http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/contact_sheet/32111 The Brahmaputra is one of the biggest rivers in the world and definitely the biggest river in India. It is an unstoppable force of nature that flows through the flood plains of Assam. During the monsoon it turns into a angry God that swallows away whole villages and during the dry winter season it becomes a labyrinth of channels and sand bars where navigation becomes extremely difficult. But that doesn't stop a small diverse community of people from the Kanaighat village in Assam, India to float the bamboo down the river. They make huge rafts (called Meleng in Assamese) and row it down the river all the way to Guwahati and sell it. This project has developed through my travels with this people down the river. Bamboo is a material that is used in most sustainable forms of architecture and design and the way they transport the material is completely without fuel and pollution. That is the reason i felt that these kind of practices must be highlighted and i took upon this project. Each Meleng they construct is formed out of about 10000 bamboos, which is the equivalent of what 12 disel burning trucks will hold. Hence it becomes a most cost effective way of transport. But there are lot of problems that these people face during their journey. First of all manually rowing the huge rafts down the river itself is a herculean task. During the rainy season when the Brahmaputra flows like an unstoppable force there is a huge risk to life. And during the dry winter season, when the river becoles a lybrinth of channels and sand bars if they are unlucky it could get months before they reach their destination. Secondly they also have to negotiate with a human generated problem. There are decoits and people who take the bamboo forcibly from them along the way. The story that i am in the process of recording is a story of human spirit conquering over the forces of nature and negotiating with human generated obstacles. http://www.lightstalkers.org en-us http://images.lightstalkers.org/avatars/43792/381230_10150532469183109_601518108_10629253_2038637563_n_small.jpg http://www.lightstalkers.org/Dhruba Dutta <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286875/meleng001_small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286875'>view full-size image</a> http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286875 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:24:24 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286875 <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286875/meleng001_small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286875'>view full-size image</a> Dhruba Dutta <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286878/meleng001__1__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286878'>view full-size image</a> http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286878 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:28:33 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286878 <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286878/meleng001__1__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286878'>view full-size image</a> Dhruba Dutta <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286884/meleng001__2__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286884'>view full-size image</a> http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286884 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:29:37 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286884 <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286884/meleng001__2__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286884'>view full-size image</a> Dhruba Dutta <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286887/meleng001__3__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286887'>view full-size image</a> http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286887 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:29:56 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286887 <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286887/meleng001__3__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286887'>view full-size image</a> Dhruba Dutta <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286890/meleng001__4__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286890'>view full-size image</a> http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286890 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:30:17 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286890 <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286890/meleng001__4__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286890'>view full-size image</a> Dhruba Dutta <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286893/meleng001__5__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286893'>view full-size image</a> http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286893 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:30:43 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286893 <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286893/meleng001__5__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286893'>view full-size image</a> Dhruba Dutta <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286896/meleng001__6__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286896'>view full-size image</a> http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286896 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:33:43 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286896 <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286896/meleng001__6__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286896'>view full-size image</a> Dhruba Dutta <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286899/meleng001__7__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286899'>view full-size image</a> http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286899 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:34:36 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286899 <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286899/meleng001__7__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286899'>view full-size image</a> Dhruba Dutta <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286902/meleng001__7__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286902'>view full-size image</a> http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286902 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:34:43 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286902 <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286902/meleng001__7__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286902'>view full-size image</a> Dhruba Dutta <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286905/meleng001__8__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286905'>view full-size image</a> http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286905 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:39:08 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286905 <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286905/meleng001__8__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286905'>view full-size image</a> Dhruba Dutta <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286908/meleng001__9__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286908'>view full-size image</a> http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286908 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:39:41 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286908 <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286908/meleng001__9__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286908'>view full-size image</a> Dhruba Dutta <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286911/meleng001__10__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286911'>view full-size image</a> http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286911 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:40:24 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286911 <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286911/meleng001__10__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286911'>view full-size image</a> Dhruba Dutta <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286914/meleng001__11__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286914'>view full-size image</a> http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286914 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:41:02 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286914 <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286914/meleng001__11__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286914'>view full-size image</a> Dhruba Dutta <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286917/meleng001__12__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286917'>view full-size image</a> http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286917 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:41:33 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286917 <img src='http://images.lightstalkers.org/images/1286917/meleng001__12__small.jpg' /><br /><br /><a href='http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/1286917'>view full-size image</a> Dhruba Dutta