The eternally endless, snowless, cold and disappointing winter has finally come to an end in Amsterdam. The streets now dazzle in the light till late in the night. The sun is out longer than it is down. There is more warmth than there is chill. There are more people outside than ever. Hey ho and hooray, the summer is here.
The grass is green
Flowers are full of colors
Streets are flooded with shoppers and tourists
The streetlights are lit quite late in the night and yet, they seem to be too early
Gorgeous last rays of sunlight falling into the streets of Amsterdam, giving off the retro look of the ’60s, which in reality are at least couple of centuries old, on a Friday night made for a fantastic start for the weekend. It was a great day. The weekend is going to be even more amazing.
Spring is here, which means, the cherry blossoms trees, all around the country are blooming in pink. The fact that the sight lasts only a couple of weeks, later returning to green, makes it even more mesmerising to sit under one and watch the world go by. Its one of the few things that make me realise how far away I am from home, and how far away my life has come, for until an year ago I had never seen such a tree in my life.
Travelling on trains in India, makes for a wondrous journey filled with amazing sights of towns, villages and other dwelling places and a mesmerising view of hundreds of thousands of acres of farmlands, draped in a blanket of early morning fog, or fresh crops bathing in sunshine and morning due, or forests filled with freshest of waters, or just simple people trying to get by their lives.
The country is so big, that it sometimes takes upto 3 days to go from one corner of the country to another. Consequently the country also has one of the largest railway networks in the world employing over 1.5 million people to serve over 25 million passengers travelling on 15,000 trains – every single day.
Visiting India and taking a 5 day trip to the mountains while using only trains as means of transport, after staying abroad and being used to high speed trains and urban-ness for a long stretch of an year made me realise how amazing India is, and how even more amazing the Indian Railways is. Serving 7 billion passengers annually, despite the bad reservation system and incompetent management, running a network of that scale in a developing nation is no small feat by any means.
I decided, every time I visit India, I will explore the country, travelling to the remotest parts (that are safe) while using trains as my primary means of transport.
Here is a glimpse of my experience..
Train stations tickle all your senses with the amazing variety of smells from foods stalls and sweet stands, mixed with the bad ones from the ill-maintained tracks and places – while you are simultaneously doused in the clamouring sounds of hawkers and vendors; beggars and coolies; and bustling sounds of people just trying to reach their destinations in their own busy lives.
Here is a short video I shot while hanging off the doors, along with dozen others, of a moving train that is about to come to a halt at a station …
After not having travelled anywhere outside Amsterdam for over a month, I was restless. It was at 2 PM, on a lazy saturday, I decided that I had to do get out and do something. But given that it gets dark by 4.30 PM during winters, I was left with one choice of place – Zandvoort beach, which was only an hour away by public transportation and I had absolutely no complaints about it, for I can spend days just watching the waves.
I reached just in time to be able to capture some amazing beach-scapes, self portraits and few long exposures.
