Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Shooting Stars in India

January 2010

Shooting Stars in India
It was amazing to find out that Air Asia, my favourite airline (if only because she has made flights more affordable for me), was now flying to Trivandrum, in south India. This was where the nearest airport to Nagercoil was, about an hour and a half’s drive away, where we actually wanted to go. Five days of holidays. Husband, teen daughter and me. Hosts: our old (figuratively, of course) friends, Robert and Shaila.



Professor Robert is an orni ortho onco...Professor Robert is a bird specialist and his wife Shyala is an expert in flora and fauna study. We first met Robert in Kuching, Sarawak when he was commissioned to study our hornbills...many years ago.

Impression of Nagercoil: small town. small shops. big pot holes. narrow roads. MAD drivers (except for Robert, of course).

Why would Air Asia fly to Trivandrum which is not much bigger? I donno…. That visionary Tony Fernandes guy (the other reason why AAsia is my favourite airline – doesn’t he remind you of a cuddly teddy bear?) seems to always see things ordinary beings like me don’t see.



Anyway, as it was the Christmas season, what fascinated me was that many of the houses had paper stars hanging around light bulbs in their porches, or balconies, or from a garden tree. They were so pretty, averaging 20 inches in width, with cut-outs or printed patterns/scenery.



This is an idea of the size





Daytime shot







Night time shot


Daytime shot

Night time shot



And here they are.........









So our very obliging host Robert stopped the car every time I squealed at one that I wanted shot. And because I am quite a hopeless camerawoman, poor daughter and hubby took turns getting out of the car to get a good close-up, sometimes waiting patiently for the star to twirl around to get a frontal view.

Is this pretty or what!





That could never happen in Kuala Lumpur. A stranger peering over the fence-gate-wall-whatever with a camera would have a Rottweiler-Alsatian-Pitbull or grandma-with-a-broom come charging out of the house.

In Nagercoil however, if at all the occupant saw us, there would be some quick discussion (we could see, behind the windows), someone would come out and when a simple explanation was made that we were shooting their star, there would be proud, gleeful smiles all round.

How cool is that?

12 comments:

  1. Cheh wahhhh.....Shooting their star. Good one. :D

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  2. Good post for the first!! Looking forward to see more :) Nice stars!! You can hang one in your porch, I will come with my camera! :P

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  3. WOW, that was Good and Amazing. I've never seen Stars so unusual and fascinating.I've never thought of another side of Christmas besides the usual Christmas tree.

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  4. He!he!he! At first I thought you were taking pix of Bollywood stars in India ... imagine snapping photos of someone's front yard/patio in PJ or KL (in Malaysia) ... most residents will throw cold water (or worse, an old sneaker or two) or let their dogs/amahs/maids loose on you! BTW the stars really look cool ... Cheers!

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  5. Oooh, I like those stars! - Skye

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  6. Lovely lovely stars. And you got nice fonts to prove your point don't you, even I donno how to do that. Waiting for your next post.

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  7. The stars are very pretty. And Tony Fernandes and team would've done research on which location would've been most cost effective for their airplanes to land on. Try to read The Air Asia Story by Sen Sze and Jayne Ng on how Air Asia came about,its founder Dato Tony Fernandes, their strategy, how they had to fight with MAS and Singapore, etc. I borrowed it from Velan. Quite interesting la. - Sheila

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  8. Hello Auntie yes i can see you enjoyed the trip hehehe
    nice photos though, waiting for more posts to laugh and comment
    this is too good for someone who no nothing about computers hehehe
    TEE: My blog
    pepe-tee.blogspot.com

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  9. so nice la aunty... did u managed to get 1 n bring it back to KL? :)
    nice story and i can't wait to read more!
    i miss youuuuuuu *hugs*

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  10. Ha ha, I was there too this Christmas season...the stars were everywhere. My sisters bought some stars home too...Yes hurray for Tony and Air Asia, now everyone can travel, oops FLY. Hey Trivandrum is my parents home...thats why Air Asia fly there...THE MALAYLEES!!!!!!

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  11. ok....i thought u said u dont know how to do it...congrats!....hahaha...
    Miracles do happen....nice one
    -Boago Matshuba

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  12. Brides..maid...the good old days....March 11, 2010 at 2:32 AM

    Hi dear..I cannot refute you do have an artistic presentation of your work...keep it up how come not a single picture of me...huh,,,your poor bridesmaid looking for some excitement...

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