Shilpgram Festival- The Great Indian Bazaar- Part 3: Quaint & Quirky

Shilpgram Festival- Every December, the Indian Craft mela brings together artists, sellers, performers and shoppers from across the country for 10 days to Udaipur. The last and final part of this photo blog series on the festival is an ode to the Quaint and Quirky. No carnival would be complete without this collection, especially not in India.

Here is what the camera captured and the meanings the mind decided to decode. The thoughts that the images probably had but never said out loud. 

WHAT BULL?!

I stood looking at him for a long time, inquisitive, fascinated, sad, angry, ….the feelings just kept pouring.

He was tied to a natural oil press. He went round and round with his eyes forced shut. He never saw the festival nor its faces. When life gets this unforgiving, I wondered if a little humor would help.

Frame the shot, before you go(re) for it!     #bullseye

A bull(y) can dig his nose in public     #lifessmallpleasures

I am forced to do my job blindly. Whats your excuse?     #stopbullshittingyourself

 

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

As I walked around carrying the bull on my conscience, I saw he wasn’t the only Beast of Burden. Humans were weighed down by their jobs too. Some physically exhausted, others emotionally vacant; they were going through the motions. I wondered if making light of life would help.

“And you think they could’ve atleast made the HATS a bit girly”        #boredbanter

 

Forget balancing,  try saying:  “Pot on top of plate on pot on top of plate of…..”  #loadedladies

Feeding your ego, feeds his family         #itsasellout

 

When the Audience is Away, the Artists will Not Play                    #canIhaveyourattentionplease

 

SIGNS– They inform us, educate us and even entertain us. Sometimes they give us signals so in our face yet we almost always miss reading between the lines.

The arrows missed their aim, please don’t miss yours           #allovertheplace

No Sun can power a ‘System Shutdown’                              #lightsout

Dont ‘bottle’ up your thirst- Dip and Drink! I dare you                                 #waterwatereverywhere

When the bin eats organic, where goes the plastic?                           #wastematters

Walking through the Shilpgram Festival, taking in the smells, sounds and sights was like a crash course in my culture. I love India and at Shilpgram I fell in love all over again. Come last 10 days of December to surround yourself in color, culture, craft and character that you will only find here.

 

Part 1: An Ode to the vibrancy of India. Color and Craft and the Color in Craft. Art from different parts of India and the richness of the country’s heritage comes alive in these images

 

 

 

Part 2: An Ode to the diversity of India. Artists and Performers, Shopkeepers and Sellers, Buyers and bystanders from villages close by an states faraway.