Anuradha Goyal

Hyderabad Hues XIV: Elusive Koti and markets around it

2012-01-27T13:29:00.000+05:30

I began this walk with an intent to see the Sunday book bazaar in Sultan Bazaar and Abids area and anything else that area may have in store. And what I found was an old market, some interesting buildings, an underground book bazaar, Rajasthani Chaat, a Jain temple and lots of pigeons. The palace or the King Kothi is something that this area is known as but the actual building remains elusive to the general visitor and no request to see is entertained, making it there but not there kind of structure.

We started from Moazzam Jahi Market, which with its tall clock tower is an easily recognizable structure. I had first seen its Silver model in the Nizam’s museum in Purani haveli a few months back and since them I wanted to see this. A very geometric building that is circular on the outside with a inner promenade but on top has three towers arranged in a triangle. Built in early 20^th century by the last Nizam Osman Ali, it was named after his second son Moazzam Jah and was meant to be a fruit market. Today on the outside you see big ice-cream shops, a bit on the side a perfumery and a hukkah shop and inside there are potters and grocery stores and yes a couple of fruit and vegetable shops too and meat shops at the end. Open space inside the market is feeding ground for pigeons. As you walk in the arched corridor outside the shops you will see the striking blue shop doors against the dark grey stone of the building, making it a pleasant play of bright and dull, but to see this you must go there before the shops open. And don’t worry early in Hyderabad means anytime till about 11:00 AM. On the other side the bright red of the potters pots gives another contrast. And if this is not enough, stand before the Hukkah shop to see all possible colors. Jambagh flower market was a part of this market but was shifted out a few years ago, now you can only imagine what colors the flowers would have added to this market.

As you see this planned market with covered corridors and open spaces, you wonder why any of the modern shopping mall designers have not looked at it and thought of an interesting design like this, that has shops, walking space, open air, sunlight and an interesting architecture that defines it. We could get access to the roof of the building and it was a good to stroll on the roof with red pots drying in the sun, towers telling tales of the gone bye era and an empty open space in the middle of the crowded city area. You can see the top view of the market and how this space at some point in time may have been used for open exhibitions or for kite flying competitions or just as a place to stand and watch the city go by.

From here we started tracing our steps towards Sultan Bazaar and saw some interesting buildings. There was this huge building that said ‘Bachelor Bldg’, and because of the font used, it felt like Bachelor Blog and that is what caught our attention and I assume it must have been a hostel for the single men. Then we saw another restaurant called ‘Taj Mahal’, that looked like an old cinema hall and when we checked we found that it was a high-end bar in the good old days. Then we saw this series of usual street scenes like vendors selling fake garments for all possible brands, juicewallahs and fruit carts. As we passed through Troop bazaar that I assume would have been used by the troops sometime and is now a hardware market, we saw this interesting demo of a pump where green water was being pumped to gain attention.

We reached Sultan Bazaar / Abids to see the book vendors lining the roads with books right outside the big book shops and the first reaction was happy. But we soon realized that since educational institutes surround the area only textbooks are sold here. A sign saying bookshops led us to an underground subway that must have been built as an underpass for the busy road, but is now a full-fledged book market. A long, narrow, dimly lit passage is lined with small bookshops on both sides right up to the staircase comes quite close to a bibliophile’s heaven, except the place can be a lot more clean and must have more variety of books. I think book corners like this would be a great idea in the cities struggling for space and people looking for some solace from the crowds. People like me can spend hours in such alleys alienated from the real world and lost in the imagined world.

While you are here, you cannot miss the Gokul chat that I was told is a must visit for anyone in the city. It turned out to be an authentic Rajasthani chat. The place is known for the terrorist attack that it faced a few years ago and since them they have removed the sitting arrangement and now you have to go through the security check and eat standing. From here we wanted to go to King Kothi, the palace, but there were surprises on the way. There is Small Park behind the Gokul chat that is a marked place for pigeons and belongs to Pigeon Welfare Association with a colorful pigeon house towering in the middle. There is a board that even tells you that it is a private colony. You can see thousand of pigeons in this small place. You can enter the park and feed the pigeons if you like, but that is all you can enter it for. This was the surprise element of this walk.

As you walk out of the Pigeon Park in the opposite direction you walk through an archway that was probably meant to be a community gate sometime. As you come out you would be taken aback by the sudden chaos of a market place with vendors all around and customers pushing around. In this street there is an Shvetambar Jain temple, a typical structure in white marble that is very peaceful inside almost opposite of what the street outside is. We sat here for sometime, may be to feel the peace or to re-charge our batteries after walking around and to prepare for the next leg of the walk. Actual palace is a bit of a walk from here.

A part of the palace has been converted into a hospital so you can walk into it and see it, but the actual palace is still a private property and us besides the security guards is guarded by tall walls all around it. The walls are so tall that you cannot even have a glimpse of the palace. The hospital part though gives you a fair idea of how the place must be. The KK mark that adorns the building has an interesting story behind it. It is said that the palace was built buy an Amir called Kamal Khan and he had put his initials everywhere on the palace, probably hoping that this would help his palace escape the Nizam’s eye. But as the fate would have it, Nizam liked it and took it away. Since the whole place had Kamal Khan’s initials, Nizam decided to call the place King Kothi to match the initials. Well, when a king wants something he will have it, this way or that way.

A very simple walk dotted with small but interesting things, but still managed to pack the surprise that every walk must have.

Thanks Sriram and Andrew for being my companions on this walk.

Hyderabad Hues XIII - Nizamia Observatory, Ameerpet

2012-01-22T08:21:00.000+05:30

More than a century old space observatory, right in the middle of the city is one of the hidden gems of this city. Not many people know about it, though it falls in the walkers path and many people pass by it every morning and evening. This is the main building of the observatory that is now being used as a school for mentally handicapped. This campus is a part of Osmania University.

This is one of the two observation decks or towers, now in the state of complete ruins. You can see the wooden panels have fallen over time. The interior is locked and you can not enter it. We could not even find someone who may have the key. This was a private observatory founded by Nawab Zafar Jung that was later taken over by the government and is now managed by Osmania University elsewhere where it was shifted in 1960s.

This is the other tower, more or less in the same state. These two towers are not too far from each other and are surrounded by trees now, though am not sure if it was so during the time when these were active spaces. This observatory for years worked on an ambitious programme of photographing and charting a large segment of the sky.

The lone sign that tells what it was...The observatory is believed to have cataloged more than a lakh stars and exposed thousands of photos.

This is another structure with what seemed to us as observatory equipment. The outer part of this building has kind of Greek pillars, which could be a part of the observatory or a pavilion in the garden, as we could see a central fountain like structure as well.

This is inside part of the pavilioned structure and could it have been a sun dial or something like that.

This is how the art grows, this faded painting on the outer wall of pavilioned structure. Probably some people thought it was a temple of sorts or may be it was.

This is the backyard of the main building, with barrack like rooms. From here the stairs lead you some 60 feet down where again there is a big building on the right hand side, and the rest is jungle.

This structure has rooms that are more like junkyard today. You can see a lot of peacocks in the jungle around and some nice wild flowers. When you stand there you get no signs of being in the middle of the bustling city with S P Road only stone's throw away distance.

I chanced upon this aarticle through a Google search about Nizamia Observatory, that talks about Hyderabad's contribution to scientific advances in India:

THE NIZAMIA OBSERVATORY

By M. Burhan Hussain

Till the end of 19th century British India had only two observatories; one at Ootacamund and the other at Nanital. In 1908, Nawab Zafar Jung studied astronomy in England and he returned to Hyderabad along with two telescopes and an expert, whom he promised a net salary of Osmania Sikkah Rupees 1500.00 per month. He offered the telescopes to the Nizam, who ordered the installation of the telescopes at Begumpet, where they remained for the next 50 years. Mr. Chatwood, B. Sc. FRAS was appointed as its Director in 1908 and he was succeeded by M.R.J. Petcock, B.A.FRAS in 1924, who was succeeded by the famous astronomer Rao Saheb T.P. Bhaskaran, M.A. FRAS, F.N.I. in 1929. Mr. Chatwood and Mr. Pocock published two volumes of results that were completed in 1918. The whole work of the ‘Carte due Ciet’ Hyderabad

Section was completed under the direction of Mr. T.P. Huascaran, who had published the remaining volumes of the astrographic catalogue and this brought the work to a successful conclusion.

In 1923, the equatorial telescope by G. Rubb was erected and a seismograph, Milne-Shaw pattern, was installed for the study of earthquakes and a second machine was added in 1929. A special underground chamber was constructed to house these delicate instruments.

In 1928, at the request of the International Astronomical Union, the section of the sky originally allotted to the observatory at Potsdam(Germany) was undertaken by the Nizamia Observatory. The work of measurement and reduction was completed and three volumes were published by the International Astronomical Union

A blank comparator for rapid comparison of astronomical photos was added to the equipment in 1938.

The proper notion of about 200 stars exceeding a sixth of a second per year was determined on the suggestion of Government of British India. In 1929, a pilot balloon station for observing upper air conditions was attached to the observatory. The flights were arranged in cooperation with Meteorological Department of the Government of British India
.

The observatory published ‘Astrographic Catalogue – Hyderabad Section’ in four volumes in cooperation of the International Astronomical Union

. The Nizamia observatory also maintained records of earthquakes and rainfall in the Nizam’s state.

“HYDERABAD

– 400 YEARS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY”

How less we know about our own cities and its contribution to various fields.

Misty Meghalaya II – Cherrapunjee aka Sohra

2012-01-17T08:15:00.001+05:30

Cherrapunjee is best known as the wettest place on earth, and so we studied in our geography lessons. The image that we have is of a place where it is constantly raining and all you would be able to see is rains and rains. We soon discovered it is not so and Cherrapunjee gets rains during rainy season mostly like the rest of the country, and it is only during that time that the rains here are more than any other place on the earth. In fact we were surprised to learn that the place is actually dry during winter months and faces a major water crisis. Now can life get more ironical: Wettest place on earth goes dry for months every year. I wonder if they ever tried any water conservation methods, did they face any challenge in doing so or they just accepted this as a part of nature their hills give them. Both ways life is tough – when it rains and when it does not.

Clouds will be you constant companions as you roam around Cherrapunjee. You can walk in the clouds literally, feel them on your skin and smell them. Clouds not just flirt with you, they also keep creating the scenery around for you. Sometimes they will camouflage the waterfall and you will only hear it, then they will show you a bit of it and raise your curiosity and then they will suddenly move away and let you admire the gorgeous waterfall falling into a deep blue lake. Another constant feature is colorful flowers. You would see bright pink flowers flanking both sides of the road throughout your drive, all along the valleys and in front of every house – big or small. They do not look planted or force fitted but they seem very much a part of the place along with hills, clouds and humans. We spotted many varieties of flowers that we usually do not see in other parts of the country. Amongst the Blue sky, white or grey clouds, green hills, flowers add their own brightness to the scenery with their vibrant colors.

