South of Mumbai - Final Post, India

On location in Mahad India with Pooja Bedi.

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South of Mumbai. July 3rd. – July 6th.

We finally gave up on Kalyan and are headed south of Mumbai to Mahad in a last-ditch effort to get some shots before leaving India. Within a few days we will fly to Manila in the Philippines.

South of Mahad, we are told that there are many roads closed due to rising waters. We see evidence of this along our route. In lower areas, the land along the roadside is completely flooded. In higher areas, the terraced rice paddies are all overflowing. All the rivers and streams are out of their banks. There is water everywhere you look. Many homes are under water. Displaced people are gathering at the roadside.

Maybe to catch a bus? In some areas of farmland, the flooded areas are large enough where there are waves with whitecaps. No photos to show you of this. It is raining too hard to get out of the car or open a window.

By the way, those 10s of 1000s of blue plastic tarps that turned up unaccounted for during the Katrina recovery efforts . . .
I think they are all here in India.

Now near Mahad, the lay of the land has changed. It is beautiful. I liken it to areas of West Virginia or Eastern Kentucky. Larger than any rolling hills, there towering hills all around us, although none would be called a mountain. But the cool thing, is that there are waterfalls everywhere, coming down the sides of all the soaring slopes.

There are so many images that I am passing up. I guess that is one thing about my career that I regret: The lack of opportunity for serious still photography. There is seldom a job I go on when I don’t have a Nikon or two with me. But the problem is time. I always have a crew with me. "Making the day" – even when it is traveling, is always the priority. And even when the schedule is relaxed, I always pass up opportunities to stop and approach a subject because there is just the pressure of the entourage. I long for the day when I can travel, with just a camera and Susan and be able to stop and capture the moments that are set before me. Here in India, everywhere I look are striking photographs waiting to be taken.

Even when I find something that is so simple, such as these ox-cart wheels, I usually spend only the time necessary to bring home a snapshot. I am always telling myself to find a sponsor for a sabbatical from Dollarhide Film – so I can spend a year and go photograph my home state still in photography - right - I wish.

We stopped at a convent for tea with Rajesh’ sister. We had the most incredible black tea made with fresh rainwater brewed with lemongrass.

Over tea they were telling us about a province south of here that was not released to India in 1947 when the country became independent. It wasn’t until 1961 when the Portuguese let go of it. The reason: The entire province is nothing but one continuous beautiful beach. Wish we could go there . . .

Rain or Not.

During our visit, they told us this area was flooded with five feet of water last year at the beginning of the Monsoon season. And not to alarm us, they said there is talk of the local dam breaking now. It seems that everywhere we go, there is talk about something weather related.

Susan and I got a tour of the Convent’s herb garden. In the rain of course. There were herbs for cooking, for health and ailments, and more for religious and spiritual use. They raised rice, papayas, watermelon, egg plant and almonds.

July 4th. 4:00 pm Still Raining.

We got to our small hotel in Mahad, and we had dinner with Bollywood actress, tv anchor, and columnist Pooja Bedi. She is a big Habitat supporter in India and is actually here on her vacation days helping build homes in Mahad. Quite a lively person, she’s somewhat of a compilation between Katie Couric, Oprah, and well, I’m not sure I can think of anyone who would adequately describe her. Her television talk show is syndicated in many countries and she is quite an opinion-maker.

You can Google her: Pooja Bedi

We went out to the build site this morning and setup a shot. Our electric crew from Mumbai brought us an Arri-Sun 1200w HMI Flicker Free! (simple light in the US, quite a luxury here). So at least we can light some faces, but the rain will not let up. The photo below is Rajesh, our local Habitat wizard who makes things happen for us. The photo is taken at the build site. Last year there was a landslide and an entire village was wiped out. They are rebuilding the village. On this site alone, they are building 68 homes.

This is the thing about Habitat. All over the world, in over 100 countries, they are building homes for people who need it the most. In India, they have built over 12,000 homes.

It is easy to become a Habitat supporter when you visit these countries and meet the families and children who live and will live in these homes. These two girls were hanging around the site -- their mother was there working on her Sweat Equity to build her own home.

Out of pure boredom while waiting on the rain to stop, Sam decided to join in the building of a home. Now an expert at masonry, he has a fall-back in case he needs a real job.

We went back to the hotel for lunch and the rains turned torrential. So we decided to give up for the day. Pooja said, "lets not lose the moment". She said, "let’s get WET." (we're already soaked). "We’re going to go have fun and get wet!"

She took us to a waterfall on the roadside, and challenged us to go for a dip. We looked at it. A 300 yard hike, just to the base of a 50 foot waterfall. Sam set out after her – she set the gauntlet. We could hardly decline. At the base of the waterfall, we looked around thinking – how in the world are we going to climb this. By the time we collected our thoughts – she was waist deep wading across a raging river at the base of the falls. Sam jumped in after her and Susan and I followed. In short, the most adventurous time on our trip. (Nikon got soaked but its ok)

I think Sam was a bit taken with Pooja, and she with him. But we all laughed alot and had a great time. There was alot of talk about us coming back for the Jimmy Carter Work Project being held later this year in India.

Today was better. We went to the location, the rain subsided (no sun) and we setup a great shot. Pooja was wonderful – like working with a top LA actress. Hardly missed a cue, we shot seven scenes in an hour.

So now, we are leaving India and heading to Manila where we will, presumably, find sunshine (and maybe an internet connection). We are off for Hong Kong, then on to Manila. With any luck there, we’ll be headed home a few days later.

2:45AM. Mumbai Airport. After 10 hours of driving, check points, rain, swollen rivers, and fearing we we were lost in the most weird places in Bombay, we are comfortably ensconced in the Cathay Lounge awaiting our 5:00 am flight.