Palm-fringed paddy fields...

In this picture - mountains (Western Ghats), coconut trees, paddy fields, cattle, clouds, water, greenery.....

***

Before and After Rain

The wind has exposed the light undersides of the leaves,
The sky darkens into a mass of ash and bluish grey,
The neem trees, all a-huddle, heave
And sway,
The unploughed fields, dry and parched with pain,
Eagerly await the first reviving flush of rain.

The arid landscape, languishing and about to die,
Weeks later looks refreshingly alive.
Fields covered with saplings moist and green
Present a healing scene.
In the ditch where gurgling waters flow
Reposes a tranquil milch-buffalo.

Tom Prato/Tan Pratonix

Source - http://hubpages.com/hub/Tropical-Poem

Monsoons again !!

Clouds, mountains, fields, palms, green, monsoons,.. All at Karwar this season !!

Flowers anyone ??

"Aaboli" Flowers for down to earth prices at Joida - Kumbharwada...

Its "Suggi" time again !!!!

"Suggi" referred to the Harvest Festival is bieng celebrated now, and culminates on the full-moon night of Holi (Festival of Colours), and if you have passed through Ankola you just cant afford to miss this.

 Suggi is meant for appeasing the Gods for a better Crop on the next year, and also to show their gratitude for the Harvest that they have got in the present year. The men who adorn with the colourful headgear stay away from their homes for a week, dancing before each and every house, taking a fistful of rice from each house, and cooking and eating food in the fields, or under the trees, etc.

 Suggi will reach its peak on the last day of the week, on the night when Holi fire is let in the villages. On that day the Suggi performers of Ankola assemble at the Tahasildaar - Magistrate's office at Ankola, and perform for about a hour, and receive the  Government Honours from the Magistrate. This is a customary practice said to have started from the time of the British Rule in India.

  It is said that "Suggi" is a very ancient tradition carried on since generations by the farmers, of different communities, to appease the Gods to eradicate poverty, keep away diseases, bring rains, and plentiful harvest for the next season, and as a gratitude for the earlier harvest.

 It is said that during the British Rule, it is said that a Colonial Officer was passing by on his horse, when he came across this group of Suggi performers, engaged in their customary dance. And he insulted them saying its a useless pagan practice or whatever.

The Chief of the Suggi group is said to have called upon the Gods, saying "if Suggi is not a blind-belief and a pagan practice, prove it to the officer". 

At that moment it is said that the officer's horse froze on the spot and stood still, and the officer had no choice but to accord due importance and recognition to Suggi or else get off his frozen-horse and walk through the crowd of the "Lowly" pagan people. And being the top-most Gora Officer of the local administration, walking through the common folk was ruled out.

Therefore, he accorded Official Governmental recognition to the Suggi practice, and his horse came to life, and the victorious Suggi performers followed the officer to his Office, where they performed till sunset.
This practice continues till today at the Taluka (Provincial) Magistrate's office.

Watch a video of Suggi uploaded by Harish Keni :-

Views from the Train Window..

Sights from the Konkan Railway, from Mangalore to Karwar of Lush green fields, National Highway no.17, trains and more...

Rural Life - Gokarn

Still Images of Rural life and landscape at Gokarn....

This is the device to Lift Water from the Well.......

This works on the Lever Principle, with a slanted horizontal pole (above my head) balanced on a pivot, one end of which is tied down to weights and the other end is fixed to another bamboo pole (which I am holding) tied to a Bucket. I have to pull the pole holding the bucket and fill the water, and let the pole slowly up, and then empty the water into the water-channel or another container.

Hay Stacks....

Its Monsoon time again....

Peanut-Crop Fields

Peanut or Ground-nut is normally a 2nd Crop for te farmers in Karwar District. The sand-loamy soil which is water logged during the monsoons, yields a good salt-tolerant Paddy crop in October/November, and when the water dries up, its pefect for sowing the groundnut crop.

This crop does not need much irrigation, and it strives on the ground-water that is left over from the monsoons. The origins of Groundnut Cultivation is not known to the farmers. A Google search on the topic gave me this Info :-
History of the Groundnut Crop -  "...... the Portuguese conquered Goa from Bijapur rulers in 1510. They had a flourishing trade with Vijayanagara, and to whom they supplied horses. Portuguese rule in Goa had far reaching effects. They introduced new floras like groundnut, chilly, tobacco etc., besides printing technology from the New World." - Source

A Thatch-roof House

Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge, rushes and heather, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. It is a very old roofing method and has been used in both tropical and temperate climates. Thatch is still employed by builders in developing countries, usually with low-cost, local vegetation. By contrast in some developed countries it is now the choice of affluent people who desire a rustic look for their home or whom have purchased an originally thatched abode. 
Source - Wikipedia

Village houses may be artists' delight, and cement structures in villages may look like incongruous ugly dots in a picturesque landscape. But while urbanites may feel that village houses should retain their traditional appearance - and therefore be made of wood, stone, mud etc. - villagers themselves are quick to point to the irony in this: the well-meaning urbanites themselves have long ago abandoned traditional housing! Low cost, aesthetics, preserving traditions, and living in climatically suitable houses are all fine notions, but the durability of homes is also an important consideration. A mud house with a thatched roof needs continuous maintenance, whereas a brick and cement house is far sturdier, and has a longer life span. And villagers are as interested in the longevity of their homes as their urban counterparts.

