Monday, December 31, 2012

In India..In God's Own Land - Part III (Valley of Flowers)

This was the trip I had wanted to make for a few years, the hike that I knew would be the best one yet, the one trip that always needed more time than I had to spare. And having made the trip I can assert that it is true, you haven't really seen mountains until you are in the Himalayas. In my opinion, this is because it is extremely difficult to obtain any sense of height or space in these mountains. There is no "top of the world" view, and that is humbling and oddly exhilarating. If Kerala and Kumbakonam (Part I and Part II of my blog) merit being known as God's own lands, Uttarakhand is equally deserving of the title. There is a divine quality to nature here.
 I quit my job this May, and decided to take a two month break before I started my next academic adventure. I emailed my friend a one liner the same day, "Do you want to trek the Himalayas this summer?" She called me back and said "Lets do this!", and the planning began.
We did not want to take part in any tourist packages for  they always seemed to include places which were not on our agenda, and hence took longer than we had time, and demanded more money than we cared to spend. I have been on quite a few hiking trips in the US, but they have always been very easy to plan because of the multitude of information on websites, online booking for hotels, car rentals, etc. Planning this trip was like locating a book in an uncatalogued library. All the information and tips the two of us finally zeroed in on was consistent information we found on other travel blogs without which we could not have made this trip. I hope my blog is just as useful to anyone else who wishes to make a trip to the Valley of Flowers National Park.
Valley of Flowers is only open during the months of July through September which also coincides with the monsoons and the season of landslides. The valley really begins to bloom only after mid July, and the first half of August is perhaps the best time to visit it. 

Day 1: Delhi to Haridwar: We left on an afternoon train from Hazrat Nizammudin and reached Haridwar around 8 PM. It takes 6-7 hours, and one may also take buses, and taxis to get to Haridwar. But, we had decided that this being the first stage of our journey, and the only predicatable part of it, we would rather get through this without any hiccups and opted to travel by train. We had also made a reservation at Garwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) hotel for that night. The hotel is a 3 minute walk from the Haridwar railway station. The buses to Joshimath also depart from across the road at GMVN. We paid Rs.600 for the room, and were quite satisfied with it.
I recommend reserving bus tickets as soon as arriving in Haridwar. It is also a good idea to book tickets on the first bus out of Haridwar, which is typically at 4:00 AM. The last bus is scheduled to depart at 7 AM, and there are usually 3/4 buses that run that route everyday. While the final destination of this bus is Badrinath, you need to get off at Govindghat. The summer months being the peak pilgrimage season, it is likely that you may not find tickets on this bus. We managed to get tickets to Joshimath on a bus that was scheduled to leave at 6 AM. We paid Rs.400, but I suspect 300 or 350 would have been the right fare.We made no advance reservations for any part of our journey henceforth because we were open to the possibility that we may not be able to obtain bus tickets for that morning, and that we may get delayed by more than a day on the road in the event of landslides or poor driving conditions. We had heard of people who were stuck on the road for up to 4 days. Also, make sure you withdraw plenty of cash at Haridwar.

Day 2: Haridwar to Joshimath : As common with public buses, we did not leave at 6 AM. It was in fact closer to 8 AM by the time the driver had decided that he had enough passengers to warrant the long journey. We bought a couple of ponchos at the bus stop, which turned out to be a great idea, as these get far more expensive the farther into the mountains you go.  It takes 10-12 hours to get to Joshimath depending on the condition of the road (there is only one road), and the number of stops the driver makes. The bus journey of a lifetime began by the time we were driving through Rishikesh.
The only other time I had seen Ganga was in Bengal where she was mellow and murky, and yet somehow beautiful before flowing into the sea. Here was Ganga from the books of yore. She was a tonic to the eyes, music to the years, and her gay laughter made you smile. NH 58 is a narrow road that connects Haridwar to Badrinath with steep, and rocky hills on one side, and the Ganges on the other. That pretty much remained the view (and background music) for the next five days, but we never tired of it. As we climbed higher, the river just got more feisty  and at times the gushing sound was loud enough to drown all other noises. We would think every couple of hours that this was how beautiful Ganga was supposed to be, but she constantly surpassed herself all the way up into the Pushpawati valley.
While the bus did not stop at any of the sights, we still had a good view of the Lakshman Jhoola, the distinct confluences of Mandakini and Alakananda at Rudra Prayag, of Alakananda and Bhagirathi at Dev prayag, of Alakananda and Nandakini at Nadaprayag, and Alakananda and Pindar at Karnaprayag. The river simply looked amazing by the time we got to Karnaprayag in the Chamoli district. Until this point, the road is in reasonably good condition, but from this point on to Joshimath, it is positively treacherous. The roads get worse, the river looks more like a waterfall, and the mountains can finally be seen for what they are, as lofty and as endless as the skies.
We reached Joshimath about 630 PM. I had heard of a Math in Joshimath that was a wonderful and serene place to stay, but we could not immediately locate it. We ended up staying at a GMVN hotel again, but this room cost almost twice as much as the one in Haridwar and left a lot to desire for. Yatri Nivas seemed like a much nicer place to stay, but they were completely booked. After freshening up, we decided to visit the Narsingh temple. It is an ancient temple with Lord Narsingh as the presiding deity, and the home of Badrinath during the winters when the road to the temple is closed. The temple and its surroundings were serene and beautiful. We managed to get there just in time for the evening aarti. We walked the town a couple of times, but found no pleasant eating options, and ended up eating a mediocre (and mostly dark) dinner at the GMVN hotel. There is often no electricity in this region, and I recommend charging your phones anytime you have the luxury of power. On inquiry from the locals, we learnt that we would be able to ride share taxis to Govindghat as early as 6 AM.

Day 3: Joshimath - Govindghat - Ghangaria : As planned, we left Joshimath at 6 AM and walked to the taxi stand. It was quite bright by then, and there was a fair amount of activity on the streets. We bargained the taxi driver to take us down to Govindghat for Rs.120 (for two people). It was roughly a 40 minute drive, and we passed Vishnu prayag on our way. Govindghat is a much busier town than Joshimath, and it seemed like it would have also been a much better place to stay the previous night. The place was mostly over run by Sikh pilgrims on their way to Hemkund Sahib. We stocked up on drinks and biscuits here for our forward journey, and hired a porter to carry our bags. There is a porter hiring station run by policemen with fixed rates although there will be men trying to get you to hire them from the time you get off the taxi. My friend and I each had one backpack, and we paid a porter a total of Rs.600 to carry our bags to Ghangaria, and food for the day's journey. It was close to 8 AM by the time we actually started the hike. Some pilgrims we talked to later during our hike told us that they had left a good amount of their luggage at the Gurudwara (it is a free service), and only carried what was essential to Ghangaria. It was a clear and beautiful day, a great start to the long hike. The hike from Govindghat to Ghangaria is 14 km, but the roads below, and above have been expanded over time, and the mile markers are not really accurate. One can also ride a helicopter from Govindghat to Ghangaria, and cover the journey in less than half and hour for Rs.2000 per head, or one can ride horses for a sum close to Rs.1000. However, considering the rocky terrain, and the narrow paths, riding the horses looked distinctly uncomfortable ( a view later confirmed by some people who chose to abandon the horse ride after a few kilometers and continue on foot). 

