Author: admin_saj

Framed in: What if you were the last man on this earth? Would you still gaze out of the window, staring at the emptiness as if nothing matters?

Perhaps, I would, only if I found myself in a village tucked away in the mountains. Because up there, amidst the calm and tranquillity, there’s a time for everything. A time to look out the window, a time to watch children returning from school, a time to dip your feet into the icy waters of a rivulet running through the village.

There’s even time to converse with falling leaves, though neither of us might understand each other’s language. A time to enjoy the birds’ chirping as they share secrets of the world around us. A time to sip a steaming cup of hot tea as the world pauses briefly. A time to listen to the music of nature and the silences in between.

In the mountains, time feels frozen in the chillness of the air. Life moves to a different rhythm—slow yet profound. You never feel guilty for sitting on the edge of a rock and staring at the valley below for hours. Spending the night stargazing by a makeshift fireplace of dry twigs is no sin. Sunsets that paint the horizon with a dance of colors are events no one misses to witness. Life is savored in its fullest in those parts of the world.

Up in the mountains, an ethereal music emanates from the distant swaying trees, their notes cutting through the damp mist. Silence, omnipresent and shared by the skies, intertwines with the chill in the air, cloaked in mystery. Mystical stories whispered by hidden waterfalls drift across the landscape, their secrets buried in unreachable heights.

To hear those stories, to feel the rhythm of this life, one must break free from the shackles of time and be willing to look out of the window expecting nothing. That is when everything flows toward you, seeking you out.

What do you see when you look out of your window?

Framed Out: Mountains or beaches? A question often asked. But for me, that question never exists. While I do enjoy beaches, nothing can replace my deep connection with the mountains. They have a way of telling me I belong there. It’s in the mountains that I feel complete. So, when in mountains my energy doubles up and makes me feel lighter and helps me fly, literally!

This picture was taken in 2017 in a small village called Nashala near Manali, about 5 km from the Naggar Haveli. A winding road, climbing through snow-clad pine forests, leads to this sleepy, unassuming village. In and around Manali, there are a number of small villages like Nashala boasting breathtaking views. It’s in places like these, with their narrow alleys, traditional log houses featuring stone-tiled roofs and carved wooden balconies, the distant snow clad Himalayan mountains creating a pictue perfect backdrop, that the true beauty of a hill station comes alive. As travelers, we often forget to explore such spaces, distracted by overcrowded and overhyped tourist destinations.

I shot this particular photo during the second schedule of the film Habeeb, a project that will always hold a special place in my heart. The first schedule in Afghanistan had been eventful, and the challenges continued. On that morning in Nashala, I had a bad fall, injuring my right knee. We had to shoot a chase and fight sequence for which we had selected Nashala as our location. We had shot the sequences running up to the chase and fight the day before. And there was no way we could cancel the shoot that day as we were running out of time.

Despite the pain, I found myself walking through the village with a make shift walking stick in hand, scouting locations alongside the fight master. That’s when I stumbled upon this frame—a man, bothered about nothing and in his own world, gazing out of the window of a traditional log house with walls alternating between Deodar timber and Himalayan stones. The sight felt almost surreal, as if the moment had been waiting for me. Clicked with my OnePlus One, this pic captures the essence of the tranquility that envelops him. At the very moment, I became one with him and the chaos of our production faded into the background.

A good picture speaks to you—it tells stories, evokes emotions, and lingers long after you’ve captured it. This one certainly did. And every now and then, this picture urges me to go back to the mountains!

Grey Frames :  “Mountains are the beginning and the end of all natural scenery.” John Ruskin

Framed In: Listen. Can you hear the whispers?

There is calmness…There is silence… And then there are remnants of a glorious era that represent a time in history when life was about living in its fullest than just surviving.

The ability to travel back in time has been one of the most sought-after abilities human beings have been attempting for the longest of the times. There is something thrilling about being in the middle of those stretches of history that we knew only from textbooks and historical fictions.

At the sight of those mosaics of colonial history, how often does one hear the sounds of the majestic past and feel transported to it’s heyday?

Sounds of the waltz… Thuds of the soldiers marching… Jingles of the Sunday church bells … Echoes of cutlery clanking during a regal dinner… Roars of the toasts for the King… Cheers of the crowd during a weekend Cricket match comprising of mostly English Gentlemen… Whispers of the ladies during high teas… Hissing and shrieking of the steam engines approaching the railway stations… And all the silences in between…

The sounds are interminable.These are the moments that make us believe in the existence of time travel.It’s as if a delicious piece of history has been frozen for us to discover many stories that are untold or unheard of.

