Hi,
Rajasthan, a brand name itself. People across the world relate India with so many things and places but I am sure Rajasthan has topped the list, and is certainly a name which has become synonym to India. Though I have never been to the heart of Rajasthan; where sand dunes have spread over miles and gypsies gathering in the evening, dancing on folk tunes and camels sitting beside them. But who would miss a chance to visit a Rural Rajasthani Village and that too for a photo shoot. So when I heard that one of my friends had organized this photo shoot session for me, I was dancing with a joy. I was really fortunate enough to get this wonderful experience of life. Thanks to Ravi! It was him who got us there. His family still lives here, but he has come out from his village in search of better prospects in life.
So we packed our bags and headed towards Jaipur from New Delhi, which became our center point for the next couple of days. We stayed in the Welcome Lodge situated in heart of the city, MG Road. I was accompanied by my younger brother Udit and his friends Pompy and Dumpu. We drove in my brother’s car and that journey itself was fun and while listening to the music, catching up on things we reached Jaipur. In Jaipur we were greeted by one of our friend, Sardar Singh. He was working as a Manager in a restaurant called Moti Mahal, it’s one of the famous chain of restaurants in India and believe me the kind of food you get there is outstanding and incomparable. He showed us his restaurant’s kitchen and introduced us to his warm and friendly staff. So I asked them if they are fine doing a photo shoot with me and they agreed happily. Next day we came with our equipments and took few shots. That was a random photo shoot which got accomplished amazingly. Thanks to Sardar Singh! Here are few shots from that session:
So this photo shoot came to me as a bonus :) and we headed to our main destination the very next day, the date was 15th March 2010. It was a hot and a sunny day but we were quite comfortable inside our car. We picked up Ravi from his Coaching Institute and proceeded towards his village called Jujharpura in Tonk District, Rajasthan. It took us around 1.5 hours to reach his village from Jaipur. The road was quite narrow and we could hardly see any vehicles moving around.
We reached there at 3:30 PM so we had only around 2-3 hours to shoot in daylight. The sky was clear and the light was perfect for the shoot. We assembled our equipments and got ready for the shoot. We were talking to people and shooting their natural portraits. Ravi introduced us to them and they all were very happy to get their photographs clicked. In the midst of answering their queries we continued our photo shoot. After clicking quite a few photos we took a break for a few minutes, while taking a break we saw this little boy trying to climb up on the Buffalo to get his photo clicked that way…and we thank him for that.
By now we had taken shots of families, individual, oldies, grannies, children and almost entire village was out of their houses to witness this photo shoot and we felt as if we were some movie directors or something :). The whole experience and feeling was awesome.
This is Ravi’s Grandfather and Grandmother:
Few of My Favorites:
Behind the Scenes Video:
Here’s a link to the entire light box of this shoot:
We had achieved what we wanted. Now it was time to go back to New Delhi. We started off at around 1:00 PM from Jaipur and when we were about 110 kms away from Delhi, everyone decided to take a plunge into a Tube Well which was catching our eyes while traveling and we crossed many of them earlier - until we stopped over at one. Now that’s where the fun begins…it was a hot and a sunny afternoon and the temperature outside must be around 40 Degree Centigrade. Every one took off their clothes and jumped straight into the Tube Well after taking permission from his owner and a Caretaker. That Tube Well which was meant for the irrigation purposes - was surrounded by the Barley Fields all around and the scenic beauty and was mesmerizing. We had a good time. After spending about half an hour playing inside the Tube Well the Photographer inside me came up with an idea to shoot in the Barley fields as I had never done it before and I was very excited to see the final results. I asked them to come out from the Tube Well and give a few poses for me in the fields. They all were so co-operative and excited during the entire shoot. I made them jump till the time I would get my desired shot. And the results were brilliant!
Here are few Videos and “Rang De Basanti” Shots from that fun filled photo session:
Now I am wondering when will I ever have this kind of journey and photo shoot again. Will share that too… :) Drop me a line if you need any further info on this setup and shoot @ Vickramh Raghuvanssi Photography
Keep Sharing!
Vikram Raghuvanshi
