Recollecting some bits of my 2012

2012,quite a remarkable year I'd say. A busy busy busy year and if you ask me where I'd been... My answer would be " here and there". It's hard to recall what all I've done, but here's a few list of what I've done and the  places where I've been this year. 

January: I was in Ahmedabad, lock myself up in my room most of the time...working on my incomplete projects (back papers), most of which were on the verge completion. I had 5ive pending incomplete works, not such a bad number hmmmm. Anyway, like I've said, they were almost completed. So in between, I decided to take a short break. And so my year long journey begins.

The last week of January, me and my friends head towards north, to Delhi and then to Manali. On our way back to Delhi, we attended the India Art Fair. 

Manali, January 2012

Manali, January 2012

Delhi Art Fair, January 2012

Absolut Gupta by Subodh Gupta, one of India's leading contemporary artist

India Art Fair, I don't remember the artist of the artwork of Marylin Monroe

February: Ahmedabad, I was back in college, writing a proposal  for my final semester project. Back to "research mode". 29 Feb, I was finally able to submit my proposal. In between I was taking physiotherapy treatment for my trapezeus muscle pain. If you' re quite attached to your laptop, you too will surely have such similar pain.

March: March 3, I took train to Delhi, as my final semester project was based in Delhi I had to stay there for 5-6 months. March 4, I reached Delhi around 10:00 am. I got down at Old Delhi Station. My friend was suppose to pick me up, but since he overslept, I had to wait for another one hour. That's where my five month long journey begins. 

Oshin and Esther, childhood friends. I met them again in Delhi after 17 years. April 2012

March - August: I kept on frequenting Burmese refugee settlement areas, as they were my subject of study ( photography). It was quite a long summer, the immense heat I need not describe them all. But the word 'hot' is too cool a word for Delhi's summer. 

August-September: I was to college, writing my project document which took around 3 weeks (a pain in the ass). 

Sept 10, I submitted my project document. But this was not the end, I still had to wait for my jury. I had to wait for 15 days, which gave me enough time to prepare for my jury. But the day before my jury, my laptop crashed! But luckily I was able to make other arrangements. 

With my classmates in our traditional attire on NID cultural day, 2012
Ahmedabad, September 2012 

my first ever Cheraw performace, in between my busy schedule.
Ahmedabad, September 2012 

Sept 25, my jury presentation took place, all went well but I was given a small follow up with my document where I had to replace a few pages. Which means that some pages needs a re- edit. I was given two days time, but I had to finish it that night itself since I had a train to Delhi the next day.

Sept 26, I submitted my document again, but since it required a few procedures I was able to complete the days work only in the late afternoon, at 4:00 pm. I hardly had time for rest that day. My train departure was at 6:30 pm, barely an hour of rest then I had to head towards the train station. 

United Art Fair, posing with my friend Cindy Z. Tlau who came to see the show. The frames behind are my works

Sept 27 - 30 : Delhi again. United Art Fair at Pragati Maidan. An international art fair/exhibition which showcased the works of many Indian contemporary and rising artists, and a few international artists too. Myself, a few of my classmates and juniors too participated in this event. My first ever participation in a national/international level exhibition, quite a remarkable experience.

October: Another crazy month. I stayed in Delhi till 8th Oct. Then  I head towards south, Chennai. I stayed there for about a week then I moved a bit further up to Hyderabad, to meet my cousins. I stayed there for another week and a half. 

October 31, after 13 months, I finally reached home. Aizawl, home sweet home.

With Amuani and Cindy at Chennai, second week of October, 2012.

Inside Chowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad
October 2012

Golconda Fort, Hyderabad
October 2012

With Tetei and Tetei at Hyderabad
October 2012

Home sweet Home, my window view , November 2012

November: Back to being mommy and daddy's little girl. It feels good to get pampered a bit again :D. But even at home, the word busy won't leave me alone either. But I do prefer being busy. Apart from attending weddings at Lunglei and Kolasib, I was hijacked by the KTP film production team. So in between, I was the cameraman cum additional director at Chanmari branch KTP film shooting. In the meanwhile, me and a couple of my friends were also preparing for a charity photo exhibition which was suppose to be held at Millennium Centre courtyard in the first week of December. Apart from this, I was helping out Project ZERO for the calendar shoot of their upcoming event 1st Annual Anime Cosplay con Mizoram. 