The first 2-3 kilometers of the trek is crowded, a little messy with horse dung and not as scenic as the rest of the trek. This is the portion of the trek where one cannot really see the river. After the first few kilometers, Ganges is always by your side, and she is a delight to watch. The routes are fairly well maintained and the credit entirely goes to the Garwal Tourism department. While I am an impatient hiker, and like to keep a medium steady pace and not stop unless I was tired or there was a great reason to do so, my friend preferred to soak in the beauty. I am glad she did so, for she would then point out some of the birds, insects and flowers that I had almost missed on my way up. I especially remember a particular wood pecker that seemed oblivious to the buzz of activity below it and was intent only on craving its niche in the tree. 

By the time we had hiked about 7 km, the river was accessible by foot, and looked very inviting. We spent a good 45 minutes playing in the water, washing our hands and feet, and refilling our water bottles from the same flowing water. Bottled water along this route costs Rs.40 per bottle but they were also labeled as "pure mountain water". The water from Ganges was ice cold and tasted exquisitely refreshing. There were snow capped peaks in the distance,and an occasional view of the Narparvat through the clouds. We made a couple of more stops along the way by the river to refresh ourselves. To me, these stops were the most memorable parts of the trek, and I would think the journey completely pointless if one was to bypass this experience. There are plenty of food stalls throughout the route where they serve hot parathas, maggi, chowmein, etc. You can also grab a hot cup of chai or juices at some of these stalls. A restaurant near the 10 km mark has seats by the river. We noted it on our way up, and stopped here for breakfast on our way down.


The last stretch of 2-3 kms was easily the toughest leg of this day's trek. We shared little conversation and were intent on conserving our energy for the monstrous and slippery climb. One reason why the trek was harder than it should have been is the terrain. There is no crushed gravel acting as a cushion, it's all hard and uneven rocks and stones that eventually start to tell on your foot muscles. We were lucky that it was not raining that day, or the whole journey could have been more miserable and dangerous.

However, we did eventually reach the outskirts of Ghangaria, and spent a relaxed hour near the helipad enjoying the views of the surrounding mountains and the flat valley and amused to see Sun rays trying to find gaps within  the mountains, and find their way into the valley. We were still half a kilometer away from the village of Ghangaria. We slowly made our way up the last stretch, and began looking at rooms to stay. There was a Gurudwara at Ghangaria as well where a lot of Sikh pilgrims stayed. We however gave up trying to walk through the village and stayed at a hotel which we thought was clean and respectable. We paid Rs.400 for the room with a double bed for each night. There is power in Ghangaria only for a few hours each morning. It being the monsoon season, everything was damp (including the beds, and the walls), so I suggest keeping a dry bed sheet in your bag( I would not have been able to sleep without that), and plenty of spare clothes. If you trek in rain, your clothes will mostly likely never dry until you get back to Govindghat or Haridwar. The hotels supply hot water for Rs.10/ bucket. There are no telephone lines that run up to Ghangaria (people only stay here during the summer and migrate down the hill for the rest of  the year), and no likelihood of obtaining cell phone signals. There are however satellite phones that charge Rs.20/ minute. We used those to let our families know that we were alive and well.

After rest and refreshments, we watched a very informative and interesting documentary on the Valley of Flowers. We then tried to locate a Mr. Rajneesh Chauhan, a renowned guide in the area. When we expressed our interest in hiring him for the next day, we learnt that he was already hired by two South African botanists. However, the ladies found us agreeable and were willing to let us tag along. We paid him Rs.1200 for the day, and he was worth every paise we paid him. We agreed to meet him at his store at 7 AM the next day, stopped at a nearby hotel to order parathas to-go for the next day's lunch, and finally retired for the day.

Day 4: Ghangaria - Valley of Flowers - Ghangaria : We woke up the next day to pouring rain and dark skies. There seemed no hope for sunlight that day,  and in a slightly dismal mood set out to meet the rest of our group. We were also joined by an Irishman who had spent a month in India vacationing, and seemed to be having the time of his life. We trekked all day wearing our ponchos and unwilling to bring out our cameras. We had the most wonderful guide however, and it was very difficult to sulk at the weather. He pointed out all the rare plants and flowers( and the botanical names for the botanists), their medicinal properties, and their unique characteristics. He found us wild strawberries, blue berries and the strongest smelling Tulsi ever. I stole a few leaves of Tulsi back home to Hyderabad, and we enjoyed some of the best tea of our lives. He also put leaves of some plant (whose name I cannot remember) in our water bottles, and told us that they were a natural energy drink. And by God, was he right! On retrospection, the rain did not ruin our sighting of the flowers, but it did spoil the overall scenery. The clouds were so low that we could see the surrounding mountains only occasionally. Neither of us were wearing water-proof shoes and were soon hiking in squishy wet shoes. In-spite of this, the valley was beautiful. At the very heart of the valley, it is hard to imagine that we were up at an elevation of over 14000 ft, and yet, we were surrounded by so much greenery, so much color, and 40,000 ft tall mountains. Our guide also told us how and when some of these flowers would change colors, and how some of these flowers have become rarer over the years. The valley is known to appear a different color every week, and from his own vast collection of photos, I could believe that. 

Bhojpatra -Bark of which was used in ancient manuscripts

Blue Poppy

At the valley

Other Side of  the  valley





At 1 PM, it had not stopped raining, and our guide suggested that we turn back before the rain starts triggering landslides. We were very disappointed, for we would have liked to have gone on further, but we agreed with the wisdom of his decision. We did however convince him to go another half a km into the valley to the river Pushpawati. This water was melting right from the glaciers above, and I lost the feeling in my fingers for a good half an hour  after touching this water, but I can never forget her taste. It was cold and slightly sweet at the same time. I brought back a bottle of this water back home for all my family. The valley is known to house some of the most medicinal herbs in the world, and Pushpawati was bringing down some of those herbs in her water to us. The foreigners were slightly apprehensive as my friend and I were greedily drinking this water, until we convinced them to give it a try as well. They did not regret it. Locals believe that this water by itself is known to cure some diseases. 
After this point we turned back, and started our journey back to Ghangaria. It was 4 PM by the time we reached the village, and the skies had finally cleared. The others in our party  had planned on staying a couple of more days. Some others also planned to trek to Hemkund Sahib from Ghangaria ( 6 kms each way, and a lot steeper). Unfortunately, we had to head back down the next day. The trek to the valley from Ghangaria is 3.5 kms, and we walked another 2 kms into the valley before heading out. One can walk as many as 6 kms into the valley before turning back. On our return Rajnesshji treated us to some great herbal tea in his store made from different herbs he had stocked up over different times of the year.

