shashank uchil » india

Bombay 2012

shashank — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:18:33 +0000

Indian Jan 2012

met up with surhud

and neha

took a 8 hour bus ride to mahabaleshwar

streets of mahabaleshwar

people of mahabaleshwar

dad doing what he does…organizing stuff

took a walk to a lake

walk

walk

walk

lake!

tourists doing what tourists do

it was pretty nice and sunny

kids with style photographing each other

everywhere you go…people

and sour strawberry

great food

great food

great food

great food
.
next day i threw up…

some more sightseeing

some fort

people

lots more people

the hotel

back to bombay

2010 India

shashank — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 22:18:08 +0000

My annual trip to India got delayed as I moved from Norway to Germany to work for Crytek. Which meant I finally got to go back home for New Years after 5 years!!! Also this year I was there for two weeks instead of the usual three weeks. Which meant I did not get time to take much photos. Too busy with life and stuff.

In other new Crysis 2 MP demo for the 360 starts on the 25th of Jan, and there is a new trailer out today.

obligatory shot of mom preparing some delicious food

shwetas bday party…no not her…thats my sis

following lots of drinking and dancing

…suri had to take a leak on the highway on the way home

heading home

watched tron at the IMAX for 4 euro

figuring out where to have dinner…Bombay has become ridiculously expensive

heading to Kudal…7 hours of back breaking bus ride

suri mentions how his back is breaking

pits stop

back on the road

good morning…and we are in Kudal

what followed was four days of going to a different beach everyday

31st night…

some proper Indian food

2011…and heading to GOA

welcome to tourist filled GOA

last photo in Kudal…heading back to Bombay

met up with friends at a terrace barbecue party few hours before my flight back to Germany

and just like that…I was back in Frankfurt

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Bombay vacation 2009 Part 4

shashank — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:30:44 +0000

took the train to curchgate

had lunch at hotel oberoi (trident)

walked along marine drive

got to chowpatty

rained a bit…but the sun came back

olve seemed to be quite happy

these buildings looks bad from the outside…but they are amazing from the inside and extremely expensive

had jaljeera for the first time and nearly threw up

did some shopping and went to suri’s place for coffee

ashwini chilling out while suri prepares some coffee

love suris house…feels very positive, also the ceiling looks like this

coffee done

we read suris masters projects…which makes all the stuff i make look extremely bad

suri hand 1

suri hand 2

sis hand 1

ashwini is not amused…last frame in india

took the flight back to frankfurt

waiting for the connecting flight to oslo

this has to be the best bombay vacation so far, did a lot of stuff, met a lot of friends and had a some amazing food. Sadly this will be last time i will be in India in july…next time it will in December. Till then take care.

Bombay vacation 2009 Part 3

shashank — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:03:06 +0000

took a train to Curchgate. I have a love hate relation with the local trains in bombay, i love to travel in it as its very Bombay…but i hate the crowd at peak hours.

thats the Taj Hotel…one of the hotel which was bombed some time back

the Gateway of India…which was also bombed. one can only wonder what drives humans to kill their own kind…maybe thats what makes us what we are.

lots of tourists from all over india and outside india

sis tried to make the rats fly…all she got was poop on her shoes

view from the gateway

headed to Victoria Terminus…the biggest train station in Bombay.

took a taxi to Leopods…the one from Shantaram

the ceiling at leopods

next day at National Park

took a bus from the park to Kanheri Caves

gandhi tekdi in national park

speaking to the aliens

saw from tigers and lions

crossed this

and saw some deers

and some owls

and a toy train…6:00 pm and we headed home

Bombay vacation 2009 Part 2

shashank — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:27:03 +0000

so the next day we headed to Vashi

and that involves

crossing the bridge to vashi as bombay is an island

yellow tyres means a garage nearby

and we bought some samosa and vada

crossed a vegetable market

and some more

how often do you find a dog on a BLUE cart

but again this is india so…one can expect colors like these

the next day sis fell ill

did some house cleaning

mom watching life go by on the street below

later in the evening i caught up with suri, bhushan and his wife…its quite strange to see my friends getting married…its quite surreal

after some cofee bushan and shereen headed home

while suri and i walked around the colony

mom playing sudoku

loo

bathroom

dad doing some financial stuff

while mom prepares lunch

and gives me some tips

olve arrived from Oslo and i took him to my school

the yellows looked nice

but the chapel looks like some kid painted it

religion is seen everywhere…and not just Hinduism…

went to gorai beach…

luckily it did not rain

and we got some good lighting

love beaches…with palm trees

some kids were playing cricket

on our way back home we stopped at the Global Vipassana Pagoda
**The center of the Global Vipassana Pagoda contains the world’s largest stone dome built without any supporting pillars. The height of the dome is approximately 29 metres, while the height of the building is 96.12 meters, which is twice the size of the previously largest hollow stone monument in the world, the Gol Gumbaz Dome in Bijapur, India.**

