Women, Sabarimala and their inevitable tryst with destiny

Ever since the SC verdict allowing the entry of women into the sanctum sanctorum of the Sabarimala temple came through, the social media has been abuzz with related posts. On the one hand, there were posts by Hindu women, who created the #readytowait and swore that the judgement notwithstanding, they would adhere to the age-old tradition and would not enter the temple till they were well past the menstruating age. A second group comprising mostly men were arguing how the judgement was based on two flawed arguments of discrimination and misogyny. A third group chose to highlight the fact about how the same women's lobby that could arm twist the judiciary in the sabarimala case failed to gain  entry for women into the Haji Ali Dargah that positively discriminates women.

All the three groups were going ballistic with their posts, fuming over the misplaced judgement. (Surprisingly so, I saw very few posts celebrating the judgement!)

While big data analysts could find that data interesting for a study on the social/cultural orientation of social media users, there is an important aspect of the judgement that I think everyone is missing....and that is its inevitability!

As a Hindu woman, who wouldn't dream of touching the images of gods in my house during my menstruation, I place my arguments not in favour of the judgement, nor against it, but in favour of its inevitability!

Curiously enough, Parampara, the Sanskrit word used for tradition  is made up of two words - param, aparam - that mean forward movement. (In a video that had gone viral over the social media  a few months back, Sonal Mansingh, the Odiya danseuse, demonstrates the meaning of the word with her lovely footwork.) So tradition is not something that is static; it is something that is constantly moving. That makes it unstoppable too!

And nowhere in the history of temple entries has it been proved more emphatically than in Kerala.

The year was 1936. After a prolonged and painful struggle by the untouchables demanding their right to temple worship, the then Maharaja of Travancore issued the Temple Entry Proclamation that finally allowed the entry of the dalits into the premises of the Hindu temples across the state of Travancore....for the first time since temples were made! This landmark decision changed the course of India's human social history forever.

Of course, it wasn't easy for the traditionalists to let go of their ideas or ideologies. But the reality is, today, nobody can dream of stopping a Hindu from entering a temple in India no matter what his caste  or social status may be!

Just as the Sabarimala, the four Shankara Mutts, established in four parts of India, too once debarred women from entering their premises, demarcating the mutt space as exclusive to men, particularly Brahmacharis and men seeking sanyas. But today, we find women teeming these mutts by the millions.

Similarly, there was also a tradition that debarred women from uttering the Surya Gayatri mantra, till Anuradha Paudwala came along in the 1980s and rendered it soulfully, eventually putting the sacred mantra on the lips of many a woman!

Even with respect to Sabarimala traditions observed by men, changes have been inevitable.

The severe votive abstinence that the yatra demands from men for have been done away with. The earlier specified period of 42 days has shrunk for convenience sake to sometimes even a week. From walking up the entire path to the temple, men have started to use vehicles to save on time and energy. Food restrictions have been relaxed; some chain smokers even refuse to give up their 'habit' during the abstinence period. Today, men, who were strictly prescribed to stay away from the presence of fertile women during this period,  are forced to cohabit in close proximity with them, be it in their house, workspace or in public spaces.


The list of such breakaways from old traditions is long and endless....

Some of these changes sneaked in on us quietly, and we pretended not to notice. While some others came in violently as the current case of the Sabari mala issue. These changes may have offended and hurt us, for very many reasons, but like the ones before are here to stay.....

Why we Indians never lose our cool!

Consider this. Somewhere in India, it is night, and you are sleeping peacefully. Suddenly in the middle of your deep slumber, you find yourself being rudely woken up and informed that you are now in Pakistan!  National borders have been redrawn, and the land you are in now, belongs to Pakistan. You are told that you will have to vacate immediately and that you will be given your space in your new country instead of the one you cede now. What'd you do? You think that such crazy things don't happen ever?! Think again! As a nation we’ve been through it before, and it was called Partition!

In terms of the extant of its impact, what happened on November 9, 2016 was no less shocking. Only, instead of a home, this time, it was currency. I agree, the scenarios are not strictly comparable. But I can’t think of another close enough event in our post-independent history that has tossed about an Indian’s life as this has, not even the dreaded ‘emergency’.

 Also, it is not the quantum of impact that I’m comparing here. While economists and political commentators try to assess the complex economic and political outcomes of demonetisation, it’d be equally interesting to look at this issue from the point of view of the people for whom the disruption caused to their everyday lives is substantial (even if temporary).

To reiterate, this  is not a comment on the government’s decision. Rather, it is about how we Indians have reacted to the supposed ‘surgical’ strike on black money, and why.

Seen through  this lens, two things strike one immediately. One,  that we are a very tolerant people - very very tolerant. Two, that we are survivors.  Tenacious survivors!

But first, on our virtue (?!) of tolerance. Barring a few sporadic incidents here and there of people complaining about their hardship, there has hardly been any show of impatience or belligerence by the common man. Despite the severe inconveniences caused to him, he stands stoicly, waiting hours for his turn to exchange old notes, irrespective of whether he understands or agrees with the move. Good for the government and the society at large!

But, can you imagine this happening anywhere else in the world?

For example, contrast this with the protests that broke out (also during the same week) by the detractors of President-Elect Trump, who took to the streets proclaiming that they had not voted for him and so they didn’t want him as their President. The episode turned nasty with the police resorting to shooting to curb the protestors.

Has this ever happened in India, the world’s largest democracy? Have we ever disagreed with the results of an election conducted duly under the aegis of the EC?

Why not?

While it can be debated if such tolerance is good for the society, the more interesting question to ask is ‘why’? Why are we Indians so tolerant? What’s it about us that makes us stoic?

 Is it because we are fatalists, believers of karma theory, and can take anything that comes our way and explain it away as our fate?

Or is that years and years of successive invasions and foreign rule have broken our spirit and weakened our psyche that we’ve lost the courage to question?

 Or, are we so used to being overrun by our rulers’ whimsical decisions that we don't find anything odd about yet another?

 Or, is it that we have so much faith in our rulers that we accept all their decisions unquestioningly? (It can't be denied that many people appear convinced that the government’s move to demonetise  is only a temporary irritant to be suffered for a larger good.)

Maybe, the answer is some or all of the above. But, apart from the socio-cultural and religious reasons, I suspect there is yet another reason for the unending tolerance we display, and that is a basic lack of entitlement in our dealings with the government.

We Indians don’t really ‘expect’ the government to work for our welfare. We simply perceive it as an unwelcome but unavoidable element of our lives, something to be wary of and kept at arms’ length.

Blame it on the Colonial hangover, if you will.

In his book ‘A South Indian Journey’, British historian Michael Woods says how for thirty years between 1749 and 1781, the Tamils from the delta region of the river Cauvery were caught in the crossfire between the British, the French and their ally Hyder Ali, with each of them trying to stake claim to the ‘Chola lands’. Unspeakable atrocities were unleashed on the victims - their agricultural lands destroyed, women violated, temples looted and places of worship desecrated. Surprisingly, Wood says,  at the end of it all the Tamils ‘bore few grudges’ towards their perpetrators!

Surely, this speaks volumes of the attitude we take towards our ruling polity - that of benign resignation and apathy!

