Kitchen Cabinet

Thirty-year-old Diganta Deka,a.k.a. DD,can whip up fantastic filter coffee in a jiffy. His culinary skills have kept Grubshup restaurant on Law College road abuzz with foodies. “I have been here since the restaurant started about two-and-a-half years ago,” he says. A year ago though,he decided to explore a latent talent that has today crystallised into a solid hobby. “I am not a professional. Photography is my hobby,” he clarifies. But it’s a hobby that has produced images good enough to have fetched Deka his maiden exhibition. Adorning the walls of ‘The Art Hub’ at the restaurant till December 10 will be colourful snaps captured by Deka during his travels. The event is aptly titled,’Kitchensink Inspirations’.

The 21 frames defy the need to categorise. They embrace the colours of flowers,as well as the ocher charm of dawn and dusk. “I shot it with a Sony Cybershot camera. I don’t own an SLR,nor do I know how to use one,” laughs Deka. Another proud fact for him is that the photos have undergone absolutely no editing work. “They are all raw images. But everyone who has seen them has been asking me which SLR camera I used. That’s why I have been carrying around my camera,to show them what I actually used,” he says. For him,it’s not the instrument but the basic understanding of the art of photography that matters. “If you understand the composition and lighting in photographs,then any camera is OK.”

The lack of a theme works beautifully in his collection. The visual range here criss-crosses Hampi and Anegundi,Kashmir,Meghalaya and Maharashtra. In between are mersmerising landscapes of a sunrise at the Brahmaputra river,and a sunset at Barapani lake in Shillong. More recognisable for the city viewers will be motifs from Diveagar and Sarasbaug.

Deka has been a resident of Maharashtra since 2001,and jauntily commutes from his home in Saswad to his workplace in Pune everyday. “It has been a really good experience,” he says of his work. He completed a masters degree in Economics from Pune University before seeking a degree in hotel management. “I have always been interested in cooking,” he says.