In a matter of days, the time had come for me to summon a sporting spirit, take time off my packed schedule, dust my bike, and embark on a long road-trip to one of the remotest and most isolated villages in Odisha, sitting squarely on the Dhenkanal-Keonjhar border. The following travelogue is an account of my journey to this village and, miraculously, back.
Our journey had started in the wee hours of the morning, so that we could escape the glaring rays of the Sun. And yet, by the time we reached this restaurant, we were sweaty as a set of balls. And this was our breakfast: Oily and hollow as Mallya.
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| Baraa, one of the breakfast dishes in Odisha |
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| Gulgula, one of the breakfast dishes in Odisha |
Remember the story of a restaurant-owner who, when asked why there's a dead fly in the curry, had said- "the fly is for free"?
From the place I come from, if you go around in a car of this color, you better be a taxi-driver.
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| latest pictures of funny cars in India |
This man clearly loves his munchies and his nature together.
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| Funny people in Odisha |
Vast expanse of cool, inviting water. Now I know why the films of the "pre-air-conditioner" era had heroines, whose most preferred idea of suicide was flinging themselves off a bridge.
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| latest pictures of rivers in Odisha |
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| latest pictures of rivers in Odisha |
And in stark contrast to the above picture, there's this white-hot road, that looks good enough to melt anytime. Just looking at it hurts my innards.
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| latest pictures of rivers in Odisha |
This is me making my love for the Sun obvious. Screw Harry Potter; I have a much brighter bolt at the tip of my wand.
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| Latest Summer pictures of Odisha: Why is summer so hot in Odisha? |
The outskirts of my friend's village. My mind was laced with nostalgic whiffs from childhood...
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| latest pictures of tribal life in Odisha |
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| Latest pictures of tribals in Odisha |
Here's the tent where the hosts would be serving the guests lunch- which was piping hot rice and boiling hot daal. When I dipped my finger in the porridge, I could feel the skin on my fingers peeling off.
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| Latest pictures of tribals in Odisha |
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| Latest pictures of tribals in Odisha |
What was the last time you had seen a road THIS red? It was as if somebody had sprinkled "Everest ka teekha laal" all over the road.
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| latest pictures of villages and village roads in Odisha |
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| latest pictures of village huts in Odisha |
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| Latest pictures of village roads in Odisha |
This valley came as a blessing. Not only it gave a smooth ride to our asses- which were by now purple with all the humps- but also informed us that post-industrial human civilization has indeed touched this village.
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| latest pictures of valleys in Odisha |
What was the last time you had water from one of these?
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| latest pictures of village utensils in Odisha: Indian Lota |
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| latest pictures of village huts in Odisha |
House of the groom. Quite serene, isn't it? Just the calm before the storm.
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| latest pictures of village huts in Odisha |
Here we are- riding down to the storm-maker's, err... I mean, the bride's place.
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| latest pictures of forests in Odisha |
Just check out the rich foliage. Leaves of millions of colors and hues.
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| latest pictures of rich forest life in Odisha |
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| Latest pictures of forest life of Odisha |
And here we are- finally. The bride's place. The festivities had already begun by the time we made our presence felt.
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| Latest pictures of village huts in Odisha |
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| latest pictures of village shops in Odisha |
They don't have sweet-shops here. And they don't have 24*7 electricity as well. What they do have, though, is an unshakable belief in the evil eye, so everything edible is packed and delivered in black polythene here.
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| latest pictures of superstitions and black magic in India |
Shuddh Desi Oil, this.
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| latest pictures of village grocery shops in Odisha |
And this is their idea of a pub. An abandoned building that used to be a school sometime back, but then in a village rife with Maoist activity, you are lucky to find a building with its roof on.
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| latest pictures of village schools in Odisha |
This is what happens when you provide incomplete instruction- you let in lots of loop-holes. You read '24-hour ATM' written on the board?
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latest pictures of ATMS in villages of Odisha
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When I was riding back, I decided to get the 'Haze Feature' of my camera on and see what I manage to capture- and what I got were some incredible pictures; pictures that could rival Modern Art any day. I would request you to kindly zoom all the pictures from here till the end and watch them in the 'Full Screen Mode' or the 'Slideshow Mode'. You will be blown away.
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| Slow-motion photography in Odisha |
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| Slow-motion photography in Odisha |
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| Slow-motion photography in Odisha |
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Slow-motion photography in Odisha
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| Slow-motion photography in Odisha |
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| Slow-motion photography in Odisha |
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| Slow-motion photography in Odisha |
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| Slow-motion photography in Odisha |
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| Slow-motion photography in Odisha |
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| Slow-motion photography in Odisha |
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| Slow-motion photography in Odisha |
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| Slow-motion photography in Odisha |
Hope you guys had fun! Have a nice day!
