Somebody's Watching Me

On India's Republic Day Holiday, I found myself on business in Jaipur. After working for part of the day, I was able to make it to the "Old City" of Jaipur......to do some exploring and picture taking.

All throughout the old city, the facades of the buildings lead to courtyards or narrow lanes....Some of the courtyards are surrounded by residential homes/apartments.......many lead to business that are tucked away......some house temples that pay homage to one of the many god's that are worshiped in India.



All of them are full of charm.....no two are alike.........so for someone with an adventuresome bone in their body, they provide just the right mix of excitement and intrigue......for one never know what he will find.

Such was the case in the second such courtyard I entered into. While taking pictures of the architecture of the buildings, and the old wooden doors that grace many of the thresholds, I had the strange feeling that someone was watching me. I am sure that you have felt that way at one time or another.



I had made it to the rear center of the courtyard, just having taken a picture of a very interesting old door I turned to take a picture of the building facade under which I entered. After taking that shot, I saw two more interesting doors to shoot and began walking towards them.

That’s when I heard a voice calling out to me from above. Sure enough, my feeling of being watched was confirmed by the voice of a young boy who was peering at me from a small square window of an area that must have formed a terrace or hallway.



The opening was so small that he could hardly fit his head inside..........however, the chipped paint and hand stained walls surrounding the opening was evidence that my little friend had certainly been keeping watch in the past.

I managed to take some very interesting photographs of him peering through the little window before he scurried downstairs to meet me.



With the little bit of Hindi I know, I was able to ask him his name and he told me that his name was Ram..........so meet my little friend Ram......whose eyes were keeping watch on me from his hidden play spot.

Until I returned home and began working my way through my photographs, I didn't realize that I had captured him that picture I took of the entrance to the courtyard.....I simply was not paying attention, more worried about centering the picture in the viewfinder than concentrating on the small details of what was being captured. Look closely and you can see his head deep in the shadows.