Arbit Musings of an Idle Brain

Rajasthan Day 2: Jaisalmer - golden sands and blue skies

2012-02-05T17:41:00.000+05:30

What a way to get introduced to the city of golden sands! As the train chugged into the desert, a couple of dust storms greeted us - filling the interiors of the bogie with a dust haze! In no time, there was a thin layer of sand everywhere: on the floor, the seats, on the luggage, and even on the late risers blissfully asleep!

The Jaisalmer station itself is tiny and quaint, with a few chaiwallas and other sundry snack vendors. A couple of cups of steaming hot masala chai kept us warm while we waited for our ride. The plan was to spend a couple of nights in the desert and then head into town for the heritage experience. We were, yet again, struck by the amazing hospitality of these wonderful people. Every place in our journey was made special by one or the other person, that made the vacation special. If it was Gaurav Singh Rathore, our guide at Jantar Mantar, it was the very affable and shy Ambu Singh, who literally assumed the role of our butler for the duration of our stay in the desert.

M chose Rajasthan Desert Safari (RDS) for our stay in the desert. The place is about an hour's drive out of the city and we were immediately greeted with vistas of arrow shot straight roads, with sparse vegetation as far as the eye could see. We were immediately taken in by the clear air, and the quietitude all around. Surely an escape from the everyday cacophony that is Mumbai! Since it was already lunch time by the time we arrived, Ambu Singh (who I addressed as Ram Singh throughout our stay and being the nice guy he is, he refused to correct me; and henceforth, he will be referred to as Ram Singh!) laid out a spread of the finest Rajasthani food. There was the standard dal-baati-choorma, gatte ki sabji, string beans (I forget the local name) and several others that were a blur of paneer, ghee and butter. Who can argue with local logic: 'we have scarcity of water, therefore we cook food in ghee and butter...!!!' Ram Singh was sorely disappointed that we did not have more than two helpings of each dish!

Galloping over the dunes... bone rattling but certainly, fun!

Once the afternoon heat subsided, it was time for the mandatory camel ride. Our camel was bizzarely named Michael Jackson (!) and was a four year old male. Our desert guide led us to a less frequented part of the dunes where unlike the famous SAM (pronounced 'sum') dunes, where there are more people than sand! M and I had a blast rolling down the dunes and had loads of fun. My guide took the camel for a short gallop, unfortunately with me on it: by the end of it, my bones were rattled! On the way back, we got a glimpse of the famous Sam dunes - they were swarming with people and were we glad we didn't go there!

Quick tip: it's generally a bad idea to carry expensive photography equipment, the desert sand is so fine, you are sure to need a trip to the service centre thereafter! Even if you have to carry your DSLR, make sure you don't change lenses in the desert and have a ziplock bag handy to stash the camera in, when not in use.

Rajasthani fold musicians hold us in thrall

Back at camp, they had organised a cultural evening, with traditional dancers swirling to the tune of desert instruments: kar-taal, being the highlight of the day. It was sad to see the tourists milling about, more interested in their drink, than savouring the beautiful notes that these desert musicians churned from their instruments. To add insult to injury, some of tourists gave a generous tip of Rs 10 to these artists, some of whom have represented India in international fora!

We relished the folk music, with M and I occasionally deciding to try our hand with the dholak! After a while, most of the tourists had departed and the musicians actually asked us to sit closer, so that we could hear them better, and they could sing songs of our choice! What more is there to say! Lal mori, hichki, kesariya balam and many more. After several hours, it was time for them to leave, but they promised to come back the next day, and sing some of the more famous and rare marwari songs!

Meenal tries her hand at the Nagara

A jugalbandi with the kar-taal!

All the while, our dear Ram Singh was in the background, waiting to unleash a many course meal, which of course, we happily partook. Soon after, the drone of vehicles disappeared, the voices died down and all that once could hear was the whistling of the wind, under a pitch black sky dotted with thousands of stars, many many more than one can see in the cities...

The sun sets on yet another wonderful day in the desert...

Rajasthan - beginning of a memorable vaction

2011-12-25T21:48:00.000+05:30

It all started with figuring out vacation ideas; considering that we would be travelling in December, colder climes were naturally ruled out. M had been wanting to do Rajasthan for a while, so we decided that the land of golden sands it would be, since anytime after March and the place would be scorching.

Since the tourist season starts mid-December, we decided to plan our trip in the first week, before the hordes start pouring in. The days would be pleasant, the nights chill but not freezing and the crowds, few. We only had about a week on our hands, so the planning had to be meticulous - not crowd the itinerary with too many places to visit, yet not miss out on the must do spots. The credit again goes to M for a perfectly planned holiday - right from what to see, where to stay, what to eat, which taxiwalla to call etc.,!

