The strange division of roles among the trio who approached me
Leaving behind the Hindu sanctuary at the heart of the city, I stepped across the threshold where the sacred abruptly surrenders to the profane. Naturally, just a stone's throw from the divine, the everyday secular chaos of Nashik was in full swing. This is a soil deeply anchored in the mythos of the Ramayana, famous across the globe as a stage for the Kumbh Mela—the great pilgrimage that floods the city once every twelve years. Yet, stray but a few paces from the consecrated ground, and the epic dissolves into the mundane reality of any Indian alleyway: a dense, suffocating soup of pungent spices and raw motorcycle exhaust. I was navigating this sensory thicket, camera cradled against my ribs, when a trio of young men materialized ahead, their eyes locked onto me with calculating curiosity as they closed the distance.
As they closed the distance, evaluating their target, I took stock of the group. Two of them wore satchels slung diagonally across their shoulders, a sartorial choice that gave them the fleeting alibi of university students. But a closer inspection of their faces suggested that the school years had long since receded into the rearview mirror; these were no scholars. In India, where history has institutionalized English as the language of social mobility and commerce, even a ragtag group of three possesses a sophisticated corporate structure. Within this tiny syndicate, roles had been meticulously assigned. And right on cue, only the man in the center stepped forward to speak.
While the central figure held court with a torrent of eloquent persuasion, his two accomplices remained anchored in the background, their silent surveillance never wavering. He was, without a doubt, the undisputed leader—the silver-tongued diplomat of the triad, armed with the best vocabulary. To his right stood a man in a crisp white shirt, sporting a smirk that bordered on the audacious. To his left, a companion in a baseball cap watched me with cold, appraising eyes. There was something deeply amusing about their formation: a textbook display of delegation, where one man bears the exhaustion of the pitch while the others stand by as solemn muscle.
| Jul 2015 INDIA PEOPLE | |
| BAG NASIK TRIO YOUNG MAN |
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PHOTO DATA
No
9368
Shooting Date
Sep 2010
Posted On
July 18, 2015
Modified On
July 12, 2026
Place
Nasik, India
Genre
Street Photography
Camera
CANON EOS 1V
Lens
EF85MM F1.2L II USM
