Xposure 2018 Unveils Timeless Truth of Human Bonds through Five Senses

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Our senses are all that we have, to experience this world. Joel Shoot, one of the speakers in this awe-inspiring talk titled ‘Five Senses,’ asked a pertinent question, “Do we really see? Do we really listen?” If we silence our minds and open our hearts, maybe we could hear the voices within. The talk presented the narrative of five ‘Photowalk Connect’ speakers in their travels across the length and breadth of India. Xposure International Photography Festival transported its audience from the noisy streets of Kolkata to the heavenly Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh.

Taste of Kolkata

The talk opened with the sense of taste in Kolkata by Zubair Irshad who proclaimed that Kolkata is an idea, not a city. As the images of the streets of Kolkata flashed behind him, Zubair waxed poetic about the mesmerising megacity. “It’s a city of joy, at times the title feels right, and at times totally wrong. It’s got too many shades for one to contemplate, some preserved in yesterday’s Calcutta and some revealed in today’s Kolkata. Turn around, adjust your thoughts, activate your senses and savour the taste of Kolkata,” said Zubair.

Kolkata is the taste of cultures, traditions, and politics. Kolkata is the taste of ceremonies, togetherness, and innocence. Kolkata is the taste of harmony, routine, and struggle. It has the taste of playfulness and the taste of life itself. That’s Kolkata, for you.

Sight of Ladakh

Kiran Govind Reddy began his speech with a profound quote, “Man cannot discover new horizons unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” He then proceeded to share the tale of his exploration of Ladakh, “We left the comforts of our homes and headed to the mountains, because it is in the mountains that one can discover himself. Our visual senses exploded with an overwhelming array of natural wonders. We witnessed Ladakh wrapped in isolation of time and floating like heaven, surrounded by rocks, ice, and snow.”

He continued: “Even though people lived in the harshest conditions, Ladakh offered an abundance of smiles. Smiles so warm that they melted the heart as well as the snow-capped mountains.”

Touch the Everest

Subodh Shetty, Shinihas Aboo, and Jitesh Prushottam took off to touch the top of the world. It’s a place where legends and myths, facts and fictions, the simplest pleasures and the harshest realities played great symphony. Subodh expressed that it’s hard to put in words and to express what it feels like to be in the Everest base camp.

Therefore, a short film about the entire experience was played for a mesmerised audience whose silence echoed through the auditorium hall. The film transitioned effortlessly from the streets and noisy market to the snow-capped mountains. The Everest is a place where one could touch the deep blue sky floating with thick white clouds. A place where one could sleep among a zillion stars and feast on the panoramic view.

Listen to the depths of Spiti Valley

“As our tribe winded our way into the hills of Himachal, we reached close to the heavens. We could hear the mountains speaking around us and we could hear them speaking within,” said Joel Shoot who followed with an unexpected question of who is rich and who is poor. In the vast stillness of Spiti Valley, Joel and his tribe heard a timeless truth that within all of us lies an eternal bond that connects us to all of humanity.

“If the connections and culture to your community and being true to your nature is the real currency, then the people of Himachal have riches beyond compare. Compared to them, I felt poor,” expressed Joel.

Smell of Turmeric

Kirti Devnani proclaimed that scent is intricately linked to memory that brings a nostalgic pleasure. In Pattan Kadoli village in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra, a unique traditional festival, Haldi, is celebrated every year. The day progresses with a downpour of turmeric (haldi) powder and dry coconut, troops of men and women descent in the beautiful yellow mayhem singing hymns and playing drums to offer prayers to the community deity of the shepherds, Shri Vittal Birdev, who is believed to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

“One has to be prepared to take the beatings of turmeric powder being thrown in from all directions. With tears streaming down from my eyes -- making me half blind, nostrils invaded by haldi to the point of suffocation, skin burning, aftertaste of haldi in my mouth, and ears filled with the cacophony of hymns floating and screams of the rescue team attempting to control the crowd, the assault on senses is predestined,” Kirti Devnani recalled with a smile.

Wrapping up the session, Rashed Ahmed Almazrouei pointed out that the only way for us to understand ourselves, each other, and the world is by travelling far and wide with all our senses alive and active, not just our camera.