These countless stories are told in silence by Nature. Those story telling sessions happen at the most unexpected of the moments. And one should be in sync with Nature to receive them in its most purest form. Because, the trick is in unraveling all those old tales and finding answers to the questions of the present.

Framed Out: Every time I visit Ooty, it transports me back in time to a bygone era with all of its flavours and aromas. Ooty has been a dream land for me right from my school days. And it grew more and more precious to me as I got older, soaking in more and more of the visual splendour of that piece of land where Englishmen tried to recreate a replica of their country by giving  names of their towns and villages for places in and around Ooty out of pure nostalgia.

This picture was clicked during the early January 2019, the best time to visit Ooty. We, a few of the closest buddies from college, made plans to meet up in a British era Bungalow in Lovedale, outside of Ooty. The plan was to take a cab to the location after getting off the bus in Ooty. But at that point, I realised a train would be starting off from the Ooty railwaystation which will be passing  through Lovedale, at the same moment. The Bungalow’s keeper did inform us that the cottage is close to the Lovedale railway station. I therefore chose to ride the train.

I have had some of the most cherished experiences of my life as a result of that decision. When I got down at the Lovedale station after almost half an hour train ride, soaking up all the chillness it could possibly offer, it was like walking straight out of a Bollywood movie. In any case, it was a surreal experience.

Thousands of unknown stories from the colonial past flashed in front of my camera as I pulled out my One Plus 5T to take a photo as I strolled across the railway track. All I wanted to do was freeze them and save everything to display later to the world!

Indeed, a picture speaks a thousand words!

Grey Frames: “If you want to understand today you have to search yesterday.” Pearl S. Buck

Canvas & Colours.

Framed In: Have you ever chased Sunsets?

Every sunset holds in itself, a tiny piece of universe. Witnessing a sunset is to embrace the life in its fullest. Nothing can be more joyous than getting entwined into the calmness of the sunset kissing your forehead. The tranquility of the setting sun, whispering the poetry of love, can create a sense of euphoria in the heart, helping us reach our deepest emotions. Happiness, radiating from the music of the floating clouds of the dusk, can transport you back in time and make you feel like a child once more.

Understanding sunset is to comprehend the deepest secrets of creation, buried deep within the millions of colours of twilight. It is that time of the day when universe is trying to converse with you. There are fairy tales to be told, verses to be exchanged and warmth to be shared. No one can ever look at a sunset without being awestruck. Every sunset reminds us of the enigmatic ways in which the universe works to keep us happy. And the setting sun emphasises the fact that the most beautiful and magical things in the world are the simplest, and within a hands reach!

And that’s exactly why we should chase sunsets, every single day. Dissolve into one of those colours of the twilight. Get closer to nature. Freeze the time and let go off it. Life is to be lived, not just survive.

Let the chase begin. Let there be space for more sunsets and more fairytales all around.

Framed Out: Goa is a happy place. At the mention of the name “Goa”, a smile pop-ups on every ones face. That is Goa for you. The atmosphere is palpable. Every time you visit Goa, you are reminded of what it means to live life to the fullest. 

This photograph was taken at Agonda Beach. Swetha and I were on a week-long trip to celebrate our first wedding anniversary.  When in Goa, you cannot miss the sunsets. We were on our fifth day in Goa at the time, and we made sure to see the sunset every day during the trip, no matter what. Sunsets were, in fact, the most anticipated time of the day, and everything else was centered around that half-hour.

We were driving down from North Goa to Agonda on that particular day, literally chasing the sunset. We didn’t want to miss the sunset, so we planned to arrive in Agonda early. However, we got lost and arrived in Agonda just as the sun was setting. We checked into our cottage and had to rush to the seaside to witness the sunset.

This was somewhere in the first week of December and the sky was full of clouds. That added a mystical beauty to the entire setting. I couldn’t move. I was speechless. I was numb and feeling euphoric at the same time. I knew I can sit there all through without moving an inch and soak up the entire spectacle. That’s exactly what I did. Somewhere in between, I knew I wanted to freeze that moment and hold on to that memory eternally. Clicked with my OnePlus 5T, this one photo turned out to be the most stunning image of the entire trip.

Those few moments of stillness were enough for me to realise how fortunate I was to be here, at this moment. These are the kind of experiences that can impart a lifetime of learning. There cannot be a better artist and teacher than nature. Embrace it whenever you can.

Grey Frames: “When the sun is setting, leave whatever you are doing and watch it.”Mehmut Murat Ildan.

