26 May 2006

CHASING THE RAIN



These are the first raindrops in Wynad last year when I was in Kerala Chasing the rain. I had to wait. I was enjoying the company of Dr. Krishnadas and family when it started raining, seeing me excited he took me for a drive. It was pouring.



I am in a train, 5 in the morning, it is still dark in Trichur Railway station, I am up and others still sleeping. Mallus, Keralites want the news paper before they wake up. They wake up dreaming of a newspaper and they have it before they have a cup of chaaya.



Newspaper hawkers screaming the headlines, one chap buys a Malayalam news paper. I quietly go sit beside him after having finished my second coffee before 5 am. It is still dark as the train picks up speed, all lights switched off, i can hardly see the newspaper and our man is reading it.
Where is it raining now can you please tell me ?

huh ?

weather report ??

huh ?

I repeat in what ever Malayalam I can manage



I can see the white sheet but not the print. not very happy over my interruption. he checks and tells me 

'Nho rhayine'( no rain )

goes back to the story he was reading.
must be raining somewhere would you please check and tell me.
He mutters something and checks again, I appreciate his effort in dim light, takes time to locate small bit of news,

'littal rhayine in  Pyyannur Kasargode'

thank you
I know that he doesn't know where pyyannur or Kasargode is
I know where it is
i know more of kerala than a keralite does



A man from Talissery would have gone to north pole south pole east pole or the west pole but he would not have seen Mahe' a few kilometers away.



unlike my city of Chennai, the rain in kerala is always pleasant for me. I love the smell of banana fry and rain. Sometimes fish coconut oil and rain. Wow !



Where ever I go I keep asking people where is it raining now,
' Something is wrong with this chap' that's the look i get. but they all oblige.
nice chaps.



its not hard to find a man with a newspaper, they all seem to carry it with an umbrella, I'll be the only one without an umbrella or a newspaper, they read tomorrow's newspaper, they read last years newspaper. I have not seen people eating newspaper all the time anywhere in India but in Kerala. I don't read, i don't like ruining my day, sometimes I may read the sports page. My nephew and niece read them, we get 2 different newspapers at home.



rain is just a weather report in Kerala newspapers, where as here in Chennai, rain is big news
front page big headline. Now you know why I am chasing the rain



 









Leaving tonight for Kerala, on a rain chase, A wedding in Guruvayur first, two of my friends are getting married. not seperately, I mean they are getting married to each other, both are my friends don't worry, one is a boy the other is a girl. Normal thing. and I am the cupid. I may be wierd but my friends are normal.
So Nirmal and Sindu are getting married on the 28th.
Happy occasion for me.
I'll post the wedding pictures for you, simple wedding in a temple, but the temple is not simple
Guruvayur is one big famous temple.



I'll be back on 4th of June
love you allBlunt Knife
Travel and Photography blog


37 comments:

Claudia said...

Beautiful, as always !

Ruth said...

I agree, I can feel and taste the rain through your words and photos, very powerful. Fantastic photos, colors, clarity, raindrops! I don't read the newspaper either, and I am also attending a wedding on the 28th! Wow, we have so much in common. =)

Leila said...

These are the most breathtaking pictures I have ever had the honour to see. I love rain. I love rain when it's sunny especially.

Enjoy the wedding, I am sure you will...who couldn't in an amazing temple?

Leila said...

These are the most breathtaking pictures I have ever had the honour to see. I love rain. I love rain when it's sunny especially.

Enjoy the wedding, I am sure you will...who couldn't in an amazing temple?

Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Truly spectacular. Your eyes see beyond. Thank you.

Namaste,

Don

Candy Minx said...

Oh I am so excited to see the wedding photos and I hope you take photos of your friends for us as well as the temple, and the temple I am looking forward to seeing.

these are incredible photos, it is magic the feeling your blog produces, it surprises me always when I get here and feel all that you write and combined with photos.

I hope you remember to pass your camera to one of your friends. We would all like to see a picture of you our new friend!