Even seven decades after independence, the constitutional assurances that the government is ‘of’ the people and ‘for’ the people remain but mere words. To most of us, the government remains but a peripheral entity - an irritant or an interference at best, an avoidable bully at worst. In other words, it is an entity we would like to have minimal interactions with.

 This attitude can also explain the poor participation of Indians in government organised Citizen Forums for schemes like the Swacha Bharath Abhiyan, which have failed to take off as a people’s movement. But, on the positive side, our apathy  has enabled us to survive bad, indifferent or even absent governments. (The most recent example  is how for the last few months, the state of Tamil Nadu, even in the absence of active governance, has been functioning without descending into anarchy.)

And that is exactly how we Indians are dealing with the current crisis on hand. We want  to dispense with it as quickly as we can, so we can get on with our lives.  In a way, we Indians are taking this disruption like how we would deal with gum sticking to our boots!! Indulgent at best, apathetic at worst! You could call it ignorance or myopia. But, maybe, that’s what makes us big survivors….    

                                                                       On our ability to survive….. in the next blog

Of Ki & Ka and us androgynous Indians

Finally caught up on the movie ‘Ki & Ka’ on DVD after having missed it in the cinemas.

For those who haven't watched it, it is about a young man Ka(bir)  (Arjun Kapoor) who sets aside an IIM degree and  a super rich dad, choosing instead to become a 'house husband' for the successful career woman Ki(a), (Kareena Kapoor).

Why?!

Simply because his mom is his inspiration and he aspires to be a home-maker like her.

Well, why not?! If a woman can get into a man territory, why can't a man get into a woman’s?

Good enough start, but not before long, the couple get embroiled in a battle of envy, jealousy and ego that threaten to destroy their partnership. Of course, the knots do get disentangled along the way and the movie ends on a happy note. But not before Ki's wise(!) mom reminds us that in our society, the economic contributor has always had an upper hand over other members whose services cannot be assigned an economic value.

At the outset, the idea of social role reversals and flipped power equations seems like an all new concept. But, when you really think about it, you realise that it is not!

The ‘Ki’s & ‘Ka’s have been around us for a long time! Only we haven’t noticed!

Ki & Ka have a long history

Culturally, we Indians are somewhat androgynous people, who hate to be boxed or typecast (we even have an androgynous God – Ardhanaareshwara). And we also loathe boundaries of all sorts. (which is why we hate rules and rarely follow any, and our chickens cross over the fence into our neighbour’s farm all the time :)) 

So, our men and women stray into each other’s territory all the time.

Even our Gods switched roles (and sexuality) if the situation demanded it!

For example, the South Indian pantheon of Hindu Gods includes a female avatar of the Lord  Shiva (called ‘Mathrubhootham’ in Sanskrit or ‘Thayumaanavar Swamy’ in Tamil – literally meaning ‘one who in the form of a mother’). Legend has it that one of Shiva’s ardent devotees went into labour with her child, but her mother could not reach her on time for help. So the Lord himself took the form of her mother, rushed to his distressed devotee and helped her deliver the child safely. 

Coming down to lesser mortals, in the paddy growing regions of South India, the economic roles of men and women in the working class were never quite rigidly defined because women worked alongside men on the fields. Farming as an economic activity thus relied heavily on the woman’s contribution.

As a result, we have had our share of matriarchs in a supposedly patriarchal society. In the yester years, when women didn't die of childbirth at an early age (the single largest reason for their mortality), they frequently outlived their much older husbands. Hence, it was not uncommon for women to be left behind with their husband's estate to fend for after his demise. 

Such was the case with my great grandmother’s sister. She was widowed at a fairly young age. Her husband not only left her childless, but also with the arduous responsibility of managing large tracts of agricultural land on her own. To make matters worse, she also went fully blind from cataract, which had no cure in those days. But she did not let the handicap come in her way. She successfully took care of her husband’s estate till her last breath before passing it on to an adopted son.That was no mean feat in those days! And, she was not even literate!

If this was an example of a woman venturing into man’s territory, tales of widowed men doubling up as the woman of the house to raise their children were not uncommon either.

In fact, even today, in several conservative South Indian households, the man of the house takes over the kitchen and other domestic responsibilities every month when the woman of the house has her menstrual periods, and needs rest.

The point is, role reversals and load sharing happened seamlessly, without any declarations or fanfare.

And balance of power was maintained in the household.

Sometimes, it was the woman who dominated the household and sometimes it was the man. In Tamil Nadu, a household where a woman calls the shots is jocularly alluded to as ‘Madurai’. This is in reference to the temple town of Madurai where the chief presiding deity of the temple is Goddess Meenakshi, and not Shiva as in most Shaivite temples. 

Surely, a woman-dominated household must have been a common enough phenomenon to have earned a nickname!

As opposed to the working class, where women were significant economic contributors, an upper class household (where the women did not assist men on fields) had more rigid roles for men and women. But that did not necessarily skew power equations in the household.

An upper class house had clear territorial allocation for men and women. The front part of the house belonged to the man. You could rarely find young women here. (Older women were, however, an exception.) And, the rear part of the house was the woman’s domain, particularly the kitchen, which the man rarely entered. 

But, womenfolk exercised sufficient control over their men by controlling the food they fed them. In some cases, errant men are known to have been reined in by reducing the salt in their food, which rendered the men weaker and hence more amenable to falling in line. With the female and male territory marked geo-spatially, the matriarch of the household also got to control the private time men got to spend with their wives by citing good and bad days for sexual intimacy.  

Game, set and match!

Of course, disintegration of joint families and the shift from an agrarian/pastoral economy has significantly altered the social roles played by men and women. While the agricultural age saw women as parallel, if not equal economic contributors, the industrial age bypassed most women, thus reducing their economic value-add to the family. Nuclearisation of households during this phase also meant that the responsibility of child-rearing fell entirely upon the woman of the house, leaving her with very little time for economic pursuits. 

But even the industrial age was not without its exceptions, as the Tamil novel 'Thaayumaanavan’ by the renowned author Balakumaran illustrates. Apparently set sometime in the active trade unionism days of the 1970-80s, the novel tells the story of a man who is forced to stay out of work because of a prolonged lockout in his factory. To make ends meet, his wife takes up employment, while he cheerfully assumes the responsibility of running the household. The novel talks about the challenges he faces as a home maker and his positive attitude that helps him sort out his new role.

More recently, we saw a rerun of similar episodes during the period of the global financial meltdown of 2008-09. Several men working in the financial services and related sectors lost their jobs and ended up handling the domestic responsibilities while their working spouses became the sole bread winners for the household.

So it seems the story of Ki & Ka is not as new as it is made out to be, but has been told before, time and again. 

Ilayaraja, the Thyagaraja of film music

Many of you may be aware that music composer Ilayaraja recently completed composing music for his 1000^th film  - a Tamil movie titled ‘Tharai Thappattai’. Fans like me are hoping that he will be acknowledged as the world record holder for the largest number  of compositions in popular culture someday soon.

Till then, who is celebrating this milestone?  Unfortunately not  too many outside the Tamil film industry!! That’s tragic, as his is no mean achievement.

