Daily photo: life on Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia.
In the background are floating houses that move from place to place depending on the water level of the lake. You would find a village here today, gone tomorrow and relocated to another place!
What is interesting is how they manage utility services. In one of these floating villages, I even saw them having temporary power lines on bamboo poles. I assume they relocate the poles too when they move. I am sure they wouldn’t need any water supply pipelines.
Most of these villages depend on fishing for a living, and it probably suits them well to stay on the waters of the expansive lake. There is no need to buy land too!
We had arrived in Garamur Satra–one of the many Vaishnavite Monasteries in Assam’s Majuli Island–late in the morning, just in time for the morning prayers. The day was beginning well as the sun shined bright and dispersed the winter chill that had settled in through the night. Inside the Satra, its spacious temple and prayer hall were nearly empty as two monks arrived to perform morning prayers. It was quiet, aesthetic and peaceful–a combination of all this that emanated energizing vibes.
I travel to Rajasthan every winter, when the weather is tolerable and sunsets are colourful. We travel far, across the state, camera in toe gawking at the giant facades of the palaces and wondering at the simple lives in the hinterland. In the far-eastern edge, where the tourist flock for their camel rides in the sun and long for playful evenings on the dunes, we go in search of something a bit secluded and treasured. These musicians helps us enliven the experience.
This photograph was made on a cold morning in the desert. While we waited for the sun to warm us, the enterprising men gathered a few twigs to beat the chill accumulated through the night. Jokes were cracked, songs were sung and the cold was complained about. The camel, it appears, is nodding in approval.