Indian workshops

India is fast industrialising. Everyone has a mobile, even in the depth of the desert, a turbaned wearing man will pull out his mobile phone. ATMs are now commonplace, internet shops aplenty (sometimes) and in the big cities, the sign of international arrival, chained coffee shops are opening up.













But India is vast. In size and especially in the number of people. Old ways can still be seen, leave the main street in a major city and the backstreets will show you how India has looked and worked for many decades. In a small city or a town, this is still how many of the places look on the main street. It is these streets that I enjoy as they evoke the past and stand for the achievement of previous generations. I like the industrialness of these places, the big machines and the dust of production. The people that work here are masters of their trade. They have practical skills that only a few have in the west.

Indian Streets

It's winter so the temperature falls quickly as the sun goes down. This motley crew was gathered around a raging fire, chatting and keeping warm. One of them offered ganga after taking the pictures. I was little scared at first, they looked fearsome but they just laughed and carried on with what they were doing whilst I messed about with my tripod.

I regret not using flash, as mixed with a long exposure it could've added another dimension to the picture. I plan to go back, give them a copy of the photo each and if daylight, take their individual portraits. It'll be nice to do the fire shots again. Anybody has any suggestions on how to take a better shot here?













I love Indian streets at night, especially in photos. These lights make the street look other worldly. I'm not sure what Indian light's use? Sodium? The redness mixes well with the fluorescent lights.

Forget the mini, it's how many people you can fit in an autorickshaw.

Group taxi autorickshaws (there has to be a more catchy name than this) are slightly bigger than the autorickshaws you usually see within cities. These are intercity or intervillage rickshaws. Much cheaper and much more crowded than the ones in the cities.

In the one I took, there was the driver and three people in the passenger seat. Me and another guy shared the seat, whilst the third guy sat on the floor, reading a paper. Cramped is not he word!

In the back, two rows of seats opposite each other, should seat six but usually eight adults, plus anyone they can fit inbetween. That's countless kids and bits of adults. Well, that's the view from outside.

For me, it's the Delhi-Agra road that's king of fitting the most people in an autorickshaw. These had people hanging off the back and sides. How they manage to go with all those people, I really don't know.

Here's an another fun rickshaw sport.

http://out-route.gloriousnoise.com/2007/01/the_dangerous_world_of_autorickshaw_raci.php

Addicted to coke, again.

Having managed to not drink the evil stuff for many years (except with rum), I now have it daily. Taiwan broke me but India, in particular Gujarat (no beer!!!), has me ordering a bottle a day.

Perhaps it's its kill and clean properties that my stomach so desires.

Bhuj; The Jats, the Rabanis and the Harijans

Picture: Harijan woman


Yesterday, I hired a rickshaw for half a day and toured some villages around Bhuj.

Most of the land around Bhuj is scrub but there are some farms too. These tended to be large wall-enclosed green oasises. A bit like farm estates. Yellow flowering kale (cabbage like plants) was everywhere. This crop is grown for animal feed. Also growing at the mo are cotton plants and papaya like plants.

The scrub was mostly short prickly shrubs, cacti and short grass. In places there was salt stained rocks and dry river beds. Unfortunately there was none of the classic cracked salt plains I was hoping to see. These are further north, so I'm told.

The villages have a mixture of people. There are Hindus, Muslims and tribe people. The latter included the Jats, the Rabanis and the Harijans.

The Jats are Muslim. In the village I visited, the main trade is milk producing. The village has many goats and some cows. They are very friendly and I was taken around to see families, women sewing and lastly, I was invited for a cup of pure milk tea. Life seem very slow but it was in the heat of the day.

The Rabanis seem to have the most elaborate jewellery, especially ear pieces. Many were dressed in black, though this isn't the only colour they wear. I was shown some stitch work that the women where doing. These were mainly head pieces. The cloth they worked looked modern and they used stitches and mirrors to add patterns to these. They are also very friendly, especially their children. Unfortunately, the women didn't want to be photographed. Their children did though. They loved the digital camera. Shoot and see it straight away. The magic of modern technology is never lost on children. Local expert, PJ Jethi, describes the Rabanis as 'a mystery. Their life style is totally different from any other tribe.' Many Rabanis are still nomad or semi nomad.



I only met one family of the Harijans. They are also very friendly. The old woman pictured above was a perfect model and didn't mind me fluffing around with my camera.

Here's a link for more detail on textiles crafts of Kutch.

http://www.indistudio.com/india/embroider/embroiderKutch/embroidKutch.htm

Road by horn

As I sit here, at the back of an internet cafe in Bhuj, India, I can still hear the road. This is common as it's 'road by horn' in India. It's one of the three 'needs' for driving in India;

First you need good brakes
Second you need a good horn
Most importantly you need good luck.

The skilled Indian driver uses his horn repeatedly, sometimes tapping out a nasty tune other times fist down hard 'Get out of the F-ing way'. The horn can be anything from hello; hello - I'm overtaking; hello sir - want a lift; watch where you're going; come-on; hello gorgerous; and probably much more.

Horns have different sounds as well; there's the nasal sheep horn, the wet continuous fart horn, the angry pig horn, the angry man horn, the pup horn, the elephant roar and the train coming the tunnel horn.

I'm not sure what Indian nerves are like. Mine, have been shattered. They were shattered from day one and now the remains of my nerves get a workout each day.

If you ever come to India - bring ear plugs.