Those magnificent men on their flying machines

Many men have a special relationship with their motorcycles. For a long time, I could not get why they felt that way. I had ridden on motorbikes in my younger days and while I had loved the thrill of speed with the wind rushing past, I had not got hooked to that sensation. It all changed around a decade ago.

This post is a photo-essay about motorbikes and the guys who love them.

Introduction

In Italy, I live in Schio, in the foothills of Alps. Schio has a strong motorbike loving community and the Schio moto-club is almost one century old. We have regular motorbike rallies, of the vintage bikes and, of moto-cross with sport-bikes. Most of the pictures with this post are from two recent local motorbike events (Schio-Pasubio vintage motoraduno and Off-road moto-cross).

In the final part of this post, I also have a few pictures of motorbikes from India and Brazil.

A word about the title of this post.  Those magnificent men in their flying machines, was the title of a 1965 British film. If you have never seen this film, do look for it and watch it, it is wonderful. The film was about airplanes but it also fits this post.

From motorbike hater to lover

At the age when many men love motorbikes, I was content to read "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance". I was convinced that riding a motorcycle was a surefire recipe for an accident. These ideas may have been linked to the death of a friend's brother in a motorcycle accident.

For a long time, I held on to those ideas. When my son became an adolescent and many boys of his age were going around on their motorbikes, I insisted that I would rather help him buy a used car than a motorcycle.

And then, after crossing fifty, when most men put away their bikes and opt for the safety of a car, I suddenly discovered my passion for motorcycles. I can't pinpoint the exact moment when it happened but suddenly I realized that I loved watching and dreaming about motorbikes.

Probably, horse-riding is similar to motorbike riding at some level? Like motorbikes, often cowboys have a special feeling for their horses. I am not sure what Freud would have to say about this, but I am sure that you can guess it!

My passion for motorbikes started with vintage bikes. I remember coming across an exhibition of vintage bikes some 7-8 years ago, and I was completely taken by them. Since then, whenever there is a rally of vintage motorcycles, I go there to look at and admire the old models of bikes.

There was a time when there were just two kinds of motorbikes - the ones for normal roads and the ones for rocky terrains and track-roads. Today there is a larger differentiation in the kinds of bikes such as custom-made, cruisers, choppers, rat bikes, bobbers, sport, naked, trike and sidecar. I am not sure about the differences between most of them.

The motocross bikes are lighter and have robust suspensions. Usually they do not have head-lights or direction-lights. At the motocross rallies, I day dream about flying in the air on my motorbike in my next incarnation.

Bikes for an election rally in India

In 2015-16, I lived in Guwahati (Assam, India). Not just Guwahati, the whole of the north-east of India has a very strong motorbike culture. One day in Muchkhowa, I had seen a big group of bikers doing an election campaign for BJP (image below).

During my medical college days in Delhi, Royal-en-field and Bullet were the dream-bikes of most guys. Today of course, they have much wider choice of bikes in India.

A Bike-dad from Brazil

The next couple of images are from Baja beach near Abaetetuba in Para state of Brazil. A guy with his son had come to beach on his bike. First I saw their bike while they were sitting at the beach.

A couple of hours later, as the sun was going down, I saw them going away. This picture of them (below) on the bike as they leave the beach, is one of my all time favourite images.

Conclusions

I hope that you have liked some random thoughts and pictures about motorbikes.

I had a lot of fun putting together the pictures for this post, as I could spend hours looking at old albums and reliving the thrill of those moments.

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Easter in Art & Sculpture

The Christian festival of Easter is about the crucifixion and death of Jesus, followed by resurrection. In this post, I am looking at depiction of the Easter in the art and sculpture from different parts of the world.

Easter in Art

Most of the examples of art and sculpture about Easter that I could find in my image-archives are about the crucifixion and death of Jesus expressing his suffering and the grief of his family and followers. Art and sculpture about resurrection are much less common.

Probably it is because pain, death, sorrow and grief are stronger and deeper emotions compared to the joy and happiness, and thus are preferred as themes for art and sculpture.

Crucifixion in Art & Sculpture

First take a look at three sculptures of crucifixion. All the three sculptures are in wood and are from the Metropolitan Art Collection of Bologna (Italy). The sculptors of these statues are not known. All the three are from medieval period and from churches around Bologna.

The first sculpture has an older and patrician looking Jesus, his face is serene and his body is well-filled out.

