dust, looms, and 21 degrees in solapur
landed in solapur and the first thing that hits you isn't the heat, surprisingly, but the texture of the air. it’s dry, gritty, and smells like dust and ancient basalt. as a photographer, i’m obsessed with light, and the light here on the deccan plateau is harsh, unforgiving, and absolutely stunning. it strips everything bare. i’m staying near the bhima river basin, and the black cotton soil is cracking in that beautiful, cinematic way that makes me want to shoot rolls of black and white film until the sun goes down.
i just checked and it's sitting at 21°C right now, hope you like that kind of thing because it’s practically freezing compared to the 45-degree nightmare this place turns into in the summer. the current humidity is like 35%, which means my lens isn't fogging up every five seconds-a minor miracle. it’s t-shirt weather, honestly, but i see locals in jackets. maybe i've just been in the sun too long.
i came here looking for the 'chadders'-the famous cotton towels and textiles this place is known for. someone told me that the handloom industry is struggling a bit, but walking through the weaving districts, the rhythm of the looms is hypnotic. it’s not a polished, touristy experience; it’s loud, dusty, and real. i spent an hour just watching a guy dyeing fabric in a vat, the colors popping against the drab grey of the building. that’s the shot.
if you get bored of the looms, pune and pandharpur are just a short drive away. i actually considered heading to pandharpur for the temples, but i’m not really in the spiritual mood. i’m more in the mood for getting lost in the semi-arid landscape. i heard that the great indian bustard sanctuary nearby is a bit of a gamble-apparently, the birds are elusive and the terrain is rough, which sounds exactly like my kind of waste of time. you can check out some reviews on TripAdvisor before you commit to the bumpy ride, though.
food has been an adventure. i’ve been surviving on bhakri and pulses, which is cheap and fills you up enough to keep carrying camera gear. the lack of specific 'famous' dishes is actually kind of liberating; you just walk into a crowded place, point at what someone else is eating, and hope for the best. it's usually spicy enough to wake you up.
i’m going to spend the afternoon editing photos and trying to keep the dust out of my keyboard. solapur isn't shiny, but it's got character. it's got that raw, deccan grit that you either love or hate. i think i love it. for now.
You might also be interested in:
- https://topiclo.com/post/matola-industrial-heart-lost-in-translation
- https://topiclo.com/post/just-another-day-in-paradise
- https://topiclo.com/post/how-to-scale-automate-and-win-the-global-marketplace
- https://topiclo.com/post/prague-cobblestones-cold-hands-and-a-lot-of-bridges
- https://topiclo.com/post/adana-a-hot-humid-mess-on-the-seyhan-river