The reason for this milestone not being widely acknowledged by the artists fraternity lies in their attitude to popular music. The connoisseurs of art in our society have traditionally considered popular music a poor cousin of classical music. 

I beg to differ.

In my opinion, as a music composer, Ilayaraja deserves to be put on equal pedestal with a classical music composer, say a Thyagaraja or a Tansen.

Is the genius of Ilayaraja for real?

Let me play the devil’s advocate here first by raising two key questions.  

1) Can film music composition be an independent art form when it borrows heavily from the cornucopia of classical music?

2) Or is it such a big thing to walk the path laid out by the musical giants such as the Carnatic music trinity or the Western music trinity who have composed elaborate musical works, works that have stood the test of time and continue to inspire today’s generation of musicians?

Well, I think the answer to both the questions is a big resounding ‘YES’, and here’s why.

Good music is about touching a chord (pun unintended :))

Good music, I'm sure you will agree, is something that appeals to our emotional brain; chords that soothe our mind and rejuvenate our soul.   It is a harmonious combination of melodious strings and meaningful lyrics that elevate music to being a soulful experience.

Taking this as an acceptable definition of good music, let's compare the scope of work of a classical music composer vis-à-vis that of a popular music composer.

To start with, take the case of the Carnatic music trinity (Thyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshithar and Shyama Shastrigal). The key rasa (emotion or feel) in their compositions is Bhakthi or devotion. They may have composed their songs under different situations (Thyagaraja's compositions, for instance, are believed to be anchored in incidents from his real life),  but their compositions remain primarily rooted in the communication/propagation of devotional ideas. Again while composing, these composers may have used different ragas,  each imparting  a different emotion,  but the flavour that dominated these ragas eventually was the Bhakthi rasa.

Secondly, the works of the classical music composers were confined to a particular genre of music – mostly classical, or sometimes folk as in the case of composers such as Purandhara dasa or Annamacharya.

Now, contrast this to the demands from a film music composer.

His primary mandate is to compose  music that'll help communicate or reinforce a specific emotion - love, pathos, anger or yearning - as the situation in his film demands. 

While this does widen his canvas, it also calls for immense creativity and a sound knowledge of well...sounds, and their ability to invoke a chosen emotion.

And using sounds to kindle a desired sensation is something that Ilayaraja excels in.

Here, I've compiled a set of navarasa (nine expressions) kritis of Ilayaraja, that convey  a specific feeling or an emotion brilliantly.

(I'd urge you to listen to the music with your eyes closed to have a singular musical experience. Wherever possible, I've used audio-only tracks as I found the visuals distracting at best and utterly unbefitting at worst.)

I must add that in several of these compositions, Raja has effectively  harnessed the feel native to a raga. For eg, Hamsanaadam, a sensuous evening raga has been used brilliantly in ‘Isaiyil Thodunguthamma’  from the movie ‘Hey Ram’ whereas a peppy raga such as Shanmukhapriya has been used to convey joy in the ‘Tham Thana tham thana’ number (links given below).

The Navarasa  kritis of Ilayaraja

 (Here, I've deviated from the accepted list of navarasas to compile a selection more fitting in a filmy context.)

Wonder (Adbhutham) - Idu Oru pon malai pozhudu

Romance (Sringaram) - Kaadalin deepam onru

Sensuousness (Sringaram) – Isaiyil Thodunguthamma

Yearning (Sringaram) – Sundari kannal Oru seithi

Sympathy (Karuna rasa) - Uchi vaguntheduthu pichi poo

Joy -  Tham Thana Tham Thana Thaalam

Heroism  (veeram)  - Manitha manitha

Pathos–  Then paandi seemaiyile

Devotion (Bhakthi) – Amma endrazhaikatha

Film music calls for equal if not more creative prowess than classical music
(My apologies to TM Krishna who has been vociferous about his disdain for the music that passes off as classical music in film songs :))

Ok, I can hear the classical  music aficionados cry themselves hoarse saying that film music composers don't have to operate within the grammatical framework laid down for classical music. In other words, a film musician does not have to maintain the purity of a particular raga or tala (rhythm) in his music.

True, technically, a film music composer does seem to have more latitude as compared with his classical music counterpart; but that is the whole point!!! 

The less well-defined the framework, the more difficult the job!!

Imagine you are asked to make a nutritious Kimchi salad. If you have sliced cabbage, garlic, ginger and oodles of soya sauce, then it's no big deal. How you slice the cabbage, how long you marinate it, whether you roast the spices or not and the amount of soya sauce you add decides the quality of your salad. But, you've got to take care of only four ingredients and use them in pleasing  proportions,  and you are done!

That’s classical music for you – nice and healthy  for those who have the appetite for it.

On the other hand, if you are asked to make a tasty salad for children, seasoned with stuff they'll enjoy, but also uses healthy stuff such as cabbage, garlic and ginger in titrated doses to make it a nutritious meal, then that becomes a tricky proposition!!

You have to mull over various options before you can arrive at something tasty that children (rasikas like us) like, at the same time ensuring that the specified ingredients are used and the health quotient of the salad is not overly compromised.

And that precisely is the challenge before film music composers!

Having said that, there are several compositions of Ilayaraja that are rooted in hard core classical music ragas. Here's a very small sample:

Classical Ilayaraja

Aadal kalaiye de an Thanthathu - Raga Charukesi

Janani Janani - Raga Kalyani

Sollayo Vai thirandhu - Raga Shanmukhapriya

Om Nama Shivaya - Raga Hindolam

Mogam ennum theeyil - Raga Kanakangi

Click to read an interesting blog on the use of Classical ragas by Ilayaraja in Tamil Film Music

Moreover, film music also requires a deep understanding of a wide genre of music - from Indian classical to western classical to folk to pop to even African American music now.

And music aficionados who follow popular  music do admit that Ilayaraja was extremely adept at giving a native feel to western classical rhythms. Here’s a list of songs from his repertoire which combine indigenous and western classical to create a unique musical experience.

Quintessential  Ilayaraja

Poova eduthu Oru malai

Kanmani nee vara kathirunden

Pani vizhum malar vanam

Putham pudhu Kalai

Thendral vanthu theendumpothu

Yetho Mogam Yetho thagam

Oru Jeevan azhaithathu

Kodiyile malliyapoo manakkuthey

Of course, no eulogy of Raja would be complete without mention of his folk music based songs in Tamil films. He is one man who is credited with having given folk music its due through his compositions. Again a very small sample from his popular hit list:

Folksy Ilayaraja

Madurai marikozhundu vaasam

Vetti veru vasam

Sandu pottu Oru sandana pottu

Kuzhal Oodum kannanukku

And that’s not all.

Orchestration is a key component of film music, and Raja excelled at it

Yet another realm that a film music composer has to be adept at is orchestration,  which demands a deep proficiency over musical instruments besides the judgement to use them wisely to suit a given situation.

On this count, Ilayaraja is considered a class apart from his peers who frequently outsource the BGM score, interludes and the orchestration required for a movie/song. Ilayaraja  is indeed a rare music composer who is known to handle the entire spectrum of music composing right from orchestration, arrangement of instruments to notations.

