I first met ShastriX on a palm-tree-lined street in an upscale housing development in Bangalore, India in 2007 while on assignment for National Geographic magazine. I was working on a long story about the Golden Quadrilateral Highway, India’s largest infrastructure project at that time.
I was trying to capture the new wealth of this Southern-California-styled development, with million dollar homes in a gated community. One day I was walking through the quiet streets when I came upon a couple of kids playing soccer and I started to photograph them. ShastriX, who was photographing his then teenage daughter, approached me with curiosity about my photography. As we continued talking about photography, he was excited about my work with Nat Geo, and more importantly, gave me permission to continue.
Over the last 14 years ShastriX and I have remained in touch, and he recently shared this very intimate diary of his recent visit to Varanasi, India, a holy city where many Hindus make pilgrimage to have remains burned on the banks of the sacred Ganges River at the cremation ghat on the river’s edge. He journeyed here, where it is believed that if one is cremated in Varanasi, the reincarnation cycle eventually reaches Nirvana, to say goodbyes to his mother who had recently passed away. I was so moved by what he wrote, that I asked my generous and lovely friend for his permission to share it here.
His blog posts can be found here.
Thank you ShastriX and peace to you and your family.
I journeyed to Varanasi, India in 2019 and produced a body of work called Arc of a Name, exploring the timeless quixotic mix of ancient and modern cultures, and the longevity and transformation of names.
