Every Supermodels Favourite Ramp - Indigo Airlines aeroplane ramp. Gwalior Airport.

From Gwalior military airport, on a flight lasting no longer than it takes to eat the complimentary pot noodle we landed in Varanasi.

Our last experience flying here had left a permanent scar, so it was an almighty relief that we encountered no issues and arrived as scheduled to the same place we resided last time -  Panchkote Ghat. We returned because we never saw the Ghats, they were completely submerged. Three years ago the late monsoon suddenly hit. We left with the water up to our waists, balanced on our luggage, on a rickshaw being pushed by Ranjeet and friends through the waist deep water.

This time it’s warm and dry, perfect for us to explore life on the Ghats.

Situated on the banks are the ghats, the stairs going down to a river, which create the character of Varanasi. The ghats span the length of the entire bank and you can walk along the river by weaving up and down the steps. The stairs themselves slide into the water at the bottom, with the last visible step determined by the water levels of Ganges. At several points on the ghats are large landings where much of the activity takes place.

From families gathering, picnicking, taking selfies, sleeping to bathing, praying, learning, burning and boat building it all happens here from dawn until dusk.

One of the world’s oldest continually inhabited cities. Known by three names: Varanasi - the official more recent name deriving from two Ganges tributaries forming the city's borders - Varuna and Assi. Secondly, Banaras - the old name and finally, Kashi - the ancient name found in the primary Hindu texts meaning “to shine” and shine it certainly does.

By late afternoon some ghats start to fill up in readiness for the evening ahead. Snacks, Chai, sweets, candles and flowers are readily available.

We took a boat as dusk began to settle. It was beautiful to see Varanasi from the water.

We travelled along many of the ghats finally reaching Manikarnika Ghat the biggest of the burning ghats. Between here and Harishchandra, the smaller burning ghat there are about 80 cremations a day each costing 4000 rupees. In covid a cremation cost 6000 Rps due to the risk to the people who work here at the burning ghats.

The new spires, gleaming in the evening light, indicate the modern sleek new walkway completed during Lockdown leading up to the Golden Temple. Three years ago it was just a pile of mud, with many newly discovered temples randomly sticking up out of the ground.

As darkness fell, we moored up at Dasashwamedh Ghat to witness the evening Ganga Arti. This happens every evening, every day of the week. It was held on the roof tops when we were last here so it was exciting to the Arti in all its glory.

Approximately 20,000 people gathered. It was quite a spectacle to see the boats of all sizes pushing and shunting to get their space. Afterwards it was quite a spectacle to see everyone trying to leave. 20,000 people is a lot to battle through.

Of course an easier option is to stop and have a bite to eat.

Trespassers will be shot - Painted wall Sign. Gwalior Air Force Base

After an 8 hour drive from Jaipur, we rocked up in Gwalior - a city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. We chose this place as it looked tranquil, beautiful and clean. Our accommodation was exactly that. Step outside and it was a different ball game. Gwalior is one of Modi’s many Smart Cities, where money has been invested. We thought this could be an interesting, developed  place to visit. Well it’s not- in my opinion.

Gwalior is popular for its wide green cover all over the district - or so it claims. The pollution is the worst we have experienced. Little attempt appears to be made to improve the environment. The many brick-making chimneys on the outskirts create a thick dense smog that hangs over Gwalior by midday.

The lack of cars in the centre have simply been replaced by many noisy motorbikes and the planned new infra-structures have yet to have much effect. The roads are terrible in places which makes getting about slow and uncomfortable.

It’s the wedding season at the moment across India. Gwalior is a very popular place for weddings and has many complexes decorated ready to be hired. Many of the weddings celebrations we saw were taking place along the busy roadside with a piece of rope held around the dancing people.

There is a huge amount building-works on unused land around the outskirts of the city, creating sports complexes for differently-abled children, schools and housing. They are yet to be completed.

There are painted adverts everywhere, advertising education at all levels. Another element of the Smart City’s to-do list.I read that while the city has been progressing economically and financially, the availability of opportunities is apparently a lot less compared to New Delhi and other major cities. Students seeking good careers are apparently compelled to move out of Gwalior for better opportunities elsewhere. The higher level teachers do not have the required skills set.

Another Smart City plan is water 24x7 for everyone. We saw wells still being used to draw water in both town and countryside.

We ventured out on the first night to eat and unfortunately ended up with food poisoning, but on a positive note, our accommodation is a very lovely place to recover in.

The only reason tourists must venture to this part of India is to see the collection of temples out in the countryside and the rather beautiful fort looming over the town. On the way up to the fort there are the Gopachal rock-cut Jain monuments. The biggest statue reaching 57feet. They were an impressive sight.

