Monday 26 August 2013

D for Dog. Photo story by Reema.



Everyone knows D is for dog, but if you want to listen, I will tell you a story.

Since childhood I had fun every second because our home was in the middle of a vast green field, a very calm and peaceful place indeed.  My neighborhood was one of my favorite things apart from toys that I treasured, in the end there stood around 5 coconut trees, the field was about 10 acres if not more. I used to run like a wild child in the muddy field! Life was fun!

Our home was at the start of this field (now there are almost 10 houses). One day I saw this dog, a dark brown colored skin, and an angry face. I was merely 5 or 6 years back then but yet his devilish look didn’t scare me.  I hurriedly ran back to mom and asked for biscuits and came over and fed him.

Since then he used to stay in the pavement of our house.  Dad named him Raja, because of his kingly attitude. That cutie (I prefer to call cutie instead of dog) one day on our way to a friends place followed us, and in that way he got lost, since then I never saw him.  I was too little to feel what loosing something actually means but yet I was really sad unlike any other 6 year olds. I lost a precious friend. But as I grew up,  I forgot the love with time.

After that incident, lots of stray dogs had this similar kind of love for us, but they lasted for few days, or months.

A year or two back, a similar though a bit fair and frail than Raja, came wandering to our neighborhood. I spotted him sitting just outside my window in the street.  He didn't look interested to talk to me and I was literally irritating him by clicking pictures. He was feeling annoyed because of my weird behavior. I took almost twenty pictures of him, and at last I fed him a whole lot of yummy biscuits. Oh, well, he indeed loved how I pampered him and this made me win over his pure little heart and from that day he used to stop by our house and take a long nap in our pavement, just like our lost Raja. I named him Jigu; my mom's childhood pet was of same name.

The first day and how I stalked him.


After around 2 months, I saw another dog sitting just beside him, now I was too annoyed. A black and white colored ugly and weird dog that had this devilish facial expression, this dog made a horrible first impression. Gosh, I used to curse him all day, and never really fed him, because I thought he wanted to win our hearts and dethrone Jigu of our love. That would never happen I told this ugly dog repeatedly.  Thank God that he doesn’t understand human language, if he did then it would have been another story.

And the one.

Suddenly one fine day, Jigu was nowhere to be found, not in the road, not in the neighborhood, just nowhere, as if he drank some magic potion and got absorbed into the thin air. I started missing him terribly; because after growing up I fell in love with this dog for the first time (I don’t have a pet at home). The disappearance of Jigu made me go mad and my entire wrath rained on that disgusting ugly dog who was still sitting beside the gate.  I shouted at him, and literally blamed him for Jigu's disappearance.  I missed Jigu for almost a month or so, and still I miss him.  This unpleasant dog continued to stop by our pavement and I continued to curse him.

Till one day.

It was a Monday, as I returned from college and pushed the doorbell, suddenly this unpleasant dog shouted at me, and it made my heart come out.  I was never scared of dogs, but his voice was so terribly devilish as if he will eat me alive, gosh man, I called my mom in a loud voice and asked to open the door fast. I got in and took a long breath.

Next day in the afternoon, once again while I was returning from my college, saw that cursed dog sitting as usual, as if waiting for its prey. I was literally tired of cursing and shouting at him, so I just ignored and walked to the door, and voila, he got up and I heard some shrill cute noise coming out from his nostrils.  I was taken aback by surprise, what happened to this dog? Has some angel possessed him ? He was a devil reincarnated the day before and now an angel in disguise? Or did he realize that he made a mistake by shouting at me? He is just a dog for God sake! My mind went topsy-turvy.  His facial gesture and this cute voice made me aware that though he looked this angry, but from inside he had a heart of gold, he too knew love, and he too deserved a fair share of love from humans. At that moment, he reminded me of Raja and then of Jigu, and made me think that he wanted a pat on his back. He wanted to be cuddled, hugged, and so I whispered to him "you shall be loved." I was taken over by him, all my bitterness, harshness, bad feelings got over just within a few minutes. I fell in love with this angry dog!


and he loves to sleep all day.


Since that day I call him Jigu…and just a coincidence..he totally looks like my mom's childhood pet Jigu. Reincarnated? Perhaps!


