Image 06: The Motif of Journey

 

Journey has been one of the time-tested and celebrated motifs in the arts and literature. We are delighted by journeys whether it is Odysseus’s return journey or the creative journey of an artist such as shown in Amadeus. There is something magical, captivating about journey that fills us with joy.

Not all the journeys are pleasant though. They can be extremely challenging: it is not always easy to let go of the past, the people and the things that you once held dear. Despite the many challenges involved,  journey has the potential to be a transformative experience — it can leave an indelible impression on one’s mind. 

Image 05: The Advent of Winter

 

It's nearly winter in the northern parts of India. Last Saturday was the first foggy morning of the year. In winters, many street vendors sell peanuts which are usually served hot. The peanuts taste much better when served hot, and eating them takes the from of favourite pastime. 

The trade is seasonal: you won't find these vendors in summers. It continues till the advent of Spring and a little after that, when the weather slowly changes its complexion and mercury embarks on its ascension.

Image 04: A Street Vendor

I saw this street vendor by the side of a road. Not only is the trade difficult, it is quite a lonely one too. The long hours are not always buzzing with activity and the countless iterations of doing the job daily must inevitably result in ennui. However, smartphones are rapidly becoming a common medium to idle away the otherwise empty and stagnated moments.  

By the way, I've started feeling that gestures convey vital information about a person's being. It seems to me that people's postures reveal behavioural traits that remain obscure, buried deep in the unconscious and unreachable recesses of one's being. Gestures are a coded script that hint at something significant about a person. 

Image 03: Woman in a Vegetable Market

I spotted this woman deeply occupied in her work at a vegetable market. The vegetable market is a site that draws a lot of migrant workers. It is a part of the town that's seldom without activity: you can witness a sea of people buying and selling produce. The whole market is a giant and raw fugue of voices. 

It was within this swirling waves of voices I saw this lady working on a sackful of round, white garlic bulbs. She wasn't bothered by the usual hustle and bustle of the market — she was impervious to it all. Her silent gaze was stable and fixed. Her experienced fingers moved with skill and precision.

Image 02: Railway Tracks

I wonder when these tracks were laid or made available to public. I remember seeing them decades ago when, as I child, I went to my ancestral village for summer vacations. They used to look imposing then; now they seem rather withered and wilted. 

I wonder how many people have travelled on trains that run on these tracks. I have seen them looking out of the windows of the trains. Passing rapidly before my eyes: their faces blurred into one image, divested of individuality. People I encountered for a brief moment of time, and quite possibly never met ever after.

Image 01: Like a Solitary Monk

Like a solitary monk in his frugal cell, the man continues his work. The man (a tailor) and his shop reminded me of a sixteenth-century copper engraving of a saint.