The Best!

हिन्दू मुस्लिम सीख ईसाई,

हम सब है भाई भाई!

-Apurva

Chinese Fishing Nets.

Made of wood,

And, a few strings pulled together,

I stand still even during bad weather.

Be it day or be it night,

I work tirelessly,

And, it is quite a wonderful sight.

People come see me,

And, my master feels proud,

To own someone as loyal and dear as me!

-Apurva.

Seriously How long are these things

The time was around 4:30 am. I awoke to darkness. Seriously, even time was still asleep. How I bathed, dressed and got to the taxi I don’t remember.

Panvel is a sleepy town, but a very important one for us. We drove in to find the platform to be quite deserted. We found three tiny puppies to play with. Then a strange phenomenon occurred. Repeatedly. Every time there was a train coming into the station I realized. An announcement would be made and the deserted platform would come to life. People from nowhere would gush into and from trains and then the platform would become quite again. Then it happened to us. First hand: An announcement, “2168 up…..”, a train’s horn, the train rolled in, stopped, people sprung to life, pushed us into the train, and we were off. We entered compartment no. S9, realized our seats were in S5. We walked through the train for 5 compartments, and then reached our seats. I learned something about the trains while walking: A train has its own life. People form and live in their own respective lands and it becomes a moving Diaspora of their own lands. They will live in their little countries to the fullest.

Not one person was sitting useless. Thomas uncle was catching up on the news while aunty was catching up on her sleep. Baby Carol sat in her Ammachi’s lap eating peanuts. Both Mr. and Mrs. Nair were reading magazines, him in Malayalam, and she in English. Rohini was listening to music on her I pod as she read her Sydney Sheldon. Maybe those were their real names, who knew? ;-)

We on the other hand wasted a perfect morning. We spent it getting seated and then settling in,a day which we should have spent looking at the mountains that stood silently as our train caterpillar-ed all over them. Rivers and fishermen not giving a second glance at our train even when it blew its horn to get their attention. Finally sense prevailed during lunch: one, of soggy and tasteless rice. Now the spirit of the travelling ghost got into us.

We started looking for the right pics to click, the right moments to pull each other’s legs. Everything that got me moving to the words of the ghost:

“Miss not a single leaf that passes you by,

It will change when you get back.”

I noticed the smallest details of beauty. When light shone of the little girls face, just enough to make her eyes shine like the sun was hiding behind them, or the way our eyes lit up when the cucumber man passed by.

I wanted to capture all the moments, insignificant as they may be, like the reflection of the sun in every passing stream. Excitement in every picture Anish took, Adithya running in ladies slippers to get chocolate from Ratnagiri station, Us trying to sell off Apurva to the cold drink man as a slave, Tanvi hiding on the top berth throughout, Priyal talking to her “cousin”(wink, wink), Arushi is being jewish and Aditi sharing her Budhani chips. Everyone had their day today. I guess I was looking to capture in every snap, that enthusiasm which I hoped to carry forward as our project took form. So far so good. (Fingers crossed)

As Maharashtra rolled on throughout the day, seamlessly, like a long carpet laid out just for me. A hundred tunnels, each one so long that it felt like we were going through many nights and days.

I sat back as the film ran through and I saw the trees blur by. The train plunged into darkness as the coffee fogs up my glasses. Seriously how long are these things? These never ending roller coasters through beauty that’s just out of reach. We each look for inspiration…

“Bolo Chai, caapi, wada bolo Chaio”

Allepey

Sun above sea,

Greenery and water is all we could see.

The kettuvallams were fun to be on,

All of us looking around to find something interesting to crayon.

Crossing villages that were in the water,

And, seeing the innocent smile on faces that cried for bread and butter.

Through the narrow canals,

We steered, as we sipped on the toddy,

Got down to us by the locals.

This is where we got to think,

About the saying,

“Water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink”!

-Apurva.

With love, from Cad-B to Toddy!

We left the campus full of energy and vigour,
Nothing could have made it any better! 