The second sculpture has an older looking and emaciated Jesus. His face is lined with pain, his ribs are visible and the way his hands are placed, it underlines his suffering.

The third sculpture has a younger and pale looking Jesus with a wisp of beard. Though his face looks serene, the thick rope like red blood falling down from his body is reminds me of the violence shown in Tarrantino films.

Thus, though all the three sculptors depicted the same theme, the personal sensibility of each of them influenced the way it was done. The three sculptures evoke slightly different emotions.

Grief of the Family & Followers

After the death of Jesus, his body was brought down from the cross. His mother Mary and his friends and followers including Mary Magdalene surrounded his body, stricken with grief. They prepared his body for burial. This scene has been imagined and depicted by sculptors and artists numerous times.

The first is a detail from a 1335 altar-piece painted in Jacopino-style from the National Gallery of Art in Bologna. It has the crying Mary dressed in black like a nun, holding the body of her son with blood on his forehead, a reminder of the crown of spines that was put there.

The second is a 1462 altar-piece by Michele di Matteo from the National Gallery of Art in Bologna. In it, Mary holding the dead body of Jesus is in the centre. A black shawl with a blue border covers Mary's head and body while her dress is blood red. Both Mary and Jesus are shown as old.

The third is a 1506 painting by Lorenzo Costa from the National Gallery of Art in Bologna. It has two men who are preparing the body of Jesus for the burial. A young looking Mary, her face more serene here, seems to be telling them to be more careful.

The next is a group of early 16th century terracotta statues by Alfonso Lombardi at the St Peter's church in Bologna. The sculpture is called "Compianto" and shows mother Mary and other persons standing around and looking with sorrow at the dead body of Jesus.

The last image in this group is another "Compianto". This one is from Santa Maria della Vita church in Bologna. This group of seven terracotta figures is from 15th century and is the opera of sculptor Niccola dell'Arca. This is one of my favourite sculptures.

In this work the women, especially mother Mary and Mary Magdalene, are showing their grief openly, both seem to be screaming. Among the local persons in Bologna the two figures are known as the "Ugly Marias of Bologna". I like this sculpture because it is rooted in more human emotions.

Pieta of Michelangelo

The most famous depictions of the death of Jesus is in the marble sculpture "Pieta" by Michelangelo. Sculpted in 1499 for the funeral monument of a cardinal, it is now housed in the St Peter's Cathedral in the Vatican. The sculpture has a very young and beautiful looking Mary holding the body of Jesus in her arms. In the triangular shaped sculpture, with the tip of the triangle at Mary's head, the body sizes are not very proportionate. The marks of the crucifixion-nails on the body of Jesus are small and easy to miss.

"Pieta" was taken to New York World Fair in 1964. It was severely damaged by a mentally disturbed person in 1972. Though I had seen it from close in 1982, at that time I had not taken any pictures of the statue. Some years ago it was placed behind a bullet-proof glass and is difficult to photograph now.

However, there are different copies of Pieta in different countries - below I am presenting some of those.

The first is a small replica of Pieta from a tomb in Verrano cemetery of Rome.

The second is an exact official replica of Pieta from the Cathedral of Brazilia in Brazil. Made for the visit of Pope John Paul II in Brazil in 1989, like the original it is made in marble. It is 1.74 metres high and weighs around 600 kg.

The third is 8.8 metres high giant replica of Pieta from the Cathedral of Kohima in Nagaland in the north-east of India.

The last is another replica of Pieta from a church in Munnar district in Kerala in south India. This picture was taken from a moving bus.

Resurrection

Easter and the resurrection of Jesus are usually represented in symbolic way through the Easter eggs, Easter bunny and Easter doves. Compared to the crucifixion and death of Jesus, art and sculptures about his resurrection are not less frequent.

The next image is of a 1450 painting by Antonio Vivarini from the National Gallery of Art in Bologna. It shows a pale looking Jesus with blond hair, standing up in the coffin, showing the marks of the crucifixion nails on his body. Behind him the blue skies with white clouds and the greenery on the hills suggest the joy of the nature at his resurrection even if the overall mood of the painting is somber.

Conclusion

To conclude this collection of images of art and sculptures related to Easter, the last image of this post is from the Holy Sepulcher church in Jerusalem. This church is made at the place where Jesus was crucified (Galgotha) and later, buried. The image shows the "stone of anointing", where the body of Jesus was laid out and prepared for the burial (also shown in the image on the wall behind the stone).

