lomo-slomo!

things one does when one is bored.

play with a camera.

with colours.

and the usual suspect is the man of crazy colours.

hazbeenthere.wordpress.com

whose taller this time?

lucknow. 

state capital.

construction capital.

dust capital.

migrant labourers.

blue tarpaulin over unveiled statues.

tall statues of mayawati.

last one was destroyed after 45 days of unveiling.

her reason - not tall enough...

...hers was smaller than the statue of her political mentor, kanshi ram.

will these be tall enough?

harry

harry is one funny man.

is always in thongs.

wears a panama hat.

loves his edirol. 

hates the wind (during recordings).

guess what he tells the auto driver - "home james, and dont spare the horses!!" 

can you beat this aussie? 

i cant.

no one can. 

the guest house...

days in the guest house in lucknow.

harry with his beer and gadgets...

annette plays with the camera...

chida plays with my squash ball...

and wonders why it doesn't bounce.

i wonder what is suzanne trying to do with the spoon?

Lucknow gun street :: La touche road

guns galore...

rows of gun shops.

rifles, double barrel guns, shotguns, pistols, revolvers.

everything....

"...i love my gun..."

"... i have 3... i for need, other 2 for show..."

"...guns are for 'real' men..."

"... pride and gun go hand in hand..."

"... i don't have to use it (gun), showing it is enough..."

"... if you have connections, you can get a gun license in 2 days..."

few of the comments from the local gun owners in Lucknow.

day 03 :: Lucknow

galawati kebabs, again...

 

cycles, 

rickshaws, 

pedestrians, 

auto rickshaws,

crazy traffic,

people, everywhere. 

first night out in 2 days.

5 in a rickshaw (including driver)

sticking head out of the rickshaw to shoot

a near decapitation in Lucknow’s heinous traffic

finally destination - tunda kebabi

gelawati kebabs galore...

a miasma of meat in 8 simple serving.

a walk back to the guest house.

three little drummers and a cyclist.

girl dances with boy and... 

a drummer with crazy eyes in the same wedding band.

mayawati's new house. construction cost - 90 crore rupees ($1,80,23,429.9...whatever)

end of day 02.

all photos (except man walking in darkness) by Suzanne Lee

DAY 02 :: Agra to Lucknow

chida galloping on grass (actual grass!)

cold beer in a red-tiled dhaba

cleanest dhaba toilet, ever.

A brief windscreen squeegee led to shit on the thongs.

A bad smell in the jeep and a rigorous cleaning effort following.

a tyre burst, but it wasn’t ours, thankfully

9 hours drive covering 363 kms, with a 90 mins timeout for Kingfishers.

photos :: B&W (Suzanne Lee), Colour (Annette Ekin)

day 01: Delhi to Vrindavan (Agra afterall!)

day 01 :: Delhi to vrindavan

missed the turn to mathura (oops!)

turning back not being an option, agra is the destination.

nobody’s favourite city since the Moghul’s.

finally found a rather nice guest house.

hotel manager warns harry of driver’s commission (driver i.e., me)

smuggled the dog in successfully (happy to know his bark is comparable to his size)

slept peacefully.

photo: Suzanne Lee

road trip :: spaces in-between

5 in a jeep.

harry and annette,

sanjit and suzanne,  

Chida, the four-legged companion.

4 (maybe more) week long trip across Northern India.

Delhi to Assam (Bangladesh border) via Nepal.

Topics to snap and snare are as weighty as they are varied,

From guns and vigilantes in Uttar Pradesh to sex workers in Kathmandu,

Christian refugees in Orissa to homeless flood victims in Bihar,

Mayawati’s burgeoning Empire to Assam’s Brahmaputra woes.

Food will be eaten and reported on too.