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‘Frozen’ frames
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Homeopath Mukesh Batra takes a lens view of life during a recent vacation in Switzerland
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PHOTO: K. PICHUMANI
EYE FOR DETAIL Mukesh Batra with his pictures
Dr. Mukesh Batra has braved sub-zero temperatures to pursue his hobby. Two months ago, when the Swiss winter was at its peak, the homeopath ‘vacationed’ in Zermatt and Argosa just to click pictures. On the mountain train from Argosa to Br
igg, he peeped out for most of the journey to capture the scenery on his digital camera. “At minus six degrees, it was dead cold.” But Batra goes to any length to get pretty pictures.
During a photo shoot in Leh last year, he was struck by high-altitude pulmonary oedema. But after recovering, he captured it with his camera. Batra’s photos on Switzerland (displayed at a recent exhibition at Vestin Park, Egmore) are filled with details. A long-shot of the skiing tracks of Argosa captures the landscape extensively. Batra explains the photo, “Look at the patches of sunlight. Argosa is sunny all through the year. If you don’t fancy skiing or walking through the snow, you have to take a cable car. The snake-like marks you see have been left behind by skis. There are paths for people to walk and benches to sit on. While Zermatt attracts foreign tourists, Argosa is a ski resort frequented by the locals.”
When Batra visited Vencie, Vatican and Capri, his camera did not have an idle moment. “But photographing snow is a challenge. It is stark and grey.” Apart from rare sights such as the Matterhorn (a four-faced peak), it takes ingenuity to get good pictures. With the help of light and shade, Batra has taken a few arresting shots. In one, the sky is reflected on the snow. And white becomes a clear blue. In another, sunlight glimmers on a snow field giving the illusion of a white bedspread studded with sparkling pearls. When light falls on indentations in snow, they look like craters.
Batra has given a touch of humour to a few pictures. A photo of a snow-capped chalet is accompanied by the words, “Home is the place you can say anything you please because nobody pays attention to you anyway.” There is another aptly worded caption for a picture of a resort abuzz with activity – “There are really only three things to learn in skiing: how to put on your skis, how to slide downhill, and how to walk down the hospital corridor.”
The doctor has given a philosophical spin to two other pictures – “If you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain” and “One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak.”
Batra has used these Swiss pictures for his organisation’s annual calendar, released at the event. But these photos are available at all Dr. Batra’s Positive Health Clinics as picture postcards, priced at Rs. 5 each. Proceeds from the sale of photos and postcards go to support the Mercy Old Age Home.
PRINCE FREDERICK
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