all of them. I will remain the great hearted beast, the king of a kingdom unknown with no queen and no prince and no princess.”
I am thankful both to Love and Hope… I am looking forward for u both to tent with me forever and change the fortunes of my kingdom. My pilgrim progress continues…
Travelling in God’s Own Country
The month of February saw me backpacking in Kerala. It was supposed to give me a break and a re-union with my friends. But if it was not for the few shots which I managed to capture during the trip I would have been utterly disappointed. Thanks t o those moments which redeemed my trip. I cannot wait for my next trip back to home as I will be travelling alone with mind and eyes fully open to the beautiful things happening in God’s own Country
Creation - The Dilemma God faced...
During the past torturous months i became very skeptic about the very existence of God and my mind was weaving philosophies varying in depth and meaning... I asked many questions, many "if's", many "whys". I sat in my STUDIO, in the corner of my bed and used to stare @ The Bible, the holy rosary, remaining silent pondering for numerous hours . The drugs, the booz, the women, my friends all have failed me... I left my camera in its pouch as i was sure that it would serve no purpose as my mind, soul and spirit was so filled with the darkness. Insomnia hits were becoming regular during rest time and drowsiness during my activity hours.... Situation seemed to demand psychiatric aid but still for some reason, deep within I believed that i am still sane in an insane way. I stumbled upon certain philosophers and intellectuals during this tragic phase of my life with whose help I am hoping to return to a life of normalcy. The following rendition about creation by a poet and philosopher from the states had a dramatic impact on my struggle with faith and God. Read on...
Imagine God in Heaven surrounded by the choirs of adoring angels singing hosannahs unendingly… “If I create a perfect world, I know how it will turn out. In its absolute perfection, it will revolve like a perfect machine, never deviating from My absolute will.” Since God’s imagination is perfect, there is no need for Him to create such a universe: it is enough for Him to imagine it to see it in all its details. Such a universe would not be very interesting to man or God, so we can assume that the Divinity continued His meditations. “But what if I create a universe that is free, free even of me? What if I veil My divinity so that the creatures are free to pursue their individual lives without being overwhelmed by My overpowering Presence? Will the creatures love Me? Can I be loved by creatures whom I have not programmed to adore me forever? Can love arise out of freedom? My angels love me unceasingly, but they can see Me at all times. What if I create beings in my own image as a Creator, beings who are free? But if I introduce freedom into this universe, I take the risk of introducing Evil into it as well, for if they are free, then they are free to deviate from My will. Hmmm. But what if I continue to interact with this dynamic universe, what if I and the creatures become the creators together of a great cosmic play? What if out of every occasion of evil, I respond with an unimaginable good, a good that overwhelms evil by springing out the very attempts of evil to deny the Good? Will these new creatures of freedom then love Me, will they join with Me in creating Good out of Evil, novelty out of freedom? What if I join with them in the world of limitation and form, the world of suffering and evil? Ahh, in a truly free universe, even I do not know how it will turn out. Do even I dare to take that risk for love?”
Shoot for a Management School
Boredom was really creeping into my nerves during my stay here in Mumbai and it was then my friends came up with the suggestion to shoot for the catalogue of a reputed Management school here in Mumbai. This one was a clear low budget shoot and I did this purely for practice reasons. The results of the shoot were pretty satisfying and the experience was a good one. Its fun shooting young people and I guess I will be stumbling upon more opportunities like this in future:
Me and Socializing
Me as a character has always been an introvert and my bright & hilarious side has only been exposed to the ones with whom my trust level is the highest. My level of social activities are extremely limited coz I don’t keep a great circle of friendship and ‘my space’ is always considered to be sacred and considered taboo to be ever breached. Living in the world of social networking I consider myself as an alien of sorts. Orkut was once heavily popular with me and much of my time was once transfixed in that virtual world which eventually managed to kill all my interest levels in rediscovering lost friends and making dazzling new friends. Some attribute the reason of my departure as an outcome of my breakup. But that event was only fodder to my decision to disappear from the scene and pursue my own sacred life. I am not stamping social networking as an Evil of this century though. It has its good elements.
As for meeting new people and stuff like that I totally believe that there is a whole real world out there where I can be sure about the unmasked face of individuals. I am happy to have real people around me who inspire me to utter that magical sentence, ‘Life indeed is beautiful & wonderful’. Having scribbled all this, I must admit that I am eagerly waiting for a ravishing real woman enter the scene of my life some of these days. I am in no mood to enjoy the eternal bliss of life alone and fail to share it with that special person in my life. I should say ‘Wait is worth the deal’.
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