The hills around Cherrapunjee are dotted with various waterfalls. You can stop around any valley and you would be able to hear or see a waterfall. Some of the waterfalls are a part of standard itinerary that you are taken around and have interesting stories about them. Steep straight falls, fall into the narrow gorges between the hills and culminate to become a river in the deepest part of the valley. From the top the rivers look like a tickle of water flowing between green slopes. Sometimes you will wonder at the might of this delicate little river that cuts through the rocky mountains and makes it way, you will envy it for its independence to be able to go anywhere on its will, to be able to cross borders as most of this water goes to the neighboring Bangladesh.

Legends and myths can never be too far. One of the falls called Noh Ka Likhai falls have a tragic story behind its name that comes from a women named Ka Likhai who committed suicide here after having eaten her own daughter mistakenly. A huge 200 ft stand alone rock formation that looks like an inverted Khasi basket is said to be a basket that belonged to an evil giant who used to trouble the people. Once they served him a meal full of nails and killed him, and legend is that his basket was left here upturned and even today stands as a rock. The way the rock is standing between the hills and the plains with its perfect conical top, you almost want to believe the story.

Meghalaya is home to as many as 788 caves, most of which are unmapped and unexplored, and some of them the longest one in the country. Mawsmai caves are probably the most visited ones as they are close to Cherrapunjee. There is a concrete staircase that leads you to the mouth of the cave. You see a huge hall kind of formation that leads to a very narrow pathway, where at most one person can pass through and then again a cave comes and you come out on the other side of the cave. These natural formations make you marvel at the nature’s diversity but the way they are maintained you do the same at man’s ignorance. Around the cave you can walk through a jungle with wild plants. We saw Mawsmai caves towards the end of the day and it is then it started raining after a long dry day. It felt as if the trip to Cherrapunji is now complete, as you have soaked yourself in its identity – its rains.

Cherrapunjee is now officially called Sohra, which was its original name. Cherrapunjee apparently was a British contribution. There are parts of Bangladesh that you can see from some places here and you would be amazed to see that hills suddenly become absolute plains where agriculture is being done like other plains. Ramakrishna Mission has ashram here, where they have a temple and a museum on Northeast. The museum shows pictures of all the falls in the region and tells you a bit of history about them. There is a small weaving center where some young man and women were weaving their traditional weaves. There is a temple behind the main building and walls of the building showcase some pictures associated with the region. Women in traditional Khasi dresses can be seen selling cinnamon and tea.

Despite being such a huge tourist place, tourism infrastructure is almost not there. You cannot even find a decent lunch unless you are staying in a rare resort here. Since most people come here for a day trip from Shillong, a couple of good restaurants that serve the basic meals is a huge need. As of now you only have small stalls that sell you small snacks only. Even getting the quintessential tea is not that easy in a land not too far from the land of tea.

An evening with Mahila Mandali

2012-01-12T07:08:00.000+05:30

This New Year I was in a small town in Malnad region of Karnataka that has a substantial population of Konkani community. I was invited to be a part of the function organized by the Mahila Mandali there. Now I had never ever attended a function that has been completely organized by women in rural India and the one that is community based. So I was pretty keen to see how this works and what an impression it has left on me. Since this was a New Year day, may be it is a sign for the year to come.

The four-hour event included community rituals, prize distribution and a lot of song and dance. The scale and professionalism with which the event was managed was worth appreciating. The level of participation was huge. I assume it is because it is a closed knit community and people know each other, so they are more participative. Apparently they had organized sports and cultural competitions before this function and distributed prizes for the same while giving cash prizes to children who performed well in their academics. Whatever little I could understand of what they spoke, I could make out that the focus of their lives remain their children. Before the cultural part of the event they followed their own elaborate rituals of honoring the elderly in the traditional way, keeping their cultural ethos alive. All the women were wearing their best Saris, and when many of them came on the stage, they created a kaleidoscopic sight that I really liked. Urban India is getting very colorless, with women wearing more neutral and subtle colors, especially in a professional environment, in order to not stand out. Here every woman was wearing a strong color to stand in. In fact I wore a Sari there so that I do not stand out and get an insider’s perspective.

Bollywood dominated the music and dance that went on for 3 hours, though it was a community of non-Hindi speakers and not a word of Hindi was uttered otherwise during the function. Age of performers ranged from 3-70. It was painful for me to see 3 year olds going through the trauma of being on stage for the sake of a smile on the parent’s face who were all excited with cameras and video recorders. At the same time it was heartening to see an elderly lady perform on Chhamak Chhalo in a very graceful and innovative way and then coming back in another garb to entertain with a one-act play that had the audience laughing through the act. There was Karaoke style singing, small plays and a couple of performances based on mythology with classical music and dance, bollywood dances and of course Kolaveri. Though you could not call them great dancers or performers but their enthusiasm was unbeatable. The costumes, the make-up and choreography were all well prepared and you could see the impact of popular media everywhere. The music systems, the camera guy and video recorders all over the place could have competed easily with any up market urban event. Though the no of cameras always make me wonder why we are creating so many copies of the same content, and do people even have time to look at the content once it is created.

Above all, this was a platform for women to be express their creativity, to be able to get out of their homes, organize themselves, manage funds and enjoy themselves. It was also an impetus for them to keep themselves updated on what is happening around in the world. It seems the event is pretty much a part of their lives as it repeats itself every 1^st January. To me, it was revelation and changed my view of how I think women in small town India live. They know how to enjoy themselves and go all out and enjoy with each other, without their men folk, but never without their kids. It made me think, if we women in urban India are grossly missing out on this fun, are we trying too hard to be a part of the men’s world and in the process missing out on the basic fun in life.

Some astrologers said that this century is going to belong to women, may be and hope they were right!

Revisiting Hampi

2012-01-06T18:23:00.000+05:30

I first visited Hampi 7 years back, when I had just started experimenting with my small but new digital camera, with a friend over a weekend from Bangalore. In my memory it was one of the best trips I had. Hampi with its majestic ruins stood out in my mental map of India. It had vast serene environment with farms interspersed with royal palaces, beautiful temples, long bazaars had an aura of perfect calmness amidst past glory. Stories of Tenali Ram played in my mind as I wandered through the place. Last week on our way to Western Ghats from Hyderabad, we stopped at Hampi and I again walked through this ruined city, which is now a world heritage site. I wanted to spend some time in that calmness that I had experienced then and admire the rock structures as the sun goes down and when it comes up early morning. This time again I wanted to capture some of the city in my camera, for memories and for sharing.

Alas! The place has changed so much. Last time I had gone on a weekend and this time on a weekday, but the crowd was so much that I could see but not feel the place. People were jostling everywhere. There were long queues of school children who were being moved in queues through the monuments and then made to stand for a group picture by the teachers. Open spaces were their playgrounds and I wonder if they were even told what the place is and what its significance is. I wonder if the teachers themselves knew anything about the importance of the place. They were all young women more worried about getting the right pose for their pictures. Then there were buses full of tourists that came in the morning and as soon as they landed, drivers and conductors took out the huge cooking equipment and started cooking for the tourists, making the whole place look like a huge picnic spot.

So many monuments had barricades erected around them. Last time there were no fences and no barricades, you could walk across any place. After all everything there is stone and what can people do to stones. But looking at the crowd on a weekday, I am sure the barricades were indeed required. Vithala temple that has the signature stone chariot of Hampi can now be approached only on foot or you have to take a km long ride on the battery operated golf carts. The ceiling of the Rang mandapa has fallen or is being restored, so you cannot enter it. The musical pillars have been acid washed making them look freshly sculptured but devoid of the music that they emanate. I was told that no one is allowed to touch them now, while last time our guide actually played them for us and even we with our untrained fingers tried to make some music out of them. Similarly, you have to stop way before the Virupaksha temple then go on foot. Number of food stalls and push cart vendors have also increased in proportion to the visitors. The surroundings of Virupaksha temple were filthy and you wonder why all this drama of not taking shoes inside the temple, when right outside the temple there is so much filth. The guide fees has increased manifold and literally every monument had guide sellers, trying to tell you that visiting Hampi is useless without the guide.

We visited the step well and the festival platform early morning, when the city was still waking up and I really enjoyed roaming around here, finding various camera angles to capture the place and trying to imagine how this place would have looked on a festival day. There are lots of ruins around this area, where only the foundations of buildings remain. It made me think is that why they say the foundation of the building must be strong, for the building may falls, but the foundations remain to tell the stories. The sheer symmetry of the step well makes it enchanting. You can look at it for a long time and not be bored because there is a design that holds your attention. I do not remember seeing the fine paintings on the ceiling of Virupaksha temple, which I admired this time. I also learnt that Pampa Devi, an Avatar of Parvati is the local deity after whom the city was named, and it got distorted to its present name Hampi.

This time also I could not visit Anegundi but we drove through the road leading to it and it was a beautiful drive. There are stone hills on both sides of the road with finely balanced boulders, which give an impression that the stones could fall any moment but apparently they have been hanging there forever. Small farms spread between these hills have big and small rocks scattered over them. The place gives a very artistic impression, as if the creator was playing with green and grey colors. On top of the hillocks here and there you see small white temples and then from somewhere the steps leading to the temple. This place still had the serenity that I saw in Hampi in my last trip, the unadulterated nature with no over the top modern buildings and billboards vying for your attention.

I wonder if one should re-visit the most cherished places or not….

Looking Back @ 2011

2012-01-02T13:34:00.001+05:30

New year means different things to different people. I like to look at it as a point in time, where you look back at last 12 months and see what you did and may be use that as an input into planning what you want to do for next 12 months or so. Today, on first day of 2012 when I look at the year just gone by, I am surprised by the amount of travel I managed to do this year. Saw a new country in Nepal and travelled to all four corners of the country.

Highlight of this year were trips to Bihar and North East. I revisited Rishikesh, Mathura and Hampi this year and observed the pace at which these places are changing. A few observations that stand out from traveling across the country are:

· Whole of country is under construction. Though the locals will tell this is a never ending process, this road has been under construction for last so many years, but you wonder how this can be true for almost all corners of the country. National highways, state highways, flyovers, underpasses, railway tracks and sometimes airports, everything is under construction. People go through the inconvenience of construction for years in a hope that someday their journeys will be easier.

· Gol Gappe, known by various names across the country are available in the remotest part of the country and may be the only as-is survivor in the food category that is under threat from standardization. This is closely followed by beauty parlors that can also be seen almost in all places.

· As you travel through the remote areas of the country you observe the difference that is popularly called India Vs Bharat. Though mobile connectivity is available throughout the country, you have no roaming facility in Arunachal if you are a subscriber of private telecom companies and the coverage of BSNL in urban India is not comparable to that of private players. You see the impact of Government run organizations and schemes in rural India that we almost write off in urban India. Unfortunately, plastic has entered the entire fabric of our country. I am pained to see all the roadside chaiwallahs using the cheap disposable plastic glasses and almost sitting of the pile of these glasses. The same goes for paper cups used by juicewallahs. Will it be possible to reverse this – I only hope it is.

