Anjuna Flea Market!!

Thinking about the tourist places in India? And Goa would be in your list for sure, you just cannot tick it off from your list. There are very few places in India where you will feel like living in a different country. It’s not India, not USA, not UK and not any country et all. Goa boasts a population which behave more like a cosmopolitan crowd, you will find people who knew more than one languages and not only Indian but different languages of the world.

Well, there are many places in Goa that we will talk about. Today, we will be talking about Anjuna Flea Market.

Anjuna is not only famous for its pristine beach but also for its flea market stretched on both sides of the road heading to Anjuna beach. You can find everything I this market from Indian spices to artifacts, from western clothes to traditional Indian clothes. But one thing, you make sure before purchasing that you know the art of bargaining. Else, you will end up paying more than the actual price. And, this is valid for every flea market of the world.

Well. More than the market, it is a place where you can see the amalgamation of different culture. You meet people from different part of the world here exploring the market. Some are here for photographing the people, some for shopping the economical clothes for their stay in India, some looking for something unique products that they can showcase in their living room. Some are just there to chill and some are there for their first ever trip after their marriage.

So, Anjuna is amazing with its crowd and people around. You find vendors mostly from the konkan region or Karnataka who sell their artifacts and products here. I have the opportunity to photograph the people indulged in this market before my camera went off at the beach. Well, my bad luck. But still I took some amazing photographs of the place. Do, let me know what you think and let me know if you want to know more about Anjuna and what to look after there.

To see more photos on Anjuna, Click here.

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Mumbai!!

Don’t you think the name Mumbai itself gives you an Idea about the city, the moment someone takes its name? Not true for every city but Mumbai, yes it does happen and there’s no doubt in it. Mumbai is a city of chaos, but at the same time, it’s the city of dreams. Mumbai is a city of slums, but it too boasts the world’s costliest street for real estate. In a nutshell, Mumbai has everything, you cannot define it just by the vertical limits that it shows, the manner less crowd and so on; it has its own kind, different from all the other cities of the world. 

Mumbai has been named as one of the rudest cities of the world, I am not confronting that it is not but this is also the city where you can see the kindness of the people in a traffic jam, you have talked about the stories of the water log and the kindest people of Mumbai. In short, Mumbai provides you a bit of everything within its boundaries. Now, it’s up to you what you grabbed and what you left.

I have spent about an hour in one of the busiest local station of Mumbai and nearby. And it was a different experience altogether. Life has been changed dramatically in the cities since the last decade. And one can see its impact on the people. Streets have become narrower and the old markets or bazaars have become more crowded as they provide economical products. Life has its own turn and so Mumbai, but branding it as rude is something that I will not agree. There are so many cities in the world which are rude and at least Mumbai is not at the bottom.

So, Mumbai provides a vision, which is much deeper than anyone to understand. Those, who got it are well settled now and doing better than rest of the people who came to this “City of Dreams”.

 Mumbai is different, don't judge it what it looks. And for that matter any city of the world cannot be judged by taking some people into a discussion or survey. And its just identical.

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Street Photography Tips

It is natural if you have an urge for photography; you try to document the swirling life around you. It is often said that a traveler came up with amazing photographs as he travels different parts of the world, living and experiencing the cultures around him. But don’t misinterpret that with the street photography, it is more about hoe observing you are and what you see that no one can. For being a street photographer, you don’t really need to travel far, there so much happening around you. On the streets near you, the narrow streets provide you with amazing subjects that you can think of.

We will talk about different tips to document streets in this BlogSpot for beginners. I have learnt it hard way, and that is why I don’t want anyone else to go through all the pains I have been through.

#Decide your Gears

Street photography doesn’t need that expensive gears and don’t fool around chasing for expensive gears, you can start from the starter kit that you got with your camera. An 18-55mm lens can be a good option to documenting street. Additionally, you can buy a 50mm starter lens for Canon or Nikon which comes in less than $100 to $120 (approximately INR 8 to 9000).

You see that I have mentioned wide angle lenses above as Telephoto zoom lenses ay help you capture the action without getting noticed, but I am sure you don’t want to be a person standing at a corner of the street and aiming a giant lens on strangers moving around. You need to get lost in the crowd and get close to your subject.

