It was well after the monsoon season when I was travelling in Myanmar last year, though I did encounter occasional rains. But the downpour that I witnessed in central Myanmar, at Inle Lake, is something I will remember for a long time to come. I have grown up in a region where it used to rain heavily and all day long during the monsoon months, and yet had never seen this kind of pelting before. The lady in the photograph was about 30 meters away, but was barely visible through the thick raindrops. Unusual as it may seem, the camera struggled to focus, often bringing the focus on thick raindrops somewhere in the air!
I was in Bhutan last week, leading a photography tour with an enthusiastic group of people who had travelled from several parts of India, Singapore and USA. We had a great camaraderie in the group with many enjoyable moments, some great photography opportunities that allowed many beautiful images to happen. There were some missed opportunities too, thanks to some early morning fog. Here is a moment I stole from a young monk during the tour.
‘Jolada Rotti’ (rotti–flat bread–made from sorghum floor) is one of the commonly available foods in the restaurants of north Karnataka. Traditional eateries of this region are called ‘Khanavali’ where you can expect Jolada Rotti to be served with a side-dish, fenugreek leaves and chutney-pudi (spicy powder as accompaniments).
Seen in the photograph is a kitchen of a Khanavali in Badami, Karnataka, where women are preparing Jolada Rotti on a wood-fired stove. They work for a good part of the day and make several hundreds of them everyday.
