Debra Borys
Footloose in Rajasthan

"In terms of photography, I found Rajasthan to be extremely colorful. The people there, and perhaps this is true of all India, have such a love of color in their clothes, their houses, their fabrics, and such. They were also very friendly and animated, which always makes for great photography subjects. And of course, there are customs and ceremonies that are so new to us as Westerners that they make for fascinating photos".

"It all began with a slide of Pushkar Fair that I had seen at a friend's place, she had been on a South Asia jaunt and was raving about it," Borys, who had earlier trekked in Nepal and bitten by mosquitoes in Cambodia and Vietnam, remembers. India was not very alien, she had chanted and learnt Kundalini postures from an American Sikh's yoga studio in Los Angeles ("Cindy Crawford went there too!") and in her quest for 'spiritual discipline' picked up the nuances of Buddhism. She had her eye's fill from the brochures that the travel agents kept sending, and one day she threw a dart on the map and it landed straight on Rajasthan. Borys did not argue about the choices, she took a flight and one warm winter landed in India. All she had was her camera and the vignettes of a colorful country that had stayed with her for aeons.

From her home in the hills of Los Angeles, Borys can see coyotes roaming in the backyard and primroses blooming in her garden, but this new world hit her in all its anomalies and its spirituality. The first sights were amusing. "There were hairdressers who hung mirrors on trees and the client sat by the curb, often on two bricks that served as chairs," she recalls. "The most interesting bit was looking at the man who ironed clothes for a fee. His iron was like a flat mini barbecue, you could actually see the embers burning bright within." But it was the pedicab ride that had Borys scared. "It was a hair-raisingly fast and chaotic ride through the streets of Jaipur during market time in late afternoon. We careened back and forth in what I gather is the common Indian driving pattern. It was scary but also exhilarating."

Carrying her Minolta, Borys picked up colors and spirituality through the lens, specially during the five-day camel safari through the Thar Desert and her travel around Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Agra, Pushkar, and Rohatgarh. The trip which lasted three weeks was led by Heshmat Singh whom Borys describes as "a 30-ish fellow with a degree in Rajasthani history who also happens to be the nephew or grandson of a famous Indian writer also named Singh".

"In terms of photography, I found Rajasthan to be extremely colorful. The people there, and perhaps this is true of all India, have such a love of color in their clothes, their houses, their fabrics, and such. They were also very friendly and animated, which always makes for great photography subjects. And of course, there are customs and ceremonies that are so new to us as Westerners that they make for fascinating photos".

Another general impression that Borys carried was how much spirituality or a sense or appreciation of the spiritual or the divine seems to run through so many aspects of life. It adds a lot of beauty and rhythm to the culture and daily life. And, while maybe one could say this about any foreign culture, it seemed like there were many fun, "wacky" or offbeat little features or entities, she adds.

Having started the trip eating Indian food for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for three weeks, Borys began pining for something different and one day near the end of the trip she actually ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and to her surprise it was uncharacteristically available. She understood nothing about the lyrics but she listened to traditional music every night, she is "not naïve about poverty" but what she saw tugged at her heartstrings, her dream-trip had stretched barely three weeks but for Borys it is like an eternal companion.

Back home, Borys took to Indian food again soon, held exhibitions of her pictures of India and is still amazed at the number of orders she has received for the 'Pink Ladies' of Thar.

But Borys, the psychologist and the photographer, hasn't had enough of India, she wants to come back when her daughters are old enough. However, this time she would not need to close her eyes and throw a dart on the map, the destination is decided. "I would like to visit South India, Kerala stands out. Also, being Jewish, I would like to go to Cochin, where there is a small Jewish population."

Borys has realized one dream, she is waiting for another one to unfold in Kerela.

Published in Sun magazine, November 2004