ramya's photo journal

Author: ramya

  • When a Little Goes a Long Way

    by
    Shreyas Jayakumar, Ramya Reddy & Ashita Mathew 
     

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    It’s hard to summarize the overwhelming feeling we experienced when our paths crossed with the troubled souls residing at what was once the economically Weaker Section housing complex at Ejipura. What were once secure housing blocks, have now been reduced to dirt to benefit mankind’s greed. A swanky shopping mall is destined to occupy a site that has seen some tragic outcomes as a result of its deracination. Mountains of excavated earth, tons of trash and leftover remnants of the residents’ paltry possessions – the scene was eerily similar to what we see in many disaster movies, but this is exactly what greeted us when we – Ramya, Varsha, Ashita, Tiya and Shreyas – entered the hurriedly-barricaded entrance. Armed with boiled eggs, biscuits, bread and milk, we made our way into the plot, with only one objective in mind – to feed as many of the hungry, displaced dogs (and cats) as we could find.

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    That sense of sinking despair had already set in as we were approaching the folks who would lead us to the several dogs that desperately needed to be fed. We were received with a sense of remorse and bitterness (as we had expected). ‘Dogs over people?’, we were asked by many. We had done sufficient homework and knew that the meals for the human population were being tended to, and were also told by our peers not to be bogged down by these very human, outbursts. We went right ahead and started feeding the needy babies – over 80 dogs and puppies that were rendered homeless and abandoned – without any further thoughts affecting what we had set out to d0….Read the rest of the story here

  • This View.

    blogapril

    And I am here now. Far from this view but happily at home with my puppies. New projects await and the mangoes too.

    Like the view above and how it would manifest so differently in the light of each day, my state of mind too seems to be straddling very different worlds every so often, especially over the last one year. As they say change is the most constant thing and I have come to believe that it is a valuable thing to embrace and enjoy. As enriching as it is, living between two very different scenarios is a touch unsettling, at least for me. It’s a very small price though for the life lessons and education that come with it.

    So here I am now. Far from this view but I can see it still.

  • From here & now.

    sf2013

  • Layers and Letters

    image transferportrait of a  tribal mother-infant from the nilgiris, transferred using acetone onto a page of my grandfather’s book

    A quick entry before I disappear.

    I’ve been getting my hands dirty at image transfers for sometime now (sporadically, however) – as a part of prep for one of my next projects. Must say I haven’t really gotten far with these trials, but I’m loving every bit of the process and to be actually using my hands. I liked what came of one of these experiments and thought it was share-worthy :) Intend to peruse this a lot more next month when my current state of affairs is a little more relaxed. Any thoughts, ideas with regard to this are more than welcome.

    I will be back soon, with a post  about a favourite topic of mine – Indian Dogs.

  • A Year in Instagram

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     Did another year just pass us by ? Feels like so much happened in a flash. So much.

    There have been goods and the bads, bitter days and sweet ones, sadness, joys, incredibly fulfilling exchanges & projects, mountain days & rainy ones, countless cups of chais, coffees and glasses of vino over amazing conversations, books and plenty of art.

    Most importantly, lots of love and positivity.

    Milestones happened, leaps of faith too, and self belief. I am a decade older – stronger with an improved sense of humour ;-) a better artist (I think), a fairly decent cook, a godmother, and journeyed through all these waves along with my ever supportive love, R. Oh, and we’ve never been more sure of wanting to add to our brood of four legged babies.

    I hope I have been able to give more than I have taken. And for all that I have received from the universe and from my beautiful family & friends, I am ever so grateful. Happy 2013 !

  • Living in Harmony – CUPA Calendar 2013

    Hello Everyone.

    This calendar is a part of my ongoing project about living in harmony with our community dogs and finding ways to take responsibility for their welfare through baby steps. They belong in the urban landscape as much as we do and in my opinion, their warm presence indicates a state of good energy floating all around because dogs are devoid of negativity. If we put our heads together, we can work at keeping their population in check in a compassionate manner and also reduce that lurking uneasiness of  “stray dog menace”  and instead, eventually turn it into “community dog asset” It is possible simply because dogs are nature’s gifts to mankind and they are simple folks who only want some love. And we as humans are capable of so much more love than we know.

    So let’s open up our hearts.

    Love, ramya

  • Blues and Random Thoughts.

    “Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again”

    – L Frank Baum

    …and wonder at how fresh those citrus hues look against the blues

    …or catch the tingling aroma of street food and watch how it colours the air with it’s steam

    and then stop to greet this patiently waiting basket…

    and the dispersed petals about to join the winds of change.

