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[prashanthvishwanathan]

Shobit throws an array of magnets into the sea to collect coins thrown by devotees. He sweeps the ocean floor by dragging the magnet for long distances dodging through throngs of devotees bathing. He collects around INR 200 after a day's hard work. The Gangasagar Mela happen for four days a year, he has to work hard and incessantly to fish coins from the mighty sea to make a quick buck. Some professions are temporary yet amazing ! #indiaphotoproject (at Ganga Sagar)

[prashanthvishwanathan]

Mahinder holds his new pet Sheru as he soaks the mooning sun. He is a diver by profession. In the chemical rich acidic waters of Okhla Barrage he dives. Generally to rescue suicide jumpers, car crashes and sometimes on police duty to retrieve bodies ! Some professions are very unique by themselves! #indiaphotoproject (at Okhla Barrage)

[prashanthvishwanathan]

In 1947 Indra Devi opened a yoga studio in Hollywood. Her three popular books had housewives from New Jersey to Texas standing on their heads in their bedrooms. She was the first Westerner to study with Sri Krishnamacharya and the first to bring his lineage to the West. He went on to become the grandfather of American yoga; his students included B.K.S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, and T.K.V. Desikachar. - From History of Yoga in America .#americandiaries #hikaricreative #newyork (at BushwicKitchen Dinner)

[prashanthvishwanathan]

"I love the people I photograph. I mean, they’re my friends. I’ve never met most of them or I don’t know them at all, yet through my images I live with them.” – Bruce Gilden. #americandiaries #hikaricreative #newyork

[prashanthvishwanathan]

"Clearly, then, the city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo." - (Desmond Morris). Trees grow up to become high rises in NYC. #americandiaries #hikaricreative (at ICP)

[prashanthvishwanathan]

When historians will speak about city systems of the 19th and 20 th centuries they will be a huge section purely dedicated to the New York subway system. A coiled underground beast it transports millions of commuters just blocks away from their destination! Truly an marvelous piece of engineering!#americandiaries #hikaricreative (at New York, New York)

[prashanthvishwanathan]

Wine conversations on a terrace ... New York you are the best! #americandiaries #everydaynewyork (at Jackson heights 74th St)

[prashanthvishwanathan]

"Whoever is born in New York is ill-equipped to deal with any other city: all other cities seem, at best, a mistake, and, at worst, a fraud. No other city is so spitefully incoherent."James Baldwin. Models from #CalvinKlein pose for an image while the city welcomes Pope Francis visiting later this week! #americandiaries #instagramphotoville (at Pennsylvania Station)

[prashanthvishwanathan]

Today the venue of #photoville had an pivotal role in U.S. History... In 1642 the first ferry landing opened on the land that is now Brooklyn Bridge Park's Empire Fulton Ferry section. Soon after a thriving trading economy developed into a small town called "het Veer," meaning "the Ferry".As het Veer grew throughout the 17th century, it became known as the "Road to the Ferry". On August 29, 1776, het Veer served as a crucial strategic location for George Washington and the Continental Army in the American Revolution's Battle of Long Island. In the middle of the night, George Washington and his men evaded the British Army, who were quickly gaining upon the Continental Army, by escaping across the East River to Manhattan. #americandiaries (at Brooklyn Bridge Park)

[prashanthvishwanathan]

"Stories can allow you to live somewhere else for a day. They can show you what it's like to have supernatural powers. They can show you that you're not alone." -Emily Ables @blueeyedbiblio #photoville #instagramphotoville (at Photoville)

[prashanthvishwanathan]

This is surely the age of drifters! Millions of years ago could Gondwana land ever imagine it's rebellious son who drifted away would one day romance with the heavens! Where ice kisses vapor and the mountains dance! #Himalayas #indiaphotoproject (at leh)

[prashanthvishwanathan]

Travel, instead of broadening the mind, often merely lengthens the conversation. Elizabeth Drew (at JAI Prakash International Airport)

[prashanthvishwanathan]

Village gossip says... Leave a Nilgai ( Bluebull) 50 kms away and return back in a vehicle at full speed, you shall find it back where you picked it from! However, nilgai are a crop menace, causing large-scale damages, especially along the Gangetic belt. They have been declared as vermin in northern India, and they may be legally hunted after obtaining a permit. Nevertheless, the local belief that nilgai are cattle and hence sacred, has protected them against hunting. #indiaphotoproject #reportagespotlight #unrbaization (at Lalganj ,vaishali)

[prashanthvishwanathan]

"Thousands have lived without love, not one without water." -W. H. Auden. Little Devendra gulped down a bottle of water offered by a driver as he tirelessly tried to sell flowers door to door to vehicles halted at a fumigating traffic signal. Love, water and survival merged for a tiny fraction, the lights turned green and life moved on ! #unrbaization #indiaphotoproject #reportagespotlight (at Siri Fort Auditorium)

[prashanthvishwanathan]

A lazy Sunday shave! Alexander the Great's order to his troops to shave off their locks gave the enemy nothing to grab onto during hand to hand combat. This tacit endorsement of shaving immediately made it not only socially acceptable, but fashionable as well. In the years to follow, the original circular razor design pioneered by the Egyptians was straightened into a form very close to the razors still used today. The quality of the construction also improved, replacing easily dulled bronze with copper and iron. #WHPhairplay (at Nehru Place Computer Market)

[prashanthvishwanathan]

" I want to be a SP (Superintendent of Police ) " says 9 years old Ankit Raj as he finishes his homework on an empty barrel outside his home. His village received power from the grid exactly a year ago, I.e 67 years after independence! Earlier a maoist area it had been now declared safe. Little steps take us a long way. Hope Ankit now becomes a police officer ! #onassignment #thingswecallprogress #indiaphotoproject #humansofindia (at Makhdumpur Jahanabad)

[prashanthvishwanathan]

"I am 5-6 years older than 80, now a bit tired doing this, I think I am old now".Molu Yadav wrestled his two cows out of the fields onto the road to go for his lunch! #humansofindia #urbanization #indiaphotoproject #onassignment (at Makhdumpur Jahanabad)