Kolkata – The City of JOY is beautiful during the monsoons!
Kolkata and rain have a different kind of love affair altogether. As a wonderful downpour serves as a breather to this much-heated city, the moments of peace under the cover of rain brings a sense of JOY and enhances the charm of this already beautiful city! The shimmering green look of the city makes it even more appealing and gorgeous.
No doubt, rain in this city allows you some magnificent shots with some sensational elements like sunlight through the dark clouds, bokeh effect, falling droplets and people enjoying the shower of rain.
The Uncommon Box brings to you the experience of capturing some alluring pictures on one such rainy day when Debarchan Chatterjee, a very talented photographer who has mastered this art, found himself amidst of it all.
“Everything about the rain fascinates me”. He further adds “As the roads turn into a stream, I navigate to it… a little by chance and a lot of choices, with my camera in hand capturing it all – The life after the rains -this is my take on Kolkata Rains”
This city turns into something of a mix of romanticism and nostalgia reminding you of moments from the past during these months of the downpour.
“Kolkata and rain have always been a nostalgic subject for me”.
“All through the years, I always wanted to cover my city after a heavy afternoon rain and this time my luck favored me as I got a chance to cover it this season. With all my heart and my two cameras, I geared ahead to travel to the most nostalgic part of Kolkata – The North.”
As Debarchan stepped out of the Metro near Girish Park, he found that the entire area is covered with knee deep water and in many places even deeper. Wearing a smile on his face and with courage in his heart, he set all out, covered his cameras in plastic and jumped right in.
“Just what I wanted,” he thought!
His first destination was Kumortuli via the inner streets of Girish Park.
The time was around 4 pm in the afternoon, most of the schools and offices were getting over. So, there was a chaotic situation all around.
But amidst this chaos, Debarchan was determined. He found a narrow ally which many of us may not wish to venture into. It was filled with knee deep water and a few school studentswere making their way through it all.
“A perfect photo chance” he reminisces and thus came his first few frames!
After this, he treaded on towards Sovabazar, and on the way found this man sleeping at a small footstep of a closed store beside almost knee deep water.
“I found it very interesting and very funny as how a man can sleep through this rain. In came my next shot”
As he walked along a little more, a little girl in the pink dress was recovering her paper boat from the water.It reminded him of his childhood when he played around with paper boats in puddles of water.
With nostalgia hitting him and the calm demeanor of the kid appealing to him, he captured yet another aspect of the hidden beauty of the moment.
On moving further, things got a bit serious and dangerous when he found himself in waist deep water in an alley just before Rabindra Sarani. By then his adrenaline rush had kicked in and he had no inclination to step back but to carry on and move further. Marching across the narrow alley which was just about a car’s width, he saw that all the houses had been covered in water.
He was amazed to witness that people living or having business in that alley had a big warm smile on their faces. Few also came forward to help him and guide him to a safe route through the water. The warmth of the hospitality of these kind people residing in the city filled his heart with warmth.
Finally, he made it to Rabindra Sarani – gathering lovely memories of the rainy afternoon and capturing some of them in his frames as well!
Debarchan recollects this as one of the most memorable experiences and he is looking forward to many more of them!
He always tries to find joy and spread it to all through his pictures.
A treasure to cherish, the city of Kolkata definitely has something for everyone.
About Debarchan :
Debarchan is currently working as a freelance photographer and pursuing further studies. His love for photography started way back in 2010, during his college days when he used to shoot random pictures along with his college friends to take their mind off from studies for a few hours.
His hobby turned into a passion when his Dad got him two new cameras.
“It was then that I decided to take things a little more seriously and work hard to make this passion of mine into something more productive”
Documentary and street photography have always been his genre of interest and at the heart of it was his most favorite subject –“The City of Joy – Kolkata”.
“This city has inspired me, challenged me, intrigued me in every possible way one can think of and made me the photographer that I am today. So most of my frames revolve around the cityscapes, its culture, nostalgia, people, and frivolities. I love documenting every page of this city”.
Clicking pictures with the sound of rain as a backdrop has truly been an unforgettable experience for Debarchan. We at The Uncommon Box wish that his passion and love for photography go a long way and make his dreams of turning into a full-time photographer for National Geographic Society come true.
“A dream that keeps me going everyday and forces me to push harder” – Debarchan Chatterjee
You can follow him at Instagram @Debarchanchatterjee
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