While Raja is known for his love affair with the violin, and has used the instrument extensively across his works, he was himself a gold medalist in Guitar from London’s Trinity College of Music.

Here’s a list of some songs which stand testimony to his superb orchestration skills. This is one area where his genius literally pours out.

Instrumental Ilayaraja

(Check the lovely preludes and interludes in these songs.)

Thuli  ezhunthathu paatu

Endha Poovilum vaasam undu

En Iniya pon nilave

Poo malaiye thol seravaa

Ilaya nila

Rakamma kaiyathattu

Ananda ragam meettum

Poonkathave thalthiravai

Paruvame pudiya padal

Aasaiya Kathula Thoodu vittu

Above all,  the film music composer has to choose the right vocalist who can carry his piece-de-resistance  effectively to the audience.This calls for high inter-personal skills to coordinate with various artists and get the desired output.

And last but not the least, he has to balance the artistic expectations of his director and the commercial expectations of his producer.

To summarise: the propensity to convey a wide range of emotions musically, proficiency in several musical genres, the artistic acumen required to use different instruments to varying effects, and above all the ability to create music within a specified commercial and artistic framework, would, in my opinion, put film music composers on equal footing with the great classical music composers of the yesteryears.  

With that, I rest my case.

Ilayaraja has been the most prolific music composer ever

Of course, every film music composer is expected to deliver on most of these parameters. What makes Ilayaraja extra special?

Simply, the quantum of his work!

Over 5000 compositions across 1000 films, not counting independent compositions (‘How to name it’, ‘Nothing but Wind’ and the ‘Thiruvasagam’ symphony) is no small feat!!

Even accounting for some repetition, some more mediocrity and several inspired pieces, it is still a whopping number of original compositions for any individual composer!!

And finally, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The fact that Ilayaraja has been in the reckoning over the last four decades amidst wide ranging cultural changes in our society is proof of the timeless of his music.

Friends, even if we discount all the above analysis and statistics, we owe it to this man for having given us all several great musical moments and many sweet memories of the best part of our lives!!

2015 - The year of 'wapsis' (returns)

As the year 2015 wound to a close, I let my memory run through the high and low points of year for India. When I did, I found this one word coming to me, again and  again, which  I found to be the thread that bound the events of the year.

And the word of the year is ‘wapsi’ or ‘return’.

In the political space, the year started with AAP led by Arvind Kejriwal ‘returning’ to power in Delhi after assuring the people that, this time, he was here to stay. And the year ended with Nitesh Kumar ‘returning’ (from a self-imposed sabbatical) to claim the chief ministership of Bihar after his brainchild ‘Maha Ghatbandhan’ swept the assembly polls in November.

In a first for the carmaker, Volkswagen agreed to the ‘return’ of 3.23 lakh cars it had sold in India, which allegedly used software that cheat the country’s emission norms. Das Auto?!!

Meanwhile, Apple ‘returned’ with yet another hideously over-priced and hyped up model, iphone 6 s, at the stiffest ever price tag  (Rs. 65,000-75,000) for a mobile phone in India.

Reliance Jio’s soft launch of its of 4G services in December marked the ‘return’ of Mukesh Ambani to his dream telecom venture, a decade after he had lost Reliance Infocomm to his younger brother Anil, in the partition of the Reliance group assets in 2005.

The  Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu also ‘returned’ with yet another of his grandiose dream projects, a la  ‘Cyberabad’– this time to build the slimmed down state’s new capital city, Amaravathi at an estimated cost of about Rs. 27,000 crores....(for those who can't fathom this number, remembering it as only one-fourth the cost of the loss to the ex-chequer in the 2G spectrum scam can help)

On the flip side, food  price inflation ‘returned’ with a vengeance after a brief sabbatical, and the prices of pulses skyrocketed with zero help from ISRO (sorry, couldn't resist that  PJ :P)

On the positive side were Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu’s welcome initiatives to ‘return’ Indian Railways to its days of past glory, one of which was to rope in  Ratan Tata to spearhead innovations and reforms in the Railways.

The year also saw a dizzying $9 billion being pumped into Indian startup ventures by risk-crazy investors, in the hope of seeing big ‘returns’ (read valuations) in future.

Sadly, but inevitably,  the year also saw the ‘return’ of India’s most loved,  People’s President, APJ
Kalam to his celestial pavilion.

The intellectual elite of the country took the ‘r’ word to a new level, when they started to ‘return’ their awards and titles - which they had received either from a previous Government or a Government-aided body - in protest of what they felt was rising intolerance in the country.  It is a different story that their act failed to fluster anybody other than the neo-loud Indian media which used up precious airtime to discuss the issue ad-nauseum!!

Even as the Congress Party tried its best to ‘return’ all the bills tabled in Parliament unpassed, Indians desperately waited for their PM Modi to ‘return’ to his homeland from his endless  overseas tours to address the burning issues at home.

As if to counter all attempts by the right-wing fringe elements to flare up  communal unrest, the Muslim community in Chennai turned out in large numbers to volunteer for the mammoth relief work
undertaken during and after the Chennai floods, thus ‘returning’  hopes of communal harmony in our society.

Post  the launch of its hugely successful MOM mission, ISRO ‘returned’ with a bang to successfully launch a record 21 satellites into space, of which 17 were for foreign nations.

After punishing several hungry children and lazy bachelors during its brief absence from our p(a)late, Maggi, the queen of junk foods, ‘returned’ to the hit list of national cuisine towards the end of the year!

And finally, what  sweetened my ‘returns’ story was that our IT department deigned to assess my 2015-16 IT returns on time and actually ‘ return’ some of the extra tax I had paid last year!!! Yippee!!

Life lessons for dummies - but, are we learning them?

In Chapter 6, verse 5 of the Bhagavat Gita Lord Krishna says, "you are your own best friend, and you are your own worst enemy". No words can summarise the Chennai disaster better.

Before getting into the length and depth of these holy words of wisdom, I want to share a story from my life first. 

Part 1 - My story

The year was 1991. The date, May 21st. Time, 11 ‘o’ clock in the night.

My mom and I were on a Tamil  Nadu State transport bus going from Bangalore (then) to Tirunelveli, my home town, to attend my cousin’s thread ceremony. Just as our bus was nearing Salem ( a city in Tamil Nadu) a bunch of hooligans (definitely politically motivated)  stopped the bus and asked all passengers to disembark. Thereafter, using the huge clubs they were carrying they went on to smash the vehicle’s  glass windows to smithereens.

The reason for their aggression: they were protesting  our ex Prime Minister, Shri Rajiv Gandhi’s brutal assassination, a few hours earlier, near Chennai! That, the mob felt, was as good a reason as any to vandalise public property and terrorise people!

Terrified at the turn of events,  we thankfully found ourselves put on another bus (which had also been vandalised) that promised to drop us at the Salem bus depot. On reaching the depot, we were left stranded with nowhere to go! We were also told that no buses would ply for another few days thus eliminating any chances of either proceeding with our journey or returning home.

