It is a little late in the day, but then celebrations never need to last for just one day do they? And honestly, there was so much hullabaloo about it on facebook, twitter and instagram… I just stayed away.

But, I was curious about the origins of yet another ‘DAY”. I asked google about World Photography Day and had a long and detailed conversation, few tangential inputs but over all it’s now clear. 175 years ago in 1839 (If you couldn’t quickly do the math) the first practical photographic patent was released. (got that information from here) If you went HUH? I did too…  

“It was in the year 1839 that two photographic techniques were discovered, the daguerrotype by Louis Daguerre, and the calotype by William Fox Talbot. On August 19th of that year, the French government announced photography as a gift “free to the world”. (from here)

Am I not glad for this discovery?

For me, photography is a brief pause; that pause in this avalanche of time that just gushes and leaves me breathless with moments. Photography gives me back my breathe. It stills movement. It is the pause button on the remote that let’s everything happening sink in. It is that save button that pushes ‘fleeting moment’ out of my vocabulary. It is that permanence that we seem to seek in life, but never really find. I might not be one who believes that each and every picture says a 1000 words, but I definitely believe a photography is one of the best stimuli. It makes you remember moments; nuggets that preceded it and that came later. It jostles your memory into remembering that day and importantly remembering my emotions that accompanied that day.

Leaving you with a few pictures, faces and moments from the hills and plains of India. Somehow faces captivate me much more than buildings and landscapes. If you enjoy this selection, do leave a comment — it will be much appreciated. 

The cool corn seller with his gelled hair

The kid carrying a kid?

We were walking to strawberry farms and came across these two boys were playing on large mounds of sand and took so much time to just give a smile. They were very shy… You might come across them in the hills near Nainital.

Three uber cool kids at Kaza. They were commenting about every passerby and laughing. So I asked them for a photograph 🙂

A football kick, unusual isn’t it?

Bun-tikkis at the Nainital Market.

Children grow up so fast these days. She looked way wiser than her age!

The pause in a great game of hide-n-seek that she chose to play. Everytime I asked her for her name, I was greeting with giggles.

Curious? Suspicious?

This little one was lame, and hopped around the homestay. He was also really curious! Everytime I see this chap I realise I should do a post on all the dogs I’ve met. A whole bunch of cuties on my hard drive.