Blank.

Framed In: Sometimes, a blank stare can tell us millions of stories. The intense blankness in the eyes can be translated into a lifetime of emotions. People staring into nothingness and embracing a sense of calmness always carry an element of mystery. To be in that zone of Zen, it takes time. To be alone in a crowd and be the crowd when alone becomes the key. To understand nothing takes time. To embrace emptiness, be bigger than the void. That’s where we should be headed. Because it is in the nothingness, the universe’s greatest happiness projects are secretly preserved. 

The quietness you experience while looking into the nothingness and beyond is intriguing.  All the unanswered questions become inconsequential, because at that very moment they either go missing or transform themselves into a vacuum, which does not seek answers anymore! Because to seek is to suffer. To seek nothing is bliss!

Framed Out: Kerala is mystical. There is a Zen-like serenity radiating from every nook and corner of this country, which is God’s very own!

This picture was clicked in Alleppey while shooting for a music video. The Kathakali artist in the frame was a part of the shoot and was all ready with his costumes and make up much before the call time. From the moment he was transformed into the character, I could sense a different vibe emanating from him. I was observing him from the time he came into the sets. Soon after he got into his costumes, he attained a Zen-like calmness, which made me even more attentive. In the mad rush associated with most of the shoots, there is this person who is least affected by all the insanity that goes around him. I couldn’t help but stare at him in the middle of the shoot and freeze a moment of that calmness using my One Plus 5T.

For me, his eyes staring into the blankness whispered volumes of calmness, silently! That tranquility is what everyone should aim to attain.

Grey Frames: “In Zen, we don’t find the answers. We lose the questions” Zen Proverb.

Framed In:  We seek happiness. Discovering happiness is the ultimate goal of human life. Every effort that we put in, every choice that we make, is driven by this quest for happiness. But in the pursuit of this happiness are we forgetting to smile?

 To smile and to be happy is considered to be the purest form of salvation.

Be the smile that you always wanted to be. It cost you nothing. A simple and genuine smile is such a strong force that it can bring two diagonally opposite poles together, turn strangers into friends, mend broken hearts, set things straight, create harmony, stop war and make the entire world happy! It is the simplest truth that we tend to ignore!

A warm smile can be extremely inviting.  It can make the world a more beautiful place. It’s the quietest happiness quotient everyone can embrace. Bring back the kid in you and smile, without a reason. To be a kid again and to smile is to realize that the happiness we are seeking is deep within us!

Framed Out: It just took a smile for us to become friends! That innocent smile of hers still fills my soul with warmth. Its only when you travel, you realize that the biggest philosophies that one discovers on the road are the simplest truth that we come across on a day-to-day basis! This was clicked at a place called Metsina, a sleepy town just after Punakha, Bhutan.

At a time when globalization is exterminating the nativity all over the world, it’s interesting to see how a country like Bhutan is holding on to its culture, tradition and nativity. Bhutan is unlike any other country I have visited so far. There is something so original about this place that cannot go unnoticed. While I set out to explore Bhutan on a Motorcycle, my search was to find images that can tell stories. And I knew this country would offer many such stories.

This was on the fourth or the fifth day of my trip. I was traveling from Punakha to Paro and stopped at this town called Metsina to check the air pressure in my motorcycle. While the tyre pressure was being checked, I wanted to click a picture of a general shop right opposite to the filling station as it looked very vintage. I crossed the road and moved closer to the shop to find the right angle. That’s when this kid came running out of the shop. She was stunned to see a stranger, holding a mobile phone to click a picture of the building. I could sense that alarming concern in her face. But once the initial jolt melted away, she started smiling at me. She was trying to show me around the place with that gentle smile. I didn’t understand her language but where words fail, smile does the magic. That’s when I realized, a simple smile is the key to your heart and to turn you compassionate. In Bhutan, smiling faces is a common sight . No wonder they are one of the happiest people in the world. 

Every travel stirs your soul and is life-changing. However, this one travel to Bhutan made me discover something that we all know,  SMILE is the simplest path to a happy life. 

Grey Frames: “We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do. “– Mother Theresa

Framed In:  To witness a tiny piece of history is to realize how miniscule we are! They whisper into our ears about the existence of a glorious past, a past that curated and preserved a slice of its soul for us. Millions of stories unfold. One could literally hear the sounds of the chisels that carved all the details on those stones. It is those details that make them mesmerizing and timeless.