A night out with friends in Aizawl, November 2012

Fooling around :D

With Vincent, a 3 year old big boy. He's damn heavy!!
Lunglei, November 2012 (screen shot from fb)

In the still of the night at Lunglei Bazar veng
November 2012

A shoot for Anime Cosplay, (image on left side)
November 2012(screen shot from fb) 

December: 3&4 December, The Gift of the Magi charity exhibition finally took place. And by the grace of God we raised more than 30k! A good sum raised without any publicity except for a few posts on facebook. I told myself, "since we didn't have enough time for preparation, we'll see the publicity power of facebook".  We even got donations from fb friends in Bangalore and Hyderabad! May God bless all who have kindly donated for the poor and needy.

The Gift of the Magi charity photo exhibition
3&4 December 2012

The governing body of the Mizoram Presbyterian Church, Synod Inkhawmpui (Synod annual meet) took place in our church at Chanmari. So we had a number  of guests from 5-9 December. It was a busy week for the entire locality. And to add up to such busy-ness, my laptop+bag+cash was stolen from my room on saturday night, 8 December. A burglary while we were attending the saturday night church service.

14 December, I flew down to Kolkata.
15 December, I took a midnight train to Ahmedabad. 40 damn hours journey as the train got delayed. 

Since monday, 17 December, I've relocated to my college campus again in Ahmedabad. After a long journey, it feels good to relax in an air conditioned library, doing nothing in particular but just flipping this and that book, many of which are very rare and way way beyond my limited budget :D . 

And if you're wondering why I won't be spending Christmas at home...I'm waiting for my big day, convocation day which will take place next week on 27 December. I could have gone back a bit later, but 26 is rehearsal day and there's no point travellin' on Christmas eve and Christmas day. Anyway, I've spent the last two Christmases and the then New Years here, so it's not a big hassle for me. 

Anyway, December is almost over, but my journey for this year is not yet over and I do hope I can fulfil a small wish I have in mind before the year ends.

Merry Christmas!!

A brief study on Photojournalism 1935 - 1945

The 1935 - 1945 decade was a crucial period in the history of the world. The late 1930s saw the rise of tensions and struggle for power between the world nations, which eventually led to World War II. This decade was the golden period of Photojournalism which greatly enhanced the effectiveness of media. In America, during this time period, we saw the rise of photojournalism with the advent of Life magazine. War photography widely served the effectiveness of the media during World War II. My study helped me in finding out the situation of the different countries around the world during this time period.

 Life assigned photographers to cover the war. Among the prominent Life photographers were Margaret Bourke White, Dorothea Lange, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Eugene W. Smith and Robert Capa. Robert Capa documented the course of the war in London, North Africa, Italy, the Battle of Normandy on Omaha Beach and the liberation of Paris. Margaret Bourke White, the first female war correspondent documented the war in Geramy, Soviet Union, North Africa and Italy. Eugene W. Smith covered the war at Saipan, Guam, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. And Alfred Eisenstaedt's is most famous for his photograph of an American sailor kissing a young woman on August 14, 1945 in Times Square, New York.  Apart from these photographers there were also many other photographers who were not widely known. In Germany, Hugo Jaeger was the personal photographer of Adolf Hitler. In Russia, during this period, mass media was very limited. The pre-world war photographs were very limited. Soviet photographer Olga Lander’s World War II photographs were one of the few which could be seen from the Soviet Union. A few other works of Soviet photographers during WWII can be found from this web link http://nailyaalexandergallery.com/soviet-photography/world-war-ii

The late 1930s and early 1940s was the most crucial and significant period of the 20th century. Following the Great Depression in 1929, many of the countries were restructuring their economy. Germany saw the rise of Hitler and Nazism in the mid and late 1930s. Then Germany sparked the initial phase of World War II in September 1939, when she invaded Poland. Between 1936 and 1945, German photographer Hugo Jaeger was granted unprecedented access to Adolf Hitler, traveling and chronicling, in color, the Fuhrer and his confidants at small gatherings, public events, and, quite often, in private moment .

