PETER's Passage to India

Red Ivory Tower, Government Law School Chennai India 2006

2011-03-23T11:32:00.000-04:00

an old man and the sea, Marina Beach Chennai Jun 16 2006

2011-03-19T10:18:00.000-04:00

Three Amigos for Fishing, Marina Beach Jun 16 2006

2011-03-19T10:12:00.000-04:00

the Beach, Marina Beach Chennai Jun 16 2006

2011-03-15T12:09:00.000-04:00

Gandhi was there, Marina Beach Chennai Jun 2006

2011-03-15T12:04:00.000-04:00

Mahatma Gandhi stood there at the beach..
proudly enough for his mother land.

Local Bus on the way to the beach, Marina Beach Chennai Jun 2006

2011-03-15T12:01:00.000-04:00

We need Ricksaw in India, Front of Egmore Station Chennai

2011-03-11T13:23:00.001-05:00

Pious People - Worship before work, Government of Tamil Nadu Fort Chennai Jun 16 2006

2011-03-11T13:07:00.000-05:00

national flag at the mast top, Government of Tamil Nadu Fort Chennai Jun 16 2008

2011-03-11T13:05:00.001-05:00

One of their Gods, Government of Tamil Nadu Chennai Jun 2006

2011-03-11T12:54:00.001-05:00

life is beautiful.. , Marina Beach Chennai India 2006

2011-02-20T20:20:00.002-05:00

Making promising India more promising is that they have heathier poplution profile
compared to other developed or developing countries like Europe, Japan, US or Korea etc.
They have lot more young people who study hard and work diligently for their brighter future.

Happy new year and good luck guys~~ !

How sweet are the hopes and the pleasures of youth,
Ere misfortune has blighted their springs to the heart,
Ere the seeds of suspicion, and envy, and art,
Have supplanted the feelings of candour and truth!

In life's joyous morning, how glowing, how bright,
Are the dreams of the future--by Fancy inspired!
Like bubbles, that ere they are form'd have expired,
So vanish its sorrows, as transient, as light.

But soon, oh! too soon, must these feelings decay,
The storms of the world they can never survive;
And alas! when once gone they can never revive
To soothe or to brighten life's desolate way!

. Anne S. Bushby

Sugarcane drink on the Spot, Mumbai India Jun 2006

2011-02-17T22:26:00.001-05:00

Gate of India, Harbor Front Mumbai India Jun 2006

2011-01-28T20:04:00.001-05:00

first morning in India, Collaba Mumbai India Jun 14 2006

2011-01-28T19:54:00.001-05:00

fishrmen and their heritage.., Bengal Ocean Mumbai India Jun 2006

2011-01-22T17:29:00.000-05:00

red tug boat to bring the big guys over the horizons.. :p ,Bengal Ocean Mumbai India Jun 2006

2011-01-22T17:22:00.000-05:00

Good Morning Mr. Fisherman, Mumbai Harbor India Jun 2006

2011-01-22T17:17:00.002-05:00

a Tribute to Chennai Express, Mumbai to Chennai India Jun 2006

2011-01-20T17:06:00.003-05:00

Air conditioned two-tier bed from Mumbai to Chennai
running 1,250 km for 23 and half hours .

The concise but precise description on the express is too simple for me though to sincerely convey
my first & rich taste of India I much enjoyed throughout the journey in the train..

Almost a full day of traveling by train diagonally across the continent of India from west coast to east coast was a fairly good gateway to the great landscape in different terrains and weather belts in the giant country.

During the journey, several people had come and gone for the seats in front of mine. the shy girl was the first traveler accompanied for couple of hours.. She looked very much an Indian girl with shyness and some level of elegance in gesture..

What a beautiful long blue tail of Chennai Express.. though the stories of life of all the passengers will lot lot longer than that..
The single word 'Express Train' itself is enough for anybody to get excited .. then it doesn't need to mention how much I could get excited by trying the train in the country where I visit for the first time. :-))

She was sitting on the rail under the sunshine in the afternoon. I used to sitting on the rail in my childhood as well. I liked the shiny silky warm steel rail though it's not wide enough for comfortable sitting. My express train was just passing by her with big noise & vibration of diesel engine but she was just sitting in there not disturbed without any movement. Pressure of her life might be far heavier than the regular noise or she might be too much absorbed by reading a letter from one of her children working in big city far from home village.

