Photo Blog by Rajan Parrikar » 135L http://www.parrikar.com/blog Satyam Shivam Sundaram (Truth, Divinity, Beauty) Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:56:52 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Mornin’ on the Chapora http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/10/12/mornin-on-the-chapora/ http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/10/12/mornin-on-the-chapora/#comments Wed, 12 Oct 2011 09:03:48 +0000 Rajan P. Parrikar http://www.parrikar.com/blog/?p=7374 Note: To see full-size images in this post, please view the original post by clicking here.

These images made at daybreak on the Chapora river in the Goan village of Colvale exude an air of serenity. Mornings here are indeed refreshingly calm and punctuated by birdsong. But they also reveal a dark side. Seen on the canoes are the hordes of migrant labour brought in by the criminals builders to service Goa‘s destruction construction boom. This sand mining of the river bed has already destroyed the fragile riparian ecology.

Mornin' on River Chapora, Goa
5D Mark II, 135L

 

Sand mining
5D Mark II, 135L

 

Colvale
5D Mark II, 135L

 
 
]]> http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/10/12/mornin-on-the-chapora/feed/ 1 Nirmalabai http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/10/10/nirmalabai/ http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/10/10/nirmalabai/#comments Mon, 10 Oct 2011 06:13:28 +0000 Rajan P. Parrikar http://www.parrikar.com/blog/?p=7359 Note: To see full-size images in this post, please view the original post by clicking here.

These are images of Nirmalabai Jadhav made one late evening in Korgaon in north Goa. She was crossing the village square when I first noticed her. When I went up and asked if she would agree to a portrait, she was moved to tears.

Nirmala Jadhav of Korgaon, Goa
5D Mark II, 135L

 

Crossing the street
5D Mark II, 135L

 

Nirmalabai
5D Mark II, 135L

 
 
]]> http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/10/10/nirmalabai/feed/ 3 The Early Bird http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/06/04/the-early-bird/ http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/06/04/the-early-bird/#comments Sat, 04 Jun 2011 05:46:47 +0000 Rajan P. Parrikar http://www.parrikar.com/blog/?p=6309 Note: To see full-size images in this post, please view the original post by clicking here.

The first rays of the morning illuminate this lone fisherman’s canoe on the Chapora river in Siolim, Goa.

Lone fisherman on Chapora river
5D Mark II, 135L

 
 
]]> http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/06/04/the-early-bird/feed/ 3 Candids in Vagator http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/05/07/candids-in-vagator/ http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/05/07/candids-in-vagator/#comments Sat, 07 May 2011 06:56:18 +0000 Rajan P. Parrikar http://www.parrikar.com/blog/?p=6146 Note: To see full-size images in this post, please view the original post by clicking here.

With its sweeping views of the Arabian Sea, the bluff at Vagator on Goa‘s northern coast is an atmospheric location. On a recent outing, I had the pleasure of recording the bliss experienced here during sundown by young and old alike. The first four images below are of my little niece Saraswati.

Taking it all in: Saraswati in Vagator
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

 

Saraswati
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

 

Frolic in Vagator
5D Mark II, 135L

 

Saraswati sulking next to her grandfather
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

 

Lovebirds
5D Mark II, 135L

 

Contemplation
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

 

Point-and-shoot
5D Mark II, 135L

 

Golden light: my father Motilal Parrikar
5D Mark II, 135L

 
 
]]> http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/05/07/candids-in-vagator/feed/ 3 Kundaim http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/04/30/kundaim/ http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/04/30/kundaim/#comments Sat, 30 Apr 2011 06:50:00 +0000 Rajan P. Parrikar http://www.parrikar.com/blog/?p=6110 Note: To see full-size images in this post, please view the original post by clicking here.

These are scenes from the beautiful village of Kundaim in Goa‘s Ponda taluka.

First rays of the morning sun
5D Mark II, 135L

 

Banana plantation
5D Mark II, 135L

 

Nature's pretzel
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

 

Laxminarayan temple
5D, 24-105L

 
 
]]> http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/04/30/kundaim/feed/ 1 Windows of Nacre http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/03/28/windows-of-nacre/ http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/03/28/windows-of-nacre/#comments Mon, 28 Mar 2011 17:25:48 +0000 Rajan P. Parrikar http://www.parrikar.com/blog/?p=5637 Note: To see full-size images in this post, please view the original post by clicking here.

Window screens fashioned out of nacre are a characteristic of the traditional upper class Goan house. It is unclear where or when exactly the idea originated. Some say it came from coastal Gujarat, others point to Cape Comorin. Given the mercantile links Goa enjoyed with the rest of the west coast from the earliest times, a good deal of give and take prevailed in the region. But it required the ingenuity and skill of the old Goan craftsmen to elevate the science of house construction to the level of art. A cursory look at the butt-ugly concrete eyesores now populating Goa brings home this point. (Boo! to the RCC-addled bozo architects and engineers.) Traditionally the highly skilled masons and craftsmen of Goa have come from the Pernem taluka.

From: Ethnography of Goa, Daman and Diu (first published in Portuguese in 1923) by A.B. de Bragança Pereira (translated by Maria Aurora Couto), Penguin Group, 2008.
p 85
…Since the Hindu house is very low, daylight can only enter through the door and a few small windows supported on wooden balusters. In some houses, window panes are made of conch shells instead of glass. These conch shells are called karepa (a translucent conch shell of oyster placuna placenta which filters a soft and muted light)…

 

From: Living Heritage, Shared Space by Angelo Costa Silveira (translated by Maria Flavia Ribeiro), Yoda Press, 2008.
pp 96-99
Carepas are undoubtedly one of the most enigmatic elements of construction in Goa. They have been used practically from the time of the arrival of the Portuguese. Their use was motivated by the need to illuminate and at the same time preserve the interiors of the house where social events could take place during the day…Carepas came to replace the system of wooden shutters and balusters which was very common in the early period…From the early days this system impressed travellers who frequently made references to it. Pyrard de Laval says in 1616: ‘(in Goa) they have no glass windows, instead very fine and straight oyster shells are used, inserted into wooden frames, allowing the light to come in as if it was of paper, as they are not as transparent as glass.’…

 
 

The images adduced here are a few examples of the exquisite windows of nacre drawn from the Bardez and Tiswadi areas.

