Photographs are souvenirs that help you at a later time to recall/revisualize an image/event/person.
There are times when the experience is so
powerful and so encompassing that you choose
to 'live' the moment and in doing so, the moment gets imprinted in your memory
irreversibly. You can even recall image and reexperience associated feelings at any later time with or without a photograph.
Few of places I travelled to, over
last few years, have left such 'imprints' on my mind. Here's first 3.
- Niagara falls- You see it from a distance. It looks beautiful! You come closer. Sight slowly draws you in! Water sprays hurl towards you. Boat's all tipsy turvy and you hold on to railings. There's a deafening sound around. And all the while you approach the waterfall slowly but surely. And then amidst all chaos, when you are perilously close to actual waterfall, amazingly, deafening calm settles in. Boat steadies! Chaos prevails but beyond circle of serenity that surrounds you. You look at everything while within the circle. Water looks beautiful green. You can make out different sprays of waterfall; see water mists rising from water.; and hear humming sound of waterfalls. You are drenched to the bone. But really - does it even matter?
- Kecak dance, Bali- do you believe in spirits and people doing things under a trance? I, at the best, am doubtful of anything related to supernatural. Kecak is a traditional dance form of Bali. Late in the evening, against backdrop of a traditional Hindu temple in intriguing Ubud, i observed dancers perform to continuous 'Chak-chak' sound of chorus singers. Sound had kind of a numbing effect on mind. I got drawn in to the performance and drawn out of everything surrounding. I saw dancers dance till they fainted. I observed a man using a horse's costume (presumably to take on animal spirit) dance on dried coconut shelves set on fire. His face seemed emotionless and his body seemed painless. Intriguing! I still have not been able to understand what happened there. Sometime back I had read Carl Jung's works on dream symbolism. It talks about how collective unconscious expresses itself through dreams, and how not everything can be explained by conscious. I am also reminded of Nyepi day- the Balinese new year. This is a day of complete silence and inactivity throughout Bali. No one is allowed on roads, or to speak. The belief is that devils visit island on Nyepi day and not finding anyone/any activity there -leave island in peace for next year. Even airport remains shut on this day and you can't even check in to/check out of a hotel.
- Mount Bromo, Java- Nature in Indonesia seems to be ripe with possibility of transformation/turbulence/change. You might remember that Tsunami a few years back had originated there. It seems there's a strong fault line that cuts across Indonesia that makes it very susceptible to earthquakes. There supposed are two different kinds of vegetation in Indonesia and you can literally see transformation when you travel from Bali to Lombok. I even found facial and body features of people in Flores (an island in South Indonesia) very different (more Australasian) from those in Bali and Java (more Asian). Additionally every island I went to also seemed to have a dormant/active volcano. It almost seemed like 'we are x/y/z island and here's our volcano'. Mount Bromo in Java (largest of 1300+ islands in Indonesia) was one of these majestic active volcanos I visited. A trek upto peak of Mount Bromo is worth the effort. You walk up a plain and then a hill of grey and dusty ash against a backdrop of green and colorful plains and valleys. The ash arranges itself into interesting and strange mound and shapes along the way. When you reach top you find smoke coming out in spurts from depth of volcano. Few hours earlier, in midst of pitch dark night, I had travelled through steep and winding roads to a viewing point on an hill opposite to Mount Bromo waiting for sunrise. Dawn started breaking in but clouds threated to be spoiler. Slowly clouds stared settling further down. Peak of Mount Bromo emerged against backdrop of streaming golden rays of rising sun. Spellbinding beauty!
-
Sourav
