Dreams from Srirangam...

Located on an island in river Cauvery, Srirangam is a beautiful temple town in Tamil Nadu. It's famous for its phenomenal temple architecture and people from across the world come to the town to see its temples or on pilgrimages.

Dreams stories from Srirangam Trichy Tamil Nadu

When I was there recently, I tried exploring the city in a different way. Of course, I visited many temples there and learnt quite a bit about the architecture and legends associated with these majestic structures. But I went a step further and did more than just admire the buildings.

It was completely new place to me and everyone around me spoke Tamil, but I decided to take it up as a challenge and continue doing my project 'Tell me you Dream' here as well. I met many people, who then introduced me to many more and they all contributed to make it a successful project there as well. Here is my attempt to share the essence of Srirangam though the following seven stories and seven dreams.

Do let me know what you think! :)

#TellMeYourDream2015 What is your dream? . "My dream is to stay in Srirangam, improve my business further and make it large scale." . Seventy-two years ago Rajasekhar was born in Salem. After his marriage he came to Srirangam to start his own business and has been running 'Mani's Café' for the last thirty years. The café serves not just for but also South Indian meals. The work starts early morning at 7 am and the shop closes at 7.30 pm. The cooks start even earlier at 4 am. The café is named after his father-in-law to honor him. He has two sons and both are currently studying. Most likely they will take up jobs after college and not come and work at the café. ---------- This is a part of a 365 days project to collect dreams and I call it 'Tell me your Dream'. One dream, each day. It's an open initiative and everyone is welcome to share a portrait with a story for a feature here. The portrait could be yours or a stranger. You can mail me at connect@siddharthajoshi.com. Or tag me in an image and we can take it forward from there. 8th June 2015
A photo posted by #TellMeYourDream2015 (@siddharthajoshi) on

#TellMeYourDream2015 What is your dream? . "I am so old now. I just dream that I run this business for many more years still." . SV Laxman has been running a small road-side 'lending library' in the temple town of Srirangam for over forty years now. Most of the books are in Tamil but a few are in English as well and he gets them all from Chennai. The most popular genre of books are crime with authors like Rajeshwar and Subba on top. Others favor family novels from Ramachandran, Muthilaxmi, Raghawan and Laxmi. He has two sons and one daughter. The daughter is married and the sons are in real estate business. After him, no one from the family might continue the shop. ---------- This is a part of a 365 days project to collect dreams and I call it 'Tell me your Dream'. One dream, each day. It's an open initiative and everyone is welcome to share a portrait with a story for a feature here. The portrait could be yours or a stranger. You can mail me at connect@siddharthajoshi.com. Or tag me in an image and we can take it forward from there. 14th June 2015
A photo posted by #TellMeYourDream2015 (@siddharthajoshi) on

#TellMeYourDream2015 What is your dream? . "I dream of expanding my business from 4-5 employees to about 30-40 more. I already get a lot of orders from my main market in Andhra Pradesh, but I need manpower to be able to accept and execute them." . Sudarshan Elaiyavalli Narayanan was born in Srirangam and has been here for the last forty-two years. He did his MCom and then started his own business. He works as a trader for temple supplies in the town and provides these people to shops here as well as in all the other four South Indian states also. He loves traveling and is happy that his work also allows him to do that. Sudarshan has one daughter and he would make sure that she studies and chooses her own career path. ---------- This is a part of a 365 days project to collect dreams and I call it 'Tell me your Dream'. One dream, each day. It's an open initiative and everyone is welcome to share a portrait with a story for a feature here. The portrait could be yours or a stranger. You can mail me at connect@siddharthajoshi.com. Or tag me in an image and we can take it forward from there. 17th June 2015
A photo posted by #TellMeYourDream2015 (@siddharthajoshi) on

#TellMeYourDream2015 What is your dream? . "I don't dream of or want more money. I just want enough needed for low budget family management which can give us good meals." . R Panchapakesan runs a tailoring shop called 'RPN Nice Tailor', which is owned by the temple and run by his family for generations. His grandfather paid a rent of 20 paisa/ month, his father paid Rs 90/ month and he pays Rs 800/ month to the temple. He learnt stitching from his father and has been doing it since he was in fifth grade. After he failed grade eleventh, he has been doing it full-time. His son is doing Diploma in Mechanical Engineering, and his daughter is doing MA. He doesn't think the son will follow in this business. ---------- This is a part of a 365 days project to collect dreams and I call it 'Tell me your Dream'. One dream, each day. It's an open initiative and everyone is welcome to share a portrait with a story for a feature here. The portrait could be yours or a stranger. You can mail me at connect@siddharthajoshi.com. Or tag me in an image and we can take it forward from there. 15th June 2015
A photo posted by #TellMeYourDream2015 (@siddharthajoshi) on