 

Window panes of Nacre
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

 

House in Sangolda with balcão
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

 

Robert Menezes' home in Saligao
5D Mark II, TS-E 24L II

 

Rebello Mansion in Anjuna
5D Mark II, 135L

 

In Sangolda
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

 

In Cortin, Panjim
5D Mark II, TS-E 24L II

 

In Malar, Divar
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

 

Weathered ruins in Piedade, Divar
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

 

Stained glass and nacre in Saligao
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

 
 
]]> http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/03/28/windows-of-nacre/feed/ 2 Morning in Goa – Saligao http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/03/26/saligao/ http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/03/26/saligao/#comments Sun, 27 Mar 2011 02:09:26 +0000 Rajan P. Parrikar http://www.parrikar.com/blog/?p=5601 Note: To see full-size images in this post, please view the original post by clicking here.

These photographs were made last month in the village of Saligao.

A short window of a few weeks in January and February brings to Goa a combination of low hanging mist and pastel skies to harmonize the marvellous pre-sunrise scene in the first image below. The foreground bed of green is the foliage of red cowpeas (alsande) cultivated at this time of the year. To the left of the frame is the hillock of Monte de Guirim and its chapel.

Trivia: Since the Cricket World Cup is currently on, I thought I’ll mention this – Saligao is the ancestral village of Anthony De Mello, one of the founders of BCCI and the driving force behind Bombay’s legendary Brabourne Stadium.

For earlier installments of Morning in Goa, go here.

Morning in Saligao
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar + Singh-Ray 2-Stop Reverse GND Filter

 

Starting out early
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

 

And off they go
5D Mark II, 135L

 
 
]]> http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/03/26/saligao/feed/ 3 Morning in Goa – Parra http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/03/07/parra/ http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/03/07/parra/#comments Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:04:06 +0000 Rajan P. Parrikar http://www.parrikar.com/blog/?p=5371 Note: To see full-size images in this post, please view the original post by clicking here.

A February morning in my ancestral village of Parra in Goa. My last name derives from it: Parrikar means of/from Parra.

The first two images were made in a paddy field, currently looking wild and untidy pending cultivation during the monsoon season. The glistening grass following a night of heavy dew sharpens the foreground and the low mist in the distance imbues a picture of serenity.

Intercepting the first rays of the sun at the edge of the field is the Church of St. Anne (1649), seen in the third photograph. The Sunday morning mass was in session and a lone devout figure at the side entrance to the church caught my eye (last photograph). She was absorbed in the proceedings and took no notice of me.

For earlier installments of Morning in Goa, click here.

Dew, Mist, Colour
5D Mark II, Zeiss 50mm f/2 Makro Planar + Singh-Ray 2-Stop Reverse GND Filter

 

Sunrise
5D Mark II, 135L + Singh-Ray 2-Stop Reverse GND Filter

 

St Anne's Church (1649)
5D Mark II, 135L

 

Devotion
5D Mark II, 135L

 
 
]]> http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/03/07/parra/feed/ 3 Morning in Goa – Siolim http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/02/23/siolim/ http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/02/23/siolim/#comments Thu, 24 Feb 2011 03:01:54 +0000 Rajan P. Parrikar http://www.parrikar.com/blog/?p=5167 Note: To see full-size images in this post, please view the original post by clicking here.

Early mornings in Goa are were like nowhere else in the world. Not long ago, Goans arose to a serene landscape serenaded by birdsong. We took the quietude and beauty of our surroundings as our birthright. But good things don’t last long (especially in today’s India). The assault on Goa‘s environment by builders & miners in cahoots with local politicos, and the unsustainable influx of outsiders into Goa have lead to a calamitous depreciation in what was perhaps the last surviving idyll in the land. In this series, I shall attempt to convey the visual essence of the Goan morning as we have known it, now on its last legs.

The present post features images made earlier this month from the bridge on River Chapora in Siolim. This is a magical locale, one that I have staked out numerous times. As the position of the sun changes through the year, so do the crepuscular atmospherics leading into sunrise. February mornings bring low hanging mist to the terrain. For a different take from another time of the year, see this.

Since the height of my tripod barely exceeded the height of the fence ringing the bridge, I had to perforce shoot handheld. As luck would have it, on this particular morning a fishing vessel appositely moored provided foreground interest to the composition. Upon the sun’s arrival, the first rays illuminating the coconut trees behind me in the village of Chopdem was another sight to savour.

 

Sunrise over River Chapora in Siolim
5D Mark II, Zeiss 50mm f/2 Makro Planar + Singh-Ray Reverse GND Filter

 

Mornin' in Siolim
5D Mark II, 135L

 

Coconut fronds lit by the first rays of the sun
5D Mark II, Zeiss 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

 
 
]]> http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/02/23/siolim/feed/ 10 Point-and-Shoot http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/02/13/point-and-shoot/ http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/02/13/point-and-shoot/#comments Sun, 13 Feb 2011 09:39:06 +0000 Rajan P. Parrikar http://www.parrikar.com/blog/?p=5084 Note: To see full-size images in this post, please view the original post by clicking here.

On the ferry from Ribandar to Chorão, Goa
5D Mark II, 135L

 
 
]]> http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2011/02/13/point-and-shoot/feed/ 0