Divinity is definitely in the details. Paying more attention to details is one step closer to ecstasy! Attention to detail comes with perseverance and patience which proves your love for what you are creating. As a generation embracing speed and restlessness that’s exactly we lack, the patience to delve into the details and the perseverance to wait till we get it right! That could be one reason why depression and chaos are the order of the day. We are always engaged in multitasking in an attempt to make more use of the time given. But what we don’t realize is that, in that attempt to save time, we are losing the opportunity to create something eternal and profound. When will we realize this?

Is it not time to get back to the chirpings of the birds, breeze of nothingness and smiles of purity? Create and preserve something for the future? Pay more attention to detail and longevity? Otherwise we will not be leaving any traces of our existence. We will remain superficial. And in that hollowness details cant be chiseled! We will be pushed out of history and will go invisible and untraceable!Lets not get there. Its time to get back to details and be more divine!

Framed out: History always fascinates me. Was awestruck by the magnificent architecture and the rich history associated with these ruins. In a way they were directly talking to me in a language that only we could understand. The remains of the Kakatiya kingdom at Warangal, I was there scouting the locations for a tourism film for the Telangana tourism. This was a small mandap away from the main Warangal Fort But I was arrested by the details given to even such a small mandap like this one, which would have been an insignificant one in those times. I don’t know whether we will be able to create something as monumental as this one in this era of so called advanced technological age. That’s exactly why I felt so miniscule in front of those ruins. I think as a generaion, we are walking backwards in terms of our capability to create something that’s stunning at the same time immortal and everlasting.

I have heard a lot of stories about the Kakatiya Kingdom, which ruled Warangal in the 12^thand 13^thcentury. Known for extreme craftsmanship and attaining pinnacle in the  Social , Political and Cultural realms, Kakatiya dynasty was truly exceptional. The vibe can still be felt there. That’s the kind of legacy that they have left behind them for us to get overwhelmed!

After travelling a few hundred kilometers across the lengths and breadths of Telangana and exploring deep into the history of Kakatiya Kingdom, it was on an early winter evening that I went to the Warangal Fort, the official emblem of the Telangana Government. The emotions that I experienced are beyond explanation using words, truly remarkable. While I was walking around some of the ruins a little away from the main fort, the sun was setting and I knew the time was right to click that one picture which will go deep down into my heart. Clicked with my One Plus One , this will be one of the last pictures clicked in that phone. A little after this picture was clicked, my phone fell down in the central courtyard of the Warangal Fort and the damage was beyond retrievable!  

Grey Frames: “Details matter. Its worth waiting to get it right.” Steve Jobs.

Framed In:  

Life, in its purest form, is the greatest spectacle of all. The innocence and twinkle in a newborn’s eyes as they see the first ray of light are impossible to miss. There is excitement in every breath, an energy that’s infectious. That enthusiasm is both inspiring and invigorating.

Everyone is born with a purpose, and discovering that purpose can be an intriguing journey. Walking down different paths, listening to the diverse sounds around us, and embracing new experiences each day can be truly inspiring. The ability to relish the subtle fragrance of rain, the intense passion of love, the profound tranquility of the sea waves, the vibrancy of a sunrise, and the serenity of a sunset is something that should never be lost. Live life to the fullest. Recognizing that simply being alive is a form of magic is key. That’s the secret to staying inspired and finding the true meaning of our existence!

Framed out:

One thing I love about my job is that it takes me through a lot of fascinating moments and offers unique insights. I was on a recce for a TVC at a place called Prenjapur, about 60 kilometers from Hyderabad. While searching for the right location, we ventured into the interiors when I spotted a shepherd on his way back home, likely after a long day. I wanted to stop and take a picture, but since it wasn’t part of our agenda, I hesitated. However, after driving for half a kilometer, something made me ask Vivek, the driver, to turn the vehicle back towards the shepherd.

I strongly believe in the concept of “being in the right place at the right time,” and that’s exactly what happened that day.

When we reached the spot, we saw a lamb. He had just been born, and I couldn’t help but gaze at him. Watching him toddling behind his mother, seeing how she cared for him, and observing the affection shown by the shepherd and the other sheep was a delight. We couldn’t resist the urge to hold him and feel his softness. The mother circled us anxiously as we played with the lamb. I could see the worry in her eyes, reminding me that emotions are universal across all living beings.

The setting was perfect, with twilight adding to the charm. I was instantly drawn to the cuteness and innocence in his face. Taken with my OnePlus 5T, this picture evokes a wave of emotion that’s hard to explain. All I know is that it will remain a favorite for a long, long time!

Grey Frames: “The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.”  Fyodor Dostoyevsky