A day with Chen in Lucknow

A fun thing about photography is that it leads you to meet a lot of interesting and different people. One random day after the New Year, I received a message from from a gentleman who later introduced himself as Chen (Bjack) that he plans solo trips and like to get his pictures taken in a certain way at the cities he visits. Chen is a radio presenter in Taiwan, where he broadcasts music. He has visited India a couple of times before and this time his agenda is to visit Lucknow for it’s monuments and get some portraits done here.

Although it wasn’t the best time to visit Lucknow in April because of the heat and more particularly because of the repair work done at Rumi gate which practically leaves it out for the pictures because of the huge scaffolding around it. But Chen had made up his mind and passionate travelers don’t visit a city just once.

Here are some of the images that we made together.

At Bada Imambara, the cameras have been completely banned by the authorities so one can only shoot with a phone, which is something I have never been able to wrap my head around but we had to do what we could and below some of the pictures here are taken with my phone.

It wasn’t a part of the plan but we decided to visit the Chhota Imambara the next morning to get some vacant streets and the early morning sunlight.

If you are curious about his suit, the orange suit was especially stitched for the Lucknow monuments to complement them. :)

BUDS: Abhay

Abhay is one of those sportsman who really signify the spirit of sports. Abhay exuberates positivity and has a forever smile on his face. He was the most excited and welcome chap at the stadium and always wanted a picture or a video to be taken. Like many other athletes he also has a 3 sessions/day session. I am just amazed on how these guys recover every day from this strenuous training sessions everyday. I decided to follow his training session for a day, turns out his training starts at a ground in Bijnor.

It was serene cold morning in Bijnor when I went there and had a feel of a life that started much earlier than mine.

Buds: Piyush Patel

Piyush is one of those young boxers who consistently stood out among many others just for the sheer dedication he has during the training sessions at the stadium. His body language oozes out the level of interest he has in the sport. A rare phase in life where one is driven not just for the results but also the process of achieving the results.

I was amazed to hear that apart from the 3-4 hour training session at the stadium, he wakes up early in the morning for a 2-3 hour fitness training and finishes the day off with a night session too at his home. I wanted to see him in his own environment doing what he loves. I am thankful that he invited me to his his uncle’s house in Lucknow where he stays just so that he can pursue Boxing at a facility.

Budding Boxers of Lucknow

A little more than a year ago, I had come home from a break between two shooting events. As we all tend to open our instagram during such trying times, I happened to see an ad about a workshop called ‘Find your creative voice’ by Indrajit Khambe. I was so ready for an experience like this that I immideately signed up for it without even going through any of their profiles. I had a faint memory of Mr. Khambe’s and went ahead with that hunch.

During our initial meeting over the zoom call, I showed him and the co-mentor, Ms. Suhitha Shetty, a lovely lady with practical and precise advice and warm support.

The workshop has to be consisting of any these subjects.
1. A documentary project

2. A Self portrait series

3. Photographing your family

I on an instinctive level had known a project that I wanted to pursue,it was to document the budding local sportsmen. I have always had an interestand practise in powerliftingbut that seemed to be an easierproject, rather I chose Boxing to be the focus for this project as although fascinating, it wasn’t a very familiar sport. It’s dynamic, fast paced and would be different from what movies show us.

I worked up my contact and got to talk to the coach at the legendary K.D Singh babu Stadium. As all things Lucknow, I was welcomed well, and a lot of folks were curious about this project. Some were reserved some enthusiastic. This is where I find this city very comfortable. You keep good intentions,a smile on your face and you are welcomed everywhere, well mostly.

This is where I begin the documentation of the Boxing department of the K.D. Singh Babu Stadium.

Junior boxers look up to their seniors not just in terms of techniques but also like their elder brothers who would chide them,nurture them and also push them forward in their training.

New entrants to the sport are mostly seen in the corner practicing their basic skills and strength to get fit enough to start their journey.

