Blue sea, grey sky, bright noon

Which one?

When the pictures from the Vizag trip came back developed from the lab, I and Gina started browsing through them together, comparing notes on which ones we liked. For most pics we had similar views, except for the ones below. Gina prefers the first pic, whereas I like the second one. That's why I couldn't choose which one to put up here and decided to let you, my dear readers, choose the one you like for yourself. So, here you go...

Barcode (title courtesy Abir)

Grounded for life

Canoeing trip

On the second day of our Vizag trip, our hosts arranged for a day out. We headed to Anekapalli (Vizag residents, please pardon my spelling), where Adeep, who hails from Vizag, had arranged for a canoe trip with the villagers. After an hour's drive from Vizag, we reached the lake, where the villagers had arranged for the canoe trip. They make canoes by hollowing out trunks of coconut trees. For us, they had made rafts by tying canoes in pairs. On top of these rafts they had put planks to seat us. Beer (or whichever alcoholic drink you prefer) was served on board, though there were no movies.

We set off, drinking in the scenery and our respective alcoholic beverages (not necessarily respective, since I drank some of Gina's cocktail too). The trip through the swamp was too beautiful to be described in words, so I will just put up some pictures. I hope they are able to convey the beauty we saw.

Disclaimer: except for the first, all pictures were shot from moving canoes, so they may be a little blurred and out of focus.

Canoes made from hollowed coconut tree trunks

Lotuses

Lotus

Panoramic

Bird on a fish trap

The other circle of life

You live in a small village by the river, and you grow and catch your own food.
You think your life sucks and your child deserves a better education in the city, which is not so far away from your home now as it was when you were a kid.
After a few years, you sell your land to the nice man who gives you more money than you can dream of.
You move to the city, your kid moves to that nice city school.
Your kid grows up, gets a job and lives with you in your apartment in the city.
But she wants to get away from the hustle-bustle of city life.
So she saves money like crazy and buys an apartment in the newly constructed 12 storeyed building overlooking the river, which actually used to be quite beautiful when you lived there in your thatched roof hut.




PS. I have lots to share, but those nice pesky engineers at Sify don't want me to. Watch the space.

Waves

Shot of lake water from a canoe.

Beach shack abstract

Oh, what a vacation it was!

I'm back people, in case you are curious. No, tennis did not happen. Neither did the three novels. It was quite a disappointment to carry the tennis raquet all the way to Vizag, to reside in a room so close to the courts, but not to be able to play just because Rohit was getting engaged. I mean, don't you agree that people just can't set their priorities right these days?

Anyway, what did happen was photography. In abundance. I shot five rolls in six days, and I still used to run out of film by the end of each day. I did get some really nice shots, which I am going to upload over the next few days.

On 11th, I and Gina drove down the highway from Vizag to Bhimunipatman (popularly known as Bhimli) on a Kawasaki Eliminator (owned by Rohit's dad). I must say I am impressed with the engineering of the bike, and also with the roads in Vizag. Having lived in Pune for almost a decade, I had forgotten what a plain road looked like, so the drive down the highway was a nice reminder of my childhood when I used to speed down the roads in my hometown on, hold your breath here, my mom's Luna! Yes, I used to unravel all of 2.3 BHPs which the lean-and-mean Luna packed on those roads (provided I was not going up a slope, in which case I had to add a few BHPs of my own). If you have gown up in the 70s or 80s in India, there is no way you can't remember those mopeds which looked either like skinny motorbikes or obese bicycles, depending upon whether you usually look at the glass as half full or half empty or whether you prefer to gulp from the bottle.

I digress. The highway from Vizag to Bhimli runs along the coast and, at around 22 kms, is the longest piece of highway in India along the beachline. The drive was absolutely fantastic because:

• There was very little traffic on the road once we were five kms out of Vizag.
• It was late afternoon, and sunlight was not too harsh.
• The temperature was perfect and the air balmy.
  
• The road was impeccable, for most part.
• The bike handles very well.
• We were in a good mood, on account of being on a holiday.

Anyway, we saw many sights, stopped every two hundred yards to shoot photos of beaches lined with coconut trees till a point when we realized that printing all those photos would require most of those tree to be cut.

Towards the end of our drive, just short of Bhimli, we saw a bunch of fishing boats lined along one of beaches, so that just the tips of the boats were visible from the highway, jutting over elevated dunes like dogs resting their snouts on a pillow. We decided to stop and investigate further and much to our delight we discovered that there were photo opportunities everywhere. Sunlight was perfect, colours were vivid, and we still had a sufficient number of shots left. So, ladies and gentlemen, I present some of the most prized shots of the trip. Please do let me know what you think of them. And keep checking for more.

Adios.

Tricolour

Fisherman's eye view

Untitled

French

Let's go down to the waterline

I'm off! Day after tomorrow. I'll be gone so fast and so far it will make your head spin. Why, you ask, my child? I'll tell you why. I haven't taken a vacation in more than a year and I am really looking forward to the one starting on Wednesday. Here's the lowdown:

Reason: none of your business. Sorry, couldn't help the jibe. :) Sis-in-law is getting engaged.
Where:Vizag.
Why: No, Vi-Zag.
When: Day after tomorrow.
When I am back: Argh, don't spoil the fun by asking when it all gets over.
What is planned: Beachside dinners, boat-parties, some bumming on the beach, and tennis (no, I am serious, I am carrying my raquet. Rohit, the would-be-groom, is my former tennis partner, a hyperactive individual -- he fell in a cauldron as a kid -- and a really sweet person. He has booked rooms for us in the club, supposedly overlooking the courts).
Will it happen: Tennis? I hope so, though I am not really sure. But I am carrying the raquet.
One reason why you shouldn't tell Gina that I plan to play tennis there: None, really, but let's keep this between us, shall we?

So wish me luck. I leave with a heart full of joy and hope, a suitcase full of suits, a briefcase full of briefs, a camera full of film , a tennis raquet, and three novels which I have been meaning to read for the longest time. Hopefully everything will be put to good use.

Meanwhile, be good. Leave some comments. Or money. I like both.

Wheels

One of the last few photos from the session at Juna Bazaar. Pretty good tires, aren't they, if you look carefully at treads and all?