This Sunday, I was off shooting at the annual Speed Run 2008 drag race, held at Kharghar near Panvel, about an hour out of Mumbai, India. A photo enthusiast friend was kind enough to drive me down and back, and one of my former students from photography class joined us there.
On arrival, we were told that entry passes were no longer available, which was understandable - but in an unduly rude fashion by the security personnel posted at the entrance. A bit of digging around suggested that the race was being run on fenced off public road, not necessarily with all civic permissions, and yet the representatives of the event management team were strutting around and behaving extremely obnoxiously as though this was private property.
Last year's Speed Run was equally infested with overbearing "organizers", including one obese and ultra-rude chap I remember clearly, who seemed to enjoy taking out his frustrations on everyone around, with his abusive language and threats of physical violence with a "lathi", or nightstick. These Autocar India / Speed Run events seem to thrive on such attitude. Nice.
The unofficial activities outside the fenced in drag race area were more exciting than the actual races, for many. Also, they were accessible to the thousands not fortunate enough to get passes or invitations to the event. At least, the audience outside did not have to contend with rude security personnel or overbearing event officials who were throwing their weight (and abusive language) around in there.
Eventually, we found a section of the track fencing which had fallen down, and I managed to get some excellent photos of the actual races, from up close. So much for "authorized" photography at the event.
Overall, a great afternoon and evening for photography of motorsports and vehicle stunts.
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