JaJaJeEv

I recently ordered some camera equipment (from an Indian supplier on the excellent ebay.in, as it happens).

India is a superpower in the ascendency, a hotbed of entrepreneurial ambition, and fuelled by a knowledge-based economy.

It is also a country where they hand-stitch the post.

(Turns out to have been a good call though… this little quilted pack kept the contents in perfect condition on what must have been an arduous cross-country journey)

So Jex rather threw down the gauntlet with his superb photography debut. But as well as being his camera wallah on the walk through the old town, I managed to grab a few snaps too.

We are beginning to think of most of Nashik as a clean, modern city (although I don’t recall that being my first impression when we arrived). The old town is a different place altogether.

But the old town is a slice of medieval chaos – smells, colours, animals, foods, goods, people and vehicles all intensely blended together.

The fruit markets at the top of the hill are a photographer’s delight, although we passed on the finger food this time.

As you descend towards the river, the buildings get older and the road narrower. It’s still frantic, but step off the road into a side street, and it’s easy to find quiet, colourful patches of light.

Look harder and you’ll find intricate, wooden-carved houses – my chance to try some Ansel Adams techniques.

Eventually we reach the bottom of the hill and emerge out onto the edge of the Godavari river. It hosts the 12-yearly Kumbh Mela so provides wide open stretches of worship-worthy river bank, peppered with various shrines.

Crossing the river and looking back, you can see the old town tumbling down the south bank of the river. We find a cluster of rickshaw drivers cleaning (the underside of) their steeds.

Tuk-tuk-tuk up the hill again, and we’re back into the modern India of cash machines and coffee shops.

The boys go for a walk through the Old Town in Nashik. All photos brought to you by this week’s guest photographer, Jex.

So enjoy a brilliant glimpse of a frantic Indian market town from a 5 year old’s perspective…

There are many more like these on Flickr. Equipment? One blue Vtech Kidizoom.

Although we ourselves kept our paint activities close to home, there were clearly bigger scrums going on in town.

The entire afternoon was a procession of thousands of purple-hued individuals packed onto moped and motorbikes.

The Gangapur Road joins the centre of town with the dam out to the west. On the way, the Someshwar falls are apparently a popular spot to communally clean all this off.

But this year, the authorities closed the falls “to protect water quality”. So there were just as many gaudy individuals driving east as there were west.

And gaudy – indeed somewhat scary – the sight was. Meatloaf would have been proud.

(Also, trust me, it takes more than a waterfall to get that dye out.)

Last weekend was Holi, an important – and fun – festival in the Hindu calendar.

In Nashik, this festival of colour ended on Sunday. The basic protocol is that everyone is fair game: if you leave your house you can expect to be paint-bombed by perfect strangers.

The previously upstanding members of the local community, together with their spouses and children that co-habit our apartment block, suddenly became master paint throwers in the carpark.

As you can see, after his initial shock of turning completely green, Jex quickly got into the guerrilla nature of the game.

Basically there are no rules – except to see which gender can get the other the wettest and most colourful.

A little white, and possibly some orange. But definitely green.

Here is Jex subverting an ancient Hindu festival – in order to wish all our friends in Ireland a great St Patrick’s Day!

Fern the cat and Catriona are the joint winners of the recent joke competition in association with Jajajeev Inc. The octopus and the ducks flying over Belfast were a big hit with both Jex and Evie respectively.  And they laughed….and laughed…and laughed. Oh yes.

Feel free to send in more jokes via the comments link, as the “What bird can write?” joke (answer: “a penguin”) is starting to wear a bit thin.

Thanks to everyone who took part, of course.

Not far to the west of Nashik, on the way out towards Gangapur dam, are the  Someshwar waterfalls and temples.

The waterfall is healthy, some the older temples are not – but all are photogenic.

Fast moving, cleanish water means this mostly seems to be a place to do your laundry.

And I’ve been experimenting with HDR – quite useful in these lighting conditions.

It’s true and nobody is more pleased than the boy himself.  Both J and E have been in practice ever since the school pool became available to us every day after class.  It’s a welcome relief for these scorching days.

(Btw – we haven’t forgotten about the joke competition.  There’s a difference in opinion over which one should get the 1st prize.)

Friday evening, and we’re gradually aware of the sound of distant drumming and cheering. It gets louder and louder as the procession approaches our apartment – and finally a throng of musicians, dancers, family members and three children on a horse comes into view.

The music accompanying this coming-of-age ceremony is a strange blend of India and (I would say) New Orleans, with the clarinetist and drummers leading the troupe.

Meanwhile, the male members of the family indulge in an acid-house-style rave whilst simultaneously – along with your photographer – dodging the hurtling auto-rickshaws, whose drivers give little quarter despite the occasion.

More pics on Flickr.