Sanjay Austa: slideshow photograph 1
Sanjay Austa: slideshow photograph 2
Sanjay Austa: slideshow photograph 3
Sanjay Austa: slideshow photograph 4
Sanjay Austa: slideshow photograph 5

    Indian Wedding Photography

    If you were getting married in India five years ago chances are you would be resigned to the wedding photographer bullying you into awkward poses with your spouse on the wedding day.Today you just hire a `candid’ wedding photographer’. He does his job discreetly and you are left to enjoy your wedding. In less than five years there has been a sea change in how Indians want to get photographed in their wedding.

    Continue Reading

    Anna Hazare – And the Art of Serial Fasting.

    Is it really possible to go without food for 13 long days? Anna Hazare demonstrated this amply by his indefinite fast at the Ramlila Grounds in New Delhi fighting for the tabling of the Jan Lokpal Bill. What amazed everyone was how this 74 year old man managed to fast for that long when Yoga Guru Ramdev had to be admitted to a hospital after barely seven days without food. Ramdev for all his `yoga- cures- all’ posturing was diagnosed with bad liver and blood pressure and was quickly put on a drip.

    Continue Reading

    Wadi Rum- The Arabic Desert Moonscape

    If Petra is Jordan’s historical heritage, Wadi Rum is its Arabian Nights. Its in Wadi Rum where folklore meets imagination. No matter which part this small peaceful Middle-Eastern country you travel in, all reference points are invariably of the desert. Its just as well. Over thousands of centuries, the life of the Jordanians have been shaped by the deserts. Almost seventy five percent of Jordan is desert-like, much of it uninhibited. The civilization is squeezed to a narrow strip around river Jordan and the Dead Sea.

    Continue Reading

    Making of an Apple Orchard House

    When my father said he wanted to build a house in the orchards, I was surprised. What’s wrong with this one I said? We already had an orchard house. Though the house was a bit unplanned- with no attached toilets or modular kitchen, it was still beautiful. It was in the middle of our apple orchards . It was glazed on three sides and had a spacious lounging area around it. The kitchen was the old pahari-style, complete with a chulla where we burnt firewood to warm our hands and sometimes cook. The house had a huge gable with a spacious living room below it and an attic with splendid views of the apple orchard valley.

    Continue Reading

    Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the Art of Living it Up.

    I am amused by the irony of a man who claims to own nothing, zipping by in a gleaming Mercedes while those who can actually afford one, bumping along the Delhi – Agra highway in the less than comfortable bus. I try to ask the followers about this but I am scoffed at for my `ignorance’. ” You will never understand the ways of our Guru”, they concluded.

    Continue Reading

    Photography Notes

    `Couple-Shoot’- The Fun-Date before the Wedding.

    Nov 27, 2011 | 1 Comment

    Because of its intrinsically fun element, many couples are beginning to attach more importance to th…

    More in Photography Notes

    Photo Essays

    Kanchenjunga Expedition,Nepal

    Apr 22, 2011 | 1 Comment

    (In 2004 I went on a two month Kanchenjunga expedition with the Indian army to document their climb…

    More in Photo Essays

    Travelogues

    A Week in the Arctic

    Nov 06, 2011 | Discuss

    Whenever I get an invitation to visit a cold place I am generally not too excited. I was born in the…

    More in Travelogues

    General

    Why You Should Read All the Banned Books. Including The Satanic Verses.

    Jan 27, 2012 | 1 Comment

    Banned books are fantastic for the obvious reasons. They question the status quo, challenge existing…

    More in General

    Media/ Books

    They lost their childhood to the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots

    Mar 26, 2011 | 7 Comments

    In a moving photo documentary, the children of the horrific October 31-November 1-2, 1984 riots narr…

    More in Media/ Books