I taught travel writing at National Institute of Travel and Hospitality Management and loved doing it. Interacting with young minds is such an invigorating experience. I managed to read 50 books this year too and have created a dedicated website for my book reviews: AnuReviews. I hope to bring in a little more focus to the two pursuits of mine: Books & Travel. A little bit of recognition came my way through this Television Interview.

Though the plans of next travel are always playing in the mind or being explored on the Internet, I hope to reflect a little more on the travels that I have done and the ones that I will undertake this year. I got to interact with lot of you, my readers. You gave me suggestions on new places to see, you shared your thoughts, you gave me additional information about the places on this blog and most importantly you kept me encouraged to travel more and inspired to write more. I hope that many more channels will open up this year.

Wish you all an insightful journey through 2012!

Hyderabad Hues XII – Glimpses from the Monda Market

2011-12-26T12:10:00.001+05:30

No words can ever capture the liveliness of traditional Indian markets. These places while intend to meet the basic needs of the people, but in fact end up being a persistent source of entertainment for everyone – shopkeepers who meet all kind of customers, buyers looking for something and landing up buying couple of extra things, explorers like me who wonder at the high energy of these places. Last week a photographer friend and I walked around the Monda market in Secunderabad, the market most locals know for the fresh fruits and vegetables and for wedding items.

Our first conversation was with Mr. Khan who manages a 50+-year-old perfume or Itr shop. Colorful glass bottles containing fragrances lined the walls of his shop, until we noticed the branded modern day perfumes that were placed in the cases below the counter. He obviously was in love with his original oil based perfumes that were made in a factory somewhere around the shop. He fondly told us that the oil based local perfumes are so much better than the new age alcohol based one which evaporate as soon as the bottle is opened. I asked him what are the most favorite fragrances of the current generation, and he kept quite. Then he nostalgically said earlier people used to have their own tastes in fragrances, they will choose what went with their personality, sometimes even requesting us to make a new one by mixing some base fragrances, but now they all buy what the perfume companies advertise. There is no personal taste left. We are also forced to sell that, otherwise the shop may close down. Well, we would certainly miss the colorful, shaped and carved small Itr bottles in our homes and in bazaars in the years to come as we bow down to the so called globalization and loose our individual tastes.

200 years old Ujjaini Mahakali temple, famous for its Bonalu festival celebrations, is located in the road going to Monda market from James Street police station. Temple has stone pillars with traditional Hindu signs and symbols carved on them. On a Tuesday afternoon, as we reached the temple, we saw an auction of saris going on right outside the temple. On enquiring we found out that the saris were offered to the Goddess by the devotees and are being auctioned now so that a living Goddess can actually use them, of course for a price. Interesting part was the buyers were all women and we saw the auctions being in the range of Rs 200-300 per Sari. The street outside the temple is full of small shops selling colorful Pooja items like any other temple street but an unusual thing in this street are shops selling Kites and Charkhis or spools that hold the Kite thread. The colors of Kites and the Charkis add a riot of color in an already colorful street. Inside the temple we saw some women doing Rahu pooja as it was Rahu kaal, the inauspicious time of the day. A unique aspect of this pooja was the diyas or lamps made by turning the squeezed lemon peels. A woman told me this puja is done when a wish that you asked the Goddess for is fulfilled. In the dark interiors of the temple, clusters of diyas shone like a ray of hope in a depressed heart.

There is another interesting temple or shall I say a structure that might have been a temple once upon a time, with statues on the first floor and shops on the ground floor. There is a small staircase that leads you to the first floor if you want to see the statues closely. Color was scattered on the street as piles of glass bangles, as spools of kite thread or Charkis, as art on the wall, as musical instruments, as bridal makeup items, as quintessential bridegroom’s sehra, as piles of colorful fruits and vegetables, as piles of flowers in various colors, as colorful garments, as bunches of keys at the key repair stalls, as dyers dying clothes and as brightly colored horns of a buffaloe accompanying a sadhu. In fact as I was clicking the pictures of a colorful display of women’s dresses, the shopkeeper came out and asked ‘Are you a designer, trying to copy my designs?’ and I had a hearty laugh and I asked him, ‘Look at my clothes, can I be a designer?’ and his look said,’No, I don’t think so’, and he was relieved to know that I am just a curious traveler.

Little ahead is a white colored Old Jail building, which is now a bustling market. You can see that the structure is old with colonial style pillars and windows. The upper storeys seem like godowns and the lower corridors are now shops. I wanted to go inside the building so I circled it as much as was possible, but there was no way to enter the place. I wonder if the shops are legal or place has just been encroached upon. If it was a jail, it must be a public property unless the Govt has sold it.

In a lane next to the Jail building is an 80-year-old house that is probably the most orante house in the locality. Bright green and yellow colors add to the intricately carved metal work that adorns the house. A typical early 20^th century house has two shops flanking the main entrance of the house, indicating that the house probably belonged to a trader or a merchant. We spoke to the owner of the house and he graciously showed us the inside of the house though he allowed taking pictures only from the outside. The interiors of the house were as ornate as the exterior. The house, not too big from inside and made on an irregular shaped plot, has typical courtyard style architecture, with open roofs to bring in ample light. When we told him that we are interested in looking at the house because it is a heritage structure of Hyderabad, he promptly said ‘No, this is not yet 100 years old, so not a heritage structure’. Instead of a joy that should be associated with being the owner of a beautiful heritage structure he was reluctant to call it so. Is it because the Govt heritage rules take away the independence of the owner of the property to do anything with the property?

The walk ended at the fruit and vegetable market, where anyone would be tempted to pick them up for the freshness they epitomize. I did pick up two not so regularly available fruits, one that I had never tasted – a roasted palm fruit and one that you do not get very often – water chestnuts. There are boards and art work on walls telling you about the merchants but no blatant advertising in your face with deals on everything from undergarments to maldives holidays.

Even a mundane market in a city has so much to offer to an explorer if we can leave our comfort zones, step out and open ourselves to these experiences.

Awesome Assam V – Sivasagar aka Sibasagar

2011-12-22T08:42:00.000+05:30

Located on the banks of river Dikhow, about 380 kms east of Guwahati and about 60 kms east of Jorhat is this small quaint town of Sibasagar, which was once the region from where the mighty Ahom kings ruled for more than six centuries. They ruled till early 19^th century before they briefly fell to Burmese and finally being annexed by the British. It was called Rangpur then. Today it is a small town, preserving the remains of its glorious past and welcoming its one off visitors. Monuments are scattered around the town in clusters. This is because the kingdom was moved to different places by successive kings but all those are more or less today a part of Sibasagar town. This reminded me of Delhi which too has many ancient cities encompassed within its present day city limits.

If you drive from Jorhat to Sibasagar you must stop at a 300+ year old small bridge called Namdang stone bridge that is carved out of a single stone. Built on the river Namdang, it is now a part of the National highway 37. As you reach Sibasagar, the first thing that you would notice is a huge lake, Sibasagar, dotted with many lilies and lotuses and having a magnificent backdrop of red temples. It is after this lake that the town is called Sibasagar. There are 3 temples by this lake called Shivdol, Vishnudol and Devidol. Queen Ambika built them in early 18^th century making these temples about 300 years old.

All of them are in red color with each having a distinct and imposing Shikhra or superstructure. It may be logical to assume that Shiv dol is the most important of these temples as it is located in the middle as is relatively taller than the other two. Shiv Dol and Devi Dol have shikhara in typical nagar style but a mandapa in chhala style of Bengal. Vishnu dol and Joy dol have a distinct shikhara in curvilinear inverted cone shape with chequered grooves on it that contains floral carvings and cascading amalakas on the top. Another open mandapa is made in front of all temples with triangular tin roofs. All the three structures Shikhara, mandapa and outer roof make the temples an example of fusion architecture. All the temples have carvings on the outer walls in grey stone. Inside the carved stones are fitted into the walls. Though not the best carvings that you can see in the country, but stone carvings here do cover the whole pantheon of Hindu deities. The interplay of grey and red is interesting as it breaks the monotone, looks colorful but not loud. The sanctum Santorum or the garbhgriha is usually a few steps below the ground level and is so hot a humid that is very difficult to stand there more than a few minutes.

Joy Dol is a temple located on the side of another big lake called Joysagar, which king Rudra Singh had built in honour of his mother Joymoti. The lake is very scenic and full of flowers and birds. The temple was absolutely empty when we were there, making it quite a serene place to sit and contemplate, of course the weather has to be benign.

Ahoms were of Chinese descent and Converted to Hinduism after some time, and ruled as Hindu kings for a long time. This may be an interesting case study of rulers taking the religion of the ruled to rule. A museum near the Sibasagar Lake has a collection of items used by the Ahom kings. There are life size statues of the main kings of the dynasty King Rudra Singh who ruled during the 18^th century. Ahom royality was apparently buried and the ground the raised above their bodies to form a mound. These mounds are later known as maidans. You can find many of them in the region, including one at Jorhat, though there is nothing much that you can see there.

Rang ghar is a standalone monument not too far from Sibasagar. It is a double storeyed structure, resembling the Baradari of Mughals, from where it is said the king used to see the sports like buffalo fights and festivals like Bihu that were held in the ground around it. In a way it was their pleasure pavilion. This beautiful 18^th century structure in pale pink color is decorated with many motifs on its walls, lot of them are phool patti designs inspired from Mughal motifs. The arches on the upper floor make it look like a baradari, but the roof of the building is a distinct identity of this place. It is like an inverted boat and has crocodiles carved at its ends giving a Chinese character to it. It is made of small bricks that are found in most buildings of that era and is covered with lime, I guess to keep the building cool in this hot location.

Little ahead of Rang ghar is the seven storeyed erstwhile palace of the Ahom kings called Talatal. The distinct feature of this palace is that the three out of seven storeys are underground. There are secret tunnels that go out of this palace but that I think was an integral part of most royal residences. Now what remains here is a few floors, with rooms and corridors and some remnants of the carvings on walls that would have existed. Here and there some portion of the carvings peep out as you walk through the ruins. There are remains of the ornate pillars on the sides of many entrances. A Shiva temple that is still practicing occupies its one corner by a small water body. A little distance away from this palace is Gola ghar or the place where ammunition was kept.

Our surprise of the day was a personal museum called Uttaran, an effort of one individual to collect and showcase the culture of the region. The collection is impressive and effort commendable. The two-storey building is full of artefacts. There is another portion being built personally by the curator cum owner himself. We spoke to him and it was pleasure to listen to his dream of making a huge museum and all with his own money. I really admire people who want to build their dreams through their own effort and resources rather than people who think the only way to fulfill dreams is by borrowing resources. We located this museum just by chance as we were passing by it, otherwise there is no mention of it anywhere in the travel guides or on the internet.

While I was researching for this trip, no one mentioned Sibasagar to me and when I asked a few travel agents who conduct NE tours, they were completely clueless about the place. Even people we met on the way before we reached Sibasagar said there is nothing much to see there, you will be disappointed. And after spending a day there I was wondering why do people not know about it and why do they think it is not as important as any other historical place in the country. We really liked and enjoyed the place, and I wish and hope that people will go and see this place from where maybe one of the longest ruling dynasties in the country ruled.