#TellMeYourDream2015 What is your dream? . "I have no dreams and no expectations. I am happy just working and getting the food to eat." . Rajeeshwari Nadeshan Venkatesh is a seventy years old seller of flowers and other temple essentials and sits at a shop outside Shri Ranganath Temple in Srirangam. She got married at a young age and twenty years back her husband passed away. Since then she has been living with a family who owns the shop also. She gets no salary, just a place to sleep and food to eat. She has no children and after her landlord's mother also died a few years back, he calls Rajeeshwari his amma (mother). ---------- This is a part of a 365 days project to collect dreams and I call it 'Tell me your Dream'. One dream, each day. It's an open initiative and everyone is welcome to share a portrait with a story for a feature here. The portrait could be yours or a stranger. You can mail me at connect@siddharthajoshi.com. Or tag me in an image and we can take it forward from there. 6th June 2015
A photo posted by #TellMeYourDream2015 (@siddharthajoshi) on

#TellMeYourDream2015 What is your dream? . "My dream is to spend my retired life with my wife in this temple town Srirangam." . V Srinivasan comes from a small town called Mannargudi in Thanjavur district. He started working with newspaper, 'The Hindu', in 1971 and retired a few years back. He worked with the printing division of the newspaper and it often required working till late in the night. This was also the MSN drawback of his work. He worked in Chennai, Coimbatore and Trichy, and since both him and his wife liked Trichy a lot they decided to settle down here at Srirangam. Srinivasan has two daughters and both of them are married and settled in Chennai. ---------- This is a part of a 365 days project to collect dreams and I call it 'Tell me your Dream'. One dream, each day. It's an open initiative and everyone is welcome to share a portrait with a story for a feature here. The portrait could be yours or a stranger. You can mail me at connect@siddharthajoshi.com. Or tag me in an image and we can take it forward from there. 13th June 2015
A photo posted by #TellMeYourDream2015 (@siddharthajoshi) on

Comments

  1. A very interesting project!
    It is a very good way to meet people and their way of life.
    Greetings from Barcelona (Catalonia)

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  2. Such a beautiful idea Siddharth, because it really gives you an insight into the lives of people who would otherwise just be faces or names (labels). In most of the dreams above there is a tinge of sadness but so much hope too...

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    1. Thanks so much Chaitali! I am glad the idea resonates well with you. I am doing this everyday as a project on Instagram, but wasn't sure if my blog readers would be interested in this as well...

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    2. Whether you upload it on instagram or on your blog, the admirers of this project would anyways read it. :)

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    3. Thanks so much Dyuti :) its encouragement like this which keeps me going!

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  3. Great going, dude. Love your series.

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  4. Beautiful shots of the place. I need to revisit it again.

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  5. Hari OM
    I was hoping for more posts on your project Sid (I'm no social media chick) - these are delightful, for the temple town appears to have given all a sense of contentment; all that is truly required in life is a safe place to rest, regular and good meals and something to keep the hands busy. YAM xx

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    1. Thanks a lot Yamini! I was also hoping to use more of it, but somehow that didn't happen. I will now share much more regularly with themes...would be more interesting to the readers as well :)

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    2. What a wonderful project! Gives one such a different perspective!

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  6. Love the portraits. What lens did you use?

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    1. Thanks Kaplana :) I used GoPro of most of these...

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  7. Good to know such simple people and their simple dreams. A great project!

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    1. Thanks Indrani :) I too love the simplicity of people that comes across when you talk to them...

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  8. it is impressive that you found so many people willing to share themselves with you. The photos are sensitive and and full of dignity. Do you give each person a copy of their photo? I think they would be pleased.

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    1. Thanks a lot :) I am planning to give it to most of them...as long as they are in my city. Some want it on their phones and I do it immediately for them. But I agree...a print has its own charm :)

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  9. This is a great idea.. Wonderful attempt to know more about common people and their dreams.. Kudos!
    A Rat's Nibble

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  10. Srirangam is a wonderful place to go to. I went to school in Tiruchi, so I had the good fortune of going to this lovely town and to the temple. There are so many beautiful towns along the Kaveri river. Nice snaps and share, Siddhartha!
    Have a Beautiful Day!
    Peace :)

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    1. That's amazing...to have lived close to that part of the country! I would love to go there again and again. However, I do wish I knew a little bit of Tamil...

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  11. great idea, great blog, great photos!

    blessings~

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    1. Thank you so much Betty...really appreciate your feedback :)

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  12. I have been following these faithfully on your Instagram profile, and even though I don't comment on each photo, rest assured that I'm fascinated by your project and that I'm always looking forward to the next one in the "Tell Me Your Dream" series.

    Mersad
    Mersad Donko Photography

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  13. your project is so unique Siddharatha...

    I live in Nainital and its really nice to know that Nainital is your hometown...

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    1. I am glad you enjoyed this Vineeta! It's always great to meet someone who lives in Nainital...

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  14. Interesantes personajes los de estos retratos.
    Un saludo,

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  15. Very nice pics here!

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  16. You are so good at portraits! And the settings... WOW! Well done again.

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  17. I like the style of you art photography!

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  18. What a beautiful way to meet those who are outside of your daily life. The pictures are stunning. Im going to Vrindavan and Marthura this October with my daughter and hope my trip is as interesting and fulfilling as your. Haribol

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    1. Thanks so much Peter! I wish you a wonderful time in Mathura-Vrindavan, and feel free to reach out to me if you need any help :)

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