I went to Melbourne for 2 weeks in June, 2010. The following blog is about my experience of the entire journey.
14th June (Monday) early morning (4:15 am to be precise)
I had to catch a flight from Bangalore to Melbourne, Australia. I got in the cab and it was a 40 km drive from my home to the Bangalore Airport, which I have serious doubt
in calling "bangalore airport", since it is far far away from the city. Or shall we say just an airport, which the people of Bangalore use to catch flights. There is this NH7 highway that the cab drive zoomed through, having total disregard for any traffic signal at 2:30 am in the morning. when I said to him to obey the signals he said, obeying may cause more problem...In fact he gave me an example of how a car stopped in the signal the other night and the bus behind it did not. The result: the bus rammed into the car. Both the driver and the passenger dies on the spot. When I asked him whether such type of accidents is common in this route, he assured me 110% that there is at least 1 accident every 24 hours and its most frequent in the late night - early morning...around three -
four-ish in the morning. Now you don't want to hear those stories when your car in running at 100 kmph on the same highway in the accident-prone zone at around the accident-prone hour. Its like showing a house to a potential owner and saying how haunted the house has been! But that's how my journey was destined to begin!
GOD took the sweet revenge!
My wife hates many things about me, like all wives do about their husbands! So its not anything new. And like many I know what is the thing that she hates the most. Its my sense of direction when I am driving. When I drive, all roads seem the same to me and I completely rely on her for the direction. I know I have been on that road a dozen times before, but that does not mean I will not confuse it. As a student I read some chapter a hundred times before the exam and yet failed to
answer the question or had the wrong answer ticked that came from it. Like many inexplicable things in the universe, I don't know why that happened. Same thing when I drive. I would like to believe that while I am driving one side of the brain is so focused on the traffic and the signals and all, that the other side of the brain, which is supposed to guide me the directions is suppressed. I don't know whether its scientifically correct, but that's what I tell my wife. I cant tell , however, whether she is convinced by my logic. And because of my sense of direction every weekend when we go for a drive we end up driving some extra "free miles".
Just the other day we went to a friend's house. While returning I decided to try out a new route on our way back. And guess what? After a few turns here and there we realised that we are heading back to my friend's house at 9 pm, thanks to my experiment with new routes! I tried to squarely put the blame on the song that was being played in the music system of the car, by saying that the song actually distracted my attention and even turned it off. Needless to say, that didn't stop the few extra sound bites that came from my better half. Some things never change!
And for all these GOD took a sweet revenge on me while I was coming from Bangalore to Melbourne. For all those extra free miles that I have been gifting my wife in the weekends, HE decided to reward me with some free miles , albeit free air miles! For all you know, its no one but the Almighty! So, whatever HE does, HE does it in a mighty way. So, my flight to Melbourne was something like this: Bangalore to Dubai , Dubai to Singapore and then Singapore to Melbourne. What it means is, I had to fly around 4.5 hours west to Dubai. Then the flight from Dubai to Singapore is another 9 hours. Now, the catch is, I actually flew over Bangalore when I flew from
Dubai to Singapore (Bangalore is half-way between Dubai and Singapore) . And then the normal Singapore-Melbourne route. Precisely. I flew some extra around 9000 kilometres (Bangalore-Dubai-Bangalore)...total about 10 hours. What was actually some 14 hours journey, took 24 hours for me. I don't think I deserved such a harsh revenge!
The Darjeeling Tea
Darjeeling is very near to my home town, about 600 to 700 kilometers. It is a place I went when I was small.The small and beautiful hill town is situated in the lap of the Himalayas. When I was small and heard about the Darjeeling tea I knew it was famous. But then I went to many places abroad and found Tea labelled as "Darjeeling Tea" then I realised that all it not lost. I saw the labels in Walmart, Tesco and more recently in Australia. The flavour of the tea had something which reminded me of my roots. It is the aroma of the tea that took me to a different world momentarily.
My obsession with new food
Fish, chicken, lamb, pork, ham, beef, duck. I don't think I missed any. This was the list of non-veg things that I ate before my trip to Seoul in 2005. While in Seoul, I added two more, Sushi and raw fish. Raw fish is pretty tasteless, at least the one that I had. Its cold, and not cooked, not fried, not boiled, just plain raw. Well, doesn't the name also suggest so? Anyway, I was proud to quote that in my list of non-vegetarian items.
Today, the 15th of June, I tried another animal - a dish on the kangaroo saddle. You know, its Australia..and you have kangaroos. I was damn hungry and decided to try the new dish. Like my experiment with roads, my experiment with dish has been 50-50 in terms of hits and misses (though my wife claims its more misses than hits). To cut the long story short, the kangaroo must be really small -- something like a teenager in the kangaroo world. Because, its saddle was so small (may be just a shade bigger than that of rabbit). And what that means is, I had this big plate with some tiny meat in the middle, which they called kangaroo saddle. Even it was not among the most delicious dishes I have ever had in my life. I sometimes say, if chickens and hens knew how delicious they are and how amazingly they can be cooked, then perhaps they might have tried out themselves! Anyway, as for the kangaroo that sat in front of me, I finished the entire stuff in no time . By the time I reached home, I grew hungry again. I ate some biscuits that I had bought yesterday.
