“Dakshina Chitra – What is that?

Some music store or some Rajasthani crafts showroom?” was what I wondered when Kaushik mentioned the place in Beasant Nagar beach.

Kaushik was suggesting a place for a photo shoot out. I joined them at Dakshina Chitra itself on the next Saturday morning at about 10 AM, just next to MGM theme park. When I went in I was not sure of what kind of place it was. There was an entry fee of Rs.50 (very cheap considering the other entertainment ventures of current day Chennai city). I paid it and went in to find a lot of boards pointing in all directions leading me to market places in Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra and Tamil Nadu. I was confused to find all these at a place which Kaushik had said was very ideal to learn about lighting and exposure.

I called him up and joined him in the Karnataka section in recreation of a weaver’s house. That was when I understood what this place had in store for us. It primarily consists of recreation of old house structures of ancient India’s common man of the four southern states. No palaces, no gardens, no exotic looking replicas of historically valued monuments. This place gives an idea to the present day man on the pattern of everyday life of a common citizen like the Weavers of Karnataka, The Artisans of Andhra, The Brahmins and the agriculturists of Tamil Nadu and fisher folk and tourism service providers (didn’t know what else to call them, like the auyurvedic massage centers etc) of Kerala.

First of all many of us don’t even know (at least I didn’t) of the existence of such a place. It’s a no smoking zone maintained nice and clean by the people there. There is an orientation program that is held as soon as you enter to give you an idea of what that place is all about. You are then allowed to go around and explore yourself without any one there disturbing your bliss. Artisans like the glass blower (makes models out of glass tubes), the potter, the weaver, the soap and stone carvers, the painter, the fortune teller, woman who do mehndi work on your palms etc, sit there and wait for you to get interested in their creations and skills.

The moment you sit down with any one of them they explain the whole process unlike just finishing off their stuff and asking you for money. The very atmosphere is very friendly and enjoyable that you lose track of time. Moreover it is a photographer’s delight. Kaushik told me that he learns something new every time he comes to Dakhshina Chitra. We learnt a lot about exposure, metering, using bounce flash etc.

We then went on to the last kerala house where there was an attic which was fully pitch dark but for some light streaks filtering in from between the roof plates. The house had a triangle shaped top and it was supported using some wooden blocks. This had to be reached from the ground floor through an opening in the middle of the attic through a ladder. This reminded me of the wooden house that one got to see in the film “Roja” where the hero is held hostage. It was an exact structure similar to that.

I wanted to somehow capture it as it is shown in the film and squeezed myself to an awkward position near the mouth of the entrance to the attic. As it was dark nothing much was immediately visible for anyone who came up the ladder as the eye pupils had to adjust to the darkness. One set of gals came up the ladder when I was preparing for the shot and they had not seen me come up ahead of them. When the first girl came up she found me there with my camera so near to her face near the entrance to the attic that she let out a loud scream as she did not expect anyone there obviously.

That was really hilarious and was the topic of discussion for the rest of the trip that day. Kaushik even teased me saying that Dakshina Chtira had transformed me into a terrorist.

This place is a nice outing destination if your interests lie in line with these. Don’t look any further while thinking of destinations for one day trips with your friends. And if you happen to be an amateur photographer then this place is something you just cannot afford to miss.

Definitely better than a stereo type day at mayajaal or spencers.

Some photos that I took....

http://in.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shyamguna2k/album?.dir=/b631scd&.src=ph&.tok=phYJHSGB8_mpb5RJ