Bel Biwaha (Bael Biwaha/Bel Bibaha) or “Ehee” is a ritual that signifies a coming of age for Newar girls. It is an age-old tradition followed devoutly by the Newar community – the predominant resident population in Patan, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Kirtipur in Nepal.
An advanced point-and-shoot camera (also referred to as a prosumer camera) to top up on my photographic arsenal – a Canon 500D - has been on my wishlist for over a year now. The steep learning curve with the DSLR camera has been a rewarding experience, but work and other commitments has me limited to an amateur photographer who gets to try photographic quips on seldom weekends; the small amazon backpack with the shoulder strap split at the seams a week after purchase is also a reasonable load, and is a rather obtrusive addition to my work backpack on a work day. Additionally, the Canon Powershot G series or the Nikon Coolpix series always did seem like a wonderful backup/substitute for a DSLR kit – less obtrusive and easier to lug around.
Wingardium Leviosa is the levitation spell – the spell that makes things fly/hover. Most Harry Potter fans would swear by it. Here, this spell has a different connotation – photographs of floating people. Inspired by the Japanese yowayowa blog and with hints and howtos from theDigital rev channel, I and Udayan decided on doing something similar – taking photographs of levitating people. We were fairly successful in getting our colleagues to join us in our endeavor and Udayan, a true photo aficionado that he is, was ever bubbling with ideas. The venue – the campus at work, and our very good friends served as the models. With a lesser number of people and prying eyes likely to disturb us on a Sunday, the 1-2 hours that we managed to squeeze in between breaks during the practice for the cultural programme at work was time well spent. Some of the photos turned out decent and some had more to be desired. We even planned on using a hose and a trolley as props, but those will likely follow in the days to come. For now, we managed to use an umbrella and a schedule as props. More
Kathmandu played host to “Pulp Society” an Indie rock band from India beginning of May this year. The band, here to promote the upcoming movie “404 -Error Not Found”, played at 1905, Kantipath. Much thanks to our dear friend Pradhyumna, I along with other friends from work managed to weasel our way into an invitation only event. Continued…
I was at the international training school on Atmospheric brown clouds (ABC) held in Kathmandu yesterday. The international school held every two years, by internationally prominent atmospheric scientists, provide a theoretical background and an overview of current knowledge on various aspects of atmospheric brown clouds and climate change. The fourth of its kind, this school is led by Dr. Mark Lawrence (MPIC-Germany), Dr. Maheswar Rupakheti (AIT-UNEP RRC.AP, Thailand), and Dr. Arnico Panday (U. Virginia, USA).
