indian days

On these cold, lifeless days I can't help but think about that time I went to India. I am comforting myself by re-posting a few of the many photos I took during these adventures.

xx
Lou

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Both photos of places in Udaipur, India. The second however is a faraway shot of the wall you see in the first. I loved this place but we didn't spend long here. Most of the walls are coloured blue to repel insects. Photographers drool over the picturesque opportunity of this place!

 xx
Lou

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Above is a photo of a fan. I loved looking at the ceilings and all the different fans...it was a bit of an obsession. The second picture is a snake charmer. This is just outside the Amber palace and we're pretty sure our rickshaw driver was connected to this guy. The snake was pretty beaten up and the whole moment was actually quite awkward.



xx

Lou

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A man resting after a days work converting rubbish and rubble into sand. Above is a lovely blue door....

xx
Lou

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This is Baba. He used to live a very religious and natural and naked life but when he moved to the holy city called Pushkar, he had to don this lovely orange outfit. (I love orange!). He lives up this small, rocky mountain in a place surrounded by monkies. We sat down with him and he made us this wonderful honey, ginger tea in little plastic cups. Once finished we asked what to do with them and he pointed over the edge of his temple/home...where there was a huge pile of plastic cups. Very ironic. Hilarious even. I remember Baba just laughed the whole time and seemed very sweet. As we were about to leave he opened a door to a dark room, a wave of rats swarmed out then Baba went to the curtain at the back of the room and shook out one or two huge rats. Next to the curtain he kept a tightly sealed jar of sugar bits which were offered to us. His way of life seemed charming (think 'Into the Wild' but more religious and more human contact). The idea was that he offered religious guidance and people would donate so he could stay alive. Hmmm.



Feeding the monkies. Baba knew their language (it's a physical one of course and kind of scary).



I hope you are enjoying my India travel diaries which I post every Tuesday or so. This is the 9th post, so I am getting through them...but they are SO fun to do. If you have any questions about this journey around the Northen part of India (and a few other places around India) feel free to comment!

xx
Lou

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My brother attempting to connect with the camel while the young guy whistles commands. In the background another camel safari group are taking a break by rolling down sandunes.



A murky sunset. The Pakistan boreder is very near here.

xx
Lou

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I know it's not Tuesday.



The glorious bangle store we went to following the I Love Rajasthan guide book. Liz Hurley bought her wedding bangles here. Out the back were little old woman carefully sculpting and painting these wonderful things. What's best of all is that the store is so discrete which allows you to simply enjoy the humble ambiance of tradition and craftspeopleship.



A photo from another crafts workshop we went to. I thought this place however was much more commercialised and less elaborate. The print you see involves several different stamps with different colours. Later, they repeat the pattern over and over again which makes a patterned blanket/material.

On a third and unexpected note I have another film from Chinese film class that had a small element of indianess in it, 'Chungking Express'. It's very ambiguous and had a fabulous reception. What's most important is that I went to a vintage store in India that may have sold the set props for this film's misenscene! How bizarre.

Also, you MUST watch a Hou Xiaoxian film in your lifetime. THE Taiwanese director. No doubt I will blog about him to a much more in depth extent but for now, here's a film trailer:

xx

Lou

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A snap I took of festival goers who filled the roads causing major traffic jams when we were driving to and from Agra. It was brilliant. Great observing time.



This is a photo I took from the bike-rickshaw. Most of the photos didn't work whatsoever but I liked how this turned out although it was much busier and scarier than it appears. This market is part of old Delhi, it was like a labryinth.



 xx

Lou

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I was invited up into a workshop for this brilliant place where workers collect and do up thousands and thousands of objects. Huge film companies and hotels use this 4 storied store for furniture and film props. There is a man who sits in a little office and knows the prices of absolutely every single item. An incredible experience.




This is a monkey infested temple somewhere in the hills in India. The main priest knew that New Zealanders were called Kiwis and that our rugby team was the All Blacks. Then he asked us for money. Ha.


xx
Lou

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The Taj Mahal and the Taj Mahal, Agra. What does an image say? Did we feel slightly desensitised on first site? Hmm. Also the irony in 'clean Agra'. It was incredibly beautiful still.

Contrast to the above wealth here is a photo I took of some boys clinging to a truck that is whirling down a highway. It's a way of life. Actually it's THE way of life in India.

The constant contrast took my brief away. It was reality and unreality clashing everywhere.

xx
Lou

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Window in the World Vision office, Rajahmundry, India

Real chai tea on the 18 hour train trip from Delhi to to Jaipur, India (we were with one of the Delhi Imperial Hotel managers and his wife)

xx
Lou

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washing hanging from the rooftops of slums where the World Vision team took us around while in Rajahmundry



temporary shelters set up by a gyspy tribe in the desert of Jaipur (this photo is taken from camel-back)


Hello everyone. Every week I hope to blog some photos from my travels in India and put a tiny caption underneath each one. The longer stories will be saved for another time and place. How does this relate to the purpose of this blog (oh deeear, I feel like a law student...oh wait.) you ask me? Just observe the colours and textures and you will find some of the origins of inspiration for countless fashion brands. Oh my gosh, I am so good at sounding pretentious. I should do it as a full time job. I NEED WORK (this is the poor student story).
xxx
Lou