Kolkata visit , Oct 10,2009.

Finally got a chance to visit home and on the way kolkata. In the mean time my Durga puja Leaves were cancelled and I had to cancel my train tickets. So I made a point to reach home on kali puja and Diwali. And hence the visit. I and Debalina boarded the Falaknuma exp from Secunderabad and reached kolkata on time. Believe me on time. I had taken my camera with me and had a desire to take some shots at different locations in Kolkata. First I started with Laketown foot bridge. Mitul and Dr.Subham, my cousins accompanied me. It was evening and I got good shots from the bridge of the road and the vehicles.

Then we moved to Citycenter shopping maal and had a nice Adda among us and later joined by Mithu and Kamalika di. I took some snaps of citycenter but was prevented by guards to take some more of them. Reason not well explained. We went for clarification from the management and we were asked why we were taking shots. On explaining they asked us to come the next day with formal letters. Daam with there process, we decided not to take any more shots over there. BTW I thought taking pictures in public places is allowed, but I am not sure about Bengal.

Next day Amritendu asked for a meeting which I agreed with pleasure, after all he is my childhood friend. We decide to meet somewhere near Victoria Memorial. Mitul and I reached the venue and didn’t waste a minute to shoot the Victoria Memorial in evening lights. Amritendu was late by an hour, and I was fed up waiting for him. After we meet and had a chat we decided to rope in Maitrayee who was working in a nearby office. We waited near the AC market and after calling her a number of times she arrived with her typical smile, u may also call it a half laugh. She is also my childhood friend and it was a double delight for me to have both of them together. We exchanged ideas and had a lot of fun chatting. Maitrayee’s friend joined us and we moved to Nandan. It was getting late and we decided to have something and disperse. Amritendu took us to a Chinese restaurant. Finishing the dimsum we dispersed to our own destinations.

It was truly a memorable evening, it made us rekindle out friendship and showed that we still have the same bond among ourselves even after so many years.

Capturing Birds through my New Lens

I haven't updated the blog for quiet a long time and I don't know why. May be that I became a bit lethargic, may be. Well I bought a new 70-300mm Tamron Lens for my Nikon camera and was waiting for an oppurtunity to use it to the fullest zoom available.So on 5th of July 2009, Sunday, I and Bazooka went to hunt birds with our lenses. Location : Manjeera dam near Sangareddy. We started after noon and on reaching Sangareddy had lunch. It took us almost an hour to reach sangareddy, but the road was awesome. While we rode through the countryside we found some cranes on a field and started our job. Villagers present at the field must have had a weird feeling about us. After almost half an hour we again started our onward journey, on our way we found a kingfisher and didn’t waste a moment to shoot it. Reaching the dam was not tough but reaching the desired location took a while and we had to trek through the rocks towards the water body. Bazooka set his camera on my stand and we patiently waited for the birds which didn’t made us wait much longer. Soon we found kingfishers and flock of harpeice.
It was happy shooting time for us. But wait, whats that at a distance. We instantly focused our lenses towards the moving object in the water. Oh ho, it’s a croc, I mean a Crocodile, and its heading towards us. Time to run focks, just RUN. We ran through the rocks passing through the tall grasses, bazooka fell and had a scratch on his left ankle but saved his 500mm lens.

From safe distance we watched the croc enter the grasses near the water. We shot a few more birds and left for Hyderabad.

Home Comming

Jan 14th 2009.

After spending almost 5 months in Hyderabad finally I got a few days leave to go HOME, and the reason was my cousin’s marriage. On a fine winter morning of Hyderabad, I and my room mate Samrat boarded a Cab and reached Samsabad airport to board a flight to Calcutta. I had been to this airport on the night of its inauguration and then almost a year after, I am taking a flight from the same. I was pleased to hear that photography was allowed inside the terminus and didn’t waste any time to take out my camera and make full use of the occasion. I took some pictures inside the newly built airport and also of an aircraft which was just taking off.

My cousins marriage was over by 18th and I was willing to visit my grandfather who lived in the small town of Katwa. Considering the fact that busses will be crowded and the freedom of roaming around will be cut short, I decided to travel on a bike.

On 21st morning I took the bike of my brother in law and rode on. The cold winter morning greeted me with chilling winds over my face and after a long time I felt the chill of the winter. It was a bit foggy and Sun was just rising from the horizon behind the palm trees. A sight which I saw after a long time. I was riding through a single lane road through the country side amidst fields green with potato crops. The thatched houses and the cattle greeted me while I passed through the villages which were just awakening from slumber. In few villages the villagers had erected check post with Bamboo so as to stop heavy vehicles and collect donations for the upcoming Saraswati Puja. I was also stopped at one of the check posts by some children.

I passed through the mustard fields full of yellow flowers, it reminded me of the scenes that are often shot in Indian commercial cinema. Its just I was passing through some of them rather than sitting in the theater and watching any movie. Every passing vehicles blew a storm of dust on my face, but I liked it because it was the dust of my mother land rather than the pollution of the cities. I had to stop at few villages to confirm from the villagers the route that I was traveling was correct.

Enroute to my grandfathers place I stopped by my native village and had my breakfast. I haven’t visited our house for more than 2 years, and I enjoyed every moment of my stay over there. I prayed in our mandir and then started my onward journey.

After meeting my grandfather after almost 2 years I felt how much I miss them. I lost my grandmother just a couple of weeks back and it was my misfortune that I couldn't see her for the last time. Grandpa is alone now and i wished I could have stayed back. I admire him a lot and I wish that I get some of his qualities, if not all, so that I can consider myself a human being worth living in this world. I doubt whether me or any of my cousins can ever reach the human level that he had reached. He will always be someone whom I will respect and look at even when he has traveled to some other world.

I bid goodbye to my aunt and rode back home. On my way I touched Burdwan University Golap Baag Campus, where I had studied for a brief period. I loved the campus for its greenery and its trees. The sun was setting and after I met one of my cousins who was studying Masters in the university, I rode back home.