Riding the Deccan



One of my favorite shooting subjects are roads - of all kinds. I make it a point to get off my bike and shoot roads and traffic whenever I find them interesting.


Every road has a personality and characteristics which differentiates it from the  others.

There all kinds of roads - rural,urban,highway,muddy,gravelly,pot-holed,winding,straight, mountainous etc. etc,


And the type of traffic on these roads differ a lot depending on what and where it connects, to which town or village it leads to and the economic and social traits of that region.


When I rode along those extremely long and straight stretches of Deccan my only fear was that of nodding off to sleep on my bike.


I used get very drowsy on those monotonous stretches and often had to stop and refresh myself by splashing cold water on my face.


Sometimes stopping is not an option because vast stretches of roads on the Deccan plateau are bereft of tree cover,


Another factor which adds to the discomfort while riding the Deccan is the fierce heat radiating out of the boulder strewn landscape.


So I used to plan to depart early in the mornings - but more often than not will get delayed because the hotel staff wouldn't have kept my bills ready or worse, would be still sleeping.


Another nightmare for a biker are the cleverly disguised and treacherous  "Speed - breakers" near villages. Rarely if ever they are "zebra" - painted, leaving the rider to face the consequences of not watching the road.


Road infrastructure, overall was very good in the Deccan. I rarely found bad or potholed roads. The bad patches were usually near heavily populated towns.


Since I toured the region in the winter season the hardships were quite bearable - can't even begin to imagine how bad it could be in peak summer to ride the Deccan.


Location: Karnataka, India

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