#which is the best Camera setting for documenting street

This question always comes in mind that which camera setting would work and which will not. Street photography is all about candid situations and that has to be captured before they are gone. So, you need to have a setting that is fast and perfect for the situation.

The quickest and easiest way to set up your camera for street photography is by switching the camera to AV (aperture-priority mode) and selecting your f-stop (aperture) and ISO manually. The camera will then decide the shutter speed (exposure). On a bright sunny day a good place to start is around f/16 with an ISO between 200 to 400. If your camera displays a shutter speed higher than 1/200th a second you are ready to roll.

You can still adjust your camera in Manual mode but that needs to change for each and every single photograph that you will take and in this way, you might lose the action.

#Get close to your subject

As we are using a wide angle lens, it enables to get close to our subject. And being a part of the crowd you can focus your lens to the subject and get it captured. Wide angle lenses are also best for the portrait photography. And the best portraits of the world have been taken on streets and not in studios with all the technical lights and meters.

You might be fearful in the beginning but with time and practice, you can get close to people around and can take pictures without taking permissions and sometime with permissions.

Note: Always have smile on your face while capturing a person on the street. J

#Go anywhere you can

Roam around the whole street; it could be a coffee shop, a bridge, a street vendor and anything. Take your camera everywhere and fire the shutter. The more you will delve yourself into the crowd, the more stories you will found to tell.

#Search for a story

Photography is not about a dramatic picture but telling a story with the picture. Try to capture the way that it tells a story. Find some interesting spot and sit there, observe the crowd and then form a story and frame and fire the shutter. Believe me, you will find amazing stories to tell.

There’s more will come on this topic. Stay tuned. But keep in mind that street photography demands practice and patience. The more you roam the streets, more your eye will develop to see the things beyond what they look and your confidence grow.

#Gears #camera #Observe

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Let's travel to Palghar....

Palghar is just 180 kms away from Mumbai and provide a vivid experience away from the cities. Let's travel this May to Palghar and experience the lifestyle of Warli people. We will stay in a campsite in Velwanda, almost 65 kms away from Palghar towards Jawhar.

It's a well curated trip where you will experience the Famous Warli Art, Live with Villagers, trek to the mountains, bird watching, indulge yourself in village activities like fetching water, cultivation, hut making process etc.

For more information fill the form below and reach out to us.

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Travelling is an art

“Travelling is an art.”

Isn’t it? Think again…..and try to recollect what you have got from travelling and what you feel about it?

Get it?

Absolutely, there are moments to cherish for lifetime. The frame that you have developed from travelling is so vast that you can’t even draw it on a blank canvas if asked to. It’s so vivid and diverse that it cannot be described in words and pictures, but you can create an art of it by breaking it in different parts, scattering it in little moments of happiness, experience, peace and solace.

Now, everyone is travelling, but are they really travelling?

While backpacking the villages of Mumbai. These hawkers met on a sunny day afternoon. Clicking them was a new experience while mincing with them, knowing them was more than different.

That’s a question that everyone asks from himself once or may be more than once. My question is what you mean by travelling? Visiting the places that a guide says to you?

Or,

Places that can be easily found on internet?

If you are travelling like this, this is not really travelling. Travelling makes you local, go and mince with the people of a place. Participate in whatever they do, talk, dance, love, smile and smile like never before.

This pic has been taken by my friend "Vijay Dev.". Was on a photo walk in south Mumbai. Met these group of amazing children. Look at the one with a hood, he was so mesmerized with the camera that wanted to take it from me. Experiences are something that make you real. I don't know what I am but leading towards the right road. That I know. 

Come back, now jot down the moments that you have experienced from this travel, think harder and you will find that this was the experience of the life time. You travelled, visited the places that were on internet but at the same time you brought the little bit of that place with you, and now you are smiling, cause you can imagine those times. The feeling that were different from what you have experienced before.

Now, think again…….and let me know…….

Isn’t “Travelling is an art?”

“Vagadiaries” helps you to live the moments while you travel. We might be occupied with the tight schedules of the travel, but we never ever leave a chance to bring back a little bit of the culture with us.