For the examples of art and sculpture from Italy, most of the images are from Bologna (Italy), where I have lived for many decades.

Wishing you all a Happy Easter.

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Foot loose in San Paulo, Brazil (Part 1)

I was back in San Paulo after about ten years. Scared by the "friendly" advice on the high risk of criminal attacks in this city, during the earlier visits I had never ventured out of hotels. However, this time I was determined to forget my fears and discover the city.

The first part of this photo-essay focuses on areas around the Ibirapuera park, one of the largest green areas in San Paulo city.

INTRODUCTION

San Paulo (or "São Paulo" as the Brazilians call it) is the biggest city in the American continent and along with Rio de Janieiro, the most well known Brazilian city. Fortunately, the hotel where I was staying was close to Avenida Paulista in the city centre, so inspite of my busy schedule, I could go out for early morning and evening walks to discover some parts of this city.

I was immediately attracted by the large green area of the Ibirapuera park on the city map given to me the concierge at hotel Tivoli. It did not seem very far.

"It has three museums and two lakes, it is very beautiful and is one of my favourite places in the city", the helpful concierge had told me, "but you can't walk there, it is too far."

TOWARDS IBIRAPUERA PARK

However, I think that walking is the best way to discover a city, and so I had ignored the advice of the concierge. I took Casa Branca street. It took me about an hour to reach the park, with a few brief stops on the way. I loved the Tabebuia trees (Brazilians call them Ipe trees) dense with purple flowers, that are very common in this part of San Paulo. It is the rich part of the city with many consulates and embassies.

Though we were still in October, at one place the municipal government had already set up some Christmas stalls with giant pelouche-wild life.

On Avenida Brasil at the corner with Rua Campista, I saw a statue of a short, heavy set man wearing a suit, underneath a tree. The plaque with the name of the person was defaced so I could not see who was that man and why was he honoured!

Near the statue, underneath some trees in a corner, there were make-shift shelters with car wheel-plates on the tree trunks and posters similar to those of "Occupy Wall Street" movement from a few years ago. Even they looked forgotten and semi-abandoned.

MONUMENT TO THE FLAGS

Near the entrance to the Ibirapuera park, in an oval shaped traffic roundabout is a massive sculpture, the Monument to the Flags (Monumento as Bandeiras). It is the work of Brazilian artist Victor Brecheret and was made in 1951 to celebrate the 4th century of foundation of San Paulo city.

The fifty metres long sculpture shows Portuguese explorers on horses along with some black slaves and Amerindians, pulling a canoe out of a river. A grand stone tableaux, it reminded me of some Soviet-style sculptures in the Tien-a-men square in Beijing (China).

I spent a long time admiring this monument.

THE LAKES OF IBIRAPUERA

Just behind the Monument to the Flags, you can see first of the two small lakes of Ibirapuera park. It is a mango-shaped lake with a round peduncle at its top end, and it has a series of fountains that rise and ebb in constant motion.

The second lake is narrower and more irregular with a bridge in its middle.

On one side of the second lake, I found some young photographers shooting pictures of a group of young men showing off their bodies, probably for some sports magazine.

BTW, I find today's trend of showing off the underwear very funny, as you can see from the image of the two photographers below. I think that these persons do not look sexy, rather they look tacky, but I am sure that many of you like this fashion and learning about the popular underwear brands!

MUSEUMS AND OTHER BUILDINGS IN IBIRAPUERA

There are some covered spaces in the park full of graffiti, where young people were playing around on their skate boards.

A couple of students from San Paulo school of journalism stopped me for a video-interview about the Ibirapuera park. They explained that the video-interview was part of a project-assignment.

The Ibirapuera park also hosts a planetarium, the Museum of Modern Art, the Afro-Brazilian Museum and the Ibirapuera auditorium.

Across the road, just opposite the Ibirapuera auditorium, there was another monument that looked very interesting. However, I was running short of time and wanted to visit at least one of the museums in the park, so I did not visit this monument. Perhaps someone who knows San Paulo can tell me more about it (image below)!

Instead, I quickly walked for a hurried tour of the Afro-Brazilian museum. It reminded me of the Manas Sanghrahalaya, the wonderful museum about tribal people of India in the city of Bhopal. As I was tired and running late, I rushed through this museum, unable to stop and look at the exhibits properly.