Japan in the late 1930s was in political turmoil and suffered grave economic turmoil due to the Great Depression in 1929. It tries to uplift its economic status. The civil government gradually loses its power and soon Japan was governed by the military. The imperialist nature of the military soon led to the invasion of Manchuria by Japan in July 1937.(Second Sino – Japanese War), which eventually led Japan to join the Axis power in World War II . By 1941, Japan fully immersed itself in the war.

The United States was also recovering from the Great Depression and tackling internal problems. The dust storm also known as the Dust Bowl swept the American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936 (in some areas until 1940) causing major ecological and agricultural damage . John Steinbeck and Dorothea Lange documented the Dust Bowl using photography. Dorothea Lange captured her most famous picture, “migrant mother,” which shows a young widow holding her three daughters, her gloomy face suggesting that hope was running out. In December 1941, Japan attacked the US Fleet in Pearl Harbor. This forced the US to enter the war in 1942.

During this time, Joseph Stalin emerged as the supreme leader of the Soviet Union. He carried out The Great Purge in between 1936-1938, where he effectively liquidated all traces of opposition to his rule. Soviet Union was also skeptical that Germany would invade her anytime soon. In June 1941, Germany invaded Soviet Union at Operation Barbarossa. There was no freedom of media under the Soviet Union. All publications or broadcast has to go through the censorship office called Glavlit which gives the final authority for publication and broadcast.

Pravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Since media was strictly controlled, photographs of this era are extremely rare.

In Spain, the civil war broke out due to the differences between the Republicans and the Nationalists. The Nationalist won the war and General Franco became the dictator of Spain.

England was also trying to recover from the depression and she also has to handle her colonial empires. In 1936 Edward VIII became the only British monarch who voluntarily abdicates the throne. With such a big colonial empire, there was lots of tension with other countries with imperialist aims. England suffered great loss during the war although it was on the winning side.

The photographs of pre- World War II and World War II thus give us a sense of involvement during that time period.

One of a Kind Judgement Day

For 8 months I was preparing for this particular day, the one of a kind Judgement Day for me. The ultimate day which I was waiting for since the second week of June 2010. This one of kind judgement day was my Diploma Jury. At National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, India where I did my Post Graduate Diploma in Photography Design, a diploma jury is basically a viva voce where the students present their final semester work, their diploma project in front of  4 jury panel members. Since there are no exams, the diploma jury is equivalent to a final exam in a normal academic standard.

I started my diploma project in March 2012, finished my shooting by end of July 2012. The whole month of August and the initial week of September was spent on writing my diploma document, which was a real pain in the ass. The deadline given for submission was 31 August, but luckily it was extended till 10 September 2012. By 31 August, I was still not close to completing the document. Thank goodness! the deadline was extended! The remaining 10 days, I had to work my ass off to complete whatever work was left and I did managed to do so. I gave my document for printing and binding and after doing all those things, me and my classmate still missed out one thing. There was a copyright statement page which we have to add in our document. So we went back to the printer and add the missing page. Finally the document was ready for submission. In the copyright statement act I filled up the necessary details, I don't know what the hell was going in my mind that day, it was the 10th of September, and I wrote '10.11.2012'. The other night I was watching a video about 9/11 tragedy and I think the '11' part got stuck in my mind. What a disaster!! Since there was no more time to replace that page or get a correcting fluid, I made a single line stroke on the written date and re-wrote 10 September 2012. After that I filled up my document submission form, and there too I still goofed up the date and wrote '10. 08.2012'. I know its September, but somehow the digit 9 just doesn't seem to strike my head. I guess such things happen only when tension builds up and I have never really spent so much time in the library like this. While writing my document I had to force myself to sit in the library as it keeps me in the mood. Most students who write their diploma document usually spend lots of time in the library.