For starters, Rajasthan is a state that has endless possibilities: forts, deserts, wildlife parks, luxurious palaces, spread across many must visit places such as Jaipur, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Ranthambore... Considering my shutter happy nature and the need for a relaxed holiday, we decided on Jaipur, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. No more.

For details on the planning bit, do's and don'ts, refer to M's blog. My blog is not meant to be a travel-diary, but a collection of the impressions gathered during that fabulous one week.

As we landed at Jaipur Airport at 7.30 AM, the captain's welcome message shattered some typical 'tourist myths' about Rajasthan, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Jaipur; the temperature outside is a pleasant 17 degrees..." Wow! So Rajasthan, is not really the 'perpetual 50 degrees oven!'

Jaipur is a beautiful city, with broad straight streets, swept clean, shrouded in the morning chill - very welcoming. It's a fairly green city too - disappointing tourists who assume that all of Rajasthan is only sand! This is also the city of beautiful palaces - Jal Mahal and City Palace for instance, forts - Amer and Jaigarh, astronomical observatory - Jantar Mantar, lakes, markets. The people are friendly and affable, willing to guide the lost tourist.

Hawa Mahal, in the soft golden light of the morning sun

Our first stop was the Hawa Mahal - most readily recognised icon of the Pink City - so called because the erstwhile Maharani Gayatri Devi ordered the denizens of the inner city to paint their building in pink, so as to lend the place an exclusivity! We reached just in time to catch the golden rays of the early morning sun bathe this exquisite structure in an ethereal glow. Shopkeepers across the street were very willing to let us take shots from their terraces for an access charge of '10 rupee per head only'. "We charge phoren tourists 100 rupee saab..." the chowkidaar of one of these vantage viewpoints confided. He was also more than happy to click our pictures.

One of the many exquisite jharokas...

Quick tip for photographers: reach the place before 9.00 AM and use a wide-angle for excellent shots of Hawa Mahal - the early morning rays provide excellent frontal lighting. Get on the terrace of any of the shops for eye-level shots. Telephoto zooms are pretty much useless unless you want to take shots of parts of the structure.

Is this the kind of view the veiled queens and princesses
would have had, of the street below?

We were blessed with a bright sun, no clouds and a clear day: really, excellent conditions for photography. It was interesting to see busloads of foreign tourists - mostly European and Orient, go gaga over the place - surely, a structure so grand constructed just to let the purdah-bound queens and princesses watch royal processions in relative seclusion must be a rarity.

After spending more than an hour gawking at the place, we finally proceeded to breakfast, at the interestingly named Balaji Restaurant, for a snack of hot parathas, dahi and pickle.

The entire city seemed attuned to tourists - the grandfatherly shopkeeper who starts twirling his generous moustache as soon as two Koreans with cameras slung around their necks approach; the otherwise bored snake charmer who plays his 'been' and wakes up an equally bored cobra to life the moment an excited European couple approach, cameras on the ready; traditionally decked up women who are willing to pose for photographs with you for a payment of '50 rupee only'... The welcome change ofcourse is that none of these tourist friendly people pester you with their wares...

Intricately designed Peacock Gate

The diwan-i-khas, straight out of a
period movie

The next stop was the nearby City Palace, the current residence of the erstwhile rulers, descendants of the Sun and heirs of the Kachawaha dynasty. Part of the palace has been converted into a museum, with standard exhibits of royal furniture, apparel, weapons and utensils. Of particular interest was the Peacock Gate, the northeast entrance to the inner courtyard. Delicately adorned with peacock motifs, the entrance arch is a sight to behold. The other three gates to the courtyard are stunning too, decorated with motifs of waves, lotus and roses. The Palace also has on exhibit huge silver urns, 5.2 ft tall, 340 kgs heavy and with a capacity of 4000 litres, meant to carry Gangajal for the king, on his journeys!

Samrat Yantra - largest sundial in existence

Next came the Jantar Mantar, the place that we had been most looking forward to! Constructed by Maharaja Jai Singh II, this is one of the five observatories that he built, and the best preserved. We were lucky to get an excellent guide, and spent over an hour understanding the working and purpose of the various instruments here. The precision with which these instruments have been calibrated is amazing. The Samrat Yantra, the largest sun dial in the world, gives the local time to a precision of 2 seconds! The experience of being able to actually see the shadow move across the marked marble counter is exhilarating!

Close up of the dial - the shadow on the white marble
is calibrated to a precision of 2 seconds!

Our guide explained in great detail how each of these yantra's (instruments) worked. He was equally thrilled to find tourists that are inquisitive and interested in finding out more about the place. To his utter surprise, we refused to click any snaps while he was explaining, reserving that for later. What was surprising though was that as we neared an hour and half of 'guide time', he was keen to leave us and look for fresh catch. Apparently, most guides in Rajasthan limit time with each tourist batch to not more than 1.5 hours, something we would encounter at the Amer Fort as well!

