Today the situation for Goan farming is dire and the Gaude face a grim future. Fertile fields are being wiped out overnight, taken over by builders in collusion with local politicos. Delicious local produce has now made way for mass imports from outside the state. The Gaude have no clout to resist the forces leading to their demise. As can be seen in the photos below, the tenacious few that persist have been pushed to the periphery – literally – of the market in Panjim (and other towns).

Fresh produce at Panjim market
5D Mark II, 14L II

Sorting yard long beans
5D Mark II, 14L II

Parvati Vernekar, traditional farmer from Curca, Goa
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Fresh produce at Panjim market
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Fresh produce at Panjim market
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Zeppelins are ideal for aerial photography. There is no vibration (unlike a helicopter), it coasts at an easy pace, and engine noise is not an issue. Furthermore, two of the windows in our airship opened out allowing for shooting without any glass barrier. At our cruising altitude of 1000 feet, the 3 Canon lenses I carried – 24-105L, 70-200L f/2.8 IS, and 14L II – were equal to the task.

It was a beautiful day when we took off from the Oakland airport. Unfortunately, our departure was delayed by almost two hours and this meant the sun was already at a high angle by the time we got going – the worst possible conditions from the point of view of photography. The brilliant red of the Golden Gate Bridge, for instance, was obscured for the most part, and many of the other sights were similarly handicapped.

All said and done, we had a delightful time. Perhaps I will take a sunset ride in the coming months at which time the lighting is more conducive to photography. Some tours originating from Moffett Field fly directly over the runways at SFO allowing for views of the planes landing below.

Groundstaff guides airship 'Eureka' down for landing
5D Mark II, 24-105L

'Eureka' comes in to land
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Loading passengers
5D Mark II, 14L II

And off she goes!
5D Mark II, 14L II

View from the cockpit
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Alcatraz Island
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Bay Bridge
5D Mark II, 14L II

Golden Gate Bridge
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Golden Gate Bridge
5D Mark II, 70-200L f/2.8 IS

City of San Francisco
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Goa is being mined to death, with devastating consequences, some of them not yet upon us. Forests have been flattened, and beautiful villages trashed, muddied, their air rendered unbreathable with toxic particulates. Health problems among villagers are on the rise. The rapid spread of groundwater pollution has imperiled Goa’s water supply. Left unchallenged, the miners will bring about Goa’s demise long before the effects of climate change kick in.

Enabling and profiteering from this destructive effort are Goa’s criminal Chief Minister Digambar Kamat – himself a beneficiary of the scores of new mining leases sanctioned (by him) – and his cronies. As the most venal man ever to be elected to the state’s top political office (that takes some doing given the superlative standards of corruption attained to by Goan politicians) Digambar Kamat‘s rightful place is behind bars. But India is not a nation governed by the rule of law.

These days on the River Mandovi there is a virtual traffic jam of barges pregnant with iron ore. The Chinese are paying top dollar and the mining mafia along with their political bedfellows are raking in the moolah, environment and people be damned.

Although these images make a political statement (fine with me) I shot them because I saw photographic merit in the compositions. The first three were taken from the Mandovi bridge in Panjim soon after sunrise, the last from the ferry in Old Goa on a stormy afternoon.

Ore-laden barge in River Mandovi in Panjim, Goa
5D Mark II, 14L II

Barge, River Mandovi, and the city of Panjim
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Barge in RIver Mandovi in Panjim, Goa
5D Mark II, 14L II

Barges at the pier in Old Goa
5D Mark II, 85L II

Ferry at Ribandar, Goa
5D Mark II, 14L II

Capt. Emidio Fernandes is at the helm.

Capt. Emidio Fernandes
5D Mark II, 14L II

Midway we encounter unexpected turbulence. A barge loaded with the droppings of Goa’s ‘mineral farmers’ (aka miners, the destroyers of Goa’s environment) is headed straight for our ship.

Barge on River Mandovi, Goa
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Summoning all his experience, Capt. Fernandes skillfully dodges the incoming missile and your friendly photographer lives to shoot another day.

On the way to Divar
5D Mark II, 14L II

Tulsidas-bab was born in 1934 in the village of Borim located in Goa’s Ponda taluka (the same village gave us the poetic genius Bakibab Borkar). He had the privilege of receiving training for 10 years from Madhukar Pednekar – also from Goa, from the village of Malpem in Pednem taluka – perhaps the greatest harmonium wizard of the 20th C.

In the course of a long and distinguished career, Tulsidas-bab has provided harmonium support to most of the leading Hindustani vocalists of our time – Amir Khan, Bhimsen Joshi, Mallikarjun Mansur, Kishori Amonkar, Jitendra Abhisheki, Basavraj Rajguru, to name a few. Even more important, he has produced the next line of musicians, with several of his students now counted among the top tier harmonium players in the country.

In 2005 Tulsidas-bab was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award by the then President of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

In the late 1970s and through the 1980s, the frequently-played filler interlude in between programmes on AIR-Panjim was a musical ‘button’ in Raga Tilak Kamod performed by Tulsidas Borkar.

Tulsidas Borkar, harmonium maestro
5D Mark II, 85L II

Tulsidas Borkar, at his home in Mumbai
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Harmonium maestro Tulsidas Borkar
5D Mark II, 14L II

For 15 minutes I watched the proceedings, with my lens barely 8″ or so away.

Village barber Apa Korgaonkar in Korgaon, Goa
5D Mark II, 14L II

Village barber Apa Korgaonkar in Korgaon, Goa
5D Mark II, 14L II

Village barber Apa Korgaonkar in Korgaon, Goa
5D Mark II, 14L II

Today the Codd bottle is on the verge of retirement. Khandelwal Glass Works in India and another company in Japan are believed to be the last two surviving manufacturers of this relic.

Sightings of the Codd bottle have now become scarce in Panjim. I managed to wangle a sample from the Mohan Cold Drink House in Cortin. However, the traditional wooden opener was not to be found. You may remember the ‘experts’ in the art of opening this bottle – they could lengthen the duration of the hiss by controlling the pressure on the marble as it dislodged.

For a historical perspective on soda bottles, see this.

Codd soda factory in Panjim, Goa
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Codd soda machine in Panjim, Goa
5D Mark II, 24-105L

Codd soda bottle
5D Mark II, 85L II

Wide angle view of the Codd bottle
5D Mark II, 14L II