Needless to add, those were times when there was no GPS, no mobile phones, hell, not even basic wired telephones (we didn't have a phone at home and did not even know my father’s office contact number). So, my mom and I were left clueless on how to get across the info on our whereabouts  to my father in Bangalore.  Worse still, how and where were we (and several other stranded women and kids) going to spend the night, attend to nature’s calls etc. for the next few days? (Again, in those days, it  was not common for women to take up lodging in a hotel without a male chaperone.)

Just as my mom (I was still in school then and of not much help to her) was trying to figure out the next course of action, a Salem resident named Gangadharan,  who happened to be at the bus stand at that hour, offered to take us women folk into his home till sanity was restored in the outside world.

Soon, my mom and I, along with three other families, found ourselves safely ensconced in his house, where we spent the next three days.

Super nice as Mr. Gangadharan’s family was to take in a bunch of complete strangers into their home, they were not in a position to feed us.

Then, help came from unexpected quarters….

Believe it or not, the  local auto rickshaw drivers (yes, the same rickshaw drivers who are frequently accused of fleecing customers) took it upon themselves  to feed us and all other passengers stranded in that area, three meals a day for the next three days. They pooled in their personal money to organise food for all of us. And feed us they did, royally too! I remember one rickshaw driver served
us all a dessert at the end of a meal while apologising to us that it was all that he could do, given his
limitations!!

And eat it we did, squatting on the bus stand ground, thankful for every morsel that we were served
and for our terrific luck even  in those trying times!

Finally, after  three days of ‘refugeedom’,  as things gradually returned to normalcy, my mom and I managed to board a bus back to Bangalore and returned home.

Nothing unusual about my story, though it does reiterate the fact that we humans are capable of swinging between both extremes - acts of valour, virtue and generosity (eg. Gangadharan’s family and the rickshaw drivers) and incredible acts of  brutality and irrationality (eg. Rajiv’s assassins and the hooligans). And, as a society we are eternally struggling to balance these brighter and darker sides of human nature. 

Whenever  there has been a calamity on a large scale, mankind has risen above its petty and base instincts to lend a helping hand to the 
needy, thus redeeming itself of its copious sins and restoring hope 
in humanity.  Call it our basic survival instincts or attribute it to the 'selfish gene', or hail it as the divine element in man, but it works when all else fails! 

This has been amply demonstrated in the recent Chennai floods.

Having said that, the rising hope in humanity is at once mitigated by the thought of human frailties and short-sightedness that have been and will be on display in Chennai in the aftermath of the floods.

Part 2 - Confessions of a myopic dummy

Enough has been said and written about how the Chennai floods were as much a man-made disaster as it was the result of nature's fury. Author Michael Crichton's words (in Jurassic Park) that the annihilation of a species is embedded in its own behaviour rings so chillingly true now!  Let me elaborate.

We are programmed not to remember…

Returning to my Salem story, while we were there, everybody around me talked endlessly of  how
they were going to go home and write to the media  (there was no social media then) about the
generosity of the Gangadharans and that of the local rickshaw drivers. None  of which, of course, ever happened!

As soon as we reached  home, we got busy just getting back to our routine lives! The episode was, I am sure, relived in the dinner conversations of our families, but only for a while. Eventually, all of us caught on with our lives,  and memories of those three days were gradually forgotten….

Well, I guess there's nothing strange about it.  It happens to us all the time. We human beings  are programmed to forget older  things so we can remember newer ones, mostly stuff we need for our everyday survival! (The good part of a short memory is that it also helps us overcome our personal grief, tragedies quickly.)

And the same thing is going to happen to Chennaites as well. Both the horrors of the past one month, the reasons for the catastrophe and the memorable deeds of heroism, mercy and nobility of their brethren that they were privy to, will slowly fade away from their minds as everyday challenges take them down….

Wait! I'm not saying the calamity would have no impact on anybody. I'm sure there are some of us
who are more sympathetic and empathetic than the others, those few of us for whom this event would
have definitely been ‘the’ catalyst for change.

But, unfortunately the vast majority of us are super inept at learning  or remembering the lessons life teaches us. It's simply beyond most of us!!

We are short-sighted and irrational....

So, much as we'd like to, let's not for a moment believe that the deadly deluge is going to pave the way for a huge social change in creating a borderless, casteless Utopia of our dreams in Chennai.  Oh heck, let's not even fool ourselves into believing that people will remember to dispose plastic responsibly henceforth.

And then there is an entire market for ‘bad/wasted’  land that the floods have thrown open, which is waiting to be exploited. Real estate prices in all the affected parts of Chennai have already slumped.
Land sharks waiting to grab lands will find this the most opportune time to do so.  They will buy now and will sell later when memories of people's sufferings have slowly dissipated from their minds. Meanwhile, with prices looking favourable, home owners looking at buying a house for investment will also find this an ideal time to invest. So, it is only a matter of time before Chennai’s real estate bounces back with a vengeance, and rampant construction  begin all over again.

Such a prognosis, outlandish as it may seem now, is based on  history. Since the cloudburst that poured 944 mm of rain in Mumbai in 24 hours on  July 26, 2005, realty prices in some of the worst affected areas of Mumbai have grown at a pace of 20 percent every year or nearly 6 times  over in  the last 10 years. Think about it!

So, don't be surprised if you find another large share of Chennai’s water channels remaining today
also give way to more skyscrapers  in another 10 years. After all, freak weather phenomena are known to happen only once a decade and if we are lucky, it may be another century before a similar
calamity strikes again.  And a century is a long time, even a decade is, from an investment point of
view. Whereas the investors, whether retail or otherwise, plan to stay invested only for a short time. Make your money and flee! And of course, there are also the genuine but naïve buyers, but they can be
easily conned into buying a house with just some clever marketing!

And so the city of Chennai or any other Indian  city will grow and grow insatiably till nature comes back to claim what is rightfully her’s! Unless….

We need the State to interfere

Unless...the government and administration take certain hard calls for the welfare of its citizens and does  not fall prey to petty politics and realising short term gains!

Individuals do not have the panoramic view that the state has. Individuals do not act rationally all the time.That's why we need a government, to see what you and I can't see, to think and act rationally for the larger common good!  Not for telling us what we must eat, wear or watch!

Can we citizens afford to repose such faith in our rulers? Will the State  rise up to meet these basic expectations of its people. Maybe, a little faith is all we can garner  in these trying times.

  In any case   it's time we shed our suicidal instincts, stopped fighting with ourselves and became our own good friends.....

Amen!

India, the land of endless journeys ……

The United Nations declared the last Sunday of September (27^th) to be observed as world tourism day. Being travel bugs ourselves, my husband and I celebrated it by taking yet another trip, this time down nostalgia lane, reminiscing the various journeys we have made across the globe over the years. Although we have been lucky enough to see a bit of the world, India remains our most favoured destination – simply for the diverse attractions it offers.

After all, how many countries can boast of 7,000 year-old cities, 18,000 feet high roads, gigantic peaks and the deep blue seas, both the largest salt desert in the world and the rainiest place on earth, or the art of sex aesthetically carved on stone, all under one sky?  

Apart from its geo and bio diversity, remnants of India’s rich cultural past also lie scattered all over the sub-continent, waiting to be rediscovered by each passing generation.

In short, India is well and truly the land where, the journey never ends…..