Its 2 o'clock in the morning now. I need to catch some hours of sleep now. I am sure that kangaroo saddle has long been taken care of by my efficient digestive system and the digestive juice.Otherwise, why on earth I am feeling hungry again?
18th June, Friday
On Friday evening I went to see a ballad in the State Theatre over here. It is not that I am a particular big fan of ballads, but its just that I wanted to have this experience. It was a nice and memorable experience.
19th June, Saturday
The next day I went on a day tour to the Great Ocean Road - the 12 Apostles being the last destination. It is a journey worth taking. On the way I saw Kangaroos in the distant green valleys, fed some parrots , saw a Kuala. There were also some spectacular beaches like the Bells Beach. Bluish green and greenish blue water and the mountain chains losing themselves into that clear water. We had lunch on a park - sandwich.
The Great Ocean Road, in particular, was marked by green mountains on one side and steep cliff plunging into the turbulent ocean on the other - the clear azure above. Every moment is different from the other and each moment I feel capturing the moment in my camera. And then during sunset I reached the 12 Apostles.
There is something with Nature that it pulls off some stunning features every now and then. It is a rock formation on the seashore, amidst turbulent and violent ocean and sea waves. It has a name "12 Apostles". But words cannot describe what it actually is, just like a passport does not give any identity of a person - good, bad, evil.
I have put some pictures of the 12 Apostles..that's all I can do. It was again another moment in my life that I felt we are all so insignificant and inconsequential when it comes to mother Nature. And also, we are so much into our own world that we don't know much about the huge world outside ours.
In short, the 12 Apostles is a piece of work that only Nature can do, both in the sheer size and splendour.
My return flight was equally horrible, in fact more. My route was Melbourne - Kuala Lampur (KL) - Dubai - Bangalore. The flight that I took from Melbourne dropped me to KL, where I was struck for 10 hours, even though the flight went to Dubai after a mere 2 hour halt. The reason? It was full and there was no way I can reschedule my flight. The good thing was, apart from visiting KL on that day, I was upgraded to business class from Melbourne to KL. Nice luxury experience. Perhaps the ones who have got used to Business and higher classes of travel, this is the norm. But to me, it was luxury for 8-9 hours.
All's well that ends well!
The next day I went on a day tour to the Great Ocean Road - the 12 Apostles being the last destination. It is a journey worth taking. On the way I saw Kangaroos in the distant green valleys, fed some parrots , saw a Kuala. There were also some spectacular beaches like the Bells Beach. Bluish green and greenish blue water and the mountain chains losing themselves into that clear water. We had lunch on a park - sandwich.
The Great Ocean Road, in particular, was marked by green mountains on one side and steep cliff plunging into the turbulent ocean on the other - the clear azure above. Every moment is different from the other and each moment I feel capturing the moment in my camera. And then during sunset I reached the 12 Apostles.
There is something with Nature that it pulls off some stunning features every now and then. It is a rock formation on the seashore, amidst turbulent and violent ocean and sea waves. It has a name "12 Apostles". But words cannot describe what it actually is, just like a passport does not give any identity of a person - good, bad, evil.
I have put some pictures of the 12 Apostles..that's all I can do. It was again another moment in my life that I felt we are all so insignificant and inconsequential when it comes to mother Nature. And also, we are so much into our own world that we don't know much about the huge world outside ours.
In short, the 12 Apostles is a piece of work that only Nature can do, both in the sheer size and splendour.
The journey continues...
The following week was not that eventful. It was office and hotel. In one of the days, I got a chance to see the Melbourne downtown. I thought of clicking pictures of the city, but then felt that it would be the same type of pictures with sky scrappers and roads. So, I tried to experiment a bit. I also clicked pictures of the local people - different people in different moods. Its one thing to pose for a camera and have that typical smile on your face. And another to catch people in their natural self. In the ones I clicked, the "photographeds"were unaware of the fact that I was actually capturing moments of their life. hence the photographs come out very natural. To this day, those photo collections of mine remain one of the best I have clicked.
I have attached the link of that below:
Some Conversations:
Initially Nature used to awe me. The ocean and seas, hills and mountains, waterfall, sea waves, sky...gradually I realised that humans can be equally interesting to watch and interact with, especially the strangers whom you meet once and then perhaps will never meet again. You get a slice of their life and peep into their world, which may be so different from yours.
Karen: I don't know much details of the lady other than her first name and that she lives in New Jersey. Aged around 35. I did not want to, either and wanted to leave the identity to that level. When I was going on the tour to the Great Ocean Road, I met her. I had a tough time clicking my own photos with the picturesque background and so requested her to do the favour for me. She was also travelling alone and I reciprocated her favour soon after. What was interesting in our subsequent conversations is that she also had two small kids, the younger one being around 2 years. And her child also loved playing with her iPhone and her laptop, very similar to what my daughter does. And when I heard her speak of her kids, I realised how all parents think and speak the same way and how all babies more or less do the same things...and how we all are so similar fundamentally.