Candy

Anonymous said...

Awesome pics Rauf!

And now I really want to go home...no money for the tickets though. Wonder if somebody wants to make a donation.*sigh*

I must ask my dad if he knows where Mahe is.He is from Talischeri you see.:)

Enjoy your trip Rauf!!

Hayden said...

i am greedy. more more more! all so beautiful - the colors! can't wait till you get back again. see how greedy I am? you are having a good time with your friends, in the beautiful temple, and I want you home posting the pictures of your trip!

Anonymous said...

loved the colours in the first pic, Poms - so lovely and vibrant they are ( not that i didn't like the others; they are beautiful too )
Give my wishes to Nirmal and Sindhu;
i don't know if you would like England, Poms. it's ALWAYS raining, so damp and cold, but rain, yes, you'd find that aplenty here. And greenery too. For a rain-starved Madrasi, i'm getting more than what i'd bargained for. But the rain in Kerala seems beautiful; pity i missed it when i was in Munnar, though i had a lovely time there. Hope you do too, Poms :)

P.S: you should talk about your trek in the Himalayas sometime. nice anecdotes, made even better by your narration *love and hugs*

Cari said...

Pics are beautiful. :}

Have a great time at the wedding!!

Sangita S said...

what shld I say ur pics leave us speechless ..i love rains wish though can never dare to chase them like you :-)
Enjoy the wedding and rains

Nabeel said...

ohh i love rain .. the umblrella pictures are sooo cute .. and ofcourse the raindrops on the rosepetals .. awesome pics.

Zareba said...

Beautiful, achingly beautiful. Thank you for capturing the tiny perfect things of our world. They nourish the soul.

...Z

sundarsonal said...

lovelee photoos.lungis in rain best.

Anonymous said...

Rauf, thanks for your post on the rains. Yes, it is raining in kerala and for quite some days now. I hope you get more of what you are looking for. I am just back from the the dry dusty parts of the nation and it is a welcome relief to be back in a place with clean air, water, streets, people and low noise levels.

The photos of the monsoons are well thought out and you have captured the most elusive feeling of how to portray monsoons. Well done. I am sitting here trying to figure out how to show monsoon in photography. Maybe I will borrow some of your themes. ( I hope they are not patented and copyrighted ;-))

Have a great blast. While in Guruvayoor give elephants a chance with your camera at the place where they herd them for the temple. A little far from the temple but still accessible by car.

Anonymous said...

i guess it is the slow pace of life, easy going attitude of the people, etc in kerala that gives us the space to discover beauty

rauf said...

To all my readers

Hi
Sorry for my late response, I was away for nearly ten days, came back home yesterday and slept the whole day. Lot of traveling, lots of pictures to come, I'll post them here and in blunt knife in a few days, thanks for all your comments and mails. Some bad news was waiting for me when I reached home. My friend Nirmal's dad passed away. Actually the first thing I wanted to do was posting Nirmal Sindu wedding pictures, I'll post them in my neext blog.

rauf said...

Thank you Gangadhar, I keep going to Kerala often for its natural beauty, fresh and green always, but Tamil nadu Karnataka are very beautiful in their own unique way like the other states in India. Don't know much about Andhra. You can see more of Kerala in my previous many blogs in Blunt knife.

rauf said...

Hi Claudia, South India may look the same, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are two southern most states of India. Kerala is lucky when it comes to water, it has plenty of it. Tamil Nadu is a bit unfortunate in that respect. Last year we had floods in Tamil Nadu due to some heavy and continuous downpour.

rauf said...

How was the wedding Ruth ? My friend's wedding went off well, some bad news as the groom's dad passed away after 4 days.

More rain drops coming Ruth, I had a good time, some mad travelling, not staying in one place. Hope everything is fine with you.

rauf said...

There was sun and rain at the same time here too Laila, It was raining heavily on the day of the wedding, but it stopped for a while while wedding ceremony was on. More pictures coming Laila.

rauf said...