Feeling elated over the diversity and richness of India’s tourism potential, I set out to do a ranking of the various destinations we have been to, and the unique experiences we’ve had.  

Here’s the result – our top 14 travel destinations/unique experiences that I want to share with you. Also included are some related places which are still on our aspirations list; these, I’ve marked out in boxes.  

 A few disclaimers before we proceed…

Indian tourists have now moved beyond the golden triangle (Delhi-Agra-Jaipur), Rajasthan, Goa and Kerala. So, my list excludes these beaten tracks. It also excludes sports/adventure hotspots for trekking, para gliding, river rafting, etc., which call for an independent ranking of their own. Nor does it include wildlife destinations, as spotting wildlife can be tricky with no assurances of sightings. The list also leaves out places like Rameshwaram, Varanasi, Velankanni, etc., which are no doubt exotic travel destinations, but pilgrimage centres first.

 Secondly, although I’ve ranked our favourite destinations and experiences here,  in reality, each of these attractions is really special, unique and hence incomparable.

Thirdly, this compilation is not a travel guide and is not designed to help you with your travel planning. The basic idea is to create interest for these places and urge you to explore these destinations for yourselves.

 Finally, please note that this is only a personal compilation, and is based on the destinations we’ve been to. Needless to say, there’s a lot more to India than these places. I would be thrilled if you shared your unique experiences and pics online or offline, and I’ll be happy to add those destinations to my list of must-do travels.

So, ladies and gentlemen, pack your bags to get set go…….

Life’s a beach

 #14) Chandipur-on-sea, Odisha (natural phenomenon): Chandipur is a small town on the coast of the Bay of Bengal in the state of Odisha. The uniqueness of its beach is that water recedes up to 4 kms into the sea during low tide revealing the sea bed. You can take a long walk into the sea before the tide turns. Believe me, it is a surreal experience, one not to be missed. And, if you can make the trip closer to, or on a full moon night, then you’re guaranteed to take home memories of an unforgettable night.

 Take the walk of your life......

Narara marine national park off the coast of Jamnagar, Gujarat apparently offers a similar experience, where one can walk on the sea bed during low tide and take a peek at a wide variety of marine life that lives there.  

For more info: http://www.gujarattourism.com/destination/details/12/319

Is it a ship, is it a boat, no…it’s a fort

# 13) Murud-Janjira Fort complex, Maharashtra (man-made wonder)

 A personal favourite of mine, the Janjira fort rises majestically in the Arabian sea off the coast of Murud, a village in Raigad district of Maharashtra. Sitting right there in Shivaji’s realm, the Janjira remained unconquerable by the Marathas, the British and the Portugese through its 500-year long history.

With an African connection, this sea fort is existing proof of our subcontinent’s complex ethnic and cultural history. Hooked?

Go check this must-see destination and give it the attention it deserves.

Travel advisory: 1) For Mumbaikars, it’s highly doable as it’s only a stone’s throw away from Alibagh. 2) The ferry service that can take you to the fort from the coast may not be operational in the monsoons. And summers can be smelteringly hot. That leaves the winter months, which would be ideal to do this destination.

Fort trotters, check this link to know about other sea forts in Maharashtra. http://www.walkthroughindia.com/walkthroughs/top-5-amazing-sea-forts-in-maharashtra/

Oh, what might’ve been!

 #12) Bibi-ka-Maqbara, Maharashtra (man’s faux-pas?!)

Imitation is not always the best form of flattery, especially when it’s a poor copy of the original. Bibi-ka-Maqbara was built by Azam Shah, Aurangazeb’s son, in memory of his mother, in what proved to be an unsuccessful attempt to copy the Taj Mahal.

Although the chief architect of this monument was the son of the principal designer of the Taj Mahal, severe budgetary constraints imposed by Aurangazeb played havoc with the aesthetics and proportions of the monument.

Go, check what might have been! Catch the next train to Aurangabad!

Experience nothingness (No, I’m not talking of vipassana here ;))

 #11) Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat (geological freak)

 Imagine a place, with nothing around you for miles, nothing….no vegetation, no animals and definitely no humans.

 An unlikely prospect in the second most populous country in the world?

Well, the happy news is that such a place does exist, and it is called the Rann of Kutch (RoK).

A geological shift that cut off a connection to the Arabian sea, and a change in the course of the Ghaggar river created miles and miles of salty marshland that form the RoK, counted among the most inhospitable terrains of the world. Small wonder then that you don’t find much life here, save for the tenacious wild ass and the occasional wild swine.

Btw, sunset here is quietly beautiful and if you go during the winter months, you might have the migratory flamingos for company.

 Go if you are a solitude seeker and want to dwell upon the meaning of life. Go, even if you aren’t. 

If you want to experience desolation of a different kind, head for Dhanushkodi in Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu, a sort of India’s Hiroshima. Unlike the Japanese city though, Dhanushkodi was a victim of nature’s fury, when a terrible cyclonic storm in 1964 washed away the entire town and its people. What remains is a ghost-town, a tragic reminder of man’s vulnerability to nature’s whims.

Aamchi Scottish Highlands

#10) Sahyadris in the monsoons, Maharashtra (scenic beauty)

‘Of rolling hills and wooded vales….’ is how a poet describes the Scottish Highlands. Wanna share his experience? The good news is that you don’t need a UK visa to do that. Just hop on to the next flight to Mumbai and hit the Mumbai-Pune highway or the Mumbai-Nashik highway in the monsoons.

The moss on the dusty hills that go all dry and brown in summer suddenly come to life in the monsoons and weave a magic carpet so stunningly beautiful that you’ve got to see to believe.

Overnight, small meandering streams and tiny gushing waterfalls erupt, and dry grasslands metamorphosise into lush green meadows, adding a finishing touch to the dramatic makeover of the Sahyadris.

Come, experience this wet green paradise and be charmed!

For other scenic routes to experience the Sahyadris in the monsoons, check:  http://mumbaimag.com/monsoon-travel-driving-through-the-sahyadris/

Incidentally, the Indian monsoons are an attraction by themselves. Considered the single largest weather phenomenon in the world, the monsoon winds that originate off the coast of Kerala travel 2,500 kms inland up to Kashmir and bring rainfall to most parts of India for nearly four months in a year.  That’s big!!

  

Sare jahan se achcha…

 # 9) Wagah Border, Punjab (man-made blunder?!):

Yet another ‘what might’ve been’ emotion is sure to strike your heart when you stand at India’s Berlin Wall— the Attari (in Wagah) border check post in Amritsar, Punjab – and peer 100 metres across into the breakaway land, the prodigal nation called Pakistan.

This dramatic border check post, marked by two imposing gates demarcating the territorial boundaries of the two warring nations, is a grim reminder of a people thrown asunder by the misplaced aspirations of their leaders. 

‘So near and yet so far…’, are the words that come to one’s mind as the gates to both the countries are opened for a very short while during the ‘lowering of flags ceremony’, when two soldiers from either country exchange a brief handshake before the gates are sealed once again, shutting out all hopes of a borderless world.

Go to shed a tear or two for the people who lost their land and loved ones so these gates could come up, and to mull over what might have been…..