Day 5 : Ghangaria to Govindghat - Badrinath : We started our downward trek to Govindghat the next morning at 7 AM. The same porter we had hired on our way up had made another trip the previous day, and was willing to take our bags down for another sum of Rs. 600. The previous day's rains had made the path much more slippery, and I was glad for the hiking stick that I had borrowed from Rajneeshji the previous evening. We once again stopped at our favorite spots along the river, and did not really hurry ourselves down. My friend had made an interesting observation that there were no women to be found at Ghangaria or in any of the stalls anywhere along the 14 km hike(apart from tourists). On our return hike however, we saw a lonely woman sitting all by herself and selling rhododendron juice. She told us that the men move up to Ghangaria during the pilgrimage season while the women stay in Bhundyar village (a few kms uphill from Govindghat), and thats where she had lived all her life. We asked her about climate and life at Bhundyar, and she  gave us a smile and said we could also look it up on  the internet! That was a welcome change from some of the men who thought we were foreigners just because we were wearing jeans!Once at  Govindghat, we had a nice lunch at the Gurudwara, made a few rotis as seva and made our way towards the bus stop. It was close to 2 PM by then, and there would be no buses heading downhill at this time. To  head back to Haridwar, we would need to catch a bus early next morning. Badrinath being only two hours further uphill, we decided to flag down a bus that was heading that way.
After more than an hour's wait, we finally managed to get seats for Rs.35 each on a bus that was heading to Badrinath. The route from Chamoli to Joshimath paled in comparison to the route from Govindghat to Badrinath. I spent most of my two hours trying not to look outside the window and praying to God to keep me alive beyond  that day. A middle aged lady traveling with her family struck a conversation with us, and gave us some wrong information that almost ruined our schedule. She claimed to have been to Badrinath before, and told us that the temple closes at 5 PM, and that the priests demand a lot of money to open up darshan to each person. She further misled us into believing that we would be unable to leave before 7 AM the following morning, and to book our return bus tickets only after darshan. I strongly advise people to book their return bus tickets as soon as they reach Badrinath. We did not do that, and spent a lot of time talking to locals, and confirming that the temple would be open until well past 8 PM. We then found ourselves a very comfortable room in an ashram right across the bus stop for Rs.300. We had by then decided to book our tickets on the first bus out before heading to the temple. Each ticket to Haridwar cost Rs.350, but because we had delayed, we ended up with the last seats in the bus at its very back. Of course, this proved to be extremely uncomfortable. 
We grabbed some spare clothes and headed to the the temple. The temple is situated on the banks of a gushing Alakananda, encompassed between snow capped peaks of Nar and Narayan parvat. A trip to Badrinath can never be complete without a dip in the hot springs. As per legend, Adi Shankaracharya charmed the water in the springs to always remain hot for his guru who was staying in Badrinath for a few months performing penance. In any case, it is a miracle  that in such extremely cold surroundings, the water from the springs was steaming hot. It was too hot to touch for more than a coupe of seconds at a time. Rooms have been built around the springs to provide privacy for women. It was one of the most enjoyable baths I had ever had. This was followed by a very wonderful and relaxed darshan of the lord (no bribe paid to anyone), a quiet dinner and a very tired walk back to the ashram. By then, the clouds had descended right up to our eye level.


Badrinath

Day 6:  Badrinath to Haridwar: The bus from Badrinath left on time at 4:30. It was fairly uneventful, and we were too tired to even speak much to each other. We did however grumble a lot about having to eat parathas one more day, and were looking forward to Dosa Palace at Haridwar. We reached Haridwar at 6 PM and found lodgings at a nearby hotel (GMVN was booked). We could have caught a bus to Delhi the same night, but even our train tickets for the next afternoon had not left us much flexibility in our schedule. 

Day 7: Haridwar to Delhi  : I woke up at 6 AM the next morning, and caught a rikshaw to Har ki Pauri. The city was already busy and noisy. I did not want to leave Haridwar without a dip in the Ganges, but I was actually very surprised at how good it felt! Afterwards, we made our way to Manasa Devi temple, but the cable car was closed for the day, and we had no strength to walk up to the temple. Instead, we rode the cable car to Chandi Devi temple, and were once again stuck in heavy rains while shopping on our way back. With difficulty, and relief, we found ourselves sitting on the train back to Delhi, not able to believe that luck stayed with us until the very end!


In India..In God's Own Land - Part II

Two years after In India..In God's Own Land, I was back in the same parts of the country. This time in beautiful Alappuzha, a surprisingly not-so-crowded tourist destination. After a memorable time on the clean and secluded beach with my cousins, my family headed towards Kumbakonam, another paradise for temple lovers. We visited 21 temples in a span of two days, each of them unique, and the youngest of them being at least 500 years old. Each of these temples also have very interesting stories(Sthala puranas). For the temples that I already did not know the stories for, I requested the head priest to enlighten us.
The trip started with our customary visit to our family deity at the Vaitheeswaran Kovil, a massive temple over 1000 years old, and dedicated to Lord Shiva as "the God of healing". Among other numerous deities, it is also known for its unique deity of the planet Mars (Angaraka). We reached the temple  town Mayavaram that morning at 5, and were ready to leave by 11 AM. There are numerous buses that one may ride from here to Kumbakonam, or there are free lance vans willing to drive you there. We were a party of five and paid 2000 Rs for the four hour drive to Kumbakonam. While this may seem excessive, Rs.400 per head to ride comfortably in Indian summer (first week of June) seemed acceptable. Along with this was the driver's added consideration that he might have to drive back alone if he did not find another customer.
Once we reached Kumbakonam and refreshed ourselves, we set out to explore the temples in the main city itself. While there is literally a famous temple at every street, and the city by itself deserves a four-day stay, we contended ourselves with picking a handful of the most illustrious temples to visit that evening. We bargained with a driver of one of the more spacious auto rikshaws to drive the five of us to seven temples around the city for Rs.300.
2. The first of our stops was at the Nageshwaraswamy temple, dedicated to Shiva as the serpent king. It was build by the Cholas in the 12th century AD.
3. Our next stop was at the Adi Kumbeshwarar temple, the 1400 year old temple from which the city derives its name. Built by the Cholas in the 7th century AD, this temple in the heart of the city is spread over 4 acres, and houses a massive water tank. One aspect that stood out  in my mind however was the deity of Goddess Durga. The tall and imposing form was also starkly feminine. Unlike other deities of Durga, her long flowing hair that reached below her hips were braided in traditional South Indian style and adorned with jasmine flowers. That is one sight I cannot forget.
4. We next visited the Sarangapani temple. The central shrine of this temple is in the form of a chariot driven by elephants and horses. The carving on the chariot, Lord Ranganatha in his reclining pose and the divine deity of Mahalakshmi are all equally unforgettable.
5. Our next stop was at the Chakrapani temple. The temple is noteworthy for its massive pillars. The other unique feature is the deity of Lord Vishnu which is in the form of a Chakra.
Chakra Ayudha Purusha(Courtesy :Wikipedia)
6. We then visited the Vyayan Someshwarar temple. Shiva is the principal deity as the lord of "Soma". Goddess Durga was equally scintillating in the form of Padaivetti Mariyaman.
7. Our next stop was at the Ramaswamy temple. This is a relatively new temple, constructed in the 16th century, and dedicated to Lord Rama. The temple pictorially depicts the Ramayana, but it is the principal deity that left its imprint on my mind. The central shrine depicts Rama on his coronation day at the end of his exile. He and Sita are surrounded by life size deities of his three brothers in various postures; Shathrugna is holding a fan, Bharatha an umbrealla, while Lakshmana is holding a bow and arrow. Hanuman is on his knees and reading Sundarakanda. This is the only temple which has deities of all four brothers with Sita.
8. Our last stop for the evening was the Kasi Vishwanath temple. The name is derived from the fact that Lord Shiva at Kashi (Benaras) directed nine rivers to wash their sins at the Mahamagam tank at Kumbakonam. This temple encompasses this wondrous and massive tank, and I believe it is also the only temple where we can see life size deities of nine rivers (Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Narmada, Tungabhadra and Sarayu). The tank itself merits a visit to this temple.