when completed it will look like this…

view from the inside

took a ride on a horse cart back home

Bombay vacation 2009 Part 1

shashank — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:55:02 +0000

I was in Bombay(i still use Bombay as i grew up with it, nothing against Mumbai) from 3-29 July. This trip was quite different from the the earlier ones for quite a few reasons. I took gifts for my folks and friends…which i never do, must be an age thing. I also informed people about my visit and did not just drop by. Took Lufthansa and not FinnAir. Got picked up by my friends at the Airport. Which involved me picking up Kunal who being a sardar was waiting for me at Departures. My cell phone did not pick any network. Anyways…

waiting for the plane…i have realized that one can reach the airport 1.5 hours before the flight and still make it

in the plane

no good company and my inability to sleep on planes meant…

i had to take random photos…

to entertain myself…

getting close to Bombay

tip…eat veg dinner and non-veg breakfast…no i did not do it…but i wish i did

home…i have a strange feeling that my sis took these two shots

like them

sis and i went to Inorbit to shop where we met surhud and ashwini

more photos by my sis

later in the week i visited few relatives…and this time i took portraits as they are…ahem getting old
this is mom, Sumangala. She is 58 years old, she had to wake up at 5am and climb a steep road to get to the hospital. I was born at 6am.

this is RT, he is 75 years old and the patriarch of the family. He will undergo an operation tomorrow. I wish i had taken his photo when he was doing well. He told me how he moved to Bombay and had to struggle for years. His generation, which my father was part, were the first to come to Bombay and have lots of stories, most of which are full of hardships and hunger.

this is his wife Renuka. She is 65 years old and my moms eldest sister. We call her Dodda-amma which translates to Senior Mother. When my mom moved to Bombay(before getting married to dad) she lived with Renuka and RT in a one room apartment. I have seen the apartment and all i can say is…Respect. Makes me quite proud of my extended family.

Renukas eldest son…Pravinraj(Raja). He is 43 years old and had two sons. Time flies, i remember riding an Royal Enfield with him as a kid.

His wife Roopa.

from Raja and Roopa’s house we went to visit Santosh

this is Santosh

Santosh is my moms eldest brother. He is 70 years old. I love to photography him. I grew up being utterly scared of him, with time he has softened. He is an extremely interesting character.

Then we visited Pradeep (Paddu), moms youngest brother. He is 48 years old. I remember as a kid not letting him into the house when mom was out. He has two sons.

His wife Rekha

went for a walk in my colony(i c colony)

there were farms here…now just a road

this is how i c colony feels…has lost its glory and charm

met up with friends…childhood building friends. This is frank. He works on a cargo ship and is from Goa.

Kunal sister Shivani

Kunal…it was his birthday and the reason i goto bombay in july

met up with delna and went to Inorbit…again

delna took this one…one of those rare relaxed moment with my sister…rest of time is spent being 8 years old

delna is a parsi…wiki it. she is a talented animator and works at prana, the biggest and best animation studio in india.

as you can see…delna drinks a lot…this one was at Firangi Pani.

Goa 2006

shashank — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:55:20 +0000

Paid the rent, sent satish a mail, sent olve a message.

Completed Prince of Persia…FINALLY!!! the game gets better towards the end.

Site is back up. I managed to first kill all the outgoing links and then kill all the stats as well. Took some time to figure out that the .htaccess was borked. Took this oppurtinity to do some major cleanup on the site as well.

Tried to buy a used 100/2 for the OM, but failed…i dont want any more OM body. Two is enough…but he refused to sell just the lens. Sigh.

Dug thu some old stuff from 2006 and found these. They were taken in Goa, India. By some strange luck all of us had vacation/holidays of some sort. After years of failing we managed to do the “Goa Trip”.

Looking at the pics i realized that i am not really happy with the stuff i shoot now. Cant point at what i dont like.

Photos are in no particular order. Shot on the Pany FZ5 which is with my dear sister now(see you can make good photos with the pany)and Agfa 535 with some cheap film(stole the camera from my dad and still with me).

I find this one very *India*…i have seen photos taken by my dad which looks the same

Frank was the the local, his mom has a house next to the beach.

Back in India i could do this, here in Oslo, not so sure

Majorda beach, goa. This where we spent a week.

Bombay 2008 part 3 | Analog

shashank — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 21:53:27 +0000

Previous Film entries from the same trip

Film I | Film II

Previous Digital entries from the same trip

Digital I | Digital II | Digital III | Digital IV | Digital V

…so did my trip to India…after 4 weeks it was time to head back to Oslo. Was it perfect…not it was not…but what is? like i said in my earlier post…nothing is simple…but thats how life is…at least mine. Mom tells me thats how it has always been for my sis and me…things have never come easy to us…has always been a struggle. Strangely though i am not complaining anymore…guess i have come to accept it. Accept it and move on…and keep mind that the only constant in life is change.

Its 11:00 at night and i got a call from a friend to go out for some drinks…and for the first time since i got to norway i said NO. Dont know why…guess i am at peace and am tired of trying…maybe a bit too hard. Its a bit sad that i have given up on Oslo…but even i have my limits and i am pretty must at the end of it. Good thing is i am much relaxed now. Made some more prawns for dinner…will make some chicken tomorrow.

