ma bhanchhu... uni gaye

just collection of images from girijababu's funeral procession that i took from atop the red cross building in bagh bazar.


the morning's newspapers were girijamaya

at noon, one of the three lines of people queuing up to see girija at the stadium, snaked its away beyond the thapathali crossing ..

the starting of the funeral procession

many younger folks had shaved their heads in mourning





















some were more creative with their shaved heads


a simrik air helicopter with kantipur crew hovered ahead..











































































































































































































































































ahh.. guess who's there atop the media van.. the one who knows how to be in view of all cameras!










































taking a photo of min taking a photo of us





































thought this was someone who had flown long distance to attend the funeral.. turns out she was looking for her hotel!


























































































































































































































































and then the tide of humanity started flowing




















































































































































devendra raj pandey and padmadi



















































the fag end of the procession




































an image from kantipur tv of the visuals taken from the helicopter over the spot from where we were watching the procession















the helicopter over pashupati area still hours away before the procession arrived at 7 p.m.













































the funeral pyre soon after sujata gave the daag batti (great precedent for nepali society)






























tyasailey ma bhanchhu.. uni gaye

sandaji gets the prince claus award

it was an enchanting evening. the back courtyard of the patan museum under an open sky. guests filtered in and the programme stated a bit late due to traffic jams.

dada and satyamohan joshi wait in the front row

daji and sandaji escort the guests













the octagonal pagoda to the south gets silhoutted against the 'oranging' sky

surabi then annnounces the beginning of the evening's programme

sandaji's in a reflective mood...

the dutch consul and the deputy ambassador from delhi speak about the award and the fact that sandaji did not want to be the centre of attention during the award ceremony!

and finally the orange plaque is handed over

sandaji then starts speaking .. in 'tootey phootey hindustani'.... about how the winds from the desert from iran blow eastwards towards south asia... thus tracing the influence of the sufi singers... of the enmeshing of cultures and languages...

soon, as the skies darken to a deepish blue, the highlight of the evening begins.. the sufi singer.. madan gopal singh with his friends deepak (guitar), pritam (sarod), gurmeet (percussion) and our very own shyam nepali on the sarangi...

madanji in his element...

night had fallen.. it was chilly.. but the singing went on.. the audience hungry for more and the performers happy to offer more variety of songs

felicitations after the magical show was over...

the suntala award

posing with madanji...

sandaji with laxmi of himal southasia.. who made the evening happen the way it did

reception that the people didn't want to leave...

sandaji with mani lama and basanta thapa

baba with prof yadav (my guru)

miriam was there from new york..

the ladies who ensrued the success of the evening.. laxmi, mallika and surabi

sandaji flanked by the khambas of nepali artpromotion. .chirag bangdel and sangeeta thapa

with the dutch conneciton.. including jeroen roodenburg, dutch deputy ambassador in dilli (tall and in the middle)and hans heijdra, the dutch consul in kathmandu

the reception lingered for quite a bit. then we went to sandaji's place for dinner..

teetei from dilli was also there...

and lo and behold the instruments came back,. and madanji and company was singing to us about the tragic tale of heer ranjha amongst other songs...


well... it was a long evening.. it was nearly midnight when we left patan.. but the singing had not stopped...