    It’s ironic that I have so much to say here, but feel completely blank once I start a new post. It’s not a rut for sure, but a blankness that comes with being overwhelmed by life’s potpourri in general – but in a good way. That heavy, heady blend of  joy, confidence, sadness, love, creative flow, and fear.

    So. on another note, I was surprised to see how many images of blue had found their way into my computer. Mostly from strolls in the mountain markets while scouring for fresh produce – sights and smells thereof. Like the fiery reds of the Indian summer, I like to think that these blues correspond with the Indian winter, which, I am savouring completely at the moment.

  • Being the Self

    Janaka : “Who is that Self ?”

    Yajnavalkya : “The Self, pure awareness, shines as the light within the heart, surrounded by the senses…

    …Only seeming to think, seeming to move, the self neither sleeps nor wakes nor dreams.

    ~ Brihadaranyaka Upanishad – 7 (translated by Eknath Easwaran)

    ~~~

    It’s been a really busy last few weeks and I’ve been drawing a lot of inspiration and calm from this translation of the Upanishads.

    So simply, articulately written. Highly recommend.

    Needless to say, I’m thrilled the rains are visiting more often, and I’m going to be back next week with a Monsoon Colours Post.

    Hope everyone is enjoying the comforting blanket of the cloudy skies and the lovely warmth of the peek-a-boo October sunshine.

  • Fallen Angels

    Was mediating on these and the beauty of falling, decaying, and being born again.

  • Haiku and the Morning Mist

    A misty morning here in San Fran(above) and a monsoon back at home (below). Both so beautiful, both so soothing. I miss the latter, and can’t wait to catch up with it, which should be in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, I’ve been reading some Haiku these days and writing some as well — for an exciting collaborative project that is in the final stages (details soon!). I find it so calming and clarifying.

    To express with such eloquent simplicity and yet keep the richness of layers…what a beautiful way to exercise the mind, don’t you think ?

  • iphone Journal : A Cup of Tea.

    Thought I should have a little column on the blog to share some iphone captures.

  • I Heart San Francisco.


    It was that devil procrastination that made me take so long to un-draft this post. It’s been sitting pretty waiting to be posted and some finishing touches. But then the excuses came along (real ones, I swear). And the delay of our beloved monsoon has been fairly disquieting too. I’m sure it’s on everybody’s mind. So odd to go through the w-h-o-l-e  of  June with just drizzles, no ?

    It’s been two months almost since San Francisco, and the time that has whizzed past has been a whirlwind of assignments, local travels and now I’m getting ready to go back to the lovely SF for a few weeks again. And before I snap away for another edition of my SF blog post it seemed right to post the FIRST one first :) So what follows is a photo essay of a few quick glimpses from a really interesting SF food trail. Hope it inspires you all to have a weekend filled with lots of good food, drinks and happiness.

    Vietnamese at Bun Mee. A cuisine I love  for how it marries the garden fresh with zingy lemongrass, basil & fishsauce.
     

    Simple strolling, a few hours of work(mostly post for the shoots completed here), making little sketches and notes, cooking or wolfing down good food and laughing with my husband and the hearty San Franciscans we met. My days in San Francisco were mostly like this with some hiking on the weekends. If I factor in the unpredictable wet days, then the strolling was replaced by people-watching from within a warm cafe or a wine bar.

    What struck me about the food scene in San Francisco is the almost bohemian spirit of free flowing fusion of world cultures. The element of art ever present in the food as it is in most other things here. The chefs are artists who seek the local farmers to create the soulful food and the farmers seek the chefs in return with fine, nurtured produce from within a small radiuses of the city. The food experience at Outerlands was one of my favourites and it captures this essence well.

    just-out-of-the-oven Outerlands loaf with big chunks of the divine artisan-made Pianoforte cheese.

    San Francisco is a ‘big little city’ in a sense that it’s sea of global food experiences are packed into a fairly small area. Californians pride themselves on their culture of using freshly prepared food with local ingredients and in San Francisco this is particularly pronounced with an added international flair. There’s also some respite from the fast food chains and monstrous supermarkets because alternate choices are plentiful and have their place. This was obviously my big draw to the city’s vibrant and cultivated food culture. Given the San Franciscans’ love of harmony and green living, several eateries feature thoughtfully prepared vegetarian, vegan and healthy eating options. Every other thinkable food request is accommodated with a smile in most restaurants and it was always made me happy to see the strong inclination towards sustainable eating in almost every place we visited. Nopalito for one is a great sustainable Mexican eatery.

