the reality....

...of Mussoorie.

Most of my shots of my trip to Mussoorie have been showing only the beauty of the town and the hills around. As with a lot of towns in India, haphazard growth is everywhere, sometimes overtaking the beauty and simpleness of the surroundings.

This is the reality....there are lots of wires crisscrossing, most of them illegal but so prevalent that they become part of the landscape, the old houses are beautiful but falling apart, the new houses are strong but ugly concrete structures and so on.

So, it's really up to us to find the beauty where ever we can. One has to look beyond the obvious, and not get sidetracked by things like the huge dumpster that welcomes you to the town, or the discarded plastic bags in the gutters, in essence ignore the ugliness and notice only the beauty that could be.

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Comments

Patryaaa says:

nice one
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

msgooner says:

Awesome light..!!
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

sharad_2007 says:

So right! There is nothing called town-planning in India, despite the fact that we the tax-payers do pay salaries of a town planning dept. There is no governance and administration at a town level, depite the fact that we pay for huge Public Works dept and district administrations thru heavy taxation. A few days back I went to the district administration office, loftily called Mini-Secretariat in Gurgaon. This is where the District heads of admin (DC), Police and various other Govt officers sit. All senor bureaucrats like IAS, IPS, etc. The corridors were dusty and smelled of urine. There was all kinds of toxic looking waste strewn around. When they can not keep the building where they sit, clean, then what will they be able to do for the city or district. However, just try talking to them even once, they sound like big Lords and talk with their noses up in the air. Demi-Gods with power only to seek bribes!
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

dreamisz says:

You have captured the light so wonderfully!
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

Anoop Negi says:

lovely the wire work of this nation. It unites us Indians in this diverse land. from North to south or any other direction we have wires in every town and village.

Ugly but such a binding force !
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

indiyeah ( off ) [deleted] says:

its everywhere shalini.. even in delhi and also in shanghai ! i liked the composition a lot.. the wires make our pics very Third World :)
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

omoo says:

Artful collage of shapes, light, shade and comment
on the self editing done with camera... and without.
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

Thames_ says:

the composition is really good!
I really tike the tones too!
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

ganobristol says:

Patryaaa: thanks!

Ms Gooner: thanks...that's what made me take this shot....the only redeeming feature I thought!

sharad: Yes, I know exactly what you mean. There is just so much apathy in the administrative services....they all enter for the wrong reasons. My great-grandfather was an ICS officer and was the DC of Delhi, Simla and Lahore in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and would be really sad to see the state of affairs of today's bureaucrats.

dreamisz: thanks...that's what motivated me to take this shot!

anoop: Lol, yes it sure does unite us in our cribs about it!

indiyeah: thanks.... :-)

omoo: thanks!

Thames: thanks so much!
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

*Gül [deleted] says:

so real and so beautiful! Love it!
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

aratib says:

I couldnt agree more with what you have written. It pains me to the see the beauty of these intrinsically pretty towns and hill stations blighted by their ugly electricity poles and unkempt verges at the side of the roads. Alas! Till we as citizens and custodians of its cities and towns dont take pride in our cities, there will be nothing left to salvage.
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

Sabspecks says:

Ouch that hurts.

In fact, just yesterday I remember commenting on another picture (with these ghastly wires again) about how it is too much to expect our Govt to have a sense of aesthetics! Here is another proof of that.

Oh well.. India!! can't live with it...can't live without :)
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

nbklx17 (Sandy) says:

Shalini, this may be one of my favorite shots of yours.
The patterns of light and shadow and the composition is wonderful.
And I loved your commentary...wonderful photography and writing!
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

saurabhprasad says:

Nice pic!
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

stjernesol says:

what a great capture my friend !

Have a splendid Thursday :)))
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

Majlee says:

What a wonderful capture - in your photography AND your commentary. I know you will continue to find beautiful things to share - and I am so thankful for you !!!!.
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

ganobristol says:

Gul: thanks ;-)

arati: So true! Mussoorie is a lot nicer than places in Himachal though. I find that the beauty is best preserved in the army cantonments....Kasauli, Dagshai, Sabathu etc.

Sabspecks: Lol, exactly...can't live with it....can't live without

Sandy: Thanks so much, Sandy. I like this pic more now than I did earlier. Maybe one just gets used to the wires and ignores them after a while. But the light was such a redeeming factor. I took this from a cafe...so had lots of time to see the light and shadows change as the evening went by.

saurabh: thanks!

stjernesol: thanks...and you too!

Majlee: Aw, thanks so much! I do try to find the nice things to remember for the future. Writing is what I do in real life, so it kind of spills over in my Flickr life too!
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

KittyKaht says:

Lovely light
Posted 13 months ago. ( permalink )

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the reality....

Comments

Patryaaa says:

msgooner says:

sharad_2007 says:

dreamisz says:

Anoop Negi says:

indiyeah ( off ) [deleted] says:

omoo says:

Thames_ says:

ganobristol says:

*Gül [deleted] says:

aratib says:

Sabspecks says:

nbklx17 (Sandy) says:

saurabhprasad says:

stjernesol says:

Majlee says:

ganobristol says:

KittyKaht says:

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