Fire, Earth, Air and Water; the four eternal elements of existence, the very ingredients  forming the foundation of life.

According to Plato’s Cosmology, The physical world must have bodily form; it must be visible and tangible. Hence, its ingredients must include fire and earth. Since fire and earth will have to be combined, there must be at least one other ingredient that serves to combine them. But again as fire and earth are solids, we require two intermediates to combine them. And so, finally,  the demiurge or the Creator created air and water and arranged all four elements proportionally: as fire is to air, air is to water; as air is to water, water is to earth.

Life will cease to exist without any one of them. Thomas Cook’s photo blogging contest #ExplorTheElements hails bloggers from all around the world to depict these four elements through their lens.

I’ve been nominated by three extremely talented and wonderful blog buddies, Tennyson Thomas, Ami and Divyakshi Gupta.

Here are my entries:

Air: Represents things that grow, expand, and enjoy the freedom of movement Associated with will, elusiveness, evasiveness, benevolence, compassion, and wisdom.

It is said to feel that you’re alive, just close your eyes and turn your face into the wind; you’ll feel an invisible wave sweeping along your skin, making you happy and rejuvenated. According to Hindu mythology, Vayu is the God of Wind and Anemoi is his Greek counterpart.

This picture was taken by me in Sikkim, Gangtok. It represents the calm force of the wind as it brings the ethereal layers down together to meet the earth.

Earth: Represents the hard, solid objects of the earth Associated with stubbornness, collectiveness, physicality and gravity

Earth, where we’ve grown and thrive. The earth provides us with everything we need. It’s our eternal mother, blossoming her motherly love all over us.

In India, tribal people are very rightly known as the sons and daughters of earth. They’ve their own culture, which, is in no way inferior to that of the modern, glittering, and famous ones. They derive everything they need from the earth. Here is a picture which I took on one of my trip to ta tribal village in Jharkhand, India.

Fire: Represents the energetic, forceful, moving things in the world Associated with security, motivation, desire, intention, and an outgoing spirit.

It represents so many things, the desire, the love, the passion, the determination, motivation and security. Fire is sacred and immortal. It’s an integral part of life since the prehistoric times. The day humankind invented fire, they moved several steps forward in the path of civilization. And what represents it more meaningfully than the ball of fire? The Sun, without which we would be as cold as stone.

The picture was taken on our way to Khajuraho, MadhyaPradesh

Water: Represents the fluid, flowing, formless things in the world associated with emotion, defensiveness, adaptability, flexibility, suppleness, and magnetism.

Water, another name for life and truly represents the moving flow of the essential life force. Even the animals understand the inevitability of water and, they show an extraordinary adaptability of discipline and kindness when it comes to water.

This one was a chance click in the bay area of the Sunderbans. I wish these were tigers instead of dogs!

I’m nominating five bloggers to join the contest.

Priyanka
Indrani
Anil
Rangan Dutta
Moon Roy