We were satisfied with our coverage on the first day, and were making plans for day two over dinner. While, there is no dearth of temples to visit in the area (Kumbakonam being in the heart of Tanjore district), we kept in mind the fact that our return train journey was booked from Tanjore. On hindsight, it would have been more prudent to have booked it from Kumbakonam itself. The train starts at Tanjore and passes through Kumbakonam on to Chennai, but we could not risk losing our seats on account of our absence from the train. Thus, our planning for the next day involved choosing temples on the road from Kumbakonam to Tanjore. We rented the same car that we came in from Mayavaram for the next day.

9. Our first stop the next morning was at the Thirunageshwarar temple, one of the famous navagraha shrines. Shiva is the presiding deity, and Goddess Parvathi is in a deep penance posture as "Giri Gujambigai". The deity of Rahu has a serpent over its head, and people offer milk to the deity to appease the effects of Rahu in their lives.
10. The next stop was at the nearby Uppiliyappan temple. The deity of Vishnu is imposing, and the sthala puranas interesting, but a note to devotees, that the prasad from this temple is cooked without salt. Lord Vishnu in the story had sworn to eat only food offered to him without salt. Nevertheless, the prasad is very tasty. One can also seek blessings from the temple elephant.
11. Our next halt was at ThiruBhuvanam, a town famous for silks. The temple is spread over acres, as typical of Chola temples. The presiding deity is Shiva, but there is a separate shrine for Lord Sarabheshwara, a fusion of man, eagle and lion. It is believed that regular offerings to this lord will relieve people of chronic diseases.
12. We next made our way to Thiruvidaimaruthur, a temple with Shiva as the presiding deity. The memorable feature of this temple is the tale of Brahmahathi. The tale is of a sin that followed a king wherever he went, but he could not enter the temple and waited at the gates. the king was relieved of his sin when he enters the temple by the main entrance and exits through another. Thus, all devotees are advised to take the circumlocutory path to avoid Brahmahathi that is waiting to latch on to you once you exit. The temple also has deities for the 27 stars in Indian mythology.
13. The next temple on our list was Thirumanancheri. This was not strictly in the vicinity, and was a bit of a drive, but we wanted to visit it nevertheless. The temple is believed to have been the venue where Lord Shiva (Kalyanasundereswar), and goddess Parvati (Kokilambigai) had an earthly wedding. Devotees believe that praying here will ensure that men and women who want to get married will soon find the right consort.
14. The next temple Kanchanoor, is another famous navagraha temple. This one is dedicated to Shukra or Venus. It is very fascinating  to see the knowledge our ancestors seemed to have of planets and their positions with respect to the Earth and the Sun. This is evident from the navagrahas in every South Indian temple, but more so in the the next temple on our list.
15. The last temple that we visited that morning was Suryanaar, a temple dedicated to Surya, or the Sun God, and the navagrhas. The main deity is Surya, dressed in glowing red. The path around the central shrine is occupied by the other deities of navagrahas in their characteristic clothing and positions. It may well have been coincidental, but I wondered about the irony later on. It was close to noon when we visited the temple, and we struggled to walk barefoot in this temple. While other temple premises were also very hot, Surya seemed more unforgiving with his heat.

We returned to Kumbakonam for lunch and a few hours of rest. The temples usually close around noon, and do not reopen until 4:30 or 5:00 PM. At this time, we also checked out of our rooms, and intended to make our way towards Tanjore to board our train at 10 PM.

16. Our first stop of the evening was Swamimalai. It is a temple devoted to Lord Muruga, and is one of the arupadaiveedu. The temple pillar, dome and the deities armor are all adorned with gold. To reach the presiding deity, one has to climb a stretch of steps on a hill. The deity is 6 feet tall, and is as beautiful as any deity I have seen. One interesting memory of mine at this temple relates to my sister in law. She had a dark mole-like object on her face for a few months, and she could never get rid of it no matter how hard she tried. Just as she finished praying to Muruga, the mole fell off, leaving absolutely no mark on her face. Needless to say, she had a glowing and excited smile on her face!
17. The next temple was unplanned, and not on our list, but even a wayside temple in Tanjore district will be a thousand years old, and have an interesting story to tell. The presiding deity at this temple is Thiruvalanchuzhi pilayar. The story goes that the gods forgot to worship Lord Ganesha before the historical churning of the ocean. As they realized their mistake, they  made this deity of the foam that was forming from the churning. Hence, this deity is white in color, and there is no "abhishekam" for this Ganesha as it is formed out of foam.
It is known as "valam suzhi" as the trunk of Ganesha is twisted to the right instead of the traditional left.
18. Our next stop was at Patteeswaram. I had heard so much about this temple, and felt blessed that I was actually privileged to have the opportunity to visit such a holy place. This temple has several sthala puranas associated with it. One of the legends is that Lord Rama had performed three sins when he killed Ravana. While Rama was God incarnate, he was an avatara purusha, and the purpose of his incarnation was to show people the right way to live, and the need to adhere to Dharma even in the most conflicting and hard situations in life. He led by example. The killing of Ravana had brought upon him three sins: Brahmahathi, the killing of a Brahmin; Veerahathi, the killing of a warrior; and Chayyahathi, the killing of a great artist( Ravana was a wonderful player of the Veena). To expiate his sins, Rama installed ramalingams at Rameshwaram, Vedaranyam, and Patteeswaram.  Patteeswaram is also the place where Patti , one of the four daughters of Kamadhenu (the divine cow) was believed to have worshipped Lord Shiva.  
Another interesting aspect of the temple is the deity of Nandi. As we all know, Nandi, Lord Shiva's bull always sits right in front of the Lord making it impossible for devotees to see the God unless they cross the bull. However, at Patteeswaram, Nandi is shifted to the right side of the Lord enabling devotees to Darshan even from the main road. The story behind this is that when Thiru Gnana Sambandhar, a great devotee of Shiva was approaching Patteeswaram from a neighboring town singing hymns, the Lord was impatient to see his devotee and asks Nandi to move aside and not obstruct his view. I thought it was a beautiful story that taught that God  himself comes to the true devotee.
19. The next temple we visited was Thiru Shakthi Mutram. The unique feature of this temple was that the  deity of Shiva is hugged by Parvathi. An offering to this deity is also believed to bring marriage to unmarried people.
20. The next temple was once again a longer drive of about 40 minutes, but Goddess Parvati (Garbarakshambigai) at this temple is supposed to be very powerful, and we were determined to pay her a visit. This was the temple of Thirukarugavur. Repeating the story we heard at the temple in words from Wikipedia : Legend has it that a sage by name Nithruvar once resided in the place with his pregnant wife Vethigai. Once when Nithruvar was out, another sage Orthuvapathar visited the hermitage. He requested for food, but due to her tiredness, Vethigai did not respond in time. This resulted in Orthuvapathar getting angry and cursed Vethigai to have a child with handicap. Vethigai begged the deity in the temple and as a result got a healthy infant. When Vethigai narrated this to her husband Nithruvar, he was surprised. He prayed to the deity in the temple to save all the pregnant ladies who worship in this temple. The temple is hence famed for saving pregnant women to smooth delivery.The worship of the deity is believed to provide cure to all pregnancy related issues. The deity here is termed Garbharakshambigai, meaning saviour or pregnant woman. This place has been referred to in thevaram written by Saint Poet (7th Century AD) Thirugnana Sambanthar and Sundarar.
21. The last temple we visited was the famed Ramalingaswamy temple at Papanasam. This is the only temple where there are 108 Siva Lingas inside a single temple. They are believed to have been installed by Lord Rama. The overwhelming feeling of walking among rows and rows of Lingas cannot simply be put into words, but is an experience by itself. The main deity is Ramalinga, and the 108th linga known as Hanumath linga is separately installed in a shrine outside the temple. The story is that Hanuman went to Kailash to bring a linga for Rama's worship, but before he returned, Rama had already made 107 lingas. When Hanuman was disappointed, Rama gave his linga from Kailash a separate spot away from the rest to be worshiped by all who visited the temple. The other interesting aspect is that Kamadhenu, the divine cow has an equal spot along with Nandi.

