Have you come across any other place that proves that life can sprout so gleefully even in the aridest lands? With cities painted bright blue, golden, and even pink, Rajasthan is a riot of colors and music and merriment.
Prominently known for its golden sands and colorful landscapes, Rajasthan has a simplicity about it which is lost to many parts of India. It shines the brightest in its regal beauty of havelis, forts, and mahals. However, overshadowed by these royal structures are Rajasthan’s alleys. Sinewy and lonely, they often echo the lives of people who fill them during the day. A quiet Chachaji sits in his sari shop which roughly spans a king-size bed. A mother sells anklets on the streets for half the price they could fetch in a shop the size of Chachaji’s. A jovial man coils Jalebis in sizzling hot oil at the break of dawn. Yes, the streets come alive with the sounds of everyday chores very early on. The splash of fresh batter in oil, the sloshing of pots filled with water, the ruffling of an old man’s newspaper all fill the streets way before the sunlight does. When on a travel photography expedition in the rustic cities of Rajasthan, Arjun captured the many lives he came across on these very streets.
Curious villagers pose with fascinated eyes as if they were about to experience something unreal. A woman sits in her verandah with a blissful smile on her face, thinking of a son in a different city or of a holiday that now exists only in her memories. Two men sit outside their home, uncaring of religious prejudices or jobs to attend. In his travel portraits from Rajasthan, Kamath has captured even the most fleeting emotions in such clarity that if one had to build a story around the subjects, they easily could. Read through the pictures as they come alive as a liquid dream. Come, explore the rawness of the land rich in culture and heritage, harboured by people even richer in their hearts.