The eight of us were very different,
Everyone had a group but we didn’t. 


Jumping on to the train, we knew how long
It was going to take,
So, some of us decided to make the journey,
A piece of cake. 


Some slept, some played,
And, some of us watched the vendors doing their trade. 


Twenty six hours melted away as fast as ice,
And, it wasn’t long before we realised that we had reached Kochi, the land of coconut and rice! 


-Apurva.

Our journey!

Living in the peninsula was so much fun,

We can't believe that it's all over and done.

We were eight, never thought it would be so great,

By the end of it, we didn't want to go back.

Be it the Basilica or the Fishing Nets,

It was all so photogenic, that it all looked like a 'filmy'set!

We had a lot of differences and a lot of cuts,

And we realized that it's not only about creams and coconuts!

-Apurva.

Tour diaries.

Hey there everyone.

So, here we are, finally done with our 9 day field trip to Kochi. I must say we've all had our fun and learnt to live away from home. But, this time, with a group of eight other people who we had not really got close to during our stay at FLAME. I will take this oppurtunity to introduce our group once again, in case you have missed us, which is very much possible. Our group comprised of Avinash Vasu, Adithya Prakash, Anish Tiwary, Tanvi Dhuru, Arushi Jindal, Aditi Gopalani, Priyal 'Kareena' Hemani and myself, Apurva Mehta. Really scattered group, I must say. But, these nine days, for me have been one of those most exciting days away from home especially since I come from an another country. We fought, yelled at each other, had mood swings and things that usually happen in a group happened. But, as the trip was coming to a close I felt that the main uniting factor was the fights we had. We fought for trivial issues such as using the washroom to deciding a place to dine at. We worked really hard all the nine days with an exception on the fourth day when everyone was so tired that we kept sleeping and didn't really bother about anything else. Everyday was a new beginning for us as we left our rooms divided into two groups to go to different places so that work would get done faster, efficiently and so that everyone got a chance. All of us would get back at night and discuss of we had done as groups. There would be some days where one group wouldn't have done as much as they were required to but they wouldn't be spared for that. :)

Getting to the food. The non-vegetarians had a blast at every restaurant they went to. As for the vegetarians, it was a little difficult. But, no one complained because I think, we always wanted to stick as a group and that food wasn't really the thing needed to keep us going strong. It was team work and love for each other that acted as fuel and kept us running strong throughout. I am totally going to miss this trip and had it not been for all of you, I wouldn't have cared as much. Avinash for his amazing ideas. Ideas that took birth in his head whenever he wanted them to and for his amazingly awesome photography skills. Adithya for all the hard work he put in. Anish for his ability to walk. That man can walk miles and miles without getting tired. The only thing he requires is a lot of non-vegetarian food. Arushi for her amazing capability to write notes during an interview or while visiting any place. Tanvi for 'TIFFIN', Aditi for the HARD work she's put in from day one of the formation of our group which was way earlier than the actual field work began and finally Priyal for being our Kareena and taking all jokes lightly.

I would also like to thank our hosts, the Prems for letting us stay at their home and treating us like their family. I have never met anyone who would let us use their kitchen to cook food at 1.30am.

There were moments on the trip when we totally lost it. To cite a few examples, when I bargained at Baskin 31 Robbins, or going to a five star hotel just to use their washroom and getting out in one peace. Or spending a magnificient Rs. 1021/- at the Taj Malabar.

Some very legendary moments were when were allowed to stand on the Chinese Fishing Nets, one of the most talked about things at Kochi, or interviewing the ex-mayor of Kochi, visiting the Naval base and INS Sharada.

I think all of us got a lot more out of the trip than we all expected to. We have worked very hard on this project through all the difficulties we faced and I take this oppurtunity to thank all of you for making this trip beautiful!

Go DIP Kochi! :)



P.S.- A special mention to Dr. Mukta Sharangpani, our professor at FLAME, for helping us out with contacts at Kochi.

And, also a big thank you to Prof. Nandita Wagle and Prof. Vinay Hardikar for being there with us always even when they were not.