Now I see her round back with bright scarf with sunshine and the scene makes me feel so warm and happy. Hopefully she is quite OK.. :-)
In about two and half hours after departure the train started ascending to cross the giant mountain ranges..
Wallahs selling chai, local fruits, fried snacks.. were getting busy all of a sudden as the train approached to the platform to stop..
It's always good to see, smell, and taste the local fruits selling in the small station..

I like to stay at the railway station.
People come and go with their companions, heavy luggage
and with something emotional to carry down to their final destination.

Seeing people waiting at the platform makes me getting little bit of nervous, because I see the faces of people with their woes.. more or less.. in life..
The faces seem to tell me their stories of life.. which hasn't been easy at all.
It's quite different feeling that I feel at the airline terminal where I see people with some level of status, arrogance sometimes and seemingly no agony at all .
Specifically they are not allowed to carry any big bag other than brief case or just tiny ones.
And the looks of the people waiting at the air terminal do not really look like travellers..so to speak..

A glimpse of old remains of Arabic mosque reminded me of the fact that how rich & long history India has.. Yes, Ancient Ganges culture was one the four cultural origins of human kind.. :-)

feeling of anything approaching to me..
feeling of something away from me..

An the feeling of something sharing or exchanging..
in the meantime.

Life is a collection of debris from those of comes & goes..
with psychological scars
left as just chunks of memories..
.. bulky set of weighted connections among the activated neurons..

sometimes jewels mostly garbage..
though we learn a lot from the garbage..

Now I have no chance in sitting at the entrance steps
with the door wide open in the train in Korea, Canada
or other developed countries.
But I have a good memory of doing exactly same thing
the men at the picture were doing when I was in school in early 1980..
We talked about our girl friends, mostly political situations,
and what our life would like to be over the beers,
and sang lots of songs hoping for better future
and condemning political reality.. on the train running fast..
with the door wide open
with all the swirling wind rushing onto our faces.

We were so happy together on the rail..
listening and feeling the constant rhythm of the running steel horse.

After the couple of blinks of eyes..
the train running the opposite direction had gone away far..

How many people we've been passing by
without saying hello,
without shaking hand with,
without giving even a glance..
though if we did
they might have been my husband, wife or life-long friend...

What an unbearable lightness of life..

Isn't it pretty?
The colors of the engine quite well matched with the flowers fully blossomed in the tree nearby..

The people at the crossroad watched me who was eagerly taking photos of themselves..
I thought that
how many people took a chance to try this express train,
how many people could have a chance
to get out their home town to see more, to experiece more..
to get to know there is much bigger world than their village..

I wasn't sure though.. which life is happier..

I've been travelling a lot and sometimes I thought that I am living on just a small planet of Earth. However when I think in the other way around.. the dimension of physical space might not really matter for life..

No matter how big scale our life might span, the depth & richness of our life do not quite propotional the the spatial coverage..

So I changed my mind to envy them who has been living in the same place for a long time.. generation after generation with the all the same trees, flowers and grasses getting older togther with them.. with all the same color of moon wax and wane with same trajectory..
Just like the very first couple on earth
they were striding steadily on the dark brown soil..
seemingly barren though.. quite distant than the image of Eden..

the holy cow.. :p .. was in the process of getting energy transfer from earth after very hard work of ploughing..
Chennai Express kept on running & running
amid the vast flat land of the mid-continent..

生如浮雲
Isn't life like the clouds high above..?
Running like a bullet train, things in reality go faster than the Shakespeare's arrow..

Hey Mr. Cloud, how can you be so detached from everything?

I just watched the clouds.. totally out of my mind..
and kept enjoying the constant rhythm of the train in comfort..

I see the only tree over there..
a small but beautiful palm tree.. upright still with the long hairs..

Years ago a bird might drop a seed while she flew..
to initiate the life of the plant on the very spot.

What a miracle of life I see..
What a seemingly inadvertent but extremely well self-maintaining ecosytem furbished by the touches of the Creator..

巖刹 400 A.D. Rock-Cut Temple, Island of Elephanta(Gharapuri) Mumbai India Jun 13 2006

2011-01-20T15:57:00.001-05:00

巖刹 400 A.D. Rock-Cut Temple II, Island of Elephanta (Gharapuri) Mumbai India Jun 13 2006

2011-01-20T15:52:00.000-05:00

完 Almost there.., Chennai Express 2006

2008-12-31T15:46:00.019-05:00

野 Passing Gooty Junction, Chennai-Express 2006

2008-12-31T09:21:00.048-05:00

景 Palm Trees over the Horizon, Chennai Express 2006

2008-12-30T12:05:00.011-05:00

和 Cattles on peaceful meadow, Chennai Express 2006

2008-12-30T11:26:00.018-05:00

It looked very much peaceful..
at least from the distance..
without any connection with them..