We were running out of time to visit Brihadeeshwara temple, and unfortunately could not fit it into our schedule. I was fortunate however to have visited that temple a few years ago.(My ode to the temple). It is noteworthy that every single temple built by the Cholas are built on multiple acres of land, with huge pillars and amazing sculptures. However, it is also disheartening to see that temple patrons are dwindling, and it is increasingly difficult for the temple authorities to maintain all these huge temples, and the surrounding lands. While the more famous ones are likely to survive a few more decades, I really hate to think how long the other ones will last. I found it very hard to walk away from any of the temples that I visited without making some amount of a donation. They are not just places of worship, but glorious  threads of our history and culture.

This was a very memorable trip, and even recounting all the stories seem to bring back the strange inward joy that I had experienced then. Tanjore is a very wonderful place to visit, and a pilgrimage in South India can never be complete without a trip to Kumbakonam.


Friday, December 28, 2012

मातृ देवो भव ...Once again

With all the recent well deserved hype around the issue of rapes in our country, I went back to read a post(मातृ देवो भव) of mine from 3 years ago. I realized that my anger is unabated, and my ideas are unchanged. It is true that we need tougher laws and more responsible law-enforcers. But, what about us? What about the disease in the minds of these men of my country? What sort of hell breeds such base monstrous evil in human minds? For the women's sake we need tough laws, but for the men, is there any hope? Can the evil in their minds be cured?
Education is undoubtedly a pillar of progressive thought, but there is evidently a missing component of moral upbringing. I am curious to know what section of  society these offenders come from, what sort of family setting they grew up in, and their childhood experiences. This statistic will be useful ,not as a political agenda of discrimination, but to analyze and possibly chart a method for improved morality.
As a developing country, we concern ourselves with improved quality of life, higher literacy, and a higher number of college graduates (irrespective of whether the purpose of education is achieved), but in-spite of the very obvious decline in morality in all sections of the society, we neither hear nor ask for improving that. We can safely agree that growing up in a "good" family plays a big role in an individual's sense of right and wrong, but it is not just the fact  that the parents are righteous people, it is the importance they gave to moral and spiritual education. I have said before in other posts, and I only grow more convinced of it, there is no hope for us as a nation when we insist on turning our backs on the importance of moral and spiritual development that is inherent to our nature.
As more and more NGOs are reaching out to the economically backward sections of our society, and taking modern education to their doorstep, I pray that there is some emphasis on moral education as well. It can be done without obeisance to any particular religion, Jataka tales can be as instructive as stories from the Ramayan.
Our laws and policies must be geared towards an ideal society, where evil is not contained, but eradicated; where men and women live with mutual respect; where all cravings of the mind and heart lose to our love for mankind. 

Battle with Winter


The leaves are gone
The limbs are creaking
The trees are forlorn
Winter is speaking

The colors are missing
The sky is misty
The cold is menacing
Winter is feisty

Life’s spirit is all around
The weather’s gloom despite
Joy and laughter abound
Winter is only inside

Spring is around the corner
Bringing change not hope
Dreams make the days warmer
Winter has yet another stoke

The tougher trees will bloom
Nature is designed to revive
The Sun will defeat the gloom
Or will Winter again survive?

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

He is Mortal

He was a run-making machine, an unstoppable force, every bowler's holy grail,  every captain's nightmare, every aspiring cricketer's hero, and every Indian fan's God. To me, he was always mortal, and that is why he remains a beacon of hope during desperate times. His frame on my wallpaper reminds me everyday that there are no limits to what mortals like me can achieve.
Of course, cricket matches are seldom worth watching if he is not playing, but to me, he was always more than simply someone who made a game more exciting. He stood as a symbol of excellence and perfection, a constant reminder that no excellence or perfection can be achieved without the highest level of hard-work  and perseverance no matter how talented you  are. He taught me that it may take 22 years of discipline, and passion or more to achieve a life-long dream, but giving up today will ensure that that day will never come.
Even when I saw him play and slog on his out-of- form days, I did not see an aging man, but I did see the aging man struggle..I found inspiration that as mortals, we will have our bad days, and we have no option but to struggle through them. When I saw him practice hard before a Bangladesh or Kenya match, I only learnt that greatness comes to those who know not to take anything for granted. When he metes out silence to harsh critics and humility to intense praise, I know there will be another milestone that we will see him cross. For, no one can truly be that humble unless they do not meet their own standards. Just as it does not matter how ill people think of me, it should not matter how well they do either.
It is what we think of ourselves that can truly make us better than what we are.
It is not just the cover drive and the punch on the backfoot that I will never forget, it is everything that he is that have helped me be a better person.
I am certain that this will not be the last of my posts on him, just like the ones before this...

Saturday, October 6, 2012

The Plot in Indian Chronology

I came across this book a few months ago when I was planning my big trip to the Himalayas, and was astounded that my quest to learn about the history of the places I was going to visit en-route to the Valley of Flowers were steeped in inconsistencies. And then, I came across this critically acclaimed book by Kota Venkatachalam, and I think it is really unfortunate that some one like him who has rendered a great service to the Indian society and dedicated his life to it is little known and little loved.

