Photos taken during the June grain distribution (anaaj vitran) by Raj Saubhag Ashram. Members of the Ashram have conducted a survey in 33 villages surrounding Sayla to identify the families struggling to make ends meet due to physical and social incapacity. The families listed in the survey receive monthly deliveries of 10-20kg of food grain (totalling almost 4 tonnes), the distribution of which is organised and supervised by Raj Saubhag volunteers in order to keep administrative costs at a minimum. Fruit, biscuits and clothing are delivered on ad hoc basis. (Adapted from the Raj Saubhag website).
Having personally witnessed and experienced the grain distribution several times over the past decade, it is truly impressive to see the dedication by which this activity has been running for many years. Volunteer OAPs aged 70+ travel from Mumbai, several hundreds of miles away, every month to devote 3-4 days of their time for the distribution in all seasons, including the 45 degree summers and the wet monsoons. Most of the recipients are met individually by the volunteers, who keep a register to ensure that benefit is received only by those most deserving. New referrals are interviewed, their homes visited and their financial position discussed with trusted persons in the local community before being awarded eligibility for the scheme. Those with little or no earning potential are favoured, and worthy persons with dependants are given larger quantities of grain. Grains are distributed at the beneficiaries homes or in a well-known location in the centre of the village (often neighbours / younger family members come to collect the grains in the latter case). Technical details: Sony a850 with Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 lens.
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A few photos taken at the fruit market and along the main road in Devlali (AKA Devlali), a small hill station and town situated 100 miles north-east of Mumbai. It was home to a British Army camp, and interestingly was the source of the English word "doolally":
"It is the source of the British slang noun doolally tap, loosely meaning "camp fever", and referring to the apparent madness of men waiting for ships back to Britain after finishing their tour of duty. By the 1940s this had been widely shortened to just "doolally", an adjective meaning "mad (insane)" or "eccentric". The town was the setting for the first four series of the British sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum, set in 1945" (taken from Wikipedia). Contrastingly, the town is famous for its pleasant climate, fresh air and good water - giving rise to many sanatoriums, respite centres and temples (Hindu and Jain). Technical details: Sony a850 with Tokina 19-35mm and Minolta 70-210mm lenses. Photos taken during visits to the buttermilk distribution centres in and around Sayla. Write-up adapted from a post on the Raj Saubhag humanitarian facebook site.
Raj Saubhag has been running a buttermilk distribution service, during the harsh summer months, since the last 37 years. Free buttermilk is distributed for approximately three months (depending on the climate and monsoon rains) to help provide relief for local people from the intense temperatures, regularly reaching a scorching 45 degrees. Below is Pujya Bhaishree Nalinbai Kothari’s address at Siddhsar Buttermilk Distribution Centre: "Indian tradition instils compassion in every human heart for the less fortunate. Even a small portion of food given in charity is highly valued. Every child is encouraged by his elders to imbibe the qualities of selfless giving and philanthropy, such that even a visit to a temple requires him to offer something to the deity. However, times are changing and values are declining. Inspite of this, towns and villages still have their places of worship either in the form of a Krishna or Mahavir temple. The faithful people with qualities like benevolence, generosity and goodwill towards fellowmen, often observe that the Lord favours them, even if they are not blessed with wealth and material superiority. Such human beings are blessed with peace of mind and contentment. Even if a person owns one rupee, he should posses a heart, kind enough to give away 2 paise (cents). The contentment that comes from a good deed is unparalleled. In places where the elders observe receding values, every effort must be taken to encourage generosity in the young. Increased kindness and thoughtfulness towards one another will add to peace and goodwill in every village, town and city of India. This year Raj Saubhag has been providing the buttermilk powder to 17 centres in 13 villages. The poor people living in these hot regions are grateful to receive free buttermilk. Very often volunteers willingly take the responsibility of adding water, arranging for the required vessels and distributing the prepared buttermilk to people in their villages in an organised way. Raj Saubhag acknowledges and applauds the efforts put in by all these volunteers and appeals for more volunteers in every village to come forward and offer this selfless service. Those, who put the suffering of others before their own needs are always blessed." Further details of Raj Saubhag's humanitarian activities can be found here. Technical details: Sony a850 with Tamron 28-75mm and Tokina 19-35mm lenses. A very belated Happy New Year everyone. Apologies for the delay - I've got a several exciting 2013 posts coming very soon! Wanted to share some highlights of the year in an end-of-year collage.Actually, I've only included the second half of the year (1/2 / 2012 ?) since the blog was started in July. Looking through, I feel privileged to have had so many stunning opportunities to attempt to capture this variety of visual beauty. Click on the images to take you to the relevant posts from earlier this year. Unusually, photos are square-cropped here so not in original shape. Alternatively you can see the images in their normal form in the slideshow below. Comments / feedback welcome - just click on the "add comments" text at the bottom on this post. Slideshow of above photos. Hover over the photo and click "play". This breathtaking national park gains its name from the break in the cliffs, and the analogies continue - the devil's kitchen (hot and cold springs), the devil's shower (hot spring waterfalls) etc. Perhaps the most appealing aspect of visiting was that we were free to walk around, as KWS describes it "a walk on the wild side".