We headed out into the countryside and visited the Bateswar Hindu Temples. A group of 200 sandstone stupas dating from the 6th century.

Since 2005, an archaeologist, KK Muhamed has restored about 60 of the temples and he is campaigning to get more done.

A school coach party arrived at the temple. They all rushed over and wanted to shake our hands. They were so excited. A lovely finish to our stay here.

Farewell Gwalior. We have a plane to catch…

Small or medium you are always ‘XL’ for us. - Federal Bank Advert. Jaipur

One misty morning we headed 10 kilometres out of Jaipur’s city centre to find the Monkey Temple.

We were greeted by goats, cows and of course monkeys - in abundance.

As soon as we pitched up 2 young brothers introduced themselves and offered to be our guides and protect us from the monkeys - all for the equivalence of a pound. How could we refuse?

Rishi and Naran were good guides, they loved the monkeys and helped us avoid the Babas’ who try to rip you off. Rishi was especially good with the monkeys and wanted to be a vet, but I guess life won’t give him that chance. He told us about all the animals and birds we saw and showed us videos of leopards which they had seen on the path we walked. Thankfully we did not meet them. There is known to be 46 leopards living in the locality, they come into the temple area to hunt the dogs and monkeys.

As we climbed up we passed lots of the local children kite-flying into the mist.

There are many temples within this mountainous site and a natural spring that flows down from the hilltop. The water from the spring fills up many water tanks which are considered very sacred and the pilgrims visiting the temple bathe in the holy water.

A newly married couple were on their way to the temple to be be blessed.

The boys were clever and tricked us into buying them dinner, but for 20p we thought it was funny. Telling us we had to pay the Baba a small fee for the temple, which transpired was a small bowl of Dahl for them each.

The boys were actually working for a gang who were operating as you went in through the gate. However, they were so charming and this is all their life is right now, we were more than happy to pay them well and enjoyed their lovely company and everything they taught us. At the ages of 14 and 12 life has forced them to grow up too early.

The monkey’s cheeks are rammed with the peanuts we fed him.

So now it’s time to bid farewell to Jaipur and all its wildlife. We throughly enjoyed our time here.

A Helping Hand and a Little More Anger - Road sign. Jaipur

Block printing Day!! I’ve been looking forward to this for simply ages. We spent the day at Creatis - an arts centre that creates all types of upmarket patterned material - embroidered, block printed, screen printed and eco-dyed. The environment is a lovely, healthy, relaxed environment to work in.

Harshvardhan and Kunj - the Master - looked after us and taught us the process involved in block printing. We chose our beautiful handmade wood blocks to print a test piece and then a final larger piece. We pinned out the material on the padded cloth tables and started printing. It’s not as easy as it may appear.

John’s base print and border

Adding the third block to my piece.

Working my across the big piece of material with the fourth block.

Still got two more blocks to go.

I found it very meditative. You have to give the blocks a hefty thump which was also quite satisfying.  At the very end we finished with bruised hands, a huge sense of achievement and happy smiles. We were presented with our test pieces which had secretly been sewn into a bag for us -  it was a wonderful experience.

John’s final piece.

My final piece.

We had seen some wooden blocks been hand carved in town the previous day. The carvers are the unsung and unseen heroes. To get a set of blocks to match so perfectly is no mean feat as well as carving out all the intricate details.

Woodblock carver’s tools.

We enjoyed our time at Creatis very much.  The boss recommended a restaurant hidden in the old city which turned out to be fantastic. A very good day all round.

Our walk back after a dinner and the pink streets were almost deserted, except for the cows and a few late night workers.

Love My Grandmother - Tuk Tuk Advert. New Delhi.

The train trip from Delhi to Jaipur was like watching an 8 hour movie. What an insight into life on the tracks. Life here is so difficult. The problems are so big it’s difficult to see how to solve them. Even a simple question like where do you put your rubbish? is a huge problem when you have 1.4 billion people.

Following the track-towns there were hundreds of miles of flat, yellow fields all producing vegetable oil.

These are a some vignettes I took en-route.

There's No Craving a Thali Can't Fulfil - India Food Bus Advert. Old Delhi.

On our way with Mr Tuk Tuk to Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi we had a girl selling roses. We had to buy one, it’s a terrible racket, the bosses of these sellers take all the money, the girls cant go home until they’ve sold them all.