Royal Rajasthan IX: Deegh aka Deeg Palaces

2011-12-18T08:44:00.000+05:30

India is full of surprises even when you think you know the place. Wandering around in Braj Bhoomi, we stumbled upon Deeg, a small little town with a magnificent palace and a fort. Built primarily by the Jat kings Badal Singh, Jawahar Singh and Suraj Singh in mid 18^th century, this palace is best known for its numerous fountains that have the mechanism to put colors in the water and make the whole place look colorful, and appropriately called Jal Mahal or the water palace. A mixture of Mughal and Rajputana architecture, this palace with immense gardens and pavilions make it a very poetic palace.

Being a part of the Braj Bhoomi, or the land of Lord Krishna, most buildings in the palace premises are named after him – Gopal Bhavan, Keshav Bhavan, Kishan Bhavan, Nand Bhavan etc. The two pavilions flanking the main building Gopal Bhavan are called Savan and Bhadon the monsoon months of Hindi lunar calendar. In fact the whole palace celebrates the monsoon season or varsha ritu as it is called in Hindi or Braj. The palace is placed between two lakes Gopal Sagar and Roop Sagar and has fountains all over the garden and even inside the buildings. The guide at the palace said there are 2000 fountains but the ASI guide says there are 500 or so, and my guess is that the real number is somewhere in between the two. About 60 lakh liters of water is required for all the fountains to function and we were told that in olden days bulls were used to pull all this water into the tanks from where it flowed to the fountains. Apparently, there is even an artificial mechanism to create the sound of thundering clouds so that you can create monsoon at your will here. Every year on 4^th Feb and for 2-3 days around Bhadon Amavasya that falls sometime in Aug / Sep, the fountains are run with colored water to re-create the past glory and a fair is organized. This was the summer palace of the kings while Bharatpur remained their main palace.

A bit of mystery has been built around the main palace Gopal bhavan by giving it a single storey look from the front, double storey from the sides and four storeys from the back that merges with the lake. One storey was always immersed in water when the palace was in use, now of course it is used by the washermen to wash clothes. Main palace is traditional from outside but is quite modern from inside for its times. The entrance proudly displays a granite bed which the Jat kings brought from Delhi after they won a small war there, thinking it to be the bed of the king, only to discover that it was used for bathing dead bodies before they were buried. Huge main hall has a floor made from crushed seashells and displays the hunting honours of the kings in form of a stuffed tigress. There are two elephant feet also preserved on the tables and these are said to be the feet of the elephant who opened the gates of Red fort for the king’s army, though the elephant died in the war, king preserved the feet as a mark of respect for the animal. The furniture is pretty colonial and the influence of British in the lifestyles of the kings in 18^th century can be seen. This hall also has the fountains with water channels running across. Narrow staircases lead to the first floor where there are two dining halls, one a regular western style with dining table and chairs, and the other an Indian style with a low marble table for people to sit around and in between space for kitchen staff to serve while guests and hosts eat. I found this concept quite interesting, wonder why no one else built an Indian dining table like this. This palace is also known in the region for the silver bed of the king, but we found that only the pai or the feet of the bed are made of silver. There were pretty modern bathrooms complete with bathtubs, and an attached staircase from outside that directly landed into the bathroom for the cleaners to come. There is a mechanical cooler that was operated by two men to create cool breeze for the king, and it still works. This is what the royalty had access to 250+ years ago and as you drive around this region in mornings or evenings you can see row of people still using the roadside for relieving themselves. There are few rooms for the kind of space, but I guess it was meant only for the king and the queen to live.

The palace has borrowed the Mughal char bagh style for laying its gardens with water channels running through the length and breadth of it. The pipes we were told were made of terracotta and continue to work till date. There is a marble swing that the guides claim belonged to Jahanara, Shahajahan’s daughter and was brought over from Delhi. A swing in the middle of a palace built on the theme of monsoon is a perfect fit irrespective of its origin.

Open palaces are now covered with mesh doors, which is a good way to maintain them but take away the feel of the place. Most of the palace is made in pink sandstone except Suraj mahal that is built in white marble with colorful inlay work typical of the mughal style. Guide told us that the building was actually located in Agra or Delhi and was brought here after dismantling by Suraj Singh and then re-assembled here. But my guess is that it might have been built from the rubble of the royal buildings of mughals. This building is more like a pavilion rather than a residential place. Separated by Rup Sagar, on the other side of the palace is the fort, which now only has a Tope to see. The huge bastions give the impression of a strong fort but most of it is withering away. The palace was obviously a pleasure place, and fort may be a place to defend in case of an enemy attack.

While you go there for the architectural beauty in stone, you would see a whole lot of birds around the two water bodies, specially parrots and owls. Well, Bharatpur bird sanctuary in not too far from here. Of course, there are lots of monkeys as well. Outside the palace and fort, it is a typical north Indian small town, where you can wander around and see women walking around with their faces fully covered by their Sari pallus. You can see everything being sold on the pushcarts and you can see all the dirt and filth that the town lives with.

You can see Deeg when you visit Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary or when you tour Braj Bhoomi. For Delhites, this can be a good weekend option.

Geek Nation by Angela Saini

2011-12-14T08:26:00.001+05:30

As India changes its image from being a country of snake charmers to a country of technology geeks, I think the time for such a book had arrived. Author travels through the length and breadth of the country to find an answer to the question that is often asked ‘If India has so many people trained in science and technology why is it not a superpower in that space, why has it not sent a man on the moon yet, why no Microsoft or Google has come out of this nation?’ On the surface there is no answer for this question because we are not aware of a lot that is happening in the country beyond our own little cocoons. So if I am a software geek, I probably know a bit of good core research work happening in that field but am almost blind to the rest of the fields. Media of course does not think it is important for them to focus on these areas, sometimes they are kept away by the research agencies themselves and most of the times they do not choose to cover them as they hardly make sensational news.

An engineer turned journalist turned author Angela Saini takes a very interesting route to write stories about various fields in science. She first looks at the obvious and talks about what is missing, but then she starts peeling the layers and starts showing you what is happening under the surface and then she talks to the people who have the power to make all the difference and she tells you all that is happening in the laboratories in some corner in our cities, in some small garage and how there are many geeks working to solve the problems of this nation. One underlying theme that she uncovers in all her rendezvous is that geeks in this nation are working towards solving the problems that this country and its large population face, specially the ones below poverty line be it the scientists working on breaking the tuberculosis code or the space scientists trying to provide basics like telephone and education to the masses at very low price through the satellite technology. She also discovers that the cost of research in India, in all the spaces she visited for this book, is a fraction of what it would cost in the west.

At one level the book is a travelogue and the various centers that the author visits can be called pilgrimages or at least the attractions for the geeks. As a visitor to India, she introduces you to the place she is visiting, adds a bit of description so that you can imagine the place if you have not visited it. She talks about the challenges of travelling in certain remote areas or in areas where given a choice you would not like to visit. She introduces people not only through their names, designations, organizations and the work they are doing, but also sketches a portrait for you to imagine the person. At another level she has drawn the geek map of the country, she introduces you to the research centers that may be just names to you, she puts people, purpose and context of these centers and you kind of know them a bit and respect them a lot more. She takes you to IIT Delhi, IT companies both the big ones and the garage ones, banana and other plants research centers, Sanskrit research center, brain research centers working on technologies to identify criminals, Geek city being built in Lavasa, UID project, Open research model combining various fields to solve a huge problem of tuberculosis and space research centers.

She keeps giving all the credit of anything to do with science in this country to Nehru, which in my opinion is taking it away from a lot of others and not fair. In her analysis in each of the chapters, sometimes you agree with her, sometimes you do not, but what you admire is the fact that she went ahead and tried to find the answer first hand and give you data to decide what you think. She also got the opinions of the experts, looked at what motivates them and how do they see the future. The tag line of the Title says it all – How Indian Science is taking over the world!

If you have even a bit of interest in Science & Technology in India, Read it…

To buy this book click

Awesome Assam IV– Kaziranga National Park

2011-12-11T09:27:00.001+05:30

Best known for its single horned Rhinos, Kaziranga National Park is one of the 30 odd world heritage sites in India and spread in an area of more than 400 sq kms. Like Majuli, this is also loosing a lot of its area to land erosion by Brahmaputra. To reach Kaziranga, you can either come from Guwahati or from Jorhat, it lies on the main road connecting these two major cities. The road almost passes through the national park. There are many spots where you can stop by the road, look into the jungle and spot animals, especially dears and wild buffaloes. There are paddy fields that you see along the road. We were told that these were all parts of the national park but people are slowly encroaching the jungle. On the other side of the jungle is Brahmaputra. During the monsoon time, most of these grasslands are flooded and animals migrate inside the forest and roads are so bad that vehicles cannot go inside. Park is open from Oct / Nov to March. Exact date of opening is decided based on the conditions inside the park. Best bet is to go mid Nov to Feb end.

Mrs Curzon, wife of Lord Curzon was the first person to demand a protection for the wild animals of this region and it is on her request that this forest area was converted into a reserve forest. It became a national part in 1974 and attained the world heritage status from UNESCO in 1985 for being the bio-diversity hot spot. Today, park is divided into 3 main ranges: Baguri on the western side, Kohora in the middle and Bokakhat in the east. We visited the Baguri range while we stayed at Kohora range.

Besides being home to single horned Indian rhinoceros, you can also see wild elephants, wild buffalo, swamp deer and if you are lucky tigers. Inside the park there is tall wild elephant grass and the animals are usually hidden among them. They can appear and disappear in a moment in this thick and wet grassland, making it a bit scary to move around, as you never know when and where the animals will pop up from? It seems the animals are quite used to the olive jeeps that bring humans with a camera hung around their neck, but if you spot the ferocious ones like Rhino or elephants it is best to be reverent and let them take their time and space and wait while they do so.

Elephants are usually in a herd and can be spotted around the water bodies. Rhinos are usually on their own or with their young ones. We spotted a baby Rhino right in front of out jeep and the guide stopped the jeep and said, if the baby is here, the mother must be close by, and yes, there she was, following her baby. The baby was happily playing and the mother was keeping a close eye on it. She did throw a glance at us but probably did not see any threat. After a while the baby went into the tall grass and the mother followed and within few second we could not see a trace of them. Another Rhino was sleeping and our guide woke him up with a slight noise. Rhino got up lazily looked around and then went back to sleep. The layered skin of a Rhino looks like as of they are wearing a tightly fitted leather jacket on their back. The folds of skin on their joints create this impression. It was a mother and baby day at Kaziranga as we later saw a 28 day old baby elephant playing with its mother.

