Staring at the Sea!

A Boat at the Surathkal Beach

Lazy Sunday Photo- Fishermen Mending Fishing Net at Surathkal

Fishermen Mending Fishing Net at Surathkal Beach

This picture was taken on the post lunch walk at the Surathkal Beach. I was turning back towards the lighthouse and saw these men. I am quite hesitant to click people. But they asked me if I would like to take their picture! What more could I ask for? I miss not having a zoom lens in my camera. I am still taking all the pictures with the wide angle lens.

And with ankle sprain looks like February will remain travel free. What a pity.

Surathkal Trip Report at Gonomad Now

Boats at the Beach, Surathkal

My trip report about Surathkal is now up at the main Gonomad site.

I kept walking just next to the waves soaking my jeans up to my knees. There is hardly any beach wear concept for women in India. ... but I have to remind myself to wear a Capri and a material that dries soon, instead of a heavy jeans that weigh a ton when you get wet.

However, the sun was so bright (even in the winter month of December) that I got wet at least ten times and dried within half an hour or so every time.

The funny part was that my cell phone had full connection (I don’t consider a holiday complete till I lose my cell connection) so I called home (Dad and younger nephew and my sister) and put the phone away from the ear so that they could hear the waves. Hardly anyone could guess what they were listening to!

...

The price to pay for seclusion is maggi (Instant Noodles made by Nestle and very popular in India) and omelet for lunch sold from a small shop quite near the lighthouse, but that is something I would gladly live with.

...

Footprints on the Sands!

Footprints on the Sand, Surathkal Beach

I wonder what do you think when you see your own footprints on the sand? I know the thought process might go in so many directions! Some of it I must have read somewhere, like the fragility of my efforts. After all, for the waves, it hardly takes any time or effort to wipe them out!

Then there used to be this very famous poster (in other people's rooms) when I was at IITK (Ph.D days) where in the most troubled times there are only one set of footprints visible on the sands of time! Heck even in this picture only one set of footprints are visible but those are very well mine and these are sands of Surathkal beach and not sands of time! And I guess it is better that way (I wonder how will I feel if I look at this picture say even 5 years from now) :D

By now you must have realized that I am a miserable flop when I try to philosophize! So what were my real thoughts when I tried to compose the shot above? That I thoroughly enjoy walking, footprints be damned, but they sure do look good in a picture! I only wish I was a better photographer and the picture was a little sharper.

So, what are your thoughts about the sands of time?

What do We do with the Time we 'Save'

Picture taken from the Manglore Express, as it was entering Mangalore Station

When we were planning our journey to Bangalore by train in December 2008, a frequent consideration was to 'save' time. I think it is a common tendency of almost everyone to try and 'save' time. I wonder what do we all do with the saved time! This occurred to me for the first time when I was writing a short post on the Bangalore train journey for CLAY.

The biggest advantage of traveling by the Rajdhani Express to Bangalore, is the time saved (though I wonder what we do with the amount of time we try to keep saving, sometimes it feels it is better to spend that time on rain, rather than in my mundane activities).

So what do you do with the time you save?

Knife on the Beach!

Knife at Surathkal Beach

If you ask me what was this knife doing at the Surathkal Beach, your guess is as good as mine. I do have a theory about it but it would be fun to read your views first!

Fishermen Launching a Boat at the Sea- A Video from Surathkal

Fishermen Launching a Boat at the Sea, Surathkal Beach

I was walking along the Sutarhkal Beach when I saw the fishermen launching a boat at the sea. It took some 20 men and a lot of waves to get the boat finally moving at the sea. Saw this for the first time and was really thrilled!

There are a lot of the houses along the Surathkal Beach and you can see people coming out of their houses to casually take an evening stroll. The problem is that they also treat it as their dumping yard (if you walk to your left, when facing the sea), still it is relatively clean.

I did not meet a single tourist on my walk for one hour in one direction and then back. But I did see a lot of fishermen, children, women and school kids playing in their backyard, that is the beach! I really enjoyed my day.

Hope you like the video.

What did you do on January 1, 2009?

Surathkal Beach

What did you do on 1st January? It became 12.00 midnight for me in a train, somewhere between Mangalore to Bangalore. Woke up once at 12.45, smiled to myself that it is 2009 and went back to sleep again. We were in a sleeper coach (no AC) and it was a little cold.

Then we changed two buses to reach home. After breakfast, I sat down and wrote the entire Surathkal Beach trip account. Now that is a good way to begin a new year for me! But as I cannot upload the pictures from the SLR and the point and shoot camera, the posting of the trip account has to wait. Did many more things (like eating out with friends and reading an academic paper in the evening) but the best memoray of the day is about walking.

I was walking around the area where we are staying and for a while I thought I could feel the waves lapping at my feet again. Of course this lasted only for a couple of seconds but it was such a wonderful feeling.

And while you read this I would be on a train heading North!

So what did you on 1st January?

Surathkal Beach- The Last Day of 2008

I cribbed throughout the year in 2008 that I hardly got to travel. Well, at least 31 December 2008 was well spent at the Surathkal Beach near Mangalore. The last time I was near sea was in 2003. Never again I will let five years pass without visiting a beach.

Their Backyard- Children at Surathkal Beach

There are many house quite close to the beach and towards the evening these kids started running towards the sea. After a while their mothers dragged them away.

Boats at Surathkal Beach

I love walking on the beach. The advantage of Surathkal Beach is that there was hardly anyone around during the day. The locals start coming only towards the evening and it makes sense too, the sun was quite hot even in December. I walked for two hours before lunch and for two more hours after the lunch. Pure bliss and the best way to end a year.