Shinjini & Navneet's Wedding.

I had been waiting for Shinjini’s wedding eagerly since last year. She’s a friend I have known for many years now and when she called me to tell me about the wedding I knew it will be a very different and an intimate one and that her pets were going to be a very important part of it, which I was very excited about. She’s someone I have knows her as a deeply compassionate person and a nature lover in fact her whole family is, to the extent that her father had bought a new calf before their wedding and named it Navshi(Navneet+Shinjini).

She is also one of those people who have been acquainted to the kind of street photography I do and that was the particular reason she wanted me to shoot her wedding. She told me to shoot however I want it to ,” with all your quirkiness” She wanted me to shoot it as I shoot streets.

I had been wanting to shoot a wedding alone for some time as working with a team does have it’s perks when capturing a big wedding as you cannot risk missing out some important moments which might be happening at a different location. But it also sometimes takes away the single piercing vision of seeing and capturing a wedding. That’s what I was missing while shooting weddings with my team. One more reason was to test myself if my vision is still intact or it’s diluted when a bigger story like a wedding has to be told.

“I never had any dreams about my perfect wedding, nobody ever threatened me with the need to learn how to cook to regale my future husband or in laws. In stead, I always dreamt of living a free and meaningful life, with few rules yet many values. My family never made an effort to find me a groom, but they made every effort to make me a fierce, free and very loved woman. Navneet entered my life at a time when I had begun to lose a lot of gumption, when I was questioning my choices, overcoming a dark period and had decided to return to my roots- in my new role, I was to go to the back of beyond for field work in UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal on a very exciting project that would track the needs of communities living along the Ganga, National Waterway I to be precise. Somewhere between my travels to Varanasi, Sahibganj, Patna, Bhagalpur and Farkka, I found my colleague Navneet's intellectual abilities and groundedness jolting my heart back to believing in the wild possibilities of making a difference. Between beers and much talk about our families, home, evening village smells and Liverpool.. we grew to care about each other's dreams and future. Our friendship drew a circle around our families and marriage was not the certain next step but it just made itself a possibility.”- Shinjini

“This wedding was incredibly special, our families-punjabi and bihari wholeheartedly accepted each other and us. My best friend, well, soul sister Madiha planned my entire trousseau with the lovely Aisha of Numaya Lucknow. Divyani, my friend from school and a stunning makeup artist made sure she made me look the prettiest I have ever felt! Nafisa Rachel William restored my mother's 40 year old wedding lehenga and my father and brother busied themselves fixing our house. Dad of course kicked off the celebrations by buying a cow whom he named Navshi to commemorate our wedding. My bua and nanima put together beautiful heirlooms from their own grandmothers and weddings. I was wrapped in love from all corners. Our friends made it all the way to Lucknow during the middle of a working week just to be with us on our day! Navneet's family brought with them the beautiful traditions of Bihar, my sindora had the finest pink sindoor, there was a handiya of dahi made specially by Navneet's phupha baba, endless boxes of laathi (laq) bangles (ordered in odd sizes for my mom!) from muzzafarpur, khaaja sweets, Hanuman mandir sweets and the delectable rasgullas of salempur... we sat on the same baagh (a traditional phulkaari sheet) that my parents sat on for their wedding, our dogs made random appearances throughout and we shared our little moments quietly and with laughs. Navneet is everything I dreamed of and never expected to find. He is family and no blessing can be greater than to see a smile with a tear on my parents faces as they embraced him, he has fit into our lives like it was just meant to be.”

“I knew Mayank would capture the key moments for me. The photos with my father, mother and brother will always be cherished..the ones with my bua, who built a road between our hearts throughout this run up to my wedding to calm me down, and also those with my dogs- Stubbs, Soxx and Shaq are precious. I couldn't have asked for a better wedding and wedding album. I know that these photos will remind us always of that motto we both hold dear, the one etched inside our engagement rings You'll Never Walk Alone (YNWA).”