Known as Siat Khnam, the city of Shillong boasts a very unique lottery system. To obtain the random numbers needed for the lottery, a group of Khasi tribesmen squat in a semicircle around a straw target and fire as many arrows as possible into it over a set time before a canvas curtain is raised … Continue reading
Assam (also spelled Asom and Axom) covers the fertile Brahmaputra valley, making it the most accessible of India’s Northeast States. The typical Assamese landscape offers golden-green vistas over endless rice fields that are patched with palm and bamboo groves, and framed in the distance by the hazy blue Himalayas rising up out of Arunachal Pradesh. … Continue reading
We stopped at this village for provisions and I found it photogenic in a “slice of life” sort of way. You’ll notice, no doubt, that this appears more like a scene from Cambodia or Vietnam. The Northeast States are very different from the rest of India. Continue reading
This hill station was the capital of British-created Assam from 1874 to 1972 when the state of Meghalaya was carved out of Assam. Since becoming the state capital it has rapidly developed into a typical modern Indian town and in doing so, some of its older colonial buildings have been demolished. However, in parts it … Continue reading
In my prior post, I mentioned gaining access to the Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project through a bombing range utilized by the Indian Air Force. Below is that bombing range… Not all the pictures are not up to normal Velvet Rocket standards in terms of focus or composition, but given that we were not supposed to … Continue reading
Those of you that know me well, know that I have a strange photographic fascination with industrial carnage. Also, my country doesn’t really do many large-scale engineering projects anymore and so it is interesting to see one up close (I’m not suggesting we should go out and build dams everywhere, but it is interesting to … Continue reading
With a population of almost 13 million (official) inhabitants and with nearly 23 million (official) residents in its greater metropolitan area, Delhi is a crowded place. And an intense place. It is quite probably the most intense city I have ever visited and that is saying something. I can think of no other city that … Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket 