Strangers~An Ongoing Project

There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven't yet met ~ William Butler Yeats

At the traditional Stone pulling ceremony near Viswema Village,Nagaland.He was one among the hundreds of Nagas who were pulling the huge stone.There would be regular stop overs during this ceremony for the people to get refreshed.He was very active even after the ceremony was half way through.                                                                                                        

Met him near Aihole,Karnataka.Had a good 10 minutes talk .                          

Learning Kannada helps a lot to communicate during travels within Karnataka.

 Musician  at a marriage in Virudhunagar, near Madurai playing Clash cymbals.

 He volunteered to have a picture of himself clicked.It was more like a request 

 from him and i was more than happy.

At Kohima War Cemetery,Kohima,Nagaland, when he came down and asked me if i could 

click his picture. He wanted a copy of the picture sent to him, but he left without mentioning
a word nor he gave his address.I hope he sees this picture one day.

2nd April,2011 night,on the streets of  BTM,Bangalore,Celebrating India's World Cup victory against Sri Lanka When i
met this guy along with his friends who were dancing and celebrating the victory on the streets.We too joined them
in the celebrations.

Just at the break of dawn, we were walking along the Bekal Beach,Kasargod, Met this old man who was Waiting for 

the fishing boats to return back to shores.With great difficulty i was trying to understand what he was saying and 

he too understood that i don't know Malayalam.We both still managed to communicate with each other.He was waiting 

for the boats to return back with the catch so that he can buy some fish.I asked him how much would that cost(with 

gestures offcourse) and he should me a Re 10/- note. I showed my camera and asked him if i can click his picture, he 

gave me this pose.We walked along the beach for some time and while returning back, met him again on the road 

with a small cover and with some fish.

Sitting at one corner in the monastery,i started the conversation by asking him about the tibetan prayer wheel.
There is a large settlement of tibetans at bylakuppe,karnataka.

Somewhere between Virajpet and Coorg ,we stopped by the lush green fields where this boy was playing with his dog.
His mother and elder sister were working there.He ran though the fields upon seeing us and spoke to us for some time.
We offered him biscuits and chocolates. 

Near our hotel in Badami , few kids were playing in the mid afternoon just opp to the

KSTDC hotel, where i was staying.These kids were playing games climbing the trees and 

the walls.Every kid was trying to pull each other and were having fun.There was a huge 

open space nearby and some of the trees were fully covered with bats and some had lots of 

monkeys sitting on them.These kids were having fun throwing stones at the monkeys and 

teasing them.

Met him at Khonoma, Nagaland, while he was drinking rice beer standing 

outside his house.After a few minutes of our talk he invited us into his house and 

offered us the traditional Naga rice beer.It was freshly brewed and was strong.

Basically during our trip to Nagaland i found people over here are very courteous.

While trekking along the Bekal beach,Kasargod, we entered Udama Fishing Village along the beach to where
 we met a group of boys.It was very hot day and we decided to stop for sometime in the village.This kid  showed up
 his Tatto and wanted to get his picture clicked.

Uttarakhand.Hemkund Sahib,known as Gurudwara Sri Hemkunt Sahib Ji, is a Sikh
place of worship and pilgrimage site in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India.Met
Thakur Ramakant on top of this shrine who wanted a picture to be taken and sent to
him.I did send him his pictures taken at Hemkund Saheb.

Owns a small tea stall, Dil Pasand Tea Stall at the Mosque Road,Fraser town famous for its Sulaimani Chai.We 

stopped here during our  Christmas eve photo walk for a Tea break.We had the famous Sulaimani Chai 

along with some sweet puris.

During the traditional stone pulling ceremony at Viswema village ,Nagaland, met this father son.
More information regarding this Stone pulling ceremony

Saw them first at badami caves...in their 60's (mostly) just the two of them travelling together and later at 
bhootnath temple further down the caves...She was struggling hard to walk ,but then they were all over the caves.
He chased the monkey which attacked her at the caves before more people came to the rescue and shooed
the monkey away.And then they had this antique film roll camera with them..loved watching them.

Name unknown, working at a small scale weaving unit which uses a 

power loom to weave a silk sari.It takes 5 hours to weave one silk sari on 

these machines

Selva Raj,aged around 65 works as a watchman at a house in Pondicherry.

He has two daughters, both married and living happily and four Grand 

children.He lives with his wife somewhere closer to the beach.After a few 

minutes of our conversation which i started with "eppadi irukeenga"(how 

are you doingin Tamil) and few other words which i know in Tamil, he

understood that i don't know Tamil.He then started the conversation in 

English,a bit surprised but i felt more comfortable in continuing our 

conversation in English.He suggested some must see places along that

road.

A Village in the Mountains~Khonoma

If there has to be a green village,then it has to be in the mountains and that is exactly where Khonoma is-in the Mountains.With an estimated budget of Re 3 Crores as a part of the Green Village Project, all the roofs in this village were painted green.Now most of the color is gone.

View of Khonoma village from the peak

Around 20kms away from Kohima,Khonoma, India's first green village,is tucked up in the middle of the mountains,surrounded with paddy fields all around.It was a dusty ride from Kohima to Khonoma.We crossed a small stream of water ,granite quarries,some old and antique trucks laying on one side to reach Khonoma.

Dusty road from Kohima to Khonoma.Most part of the road is like this.

As with most of the naga villages,this village also had its own gate to protect themselves from enemies.As we climbed up the steps it was like going back in time with wooden houses,mended walls,wild apple trees and the colorful windflowers.The view from the peak was amazing with magnificent terrace paddy fields down the valley between the mountains.The peak of the hill is the memorial site for British officer G.H.Damant who fought against Khonoma who was later killed along with other Bristish officers,Sub.Major Nurbir Sai,Major C.R.Cock and H.H.Furbes.We spent some time admiring the fields and the view from the peak.Just adjacent to the peak there was a lane leading down the village.It's sometimes good to travel without any known person from that place where we end up exploring the place much better.

This pathway leading to the top of the peak made me feel like i'm walking in the medival period,with one side full of windflowers.Stepped paddy fields or terrace fields are common in the north east.Not sure about the authenticity but about 20 types of rice are grown here.

It was our seventh day in Nagaland and that probably was enough time to understand and experience the courteous naga hospitality.As we walked down the village we came across this man who was standing outside his house and drinking rice beer.After a few minutes of our talk he invited us into his house and offered us the traditional Naga rice beer.We were greeted by his daughter who gave us the rice beer.This rice beer was a stronger from what we had at the hornbill festival.Home made is afterall the best.

Father and Daughter at Khonoma Village.He offered us the rice beer at his home

Few meters down the peak, we walked into the other side of the village which was preparing for a feast later that night.A young boy walked before us holding the heads of two pigs.Most of the womenfolk were gathered at the community center preparing for the feast, few old men cracking jokes while the kids and young people were having fun playing.There was a big water tank which was one of the source of drinking water for the people of khonoma.The water was pretty cold,when i drank from it.

Women at the community center preparing for the feast.Most of these women were washing vessels,cutting vegetables.I saw this little girl sitting in a corner.

A giant rock memorial at stands near the entrance of Khonoma village.

A village known for their courageous warriors who fought against the British ,the village were A.Z.Phizo,who was the leader of Naga Nationalist Movement and regarded as the "Father of the Nagas" belonged to ,has come a long way from fighting wars against enemies to conservation of nature.
To reach Khonoma from Kohima
We hired a taxi near Kohima bus stand for Re 1000/- .Walked around the village for 3 hours before starting back and got down near Kohima war memorial.