Submitting the document was just one part of the project, the big day was yet to come. My jury date was allotted on 25 September, 2012 and again I have to prepare for that. But since it was like two weeks away, I had some time to relax. After spending one week doing nothing, I was still not in the mood to make my presentation. So I kinda waited for the last minute. And oh yeah, the only other preparation I made so far was framing my photographs. So on 23 Sept, Sunday night, I finally started making my my presentation. The next day on 24th Sept, I packed my bag and head towards the campus to check if I could issue the Board Room key, where I was suppose to give my presentation. To my disappointment, I was told that it would be free only by 5 pm. So while waiting for that, I opened my laptop and continued to make the presentation. I sat for like an hour and later I went to check out Board Room - 3. Another disappointment strikes again, Board Room - 3 only have soft board and there was no place to hang my frames and I had 8 frames to be hung. So again I have to rush to the Academics office to inquire if I can switch to another Board Room. Since other juries were happening simultaneously, the other board rooms were also booked. But somehow I managed to grab Board Room-2, which provides better space for hanging my photo frames.

After settling my presentation room, I opened my laptop and then another disappointment...since I had kept it on hibernate, it over heated and the HDD crashed! An old laptop, i knew it was gonna fail me someday, but why on this crucial day? !! I was lost for words, and found it funny to a certain point. But luckily I have a backup of all my important files, so that saved me at least. But I was already halfway through making the presentation, and that was gone. So I borrowed my classmate's laptop and started from scratch. Surprisingly, I did not really freak, I was still quite calm. And that evening, it took around two hours to hang the frames, so around 8 pm Board Room- 2 was all set. Then I went to hostel where I put up in a junior's room, had dinner and by the time I started working on the presentation it was already 10:30 pm. My jury on the next day was at 10:00 am. I finished the presentation at around 3:00 am, and finally went to sleep.

The next morning I got up at 7:00 am, so finally 25 september, Judgement Day is arriving. I quickly dressed up had breakfast and revised my presentation.I found out a couple of mistakes in my slides and by the time I finished my edits, it was 9:00 am. One hour left. My classmate, Mayur came to help me out in setting up the projector and other necessary stuffs for the presentation. The past two days before the jury,Mayur and Honey my other classmates helped me out in all possible ways for my jury preparation and I am truly thankful to them.  The facade of  the Board Room-2 was glass, and Honey sat opposite to the board room for around 2:30 hours givin' me support.

The Jury
At 10:00 am all the jury members, except the external had arrived and we had to wait for the external for around 20 minutes. I did not exactly look at the time but I think the presentation started at 10:30 am. The day before I saw one girl throwing up in the bathroom just before giving her jury presentation. But that wasn't the case with me. For some strange reason I was very calm and composed, and not nervous at all in spite of all the bad luck which happened the day before. If it was the other semester juries, I could have been really nervous. But somehow calmness got hold of me that morning, it was a moment I have been eagerly waiting for. Time was all mine to talk about my work, the process of the work which I had been doing the last 6 months. Whatever questions fired by the jury members, I was able to answer them properly. It was more like a constructive conversation, and there was no right or wrong question or answer, whatever was said either by me or the jury members were valid. I never really thought I would be able to enjoy juries or any other presentation. But this time,  I was just so eager to speak out and completely forgot the feeling of 'nervousness'.

After the presentation ended, I was asked to stand outside for around 5 -10 minutes. When I was called back in, the Chairman of the jury asked me what the outcome of the jury would be...then I replied, " I think you are going to ask me to replace a few pages from my document", and I was right! The reason why I had to re-print and replace a few pages were because the jury members were not satisfied with some of the layout arrangements in my document. I had two columns in my layout and some of the lines in the columns were not at the same alignment. Unless one is very particular about typography and graphic design, most people wouldn't even have seen that mistake. But apart from that everything else was good. I was given the green signal to convocate in December. They all wished wished me  luck, handshake given twice by each and they left the room. That was such a big relief! But my trouble is not yet over. After cleaning up the board room, I started editing those pages which I have to replace. Around 8:30 pm I went to the printer and got my pages replaced. Everything was all set.