The Taxi Driver (from Melbourne Hotel to Airport): I have this uncanny habit of sitting on the front seat of a taxi. My flight from Melbourne was on Friday late night - Saturday early morning. The hotel promised to book a taxi for me, but ditched in the last moment. It was drizzling outside and I went out on the road to help myself. I got a taxi.
"Airport?"
" Yes!"
I jumped into it with the luggage.
The driver, as it turned out, like many others in Melbourne, was an Indian. And we immediately struck into a good 30 - 40 minutes conversation. I love these conversations, where I get to know the other persons world. He was in Melbourne for the last 6 years and went home only once since then and that too for 3 months, returning in last month. He told me how home sick he was and how he misses India, his parents, his brother, his friends and relatives. But he still prefers Melbourne as he can still save some and send money back to his family. In him, I found someone who seems to juggle between two contrast lives, one that is of the soul (that deals with love, relation) and the other that is so materialistic and real (money, poverty).And then I popped up a question for him
" When did you first decide that you will come to Australia and drive a taxi. And more importantly, WHY did you decide so?"
"Since childhood, I have seen my neighbours living in Canada, UK, USA and then coming home and flashing money. They had huge parties, grand get-togethers. Then I decided that I will go and earn money from abroad - whatever I have to do for that, I am fine - cooking, driving, cleaning toilets, anything! Its a childhood dream. And today that I have achieved it, there was no scope of regret."
The Bad luck and the Good luck:
The following week was not that eventful. It was office and hotel. In one of the days, I got a chance to see the Melbourne downtown. I thought of clicking pictures of the city, but then felt that it would be the same type of pictures with sky scrappers and roads. So, I tried to experiment a bit. I also clicked pictures of the local people - different people in different moods. Its one thing to pose for a camera and have that typical smile on your face. And another to catch people in their natural self. In the ones I clicked, the "photographeds"were unaware of the fact that I was actually capturing moments of their life. hence the photographs come out very natural. To this day, those photo collections of mine remain one of the best I have clicked.
I have attached the link of that below:
 |
| A day in Melbourne |
Some Conversations:
Initially Nature used to awe me. The ocean and seas, hills and mountains, waterfall, sea waves, sky...gradually I realised that humans can be equally interesting to watch and interact with, especially the strangers whom you meet once and then perhaps will never meet again. You get a slice of their life and peep into their world, which may be so different from yours.
Karen: I don't know much details of the lady other than her first name and that she lives in New Jersey. Aged around 35. I did not want to, either and wanted to leave the identity to that level. When I was going on the tour to the Great Ocean Road, I met her. I had a tough time clicking my own photos with the picturesque background and so requested her to do the favour for me. She was also travelling alone and I reciprocated her favour soon after. What was interesting in our subsequent conversations is that she also had two small kids, the younger one being around 2 years. And her child also loved playing with her iPhone and her laptop, very similar to what my daughter does. And when I heard her speak of her kids, I realised how all parents think and speak the same way and how all babies more or less do the same things...and how we all are so similar fundamentally.
The Taxi Driver (from Melbourne Hotel to Airport): I have this uncanny habit of sitting on the front seat of a taxi. My flight from Melbourne was on Friday late night - Saturday early morning. The hotel promised to book a taxi for me, but ditched in the last moment. It was drizzling outside and I went out on the road to help myself. I got a taxi.
"Airport?"
" Yes!"
I jumped into it with the luggage.
The driver, as it turned out, like many others in Melbourne, was an Indian. And we immediately struck into a good 30 - 40 minutes conversation. I love these conversations, where I get to know the other persons world. He was in Melbourne for the last 6 years and went home only once since then and that too for 3 months, returning in last month. He told me how home sick he was and how he misses India, his parents, his brother, his friends and relatives. But he still prefers Melbourne as he can still save some and send money back to his family. In him, I found someone who seems to juggle between two contrast lives, one that is of the soul (that deals with love, relation) and the other that is so materialistic and real (money, poverty).And then I popped up a question for him
" When did you first decide that you will come to Australia and drive a taxi. And more importantly, WHY did you decide so?"
"Since childhood, I have seen my neighbours living in Canada, UK, USA and then coming home and flashing money. They had huge parties, grand get-togethers. Then I decided that I will go and earn money from abroad - whatever I have to do for that, I am fine - cooking, driving, cleaning toilets, anything! Its a childhood dream. And today that I have achieved it, there was no scope of regret."
The Bad luck and the Good luck:
My return flight was equally horrible, in fact more. My route was Melbourne - Kuala Lampur (KL) - Dubai - Bangalore. The flight that I took from Melbourne dropped me to KL, where I was struck for 10 hours, even though the flight went to Dubai after a mere 2 hour halt. The reason? It was full and there was no way I can reschedule my flight. The good thing was, apart from visiting KL on that day, I was upgraded to business class from Melbourne to KL. Nice luxury experience. Perhaps the ones who have got used to Business and higher classes of travel, this is the norm. But to me, it was luxury for 8-9 hours.
All's well that ends well!