Based on a true story!
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Saturday 24 August 2013

Budge Budge Photowalk. 17th August.



Photowalk is like a heart that beats known rhythms, and witnessing such a walk is really tempting, and if you miss, you surely miss a great deal of awesomeness and fun of living life to the fullest.

This 17th of August we witnessed another such fun photowalk at Budge Budge.

A little about Budge Budge (from Wikipedia)

Budge Budge (Bengali: বজ বজ Bôj Bôj) is a town and a municipality in South 24 Parganas district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority.

Swami Vivekananda landed at Budge Budge ferry ghat when he returned from his Chicago visit. The anniversary is still celebrated on 19 February with great zeal. The old station from where he boarded the train to Calcutta is decorated with flowers on this day. The waiting room where he rested for a while is preserved.
A curious feature of this small and old town is the large number of Sikhs who live here. Budge Budge was the site where the ship Komagata Maru was allowed to land following its return from Vancouver. The ship was chartered by a group of Sikhs to challenge the exclusion laws enacted by Canada to restrict Indian immigration.
Budge Budge municipality (বজবজ পৌরসভা) and Budge Budge Public Library (বজবজ পাবলিক লাইব্রেরী) are more than a century old establishments.
Historically the oldest people of this place were the 'Haldars' who came here to guard a fort near the bank of the River Ganges. A British writer who had come with Clive around 1740-50 chronicled this event. Maniklal was the main person at the fort and his soldiers lost to Clive's troops. This may have been the start of the series of Indian defeats to the expanding British colonial forces in the 18th century.

We all met at Budge Budge railway station, and we were greeted by a heavy shower. August and rain doesn't go well together but this time its just the opposite. Thankfully it didn't last long. 

Photo by: Sumit Chakraborty

We waited for the rain to stop, the wait was sweet actually, the station, the busyness all around, all in all we enjoyed every second there.

We started our long awaited walk after it stopped raining..we were loosing our cool actually ;)

Photo by: Arin Paul

Photo by: Ankyta Adhikari

A group photo is the first and the foremost thing for a Photowalk and after a session of posing for a group photo we were done being normal and started to click like nomads on a crazy trip. Going around and clicking and discovering a new place is really exciting. We visited a kali mandir(Temple) nearby. 

Photo by: Reema

We also witnessed the beauty of Budge Budge, the ferry ghat.

Photo by: Arin Paul

Photo by: Tathagata Das

Photo by: Tathagata Das

After a break with sandwich, corn and juices, we walked again and this time to visit Komagata Maru. A historical place! (a little about Komagata Maru already stated above). Komagata Maru is a place worth visiting. But today it lies in a forgotten state. 

and while returning to the station we stopped by the place where Swami Vivekananda landed, and boarded the train to the then Calcutta (Kolkata). 

Photo by: Arin Paul

few of the crazy photos by members at the walk :)

Photo by: Alok Daiya

Photo by: Brojonath Banerjee 
Photo by: Brojonath Banerjee

Photo by: Somdev Sengupta

Photo by: Sumit Chakraborty

Photo by: Tathagata Das

Life would have meant nothing if nothing in this world was ever discovered. 

Budge Budge has so much to see, but we got so little time that day. We hope to return back to this place sometime in the near future.

Till then, adios..

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Monday 12 August 2013

Photo Story by Ajoy Konar





When we encounter something unexpected, it puzzles us. This was the experience of this columnist who is about to tell us the story about the temple of Ranak Devi at Vadhwan, Gujrat.


The name Vadhwan is after the 24th Tirthankara Mahabir Vardhaman. Well, this temple was not dedicated to some heavenly Goddess but the deity here was a queen of the 10th century of Junagadh of the then Saurashtra. This deity is accompanied by Mahakali.

The story of Ranak Devi in short is this: she was the queen of Ra Khenga and stayed at the formidable fort “Uparkot” of Junagadh. When Solanki king attacked Uparkot, the king and his two sons died in that very day. The queen fled by a hidden tunnel with her husband’s head so that she can be a suttee to Vadhwan, some 261 Kilimeters away.