The harsh and dramatic scenery of the gorge has inspired much of the settings of Lion King, and Tomb Raider was shot in the gorge itself. A particular wildlife highlight was seeing some enormous birds encircling the skies: Rüppell's Vultures and Verreaux's Eagles. The former have about an 8 foot wingspan and fly over a hundred miles in order to find food in Maasai Mara and Nairobi, returning back to their nests in Hell's Gate. We were advised to take a guide as we had been warned about recent flash floods causing fatalities - the gorge can fill-up very quickly. Our Maasai guide entertained us while telling his story of a tribal boy who was more interested in nature and education than herding cows. After being outcast by his father, he grew up in an orphanage and upon reaching adulthood and coming of age he decided that he had to re-initiate himself into the society. The traditional ritual was that in order to prove his strength and bravery, he had to kill a lion. Armed with nothing more than a spear, he set-off with the men of his tribe on a week-long search for a lion. Once found, they circled it and our guide threw his spear before being given the go-ahead by the leader. Perhaps even less fortunate was the outcome - although the spear hit the lion it did not injure it and it attacked him. The rest of the group had to flee, leaving him injured but he was later helped back home (another week-long journey) and it took six months to recover using local herbal remedies. He was given honorary initiation back into the tribe in consideration of his ordeal, but he is still trying to accumulate a herd of cattle so that he can afford to pay a dowry and get married! Technical details: Olympus ZD 70-300mm and 12-60mm lenses; all unedited and straight from the camera except for some of the small bird photos. which have been cropped. When we booked our taxi boat to Cousin, we were told it was only an 8 minute motorboat ride away. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the sea was a lot less calm a few mornings later and we had quite an adventure (and soaking) when boating our way through the rough choppy sea - luckily our boatman had a waterproof back and we'd brought extra large carrier bags for the camera bag! The journey actually took us about 45 minutes. To land on Cousin's fine beaches, you have to board a speedboat (in the sea) on which you are told to hold on tight - the boat is driven at full speed, cutting through the waves like a jet ski, onto the white sandy beach. Why? In order to reduce human imprint on the beach itself.
After disembarking, everyone is strongly advised to put insect repellent on, properly - there were dozens of Odomos tubes (indian insect repellent cream) provided. Will had also given us mosquito suits but we thought we'd brave it as Seychelles seemed moderately mosquito-free compared to the lake-town of Kisumu. In fact, I've never had to reapply the mosquito repellent every half hour like I did in Cousin's dense vegetation. Cousin Island is a stunning bird island, designated as a special reserve and it was bought by Birdlife International while managed by Nature Seychelles. With no development and totally reserved for conservation, Cousin Island has the highest density of lizards per hectare in the world (although it didn't seem like this!); it is home to 300,000 nesting seabirds, the longest millipede in the world and an important nesting site for Hawksbill turtles. We had never seen such a place teeming with wildlife, and even more so, birdlife. With no natural predators and only conservationists and visitors, the birds are completely unafraid of humans - we could walk right up to nesting chicks at the base of trees and they would barely bat an eyelid - they felt so safe and secure! We were extremely lucky to see one of the first nesting Hawksbill turtles of the year - photos below capture some of the wildlife we witnessed. Technical details: Olympus ZD 70-300mm lens; all unedited and straight from the camera. A 30 minute ferry (catamaran) ride from Praslin took us to the picturesque, timeless oasis of La Digue - Seychelles' third largest inhabited island, home to 2000 people and less than 30 motor vehicles (mostly used for cargo / construction). A truly tropical Center Parcs, the main mode of transport are bicycles, widely available to rent. Interestingly, as we moved to the smaller islands, the locals found the larger islands "too busy"! Few people around the world would think Praslin, with its population of 5000, had too much hustle and bustle - but you'd find them in the sleepy island of La Digue, where ox-carts still operate!
Most photos have captions - click (or hover) to enlarge and read. Technical details: Olympus ZD 12-60mm (mostly) and 70-300mm (tortoise, crab and hat photos) lenses; all unedited and straight from the camera. According to UNESCO, Vallée de Mai is a palm forest that has been largely unchanged since prehistoric times. But what makes it a national landmark is that it is home to the largest population of Coco de Mer trees, which produces (and obviously germinates from) the largest seed in the plant kingdom. Seeds can weigh up to 17kg and fruit up to a whopping 40kg, and a quick google search will reveal the male and female plant's mythology! Another point of interest were the giant leaves, up to 20 feet long and the sturdiest I've ever felt (a bit like plastic panelling) - roofs thatched from them can last about 20 years! Apparently you can walk through the forest during periods of heavy rain and remain relatively dry as these huge leaves channel the water towards the trunks of the tall palms. The video is shown just to give a feel of the breeze experienced when walking through the palm forest: the sway and crunching sound of the giant leaves in particular.
Following Vallée de Mai, we were lucky to make a short visit to Anse Lazio - renowned as one of the best beaches in the world. We could not disagree! "Anze Lazio feels like a hidden oasis, thanks to the giant granite boulders that shelter its white sandy beach and bright turquoise sea. The shoreline remains largely untouched... and a coral reef that keeps the waters calm also makes for an ideal snorkeling and swimming spot" (Smarter Travel). Technical details: Olympus ZD 12-60mm; all unedited and straight from the camera. Photos taken during visits to the Giraffe Centre and the Maasai Market (the Maasai are a large, nomadic East-African tribe) on the roof of the Westgate mall.
Technical details: Olympus ZD 70-300mm lens; all unedited and straight from the camera. An eye-opening lake tour of Kisumu's surroundings. Tom, our knowledgeable guide, took us through the backwaters of the lake's tributaries and we disembarked for a walking tour of a local village. It was amazing to see how hospitable and friendly the local people were! Click on the photos - some have more detailed captions. My favourite is the girls looking through the railed window - the grainniness accentuating the gritty reality.
Technical details: Olympus ZD 70-300mm lens; all unedited and straight from the camera except the hippo photo which was brightened. |
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