Since we were last here, Plans to pedestrianise the 1.4km stretch of Chandni Chowk began in 2021 with a big development programme the first being - No motorised vehicles only cycle rickshaws, allowed between 9.00 - 9.00pm. This first has has almost all but failed. The council were only allowing 400 licensed cycle rickshaws in the area , but now there are over a 1000 as the drivers can make a weeks money in a day. The tuk tuks, motorbikes and auto rickshaws are back in full force apparently with tickets being issued to the drivers for breaking the rules.  The pedestrians have been pushed to the pavements, unfortunately they have been dug up and you have to clamber over the rubble. Subsequently it’s still as chaotic, still as noisy but still as charming.  Old Delhi is a sight to behold, a tangle of old streets and alleyways and complete mayhem.

Cycle rickshaws are very labour intensive, sometimes all you can do is push them.

The Spice Market, was in full swing this time around. Upstairs is the large scale trading of chilli’s. The air is thick with the smell. Once that chilli gets hold of you, you can’t stop coughing and sneezing. Chai is frequently passed round to ease the stall holders coughs.

The dedicated areas have a ridiculous amount of shops and are full to the brim - you can buy everything and anything here. Wedding, household, food, clothes - the list is endless.

We tried a few eateries and had the tastiest food. I think our favourite was Giani’s. Our plates food cost the equivalent of 90p - we had the one at the top of the menu - chickpea curry on bread.

Very tasty fried potatoes

Making Chai

As the day drew to a close we popped into the Gurudwara of Sis Ganj Sahib. We listened to the prayers.

It is the martyrdom site of the ninth Sikh Guru- Guru Tegh Bahadur who was executed here. Hence its name Temple of the Beheaded.

Since it was getting towards the end of dinner and a little less chaotic, they feed approx 35,000 people for free in a day, we went to the kitchens to see the giant vats where all the food was prepared. we were offered dinner, but we were so full from trying so many dishes we unfortunately had to decline.

The final area we went into before retrieving our shoes was the cloakroom. Here a group of volunteers mend and clean the visitors shoes should they need it, all are of charge.

Farewell Delhi, we are now moving on to Jaipur…


Do Not Spit Here and There - Lodhi Garden sign. New Delhi.

Two things I’m particularly drawn to in India are tuk-tuks and signage. I do love a tuk-tuk drive, except that is when you have a young hot-headed road racer with a turbo charged tuk-tuk hurtling across the Delhi roads. One white knuckle ride is probably enough. We soon realised that an older driver is a wiser driver and a lot slower. This gentleman seemed quite bemused that we adopted him as Mr Tuk-Tuk. He didn’t know the way to many places, but that was unimportant.

A visit to the beautiful Lodhi Gardens proved to be both relaxing and very informative.

Finally we found the Indo-Islamic style tombs and the garden. Apart from history and beauty, Lodhi Garden is a fitness hotspot.

I’m not surprised that everyone, including the dogs, needed a rest. This really is a bit of an oasis in an otherwise noisy, crowded, dusty city.

A walk round a lovely lake and a bit more reading to finish off.

Lodhi Estate Security

No shop yet, but a very sparkly new sign. Luckily our local shops have everything we need.

Team Work Makes the Dream Work - Defence Colony Wall, New Delhi.

Hello Delhi!!

It’s Winter now in Delhi and our visit began at a chilly 12 degrees rising to 20 after just a couple of days. So I guess that’s winter finished for us but not for the Delhi dogs, they are wrapped up in their lovely coats all donated by the locals.

It is wonderful to be back, to see new things and revisit a couple of favourites. This trip begins at the our 21st bed-stop in 2019 - C99 Defence Colony, New Delhi. So this is the beginning of a new travel experience which I hope to recreate in my blog.

A new area for us to visit was Harkesh Nagar Okhla. Here is the Sanjay Colony, the biggest of the many poverty colonies in Delhi.

We met a former resident who grew up in the colony and now works for a charitable organisation helping provide extra education to facilitate a way out for the youngsters. In the state school there are 100 pupils in each class. Girls in the morning, boys in the afternoon.

We visited the Charity’s school, here they teach English and Computers.

This colony has approximately 50,000 people living in different blocks, covering 25 acres - that’s about 18 football pitches. The Sanjay Colony is next to a textile industrial area so this makes it a better place to live as there is the chance of work close by. The women sort the shredded fabric remnants and earn the equivalent of £3 per 12hr day, the men work in the sewing factory and earn approximately £150 a month.

The work is harsh and unpleasant but it is work and it means food can be bought from the colony market at the end of each day.

The cows and goats belong to the colony to provide milk for the residents.

Understandably photography was NOT allowed in the Colony residential area. We met lots of families and were very humbled by our experience.

Living in such close proximity, we wondered what the effect of Covid had been on the community. It wasn’t so much the virus that was the problem it was the closing down of all the work. No work, no money, no food.