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Photography: from the eyes of an amateur

I don’t know if I am qualified enough to write a post on photography. But everyone has their take on something, the way they analyze, the way they see the world. So may be, even if I am not qualified, I have a different view to look at things.

Photography is like a way of life for me and I am sure for most of the people who do this, find a solace in it. It’s like gaining a spiritual peace somewhere inside you when you took the picture the way you wanted it to be. Off course, there are photoshoped images which look far different and amazing to look at. I am not against that but the satisfaction you found just after taking a photograph is different, you might change it completely in post production, but the first take is always different like “first love”.

This photo was taken by me at my village, I had the camera, i knew what I wanted and had my fingers on shutter to fire, without knowing the technical aspects of a camera. 

When you first acquired a camera, tell me the first thoughts that engulf your mind?

It’s not different from mine I am sure, I still look at my photographs for hours which I have taken from a Kodak role camera way back in my schools. Those moments were different when you look at the amazing photographs of others and wanted to click one like that one day. And all those thoughts start coming to you when you actually own a high end camera and get yourself ready to fire the shutter. You might be amateur, but the attitude with which you really handle it, is different.

And being an amateur photographer, you really need to understand the different aspect of photography, pictures, images and their post production tactics. But that need time…..Yes!! You are ready to invest time but until then? You can’t make yourself wait it learning all those technical jargons to fire your shutter. And believe me my friend, no one can actually teach you an art form, it came from within, you learn a technique, but the way you look at something will always be yours, the way you want your photographs will always be different from others. A teacher in photography can teach you the aspect of camera, lenses, lights, different other aspects but the art is yours, it is something which make you stand apart. And as far as I know, the photo artists are mostly self made, they were like us only…. “The Normal People” started shooting one fine day putting their heart and soul into it. They have never been taught but they made themselves taught by experiences that they had during the journey which they traveled.

I know about the colors, but black and while always gives a new meaning to my pictures. I am not famous, never wanted to be, but the satisfaction that I receive from these photographs are way above to anything.

So, hold your camera tight, make an image of something that you want to take and how would you want that image be framed, fix your eyes on the viewfinder, focus and fire the shutter.

Stay tuned for more on this. We will talk about different aspect of photography that an amateur photographer (not exactly a photographer but that’s something he always wanted to be called) went through.

Let me know what you think?

"Vagadiaries is committed to bring a change in the life of every traveler. and photography is an integral part of travel to rekindle the memories. to cherish the moments and experiences that you earned while travelling."

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Street Photography in Mumbai

Mumbai as a city has everything to give to everyone. Be it job, place, sustainability or delight to the traveler and a smile to photographers. This city, a group of seven islands once, has evolved a lot since it has started developing as a city and a place of cultures to come and thrive. It is the largest city in the world’s second largest country. And if we count on money, , it’s the wealthiest city in India, but with some of its most extreme poverty. Mumbai is also India’s most diverse, cosmopolitan and westernized city. I will not delve into the history of Mumbai rather will take you to the places where a photographer and a traveler find solace.

With the diverse history, Mumbai has century old buildings, bazaars, fishing villages. Mumbai also has the biggest slums of Asia and one can find the expensive homes of Bollywood stars also. In brief, Mumbai has everything a photographer and traveler is possibly looking for.

When we say Mumbai, it’s not the places which are in Mumbai only; by the time it has stretched its boundaries to the nearby places as well. These places too are Mumbai these days, you cannot think of Mumbai if you leave those places and only concentrating on the age old myths that most of the travel agencies and tour operator shows to you.

In this series, we will take you to all the places which are the real Mumbai, which forms the boundaries of the new Mumbai along with the age old definition of it and give diversity to it.

Let’s start with Thane which is a suburb of Mumbai as you find most of the people call it. Thane has always been an integral part of Mumbai and with the changes it has become the new hub of Mumbai. If you talk about me, I will call it the heaven for street photographers and backpackers who want to understand the real Mumbai and its culture. Most of the companies have changed their base from Mumbai to Thane and hence, providing a new meaning to the people here. Their livelihood has been changed in the recent years and you can see the diversification of culture, variety of scenery and life that rivals any city in the world, the urban energy fused with a touch of rural energy that consumes you and endless interest that keeps you wanting more. 