Travel advisory: Reach the check post in good time so you get a vantage position on the galleries erected to watch the lowering of flags ceremony that takes place in the evenings every day. (Check with the local guides for the correct timings.) A word of warning— it can get extremely crowded here, so be careful with your kids and things. 

Get set for time travel

 #8) Lothal, Gujarat (Harappan ruins)

Just 80 kms off Ahmedabad sits an industrialised urban settlement known for its bustling economy, efficient town planning and best-in-class sanitation, the kind that would put modern Indian cities to shame.

And it is just 5700 years old!

That’s Lothal for you, a Harappan city that has lived to tell the tale of India’s glorious past.

Once a busy commercial centre that traded with the Sumerians (present day Iraq and Kuwait), the highlight of the place is its dockyard, the oldest in the world, that suggests a prosperous economy led by robust maritime trade.  

 As you walk down the paved roads, past the bead making factory, the sacrificial altars, the granaries and toilets built using the famously standardised Harappan bricks, you can’t help but be awed by the civilisation’s antiquity and also its surprising continuity into modern day India.  

 Go, discover the place where it all began…...

Among other larger Harappan sites in India are Dholavira in Gujarat, Kalibangan in Rajasthan and Rakhigarhi in Haryana, which are pushing the antiquity of the civilisation even further. These excavations will hopefully help us decode the Indus valley script! 

   

Poetry in stone

 #7) Sun temples of India (Gujarat & Odisha) (architectural marvel)

India is home to several sun temples, but the most prominent among them is the Konarak temple in Odisha, eastern India. Envisaged on a grand scale and built in the form of the sun's chariot drawn by seven horses, this 13^th century temple turned out to an unfortunate casualty of its own vanity.  

Archaeologists believe that the ambitious size of the main vihara caused it to cave in under its own weight.

Although what remains is a mere phantom of its original, it is enough to leave one awe-struck and struggling to imagine the grandeur of the earlier structure. 

While Konarak receives the sun’s first rays on the east coast of India, there is yet another temple in the extreme west of India, which pays obeisance to the Sun God in its own grandiose way. The sun temple at Modhera, off Ahmedabad, which actually predates the Konarak, may not match up to its eastern cousin in size, but is no less in terms of architectural splendour.  Indeed, the intricate carvings on the temple walls and the ornate step well at the entry are fascinating, and can give Konarak a good run for its money.

 Follow the sun to bask in the architectural brilliance of India!

A jewel to hold water

 #6) Step wells of India, Gujarat (engineering marvel)

 In the extremely hot and rain-starved parts of western India, the step wells are a unique phenomenon that combine cutting-edge engineering with architectural aesthetics.  

 What makes these ancient step wells special is that they are very deep and ensure year-around supply of groundwater, made accessible to people through multiple layers of passageways and steps. Besides supplying water, these step wells also doubled up as a leisure retreat for the women who came to draw water in the sizzling heat.  

The artists didn’t stop there. 

They made the mundane task of carrying water an aesthetically enriching experience for the women. The result—stunning panels carved exquisitely on the walls of the wells in mind-blowing detail and perfection.

 Two such ornate step wells can be found in Gujarat – Rani-ki-vav, a world heritage site, and the Adalaj vav, both just a few hours drive from Ahmedabad.

 Step in to quench your thirst at the well, or simply gape at the incredible art around it.....

Incidentally, Kallanai or the Grand Anicut, built across the river Kauveri in Tamil Nadu by a Chola king nearly two millennia back, is considered the world’s oldest water-regulation structure that is still in use. Would love to check this one out! 

Paradise on earth

 #5) Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir (Joint venture of God and Man)

When Jahangir burst out into poetry, equating Kashmir to paradise on earth, he probably wasn’t just talking about the place. He may well have been thinking about the people here. Blessed with insane good looks and the gift to make infinitely intricate art, the people of Kashmir are proof of God’s kindness (Allah-e-Reham!) to man.

And, when man decides to work alongside God, the result is... the enchanting city of Srinagar. Be it its famous Dal Lake dotted with flower-laden Shikaras and house boats, its beautifully manicured Shalimar gardens, the green canopy of the Chinar trees or the majesty of the snow-capped mountains that meet the eye everywhere you care to look, the bewitching beauty of Srinagar is certain to haunt you for a long, long time. 

Go, live this paradise and pray we don’t lose it yet again to war and violence....

Travel advisory: The city takes on different dimensions in different seasons. So anytime that is not prohibitively cold is a good time to visit it.   

A walk in the clouds through the bridge and the rainbow

 #4) Mawsynrom, the rainiest place on earth and the Living Root bridges, Meghalaya (natural phenomenon, man-made wonder)

 If you are a romantic and have always fancied a walk in the clouds, then your fantasyland is right here in India; in Meghalaya, to be precise. With its unique geography, Meghalaya was destined to be pretty.... and also the wettest.

 The summer air currents that sweep over the floodplains of neighbouring Bangladesh, after gathering moisture from the Bay of Bengal, form dense clouds and hit the hills of Meghalya, bringing torrential rainfall here, through the year.  The village of Mawsynrom holds the record for being the wettest place on earth with a whopping annual average precipitation of 11,860 mm, which is over 10 times the average annual rainfall of UK (counted among the wettest nations of the world).

 The cloud cover is sometimes so dense that sometimes you can’t even see the end of your nose!

 Fascinated? Wait! Meghalya’s awesomeness doesn’t end there.

 It is also home to some of the fantastic pieces of civil engineering ever created by man – the living root bridges. 

Wooden bridges that are necessary to cross the endless streams and rivulets that erupt with the rains, can’t survive the incessant downpour. So, the locals have found a simple and natural solution to it – they simply grow (!) their bridges by guiding the living roots and vines of large old trees across small rivers and streams, thus creating navigable over passes that do not rot but actually strengthen with time.

 If that’s not ingenuity, what is?

 Go, live your childhood fantasies - walk in the clouds, dance in the rain and watch a rainbow from a living bridge in mesmerising Meghalaya!

Land ahoy!

 #3) The Brahmaputra & Majuli, Assam (natural phenomena)

To borrow the catchy Bollywood phrase, there are two types of people in this world -  those who suffer from a lack of water and those who suffer from its surplus. Clearly, the people of Assam in North East India belong in the second category.

 And the cause of their grief and prosperity is the mighty river Brahmaputra – 2,900 kms long (1,800 miles), 10 kms wide in certain places and discharging 680,000 cubic feet of water per second!

For its sheer scale, a boat ride on the mighty Brahmaputra can be a humbling experience for you, when you surrender to the force of nature, accepting its sovereignty over you.

 As your ferry transports you gently across these treacherous waters, you’d be tempted to play the  Rabindra-Sangeet, to synchronise with the gentle, rhythmic movement of the oars, and the ripples they leave behind....

But then, you would be absolutely wrong in reading the river’s emotion!

For, there’s nothing gentle about the Brahmaputra- which notoriously snuffs out hundreds of lives and decimates several livelihoods every year during the monsoons.