    San Francisco boasts of some amazingly authentic Mexican Taquerias all over and particularly in the Mission district such as the cultish La Taqueria which are hard to go wrong with and serve up the perfect little Taco. Nopalito delivers it  to perfection with a tad more imagination and if you go there in the daytime there’s always golden SF sunshine streaming through, accompanying the Margaritas.

    Fermented rice salad at Burma Superstar – a real STAR

    A food lover’s life involves a vicious cycle of compulsive recurring hunger and the only fix is to eat to keep that belly quiet. I have no complaints because that’s how one gets to the next house of gastronomic delight. We’d heard of Burma Superstar which as the name suggests is hugely popular, and particularly for it’s Tea Leaf Salad. It was too enticing not to try so we braved the long wait times and jumped in. It’s rather odd that we travel the oceans accumulating big carbon footprints to eat food that is actually from your neighbourhood ? I totally enjoyed the Americanized Burmese fare as I do with Desi Chinese and would go back for the fermented rice salad.

    The once-a-month open air Treasure Island Flea…I loved it for the world market-y vibe.Hundreds of Local artisans participate with their creations, homemade goodies, handmade soaps, and vintage everything – clothing, jewelry and you name it and it’s there at the Treasure Island Flea. It is one of those places that reflects the true spirit of it’s beloved city – unpretentious, freespirited and eclectic.

    Plenty of San Francisco food trucks find their way here and it’s a happy sight to watch the people, kids and their pets strolling lazily  wondering what should make it into their bellies.

    One may think that the time spent in San Francisco may not be complete without a dash to the wineyards. But what if all the wine makers of California gathered under one roof offering wine tastings where you can also buy on the spot. The San Francisco Vintners Market is exactly that and seemed  a rather commensurate option given our time constraints.

     Winemakers from California and across the country come together during this wine Mecca that happens twice a year at the vast Ft. Mason Center’s Festival Pavilion in San Francisco. We were lucky to have been there right in time for the Spring time festival and learned of it thanks to a local friend.

    Honestly I wasn’t prepared for the magnitude of the gathering. 4000 people or thereabouts had merged seamlessly into the deafening buzz of the chatter, clinking glasses and infectious wine laden energy. Similar to farmers markets, it allows consumers to sample the wines on display and buy them on the spot.

    This is has to be the best opportunity for the wine connoisseur to taste wines flowing from the estates of America’s most famous winemakers to the boutique wineries from Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Mendocino, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Russian River Valley and other regional wineries plus imported wines from around the world. We lasted here about two hours and took the happy heady state straight into some oyster savouring at the Waterbar on Embarcadero.

    The local Oysters at Waterbar were outstanding to say the least with the crisp, ice cold California Chardonnay to finish off each bite.

    smells, sights and sounds near the Ferry building farmer’s market.

    A short walk further up from Waterbar and along the Embarcadero is the Ferry building and the single biggest reason to go there is the incredibly famous expansive Ferry building farmer’s market. Breathtaking arrays of San Franciscan artisan food, and every kind of fresh produce imaginable show up at the market and it is near impossible to come home empty handed from this treasure house. Having said that, San Francisco is not short on farmer’s markets and almost every neighbourhood has its own little one. We had a local farmers market close to home and I always found some gorgeous produce to stock up the fridge amply.

    UN plaza farmer’s market was also lovely set against the backdrop of the iconic SF building.

    We were staying on upper Fillmore street, near California Avenue  where a boulevard of lovely boutiques, farmers markets and restaurants are happily situated. I had ‘my’ zones of gastronomic contentment in the wholesome sandwich bars, the cozy Boulangeries, the neighbourhood  bar Harry’s for the dirty Martinis and sweet potato fries, and particularly the tucked away gem of a wine bar called Fat Angel for the outstanding selection of wines and lean-but-mean menu(the way I like it). I literally lived between home and these places gazing into the blurring streets, taking long strolls between a meal and a coffee and savouring my minutes against time in a city that I could easily call home.

    Fillmore street also happens to be the Jazz capital of San Francisco with lots of really talented artists–right from the famous to up and coming–performing in the neighbourhood almost every evening.

    If there’s a city in the world that embraces the collective spirit of it’s diverse ethnicities, it has to be San Francisco. There’s a certain openness in the air of this big little city which one can almost always sense in the first few days of being there. The famous sights and sounds aside what stands out is this openness in the city’s warm embrace, laidback sunshine, colourful people and the food of course. You can understand why I am more than happy to go back. If only transporting my puppies was simpler. Sigh.

     “There is no love sincerer than the love of food.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

    PS : Most of these photographs were shot with a 50 mm 1.8/f. A little project I gave myself to see how far one lens can go and I am not done yet.