I have started photographing Thane recently and found a different pace here, have talked with the people, understanding their problems and how they cope with all this, is like a new phenomenon in my life. And it would be so selfish for not to share with the world. And that is the real motto of Vagadiaries, to bring the roads and destinations less traveled and talked about. 

Keep watching this space for more on street photography, backpacking and to visit the places that has rarely made a place in your Vagadiary. Travel with us for a new way of travelling, to understand the joy of travelling. Contact us to fill your Vagadiaries.

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Dadar Flower Market : The Magical Mumbai

You are a photographer, traveler, wanderer, street hopper, cultural activist, documentary filmmaker, and above all you set your foot in Mumbai, feeling what to do, where to go etc etc.....

I understand, it's not really easy to get zeroed on a place in a city like Mumbai which has a vast mixture of cultures, rituals and all the other things that can be put in your brackets to get the exact glimpse of it.

Mumbai!! a city which defines the fastness of a metro city, which daily added a new dimension to its definition. Mumbai!! a city which has embraced almost every culture in its heart and still doing the same.

Yes!! Mumbai!!

Well, Let's see Mumbai from its own eyes, the crowd, the hustle bustle of local trains and never ending human chain, the crowded markets which sell everything (In fact, there is nothing that you can’t find in these century old markets of Mumbai). 

In this way, to see the real Mumbai, you will have to visit Dadar Flower Market, without this your 

Mumbai trip will never deemed to be completed. 

Dadar Flower Market, the largest and only flower market of its kind in Mumbai. It is an asymmetrical arrangement of flower vendors, florists and garland weavers, quite literally on the Dadar Railway station. This less-than-a-kilometer stretch under the bridge stocked everything from genda(marigold), mogra(Jasmine) and lotus to tulips, orchids and imported carnations.

 Dadar Flower Market opens at 4 a.m. and sells over 500 kgs of flowers every day. These flowers bedeck everything from weddings, religious ceremonies and lovers to vases in hotels and homes. There are fixed shops, and flower dealers trade mostly in bulk quantities. But the flower market has evolved so beautifully that many people from the outskirts of Mumbai set up shop with fresh flowers, leaves and even types of grass. All they have is one basket full of fresh inventory and a sharp business sense. Once they’re sold out, they pack their belongings and head home to come back with fresh stock next day.

The vendors, though are mostly Marathi, but come from all the parts of India, and so the way they deal with customers are different too. They are very photo savvy and once they find you with camera, happily obliged to pose for a photo or never give you a look for clicking them while they are busy doing their work. The support system too is very different here, I found a chai wala(Tea Vendor), providing chai in a different cups to all the vendors, never asking for money.

And there are not the vendors only, but you will find the poor flower pickers who picks flowers from the roads and the one which vendors think are not worth for their selling. They picked those flowers during the business time and then make garlands out of these flowers and sell at temples and other places in the day time.  This place, the colors and the aura that this place has, takes away all your fatigues to come there in the wee hour to see the culture and the flowers that this market boasts.

So, are you still confused, where to go in Mumbai to see the real Mumbai, the real chaos and the real crowd……? There are still more, keep watching the space.

Keep Traveling and write to us at nirajbahadur.pal@gmail.com if you look for a customized travel, group travel or backpacking in India. We take you to the real trail of India, the roads which are less travelled is our only destination, to get lost in the ocean of culture which is known as India. Be a Vagabond and allow us to add pages to your Vagadiaries!!

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Goa from a different perspective

Goa is an amazing place to relax but at the same time it provides a serious research cases to study for. While Goan people are involved in fisheries and converting their home to tourist houses, people from the nearby town come here to sell their artifacts.

Karnataki tribes are one of that, one find in abundance here; they come here to sell their products which they made locally. They have learnt different languages from the tourists in the process and can speak English, Russian, Spanish and French. They too have learnt the trade politics of the region and hardly utter their actual names. Julie is one of them. She has been selling their home products since ages here and can speak fluent English and Russian. What I like most in them that irrespective of all the changes, they have maintained their tradition and hardly adapt to the changing culture.

© All of my photographs are Copyrighted and All Rights Reserved. They may not be used or reproduced in any way without my explicit written permission.

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