Flickr is a wonderful resource to take armchair trips to places one that hasn't been to, as well to revisit places that one had already been to before, and thus shares a degree of intimacy with. Oochappan's Flickr stream is one such hatch to open, to fall into the world that has always been, and perhaps will always be; the world of sun and brilliant colors, weather beaten men and women, children with large lambent eyes, various kisoks for gods (not only of Hinduism), old temples filled with incense, flowers, people at prayer, lumbering Apus etc.

No wonder, Mr. Oochappan, who is Belgian, feels compelled to revisit Tamil Nadu for the first three months of every year, and this since 1987. It appears that he has found his Shangri-La, and now takes beautiful photographs over there to remind viewers like me of all that was visible but remained unfelt and unseen then.

Heart in summer Walks into in fields Of wild poppies, And becomes a bottle That holds the old ink Pressed from Gauzy skirts of their petals Waving in the wind; One continuous flag For Hypnos, The god of sleep In whose arms Loveless fitfully sleep.

It is only when The bottle breaks open And every Beatrice dips Her hand right into The heart of the heart To reveal the silence That abides within, Does the heart find Its permanent center Of gravity To fall into, fall towards.

Written in response to this photo by Elle