Billion Shades of India - 19 comments
One of my really good friend fulfilled his life long dream of taking a pan-India trip with his father. A technology industry guy by trade, Bhanu is a photographer extraordinaire in his spare time. His journey across India is being captured in thousands of photos, but he made me a special 5 minute video version to share with all of you. Hope you enjoy his work.
Billion Shades of India from Bhanu Sharma on Vimeo.
I visit India every other year or so. Yet I have never seen this face of India. I need to start exploring other areas as well!
Awesome! I wish I can go out for such a tour…one day someday.
Moving photographs coupled with moving music from Rahman. Beautiful.
very nice! Thanks for sharing, Om. Always great to get a third person perspective of the county u live in
Fabulous!!
Thanks for sharing the slideshow!
Brilliant Photo’s indeed…
but its sad to see that a compilation deemed as Billion shades has all shades kind of reiterating the old snake charmer image… not a single mention of the modern shades of India… Doesn’t India have any modern shades worth getting counted in the top billion shades – metaphorically speaking… how come 5 min of this video couldn’t find even 5 seconds of modern India…an India that is growing at 6-9%…
True the guy didn’t come back to India to document its growth or coz he was feeling nostalgic for any technology… but when the document gets titled as billion shades of India – and gets forwarded by some folks like Om – its a sad endorsement of the western view of India still being a land of snake-charmers and elephant rides…
Om- Thanks for sharing my work pal.
This journey took us 126 days, covering 24,522 kilometers across the country.
India is a country that defies any definition, and our goal here is to simply share photos from our trip, to encourage others to travel through the heart of the country.
Everyone lands in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and gets exposed to the metropolitan India, but majority of the country lives in smaller towns and villages, where the magic of this amazing diversity called India truly comes to life.
Photos are posted here: http://bit.ly/qdNr2
Thanks for your feedback everyone. Travel India extensively, you’ll fall in love.
Beautiful…
Posting it over at my own blog, Om…tonight or tomorrow.
A soul in Exile. I think yours is a fair argument and you have a case. While I echo your sentiments and initially felt the same when I first saw this, I would like to say that Bhanu (and not because he is dear friend of mine) did not intend this to serve as an endorsement of the western view of India. Bhanu is merely trying to document his visual experiences captured over the period his road trip across India, especially the facets that set India apart from the rest of the world (good or bad).
I think India is pretty visible in terms of its growth. If it isn’t, and if all the technical and intellectual might that we are exporting to the west cannot change the image of India, then not much else can. Why should the western view of India matter as much anyway. We are a self confident nation now.
However, I do agree that any representation of ones country should be done with care so as to not portray an image which may be partially true.
A lovely compilation and beautifully set to music. It brings back great memories of our country. Thanks for sharing them.
Very colorful pictures. As ’soul in exile” mentioned, I too, would like to see some photographs of modern India, bustling cities, middle-class, young people and children etc. They bring back memories of home right away.
Nice. I like the music.
@Om and @Nitin
Ok… so this should be called “Billion shades of 95% India” or “Billion shades of Non-metro India” or “95% shades of India.. ” or maybe just “Some Shades of real India”…if you think this is the only real-India.
@Nitin-Amazing how people who emigrated to west seeking all the ‘westernized ways of world’ so despise the same back home… Why do you expect your so-called ‘desi-cousins’ in India to still be living in mud-shacks and drive bullock-carts while you drive the latest model of Ferrari in US or Europe… This attitude is so much like the politicians here who mandate that schooling should be done in local language and modern education foresaken, while their own kids go to the costliest English medium modern schools in the country.
I find this so damn irritating – when pple I know come back from US/west on holiday to Delhi/Mumbai expecting to invest the $$$ here and react on how things have changed and how they are getting fleeced in the property prices. They still expect a south delhi flat to cost them exactly what it cost way back in 1990 when they left India…
@soul in exile – I usually don’t respond to this type of baiting, but quite frankly I’m blown away that you claim to be offended by supposed stereotyping by imposing your own odd stereotypes on others. Actually, it’s kind of funny and sad. BTW, I don’t think anybody thinks this is ‘all of India’ or the ‘real India’. It is, however, an excellent collection of images captured by a gifted photographer. Enjoy it for what it is.
Well, while these snaps look beautiful, it hides the fact that the life of a resident is really really pathetic. That said, tourism in India is still a pleasant experience.
hey hi!!! this is pragya …student at NIFT …datz my college…which makes me crazy with all d presentations on designers, home furnishings, art, textile ..ny thing n everything dat u can relate with fahion…phewwwwwww….bt while i ws going through one of the home furnishing stores name shades of india i found this amazing site…
now y it seemed sooo amazing to me let me tell u 1st…itz bcoz some1 has already lived one out of my 4 major goals in life n datz INDIA TOUR…wow itz amazing…nw u know y!!!!
so datz it…jus i wanna tell dat i will also go on india tour …some day- 1 day…may b with my frndz or may b for my honeymoon …!!!!
Modern india is boring, soul less and is as inspid as any other megapolis-styled cities on the planet. The freeways and the highrise buildings are nice but they are an edifice of the real india. these pictures are from places many don’t even visit. perhaps they challenge our preconceived notions of a modern India.
This is an amazing collage of India, you nailed it Om, modern India is boring. I often have this argument with my Desi cousins that India’s too busy westernizing while it modernizes. I used to love the dramatic variations of the cities across India, the variety of foods, and the subtle differences of societal norms in each town. Now places like my hometown of Indore are unrecognizable, generic shells of their past.
I agree with you — thanks for keeping it real. it is a nice collection of images and that’s all that it is.