Night and Long Exposures in Pondicherry

These shots were taken in Pondicherry in September, 2009, between dusk and midnight. Captions tell most stories; in the case of the elephant, caption space is insufficient.

There is nothing technically interesting about that shot. Had to use a flash because she wouldn't sit still for a low-light shot. After taking the shot, the elephant - who's name, I was told, was Lakshmi, not Ganeesh as one might expect, and was also a she - spoke to me telepathically. "You're a good monkey," she said to me. "Go and get me some bananas and you can pet my trunk." Flabbergasted at being spoken to directly brain-to-brain, I complied. When i returned to the temple, however, Lakshmi was on procession, and I couldn't find her, or the parade. Where does one hide an elephant and a religious procession in Pondicherry, I wondered. However, the next day I saw her again, and, thinking quickly, ran and got the requested bananas. She seemed to remember me. "Good monkey," she said as I pet her trunk.