Happy Holi 2011

Happy Holi 2011, originally uploaded by £$þ.

Colorful Holi festival was celebrated in a grand manner yesterday. It felt great to walk across the streets and capture those fun moments that make this festival.

At one point came across this little shy boy with Holi colors, not wanting to get his photograph taken was hiding behind the screen. I was waiting for him to emerge out of it, and luckily so, he came out with a beautiful smile on his face :) I like the smile and slight movement of the screen which I think adds dynamism to the frame.

Happy Holi everyone!!

Bidri, an exquisite art in making

Bidri, an exquisite art in making, originally uploaded by £$þ.

Bidri is an art from Bidar, located in Karnataka, India. Bidri is a form of surface ornamentation in black colors, which never fades and is coated with silver and gold coverings.

Gunmetal, which is an alloy of Zinc and Copper is used for Bidri. The manufacturers use various moulds to give shape to the gun metal. Saline mud is kept out of sun light and air for almost 100 years and is used as oxidizing agent to give shine to the metal.

The Bidri designs are usually patterns such as the Asharfi-ki-booti, stars, vine creepers and stylized poppy plants with flowers. Traditional designs include the Persian Rose and passages from the Quran in Arabic script.

Flower vases, Cigar and Jewellery boxes and Huqqa buttons are the most sought after products of Bidri craft. Items like key chains, cuff links, paper weights, and paper knives are other Bidri craft which are used as gift articles.

For more information on this artwork, check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidri

The Stare

I know its been a long time here for me! I've been so regular on Flickr these days and kinda kept this space idle for no reason. Will try to link this blog with my Flickr account so that my regular posts there are published here as well.

My today's post is about "Stare". I generally like photographing people who stare right into my camera. In one of my recent trips, I saw this old villager with a colorful attire, sitting in a tea stall and staring at my camera (as any villager would). I took that chance to my favor and captured her natural expressions. At first I was scared how the villagers would take it. But to my surprise later, everyone around also wanted to get their photograph taken :)

Have a colorful week ahead !!

Please let me know your feedbacks/comments/critiques on this photograph (Will certainly help me improve).

PS: If you are on Flickr, please add me as your contact so that I can enjoy your wonderful pictures and learn from them as well!