風 Amid South East of India, Chennai Express

2008-12-29T18:58:00.018-05:00

色 a Woman of Indigo Blue, Chennai Express 2006

2008-12-29T12:47:00.013-05:00

野 Running across rural India, Chennai-Express 2006

2008-12-28T16:16:00.024-05:00

役 Railroad Workers, Chennai Express 2006

2008-12-28T11:09:00.010-05:00

走 Keep on running to East, Chennai Express 2006

2008-12-26T11:01:00.016-05:00

驛 Station Razampeta, Chennai Express 2006

2008-12-26T10:41:00.014-05:00

生 Life is beautiful though.., Chennai Express India 2006

2008-12-25T13:45:00.013-05:00

終 At the end, we will lay down in peace.., Chennai Express India Jun 2006

2008-12-25T13:34:00.003-05:00

沙 Crossing the huge sand river, Chennai Express 2006

2008-12-20T20:10:00.009-05:00

As I was sitting in the entrance step of the express train which was running really slow crossing the steel bridge, I felt like I am sitting in the fFnland sauna.. So hot and dry..
And I found some coffins in the middle of huge river sands.. I assumed that people wanted flood of the river to carry the coffin to the holy river of Ganges.. for the good of the deads..

驛 At the Station, Chennai Express 2006

2008-12-20T20:03:00.004-05:00

a Couple walking on the rail.., Chennai Express 2006

2008-12-20T19:57:00.005-05:00

民 Life never gets easy going.., Chennai Express India Jun 2006

2008-12-20T18:54:00.014-05:00

They just try hard to survive..
there is nothing like kill themselves..

Their walking for work makes their muscles stronger and healthier
and makes their way of thinking and living simpler and simpler..
We usually neglect how much they can learn from the mother nature and we never imagine how much they can learn from the daily routines.. in the middle of the nature..

Amid some desert area, Chennai Express India 2006

2008-12-17T13:40:00.004-05:00

Daddy and Son, Chennai Express 2006

2008-12-17T12:56:00.004-05:00

Herds of Cattles, Chennai Express June 2006

2008-12-17T11:22:00.009-05:00

農 Across the Green Rice Paddies.., Chennai Express India Jun 2006

2008-12-16T21:33:00.014-05:00

仁 People at the Rail Cross, Chennai Express India June 2006

2008-12-16T21:20:00.010-05:00

和 a Family I travelled with, Chennai Express India Jun 2006

2008-12-16T18:24:00.004-05:00

生 a Glimpse of People in Chennai-Mumbai-Express, Chennai-Express India 2006

2008-12-16T15:01:00.029-05:00

驛 Kondapuram Station, Chennai Express India Jun 2006

2008-12-16T14:24:00.014-05:00

平 As peaceful as it looks.., Chennai Express India June 2006

2008-12-16T09:58:00.015-05:00

東 to the east.. east.. and further.., Chennai Express

2008-12-15T17:33:00.032-05:00

野 Rural India..To the East..to the East, Chennai Express Jun 2006

2008-12-15T12:59:00.015-05:00

驛 Arriving at Guntakal Station, Chennai Express India Jun 2006

2008-12-15T12:19:00.019-05:00

翌 Next Morning.., Chennai Express India June 15 2006

2008-12-15T11:52:00.015-05:00

黃昏 Into the Twilight.. Twilight ., Chennai Express India Jun 2006

2008-12-11T18:21:00.010-05:00

I just tried to breathe the air of the twilight while the express got faster and faster into the dark night..

走馬看雲 Watching the Clouds on the Express running, Chennai Express India 2006

2008-12-09T16:26:00.024-05:00

Yes I am a dreamer..
luckily things has been realized most of the time..
to be fair enough.. not anymore..

I really feel good when I remember the breezing images of the Indian trip..
Travelling alone means that I can touch and feel as much as I can..
In such an exotic country of mixed culture of Hindu, Muslim and more, the train was an another romantic mediator to a dream whatever I like to dream..

So it goes into the middle of the grandiose twilight of hot dry India..

