Traveller's tales

Photographs by S. Dipak
Text by Namitha

There's still time for us to cut some poppies so our hands won't grow old within the monasteries of books. - Yannis Ritsos

It constantly amazes me that in these times we travel longer distances at more frequent intervals and we take more photographs and videos too, but we spend very little time describing these places we visit to those who were back home, unless people are as pesky as us. Many of these places we visit are significant historically or geographically  – there is always something interesting to recount… if you find a willing audience.

I remember finding these little slide transparencies among old family photographs, someone standing against monuments or in a sprawling garden…they seem so antiquarian now, yet at some time they may have sparked an ember of curiousity in a child – who might have longed to travel as well and see all these sights and have all these experiences.  I have faint memories of times when people who travelled abroad would give a slide show on a wall in someone’s house with neighbours and relatives and friends all gathered around to watch and hear the traveller’s tale. Yet, now we have the luxury of instantly sharing all these images but these are usually without human presence, without the seamless anecdotes and the little asides that may just bring more meaning to an image. 

Last week, after a  business trip to Genoa, and having visited Milan nearby, Dipak brought back interesting photographs of the bustling port town famous for being the place where Christopher Columbus set sail to try and find India. He missed by a long shot…but  looking at images of the port now, the ancient lighthouse, and the garden memorials to the three ships Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, one realizes that each city has its own journey within itself, commemorating the past, and yet not wanting one whit to be left behind. No sir.  So you will find McDonald's...except that in allegiance to the elegance of Milan and possibly the rules governing building facades - you will find that its trademark signboard is in black and gold. Incredible. You will find young girls marching with posters of Justin Bieber who was visiting Milan, just some distance away from strikingly constructed heritage buildings. You will find that there's a statue of Mahatma Gandhi raised just a couple of feet from road, almost like he's walking on it with you. 

These are moments that are captured better with images.

 Floral ships commemorating Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, the three ships that set sail centuries ago.

Genoa. The ancient lighthouse.

Lighthouse and a model of the light inside. A museum is housed inside the lighthouse.

Genoa. A bustling port still.

 

A familiar figure.

Genoa port.

 

Milan. The beautiful flooring in an arcade.

Fashionable McD in the fashion capital Milan.

A little quirky to find an advertisement for a perfume called Body, right on the facade of a cathedral. Then again, there might be a message in it.

Better than the models in the showroom. A real Ferrari.

Young girls marching with posters of Justin Bieber, a current teenage hearthrob, passing through roads lined with heritage buildings.

A memorial to Leonardo da Vinci.

A covered market place. It reminded me a lot of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. I was surprised to hear that Genoese workers were responsible for building the Galata Tower in Istanbul which I have visited.

Water "flowers" in Milan.

 The city undergoes a transformation in character at night. It's a photographer's delight.

Perhaps there will come a time when you can capture your thoughts and words which you experience at that instant in "bubbles"  and trap them into a photograph....and when your run your hand over it, these can be heard or seen. Till then, I'll be happy to make do with real humans giving me a running commentary as I thumb through the printed photographs. As much as it is good to travel oneself, I feel elated to hear to the chuckles and the awe and the excitement in the traveller's voice when each photograph comes into view. It's like saying, you couldn't come with me, but I've saved it and brought some of it back for you.