I was hooked to the book, and I can give merit to the arguments that he has presented, not simply because I don't love the British enough to put it past them to do something like this, but also because I find his arguments extremely rational and very mathematical in quality. Of course, he is very passionate, and makes recurring scathing remarks about the European historians in India, particularly Max Mueller and Sir William Jones which may seem to lend an emotional touch to what is supposed to be a scholarly work of decades of research, and may not go down well in academic circles. But, I am sold.

I also think that every Indian at least owes it to himself to give it a read, and to be at least aware that there are some incontrovertible flaws with the version of History that we are used to reading.

The book challenges the claim of the "sheet anchor of Indian history" as formulated by the British. Their whole concoction is based on: 1: Placing King Chandragupta Maurya as the contemporary of Alexander based on the accounts of Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador, and working their way backwards and forwards from that point. Sri Venkatachalam starts with simple logical arguments based on the names quoted by Megasthenes on why this supposition is incorrect, and proceeds to actually substantiate his claims. A brief summary of his evidences are presented here. 2: According to the Bible, the first man lived in 4th century BC! I urge you to read the book from the link that I have uploaded here, because that explains in detail what I have just summarized.

1. Mathematical calculations of time and events based on positions of stars and planets that have been quoted in not one, but a number of puranas have been presented in tedious detail. The accusation of the British when they arbitrarily set the date of Maurya dynasty was that Indian history was written in a very unscientific manner. Venkatachalam goes on to prove that detailed descriptions of astronomical positions are in fact the most scientific way of setting the time to something, because they can always be back calculated to very precise dates.

2. He delves into the work by Megasthenes, particularly his descriptions of the royal court in Pataliputra, and of the achievements of the king, his predecessor and his son, the successor. None of it matches up with the well known tales of the Maurya dynasty. In fact, an ardent history buff would know that Pataliputra was not even a part of the Maurya dynasty!!!

3. Megasthenes work is very detailed in his description of people and policies and administration in the kingdom. It seems very remiss of him to never once mention the most powerful person in Maurya's court, who was in fact the scheming architect of the rule, and was a pseudo king for all practical purposes - neither Chanakya nor Arthashastra merit a place in the very detailed book of Megasthenes.

4. Arthashastra is a document penned by Chanakya on the administrative policies in the Maurya rule, and descriptions of offices held by various people, and tenets of law and order. Megasthenes's work also contains a detailed description of the administrative procedures and descriptions of various offices. When Kota Venktachalam proceeds to quote them both, somehow you would no longer be surprised that the two accounts have absolutely no similarities.

5. Megasthenes also gives insight into the condition of the society during his time in Pataliputra, and there are several interesting conclusions that can be drawn. For example, he extolled the society for being completely free of slave labor and equality of all classes. For no logical reason then Arthashastra goes into some depth giving directions on the evils of slave labor and how people practicing them must be punished. Chanakya actually sanctions slave labor as a punishment to sinners or those who have been found to be guilty of unpardonable crimes in the kings court, believing that the Dharmashastras consider such men as dead men anyway.

While also giving sound arguments, he in a similar mathematical fashion constructs his version of the Indian history and chronology, and urges people to give it rational consideration.
The link below will direct you to the ebook.




Monday, October 1, 2012

HA- I am not Alone in my Insanity

Some people who read my precious article Will India Be Great Again? have found my ideas too archaic/ radical, or too negative and condescending in the context of India now largely being built on imitations. Today, I stumbled upon this article by Koenrad Elst, and it gave me goosebumps to read a whole exposition on what I had merely stated in four lines. Well, if I am wrong, atleast I am in intellectual and scholarly company.
The notable difference though is that he has specifically made his criticisms against Hindus  while I wrote a generalized "we". However, in the context of my article it is the same. In the glorious era that I talked about, we were almost a completely Hindu nation, and still populate 80% of this country.

Please do read it, and please give it consideration, before rejecting it out rightly..

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Will India be Great Again?

Will India ever regain her past glory is a question lot of Indians ask longingly? What have we done though to regain her greatness? Why were we great a few thousand years ago? When and where did this degeneration start? In that age when we were truly great; morally, intellectually spiritually there were few counterparts. This is not a statement made out of my blind patriotism; history, art, architecture and immense volumes of literature are testimony to this fact. I consider it very significant that all of it was native to the land, her people and reflected her culture, and ideas. The essence was of contentment, of pride in our own beliefs, and ideas. We never shirked away from expressing who we were, be it in art at Khajuraho, or harsh vedic rites. No matter how distasteful or pointless some of it may seem today to the new age.

Can we say the same for ourselves today? We have foregone everything inherent to our innermost natures, indeed we are actually ashamed of it. We have tried to imitate the west in everything that we do. Our architecture is not original, our literature follows plot patterns from the west, our movies are cheap imitations of other tinsel-towns across the globe, and our own traditional clothes are as novel to us as they are to foreigners. Even Tagore and Satyajit Ray are artists from history's back pages, to be read about and admired, but not to be emulated. This is the glorious new Shining India, engaged in a complete transformation based on imitations. Imitations of countries that have about a 100 years of history to testify their greatness. Greatness only visible through economic splendor, no hallmarks of contentment.

If we are successful in our endeavor, we will be great in that sense too. But, we will never be as great, because we will still be just that...an imitation, even if a good one. But to answer the first question that was posed, no, we will never be great again if we continue on this route. Because, I do not believe we will be successful in our endeavor of imitation. No matter how hard we try and pretend that our way of life is repulsive, and that there is need for complete upheaval, we have not been able to put our hearts and souls into it. The society still reeks of unforgotten past,  some grudging pride, and some meaningless devotion to other lingering attributes. We have to fully let go to manufacture a good imitation.

Or we can let go of this charade, acknowledge our strengths, weaknesses, all of them, and start afresh building a new civilization that is original and realistic. I think in that path, there is a hope for greatness.

