-: favourite :- Varanasi, India

Varanasi is the holiest city in India, built by the bank of the sacred Ganges River. The crescent waterfront is dominated by flights of steps called the ghats. Hindu pilgrims from all over India and the rest of the world come to perform the ritual of bathing in the river, cremation or simply waiting for death. It is believing that the river will wash away their sickness and sins and their souls will go to heaven. And when they die and cremated here, they will immediately attain enlightenment and be released from the cycle of birth and death. For the poor who cannot afford the wood, their corpses are dumped into the river.Non-stop cremation process, industrial and sewage waste have seriously polluting the river. Yet the locals refuse to accept the fact and claims that the water is clean and holy. Besides the bathing ritual, they use the river for common task like laundry, washing, fishing and even for consumption. Pictures of Varanasi always intrigue me with a mystical charm that prompted my visit. It seems that time has stood still and the place appears to look the same now as it was centuries ago. The golden light, exotic looking pilgrims, ancient buildings and small little boats that fade away into the misty distant. I wanted to travel back in time with my camera to photography this photogenic place so untouched by modernisation.I broke away from the tour group which I was travelling with and fly to Varanasi on my own. After travelling in Rajasthan and Kashmir with the tour group for more than a week, I was confident to venture out independently and deal with its notorious touts and con artists.I spent an afternoon walking along the bank of the river scouting for good viewpoints. I found an elevated spot on a flight of staircase to overlook the curve of the waterfront. I returned the next morning, waited for the light and shot a few frames before I noticed the red boat coming towards me. I immediately recomposed and waited for it to move into position and uncluster itself from the rest of the boats before managing to squeeze a single shot. Of the several rolls of film that I had shot, this is the single frame that really works. I have never expected it to work so well as the boat occupies only a small area in the whole frame. Yet the bright red colour really stands out distinctly and dominates the entire picture.Such shots of the waterfront is best captured in the early morning light while a misty morning fog hangs around the river. It becomes less spectacular in the evening without the fog. For evening shoot, it is better to take a boat to the opposite bank and to capture the setting sun.I continued taking pictures into the morning until I met 2 crooks near a burning ghats. They accused me of photographing the cremation process and tried to extort money from me. I walked with them to the police to resolve the issue but somehow they disappeared into the crowd just before the police post. I reported the incident and an officer was extremely helpful and offered his escort service. I ended up being 'extorted' by the police officer.Technical details: EOS 100, 70-200L at 100mm, 81B warm filter, f5.6, Sensia 100