The Village
Quote: The sun does not forget a village just because it is small.
Author: African Proverb
Photographer: Dheepak Ra
Some of my best summer vacations as a kid were spent in the country side - a welcome break from the city life - chirping of the birds to wake you up, neem stick for tooth brush, 3 hours of swimming in the huge village wells followed by "ice-biryani", to enjoy the cool breeze in the afternoon - enticing one to surrender to sleep under the shades of a Tamarind tree, to walk in the wet semi-solid rice-fields, to ride on bullock cart, to laze around in the river banks, fresh milk from cowshed.....
Despite the years rolling by, Periyappa (dad's brother), those moments which we shared together will always be evergreen.
This snap was taken last week, a few hours after I lighted his funeral pyre..........
posted by Baejaar at 5/31/2005 11:40:00 AM
22 Comments:
Easily one of the most beautiful quotes I've ever heard. A very nice tribute to your uncle.
Perhaps is a typical scene for you, but I've never seen a scene with such vivid colors of yellow and green draped with the deepness of the mountain blue in the background.
hey ,
memories of ice biryani are only too familiar and seems like ages since i had it last... I lived 22 years in a place which was in the close vicinity of one such village... I can remember the summer vacations when we kids were made to guard the groundnuts left to dry on the huge unending yards given the privilege of an occasional bite of the dried nuts as commission for our services...
@Ansh : ice biryani is nothing but, rice which is left to soak overnite in water and served with onions /green chilli.. which anyone associated with farming would claim as "secret-of-my-energy" :-)
@baejar : hope this is same ice biryani we r referring to here..
:-)
Thanks Ansh. I think Anusha has answered the question. Till a few years ago, most villages didnt have fridge (blame it on the poor electricity). So they used to preserve the left over rice by soaking it in water and having it the next day as "ice-biryani". Trust me its really nice - cool in the hot weather. May be I liked it bcoz I get to taste it only once in a while. If I eat it regularly may be I wont like it that much.
Sonson, Unfortunately we are sailing in the same boat. I am a typical city bred guy - these beautiful villages were my childhood vacations and not regular scenes. Eventhough I love these villages a lot, I still prefer the polluted city for day to day life....
Anusha,
You are spot on with respect to these village "jargons".
Anyway it doesnt matter that much - Calcutta has some really nice restaurants. I have never seen so many restaurants in a single street before.
If only they had asked me to guard the groudnuts - they wouldnt have to pay me in the end ;-)
Just wonderful... Atleast u had ur vacations there. I always used to ask my grandparents, y they had to be in a city and not in a village :).
This Snap aslo reminded my child hood. The concept of ice-biriyani is popular across almost all farming community in India. In bengal it is known as "Panta Bhat" .
Arathi
For one year, I lived in a place called as Kaiga near Karwar, a couple of hours from Goa. Its a hill station (western ghats) with dense forest. From my residence, river and dam was 5 minutes walk. From my workplace, if I turn my head a full circle, I can see three beautiful waterfalls. It has the second highest rainfall in India but in summer one can see forest bush fires like necklace of gold shining bright. Eventhough this place was perfect for a vacation, to get away from the maddening crowd, I cant live there forever. Somehow one starts missing the buzz of city life - the traffic, the pollution - i did miss it. So I took up a job in Bangalore......
Debarshi,
Hmm that is interesting. Now that they have started selling any thing and everything including lassi and coconut water in tetra packs - may be we can try selling Panta Bhat too. Who knows it might be a hit considering the ones we eat in the foodcourts down here :-)
Arathi
Did you edit your templates? - your site is displaying broken html. Check it out.
Lone Warrior
Orithonologist might struggle a bit ;-)
u just keep getting better
ur quotes are really thought provoking..
,..sorry hear abt ur uncle...
Now tell me what is ice biryani..something outta fridge..
Anubhav, Ice biryani is nothing but cooked rice soaked overnight in water. Look at the comments above made by Anusha and Debarshi.
A nice picture with an apt quote. I am seriously beginning to love this concept of a photo and a quote. :)
I who was always under the impression that the West Coast was more scenic, was in for a pleasant surprise during my visit to the Tanjore belt recently. Lush green fields. The green that is most pleasing to the eye. A true verdancy.
i was trying out something and messed it up. Its fine now. Just that i have to add the links once again :)
Yday had to leave so couldnt fix it. Thank u. :)
its true once u go to a peaceful place, after sometime u start missing the city buzz. I too cant stay in a peaceful place for more time. Thats y its good for a vacation. When u want a break.
Sorry to hear about your periappa.
Wonderful picture. Somehow the best pictures are taken in the rustic folds of a quaint village which hadn't dressed herself for the camera!
Hi Ranga
Its difficult to make a call as to which is better. I have lived both in the west coast (near the beautiful beaches of Karwar, Gokarn, Goa etc) as well as the lush green fields of TN. I would prefer to take summer vacation in west coast and winter vacation in this green place :-)
Arathi, Nice to see your blog back again. May be (I am very fickle) I would prefer to live in such calm place after retirement (with satellite internet connectivity and all the bloggers around - may be I wont miss the buzz much)
Welcome back Erotome. Infact I prefer to shoot portraits and street shots in villages more than the scenery. They have more expression in them.
hi baejaar! it was very poetic and touchy. im sooo sorry abt ur uncle. my prayers are with u!!
ice-biryani sounds very interesting! we eat something like that in summer. cold rice mixed in iced-tea(^^) nice nice...
Niki, to admit very frankly somehow I never liked iced tea. I prefer cold coffee or else hot tea. STill what you said is interesting. Someday I will try it out.
Thanks Uma for dropping by, I was never a fan of "kammang kulu" but willing to have it once in a while. Its very good for health.
Amazing snap. Probably one of the best I have seen in this blog.
And an equally lovely quote to go with it as well.
Thanks Sangeeta. So did I. This quote as well as the next one on "Uno" are close to my heart. BTW I am planning to put a new rule here, unless you update your site you wont be allowed into this site ;-) Just kidding but try to take some time off between the classes to update your blog.
wow!!!!amazing pic..and the quote fitted it perfect
Thanks Prabha.
Post a Comment
<< Home