Godavari

The expansive sand dunes, the azure bay, The palpably soft portraits, the cool moon rising from a placid lake, the leaves, the dew, a minute before it drops. The greens, the reds the blues, the colours, the contrast and the texture. And sometimes, you sigh and remark “man!! if only I was there, if only I had a camera….”

Then there are times when you forget to take your camera, or you realize, with a camera in hand, a relieved resignation that you are actually a pathetic photographer with a gross shooting acumen of all movie thugs in a chase sequence. Then there are other times, when you have a great camera, you are a reasonably able, and you can probably capture what is in front of you but you stop yourself. The scenes before you have been captured 1000s of times from 100 different angles. There is nothing left to tap from it. Or, you are just plain tired/bored and your hands just refuse to move.

There lies a road that connects Rajahmundry and Amlapuram. It skirts the Godavari, skipping across the river once before the destination. Additionally a small rivulet streaks parallelly along the road, encouraging a thick growth of shrubs and small trees. On a warm morning, the breeze that blows across this road is so polite that the rickety bus feels regal. As the bus shuffles along at bullacartesque speeds, you don’t feel pressed to take out your pen or paintbrush out. You just sit there, enjoy a good meal with excellent service and feel happy, satiated. A straight road, small settlements here and there, the green growth lining the road, a bridge, a concrete bridge majestically spanning across Godavari; they don’t scream at you for attention. The sights seep into you, subliminally soaking you in the weird wonder of commonplace beauty.

So what is it? Should I plan another trip? Take a dozen photographs? Probably not; no, ‘plans’ are for other places . Places that yearn for your eyes and lenses. Loud places. Vain places. No. this trip should not be planned. Another time, another day, when work calls me there, I will trace this route again; the beauty -- unobtrusive, calm and mundane.