There are a few watchtowers built around the water bodies where you can get on top and see animals from a height. You can see them on the other side of the water body, bathing, roaming, playing, loitering and just enjoying themselves. From our tower we saw these huge fishes in the water below. We could not take a picture as the came up only for a quick breathe and then disappeared, but it completed the experience of a being in a national park along with all the colorful birds that kept flying all around. A forest department board tells the demographics of the national park and it clearly shows that the population of Rhinos and others is on the rise, though they have kept quite about the numbers of tigers. Our guide argued the figure of 1411 tigers that media keeps talking about, he said there are much more than that. It seems that poaching is still a big issue for the forest department. We were told every now and then they find people hidden in the park who want to kill rhinos for its horn that due to its limited availability is obviously an exclusive item to have. It seems it is also used for some shamanic practices making it so precious that hunters are willing to risk their lives for it. The same goes for elephant tusks. Incidentally, we did not see any elephants with tusks there. Is it possible that the tusks have been cut?

There is an artificially created Ethnic village in Kohora range. Here tourism department has tried to create houses of various tribes of North East. Unfortunately while locals use natural material like bamboos to make their houses, here everything is made in concrete, even the impression of being a bamboo. Then there were life size images showcasing the daily life of the tribes. This is something that I have come to resist, artificially created rural life, you can see them as a trend across the country. Not sure if someone is looking at their effectiveness or they are just being a part of the herd mentality. There was no one at the village, we just roamed around the place and walked back to our hotel. While walking around the area, you can see many tea gardens that make a beautiful view.

As you visit the park, take the jeep ride into the forest to see the animal up close and then take an elephant ride, you can not miss the economy that exists around this national park just across the road. There are high-end resorts and there are backpacker’s dens. There are jeeps that work only during the season and take tourists inside the park. There are souvenir shops that sell all kinds of local stuff made of Bamboo, though the culture of last minute holiday deals is yet to reach here. There are guides who know a bit about the jungle routes and the animal behavior. And of course there is whole forest department who look after the forest. You feel proud of the animals that are a source of bread and butter for so many people living around the park.

Beautiful and peaceful place to visit…images of those tall grass cross my mind as I write this.

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

2011-12-08T21:57:00.001+05:30

I had no idea even after finishing this book that it is already such a big success and almost a phenomenon. I started reading it because I wanted to figure out something about the creative self as the tagline of the book title says ‘ A course in discovering and recovering your creative self’. To begin with, I thought it was another motivational book where people tell you to dream big and be there. But as I kept reading, it turned out to be an amazing book.

She gives you basic simple tools that put you in touch with yourself and hence in touch with the creative being within you. She puts you on a spiritual path and tells you to become a channel through which the creativity flows freely. She tells you to appreciate yourself, to free yourself of all the blocks and surround yourself with all that ignites and nurtures your creativity. She tells you to consciously spend time with yourself, and as yourself. She helps you tend to your injured parts within your mind and soul so that you are healthy enough for creativity to sprout and grow through you. She tells you to see your creative work as a date or as something that you look forward to doing instead of thinking of it as work.

It is a 12-step process to be taken over 12 weeks, and each week you go a bit closer to your goal of being creative. In between there is a place where she even tells you not to go back after you have experienced some creativity in your work. Her intention through this course is to help all the blocked artists and writers in removing the block that they have. Her two basic tools are morning pages and artists date. She tells everyone to get into a habit of writing 3 pages every morning and this she tells you do religiously, without fail. She does not even tell you to read them, but you must write them as it helps you bring out all the issues that you are holding within yourself. It helps you clear cobwebs so that you know how to help yourself despite the situation you are in and despite the other responsibilities that you have to shoulder. Artist’s date is spending a couple of hours every week with yourself, visiting a new place preferably.

Now I have not written morning pages as she suggests, but I do take an artist’s date every now and then by visiting new places, most of the times a new area within the city I live in and immersing myself in that place sometimes forgetting who I am. This is one of the most satisfying and in a way spiritual experience for me. So I can vouch for it and I think everyone irrespective of whether you are pursuing a creative career or not should practice. I think our life in general and professions in particular need creative energy, a basic energy that gives us joy and happiness.

I read the book over several weeks and even without following it to the T, I could see a surge in my creativity. I wrote far more than my average and enjoyed doing it more than ever. So if you think you are a blocked creative or would like seeing some creativity in your life, go pick up this book.

To buy this book, you may click here:

Pilgrim’s India by Arundhati Subramaniam

2011-12-02T07:13:00.000+05:30

An anthology of 52 pieces that combines poetry and prose to put together a collection of spiritual journeys taken by people over many centuries and the search that still goes on sometimes physically and sometimes just spiritually. Book begins with a beautiful quote from Aitareya Brahmana, By Indra to a young man called Rohita:

‘There is no happiness for him who does not travel, Rohita! Thus we have heard. Living in the society of men, the best man becomes a sinner. Therefore, wander!

The feet of the wanderer are like the flower, his soul is growing and reaching the fruit; and all his sins are destroyed by his fatigue in wandering. Therefore, wander!

The fortune of him who is sitting, sits; it rises when he rises; it sleeps when he sleeps; it moves when he moves. Therefore wander!”

I think this very beautifully sums up the need to wander and pilgrimage is nothing but a way to wander, a way that has been followed by the so many in every era, by the seekers, by the devotees and by the enlightened. My favorite piece in the anthology was by Osho who very clearly defines what a pilgrimage is and why people go there. He does not favor either the believers or the skeptics, he only wants them to understand what a pilgrimage is and then choose to go or not to go.

It must have been a difficult task to choose the pieces for the anthology as such a huge, vast and deep repertoire exists in this space. Looks like author has tried to balance the believer’s and skeptic’s journeys, chosen journeys across ages by picking up pieces from Huan Tsang, Meera and Kabir. There is an attempt to cover all major and minor religions even the ones that exist on the fringes. There are varied voices, voices of western seekers who came to India in search of elusive spirituality, of the followers who visit the pilgrimage as a matter of ritual. More often than not skeptic’s account makes an interesting reading as there is something mystical happening in their stories, they discover something unexpectedly, sometimes they are changed forever and sometime they just come back with a sense of completed journey. Sometimes there is an instant connection that happens and converts people, sometimes it happens gradually over repeated journeys. The poems on the other hand show an inner journey that can take place without a physical journey, or sometimes an inner journey that follows the actual journey.

One thing that remains common though is that some change is bound to happen with each journey. The extent and impact can be different for different people, but the change is a must. I would say this is true for every journey that you take not just the spiritually inclines ones, because the true spiritually pervades this universe, especially in the places where nature is abundant. You can feel the same surge in energy standing on a hill or on a beach. Some places are high-energy points and this is where man has built temples etc as and when the energy was realized. What you call that place, and how you worship is a matter of chance but what is important is the energy that these points can give the visitors. This leads to a question, why don’t people live on these points, why these places are meant for visiting only? Is it because the energy may be too much to handle if you live there, or is it the energy needs to be distributed to all and not restricted to few who live close by?

Some pieces that I enjoyed more than others are the journey of an absolute skeptic to Hemkunt Sahib and the truck journey of a journalist to discover the pantheon of roadside deities that have evolved over ages and the need of protect in ‘in-between’ places. Article on Udvada was educational, I did not know of this place. Most pieces by the western authors on their Indian journey sound too similar and lack the depth that comes with the understanding of and connection with the native culture. Though one common question that they seem to have is what is the difference between the ecstatic space that reach through drugs and the one you reach through meditation. Never thought the two could be compared, but then you need unconditioned minds to ask these kinds of questions.

A good collection to read slowly and recall your own journeys!

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Hyderabad Hues XI – Walk through Rani Gunj aka M G Road

2011-11-28T11:35:00.001+05:30

This is a very busy road with paradise hotel as the biggest landmark on it. You see a constant flow of traffic on this road and wonder what is there to walk on that road. While driving past this road many times, I could see some old structures and a bustling market and a few narrow lanes with roadside vendors selling all kinds of things. During these drives, I thought of walking from one end of this road to the other, which is a good 2 km stretch.

I started from the necklace road side with Saidanima’s Tomb, which is right on the road and stands out for its ornate stucco work and the pillar and dome structure which instantly tell you that this is standing to tell a story of another era. I entered the half opened gate and was disappointed to see the grill all around the structure and a lock hanging in there. A small ASI stone plaque tells about who lies in this tomb. Thankfully the caretaker of the monument was around and he opened the gate for me. Saidani Ma who was the mother of a senior official in the time of VIth Nawab Mehboob Ali is buried here in an underground chamber. And Nawab Jung is buried on the ground floor in a corner of this building, there is another smaller grave probably belonging to a child. A small staircase leads to the lady’s grave downstairs, but the chamber is closed with a wooden door and no one is allowed there. Caretaker said it is cleaned every Friday and then locked for the rest of the week. Interestingly, only women are allowed to visit this tomb as the lady here was a parda-nasheen, or a woman who stayed behind her veil and she did not want to come out even after her death. The architecture of the structure is fusion of mughal, Qutab Shahi and Paigah styles. The stucco work on the walls inside and outside is very similar to Paigah tombs. The dome looks very Qutab Shahi while the arches create an ambience of a Mughal baradari. Standing alone amongst the modern structures, it looks like an old soldier defending its side till it can.

From here I walked towards Secunderabad, and you see a huge yellow building with windows all over and few boards telling you the various Govt offices that work out of this office. Just a few meters ahead on the left was this shining orange colored Hanuman math. I again faced a locked door and was told that the place is open only in the mornings and evenings. A reasonable sized ground has a small orange temple inside besides an old tree. The main door says it was built in the memory of a ‘Fakir Chand Moti Wale’, who I assume would have been a wealthy trader living somewhere around this area. Bang opposite this was an old board pronouncing a co called Tanatasun & Sons, the board seems to be the only things surviving from its hay days, inside the place seems to be some kind of a godown cum workshop.

A little ahead I stopped at the Honda showroom to catch up with a friend, who added another dimension to my walk, he showed me some of the vintage cars being restored at the place. I got to see a shiny green cheverlot that has been restored to its original glory and looks absolutely new even though it is almost 80 year old. Anothet Rolls Royce was in an unrecognizable condition as it had been torn apart, but in few days that would give a good competition to the Chevy. I was amazed at the amount of money people spend on maintaining these vintage cars, but I must say the end result is worth it. The most amazing aspect of these cars is that they are still in running condition and they still have more years left to them than any present day car.

After this delightful break I moved on and just as I crossed the railway bridge, on the left was the old and original railway office and ticketing window of Central railways. It is a British era structure which is intact but in as filthy condition as it can be. Besides it the staircase leads to the James St station that also has few signs of the bygone era. I wonder why this ticketing window is lying idle, can it not be used productively in someway so that the structure is maintained and also remembered, right now I am sure most people miss it in the midst of the garbage piles. Just opposite the ticketing window is a turquoise colored house with a colonial façade. A little ahead, there is a huge tree around which a closet has been built and painted green and few green flagposts, making the tree itself a place of worship. Not an unusual sight in India, but the way a closet has been built around the tree trunk is worth noting.