When she reached Vadhwan, she asked the villagers to help her to be cremated alive with her ‘husband’. But the villagers denied helping the queen. Next Ranak Devi asked for help from the river Vagwa, on the bank of which the village is situated. The river did not respond. The queen cursed the river that it would carry no water. People believe that the river is dry throughout the year because of this curse. Finally Goddess Mahakali helped her to be burnt alive with her husband by turning the queen’s despair and rage into fire.
The temple is of red stone and was built in the 10th century with exquisite carvings on the wall.


The architectural style is interesting. It is not as seen in Rajsthan or Gujrat, the solanki style’, rather it is Rathadeul type of Orissa. It really can be a challenge to the students of architecture, how such a structure could be constructed at this place is a mystery to many. Is it that the architects were hired from Orissa or Bengal? No one really knows. 




The temple and its sculptures are breathtaking. The height is about 10 meters from ground. Though much is lost or broken with time, still the sculptures that stood the test of time is intricate and beautiful, and is a pleasure to the eyes. Once there was a porch, but it was broken down much earlier. In short it is a temple with a story to tell.


A temple with a mysterious beauty and a sad story!

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Saturday 10 August 2013

July winners!






Congrats winners!!!


Prizes will be distributed today at 



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Thursday 8 August 2013

Aurangabad Photo lovers day out, 4th of August.






This Sunday 4th of August at Aurangabad around 8 am, members of ODOP-LC gathered together to unleash the beauty of Daulatabad fort. 43 passionate photographers were present at this photo walk/photo lovers day out. Once the members reached the spot, Mr. Saket Bhand gave them a brief intro about ODOP-LC group, it's 3000+ members, activities, events and how it helps everyone to share and learn in the process. According to them, the concept of one day one photo is unique and interesting!

The members were asked to capture the beauty of the fort & nature through their lens which was no big deal for them.
These 43 photographers were successful in capturing the beauty of the place in no time, from clicking photos of the fort, Bharatmata Temple, Minar, Nature scene & many more, they didn’t stop at all, they clicked whatever they spotted through their lens in the allotted time of 3 hours!

After clicking for at least an hour or two, everyone gathered around at Bharatmata Temple. Some experts guided and shared few tips and tricks about photography with the young and budding talents. Mr. Nitin Goje, Mr. Kishor Kadam & Mr. Mahendra Dengle guided these youngsters! After this discussion and sharing of knowledge, breakfast was offered to the members.

After a session of group photo, the photo walk came to an end, everyone started to bid goodbyes to each other promising to meet again to unleash beauty of some other place!

Pictures of these photographers will be uploaded soon at our ODOP's Facebook page. Everyone had bid adieu only with one desire in mind, it is that this type of fun & exciting program should be arranged once a month if not more!

and the photos of the lovely photo walk that we all will cherish forever..
The group. Photo by: Nitin Goje

Photo by: Nitin Goje

Ready, get set and goooo! Photo by: Saket Bhand

and they started capturing from the ruins! History is always a mystery!

Photo by: Saket Bhand 

The beauty of nature..

Photo by: Nitin Goje


and how the people ruin it..

Photo by: Nitin Goje

Pavilion High Up the Fort..
Photo by: Mayursingh Rajput


Photo by: Rajesh Ghule


Photo by: Rajesh Ghule

Photo by: Rajesh Ghule

The thinker..
Photo by: Yogesh Tupe Patil

 These has stories to tell..but is there someone who would understand them?

Photo by: Ashish Gadekar

 Deogiri Fort, Daulatabad, Aurangabad.

Photo by: Ashish Gadekar
New life..

Photo by: Watwe Vishwas

The silent spectators..

Photo by: Sanket Kulkarni

  The man busy day dreaming!

Photo by: Amit Kulkarni

Youngest member of ODOP, Akshar Saket Bhand :)

Photo by: Pankaj Bedse

The daily life of the poor soul..even if it's Sunday, it's not a fun-day for her!

Photo by: Nitin Goje

Daulatabad Minar..
Photo by: Sarabjit Mayal

Photo by: Amol Sananse

Now that's what we call a Photo-walk!

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Post content provided by Mr. Saket Bhand.

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