Friday, September 28, 2012

What is Wrong with the World Today

      If you start out thinking in your mind that the answer to the above question is "nothing", then this post is obviously not aimed at you, for you have through great austerities reached a mental equilibrium where no external forces can disturb your peace, or have been simply to lucky to have been unexposed to sorrow or to have been blind to social injustice. However, I, as a commoner wonder what other people think is wrong with the world today, and whether their answers will go on to prove my own theories.
    To state the answer simply, people have no principles anymore. We have forgotten what principles actually mean, and people who exert strong opinions on the claims of uncompromising principles are just deluded in self created blur over principles and pleasures. Let me first present my case to people who do actually believe that there has to be some reason or rhyme to this existence of ours, albeit incomprehensible. I shall pose a few questions towards the end of  this blog to those who believe otherwise.
      When we set our "principles", what do they really achieve? "Good" people are principled in that they do not steal, or lie, or break the law. So far, so good. But, why do we believe that these qualities comprise good principles? Because, they help us to be better people, and we presumably care about becoming better people because we are not endowed with intelligence and wisdom, and put onto this Earth simply to lead depraved and indolent lives. But, today's society is far more complex than it was 4000 years ago, when these simple virtues were substantial to define a man's character, and by extension, the society's character. Today, we seem to have formulated and unquestioningly accepted a new standard for principles which no longer seek to improve our personal integrity, character, or contribute in anyway to making this life of ours more meaningful or at least move towards something that could hope to make this life more meaningful. These "principles" now address the need to be more economically, and socially powerful. For example, many "good" people believe and accept that social drinking is not only acceptable, but necessary because it is rude not to do so in a gathering and might hurt our status among our peers and colleagues, thereby affecting our chances to move up the fabled corporate ladders. Some argue that this is morally no different from adopting the prescribed dress code at work or in society even when this was not our preferred choice of attire. Unfortunately this only reinforces my understanding that we have completely blurred out the meaning of "principles". 
      I see no need to quote any scripture of any religion to exert that stealing and lying are despicable traits. For as long as history can remember, humans across continents and over thousands of years have expostulated through laws and religions that these are unfavorable and punishable traits. This is a self- realized truth, or in mathematical terms, a Law of human nature.
    Back to my example, we have to work, because we need to clothe and feed ourselves to live in this world.  It is an inevitable need of existence. Compromising something as superficial as a choice of clothing only to follow a work-code is a compromise of one's pleasure in order to facilitate one's basic function for an existence in the physical world. However, drinking is a matter of pleasure, and in some hypocritical cases only to elevate oneself in the workforce by appearing contemporary. Drinking is however slow poison to our bodies, quick death to our minds and cobweb over the brain. (Being drunk is an extreme situation not relevant to me. One does not need to be drunk in order to diminish these faculties; three sips are enough to initiate the process). All three faculties in that order are essential to us in understanding and moving towards a more meaningful existence. I urge my reader to understand that my issue here is not with people's drinking habits, but it has been used as an example to show how our principles in general are not concerned with making us into more moral or duty-bound people. When people deny the relevance of any act in impeding this progress, they testify my statement that people have no principles. When people justify the necessity of an act in the context of economic and social progress, they have blurred the lines between principles and pleasures, as defined in the preceding paragraph.
  Let me now redefine good people as those who are committed to the progress of man’s very existence, not single-mindedly involved in mundane idiosyncrasies.  The issue of drinking is only one tip of many icebergs. If we assess the relevance and necessity of every single act of our lives, we will be forced to conclude that a majority of them are in pursuit of pleasures. In other words, society as a whole is increasingly moving away from a path of inherent progress. With this as the fundamental nature of today’s society, we have no right to expect anything other than the sorrows and anomalies we perceive around us. 
     For those who do not believe that life has any greater purpose other than the attainment of self established goals and the “pursuit of happiness”, why do you believe that it is only your goals and your pursuit of happiness that has been sanctioned? Why is the thief down the alley not allowed to pursue his own happiness and his own fancies? What is the need for the law and order in our society, if there was no meaning to being good or being bad? Acting according to one’s own conscience seems to be the general laughable norm of this age; (I wonder what defines conscience and who defines it) if this is the right way of living, why is there so much suffering and unhappiness among conscientious people? Conscience should not be defined as a product of any scriptures or religious texts, for it is unscientific to reject their rhetoric on purpose of one's life but accept the means to achieve that very purpose. This only creates a paradoxical situation inducing one to redefine portions of "prescribed right way of life" according to one's own convenience. If conscience was another self-evident "Law of human nature", no two people should disagree on what is right and what is wrong. On the contrary, no two people completely agree on every single right and wrong in this world. The problem with conscience is that it is an exceptionally relative term, and as of today, there are 6 billion frames of reference for conscience, with a different value in each frame of reference. How can this then be an acceptable universal value of life?
      This is what is wrong with the world today: a mangled understanding of principles, and self-placating desire to act according to one’s own conscience instead of evaluating our progress towards making every individual life count for their time on this planet.

                       

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Mockery of Politics

Does the word politics sound negative, unwholesome and give you vibes of something shameful? Why have we degraded a noble institution into lower-worldly mechanism? Every new day is a testimony to how our laws and policies are completely purposeless and lack any coherent vision. The latest finesse of our government is to invite Sachin Tendulkar to be a member of our parliament's upper house.
Firstly, this is nothing against Sachin. He is only the latest of the celebrities to be offered this dummy post. He comes behind an illustrious line of the Bachans, Lata Mangeshkar,etc. It is almost as if the government has decided that the people have already reconciled to the fact that we are not even allowed to dream of a politician doing something good for the nation. So we may as well have some well known and well loved names as members of the Parliament instead of only rogues and crooks.
Welll, guess what? There are some of us who would like to believe that there are worthy people out there who want to do good, and are not being given the chance due to "politics". If indeed, these illustrious men and women are expected to use their stature among the common men to do good, they should have offered this post to him after he retired, and not when he is traveling out of the country 250 days in a year. That proclaims that they do not expect him to do anything special for the country. Which is why, my respect for this man has dimmed. He took this post as an obviously honorary post, and has joined hands in this mockery. He has plenty of time ahead of him, and he should have only accepted the position when he was in a position to do justice to it.

The Seafarer

The theater season is back with the start of the spring. The seafarer is a story about Sharky, an Irish chauffeur who now lives with his alcoholic blind brother and the scene is set on Christmas eve.  The story starts off very slowly with an excessively long dialogue between the brothers and their neighbor. It seemed that the dialogue had no greater purpose other than revealing the characters of the people and they would have done well to cut it into half. I was so bored that  I was ready to leave midway during the play. However, things suddenly pick up when Richard's friend turns up at their house along with a mysterious Lockhart for a card game, who reminds Sharky about a night 25 years ago.
As the story unfolds, it is revealed that Sharky was arrested 25 years ago, and won his freedom by winning a card game in prison with Lockhart. Lockhart had a different form and face then, for he (it can be surmised) was just Satan in disguise.While Sharky won his freedom, it was on the condition that he would have to give his soul to Lockhart  if he lost in any future game. Sharky was forced to play this card game to save his soul.
The drama was quite exciting overall, and had a great classic ending with a hint of surprise, however the downfall of the play was the dialogues. It was too long winded in parts, and were sometimes redundant. On a personal note, I found it a little distasteful that all the characters were drunk and unclean and swearing all day even though it was the morning of Christmas eve.However, I happened to watch the play with my friend who is part Irish and she told me after the play that it was very reminiscent of her part family who were always so rugged and drunk albeit being good people at heart. So, I am forced to concede that was authenticity on the playwright's part, no matter how distasteful. She also noted that Lockhart did not have a convincing Irish accent at all. I however thought that he was a good actor.
Overall, it was worth watching once, but it should have been better executed.
Spoiler Alert:
 I am a sucker for happy endings, and it always makes me feel good to know that life throws second and third chances at you. I'd rather witness an unbelievable happy ending than see a repentant man give his soul to the devil.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Horses, Hats and Bonnets - Exploring Texas

