I was stranded.
I was driving to my cousin's farm near Denkanikote, Tamilnadu. The farm is close to a place called Chandanapalli (spelled Santanapalli in some places!). The radiator of my car developed a leak and steam spewed out from under the bonnet! (Hood, for those more used to American English)
I crossed the busy highway and asked a few disreputable looking characters what I could do. It being a Sunday after Yugadi, no mechanic was available in Attibele, (near which I was stranded) I was informed. One of them, a guy called Shekhar, a building materials supplier in the area, took me all around Attibele on his motorbike, looking for a mechanic. Eventually, we found a garage that had a watchman, at least. Shekhar helped me find a minitruck owner-driver to tow my car to the garage - a distance of 2 km.
I left the car in the care of the watchman and spent more than an hour at a bakery in Attibele. My sketchbook came to the rescue and I sketched whatever caught my fancy, ignoring the blistering sun. The younger brother of the above-mentioned cousin also has land near his brother's farm and he was going there too. He picked me up and I spent two half days and a night at the farm, till the radiator was replaced.
In any case, at the farm, I kept drawing and all are here below.
There was this interesting looking building opposite the garage. It was painted in terrible colours. I looked at it wistfully - if only it was painted with better colours.... Just before I left the garage, I took a photograph of it on my mobile and painted a picture of it with colours that please my eyes, at least! Here it is, and all the sketches - as a record of my eventful trip to the farm.
