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

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess the Contrast is overdone.

But loved the pic. The road roller ( if it is one) reminded me of a lot of things, remember R K narayan's story? Remember " Vella Aanakalude Naadu"? :)

And yea I shared on flickr what i feel for the farmers.

heh? ok said...

@ lash
engine trouble? i l-o-v-e-d that one. especially the one where he had to pay joseph for steering the road roller into the compound wall.

@ toothless wonder
isn't it the government's job to think of these things before building the behemoth of an airport and accordingly provide alternatives instead of issuing ultimatums?

Anonymous said...

@ heh - yes! right you are! :)

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

look at those smiles.......i had to smile seeing them smile like that.......:)

what does a country that's growing industrially at the pace that we are with its limited land and ever growing population do!!!!! why can't we plan well when we claim we have the biggest knowledge pool, second to none, in the world!!!!! it hurts to see that farmers are always the one who have to bear the brunt....it's like noone ever cared about them....noone will....

Adorable Pancreas said...

Pretty depressing news, that.

Usha said...

look who's back!!! :)