From here on there are many lanes on the right hand side and a lot of them look interesting. I walked into one of the manes and found this small but beautiful Jain temple in a typical Jain temple style with ornate torans in white marble. Besides the temple was a Jain Bhavan, which I thought may be Dharamshala where the visitors can stay, but what I could see was a huge hall probably a community hall used for functions. I believe there may be a huge trading i.e. Marwari or Gujarati community that may be inhabiting this area, and this is based on not only finding this temple but also based on the food stalls around this area that sell all kinds of chaats.

A little ahead was the expected part of this walk – Ramgopalpet police station or the James Street police station, as it was originally known. This is a heritage building with a clock tower on top, and a working police station for the area, built sometimes in 19^th century with a clock tower fitted in 1900 CE by a local trader Ramgopal. It was an experience to go inside the police station and climb its narrow spiral staircase and reach the roof to see the clocktower closely. You get a good view of the road and the streets below and somehow from the top the roads do not look as crowded as they look from the ground level. This is the first time I saw a police lockup and when I told this to the officers there, they had a smile on their face. A little ahead of police station is another old building in red and green which is still being used as a traditional office with mattresses covered with white sheets instead of the almost a rule tables and chairs. I could not go in this private property, but this double storey structure may be a good example of preserving the past by using and maintaining it.

From here I went to the parklane that I had heard a lot about. Here you can see commercial activity of all kinds, a thriving computer market, tailors, book shops, factory outlets, people exchanging mutilated notes, agents selling holidays to dubai, just about everything you need. But there was one more surprise still waiting for me. It was the Montgomery hotel located at the end of parklane. It is a heritage property and hence locked up and left to itself. The board there tells that this hotel opened sometime in late 19^th century and was patronized by army officers and was known for its bar. Sure you can see the walls painted with Bagpiper ads and a Budweiser board is all you can see through the gates. I had never heard of this heritage structure and was happy to find it at the end of my walk. I wish someone could show me the place, but then there was no one around there to open it, not sure if that is allowed also or not.

What an unexpectedly rich walk…there are quite a few bylanes left, making a case for another walk in this area…

Raag Darbari by Srilal Shukla

2011-11-25T09:42:00.001+05:30

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Awesome Assam III - Tea Gardens

2011-11-22T09:22:00.001+05:30

Tea gardens carry a very colonial image in my mind. British guys running the Tea estates, living in huge bungalows within the estate, a tea processing and packaging unit and whole lot of workers plucking the tea gardens with bamboo baskets on their back. To be an owner of a Tea Estate has always been aspirational for people and I think it still continues to be though the corporations rather than individuals now own most estates. North East part of India, particularly eastern Assam and area around Darjeeling produce more than 20% of world’s tea, and it may not be wrong to call them the tea spoon of the world. Though I had seen tea gardens earlier during my Kerala and Sri Lanka holidays, but tea gardens of Assam is what I had studied in school and in my mind I had to visit them to know about them. Tea gardens here provide cups of tea to the world at one hand and employment and livelihood to many people on the other hand.

Every tea garden is constantly being plucked for the fresh light green colored leaves on top of the plant. To be precise two leaves and a bud are plucked together for the best tea. An average worker can pluck anywhere between 60 -80 kgs of leaves per day and gets paid about 2-3 Rs per kg. A basket can carry about 5 kgs of tealeaves and the leaves are weighed several times a day. They usually start their work early morning with the sun and work till it goes down, with one lunch break and two tea breaks. An area is assigned to a group of workers by their supervisor every morning based on the sprouting of leaves. Yes, they work in a very organized manner even though they are not employed and get paid for precisely the amount of work they do. Most of the labor force comes from the states of Bihar and UP who have now settled down around these Tea estates. It was a pleasure to see them leaving in groups one evening, tired but looking forward to be back home.

I love the sight of tea gardens though the atmosphere around them is always hot and humid making it difficult to stand there for too long. The acres and acres of land covered with tea plantations as if the earth was covered with thick green carpet. The tall trees standing in between them to provide shade to both the tea plants and to the workers working on them. Sometimes the vines of spice plants are wrapped around these tall trees, giving you multiple shades of green in one go. The narrow lanes left for the leaves collectors to walk around look like some abstract design. When the gardens are on a slope, they make the hillock look like a women wearing a garment with heavy green embroidery.

We saw tea gardens in Tezpur, around Kaziranga and in Jorhat. Tezpur was not on our itinerary but we landed here as the road to Arunachal was closed and there was no way we would be allowed to go there before next day. This heritage property located in the midst of a tea estate had bungalows that were more than 100 years old but maintained as if they have always been inhabited. Our tea sojourn could not have been complete without a visit to Tocklai in Jorhat, which is the world’s largest tea research institute and does research on all aspects of tea, right from the soil that it grows in to the way it is packaged and sold. It also comes out with new varieties of tea and new systems, methods and processes for processing the tea. Tocklai campus is beautiful, with some ponds full of lotus and lilies and numerous tall and small trees dotted with seasonal flowers. We could not see the tea museum as it was a holiday, but the campus itself was pleasing.

The last sight of tea gardens was through the train window while travelling from Jorhat to Guwahati. I think I will appreciate my cup of tea much more now that I have seen the hard work that goes into it…

Malinithan By J C Dutta

2011-11-19T10:51:00.001+05:30

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Achal Arunachal – II: Bomdila and back

2011-11-16T07:54:00.001+05:30

In my whole NE trip, if there is one thing that stands out the most, it is the sheer beauty of Arunachal Pradesh along with the simplicity of its people, both of which are not so easy to find in other parts of the world.

Bomdila is a small hill town that owes its fame to the fact that it lies on way to the famous Tawang Monastery. Most tourists on their way to Tawang have to either take a night halt at Bomdila or at Dirang a few kms ahead of Bomdila. This makes Bomdila, a perfect tourist place with a bustling bazaar, many hotels and spots to see. Located on a high point, it offers various valley views that you can admire. Walk on the road like a true tourist and observe the dry fish being sold along with fruits and vegetables. See the small stalls of colorful plastic shoes used to walk in the snow. See the women holding their infants on their backs tied only with a cloth. See the old women in their traditional garbs chit chatting with each other.

There are two monasteries in Bomdila, one a recent one and one an old one probably 300-400 years old. The old monastery is right at the end of the main road in Bomdila, quite easy to locate. It is small monastery with an old world charm. You can see the locals coming there to pray and having a quite word with the God. The architecture is that of a classic Buddhist monastery.

There is a Govt handicrafts center, where there are artisans engaged in creating local artifacts based on the traditional knowledge and there is a store where the same are sold. There is mask making, furniture making, fabric weaving, embroidery, metal crafts that you can see them in making and if interested buy from the shop. We were told that NIFT helps them with designs and has also helped them in getting IP protection for their traditional designs and weaves. The gate of this center has some old Tangkha paintings that still look pretty new.

There is a museum in Bomdila, located in a Govt school and next to the only college of the town. Surprisingly, no one in the town knew of this museum, even the students of the college in the very next building. We somehow managed to reach the museum and met two young women who were managing the place. They were surprised to see us and said what do you want to see here. Well, everything that is there to see here is what we told them. They did not understand what we meant and said, ok go and see but do not take any pictures. We went around and found that most galleries were locked and when we asked them to open, they said the man who has the keys has gone out, wait for an hour if you want to see. After a while we located books counter there and picked up some books to buy and then they kind of thought we were seriously interested in the museum and opened all the galleries for us. One of the ladies came along with us and explained us many things. She actually could not understand what was so special about the items there that someone would spend time looking at them. I explained her that we do not use these kinds of items, so they are new for us and we are looking at them to understand the local culture. Her expression said “Really!!!” But then she explained us many things including telling us what tribes they belong to and what they do with the ceremonial things. I really enjoyed this small interaction, as it opened both of us to each other a bit.

On the way back we stopped at Nag Mandir, midway between Bomdila and Balukpong. Now there are many Nag mandirs in the region, indicating a cult that worships snakes. We stopped at this one as it was on the main road, by a river flowing through the valley. This temple is simple just like everything else in Arunachal. There are stairs that you have to climb to reach the temple. From the windows of the temple on top, you get another beautiful view of the valley surrounded by mountains with a river flowing in between. On the mountain, opposite the Nag mandir was the city of honeybees. There were beehives in thousands, and you see bunches of them all over the bare parts of the mountain. We would have missed it had someone not asked us to stop and have a look at it. I am still wondering how do they collect all the honey from those beehives at such height on an almost vertical mountain.

Somewhere in between Nag mandir and Balukpong, the area is known for its mist. The clouds are all over the mountains and hence on the road too. Sometimes they are so thick that you cannot see the bends of the road or the vehicles ahead of you. Passing through this mist was both exciting and scary at the same time. Drives in Arunachal are uncomfortable and beautiful at the same time. All along the way you will find small shops that are like small holes in the wooden walls, with the shopkeeper sitting in a very picturesque way. We left Arunachal with fond memories and with a hope to come back one day to explore the rest of it, may be let go of those fancy mauritius holidays for this hidden unexplored treasure.

Thank you Sange, for making our Arunachal journey so much more memorable.

Sonia Gandhi by Rani Singh

2011-11-12T12:18:00.001+05:30

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Achal Arunachal I – Drive to the Tenga Valley

2011-11-09T12:22:00.000+05:30

There is one thing that you must remember when you travel in North East and that is that you can never have a concrete travel plan in place. There will be some bandh, some roadblock that can force you to change your plan at the last minute. The news of the same is not readily available, and definitely not online and you have to depend on local news only. On our way to Arunachal, there was a bandh on the Assam Arunachal border and no vehicles were allowed to be crossed, so we were stuck and landed up spending the night at a tea estate in Tezpur, about which I will write later.

To enter the state of Arunachal Pradesh, you need an inner line permit that can be obtained by filling a form and giving your photographs and copy of a photo Id card. This can be done in Delhi, Guwahati and Shillong. I went to the Arunachal House in Shillong to get the permit, gave all the documents and a nominal fee and I was told to come after 3 days to take the permit. I explained that I need the permit now as we plan to go there tomorrow and the lady and the gentleman there obliged me by giving it within half an hour. Now the permit does not allow you to go anywhere in the state, you have to specify which entry route of the three available will you take and what places you intend to visit and between what dates. Usually a permit is issued for 15 days. I took the permit for Balukpong, Bomdila and Tawang circuit. With this requirement I assumed that we will have to present ourselves at the border and verify ourselves, but no one at the border bothered to look at our vehicle or us. With 2 permit holders there could have been 2 others without permit. The driver took our passes and his driving license at the check post, paid some mandatory money there and we crossed the border. I wonder what was the need to get the permit in the first place. First of all as a citizen of this country why do I need special permission to visit a whole state? I can understand certain sensitive pockets within the state. Arunachal is a big state. And if for some reasons there is a need, is your implementation not failing the whole purpose of the permits.

Roads leading to and from Balukpong only show signs that they probably existed at some point in time. The cut mountains also indicate that there is some intention of building the road, but the driver and the locals would tell you that the rubble had been lying there for many years now and they will be surprised the day it gets completed. The only roads that are good are the ones that are around Army settlements. In fact after the Balukpong stretch you recall roads back home and think, what do I keep cribbing about?

