Portrait, a photo from Kerala, South

Photographer's Note

Last week while I was out in the paddy feilds , I came across Mr. Shekharan, whom we call "Shekharan chettan". In our language we address elder male members as 'chettan'. He was coming back from his feilds where he has planted tapioca. He had gone there to get some for his own use and some to sell. It seems his tapiocas are in much demand as they are of high quality. When he asked me whether my kids like tapioca (which we boil and eat with Chilly chutney)I said no, they don't like it. They much favor the junk food.:) He gave me a few and told me to boil and give it to my kids as he is sure they are going to love it. I agreed and did as he had asked me to and lo ! he was right! They indeed liked it. So thanks to Shekharan chettan and his super quality tapioca.
Some informaion on tapioca.:
Tapioca is essentially a flavourless starchy ingredient, or fecula, produced from treated and dried cassava (manioc) root and used in cooking
In the South Indian state of Kerala, Cassava, often referred to as tapioca in English, and kappa or kolly or maracheeni in Malayalam, is a staple food. Tapioca is used to make a granules like product called Chowwary in Malayalam. This is used to make a light porridge by adding milk or buttermilk, recommended for patients recovering from illness.

In Indian cuisine, the granular preparation of cassava starch is known as tapiaco. It can also be used to thicken puddings. Tapiaco is also used to prepare maida flour. Tapiaco chips also prepared in this parts of South India.

During World War II's Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia, many refugees survived on tapioca, as the plant is easily propagated by stem-cutting, grows well even in low-nutrient soils, and can be harvested every two months. The plant thus provided much needed carbohydrate and protein then.
Tapioca (Manihot Esculenta Crantz) was introduced in India during the later part of the 18th Century. Today, in India tapioca is grown over an area of about 3 lakhs hectares, with a production of 58 to 60 lakhs tonnes of tubers. Though Kerala ranks first in cultivation and production in the country. Tamilnadu stands first in respect of processing of tapioca into starch and sago and hence this crop has now acquired a status of one of the important commercial crops in the State.
Regards,
Smitha.

rakeshgupta, japiey, dareco, nirajsinha, prumod, gracious, pcp, jpinkham, miszka, eskay001 ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

Critiques | Translate

rakeshgupta (2672) 2007-10-04 5:52

Hi Smitha,
Beautiful portrait of Mr. Shekharan with nice bokeh. He looks very joyful and his Tapioca tip is really good. Excellent note covering his joyful nature and the natural starch. As this is first time I am reading about it, I searched the net and realized from the photos that we call it as "Shakarkand" because of its sweat nature. We generally boil it into water with adding little ghee into it. Sometimes we partially burn it directly on fire. It is very testy and our kids too like it.
Thanks
Rakesh

dareco (17136) 2007-10-04 6:38

A very interesting note. This is a very good portrait! Excellent detail. Good color. I like his expression. TFS

photographer123 (6248) 2007-10-04 7:22

hi..
good shot..good use of background..sharpness is little bit low...and you should keep more space in left side than right side...note is too big to read!!!!:-(....best wishes...subir

nirajsinha (857) 2007-10-04 9:57

Hi Smitha,

Great portrait of Mr. Shekharan. Recently, I also joined Nikon family and glad to see such a nice portrait taken from Nikon D200. His open mouth expression is very expressive.

TFS

Niraj Sinha

japiey (10163) 2007-10-05 3:09

Hello Smitha.

This is a strong portrait of "Shekharan chettan".
A different style of presenting this subject. Feels good to watch and read your notes.
But I have a simple doubt regarding the note's second part : where is the origin of tapioca?
Is it Brazil? I really dont know details, but I think, that's it.
I remember when I was shooting at KOWDIAR PALACE, way back, the Maharaja, Marthandavarma told me about this subject, because, still in the gardens of the palace, they grow tapioca as it was at a time a good food for the people of the land, and which can be made easily. He had said to me that the stem had been presented by some travellers and was said to be from Brazil.
If you can give more details regarding this, that would be great.

Convey my wishes to "Shekharan chettan", this lovely man !!

Salutes.

jean paul

jasmis (58653) 2007-10-05 4:04

Well, dynamic photo of happy man. Superb quality, interesting and important note.
Regards.

prumod (8300) 2007-10-05 9:34

smitha!
nice portrait with a detailed informative script... with sekharan chettan you had to imclude some kappa or kappathottam! portrait of this old man is in very good quality and his expression says he is young. i like him. i respect our old generation who are working hard in their old age too....
greetings...

gracious (20025) 2007-10-05 11:22

Hello Smitha,
Greeting to you!
my compliment towards this outstanding portrait of yours!
captured well with good exposure and focus!
perfect clarity with much details in it!
From the face of him, he is a real contented man of life!
very well done and well composed
TFS
Tony

pcp (3396) 2007-10-10 12:25

wow, excellent portrait of this old gentle man.. I like his smile very much. Good BG

TFS

Senthil

Bruno40 (6662) 2007-10-23 23:20

Hi Smitha
Really nice portrait, well done.
What lens do you use?. You seems to be very far away form the subject, that is why it is not very sharp. But good work anyway.
TFS
Jorge

jpinkham (870) 2007-10-26 20:04

A fine bit of work here, Smitha. You've captured great expression and personality in this image, and that's what portraits are all about. Good texture and sharpness. Effective, straight-on point of view. Very nice control of your settings to blur the background and emphasize the subject as you have done. Balanced space on all sides. I can say without hesitation that this is a job well done.

Manash (499) 2007-11-01 3:05

Hi smitha,
nice portrait....very well done..something uttered by him...what?
manash

eskay001 (106) 2008-12-29 8:56

A very lively portrait of a very lively person. Your note generated a desire in me to visit God's own country which happens to be your home too. The farthest points touched by me in South are Hyderabad and Goa.

You didn't appear to me a novice in the field of photography. Novice can't handle wildlife photography with such dexterity. As regards sharpness in this picture, candid portraits don't usually suffer from a little lack of sharpness. You have received so many positive comments and that is a living testimony to this fact.

Sushant Singhal

I_WanderingSoul (686) 2009-05-28 2:51

Hi Smitha,
First of all i want congratulate you for your beautiful gallery! Very nice and very indian!
Coming to Mr. Sekharan, what a nice smile he's got. :)
Wonderful portrait and the espression you have captured is priceless.
TFS,Neelima.

arghya001 (324) 2009-07-06 3:41

Excellent portrait. Nicely captured the expression of the old Man.Good use of Backgrounds.
Regards
Arghya

blueaquan (34) 2009-08-11 10:46

Hi Smitha
Typical Kerala shot, very well composed. With a beautiful background blur, the Portrait of Shekarettan stands out.

On a lighter note, it also shows us an interesting irony. Look at him, Healthy and happy at that ripe age, whereas our generation struggling to get half past that age without Cholesterol, Diabetes, Obesity and Hypertension all a result of our Lifestyle and eating habbits.

We and our younger generations have much more to borrow from him than Tapiocas...

Cheers, Blue

gmg (4202) 2010-12-27 9:56

Hi Smitha!

Beautiful and very expressive portrait! Very well done

TFS

gmg