驛 Stop by the Station, Chennai Express India 2006

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

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

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

Now Slowly Moving for the Journey to the East,

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~

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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..

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