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Arghadip | 📷

@curious.dip

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Sharing stories from different corners of India. 🇮🇳
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📍: Bangalore, India

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The Spirit of Kashi

2025 wasn’t big on travel for me. Fewer places, fewer checklists ticked. But one place quietly changed how I look at travel itself.

“Why ten days!?” “There’s not much to do there.”
I heard that a lot from people in my circle while planning my solo trip to Varanasi. I didn’t have a solid answer. I’d usually say something practical. More time. Better photos. But a part of me just wanted to slow down and see what happens when I don’t rush a place.

The camera gives me an excuse. Sometimes it forces me. To stay longer. To look harder. To wait. Here, that waiting slowly turned into stories. Conversations. Long gaps of doing nothing. Somewhere something shifted in how I think about travelling and places.

Beyond all the clichés about Varanasi changing you, I don’t know if it “changes” you. But it does make you notice things you usually ignore.

I spent hours on the ghats doing absolutely nothing. Sitting. Watching. Living like the locals for a while. Getting involved in everyday struggles beyond the tourist lens. Standing in long queues for Annapurna Devi prasad without knowing when it would end. Joining the choirs singing Achutam Keshavam during the evening aarti. Getting lost in the lanes on way back to hostel, to slowly getting to know their rhythms and shortcuts.

Away from the crowds and hotspots, there’s another side of the city that felt more real to me. People don’t seem to live in a constant hurry. Food finds you even if you’re not looking for it. Death is visible right in front of you, almost routine. And yet, life exists right next to it. Ordinary, but uninterrupted and free.

I realised travel doesn’t always have to be about covering places. Sometimes it’s about staying long enough for a place to stop being new, so you begin noticing it beyond the surface.

About the photos, these days Varanasi is overly photographed, but I realised how every photograph becomes special when it carries a personal story with it.

Every frame here holds a piece of that time.

Shot on: @sonyalphain + @sigmaphotoindia

#createwithsony #streetphotography #streetphotographyindia
@incredibleindia @natgeoyourshot @streetphotographyindia @121clicks @hipaae by @curious.dip

A billion stories, one face at a time.

Shot on: @sonyalphain
By: @curious.dip

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#createwithsony #independanceday #streetphotographyindia
@incredibleindia @natgeoyourshot @streetphotographyindia @121clicks @hipaae @colorsofindia @indiapictures

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[Faces of India, People of India, Potraits of India, Independence day Photography, India Photos] by @curious.dip

Theyyam: Faith, Folk and Living Gods

Lately, Theyyam has become very popular on Instagram, specially after Kantara (which is not even the same, smh). Most people want to see the fire, the intensity, the spectacle.

Yes, I wasn’t any different.

But I got to see something else. Something quieter, yet very powerful. How deeply sacred this ritual is for the people who live around it.

I got to witness faith in its truest form away from the large crowds. With fewer people around, I could listen to the stories. Why this Theyyam exists. How it is performed. What it means to the people who believe in it.

I saw how belief transforms not just the performer, but everyone around them. And for a few hours, hierarchies quietly dissolve. Hands automatically fold in front of an otherwise ordinary person. Children and elders, all standing on the same faith and conviction.

Here is an attempt to capture Theyyam and document its quieter moments and rituals.

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Shot on: @sonyalphain

#ourcultureourpride

[#theyyamphotography #theyyam #culture #streetphotographyindia @streetphotographyindia @incredibleindia @keralatourism @theyyam_of_malabar @natgeoyourshot @streetphotographyindia @theartofdocumentary ] by @curious.dip

Marine Lines ❤️ (Until they take this away as well with floating advertising boards. 🫠)

Shot on: @sonyalphain
By: @curious.dip

#createwithsony #streetphotography #streetphotographymumbai #streetphotographyindia #MadeWithLightroom
@incredibleindia @streetphotographymumbai @mumbai.magazine @amchimumbaiofficial @streetphotographyindia @121clicks @hipaae @colorsofindia @indiapictures

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[Marine Drive, Mumbai Photography, Marine Lines Stories, Mumbai Diaries, Queen’s Necklace, Mumbai Sunset, Arabian Sea] by @curious.dip

Timeless ✨

Shot on: @sonyalphain
By: @curious.dip

#createwithsony #streetphotography #streetphotographyindia
@incredibleindia @natgeoyourshot @streetphotographyindia @121clicks @hipaae @colorsofindia @indiapictures

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[Banaras, Varanasi, Kashi, Streets of Banaras, Varanasi Street Photography, Banaras Diaries, Streets of Kashi, Old Banaras, Banaras Ghat, Ganga Ghats, Varanasi Alleys, Banaras Galiyan, Life in Banaras, Everyday Varanasi, November 2026] by @curious.dip

Chhau 🔥

Shot on: @sonyalphain
By: @curious.dip
📍 Purulia

Thanks to @lenstrioindia_official for making it possible. ❤️
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@indiaculturalhub @ministryofculturegoi @bengaltourismgov @somewhere.ind
#createwithsony #streetphotography #streetphotographyindia #bengaltourism #ourcultureourpride
@incredibleindia @natgeoyourshot @streetphotographyindia @121clicks @hipaae @colorsofindia @indiapictures
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[Purulia Chhau, Chhau Dance, Chhau Photography, Chhau Masks, Charida Village, Durga Puja, Bengal Culture, Indian Folk Art, Cultural Photography, Bengali Heritage, Documentary Photography, West Bengal] by @curious.dip

Mysterious, yet never unwelcoming.

Shot on: @sonyalphain
By: @curious.dip

#createwithsony #varanasi #streetphotographyindia
@incredibleindia @natgeoyourshot @streetphotographyindia @121clicks @hipaae @colorsofindia @indiapictures

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[Banaras, Varanasi after the dark, Varanasi lowlight photography, Varanasi at night] by @curious.dip

Kumortuli Scenes ✨

Shot on: @sonyalphain
By: @curious.dip

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.#ourcultureourpride
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#createwithsony #streetphotography #streetphotographyindia #streetphotographykolkata
@incredibleindia @natgeoyourshot @streetphotographyindia @121clicks @hipaae @colorsofindia @indiapictures @bongo_clicks @bongo__capturers @kolkata_chitrography @bengaltourismgov
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[Kumortuli Photography, Kumortuli photos, Durga Puja 2026] by @curious.dip

Sleepless nights are coming! 🔥

Shot on: @sonyalphain
By: @curious.dip

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#createwithsony #streetphotography #streetphotographyindia
@incredibleindia @natgeoyourshot @streetphotographyindia @121clicks @hipaae @colorsofindia @indiapictures

[Theyyam season 2026, Theyyam Photography, Kandanar Kelan, North Kerala, Malaba] by @curious.dip

The timeless beauty of Taj 🤍

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Shot on: @sonyalphain
By: @curious.dip

#ourcultureourpride @ministryofculturegoi

#createwithsony #streetphotography #streetphotographyindia
@incredibleindia @natgeoyourshot @streetphotographyindia @121clicks @hipaae @colorsofindia @indiapictures @docu.magazine

[Taj Mahal Photography, Taj Mahal Frames, Agra] by @curious.dip

Monsoon is coming and western ghats will soon turn into green paradise again! 🍃

📍 Kudremukh Peak, Karnataka

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#shotoniphone #kudremukh #karnarakatourism
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[Karnraka Tourism, Kudremukh Trekk, Kudremukh Photography] by @curious.dip

No other place like Ladakh!

All photos are #shotoniphone
and #editedwithlightroom

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[Ladakh Photography, Leh, Ladakh]
#ladakh #explore #leh by @curious.dip