Like they say you have to go through hell to reach heaven, once you cross 20 kms stretch that looks like 200 kms long, you reach the mountains and valleys of Arunachal with the rivers flowing through the creeks. The scenery is breathtaking. I have never seen mountains so thickly covered with trees, lush green pine trees. Here and there the waterfalls are coming out and merging into the river below. The flowers are peeping out of stones, tree trunks, bushes and literally everywhere, wild flowers existing on their own.

Arunachal is home to a lot of varieties of Orchids. About 5 kms from Balukpong border is Tipi, where there is a Govt Orchidarium. Here they are supposed to do research on Orchids and grow 750+ varieties of them. We could find a total 3 flowers there, probably a wrong time to visit the place. A small museum there showcases varieties of orchids through photographs and charts. We were told to try our luck at Orchid Sanctuary in Sessa that is midway between Balukpong and Tenga Valley. We could not locate it on our way up but we did stop by it on our way back. There is only a gate that tells you that it is an Orchid sanctuary and then there is sheer jungle. You can walk at your own risk. We walked about 150 ft or so but we managed to see quite a few varieties of Orchids, much better than the organized Tipi Orchidarium. A local person who very graciously accompanied us during the Arunachal leg of our trip took us to a farmer who does Orchid farming and on his terraced farm he not only showed some very interesting orchids but also explained a few things about them including the economy of Orchids. As you go up the mountains, the weather gets better and better for the Orchids and you would see lot of wild varieties on the roadside. Challenge is to stop on those curvy narrow roads to admire them. Wonder if that route can be done on foot for a good study of flowers and an excellent opportunity to photograph them.

Arunachal is one part of India that never came under British dominance so you do not see any structures or any influences from that era here, a rare thing in itself for India today. Legend is that when the first British officers tried to enter Arunachal, which was an area dominated by local tribes, their heads were chopped off and sent back to Assam. This created a myth that the tribals of this area are man-eaters and after this there was no attempt to enter these thickly forested areas. Balipara on Assam border was the boundary for British and they referred this area beyond Balipara as Balipara front. Arunachal was a part of Assam before becoming a union territory in 1971 and an independent state in 1987. It now has 16 districts and is the largest state in NE India by area.

One of the most unexpected things that I learnt about Arunachal is that Hindi is the official language of the state along with English. People speak very good Hindi, and they complain that most of the times they are called Chinese when they visit other parts of India even when they speak Hindi as well as Dilliwallahs. I was told that Hindi is a link language as each tribe has its own language and total number of languages exceeds 50. Not much is known about the ancient roots of tribes of Arunachal, though Mahabharta has reference to this region. Recent excavations at Malinithan in eastern part of the state have revealed some ancient Hindu temples associated with the Krishna-Rukmini legend. Most tribal people follow the Doyni-Polo as their religion which is nothing but the worship of Sun and Moon literally but may refer to nature elements in general. They did not have organized religion for a long time, but now they are taking official religions, most of them choosing between Hinduism and Buddhism. The North Western part of the state, where lies the Tawang monastery, is primarily Buddhist. There is a fair percentage of Christian population as well.

People of Arunachal still engage in farming primarily. It seems selling timber was a main occupation for a long time, and most mountains were bared by this activity. In last few years, Govt has completely banned cutting of trees and the mountains are green again. The hill climate is well suited for flower and fruit cultivation. Tomato is a big cash crop for them. We saw Kiwi and Apple orchards and Rose and Orchid gardens in Tenga valley. Tenga valley is a small local town and a huge army settlement in a valley where most houses are by the river flowing through it. Our host there has a perfect house on the bend of a river. Eaglenest Sanctuary is close to Tenga valley, but to visit it you have to choose the right season.

Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Glow for being such a great host for us in Tenga Valley.

Awesome Assam II – Guwahati

2011-11-05T10:49:00.000+05:30

Guwahati or Gauhati is not a typical tourist destination. I do not think many people come to this city to see the city except the pilgrims who come for Kamakhya temple. But it is a de facto gateway for coming to North East India, a commercial hub for the region and hence intentionally or unintentionally people end up coming here.

Standing on the banks of mighty Brahmaputra, it may be the only big city in India that has a live river flowing through it. For me the river itself provides a lot for the visitor to this city. You can just walk on the road that runs parallel to the river, sit back and observe the life on the banks of the river, people collecting water from the river through a make shift filter, fishing boats in the middle of the river, various temples on the bank and river cruises which take you for a joy ride every evening. A bridge on the river in the distance, a temple on a tiny island, various sand islands when the water is low and sometimes just the silent flow of the river. For someone who has never lived on the bank of a river, it is very soothing to sit by the river and listen to its silence, as the river on the surface is very silent though I was told that the currents underneath are very powerful. Does it not sound like someone you know, calm on surface and with lot of fire in the belly?

Kamakhya temple is probably the best known ‘to be seen’ spot in Guwahati. Now this temple has both mythological and historical importance. It is one of the Shaktipeethas, and this is where the Yoni of Sati, Shiva’s wife fell when he was carrying her body, making it the most sacred place for the fertility cult and Tantra. The name Kamakhya literally means the Goddess of Desire. It is also the land of Kamrup, after whom the district is still named. It is believed that the temple originally belonged to the Khasi tribe who used to worship a Goddess called Ka-me-kha, which became Kamakhya over a period of time. I wanted to visit the temple for this and many other reasons but then I did not want to visit it, as I was not sure if I can handle the gruesome killing of animals that are offered as sacrifice to the Goddess, almost everyday. I think this is one place where I thought a lot before I finally decided to go. I guess the pull of the mother Goddess was more than the repulsion of the ways her devotees choose to please her. I was told that the place of sacrifice is away from the main temple and you need not necessarily look at that when you visit, but they did not tell me was that all the animals in line of sacrifice would be roaming around there waiting for their turn. It is said that when the temple was built, a lot of human sacrifice was offered to the Goddess. There was a community that only meant to be sacrificed to the Goddess, and these men were fed well and had access to everything that they wanted in the kingdom before they were sacrificed.

Located on the Nilachal Hill, the current temple was built in 16^th century by the Koch kings who ruled the region then. Kala Pahar destroyed the earlier temple, and not much is known about it. The hill also has shrines dedicated to all Das Mahavidyas or 10 forms of mother Goddess in the tantric tradition. Temple has an unusual cylindrical shaped shikhara, with grooves that are probably a part of Tantric tradition. There are stone-carved images of various Hindu deities around the temple walls that seem to be dated before the last renovation of the temple in 16^th century. I particularly liked a Lajja Gauri image that for me is a representative image of the place, the Goddess of fertility. If you observe a little closely you will see a lot of mother child images embedded in various walls of the temple. There is a beautiful small pond called the Saubhagya Kund on the hill that is said to have been built by Indra for the Goddess. A museum is being built behind the temple that will house all the old stuff that was used for the worship of the Goddess. A collection of old doors of the temple not only makes a good view but also shows the evolution of doors in a way. There are items used in various ceremonies like utensils and musical instruments along with the gifts given by the devotees that can be seen in the museum. Small garden around the museum has lot of stone sculptures that I assume were a part of the temple or its surroundings sometime. It would be a good study of the journey of prayer practices of the temple once this museum is complete. I had a good conversation with the caretaker of the museum, who to begin with said everything happens with the blessings of the mother Goddess and eventually over the conversation says Goddess is what we make of her. In a very unexpected manner he said, if we do not take such good care of the mother, will she be worshipped by so many? She is the mother because we give her that respect and devotion. An eternal question I guess – Who creates whom between God and Man, and the answer exists as dilemma forever.

Umananda temple is located on the smallest inhabited riverine island in the world, in the middle of Brahmaputra. The island is called Peacock Island and apparently this name is a contribution of the British, though the ancient name is Bhasmachal based on the story that Shiva reduced Kamprup to ashes here. The temple is the only thing that this island hillock has. The Ahom kings built original temple, which was destructed in an earthquake. A local merchant later built the current temple. You have to take a 5 min ferry from the Umananda Ghat in the main city and that is the only way you can reach this. They only charge you for going, coming back on any of the boats is free, as anyone who has gone there has to be brought back. The main temple is a simple one, flanked by some Kamakhya style small temples around it. A pathway lets you go around the island and admire it from all sides. There are two simple shops, one selling tea, cold drinks and small snacks and the other selling the Prasad. If you take the first ferry in the morning, which is around 10:00 AM, most of the stuff that you would get on the island will go with you on the boat. It is a very scenic island with Brahmaputra flowing on all its sides and the hill island standing quietly. You will see boats of all kinds on the water. We saw a very interesting bamboo bed with a small hut floating on the river, used by the fishermen for fishing. This was the most basic form of a houseboat.

We saw two museums in Guwahati, one a traditional state museum which has a rich collection of displays and the other a new one which tends to showcase the culture of north eastern state through the various artifacts used by people in the their day to day life and during festivals. State museum has a beautiful gallery on village life in Assam, and as you walk through it you almost get a feeling passing through a village. Most notable gallery of this museum is the epigraphic gallery where there are stone pillars with inscriptions, copper plates with land records apart from the regular manuscripts. The numismatics gallery shows small arrows that were used as Naga coins. Metals and terracotta collection is very good with impressive displays. New museum is located in convention center called Sankara Kalakshetra. This huge venue has displays in the garden, an entrance gate that is a replica of Rang ghar in Sibasagar and a multi-storeyed museum with huge displays in regular galleries. It is a reasonably good place to understand the region and its culture. Other cultural centers around Guwahati are Hajo and Saulkuchi that I could not visit, may be some other late holidays.

After the devotional and cultural tour of the place, a visit to Guwahati will be incomplete without an evening cruise on Brahmaputra. Goan style ships with open decks, a dance floor and a DJ take you for an hour long excursion on Brahmaputra, where from a distance you can see the skyline of Guwahati and if the clouds permit an excellent view of the sunset. A perfect way to relax in this ancient city and reflect on what you have seen during the day…

Brick by Red Brick By T T Ram Mohan

2011-11-01T10:40:00.001+05:30

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Misty Meghalaya I – Shillong & Around

2011-10-29T08:00:00.002+05:30

Meghalaya – the name means the abode of clouds and there was not a moment when we did not see a cloud in the sky and this was not even the rainy season. It is the most organized state in NE when it comes to tourism. The brochures are available almost everywhere, Taxi drivers are used to tourists and so are the people. On my first day in Shillong, I just roamed around the small hill city and saw some of its popular tourist points.

Don Bosco Museum in Shillong is something that I would recommend to everyone who visits till hill town. It is a fairly new museum inaugurated only on 2010. This is the best-managed museum that I have seen around the country. The displays are well designed, the lighting is proper and synchronized with the movement of the visitors so that neither the electricity is wasted nor do the artifacts have to face the constant light, the touch screen kiosks in every gallery work and give quite a bit of information on the subject and the displays. There are about 17 galleries in the museum focusing on the various tribes of North East India. Someone guides you through the main hall as you enter the museum towards the galleries that are spread across many floors half of which are below the ground level. At the end you can shop from the museum shop. Though I could pick up some interesting books from here, I think they can do better merchandise and if they get the price right it can be a good revenue churner for them.