Texas...a place full of vitality, a place where people are proud of their history (no matter how rustic or how violent), a place where you see horses and cows graze right outside the city, a place where wearing a cowboy hat is not only natural, but also sensible, a place where the Sun strikes the Earth with vengeful intensity and with unparalleled pristine beauty, a place that makes one love the desert, and crave for the sea, a. place with unearthly sized cacti and the most beautiful blue bonnets.
All it takes to admire Texas is to leave one's biases and comforts back at home and step out the door, and embrace the challenge in her air. It may be that "It's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no telling where you might be swept off to. "(Bilbo Baggins, LOTR). Nevertheless, don't keep your feet..
I have lived in Texas for 6 years, having started out in Austin, and then moving to Houston. Austin cannot but be love at first sight, and there were no challenges there. It took over two years of insipid Houston when I finally took the challenge. I was determined to dig through the insipidity, to unearth a different view of  Texas. Why are Texans so proud, why are even their atheists so religious, and why is everyone else so evangelical? Why are they so passionate about their beer, and their flag? I tried to understand the people here, their circumstances, hobbies, and beliefs, and there began an entertaining ride.
My first surprise was in finding that a vast number of people, including CEOs at my company grew up on farms, and learnt to rear cows, and lasso horses when they were not attending school. They are proud of it, they think it invaluable even to the extent of dealing with clients or contractors. I will never forget what my boss once said. "To tackle with a cow, you need to think like a cow".
Their knowledge of the rest of the world may be shockingly poor, but they are proud of being American, and even more of being Texan. Their knowledge of every Bill's and Jack's role in the revolution is even more astounding. And, yes, there are few fool proof tests to check if someone is native Texan- he will love his beer,  he will wear his big hat, boot and belt even if he is no longer in the ranch, he will know how to ride a horse, and will talk incessantly about Texas and the Alamo if given an opening.
Inside The Alamo
 I have seen the Alamo, and I did offend some people when I said that  I found it boring and unimpressive. I have seen far more impressive historic monuments back home, where far more battles of equal or more importance were fought. But, although I did not voice it, I felt a tinge of regret in realizing that we also had far less pride in our History back home.

Courtesy-HSLR

A testimony to this feeling is the annual three week long Houston Rodeo, the biggest event and gathering in the United States, where thousands of people gather every day to watch and participate in events as far-ranged as tight rope lassoing, to bare back horse and bull riding. In other parts of the arena, there are informative displays of live farm animals like Llamas, pigs, horses, cows and chicken. All this is  in tandem with a 3 week long carnival in the same arena, and every evening ends with a concert attended by over 50,000 people every day. Just attending one day is enough to teach one the spirit of Texas.
The desert, the flowers and the Sun!!! If one knows not how to love them, or believes naively that they do, they need to make a road trip in Texas and drive from the west to the east. At the west, one can drive for miles being able to see everything for miles, and revel in the vast openness of nothing.
Driving in Southwest Texas
The journey will take one through canyons, hills and rivers in central Texas and out to the saline sea in the east. While I have never gone from end to end, I have seen them all, and can imagine how that journey would be. Yes, it will be very very hot, but  it can be done in spring, when it will be hot, but the wild flowers will more than make up for it.


Buttercups, Blue bonnets and Paintbrushes
The above pics were taken near Chappell Hill Texas, last week

 And, I could sing paeans about the Texan Sun, but trust me, it is one of the most beautiful views of the Sun that you will ever come across. It is not a distant blob in the sky, it swallows the sky and takes it down with it. It makes the sky sing and dance and blush a deeper shade of red than in any other part of the world I have been in. If one wants to see how the Sun and the sky can make love to all the land and you, be out on the road in Texas.
Courtesy- Houston Chronicle

Thursday, March 29, 2012

The Means Matter Too

A symbol of poise and balance
 Prologue:
Achieving a goal is important, but I think the route one takes to get there is even more important. Hiking up a mountain allows one to enjoy a more exhilarated view from the top than simply driving up to it. On paper two people may have the same degrees from the same colleges. But it is easy to imagine that one person may have given one's heart and soul to knowledge, and in that process picked up a degree, while the other was simply picking up the degree for no greater purpose. It is also easy to concede that this difference in means reflects in the character of everything that one may do, be it in life or at work.

Why are we then so encompassed in the final outcome of an issue? Goals set the direction...if they are the reason, we can only rob ourselves out of the pure joy of the journey...

The real story:
Sachin's 100th 100 is a celebration of the journey, not the goal. For those of you who find his achievement vile, drop some materialism out of your thoughts. It is not about the pure statistics of his game, but the means he has employed to achieve this that should give one inspiration. Even on the day before the Bangladesh match, he was at the nets for a full practice session with the extras while the rest of the team took off.  That reminds that one can never take anything for granted, no matter how good you are and how unlucky you have been you need to keep trying harder, even harder, and even harder.
There has not been a season in over the last decade when mediocre performances have not evoked calls to leave the game. Even 13 years of international cricket was more than many were lucky to see. He showed us that the world may be against us, but  if there is a a breach in self confidence and efforts, one will be left with only oneself to blame. Universal approbation as a goal can be a lot worse than risking universal censure.

I am not going to enumerate all his achievements, for that could only be tedious repetition.But, even after all these years, I find it faintly amusing that he cannot go for his doctor's appointment without invoking conspiracy theories involving rifts with  Rahul Dravid. Has not anyone missed important occasions in the course of one's life due to  other circumstances? Why is that  any different? Rahul Dravid was a perfect gentleman by not offering any words of praise for a man who was not present at the meeting. If he had done one former team mate a favor, he would have been a victim of more conspiracy theories on account of not having praised other greats in his time. I am sure that Sachin was perfectly aware of sparking these controversies, but universal popularity had never been his goal. In the end, he had to do the right thing to keep his commitments for the upcoming cricket matches and be fit for that. That is what he cares about, and that is his priority.

Epilogue:
Forget cricket, if you can indeed forget his cover drives...but take a moment to understand how he leads his life and pursues his passions. Even if you  can concede his greatness grudgingly, you are on your way to being a more successful person.

Abyss of Human Virtues?

"The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense."- Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice
This line struck a chord in me while I was re-reading Pride and Prejudice this week, it may be because I have been increasingly mystified by inconsistencies of human behavior.
Why are we so fickle minded to let our opinions change based on partial understanding of circumstances? Why cannot people appreciate the good in someone? Should it really  not  be easy to appreciate and praise somebody than criticize? Does not criticism require a more thorough understanding of the other person's situation in life, and at least some proof of having carried one's own self in better fashion?
Even where there is genuine criticism,  why are people so reluctant to even consider the possibility of merit?
Why get offended at everything?
Why are people's memories and gratification so poor that only people with artifice can consciously make it possible to remain universally popular?
Why is it necessary to view everything in this world starting from a friend's unintentional misbehavior to a world cricket champion's good performance with the same cynical eye?
Why have we become so bad that we have lost trust in the goodness of beings?
Why is it so hard to accept people and incidents at face value?
Why are people obsessed with  pleasing, and gaining approval from even those people who don't matter?
Why are we sunk so low to attach a material measure to every trait of human behavior?

Can we forget this and simply enjoy  the pure joy and innocence it all could be, if only we would let it be.