The Batasia
Loop was commissioned in 1919 to take care of the sharp fall of 1000 feet when
the Darjeeling train leaves Ghoom. An Engineering feat, back in those days.
There is a war memorial at the Batasia Loop in memory of the Gorkha soldiers of
Darjeeling.
On the
upward journey the train halts there for ten minutes and I alighted to take
some pictures of the surroundings.
I was almost
done when I heard someone singing the National Anthem. I saw some people
standing in attention while a boy was singing. I managed to capture a little
video footage of the tail end of his singing.
When it was over I asked
the parents about it. They said that they had just asked him to stand next to the
National Flag so that they could take a picture of him, but as soon as he stood
there he decided to sing the anthem catching everyone by surprise.
Later on the
way back I could get a good pan shot of the Gorkha memorial when the train
circled it.
The Darjeeling
Himalayan Railway is considered a World Heritage under UNESCO and its one of
its kind in India with the track crisscrossing the road all the way from
Darjeeling to Ghoom.
Last week there
was a Film Festival held in Pune, where entries were invited and the challenge
was to tell a story in 60 seconds. I suddenly thought of the footage I had with
me of the train. I thought, what can be better than to merge the World Heritage
train and the Indian National anthem culminating at the Batasia Loop. But the
real challenge was to fit it in one minute. I finally uploaded the film and
submitted it. It was screened but did not make it to the finals list.
Talking of
the Film Festival there were some good entries and I particularly liked “The Chocolate Cake” which won the best
film trophy.
Like I keep
saying, if you get the right cast, half the battle is won. The shopkeeper and
the child were perfect for their role and they were equally good in their
performance.
The Festival
in itself was good and a new experience for the Pune people. There were some
minor flaws which could have been avoided, like pictures screened in the first
half were screened again after lunch. But the thing that irritated me (and
others) was the DJ and his loud music. They feel that they are showing their
efficiency by blaring the music. (some fine print should be included in the
contract when hiring such guys, no playing the music beyond so and so decibels)
I have
uploaded the first cut of my film on YouTube which runs for 72 seconds.
Hope to do
better next year.