Source - India Together.org

These Pictures were taken at Bhatkal, a town 150kms South of Karwar.

A rural morning.... Siddar, Karwar

Sunrise

This picture of Sunrise was shot at Siddar village, in Karwar, enroute our Shirve mountain trek.... More pictures to follow..

Biking to the Moon...

The partial Full moon is visible in this picture taken at sunrise, as I was biking at Arthalava Kere, Mudgeri in Karwar...

Monsoon Landscape at Kerwadi, Karwar

A Dramatic Landscape at Kerwadi village, in Karwar clicked on a Nokia 3230 1.3 meg pix mobile camera, by Sandeep Naik.

Another Kerwadi village Landscape

This is another Kerwadi village Landscape shot on Nokia 3230 1.3 mpix mobile by Sandeep Naik...

Minor Irrigation Dam at Kerwadi village

This is a Minor Irrigation Dam at Kerwadi village, Karwar, constructed by the Government. Due to the incessant rains this month, it has been overflowing....

Picture Shot with Nokia 3230 1.3 mpix camera by Sandeep Naik.

A Village House

Picture of a Village House with Clay Tile roofing, built with Stones, Lime mixed with Earth, and with a thatched roof shed attached to it, used as a Fireplace and storehouse. The Main house though appears to be small, is consisting of many rooms, like a maze, and is approximately 3000sq.ft. in area. The house stands in a Betel-nut Plantation Farm, far removed from the civilisation.

Kumbharwada Rice Fields

These are the Rice Fields of Kumbharwada, in the midst of the mountains forming the Western Ghats. As the land surface is slopy, the fields are cut into steppes, small soil barriers are raised at the slope of each field to stock in water, to help the Paddy grow.
The stucture in the middle of the fields serves as a watch-tower during the paddy-growing season, and also as a hay stack when the paddy is harvested.

Tranquility Defined - January Theme - Best Photo of 2008

Tranquility Defined :-
Tranquility is an alert condition during which ones usual worries and anxieties no longer have control. This leads to a state of clarity in which insight occurs. In simple words, tranquility can be compared to the clearness of the water. It is not the stillness or movement, it is the clearness, that is tranquility. The tranquility of your mind can exist both in stillness and movement.

(Pic of the Kali River clicked at Karwar in Hankon Joog village)

Tranquility is the same thing as relaxation, because when you are tranquil you are relaxed.
Achieving Tranquility can be done by simply watching our breath. But the mind is not used to it and will be distracted the moment you start sitting in meditation watching your breath. The mind will try to unsettle you with anxious thoughts, tempt you with happy thought’s, if all else fails it will throw in a few exotic thoughts.
For example if you are a musician, your mind may distract you with the promise of new tunes. And if you are a painter it may suggest pictures to you. But you don’t have to worry that you will lose tracks of these creative insights, if you continue with your meditation. Each of these distractions arises and then passes away so they should simply be observed.
The Value Of Thinking Meditation is the friend of thought and shows that it is not thought that is wrong, but our uncontrolled way of thinking. Meditation helps us to make better use of our thinking, to become part of the clearness rather than the confusion.
The tranquility experienced in meditation will help your mind to become less cluttered and help in thinking more quickly and clearly; examine arguments more thoroughly; see through problems more readily and look at issues more objectively.
Text Source - Here

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants This is the Last Photo for the January Theme - Best Photo of 2008. All through the month I have posted pictures of my town Karwar assuming that all are the Best ones that I clicked. I give no accolades to my photography skills, but the fact I know and have realised long back is that Karwar is a town with lot of Scenic places and opportunities for Landscape Photography. I have tried to make best of it, with my Nokia N-70 2 Meg Pix Mobile Camera. And I am constantly trying... to get the illusive one Best Photo...

Do we know you ??

From Sunset at Karwar Beach And Arthalava Dam

Green - January Theme - Best Photo of 2008

Green

Green is money 
green is my truth 
Green is honey 
on my roof 

Green is my god 
green is land 
Green is a wad 
of contraband 

Green is a color 
green is my name 
Green is the dollar 
that put me in shame 

Green is grass 
green is my car 
Green is a mass 
on a distant star 

Green is my breath 

green is my greed 
Green was the death 
of my spititual seed 

Green runs over 
green runs deep 
Green is the rover 
that warrants my keep 

Green is my love 
green is the beginning 
Green is above 
my personal sinning 

Green is peace 
green is a tree 
Green is an aura 
that helps me to be 

Green is my soul 
green is my heart 
Green is my goal 
to heal me to start 

Green is the mountain 
green is the sea 
Green is a fountain 
that washes o'er me 

Green is a place 
green is learning 
Green is this race 
that keeps on burning

Green is the world 
green are the people 
Green are hurled 
under a steeple 

Green is the grace 
green is meek 
Green is a face 
that I will seek 

Green is forgiving 
green is rising 
Green is for living 
and compromising 

Green is a planet 
green is a kingdom 
Green is a pallet 
of colors of wisdom 

Green is this word 
green has meaning 
Green is a bird 
flying and leaning 

Green is my life 
green is my way 
Green will strive 
to keep me at bay 

Green is not money 
green is my truth 
Green is honey upon my roof..... 

Poet - Jon Coe.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants