Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Riders on the (silk)worm**

Riders on the (silk)worm

Worlds apart: One world ends at an airport, and another begins not too far away.
The road to Bangalore International airport is wide, well lit, and fast. Well if you are going to the airport, that is.
Because soon after, the lights go out, the ride gets bumpy and the road narrows like a funnel.

Devanahalli village could be far removed from India's "technology capital" and life would not have been any different.
Almost everyone here is a silk farmer, and suddenly the birds that the silkworms attract have become a threat to the airplanes.
The villagers are being served notices to make arrangements for alternate sources of income.
Of course, the land prices have gone up, so they will not farm. They will sell.
And then what?

** Light post processing on the picture

Friday, December 19, 2008

The Old Man Of Kinnigoli

So.
I have been busy, and now I am busy on a holiday.
It has been long - I‘ve got stories to tell, people I’ve met and pictures to share.
And I am sorry about being a bad boy – not replying to comments and such.
Promise to be better now. I’m hoping for the new year to be a lot better than the one gone by – the perpetual optimist that I am.

Old man of Kinnigoli
Kinnigoli was not a planned stop. Because Kinnigoli was not on the road to Kundapur. It was hard work – It looked as if the bus driver wasn’t particularly concerned about the people on the seat at the rear end, and when we finally got out, the sun seemed to be awfully pissed off at something. I just wasn’t getting it right, and the shoot stretched on until sometime after dark.

And that is how we decided to spend the night at Roger’s farm. After such grueling labor, we certainly deserved to have some fun!
And fun it was – I dont know why, somehow beer always is. And then there was toddy for breakfast, feeding the dogs and the sheep after, the chicken, and then beer again.

We were at breakfast at this village eatery when I spotted this man. Alone for his tea and mid-morning snack, possibly a routine for the whole of his long life. I say this because I am a village boy – usually in our villages, everything is routine.
I love this life!