Our next stop was the Amer Fort, the location from which Jodha Akbar was shot. En-route, we made a quick stop at the Jal Mahal, now restored to its past glory but sadly, out of bound for tourists. Managed to get a few shots of birds gliding over the surface of the lake, fishing for... what else.... fish!

Majestic Amer Fort, reflected in the moat below...

The Amer Fort is a magnificent structure, but before that, we made a stop at the Jaigarh Fort, the Amer Fort's twin and constructed to accomodate the growing needs of the main fort. The primary attraction at Jaigarh was the Jaivan, the largest cannon ever made. With a barrel 20 ft long and a bore 11 inches large, the cannon has a range of over 40 kms (the Bofors howitzer, by comparison has a 6 inch bore and 35 km range). The cannon however, has not seen any action, having been fired only once, a test shot at that. In that sense, I prefer the Mendha tope of Daulatabad Fort, the second largest cannon and the Kalal Bangdi of Murud Janjira. These cannons are battle scarred, intimidating and have character. They look you in the eye with a 'dare mess with me?' attitude. The cannon of Jaigarh was a disappointment.

Lunch was at yet another franchise of the ubiquitous Balaji! It appears that instead of water, Rajasthani's use ghee and butter to cook their food in. Our waiter was severely disappointed that we did not consume more than 2 servings of the mildly sweet choorma, that goes with dal-baati-choorma, or multiple servings of the heavy gatte ki sabji. "Saab, aapne to kuch bhi nahi khaya..." he complained after we had consumed what we thought were elephantine quantities of the 10 course (or was it 14?) meal. This is a Rajasthan standard - these nice people are disappointed if you don't eat the equivalent of 4 people!

Restoration work in progress at the Sheesh Mahal

The last stop was the majestic Amer Fort, standing sentinel, aloft on the vast desert plains. Several popular Bollywood movies, the recent one being Jodha Akbar, were shot here. Contrasted to our experience at the Jantar Mantar, the guide at Amer was a disappointment, pitching more about gems, astrology and the like that would no doubt draw the attention of the foreign tourist, but not fort-o-holics like us. The Amer Fort has mostly seen peaceful times, as the rulers, the Kachwahas, were on friendly terms with the Mughals and then with the British. The striking part of the fort though, is the Sheesh Mahal, the palace of mirrors, embellished with mirrors imported from Belgium, that still retain their sheen.

Tiny mirrors of all shapes and sizes, set in artistic patterns adorn the walls and ceiling, throwing off slivers of light in all directions. One can only imagine the magic the place would have created, reflecting in thousands, the flame of a single lighted lamp... This surely must have been the inspiration for the pyaar kiya to darna kya song in the epic Mughal-e-azam. The ceiling and walls are covered in delicate marble carvings that are translucent to the touch, with elaborate paintings of creepers and flowers, and with tiny mirrors set in delicate patterns. The courtyard has a beautiful garden, set in octagonal patterns interspersed with fountains. Cool water was circulated through the walls and lattices, giving a respite from the desert heat. One can only imagine the splendour of this place at the peak of its glory!

View of Ganesh Pol from the fourth courtyard...

The terrace of the fort has a huge courtyard, to one end of which the Ganesh Pol, leads to the Sheesh Mahal. The entrance arch here is dedicated to Lord Ganesha, and is therefore adorned with motifs attributed to the Lord. The courtyard itself is immense and we were lucky to be there at the close of tourist hours, when the place was near deserted and the place afforded terrific photographic opportunities. Minarets and domes, arches and pillars, set against the backdrop of a clear blue sky, and a photographer had to get shutter happy!

Glimpses of Amer Fort...

Majesty of the Amer Fort by night...

It was now time to head to the sound and light show at the ramparts - an hour and half filled with retelling of fort lore. Very well put together and excellently presented, the show is a must see for those interested.

Photographic tip: Make sure to visit the Amer Fort towards the end of the day, so that you get time at the Sheesh Mahal and Ganesh Pol courtyard devoid of tourists. Also carry a tripod - the approach road to the fort with the moat and lake below have excellent photographic opportunities to capture the fort reflected in the water below.

Dining at the very exclusive 1135 AD

Apparently, the standard time to tour the fort is 45 minutes, with some curious tourists stretching it to over an hour. When we met our driver after spending over 4 hours at the fort (not counting the sound and light show), he exclaimed that this has been his most boring outing to the fort! Imagine his surprise then, when we declared that we wanted to go back into the fort! Not for sightseeing, but to the restaurant 1135 AD. The restaurant is inside the fort, at the second courtyard level, passing right in front of the Sila Devi temple. Strongly recommended for the ambience, excellent food and exceptional service; it was an experience, sitting atop the fort at dusk, with only the sound of the wind blowing over the ramparts for company, enjoying a leisurely dinner. We certainly felt like royals! The credit for finding this gem of a place and arranging for us to have a private dinner goes to M!