Thanks Don, You do the same with your imagination observation and convey your thoughts in your poetry to delight us all

rauf said...

Sure Candy, I'll post the wedding pictures in my next blog and the temple pictures too, it was very exciting really. Not sure if I have my picture there in the group. there were too many cameras there I must be there some where. thank you Candy.

rauf said...

GORRRD e2dees, Mahe' is like pondicherry,(pondicherry is a state now I think) french thing, central province. Terrific beaches and lagoons, you know wat e2dees, the place is full of liqour shops, people go there only to drink, its cheaper there, don know if its still the same, crossed Mahe' this time but did not stop. I have pictures taken a couple of years ago. I'll post them soon. How you've been e2dees ? Go to any Airline office tell them that you'd teach them calculus for a free ticket to India. Forgot about Kallu kadai e2dees.

rauf said...

Many more weddings to come Hayden. terrific food. most welcom. Weddings here are mostly chaotic but lots of fun, temple weddings specially. Travel is very cheap here Hayden please think of a holiday. You will not be disappointed.

rauf said...

yedi lord booey Kya ree ?
I don't understand your situation, plenty of rain and water scarecity ? Whats the problem ? why drought ? too many swimming pools ? your guys are tokin about water meter an all dat ? I heard water meters are good. you'd pay less than wat you are paying now. Yupsee got some good rain pictures. Aimless traveling, it was raining everywhere lord booey
ummmmmmmmma and huggs

rauf said...

Thanks Cari, yes I had a good time, wedding was fun. Some bad news later on. It was pouring on the wedding day, but it stopped while the ceremony was on. Terrific food.
Hope you and family are doing fine and happy, please take care Cari.,

rauf said...

You too had enough rain in Bangalore Sangita, gets pretty cold sometimes. Went to Mysore through a different route, it was a very pleasant discovery, coimbatore-Mysore, terrific road (in good condition) one of the most beautiful bus journeys in the south. I'll give you the details Sangita. You can go Bangalore Mysore - Coimbatore ( Bus) Coimbatore back to Bangalore by train. Plenty of places to see near Coimbatore.

rauf said...

More Rain pictures coming Nabeel, I am rain crazy, sometimes Chennai, the place I live feels like a desert. When it rains it gets messy, but the rains in the state od kerala are very pleasant.
Thanks for your visit Nabeel.

rauf said...

Struggle for survival keeps me in the city Zareba, I have kept my needs within limits so that I can go out and get some fresh air in the country side (which is fast disappearing) and the forests. This time the rain was chasing me Zareba.

rauf said...

Aiyoo sundari Sonal, have stories on lungis, I'll write sometime.
you have to wear VESHTI and take off the sirt when entering dembles in kerala, odderwise god getsd angry. not you not you vonlee men. ladies can go wearing jeans t shirts. i don know how to wear lungi or veshti, ask dad wat a veshti is. there is some difference. no middal stiching in veshti I teenk Aiyoo you like wearing lungiya ?? I wored once and yended in disaster.
Any way had to do a favour to god in guruvayur dembill, I did not want god to jump out of his seat.

rauf said...

ezee123, yes had good rains, it was raining everywhere, have posted some pictures. lot of traveling, spent a couple of hours in kannur I was hopping from place to place.

been trying to post comments on your blog ezee123, but getting frustrated Loved the haridwar picture. when did you get back ?

rauf said...

No Chinna, you have to go and discover the beauty, the locals are completely unaware of it. They all want to go to THUBBAAI, most of them hate living there. They are pissed with the rain.

rauf said...

I am trying to keep blunt knife strictly a photography and travel blog Gangadhar, but I always drift away.

miss terri said...

these are so Beautiful. i've never really been out of the west states, so this perspective is very unique. thank you for posting them and pointing me this way.

rauf said...

Thank you so much Miss Terri, I have never been out of India myself, I don't even have a passport. Please click on Blunt Knife you will see more of India there. Thanks again vor stopping by.

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