John Denver said (or rather, sang) “The wiser man than I might know, the seasons of the heart”. And he can’t be more correct. There are seasons of Overjoy, Bliss and off course, loneliness. And it was a moderately cold day of winter, and I felt the need of going out for a long walk; as for no particular reason, I felt lonely and sad. So, I started from my home in Tala, with nothing but a camera and a backpack. I had no place that I’ve had to reach, so I pretty much followed my nose wherever it took me. That day, I thought, after so many vivid and vibrant photographs, why not try something, old school? So, I put my picture control into “Monochrome”; and so my journey began. Kolkata in Monochrome, Kolkata in Greyscale…

From the Middle of Tala Bridge, the Kolkata Station looked, well… Lonely

Not many trains were there, many of them left the station behind just like a necessary shelter before the ride to their goals.

Netaji is conveniently camouflaged in front of all the advertisements.

This reminded me about that famous poem by Shankha Ghosh “Mukh Dheke Jay Biggapone”. Now, who can call Shyambazar a lonely place, right? But it felt like, nobody even cares where they are, as all of them has places to go and places to be…

Then, I took a ride on metro, and got down in Esplanade.

The Metropolitan Building, stood up like a white mausoleum in the busy crossing of Esplanade.

Looking through the camera, it may not look lonely, but it definitely looked sad. So, I kept walking, moving forward…

From the top of Sriram Arcade, S S Hog Market Looked crowded…

But what about its soul? This building is considered as one of the places, that still reeks of “Calcutta”, but I don’t know, maybe I was spreading sadness to everything…

The Indian Museum looked like an old man, resting in shade…

Really! this guy looked old and tired, just resting…

So, I started towards Maidan, from there, towards Victoria Memorial

There are two of them, guarding the entrance of The Memorial…

But, the way they looked at each other, I saw nothing but hubris of their own existence. So, there they were, together, face to face, alone…

The Memorial Building looks like a Glamourous Model? I don’t think so…

While I was taking this shot, lot of people were in the compound. But is it just me? Or does she looks really sad?

Looking at The Victoria Memorial Again from Race Course.

She looked like a beautiful white dove in a cage…

Even She Agrees with Me…

My Journey ends, as my legs start protesting, and so does my stomach…

While my way home, I realized if you’re sad, and lonely even, how it can affect everything you do… As if you look to everything through a filter of sorrow… So, at the end of the day, I threw away the filter and decided to be happy…

 

Peace…

Neel