RESHAM MALA - JAMALPUR

Resham mala -The silk garland is the ' The product of holy bliss ' and is used t0 decorate the GODS during Diwali and Navaratri. It is considered as a compulsory accessory for all the family members in Rajasthani weddings,and thus it stems as a significant cultural craft in the Walled city - Ahmedabad

Theme : Resham Mala (Silk garland) making

Location : Near Munda Darwaza , Jamalpur

City : Ahmedabad

Date : 05.04.10

The Land Mark - The Munda Darwaza welcomes you to the territory of creative legends. People indulge in different crafts like kite making , garland making and other crafts.The area also consists of community of auto drivers along with garages, workshops

The narrow lanes with closely knit shops buffered with tenements kept me busy in locating the shop which i was supposed to visit, when I found "Jafrullah Bhai " - A garland maker who has been into this profession for the last 20 years.

So after I briefed him about my intention of being there , he was all exited to provide me with all the requied information.

I was quite excited on looking at this arrangement.But my excitement transformed into a disappointment when he told me that these were not the garlands I was looking for.

The ones in the picture above are " sandal wood " garlands used during death ceremonies.

So the story began with his beginnings in this craft,he asked his wife to pass the news paper cutout.The man towards the right in the pic above is ' Jafrullah bhai '.This was one of his pics which was published in the local news papers.

Finally i got to see the Resham mala.But the excitement turned into a disappointment again as he told me that it was 'off season' now and these malas are prepared only during diwali and navaratri. But within no time he figured out that there was 'garland making' going on in one of the houses close by.

He hopped onto my bike and we were all set to explore the process.

We landed at a house which was just one single room with a small wash area within itself.It was occupied by a small Muslim family.I just wished i had a wide angle lens to capture the entire space as one single entity.

This is what i was looking for- 'Karshima mousi ' has been making these malas for the last 40 years. Jafrullah Bhai was instrumental in explaining every single step of the garland making process.

THE PROCESS

Step 1 : Cleaning the waste fabric : Waste silk fabric is refined into fine threads.

Step 2 :It is then cleaned and washed to make it glitter - their ' White gold ' .

Step 3 : Dyeing process - The skeins of thread are then dyed by soaking them into dyes.This is treat to watch especially during the festival season.

This is definitely one of my best shots in my entire documentation .The colour are really refreshing.

Step 4 : After the dyeing and drying process, the threads are bundled up and stacked into different shades.

Step 5: The threads are then cut into small lengths of 1 to 2 inches, which are further used in the garland making process.

Step 6:Each of these strands of threads are then stacked into different shades and carefully arranged, forming different patterns on a white thread string which constitutes the main spine for the garland.

The techniques which Karishma Mousi was using was precise and meticulous -she had mastered the skill.

Step 7 : Once all the pieces of threads are laid onto the main string below another string is laid on top of it and both of them are rolled together as shown above.

The two strings with strands of colorful threads in between when rolled looks magical.It is a pleasure to watch this creation first hand.

R E S H A M M A L A

These Garlands are finally decorated with intermediate glossy paper cut flowers, shining threads and other eye catching add ons.

Shown above are the different steps of garland making in a shop.This was the same as the early one but the shop set up was the one which grabbed my attention because of its myriad colours.

The plastic glossy flowers tied inbetween is shown here.

My sincere thanks to Jafrullah Bhai and the other colony people who were co operative in showing me around.

Modernization has led to the decline of traditional values of the city.Masses just want to enjoy the cultural privileges but hardly anyone thinks of preserving and valuing the source.

Kids like the one above and all of us are the future of tomorrow.So it should be our major priority and responsibility to be a part of public awareness.

SO BE A PART OF HERITAGE AND HENCE BE A PART OF YOURSELF

Thank you.

FLOWERS and FLESH

Location : Russel market-Shivajinagar-Bangeluru

State : Karnataka

Date : September 2009

These pics were shot with reference to a workshop conducted by a German based photographer "Stefan Koppelkamm" .The workshop was termed by the name "Places I like".

A total of 15 photo enthusiasts were shortlisted based on the pics sent online.

Each participant had to choose 1 place in Bengaluru and document it in a particular aspect.

I chose "Russell market"- A cluster of markets of varied products starting from vegetables to meat,buffered up other home needs and street food stalls.

I focused on the life style of people ( especially shop venders ) and the spaces they live in.

The golden yellow structure above is the renovated structure of the vegetable market area.

This pic was mainly shot to depict the two main aspects of the society.The mosque was to depict the 'cultural aspect' and the advertisement boards were to depict the 'commercial' aspect.

The idea of capturing once emotions behind the others deeds holds good for this snap.The interesting part about this pic was that,I could literally see even the red nerves between the rib cages of the slaughtered meat.

Yes, this kid was a smart one.I had to actually interacted with him for a while and also took a series of shots to get him into a natural feel.Even though he is looking directly into my camera,but i could still depict his innocence which was quite natural.

A lot of these kids keep are made to work here because of which they miss out their childhood.

Yes, this was quite intentional.I liked the bold background a lot.So just brought in some models to pose.

Corridors in the 1st floor of the market complex.comparitive analysis of proportions.

The M A R K E T D A Y

Subsidiaries for the market.People do a lot of things for their livelihood here

Observe the corrugated sheet above.It frames the entire picture with the ground in the lower part

Hats off to the dearest granny who sat still for quite a long time and posed for me.Wrinkles are the one which enhance an old character.

This was more with the fact of expressing a flesh in an alternative manner.

A bright Retail 'foreground' expressed with a concrete commercial 'background'

I wanted to capture the mans posture behind.But then he was quite reluctant.So used the kid as a source in turn and it turned up to be a better one.

The interior space used as a fish market.

The interior spaces of flower market.

The "F L E S H" (Excuse me - veggies)

One of my favourite spaces - An interior of vegetable market.

About the photographer : Stefan Koppelkamm who guided us through the photographic journey,is a German based photographer ,lives in Berlin and works as a graphic artist, exhibition designer and photographer

Some of the tips i would like to recommend, which could be kept in mind while shooting in public places

- Always be humble to people

-Walk around the place first and understand its nature

-If you are planning to come back again to the same place for a number of times , then its preferable to give a small print of the pics of people you have shot.This will bring in a bit of excitement and trust within the people and you.

- Wear dull outfits or the one which gel with the place you visit (you will just end up being a point of attraction and hence people will be very conscious when you are around )

- Last but not the least - HAVE FUN