昏 Running to the East as sun goes down to the horizon, Chennai Express June 2006

2008-11-22T13:46:00.020-05:00

浮雲之生
A Life like the Clouds high Above
Reality is running like the Bullet train..
faster than the Shakespeare's Arrow for Time.

Hey Mr. Cloud, how can you be so free from everything?

I just see the clouds.. totally out of my mind..
.. in the state of zero productivity.. so to speak..
while I feel the rythme of the train comfortably..

I see the only tree over there..
a small but beautiful palm tree..
upright still with the long hairs..

Years ago a bird might drop a seed while she flew..
to initiate the life of the plant on the very spot.

What a miracle of life I see..
What a seemingly inadvertent but extremely well self-maintaining ecosytem
furbished by the Invisible Hand.

The horses seem reallyenjoy galloping here and there in such spacious ranch in constrast to the people in rural India look very touch in making their living.

I often observed sheppards herding goats for milk as well as meats and it looked very much peaceful..

What a beautiful as well as exotic formatio of clouds in the hot dry season.. I could be with the huge clouds for more than 15 minutes in the fast running express.

驛 Stop by the Station, Chennai Express India 2006

2008-11-20T14:40:00.021-05:00

I like to stay at the railway station.
People come and go with their companions, heavy luggages
and with something emotional to carry down to their final destination.

Seeing people waiting at the platform makes me getting little bit of nervous, because I see the faces of people with their woes.. more or less.. in life..
The faces seem to tell me their stories of life.. which hasn't been easy at all..

It's quite different feeling that I feel at the airline terminal where I see people with some level of status, arrogance sometimes and seemingly no agony at all .
Specifically they are not allowed to carry any big bag other than brief case or just tiny ones.
And the looks of the people waiting at the air terminal do not really look like travellers..so to speak..

Isn't it pretty? As pretty as the flowers blossomed in nearby tree, the engine seemedd stand there for a long time..

Cross Encounter at the Blink of Time.., Chennai Express India June 2006

2008-11-19T10:01:00.010-05:00

After the couple of blinks of eyes..
the train running the opposite direction had gone away far..

How many people we've been passing by
without saying hello,
without shaking hand with,
without giving even a glance..
though if we did
they might have been my husband, wife or life-long friend..

What an unbearable lightness of life..

The ladies under traditional costume of strong natural color caught my sight though a couple of blinks only..

走 Keep Going to the East of India, Mumbai-to-Chennai Express June 2006

2008-11-18T18:13:00.018-05:00

The people at the crossroad watched me
taking photos of themselves..
I thought that
how many people took a chance to try this express train,
how many people could have a chance
to get out their home town to see more, to experiece more..
to get to know there is much bigger world than their village..

I was not sure..
And I was not really sure
which lifestyle is happier..

I've been travelling a lot and sometimes I thought that I am living on the small planet of Earth.
However I think in the other way around that the dimension of physical space might not really matter for life..

No matter how big scale our life might span, the depth & richness of our life do not quite propotional the the spatial coverage..

So I changed my mind to envy them who has been living in the same place for a long time generation after generation with the all the same trees, flowers and grasses getting older togther with them.. with all the same color of moon wax and wane with same trajectory..

What a lovely tree with the grand shadow in the late afternoon under the beautiful sky..
The Train went up to the mountain right after the departure of the Mumbai Station and I had a woderfull chance to have a great view of the mountain ranges and all the different trees and green field of Western India.

Watching people in the long que wating something always gives me kind of nostalgic feeling though don't know why..

Venders selling light food for passengers were nearly all males and they were selling some Indian traditional snacks like fried Indian style dumpling..

走 To the East and down to the South across Mountains and Rivers, Mumba-to-Chennai Express India 2006

2008-11-18T16:28:00.012-05:00

Now Slowly Moving for the Journey to the East,

2008-11-18T14:40:00.017-05:00

As the train slide out of the city slowly
I was get excited preparing my camera
with extra lense of 200mm telescopic one.

The weather in June in Mid-India was dry hot
and the wind swriling into the entrance gate of the passenger car
where I was sitting for taking photos
made me feel mild and fresh in the late afternoon at 6:30 pm..

Crews were checking the passenger status for blankets and meals to order.

They were nice and friendly and took care of my seat at the gate side for taking photos.

Thanks guys~

The Indian girl who was sitting in front of my bed.

She was get off in about 2 hours.

She looked very much an Indian girl

with shyness and some level of elegance in gesture..

