Indian culture, for expatriates in the city, could mean several things – from a group of kids gaping at a film poster to a snake charmer flipping the lid open and peering into a box of snakes. Capturing India in pictures, nearly 35 expatriates belonging to 13 nationalities put up their entries at the ‘Beautiful India expatriate photo competition' here on Sunday.
Myriad angles
Over 400 pictures, each freezing the flavours of India in myriad angles, were part of the competition organised jointly by Global Adjustments and Ericsson India.
Grouped under various sections – faces, places, culture and festivals and green India – the entries brought out the beauty of both rustic and urban environments in equal measure.
If Gitte Anderson, a Swede, captured the festivity of Ayudha Pooja in her frame, a row of idols of Nayanmars seemed to signify a symbol of spirituality for Philip James, an Englishman.
The photographs that Amore Marcello, an Italian, captured for the contest represented the essence of rural India. The category ‘Green India,' in particular, brought out some excellent day-light shots sparkling with greenery. While pictures of verdant fields and lush trees dominated the category, photographs of bright-green worms, south-Indian fare served on a banana leaf and a row of cycles also vied for attention.
Ericsson India Head (R&D) Hedwig Baars and cinematographer Arvind Krishna, judged the entries for the competition. The annual photo competition is an initiative to bring together the expatriates in the city and get them to express their thoughts about India through photographs, said Anita Krishnaswami, Senior Vice President of Global Adjustments. “Into its 13th year now, the photo competition has been seeing a steady growth in terms of the number of entries that we receive,” she said.
‘Green India' campaign
As part of the photo competition, the organisers have come up with ‘Green India' campaign, an initiative to reach out to 15,000 students and sensitise them to need for protecting environment. A total of 30 city schools will adopt one eco-friendly initiative each and follow it for a month. Based on the performance of the students and their awareness levels, 15 schools will be shortlisted for a visit to the R&D centre of Ericsson.
A cultural performance by 20 expats from Nordic, Asian, American, Mediterranean and Australian continents was held at the prize distribution event, presided over by actor Suhasini Mani Ratnam.
