Different faces, one common bond

Culture, habits and people define a place. When people are friendly, any place, no matter how difficult the surroundings, can become home. All of us felt at home in Wayanad, right from the minute we arrived in Kozhikode to the time we left Tirunelli.

I have always loved to talk to people I bump into irrespective of the kind of work they do. Take for instance, the security help at Tushara Motel, the hotel we stayed in at Vythiri. He always had a faint smile on his face and was eager to help. His is the first picture you see here.

At the Pookot Lake I couldn’t help take a picture of two boatmen who were waiting in the afternoon for people to get in to take them around the lake. They seemed as relaxed as the placid waters of the lake and, when I motioned them to pose, they happily did without batting an eyelid.

Abutting the hotel is a nursery, full of eye-catching saplings and plants. Have a look. Some of us bought a few saplings hoping that Chennai weather would be kind (that might be another story). One morning at the nursery, I noticed this small boy who was helping his mother tend to the plants. Little did he know of the world around him. I wondered how many visitors ever spotted him or talked to him. I did. But he was too shy to even mumble anything. All he did was stare at my camera and the result was this lovely picture.