I have strange issues dealing with memories of people..places..and all that surround them. They mostly dont mean anything the next moment as I catch them! They have to sit in my bubble jar for years, ferment under its warm bottle necks, peekaboo over the glass layers and finally push and knock on the cap door and shout at large to reach my ear!!

One such moment just blew up of my jar ~ of 2007, from the north east of India! A dark night near the river Simsang in Siju, the tiny village which has only memories of electricity that left them with a blown up transformer some 6 months ago. The night was darker than black, the fire was orange and we all glowed in red.

We didn’t talk the same language! He might have mumbled that he’s the care taker of the river Simsang in his mountain language Garo. He didn’t particularly like my camera I thought and I didn’t care him much when there was still light around. But there was some magic in the crispy fire filaments that made me return and curiously stare at him! He seemed more than a care taker…. a deep secret keeper of the river!

It may be refreshing to remind us the legacy of Architect Laurie Baker every once in a while, at a point of time when we should definitely be re-thinking of  what resources are we left with and how imperative it is to value every grain of sand, every drop of water, every breath of air..and every inch of green! Trivandrum had been extremely fortunate to have him around for so many years…many of his creations are already been pulled down…some are still living through..here are a few of them!

Traveling in the Garo region of Meghalaya in 2007. Kids from Bangladesh immigrant families just gathered around to see what I’m doing with the camera! The pink Barbie girl started posing with her orange chicks, suddenly when her friend felt that’s not fair she getting all the attention. He soon appeared with his rabbit ready to pose, all serious!

More pictures from Meghalaya are here.

Singapore Chinatown Bokehs from 2007.