SOME OTHER SCULPTURES IN IBIRAPUERA PARK

To conclude this photo-essay here are a few images of some other sculptures from Ibirapuera park.

CONCLUSIONS

My short visit did not do complete justice to the Ibirapuera park. For example, I hardly looked at the beautiful building of the Museum of Modern Art. The park in front of this museum was hosting the biannual art show, but I had no time to look at it.

By the time I walked back to the hotel, just in time for the inauguration function of our meeting, my feet were seriously hurting me.

The whole walk-n-visit had taken me a little more than 4 hours. If you have more time in San Paulo, keep at least a full day to visit Ibirapuera park and its museums.

I don't know if in the last ten years San Paulo has become a more safer city or perhaps the area around Ibirapuera park is relatively safe, but I have to say that during this visit I felt safe going around as a tourist, clicking pictures without worrying out about any criminal attacks!

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A different teenage love story

Brazilian director Daniel Ribeiro's film "Eu Não Quero Voltar Sozinho" (I don't want to go back alone) is a Karan Johar's  "Kuch kuch hota hai" kind of film (with similar storyline) but with a difference. It is a cloyingly sweet short film, that left me a little irritated but may be that only means that I am no longer a teenager!

Introduction

The teenage love stories like Karan Johar's early films like "Kuch kuch hota hai" and "Dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge" (there were no real teenagers there, but that is only nitpicking) and hundreds of such romantic films and books all over the world tell stories of beautiful people, who meet, fall in love, face some heartbreaks and then in the end all the misunderstandings are resolved, the guy and his lady love kiss against the sunset and live happily ever after.

However, the teenage romantic worlds are make-believe worlds with make-believe people - everybody is beautiful and perfect with designer clothes - the billionaire handsome guy and lovely virgin princess. If you are fat, short, ugly or worse, if you are disabled or gay, you have no place in this make-believe world, not even as hero's sidekick or heroine's best friend.

Gay and lesbians face a lot of discrimination and barriers, and it is not easy for young gay or lesbian persons to express their sexuality. If they also have a disability then expression of their sexuality becomes even more difficult.

Ribeiro's film is different because his hero is disabled and he is also gay.

The film

Leonardo (Ghilherme Lobo) is a high school student. He is blind. His best friend is Giovana (Tess Amorim), who secretly loves him but for him she is only a friend. She accompanies him to his home every afternoon when the school finishes. Then arrives a new boy in their class - Gabriel (Fabio Audi).

Soon, Gabriel becomes friends with Giovana and Leonardo. He also walks with them after school. Leonardo feels attracted towards Gabriel but does not know how to tell it to him and decides to talk about it to Giovana.

Comments

It is a nice film to watch, simple and uncomplicated. However, there were different reasons why it irritated me a little bit:

(1) The film is based in Brazil but it is the world of rich and white Brazil. The whole class and the teacher are all white and rich looking. I know that Brazil has a lot of multi-colour families, which means that in the same families, some persons may be white, some dark and some in-between. Still, I would have liked the film more if at least some persons in the film were also not-whites.

(2) Everyone in the film is good-looking, perfect and a little artificial. Even Leonardo, who is blind, looks perfect with beautiful eyes.

(3) Everyone is accepting towards Leonardo's disability, no one makes comments about him. Even his being a gay is not an issue. The only dilemmas in the film are the romantic dilemmas - Giovana's heart break and the difficulty of Leonardo to express his feelings. Thus, the film is in an idyllic world.

However, I do recognise that as someone who is no longer young, and who focuses (too much??) on the problems and barriers faced by disabled persons and by non-heterosexual persons, probably I am looking at this film through a distorted lens. The film is a make-believe world to present alternate dreams to people who have a disability and are gay - like all teenagers they also have a need for uncomplicated romantic dreams and the film answers that need.

It is a short film (about 17 minutes) and though it is in Portuguese, you can watch it on Youtube with English subtitles. If you like sweet and romantic films with good-looking actors, watch it and tell me what did you think about it!

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After I finished watching it, I was re-imagining "Kuch kuch hota hai" - suppose, Rahul (Shahrukh Khan) was secretly in love with Anjali (Kajol) but felt shy of expressing himself, and then Tina (Rani Mukherjee) came to the school and one day Anjali confessed to Rahul that she was in love with Tina ...

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