'Life on the corporate train was zipping so fast that I had no time to enjoy the view. I got down and boarded a new train. The train, however, moves even fast now. The difference is the landscape.' The foreword in the photo-fiction book, Stopover probably summarises the pursuit of an esemplastic individual, ably documented by another punctilious individual.
Meet Ram Prakash. After 15 years in the advertising and marketing world, Ram found his calling in nature and people, but in a different format. Unlike the photographer who says, 'Man made the camera, god made the scenery, I just click', Ram seems to have taken a liking to say, 'Man made the camera, god made the scenery, I am just a clicker clicking what both god and man might have missed'. So, armed with a one-year photography course, Ram, basically from Tirunelveli, but having made his home in Bangalore for 14 years, set out to 'seek beyond what the eye sees'.Â
Meet Deepa Pinto. Language is her passion. 'It was in that direction that I decided to sail further when I started learning German at the Max Mueller Bhavan where I currently teach the language,' she writes in the foreword of her book. Unlike Ram, she speaks less, observes a lot and writes it all down, and well too. She seems to have taken a liking to say, 'Well, if I talk it all, what do I write?!' So, armed with a pen, Deepa, basically from Chennai, but having made her home in Bangalore for 10 years, set out to know the unknown.
Together, they have created 'Stopover' with stories of four eximious places, which even Google might have missed. The book is a combination of fiction and fact, brought alive through photographs. It just goes to show that passion can be made apodictic.
Ask him about the difficulty in getting the book published, and he reminds us of the tough times faced by every struggling writer. "The problem was not about reaching the publisher, it was about commercial viability. They wanted us to change the format - either make it a coffee table book or make it complete fiction among many others But we stuck to our guns," says Ram.
But that took away precious time and patience. Finally they decided to print their passionate product on their own. And then luck struck. "Dinesh Kumble, who is a wildlife photographer and a publisher saw our book on Facebook, where we had about 55,000 fans. He agreed to publish the book from his company, Krab Media and we finally came out with this first-of-its-kind photo-fiction book which began sometime in mid-2011. The book hit the stalls in December last year," says Ram.
Their book has found fans. Arundhati Nag for one, who runs Ranga Shankara has invited them to use the space in her gallery. "It is not just a photo gallery, but has all the three elements of the book - fact, fiction and photographs. Its been on since three weeks and will be on for sometime. Qualitatively it has been good and we are finding ways to get more people to come," says Ram.
Ram and Deepa have plans to continue their passion and bring a series of 'Stopovers'. "I have done enough in the corporate world. I feel it is better to take my life ahead in capsules. I will continue with the Stopover series while also focussing on social photography," says Ram.
As for Deepa, she seems to be yearning for more. She says, "What Lonely Planet is for travellers, I am sure, Stopover will soon be one for those who are not travelling, but want to know more about places and people, which otherwise they will not find."