In any case, don’t make the mistake of sharing your Bengali fantasy with your Assamese co-passenger, as it could really upset him. For, the Assamese have a vibrant culture independent off the Bengalis and are very proud of it. Otherwise, they are a gentle people who have learnt to navigate the whimsical waters of the river to make a living whenever possible, or simply surrender to it when not......

 Just when you begin to tire of your long ferry ride, you hit a piece of land - Majuli , one of the largest river islands of the world.

 According to folklore, Majuli was originally a narrow piece of land sandwiched between Brahmaputra and one of its tributaries. It then had a violent rebirth in 1750. A major seismic event set off catastrophic floods for 15 days that led the Brahmaputra to tear into two, thus creating the island as we know it today.

Well not exactly!

The island has since lost nearly two-thirds of its lands to erosion caused by floods! And it is shrinking further....

Alas, we are in an endangered zone!

If you can disregard this disturbing fact momentarily, you can enjoy the quaint little emerald isle that is Majuli. Lined with green bamboo trees everywhere you choose to look, the island is also home to the various satras or monasteries associated with the neo-Vaishnavaite culture. 

Go, take a plunge into this remote water world.......

In the lap of divinity

 #2)  Sunrise at Kanchenjunga-Darjeeling, West Bengal & Sunset at Somnath, Gujarat  (celestial phenomena)

 If you are woken up at 3 am on a chilly morning, pulled out of your warm bed and asked to set out into the bitter cold, braving a sub-zero temperature at 8,500 feet altitude, and yet, you comply without a murmur...

 .....you must either be a hostage at gun-point, or you must be going to Tiger Hills, Darjeeling to experience the most spectacular sunrise of your life! It’s the latter, hopefully. :)

When you arrive at Tiger Hills, disregarding the chill weather, you find the world around is still shrouded in darkness. Sunrise is still some time away, and you can spend the minutes either counting the stars in the supremely clear sky or securing your vantage position on the viewing deck as the crowd starts to swell.

 As you keep looking expectantly at the distant dark spot, where you’ve been told rises the gigantic Kanchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world, the sky slowly starts to light up. You wait with bated breath as the light grows brighter. The world around you has fallen silent and you can almost hear the seconds ticking away....

 And then suddenly, it happens! The spell is cast!!

 The rays of the rising sun fall on the twin peaks of the Kanchenjunga making it dazzle like gold, almost blinding you for a second, much like the mountains you see in ‘Mackenna’s Gold’!

 “Surely, this must be nirvana?!” you think.

 The golden effect, however, lasts only a few seconds. As the ark in the sky rises further, different magical hues play out on the snow-capped peaks, and you stay put, rooted to your spot, smitten by the sights for you know not how long.

 Eventually, the spell breaks and the world returns to normalcy, till.... yet another sunrise.

An equally overwhelming experience is the sunset at Somnath temple, Gujarat on the Arabian sea. The thing about Somnath that makes an everyday sunset over the sea a special happening is the temple’s unique geography.

It is a land’s end of sorts.

Believe it or not, there is no discernible landmass between the Somnath temple and the south pole; nothing but 6,150 miles (nearly 10,000 kms) of water till Antarctica! Interesting?

 Sitting at this unique piece of earth, and watching the sun set amidst sounds of the relentless waves rising and falling, the mind replays the fantastic stories learnt in school - of the temple’s riches and of Mahmud of Ghazni’s attacks and plunder- and you wonder.... surely, this an experience that belongs in the bucket list of things-to-do-before-you die!

Travel advisory: The sunrise at Kanchenjunga can be tricky and depends entirely on the weather of the day. On most days, dense cloud cover over the peaks can ruin the chances of a good show. However, the skies are relatively cloudless in the months from mid-October to December and in March and April. So plan your trip accordingly.

 Experience the dazzling sunrise and the magical sunset to know eternal bliss!

 Some breath-taking moonlight experiences: Still awaiting an opportunity to savour the surreal white landscape of the Great Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, the largest salt desert in the world on a full moon night, and watch the marble rocks lined along the river Narmada at Bhedaghat, Madhya Pradesh glisten in the moon light....

    

Oh, how blue is my sky!

#1) Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir (scenic beauty & endurance game)

What would you call a land that receives little or no rains, is barren, frozen and starved of oxygen through most parts of the year – hostile territory?

Then, that is what Ladakh is.

Ironically, while being all the above, Ladakh is also so heart-wrenchingly beautiful that, like the brave prince Sindbad, you don’t mind taking these challenges head-on to soak in its ethereal beauty.

Located on the ancient silk route, Ladakh, the land of high passes, is a cold desert on the Himalayas with a terrain so forbidding that you could well be on planet Pluto.  

But, then, that’s the key charm in travelling to Ladakh - challenging human limits......

And, there is more.....

For one, it’s a photographer’s dream! The pollution-free air that gives the clear blue skies, the panoramic view of snow-capped mountains and their reflection in the lucid water bodies below make for great photo ops.

Then, it’s a biker’s delight! Ladakh stakes claim to the highest motorable road on earth at 18,380 feet on the Khardungla pass. A drive up this road is sure to give you a high, literally!

Plus, the Ladakhis make excellent hosts. Allow them to indulge you! Not in a flamboyant Punjabi kind of way, but in a warm, unpretentious, family kind of way.

But, Ladakh is more than just dizzying heights, endless snow, sparkling blue skies and crystal clear lakes. It stands for the indomitable spirit of man to live, love and serve in a hostile habitat.

There is an old Ladakhi saying that captures the essence of this place, “The land is so barren and our passes so high that only our fiercest enemies or our best friends would want to visit us.”

Go visit this land and its people as friends, and they are sure to win you over. That’s a promise!

Two things here that you will not fail to notice:

First, the ubiquitous army presence. But, unlike in the Kashmir valley, it is not intimidating. On the contrary, it is very comforting as life in Ladakh would be impossible today without the infrastructure created by the Indian army.

Second, the interesting sign boards put up by Border Roads Organisation.  Some samples here:  http://ladakhroadsigns.com/index.php?option=com_easygallery&Itemid=28

Go for yourself and for the Ladakhis who need you, and also for the army men who you need..... 

Travel advisory: 1) Ladakh’s terrifying altitude needs time to get used to. If you fly down to Leh, the sudden descent into an oxygen-starved terrain can cause acute altitude-sickness. So plan your stay accordingly, leaving enough time for acclimatisation (1-3 days). On the other hand, if you took the Manali-Srinagar-Leh highway, you would gain altitude gradually. In which case, the sickness may not be so acute.

 2) Owing to its tricky terrain, travel in Ladakh can be challenging. The hills are also highly prone to avalanches. So, ensure you hire a good driver to take you around. And carry a full oxygen can with you at all times. While we were there, we got stuck at 15,000 feet in a road block caused by an avalanche, which took five hours to clear. Having exhausted the little oxygen that was left in an old used can, we were dangerously dizzy and breathless by the time we reached the hotel. So, don’t hesitate to invest in a new oxygen can!

Most medical shops there sell canned oxygen and are happy to take them back if they remain unused.  

3) Ladakh can be stressful for children and elders and people with travel sickness. Roads are windy and weather-damaged in certain pockets, despite BRO’s best efforts to maintain them. So, the drive can be really, really bumpy at times!