My Over-Night Express from Mumbai to Chennai, Mumbai Station India Jun 2006

2008-11-18T13:15:00.012-05:00

Travelling by train for 26 hours from West Coast to East Coast!
If my memory is right I paid only about US$50 for the train which is extremely cheap.
I got a bed out of 4 bed compartmental section.

The route traverseed exactly middle of India amid extremely hot dry season.
I would never forget the beautiful twilight while train was running with maximum speed.
And I would never forget the wild wind-wirl against myself while one of my hands grabbing the handle of train and the other one for camera and half of my body got out of the train for better shots..

The travel was really wonderful to feel the wonderland of India of its vastness and its difference though it's just a little bit of 26 hours only...

I found my name on the Passenger List and it was a kind of different feeling to have my name glued on the outside of the train. ^,^

The Chennai Mumbai Express is an Indian Railways train that travels between Chennai Central and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai, India. It travels at around 80-90 km/h. As per the numbering, this train is numbered 1041 for the Mumbai-Chennai run and 1042 for the Chennai-Mumbai run. Previously, before being transferred to Central Railway, the train was with Southern Railway, with the numbers 6011 and 6012. Nowadays there is super fast train between Dadar (Mumbai) and Chennai which takes roughly 23 hours and 30 minutes for the journey of 1,271 kilometres.

Luchbox Delivery Service, Mumbai India 2006

2008-11-17T19:40:00.010-05:00

Delivering warm heart of morther to their husband and kids,
they are very quick in handling the lunchboxes to their final destinations.
India has formed the biggest industry of Lunchbox Delivery Service.
It is a sort of round-trip service of lunchbox fetching the box from home and deliverying it to the recipient and again fetching and returning it to the sender.

驛 At the Station, Mumbai India 2006

2008-11-17T18:54:00.008-05:00

靑年 the Youth, Mumbai-to-Chennai Express India 2006

2008-11-14T22:36:00.000-05:00

列車 People in the Railside, Mumbai-to-Chennai Express India 2006

2008-11-14T22:12:00.000-05:00

淸天 Le Ciel est Bleu, From Mumbai to Chennai India 2006

2008-11-14T21:04:00.001-05:00

榮 Rememberance of Glory, Express Train from Mumbai to Chennai India 2008

2008-11-14T20:46:00.000-05:00

景 Rural India, Mid-West of India 2006

2008-11-14T20:33:00.000-05:00

生 Life on top of her Scarp, Mumbai-to-Chennai Express India 2006

2008-11-14T20:14:00.000-05:00

透 the Tankers, Chennai-Mumbai Mail India 2006

2008-11-01T07:38:00.000-04:00

念 Tankers Reminiscience, Somewhere in India 2006

2008-10-29T13:42:00.003-04:00

Endless row of tankers for circulating the blood in industry in India..
However the huge scale of engergy consumption in US, China and India already a real threat for the existence of human being on earth...

嶪 Railroad Workers under Hot Dry Sun, Middle of India June 2006

2008-10-29T13:04:00.001-04:00

色 Color of India, Tractor in the Station, Mumbai-Chennai Express India 2006

2008-10-29T12:46:00.001-04:00

娟 Two Girls at the Platform, Mumbai-Chennai Express India 2006

2008-10-26T21:12:00.001-04:00

望 Two Bikes and Hope, Pondicherry India June 2006

2008-10-26T20:46:00.001-04:00

築 Chennai Government Law School, Chennai 2006

2008-10-24T15:11:00.001-04:00

Prettier than the Flowers, Middle of India 2006

2008-10-23T13:34:00.001-04:00

席 AC Tier-2 Sleeper, Mumbai-Chennai Express India 2005

2008-10-22T19:15:00.002-04:00

哀 a Girl for Railroad Work, Middle of India July 2006

2008-10-22T19:02:00.002-04:00

There was a girl..

working much hard chores

under the harsh sun of dry season

in the middle of India.

Wearing such a beautifully matched
red and greent

hough almost bare footed..

she was there for working

with beautifully braided long hair

with snow white flower at the end

with nearly bare footed..

God bless her..

God bless her.. please..

秘 Wise Parrot in Bombay, Mumbai India July 2006

2008-10-22T18:41:00.001-04:00

When I woke up in the morning at the very first day in India actually in the fairy tale city of Bombay

and as I wide opened the windows of two pieces, he was there on the wire and kept staring at me.

It seemed like that he, seemingly a wise parrot, tried to tell me something though I would never know..

What I knew was that he looked beautiful and had such a status..