I have been reading Salman Rushdie’s “Midnight Childen”…initially i was really pissed of with the book but with some time now i am enjoying it…his style of writing is quite different. Not very easy but quite engaging. Must thank suri for recommending me the book.

another day another walk…we used to come here as kids…glad that some things have not changed

glad that some friends have not changed as well

this one is for suri

kunal found a boat among the mangroves

kids…carefree and careless

this is where they live

it was getting pretty dark and looked like it was about to rain…so we headed home

damn…rich kid…hey but my dad gave me my first camera, thx dad

kunal bought an engagement ring…little did he knew that things would take a turn for the worst in the next few days

taking a walk of the colony at 11:00 at night and kunal needs to take a leak

crazy flare

teaching sis how a rangefinder works

buying some chopsticks…

waiting for takeaway food at Uncles Kitchen malad

having coffee at 11:00 at night

visiting some relatives with sis

met up with kunal and met up with his girlfriend…was not the best thing to happen that night

on our way back the rickshaw broke down on the highway

stopped at gokul to have pav bhaji for dinner

and then some pan

walking home…man i miss all the walks and talks…miss it

last frame for india…

this was the most…eventful vacations ever…and just so you know i am not depressed or anything…hehe so just relax and have a awesome weekend.

Eat good food

Bombay 2008 part 2 | Analog

shashank — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 14:11:12 +0000

Previous Film entries from the same trip

Film I

Previous Digital entries from the same trip

Digital I | Digital II | Digital III | Digital IV | Digital V

Lots to do at work…and now that i have a laptop…lots to do at home as well. Like playing QuakeWars…and making this blog. I also have to tags all the photos…which totals to about 15k. Not too much.

Gyan time…nothing happens easily. Everything is so complicated…but guess that how life is…my sis would agree with me. Wish things were simpler…but then its not half as exciting…innit.

Flashback

Went to the market with dad to get the daily food supply…yes i know…more food talks…i should become a chef…totally.

Anyways…had to buy some fish…but first some fresh crabs…by fresh i mean…live crabs. Over the years one finds their regular suppliers…my dad is no exceptions.

bought some crabs…we dont get good crabs anymore…

not being a big fan of fish…as a kid i would hate this part of the market as it stinks…of fish, and is all wet…

lots of fish

we always buy fish from this lady…we bought some prawns this time.

right

left

time to buy some vegies

bananas in norway are SHIT…its never ripe…dunno how people eat it

the flower market

photo studio…its always moving to see a grandparent with their grandkids

outside the market…shopping done…time to go home

why so serious DAD

view from the rickshaw

weekend went to OnToes…met up with delna…waiting for sis to join us from work

even managed to find carlsberg in a glass bottle…

sis joined us…was pretty dark…must be 1/4

all done…time to pay the bill

dinner at some fancy place…dont rem the name…loo shot

dad..

looking at the old photo he took when he was my age…

mom posing for a photo…

and then she gets all cuddly…sis took this one…

sis being strange…as usual

next day mom, sis and me went to meet moms bros in mira-road…buying train tickets

final leg of the journey in a rickshaw

first the elder bro…

the younger bro…with his kids

both me and sis can chit chat with him for hours…

sunday…kunals bday…akshit helped in preparing the food…not surprising as he is a chef

still stuck to his mobile…speaking to his girl all day…

lali joined us later…had good food…good times…

Bombay 2008 part 1 | Analog

shashank — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:10:41 +0000

sheitan_(ost)-fr-2006\06 Pucc’ Fiction Sheitan.mp3

Previous Digital entries from the same trip

Digital I
Digital II
Digital III
Digital IV
Digital V

This summer i was in Bombay for vacation. 1 month of awesomeness…this was planned so that i could be there for my childhood friend, kunals bday.

Booked my tickets, Finnair.

Packed a few cloths in a backpack…me likes to travel light.

Sat next to a latvian lady who was going to Bangalore…goto Helsinki…only to find out that the plane has been delayed by 5 hours…5 hours later 7 hours later goto Bombay.

It feels like i never left bay…its all so familiar…the sights…the smell…the people.

Took a rick…got home.

Home sweet home…

Tmax 400 @ 800 + OM1 + 28/2.8 + 50/1.8

waiting for 5 hours can get awfully boring

it can get lonely at an airport

pretty legs

bombay…went for a walk with kunal

we have a LOT of dogs here in bay

1/4

it was nice to meet kunals grandmother after years…

for suri

street

my crib

snacks…A LOT OF SNACKS

kunal in deep meditation…

my dad hates to be photographed…

mom does not…she likes all the attention…she is serving dinner…SHE IS THE BEST COOK ON EARTH…

sis got a new phone…this time in white…

me slept on the floor for 1 month…i surprised myself…

next day kunal got a haircut from a friend of mine who opened his own hair cutting saloon…

weekend with sis and delna…this must be OnToes

mom gazing out the window…

mom preparing lunch…

shot of the kitchen window

mom preparing some more food…I LOVE FOOD

dad and me goto the market to buy groceries

we take a rick…

you cannot make indian food without some fresh green chilies

the main market

1 of 3 posts from india…