Bhanu Didi says, “The Rāmāyana is not a historic event but a daily happening in our lives. Rāmā is the soul, Sita is the symbol of mind, Laxmana is a symbol of awareness and alertness, Hanuman is prana, Ravana is arrogance or the ego. When mind is kidnapped by the ego, the soul becomes restless and with the help of breath, the mind is reunited with the soul.”

Once we learn to be compassionate with ourselves then we automatically and intuitively know how to deal with difficult situations that arise because self-love, self-respect and self-compassion become the guide for it.

I’m drawn to beauty, innocence, power-in-vulnerability and raw femininity and I try to portray that in my portraits and films. That’s one of the reasons I work primarily with women and/or musicians and dancers. In addition to being a portrait photographer and filmmaker, I am also an exhibiting artist, with private collectors worldwide. My work was recently exhibited at John Wayne Airport in OC.

Here’s a beautiful tale from “The Way of Chuang Tzu” by Thomas Merton.

WHEN LIFE WAS FULL THERE WAS NO HISTORY
In the age when life on earth was full, no one paid any special attention to worthy men, nor did they single out the man of ability. Rulers were simply the highest branches on the tree, and the people were like deer in the woods.

I love this quote so much. I'm often victim to this behavior (although as an artist, creating never stops). Yet, when I started my years long journey on the road, I, more often than not, encountered those "slow-travelers" who spent a large portion of their day doing nothing. It was a shock to me. Having been born in a fast-paced metropolitan where rajas reigned, this new way of living was unacceptable, unfathomable.

A few weeks ago, Mari Fallat showed me her collection of French berets and tutus that she created under the label of "26 Shades of Red" to inspire more women around the world to wear the sensuous and powerful red. Our photoshoot was published in a Parisian magazine. Here are some pictures from the shoot.