Random travel modes

Ashok has nominated me to participate in a Travel Photography contest by Rhino Car Hire… The theme is to depict modes of travel captured during ours… so here are my pictures based on travel from my random trips.

This picture was shot at Pulicat Lake, also called as Pazaverkadu - the second largest salt backwater lake come lagoon in India.  Before a bridge was constructed in year 2009 across the lake to connect the island village near the estuary (where lake meet with Bay of Bengal), Boats were the only sources of transport alternate to buffalo carts that wade thought water during low tides. Fishing is the livelihood of Pulicat, where they fish both on lake and sea.

Captured in Periyakulam, Theni district of Tamil Nadu, the Horse Carts are still used as transportation there apart few other towns. The horse cart, also called as Tangas in India and its neighboring countries and it is a popular mode of transportation because they are fun to ride in, and are usually cheaper to hire than a taxi or rickshaw.

While driving to Karaikal Beach, we cross the Karaikal railway station which looked deserted and a Train was stationed stretching up to the ramp of platform. We slowdown the car across the track after passing the gate; I took this shot without hurry knowing hopefully no train arrives. Karaikal is a part of Union territory of India coming under the Pondicherry administration.

Shot this picture (using mobile) at the outskirt of Chennai, where a boy riding his Cycle on the village streets… following one is from the same road, where an old man pedaling cycle, perhaps make sitting his grandson at rear carrier. Cycles are a common and basic transportation mode which has health benefits as well as eco-friendly vehicles. For kids, riding bicycles are much favorite and no one could have escaped from having fun with cycle during their childhood days and getting warrior scars.

I have never fly across the sky in a flight and I have no pictures on airways… so here is a Flight model I shot at HAL museum in Bangalore. The HAL HPT-32 Deepak ("lamp" in Sanskrit) is an Indian prop-driven primary trainer manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The aircraft can accommodate one passenger and the student and the instructor can sit side-by-side.

At last here is my travel mode Mahindra Scorpio. We bought this car in 2011 and even before it we had a similar one, only because for my comfort we continue to choose this model. For me it’s an Indian Hummer… because it took me almost everywhere I love to travel. My cousin shot this while caught in a traffic jam at Kodaikanal.

The last four months

There was a mixed feeling being shifted to this house more than four months back. There were many ups and downs related to family and home environment, but the part of my life travels on similar path, more or less, nothing bothered me much and I don’t feel much change in my life, apart some mishap with father (who’s just back to normal after his bike fall) which led our life thought physically trouble and emotional stress. For nearly two months, mom had been the only caretaker of mine to take care of my needs indeed without the support of dad, which was the troublesome phase ever in my life.

our small backyard

Today everything seem to be nothing and the difficult times are no more, because, they are almost become a part of my practical life. Leaving those behind, life has been wonderful with pros and cons and the weather on other hand had been very pleasant these days unlike extremely hot when we shifted home back in April and followed by sultry May. The rain that make way through last two months had sent wakeup calls to mosquitoes (even though they aren’t new for us and they are almost everywhere around Chennai) we are forced to close all the windows and door before 6 pm to prevent them enough. Even we can’t sleep without fans on; glad we have an inverter to keep us asleep when the power goes off often when it rains.

 The house is well lit throughout the day without a need for lights (each room has two wide windows) only the wind couldn’t enter much unless there’s heavy blow outside. We aren’t daring to keep all windows open to make free entry for mosquitoes since we haven’t put nets for windows like how we done at our early house. Though it isn’t a matter anyway, but maintaining the house to keep clean wasn’t easy enough which was double the size of our early one and with trees around we can’t stop leaves thrown down.  But what I liked more was the small garden space of the backyard, which is enough to say than nothing, and who won’t dream of a house with garden space. I liked it much and want to see it bloom with flowers and grasses.

Before we come to this home, my bro wanted to make lawns with the open spaces around but once rain stared to pour the grasses began to grow on its own on the open space. I know they aren't the grasses use for lawns, but a kind of wild weeds growing fast to a foot now and looking for a cleanup. I suggest mom to direct a cow (those pass our house everyday and some time lie close to our compound for the shadow of the tree) to have the grasses as its breakfast, but she don’t like my idea saying that it will also eat our others plants.  

We had re-planted some of our pot plants there and there’s already a yellow flowering shrub and bougainvillea that need to grow enough to see blossom. There are jasmines, hibiscuses, anthimanthaarai (4 O'clocks flower) and button roses (check the collage above) growing close to ground. It’s so good to see them blooming like white bulbs every morning and 4 O'clock flowers in cheerful yellow, there’s also a white frangipani tree at our parking dropping fabulous flowers. Just four months old, the neighbors were still strange enough except for this only family that made touch with us, since facing our side front it was easy making friendship with them.

PowerShot Sunday - Dashboard Ganesh

Dashboard Ganesh is the name I given to this pretty little idol that embellished our car dashboard before it broke away a year ago. The idol was made of marble and about 2 inches in size!

Reflection

Picture by Jeevan

A bubble
breathes for a brief
like a fish out of water.

Reminds,
how colorful our world
being a transparent globe.

Like a projector
 reflects creative lights
using its thin layer of film. 

Smokey and the Bandit

I had fun on Sunday watching the film Smokey and the Bandit, a comedy action entertainment featuring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field and Jackie Gleason. The 1977 film, based on a series of high-speed pursuit has commendable comedy scenes comprising action and hilarious lines, settles on a simple track of transporting a truckload of beer across state lines of US.

Two truck-divers (Bandit and Snowman) accepts the challenge of picking up a truckload of beer from Texas to southern Georgia, which is illegal at that time to transport specific kind of beer across state lines, for the refreshment of two big-shots.  Soon enough both were at the highways; Bandit on his black Pontiac Trans Am (a speedy car) kept roping the police towards him (as a decoy) to keep away their attention from the illegal truckload driving by Snowman. Meanwhile Bandit picks up a runaway bride ‘Carrie’ on his car where he becomes the target of Texas Sheriff ‘Justice’, a senior law officer whose younger son was yet to be Carrie’s groom.

With specific time and distance in miles, the film runs at high speed chasing, skating, jumping and floating of cars was highly influenced by CB radios, through which they seek acquaintance from fellow truckers that help them to escape from police pursuits. The most interesting part of the film was music, which captivate the mood exactly while on pursuit and increases the speed thrill. The best of all was legendary Jackie Gleason’s character as law officer targeting the Bandit, whose serious intentions all make laugh as it become funny.

Apart Burt Reynolds and Sally Field - as lead make charm and become sweet companion on the pursuit - the ‘Pontiac Trans Am’ has been hero wades through different terrains. The film seems to be inspiration for many films unrolled on the series of pursuit and I could relate many Indian movies with similar stunt sequences which perhaps could be a replica of Smokey and the Bandit. The film director (Hal Needham) himself been a stuntman has left impression. It is the only movie I have experienced with constant chasing entertainment… may be there could be some need to check.