Some men I encountered at Rishikesh were con men. No doubt about it. This man, ... well, I'm not sure, but I know I'm grateful to him for helping me understand that "con man or not con man" is simply an inadequate and deceptive way of thinking. One learns a lot at Rishikesh, and much of it is enlightenment of a kind very different from that sought by the myriad western visitors.[Technical note: Over the last week or so I've been preparing the photos on my laptop, which has a lousy screen (Dell, if you must know), and transferring them to the PC connected to the Internet. This other PC has a potentially good screen, but it's calibrated incorrectly (presumably the factory default), so the photos look terrible. This one looks particularly horrible; I have to trust the laptop screen was more accurate.]
All content © 2009 Pete McGregor
Gorgeous on my screen. So many compelling textures, the hand, the beard, the wool blanket, the smoke, his eyelashes, the turban folds.
ReplyDeleteCon men, or tricksters testing you.
Thanks for the feedback, Zhoen.
ReplyDeleteI got the impression he wanted to project a particular image of himself; in fact, this photo makes him look more calculating than he otherwise appeared. I'd like to meet him again, now I have the benefit of several months travelling alone in India.
I can echo Zhoen's comments about the textures as they appear on this screen - although I know your standards are much higher than most other people's.
ReplyDeleteThe smoke partly obscuring the narrowed eyes is particularly effective.
I don't think I would buy a used car from this man!
Thanks RR. Actually, that would be a wise decision, although it might mostly be because I doubt he knows anything whatsoever about cars. And, he was something of an enigma.
ReplyDeleteOh, right! Well, I wouldn't buy a used bullock cart either!
ReplyDelete