Himachal Pradesh, May 22 Kee and Kibber (Nikon)
Director: Anushka Meenakshi, Iswar Srikumar; Cinematographer: Anushka Meenakshi, Iswar Srikumar
Duration: 00:01:52; Aspect Ratio: 1.778:1; Hue: 209.785; Saturation: 0.010; Lightness: 0.504; Volume: 0.134; Cuts per Minute: 9.064
Summary: We didn’t want to rush from one place to the other and see many many places. Our idea of travelling was to select a few places and spend some quality time there. But then again how to manage temptations. We had heard so much about Kee and Kibber that we decided to just splurge for a day and hire a taxi to take us to both these spaces. We were sure that we won’t be able to film anything substantial, but what to do, the travelers within us wanted their share as well.
Kee houses one of the oldest monasteries in the Spiti Valley. We just walked around a bit inside and when we came up towards the terrace we found some lovely illustrations. This was filmed more to show friends than with any focus on “using” it for something else. We also got excited when we saw the crows in such proximity. For our three week stay in the Valley we kept seeing these crows that flew like eagles. They will flap a bit and then catch a thermal and just keep gliding. Their bright yellow beaks would catch the sunlight and make it seem almost like the crows had flown really high and taken a bite out of the sun. I don’t think we have ever given so much respect to the crows, and maybe wouldn’t have here too if not for their beaks.
Kibber used to be Asia’s highest motor able village at one point. The lower oxygen levels are quite apparent when one tries to walk around here. We were also lucky to spot some snow not too far from where we were. So we walked a kilometer or so and reached the spot only to find that the snow had turned into ice. Ice is not as cool as snow. You know what I mean. The good thing was we got to see a bird’s eye view of the village. There was something so beautiful about these multi coloured prayer flags flapping about in the wind set to a sepia landscape and an electric blue sky. The colour scheme and the lines were very interesting but there was something very magical about the movement of the flags, individually and collectively. There seemed to be something very poetic there but we didn’t really capture it in a way that it expressed what we felt. In retrospect it feels as though most of the times we end up filming almost with the first desire to document. Only after we spend a few days we start bringing some of what we think and how we would like to see things into the way we film.
Crows flying above Ki monastery
Himachal Pradesh/May 22 Kee and Kibber/Nikon/688.MOV
Key Gompa
Faces painted above Ki monastery
Himachal Pradesh/May 22 Kee and Kibber/Nikon/689.MOV
Himachal Pradesh/May 22 Kee and Kibber/Nikon/690.MOV
Prayer flags in Kibber
Kibber, Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh/May 22 Kee and Kibber/Nikon/691.MOV
Prayer flags in Kibber
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