From the main door of the museum as you walk through a long corridor to the reception; on both sides there are life size models of men and women from various tribes of NE India in their traditional garb as if greeting you. There are galleries like pre-history, land and people, fishing, hunting gathering, agricultural practices, traditional technology, musical instruments, garments, tradition crafts, weapons, religions, culture, Jewellery, costumes, fabrics and art gallery. I particularly enjoyed the musical instruments and art and craft gallery, though each gallery was well stocked and well presented. Almost everything of daily use, musical instruments, fishing and hunting instruments made by bamboo and cane is quite interesting to see. At some places the paintings and the artifacts have been merged to produce the perfect impact for the visitors. For example a warrior painted on the wall holding an actual weapon, or a clay model in the war costume of his tribe stringing the bow. Jewellery made of silver and animal bones was another attraction for me. The wide variety of Jewellery and the distinct identity of each tribe through them are worth studying. Tattoos, weaving patterns for fabrics and pottery designs have been explained through sketches.

The roof of the Don Bosco museum has been designed as a skywalk and from here you can have a 360 deg view of the city and its surrounding hills. The colors just complement each other; the blue sky, lush green trees, colorful houses and yellow roof of the building. There is an auditorium where they play a very interesting video on North Eastern states with a song telling all that you can look out for while you are there. I really liked the video and its spirit. There was an exclusive video showcasing the dance forms of all the 8 northeastern states of the region.

We were very happy when we discovered that our hotel is located next to the ward’s lake. The lake looked beautiful in the evening and the first thing that we did next morning was to walk up to the lake with all good intentions of walking on its well laid out paths and around the various lotus and lily ponds that it has. We were stopped at the gate and told that visitors can only come after 9 AM, till then it is exclusively for local people who come here for regular morning walks and most of which are senior Govt and Army officers. We were definitely disappointed, but then I think I kind of agree with the point that these kinds of places should belong to locals first and then visitors. We did visit this lake surrounded by landscaped gardens with a terrain that takes you up and down all the times the next day. A perfect place in the heart of the city to take a walk at easy pace, enjoy the various flowers beds in and around the lake, may be do a bit of boating and walk on the wooden bridge across the lake. The atmosphere is such that your pace would slow down and you enjoy the wonder of nature.

Shillong peak is the highest point in Shillong, located about 10 kms off the main city on a hilltop. You get a panoramic view of the Shillong city through a veil of clouds. Most Indian hill stations have a point like this with a watchtower from where you can click pictures that cannot go wrong. The difference here is that this being Meghalaya, clouds will always be playing around you and you may have to wait while they clear the view for you or rather while they constantly create new views for you.

Elephant falls are a small detour on way to Shillong peak and the British discovered these multi-storied falls. It is said that when they were discovered, the rock on which these falls fell was like an elephant’s back, and hence they named it so. The rock was broken during an earthquake but the name remains. The rock behind the falls here is black and the white water stands in contrast to this. The falls can be heard from quite some distance, but you do not see them until you are right in front of them. The steps will take you some 150-200 ft down at the base of the falls, with stops at each storey of the fall. It is easy to go down, remember you have to climb up to get back. The day we went there were lot of people at the falls, so there was no reason to feel scared, but if you are alone that place can be a bit scary.

Shillong falls in the East Khasi hills district and is home to Khasi tribe. At both Shillong Peak and Elephant falls, you can get yourself dressed in the Khasi costume and get your pictures clicked. The yellow and red costume with a round cylindrical crown on your head adorned with plastic flowers and exquisite silver jewellery makes quite an amusing picture. Yes, I did get a picture of mine clicked in that costume.

Hydari Park & Zoo is again something that you find at most hill stations, a park with a little zoo. Good for a leisurely stroll if you are staying for sometime in this place. There were a couple of other interesting things like the Entomology museum and state museum and library that I wanted to visit, if the Taxi drivers were a little more flexible. They have certain number of tourist points in the city that they would take you to and for other things they would say they have never heard of those places and no one goes there so why do you want to go. I failed to convince him and others of his tribe and missed a few things here and there. It was as if I have taken the package holidays but then sometimes you just go with the flow. Missed locations may be some other time.

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

2011-10-25T21:08:00.000+05:30

This review has been moved here. To buy this book, click here :

Awesome Assam – I : Majuli

2011-10-22T08:31:00.000+05:30

Majuli is the largest riverine island in the world, surrounded by the mighty Bhrahamputra on all sides, but that is not the only thing that makes it interesting. It is an island that is shrinking at fast pace and may get lost over a period of time. Some surveys even estimate its life to be as little as 15-20 years. Only 150 years ago it used to be 1250 Sq Kms and now it is just 450 Sq Kms. Due to constant erosion and the flooding cycle every monsoon, the island changes shape constantly and the life on the island has to change in tune with these changes. As someone told us, you cannot make a map of Majuli, because by the time you print it, the shape may have changed.

It is an island not just physically, but in most ways that it exists. There is only a ferry connection to the island and this is the only connection people know ever since they can remember. A ferry comes from Jorhat’s Nimati Ghat 5 times a day taking anywhere between 60-90 minutes depending on the season and goes there the same no of times taking double the time as you go against the current. The Ferry station on both sides keep changing depending on how much water the river has and how it decides to flow. Usually the position of the station changes 6-7 times a year. Every thing comes into the island through these ferries only, be it vehicle fuel or food. These ferries also transport vehicles along with people, most of which are motorbikes but there are cars too that the visitors carry along with them. Limited connectivity comes in the way of medical facilities being made available. Patients have to wait till the next ferry to reach Jorhat, the closest city which is about 3 hours away and many times they are not able to hold for that long. It seems that Govt of Assam wants to build a bridge to join the Island to the mainland but people of the island are not very interested in having one. As a visitor, I think the peace of the island will be lost if it gets road connectivity.

The life on island is completely dependent on the rains and the flow of the river surrounding it. We were told that during the rains the whole island gets flooded and only few high-rise areas are visible. Every family on the island owns a boat or two that is used to travel within the island during floods. You can see them lying around almost everywhere. Every person knows swimming as that is a basic survival skill needed here. Most people here do their own farming and grow rice and vegetables but this is again dependent on what the rains and the river permit.

Among its inhabitants are Mishing tribes that originally belonged to the Arunachal Pradesh, but came and settled here many years ago. The tribe we met told us that they used to do agriculture but the river floods have eroded their lands and all they can manage to do is manual labor. The women weave Mekhala Chaddars and Gamchhas. They live in temporary bamboo huts that can be quickly dismantled when the rains come and re-built elsewhere. Visitors come to them for their homemade rice beer.

Most commonly talked about places to visit Majuli Island is Satras. These are nothing but Ashrams or Maths as they are known in the rest of the country. These were setup by 15^th century saint Guru SankarDev. Though the original Satra setup by the Guru has already submerged in the river, there are many still operational that were setup by many of his followers. Satras are spread across whole of Assam but somehow you get to hear about the ones that exist in the island of Majuli. Satras is home to Brahamcharis called Vaishnavs, who have dedicated themselves to this school of devotion. They live in dormitories and engage in various occupations like making handicrafts or weaving or performing arts and some of them also do regular jobs. Satras own huge lands and the revenue from these lands belongs to the Satra. The local populations who donate a percentage of their harvest also support them.

The presiding deity of the Satras is Lord Krishna. Legend is that Lord Krishna came to Majuli with his wife Satyabhama, who thought that Krishna has brought her to his Dwarka. She asked him “ Is this your Dwarka?” and Krishna smiled and said “No, but one day it will be Dwarka too”. And the numbers of Krishna temples on the island justify the statement. The Ahom kings who ruled Assam from Sibasagar for nearly 600 years had setup various Satras and some of existing ones date back to 400 years. Each Satra has a Guru and few subgurus who will succeed the Guru. All the Vaishnavs elect subgurus in a way. The daily routine of a Vaishnav involves getting up and doing the morning Puja in their own rooms and then doing a morning Nam kirtan and Aarti at the common hall of the Satra temple. Post that they all do their respective jobs before gathering again the evening for the Aarti. Out of the 22 Satras on the island only 5 are Brahamchari while the others have Viashnavs with families.

We visited the Auniati Satra that is the biggest one on the island. The hall, temple and the living quarters were as simple as they can be with clay floors. You are not allowed to take shoes inside the Satra which is as expected but you are not even allowed to open an umbrella in the Satra and doing so is counted as being disrespectful to the Satra. Auniati Satra also houses a museum and a library. This small museum has a good collection, primarily of artifacts that the Satra received as gifts over years from various kings from in and around the region, from British visitors and from public. Most remarkable item in the museum is a woven ivory mat about 6 X 3 ft. There are huge brass and silver utensils that were used by the various Gurus of the Satra. There is a pair of huge sleepers made of wood and we were told that one of the Gurus was a huge man. Then there are a couple of pairs made of ivory. You look at these opulent items and you wonder how rich the place must be when the Ashram gurus had such precious items at their disposal. This Satra also has a library that has huge brass bowls that are used during the festival time for distributing Prasad. Books are primarily in Assamese. There are some rare manuscripts in this library. There is one that describes and documents all kinds of elephants. They did not allow us to see the manuscripts, but I hope that Nation Manuscripts Mission has digitized them and made available to public at large.

On the full moon after Diwali, known as Kartik Purnima, the Satras have a 3-day long Ras Leela festival. This is probably the perfect time to visit this place. There are many small festivals also that happen around the year. During these festivals all the Vaishnavs take part in performing dance dramas. Some play the music, some put masks and play various roles while others do support activities. Men perform all the parts in the drama, though sometimes women also participate. Masks representing various mythological characters are an integral part of these performances. We visited a mask making centre where a young actor wore various masks and enacted various small parts and what a talented actor he was. His body language changed completely with the masks that he wore from ferocious to seductive.

There is nothing much to see in Majuli, but here are a few reason that can make you spend a few days there. This is one of the most pollution free places in the world as it is completely surrounded by river and has hardly any polluting elements within the island. For the same reason it is home to many species of birds. If you sit on the side of a road you would find many varieties of birds and butterflies playing all around you. Early morning, you can walk around the various water bodies that dot the island and you will get a feast of known and not so well known varieties of both birds and butterflies. Lot of migratory birds also visit the island during winter months.

For Indians visiting Majuli may be like visiting India as it would have existed 100 years back barring a few new age gadgets like mobile phones and TVs. You would have heard of this kind of living from your grandparents. For foreigners there is a lot of exotic value that the place has – The Satras that is an unusual way of living, tribal villages with bamboo huts and weaving, lots of birds, cycling in peace on kachha roads that have almost no traffic and living in peace on an island more or less cutoff from the rest of the world. In fact it seems that a lot of foreigners do take flights to India to visit Majuli.

Do not visit Majuli as a tourist as you may not find anything exciting to see, but you may find it interesting as a traveler if you can soak yourself in the place.