Hello once again. Rajiv Chopra here. “Thinking Aloud”.
I'd like to spend the next few weeks. And I'm talking about weeks, not minutes, right now, discussing topics that may not appear to have any relationship with photography. I'm going to start discussing heat, and I will also confess to being a wimp. I'm a proud Punjabi, and the British classified us as a warrior class, which feels great. While I'm not an alpha male possessing shades of beta, gamma, delta, and gamma. Did I say that wrong? Let me repeat myself.
While I'm not an alpha male, I possess shades of beta, gamma, delta, gamma, and maybe epsilon. I consider myself resilient, possessing shades of a stoic personality. Ten years ago, I tramped all over Delhi's Walled City, photographing people and the buildings in the area. I continued my work throughout the year, including the summer and monsoon seasons. This year, I rejected the temptation to walk the streets and have not been out since May. The blistering extended heat wave we experienced this year killed many people, with many deaths remaining uncounted. Hospitals prepared ice baths for those with symptoms of heatstroke. And the somnolent media cheered because they had something to write about besides politics. And we experienced this prolonged heat wave. Despite El Nino retreating from our shores.
I despise Delhi's monsoon season: the heat, the humid heat, raising my blood pressure to abnormal, dangerous structures, stratospheric levels,
Shades of humidity exist. And when I say that, I mean that humidity is not just humidity. There are different kinds of humidity. Delhi's humid weather differs from Bombay's. I lived in Singapore for a few years, and the moisture never bothered me. The breeze and the clean streets create tolerable weather conditions. Bombay's dust is unpleasant. But it's better than Delhi's, and the occasional flooding is unpleasant. But you get used to it. The strong wind upends your umbrella, giving you a free street shower, yet you don't suffocate in Bombay. Unlike Delhi. Here in Delhi, the heavy, moist air squeezes your lungs in its remorseless grip, and everyone looks to the skies for relief while dreading the inevitable flooding and road collapses. Accompanying Delhi's showers. Hell waits for you in the corner with Death bearing His yellowing fangs, smiling in anticipation of your arrival at his door. Now, many people must work outdoors, and I've stopped asking them how they manage; their despairing eyes always tell a story that no words can tell.
Most of them say, What do we do? We have to put food on the table. And just the tone in which they reply tells you much more. It tells you a whole story. They don't want to be there. They don't want to be there, but they don't have a choice. We don't have jobs in the market, so they're stuck. I have a choice, and I exercised my choice of staying indoors. Now, staying indoors without air conditioning is not a solution because the indoor humidity can be as deadly as the weather conditions on the road. Your AC builds mounts, and damn! When you see the electricity bills, your blood pressure mounts as well.
So yeah, I've used the air conditioning and know that the exhaust spits hot air into the environment. And it makes you wonder, are you as green as you like to believe?
We've created a few records. The previous year was the world's hottest year on record. This year might be worse, with the two hottest days recorded within days of each other. So it might just be that this year will be the hottest year ever. So what do I do with my time? I curse my cowardice. I write. I plan my photography. And I decided to venture into new domains. Two new domains
Video and audio. Now, you must use your time. Well, I have also been experimenting with AI art, different approaches to editing images, and a few other things. Next year, I will learn Persian and experiment with still-life photography.
I will go back on the street next week.
The desire to go back and do some photography is too strong. The temptation is strong.
But when you are out there on the street, and the heat bothers you, it sometimes becomes difficult to focus on the composition that you have in mind.
But you do what you do. You have to walk out. You have to take the photographs. You have to do something. You can't just sit here and say, Oh, I'm a softie. I'm a softie. And I'm going to sit here in air-conditioned comfort. And I don't give a damn, or I don't give a sh*t about anything else. Sometimes, you just need to learn to re-embrace
discomfort.
So, I want to end with a question.
Do you want to know why I want to learn Persian? It is, after all,
something which a lot of people now regard as a Muslim language. So why do I want to learn Persian? If you're curious and want to know the answer, let me know in the comments, and I will tell you. Maybe I'll make another podcast episode about why I want to learn Persian. I will also discuss how this fits not just with my identity but with some of my ongoing and future projects.
So see you and see you next time.
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