urban nomad

This book is for all flâneurs and people I love.

Bangalore

Library in Cubbon

Bangalore has a really unusual colour pallet, as it rains a lot in Bangalore there is always a cloud of grey upon the city, with lots of greys in it yet sudden outburst of bright colours of building makes it extremely interesting. There is certain clustered pattern in the settlement yet Bangalore is an unbelievably clean city.

Being an IT hub as well as educational city Bangalore is very rich in culture. Even though Bangalore is home to a lot of different people, it is always peaceful out here. Local people of Bangalore are very sweet and tolerant. I also like the language, though I do not understand it very well.

Konkan

Seagulls on the kelshi beach

Coastal Maharashtra which is also known as Konkan is a beautiful place, with lovely weather and lots of virgin beaches. It has a rich history and hence there are many forts around. Mountain range being just next to the coast I love the interaction between sea and mountains.

As Konkan is not commercialized yet, therefore it is very clean, calm and nonpolluted. I love Konkan in the winter the most. Food you should have in Konkan: Pomfret fry, Prawn masala, Fish curry, Prawn curry, Sol kadhi, modak

Kashmir

Mosque near Daksum

I got chance to visit Kashmir this year, I was

working on a film based on shepherds

in Kashmir. For it we visited interior parts

of Kashmir. There is still lot of tension in

that area and Kashmir is not very easily

accessible for normal Indian. Kashmir has

been disturbed state for a decade now.

Kashmiri people are really nice and sweet. In small villages you will see wooden houses, with two parts one for summer and another one for winter. The people there work only for 6 months as its snows for rest of the months. The villages look beautiful with the snow top mountains and insanely blue sky in the background.

Assam

Brahmaputra river

Assam, the corridor to the North East India, greeted me with a very alien yet warm sense of comfort. The endless green fields and the clear blue sky left me in complete awe. There were hills all around as if it were guarding the entire valley like a fortress. What struck me instantly was the massive number of coconut trees that stretched across the horizon. And then I saw the Brahmaputra, like a sea, flowing slowly with an elegant grace! I got a chance to see the second widest point of the river and believe me if you may, i couldn’t even locate the other side.

My trip wouldn’t have been complete without me gorging into the large spread of delicacies of this land. And being a cook myself I connected to it instantly. I must say I did fill myself up quite a bit! The food was lovely, it was very different and tempting.

Calcutta

Old hotel near Sudder street

I have never seen chaos as beautiful as I have seen in Calcutta. I have been to Calcutta only once and being a photographer I loved walking around the busy market. Calcutta has old colonial feel, which is in a very nice way immerged in the modern architecture. I love the colour pallet, which includes yellow cabs, faint orange background and old rusty feel of trams.

Calcutta is a place where you get cheap and good food. Here are few places you should visit in Calcutta: flurries, Nijams, chat places, Oly Pub and many places near Sudder street. I love the breakfast you get at local thelas, simple puri sabji and jai in kulhad.

sojha

Scene from Banjara Retreat

If you leave the main highway that goes towards Manali, before the huge tunnel there is a diversion. Which goes to this beautiful small village called Sojha. Sojha is located in the interior parts of Himachal Pradesh hence it is quite and calm, with breathing landscape around.

There few resorts , but Banjara retreat is the best, . Majority of the buildings in Shoja and Tirthan Valley are made of wood, stone and mud in the traditional hill style and blend in well with the environment. They typically have expansive upstairs verandas with arched facades and slate roof. Near Sojha there is a fort, waterfall and lake, where you can go for a nice treks.

Mitwa is currently based in Bangalore, studying in Srishti School of art design and technology. He has been interested in photography for past 2 years and has been practicing since then. He is mostly interested in fine art photography, landscape and travel.