Tuesday, August 23, 2022

A day at Saradiha, Jharkhand

 



19th Aug  we set off for a small trip to Saradiha, 23 Km from Jamshedpur towards Hata, expected to take around 55 minutes as per Google

 

 


 The getaway resort for this weekend was The weekend resort( aptly named) 

 





The sky looked dramatic, and we decided to drive and not risk riding out on the bike, a short drive of only 30 km and we felt we were at Paharbhanga our destination for today. The skies opened up on us just as we finished checking in and sitting back to enjoy some coffee and scene around us.

 



 

The world of macro Photography is very addictive and lets us explore so much  around us, its like a magnet drawing us into another world of miniatures





With Fried Okhra for company it was a good setting to be in nature everywhere so Green and pristine.




Dusshera ( Durga Puja )  is still a month or so away but we were lucky to see some Kaash flowers, made famous by Satyajit Rays movies on Apu’s sansar- trilogy

 




Resting for a few hours post lunch the rains abated for 2 hours and gave us an window of opportunity to explore what all was around us at Paharbhanga approach road, the idyllic setting of rice fields and cows rambling home after tilling the earth was such a refreshing sight.

 




 

 



My friend’s lovely skirt and my umbrella combined well together for me to try and make a few images of the countryside with a dancer on the road.

 

 




 
 
 
 

The incoming rain clouds made us walk back to the resort quickly where we stayed put, bringing in end to this day


 

 
 
#theweekendresort #rajatghoshphotography #rajatghoshfilms #biketaleswithrajat
 

Sunday, August 21, 2022

Flood and Wrath of the kharkai river

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Another hour later went with another bike and parked at another elevated spot and then the other bike too (I knew my friend was laughing at my extra cautious ways)  Interestingly since I am used to parking in the garage, I re-parked my bikes at a well illuminated place with CCD camera view

 

Being the cautious kind I did go and park my car at an elevated spot too

 


While there was river water all around us, and had submerged all the 6 buildings, it seemed to not  enter our building garage, by 2145 hours  our building seemingly was not under water  and I decided to call it a day as we lost power with the submergence of the transformers. And wanted to conserve battery of phone  and laptop for the next day.

 

Next  morning 0400 hour, I wake up to alarm calls from people and as I make my way to the front of the building , Oh OH,  there is 3 -4 feet water in our staircase and my friend MuKta was scheduled for an early morning train ( 0610) to Kolkata for judging of a photography salon

 


Well there was no way we were going to make our way out of here (she isn’t the tallest) but then by 0500 I decided we should give it one last try, she grabbed her bag lightened her bag as much as she could  and we were off wading though 4 feet water (waist deep) too bad no photo exists,

 As we was wading through water, her bag held high by me n she holding on to me (I think) as I felt my way out with a stick in hand, I did knock my foot a few times barring that  we did make it out of the building and ran to get into my car which was parked 500 mts away, jumped in the car, not enough time to change into dry clothes as we headed off  time was 0545 by now.

 Enroute to the station we did have to change routes three times  as some other parts of the city was also water logged and we realized this was quiet a calamity in  the city, we made it to the station with 3 minutes to spare and MuKta was off sprinting for her  train,

It was only 0607 hours , the whole day stretched in front of us

 


  Once back home it was about trying to get some supplies, as I was already on the dry part of the building and I realized there were no money with me as I had forgotten to take my wallet along with, the advantage of a small city kicked in as I drove around looking for open shops 

 


A few trees had crashed and taken some shops along with, this is my bread store.

 

Thankfully some friends Inderjit Singh and Riki came through and helped me out getting supplies and water.

  as did a local Tea vendor which I patronize





By 0900 hours water level was still not too low 

 


Its 1058 hours as I stand there looking at the water level , not much supplies can reach these people


 

As the day progressed the river has abated and water level has receded

 

 

Glad to say the river seems to have gone down by a couple of feet and I have been able to help some folks along the way too, as the water has receded and now to wait for electricity to be restored and life to return to normal as can be.

 


 

Quiet a bit of silt is left behind and needs to be worked on, we are doing OK and if anyone needs any help in Jamshedpur feel free to contact me thatredcar@gmail.com.  91 9831321541

 


 

Well a hard shower did do the trick for the open space but still more needs to be done to get power and water supply restored. as I write this on 22nd morning , none of the buildings have power or water yet, yes its Tisco power and water supply, but tanks have to be cleaned and electrical system blow dried before life returns to normal.

 

 


 

 

 

 

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#Rajatghoshphotography #biketaleswithrajat #flood #gitanjalicomplexkadma, #kharkairiver #flood

 

 

 

 


 

 

Jumping from the frying pan in to the fire, Flood and rains


 

 20th Night,  started the day seeing mayhem all around wind approx. 80 km an hour and loads of fallen tree, and water logging.






 

 


 

 well keeping our cool we enjoyed some tea and a lazy breakfast before we decided to start back for home post breakfast, 

 

 

I have heard from my friend Vijay Singh to never keep my car under a tree and that lesson helped me not worry though the night as to what might happen to my car as the winds caused havoc

 


 we were no the only ones who was out enjoying the rains, we had company Pond Heron, lizard and other garden creatures for company.

 




 


we started back for Jamshedpur at 1200 hours, presuming if there was any roadblock by fallen trees they would have been taken care of.

We were successful for most part till we came across a location where a Neem Tree had taken an electric pole along with, and there were wires across the road.

 

 

 

 








well we knew just admiring the skills of the local’s alone was not going to do it for us so

  Backing up and checking out the locations around us we found a path that looked like it was headed to a football filed and slushy but manageable, after all I do drive a MUV.

 

This was going to be our exit point, and below is our entry point to the slushy country side



If this biker can so could I, right !

 

 

Yes it was exciting and no we did not hit anyone till we managed to get on the paved road again but sure was a challenge to drive out of the field.

 


 We reached home, a- OK 




 

 and had lunch, a nap and then the drama started, walking to the terrace what do I see, the River Kharkai by my house in spate.  time approx 1600 hours 




What followed was quiet a interesting 24 hours ,

 

Well then by 1800 hours there was a trickle of water entering our society premises and it was slowly gaining momentum at  steady speed