Banana Highway

On the Barrage at Rajahmundry

One of the advantages of waking up early is the time one gets for oneself. You are free to do anything. When at home I read and when I’m abroad, er..traveling, I use the time to go around the place I am staying. Last week at Rajahmundry I slipped out of my hotel room, at six in the morning, while the guy who came along with me slept on. There wasn’t much traffic on the road and early morning passengers waited in the bus stand which was bang opposite the hotel we were staying in. After a hot cup of tea had at a road side vendor I tried to remember how I made it to the barrage the last time I was at Rajahmundry. I was about to catch an autorickshaw when a rickety local bus drew up. The ticket guy said it would take me to the barrage and a short time later I was dropped near the Barrage.

The first thing I noticed was the sight of the fishermen standing on the gates of one of the side canals and hurling their white, shiny nets into the waters below. The last time I was here they weren’t to be seen. I watched the nearly half a dozen fishermen throw their nets one after the other into the water. The guys hold the net in their hands and gaze at the water below. They wait for the right time and one can tell they are about to hurl as they begin to swing the net in their hands, slowly at first and then the moment comes. Boom, the net is hurled up, and coming down it ballons into a swirl of white before sinking into the water. Obviously there wasn’t much to catch as they flung the nets again and again into the unyielding waters. I watched them for some time wondering how it would have been if I had a nice camera rather than the one I had.

Just as it had been the last time, this year too there were scores of men making their way across the barrage on bicycles laden with bunches of green and bright yellow bananas. The bunches were tied to the handlebars and the rear carrier of the bicycles. Each bicycle had a minimum of six bunches. The first time I saw them I was thrilled to have made the sort of discovery adventurous travelers (okay, I’m not one) make. I had taken pictures at that time too and this time too I went on clicking them as they came in waves and waves of bicycles. An added attraction this time was the presence of three monkeys, two adults and a baby. When there are bananas around can monkeys be far behind?

I watched the monkeys lurk on the pavement of the barrage expecting to snatch a banana from the cyclists riding just inches away. But they were unlucky as the banana guys swerved away from them. It was a sight watching the forlorn faces of the monkeys as hundreds of bananas whizzed past them. However they had stuff to eat- the grains of maize that littered the road. I walked on the barrage for some time. The gates of the barrage were closed and on the other side was the dry riverbed from which an electric tower rose high. I clicked away. One reason why I take so many pictures is to show my son where I had been and what I saw.

My family, especially my brothers, say my mind is like a tubelight- it takes time to light up. So it dawned on me much later that I should have spoken to a few banana guys to ask them where they were all coming from and at what price they sold the bananas in the town, and to whom. But I never got the idea to ask these questions as long as I was on the barrage with the camera in hand.

I came again but in the evening, along with the guy who had come with me from Hyderabad. It was quite late but I discovered there were not one, but three barrages! Next time I’m in Rajahmundry I’ll remember to check out all three.