The government has put in free electricity and water standpipes which helps ease the pressures. The government owns the land so the threat of closure could happen at any time. You need to prove you have lived there for at least 25 years in order to get rehoused.

New trees have been planted in this area to provide shade for the future.

As the sun began to set we headed off. Making our way onto the Metro, this was our parting shot of the Sanjay Colony.






Swimming in the Moonlight

Swimming in the Moonlight.

Swimming in the Moonlight is a Lensbaby project that I did a couple of years ago, but I have now rethought the images and created a story using words, images and thread - I have tried to recreate the dreamlike state of mind as we fall asleep and enter the tangled world of our unconscious minds.

The pages have been cut out of mountboard as I wanted a rigid surface. Each lensbaby image has been printed on one of two types of thin rice paper and then ripped. The exposed fibres are wonderful and look like fraying fabric and are a nod to my childhood memory of entering my dreams riding on a magic carpet. The images are sewn onto Khadi paper, an Indian cotton rag which is thick and textural. A spiders web of tangled threads has then been sewn over the images, emphassing the confusion and disjointed stories we experience when we dream.

The boards are held together with Tyvek that I printed with one of the images, much of it is now hidden by the exterior binding, so I think next time I will do an exposed spine. I particularly like the French Link Stitch I think it looks so attractive. The structure of the binding and the exterior articulated spine allow the pages to lie flat which is great for art work as you don’t lose any of your work.

Finally the outside cover was constructed out of board and I used my favourite Lokta paper which I had left over from my Locked Down Journal that I made during our first Covid Lockdown.

My Ghosts

After experiencing the idiosyncrasies of the Black and White Fujifilm FB3000B during our period of Lockdown, I decided it was time to explore the colour expired version: Fujifilm 100C. It demands a sunny, bright day at only 100 ISO and contrasting colours to enjoy its full impact. So with the Land camera’s light meter; if you can even call it that, not really working, the day being pretty dull and the film pack dating back to 2006 nothing was really going in my favour. But as ever, Polaroids and Peel-Apart film are not just about the instant photo for me, there are an abundance of treasures to be found.

Using expired colour peel-apart film produces a unique layering of image making. On my black and white peel-apart negatives The Pull, removing each film from the camera, left random, permanent light streaks interacting across many of the images. The pull on the colour negatives however, behaves in a completely different way.

Depending on the physical speed, flow and strength of the pull the negative is marked with a white substance. A purely physical fleeting act translated into a static moment of time. There is little control over the results and the outcome is purely random. Once the back layer of the negative has been bleached away a partial image emerges, not dissimilar to a photogram or a glass plate negative, but the physical action of the pull has transposed itself in an ethereal and spiritual nature. Once the front of the negatives are cleaned the marks of the human interaction will be washed away. My Ghosts express in visual terms the idea of human presence that was only momentary leaving only traces of its existence.

My ghosts-3.jpg

Locked Down

Having completed my triptych journal I decided that it should be bound into a book.

My journal is printed on fine art matte paper and the cover is made from Nepalese Lokta paper that has been waxed to give it an aged look. Finally it has been hand- bound with Japanese stab binding. I have made stab bound books before, but the challenge this time was to make a hard backed version with a flexible spine.

Here are a few sample pages.

Hard back Lokta paper cover and stab binding in linen thread

Vellum sheet

Title page

Introduction

Chapter Introduction

One triptych page from Time Management chapter

One triptych page from Emergence chapter

If you wish to see the contents of the book then please scroll through my previous blog posts.

Thank you so much for looking at my blog. I hope you have enjoyed it.


Emergence From Lockdown

My final chapter in my triptych journal is a reflection on our emergence from Lockdown. It is a confusing and unsettling time. Our behaviour and day to day life will have to alter accordingly. A new order will arise out of the chaos.

During Lockdown, I’ve really enjoyed packing away the digital cameras and using the old Polaroid Land Camera. The slowness and thoughtfulness that is required before pressing the clunky shutter has been a true reflection of our lives during the pandemic. I wont be putting the Polaroid away just yet, my fridge contains quite a few packs of expired colour film and I have a few bottles of bleach in preparation to reclaim the negs, a completely different process to black and white. In the meantime, I’m going to get printing and bind my journal. The paints will also be staying out.


Time Management in Lockdown

During Lockdown it feels like time has unravelled. For many, our daily organised routines have been dismantled as we have been released from the metronomic ticking of the clock. Our lives have slowed down, the deadlines have gone and the divisions of the day have become fluid. I feel there is a new sense of time and, in parts, I’m enjoying this freedom and hope to take a piece of this into the new ‘normal’.