Hamara Bajaj

Guess everyone has seen the movie The Roman Holiday in which Gregory Peck rides a Vespa scooter. The Bajaj is a direct descendant, giving shape to the aspirations of the middle class in the seventies and early eighties. And I still remember my late father, proudly starting his Bajaj Chetak with a flamboyant kick, asking me to ride pillion to wherever.

And my learning to ride this contraption, switching hand gears and flying off, down the lonely road to the airstrip in our small town, across the ditch and over it and bang into a rock, sailing headlong into air and landing somehow with all bones intact, the high pitched whine of the machine lying alongside.

Years later, with my newly wedded wife behind me, exploring forest trails ..

Those were the Bajaj years 

Sigh

A visit to Bengal

The family went on vacation for a couple of weeks. To Bankura, deep into rural Bengal, although the town happens to be a district head :)

 

This is an earthen dam, unfortunately, the rains have been rather deficient in this area and there's almost no water behind the lock-gates

The two rivers on two sides of the town were also lean, listless

And these are Krishnakali at 10 and Sounak, a couple of months away from 16 and getting a lot of practice with his new camera

Sounak and his friends lost their way in the forest while climbing the Susunia hill 

Well, finally they could find their way out, which was anyway offtrack by a few kilometers and could climb up to the top and they sure had a capital time 

Mighty pleased to see his pictures in this blog, he he :)