Flying Umbrellas

Had been to Bharuch last month. This was my first visit to Gujarat. Like they say, the journey is more interesting than reaching the destination. 

Travelled by the double decker train, again a first time. If you happen to be on the lower deck and look out of the window, you get a worm’s eye view especially of the platform and the commuters.  

For people travelling long distance it is going to be a pain as the luggage racks don’t take in big luggage and we Indians don’t know how to travel light.  Some keep their luggage in the aisle making it difficult for other commuters to walk. 

While filming the interior ofthe train  I caught one guy accidentally dropping his luggage on a co passenger. Luckily no one was hurt. 
There are many Indian songs showing the train or travelling by train , like Jiya ho, jiya ho jiya kuch bol do, or Rajesh Khanna’s Sapno ki Rani kab ayegi tu, or Shah Rukh’s Chaiya Chaiya, but I like the one on Rajesh Khanna and Zeenat singing Hum Dono Do Premee. 

While waiting for the train at Bombay Central I saw this board outside the cafeteria. You get a glass of hot milk for Rs 10/- but if you ask for it in English you will get 50 ml less.  

Actually I had been for a wedding shoot in Bharuch. Apart from capturing the wedding and the happy atmosphere, there are other things that catch your eye. Like the pundit who keeps his match box at a funny location for easy access. 

I am usually engaged to capture candid pictures and videos while there is a professional photographer who clicks the “standard” pictures. (I refuse to do that as I have an aversion for posed pictures) 

At the same location with the same subjects, one can make the picture interesting by just waiting for “that moment”  By comparing these two pictures below you will get an idea of what I am trying to say.

 pic clicked at "that moment"

                                             posed picture clicked by the photographer

It is funny to see the reactions of the guests and the couple when something happens out of turn. Here it was the case of the Flying Umbrellas.  Most of these happened when my camera was rolling,  but I edited them out in the final cut.

It was interesting to see the bride coming to the mandap on a motor bike, riding pillion. If I had known this earlier I would have suggested to keep the headlights off as that was causing a glare, and I had a tough time keeping it out of the frame. 

During my stay there I was put up in the Guest House and was impressed by the place. 

 No trappings of a commercial hotel but at the same time all the basic amenities were there. This was attached to the Swaminarayan Temple and was again impressed by the cleanliness and management of the temple and its surroundings. 

Some how I could not find time to go inside the temple and click, maybe next time. 

Covering weddings are fun. At the editing table you have the liberty to put in your ideas  and make it more interesting. Like this Flash Dance that I captured in a wedding in Pune two months ago. 

If I were the judge I would give the bride’s father the Best Dancer award. What perfect body movement.

  

The Temple Elephant

In case you are wondering about this picture, its of an elephant who is having  a nice scrub down.

Had been to this temple in Ernakulam this January and was lucky enough to witness a temple festival that was being held that day.

Had been there in the morning and saw this elephant being given a good bath. On enquiry I was told that they were getting him ready for the festival that was to be held in the evening.

I lingered around, had lunch at the Avenue Regent and was back in the temple premises to see the activity. I could see that the elephants were waiting in one corner of the courtyard of the temple as I entered.

Those rows that you see on the side of the temple are for lighting lamps. One can imagine how wonderful it would look at night from far if all the lamps were lit.

You get to see the kodimaram when you enter any temple in south India. The Kodimaram (flag post – also known as the Dwajasthambham)  is the flag pole which is placed between the Rajagopuram and the Sanctum Sanctorum. It is made of wood, covered with brass, and with or without gold coating. This is something that you will find outside the churches too in south India. The festivities start by the Kodiyettam (hoisting of the temple flag) on this Kodimaram.  

I could see how the elephant were getting adorned. The most important part being the Nettipattam. Legend has it that the Nettipattam was designed by Lord Brahma. Iravath, the white elephant of Lord Indra was the first elephant to wear it. The caparison, which is the part of Hindu astrological art, represents the entire pantheon of gods in Hinduism.  

I tried to take a close up of one of the elephants, and felt that he was looking directly at me. 

The elephant lowered its head to have the replica of the deity placed over its head.  It is an unusual stance for an elephant I must say.

One by one the elephants came and stood in their designated place.

The drummers get ready by wearing their special mundu (dhoti) 

This drummer is fine tuning his drum. This particular drum has got a name. Wonder if someone can enlighten me. 

There was a lamp that was lit and kept in front of the elephants.

The tempo and the rhythm of the people playing the chenda (drums) slowly increased along with the accompaniment of the  kombu (one of the wind instruments) 

You can see Peruvanam Kuttan Marar here, the leader of the Chenda group of the Paramekkavu temple (Last Sunday I saw him on the TV playing at the famous Trichur Pooram)

The Elathalam is made of bronze and has its distinct chime as it is thicker when compared to the normal cymbals. It is one of those instruments that provide the beat.

While the tempo built up, the elephants had lots to chew on (literally) They kept feeding themselves on the leaves of this palm. I was fascinated by the way they neatly pulled out the leaves with the curl of their trunks (marked in the picture below) 

The palms were all prearranged and placed at strategic places. 

These two pictures below shows the understanding between the elephant and its master, or rather I must say the trust level of the mahout.

Meanwhile there were arrangements for making offerings of your choice.  The offerings had their own fixed rates.

It was almost dusk and that helped me to get some good photographs of the drummers. The way the light falls on the subject makes the difference to the photographs. 

It was a wonderful experience and I think I should increase the frequency of my visit to Kerala, now that there are direct flights to Kochi. I did my round trip bookings using the coupons from CupoNation which turned out to be very cheap. One can find them here : https://www.cuponation.in/