This is an ode to Nainital using time lapses by Vishi Singh. Each of the video clips used is made up of hundreds of photos, and each of those photos was taken within walking distance of his home in Nainital – Clifton House.
Words: Rudy Singh
Music: Gracie’s Theme by Paul Cardall
Which of these hills recognise me
As I revisit a mountain path?
Which of these houses hold on to
The stories of my past?
Which particle of sunshine, soaked up by a tree,
Still bears my childhood glance?
Where is the gust of wind that ruffled my hair
And made the oak leaves dance?
Which dreams of mine have drifted down
To the bottom of this emerald lake?
Who has gone, who has remained,
What promises did I break?
Every time I return, my mind casts out
These tangled-up fishing nets
Which part of you remembers?
Which part of me forgets?
Does the glow of these lights reach Naini’s children
In far corners of the Earth?
What magic spells dance in this enchanted valley;
The city of my birth.
I am here, though I am far away;
My cradle, my bedrock, my start.
The mountains of my memory.
The refuge of my heart.