Though I was given two days to complete my document, I have to submit the next day instantly as I had to catch a train for New Delhi at 6:30 pm on 26 Sept. Although the only thing I had to do was get a signature and submit, I had to wait all day and by 40:30 pm that day I was finally took care of everything. I bid farewell to a couple of friends and by 5:00 pm, I headed towards the train station. Those 3 days were among the most craziest days of my life and nerve wrecking too.

I'll just stop here as I highlighted most of the things, though there are still many more things which happened in those days. Whatever happened, it was worth all the trouble I went through. The Jury rest my case and it was a well settled judgement.

The heart of man plans his way but the Lord establishes his steps... Proverbs 16:9 (The Holy Bible)

Life as it goes...

Lately I've been thinking,
Thinking 'bout a lot of stuffs;
Looking back at the past,
Looking at myself in the present,
Looking forward to the future;
What have I done?
What am I doing?
What will I do?
Past, Present and Future
They joggle around in my head;
So here I am at the Present,
Standing on a bridge,
Between nostalgia and anxiety;
Stuck in between reminiscene and anticipation,
Only to realise,
That I am a student;
A lifelong student
Of LIFE!

A simple crush

That moment...
When you met that person,
You gave a smile,
And a smile returned;
Without a slight hesitation,
You talk to that person;
You smiled again and thought,
"It's just a simple crush"
But why no jolts nor butterflies?
But you feel good about yourself;
The person is unaware,
But you're not bothered;
It's your own little secret,
A simple crush
Satisfied and content,
You smile to yourself again;
Even when the feelin' fades,
You're happy still;
Nothing to worry about,
As a new crush is on the way,
To lighten up your day.

Across Borders

Across the border

She heard the stories and rumours,
She had seen and come across Them;
She had personally never met Them,
And the thought of it never struck her;
Nor did it ever catch her interest.

Why?

The stories and rumours are hardly ever positive,
A naive mind, a society filled with such notions;
There was no space to think beyond.
It was just negativity and contempt,
But she never wondered why.

To care or not to care?

Only a few bothered
And She need not bother,
But it came to her.
The stories and rumours she grew up with;
They were not wrong.

Is there a reason behind?

Everything in its own time,
It took some time to realise;
So they say, “Old memories die hard”
And wiping off the notions She grew up with,
Thus became a challenge.

What lies beneath?

Truth, a simple truth
Called Boundary Lines,
Created by the so called superior,
An unnecessary division;
But history had already done its part.

Who is She? Who are Them?

She is just a girl across the border,
And Them live across the border.
She and Them were divided; separated
But they all belong to one,
She realised they were none but ethnic brethren.

Similar, but why so different?

She saw their similarities,
And realised her difference,
Raised by contrasting political ideals;
Them grew under oppression,
And Her  in liberty.



A new chapter...

Eyes wide open,
She saw and understood more;
And stale notions left behind.
Them require not pity,
But a well-wish.

Them Unvoiced

In Them Land,
Them exist but got no voice;
Them live under persecution.
To live, Them left home;
Only time will decide the return.

The Sojourners

Them travelled far,
In a stranger's land;
Life ain’t forgiving still,
Surrounded by destitution,
Them survive to live.

The Unforgiving Land

Making ends meet,
In the land of the vigorous,
On the brink of forlorn hope;
With fear and tears,
Them sweat and toil.


The Hope

Some wished the sky would tumble down,
And Them misery be done with.
Death at times seemed sweeter;
But faint hope of a promised land,
Keep Them will going.

The Destination

The so called Promised Land,
A lucky few found their way to it.
The rest strife, waiting for the call;
Belonging neither here nor there,
Strangers in a stranger’s land.

The Wish

Where one is at peace,
Where one is without fear,
Where one is free,
A place called Home, a Family;
Them wish nothing more.

A Well Wish

I do not know your pain,
Yet I feel something;
At times I weep,
Knowing that you're in pain;
There's nothing I can do,
To take away your burden;
I'm stuck and helpless,
But my heart is with you;
The storm will fade,
Yet the pain will remain;
But not for eternity,
My friend, be strong;
The heavens will one day
Give you the answers.