After an eventful day, it was finally time to pack the cameras and bid goodbye to Jaipur, as we headed to the Golden City of Jaisalmer! That's for another blog! Watch this space...

M for Muse...

2011-10-30T20:19:00.000+05:30

Got this excellent shot of M, probably my best portrait shot to date and certainly the slowest shot without tripod that I have taken. Yes, this is a half second exposure shot with bare hands, no tripod, no monopod, no support of any sort for the camera! First the shot and then the story behind the shot...

The shot...

EXIF:

Lens: Canon IS 18-55 IS

Aperture: f/4.5

Shutter: 1/2 (yes!)

ISO: 800

Focal length: 35 mm

Flash: No

Tripod: NO!

Post processing: None

Now the story...

The setting

Unlike other years, spent this diwali in Mumbai. On a whim, decided to head to Nariman Point on the last day of diwali to enjoy what we expected would be a spectacular display of fireworks all over the Queen's Necklace. We arrived a tad too early and spent the first couple of hours soaking in the cool sea breeze and panoramic views of the Queen's Necklace, lighted up in all its festive finery. A brightly lit up Saifee Hospital was the shining pendant to the glittering necklace. Spent time munching on the famous Mumbai sandwiches and clicking shots of Nariman Point and the fireworks around. The white glow of the sparklers and flower pots provided just the necessary soft lighting with the dark sea as the background for the perfect portrait. The gentle breeze and randomly streaking rockets threatened to spoil the shot, but then, what's life without a little excitement!

The muse

The ever willing M ofcourse! Since I didn't want a 'posed' look, just told her not to make any sudden movements, make only slow movements and that too in installments, so that I would get enough window to shoot a slow portrait. M obliged, though at some discomfort, given how active and restless as she is! Goofed up the first one by not setting the monochrome mode, but got it right in the second one!

The shot

Though I never expected it to turn out half as good, the result surprised me. There were several challenges to start with. The first problem was the light - it was nearing nine in the evening and there was a lot of stray light all over the place: from sparklers, rockets, blazing flower pots, headlights of passing vehicles and even from the streetlights. Thankfully, managed a moment when all these had taken a break! Next was the background. Though we were at the far end of Nariman Point, just across from NCPA, the glittering lights of the curve of the Queen's Necklace threatened to play spoilsport. Managed to find a spot with M seated on the seawall and me standing on the bench a level below, to get the right angle and have any afterglow of the Queen's Necklace below the range of the lens. Luck played a large part, in not sending any stray rockets to the background. The third and the biggest problem was the shutter speed. Earlier shots in aperture priority resulted in 5 - 10 second exposures, which are impossible without a tripod and certainly a disaster as far as portraits are concerned. Had to set a relatively high ISO (against my liking), at 800, beyond which I believe the noise ruins photographs, particularly those with stark contrasts and dark backgrounds. Set the aperture at 4.5 - alas I don't have a high speed lens and this is the widest I can open up to at even a 35 mm focus and shooting mode to Manual, to prevent the shutter from going off to long exposures. Set the white balance to auto and shutter speed to 1/2 second. I thought I was all set, but given the low light, AF failed to lock in and kept hunting. Had to set the focus to Manual and had trouble getting an exact focus (the 18-55 is not the best of lenses for MF - I'd rather do that with a rangefinder, but the likes of Leica are currently out of my budget range!). That explains the soft focus, which actually is good for portraits! The glow from the sparklers provided sufficient soft lighting and finally hit the shutter release. Was lucky enough that my hands stayed steady for just the required moments and luckier further that the shot turned out decent enough...

If you liked the result, do post your comments. If you didn't, I'd like to hear more about how the shot can be improved, so do post comments!

Mumbai road trip

2011-10-30T13:30:00.001+05:30

For a change, decided NOT to go on a long road trip on a long weekend. Instead, we decided to explore places in Mumbai. And so, on a wet saturday morning, M and I set off, to look up spots in South Mumbai. The first stop was the Church of St John the Evangelist, popularly known as Afghan Church.

Tucked away in a quiet corner of Colaba, close to Navy Nagar, Afghan Church is a Presbyterian Church built to commemorate the dead of the 1838 Afghan War. The imposing spire, rising to a height of 60 mts that was once visible to ships docking in the harbour, is now dwar

fed by high rises all round. Surprisingly, the church itself is in a derelict state, opening only for mass on sunday mornings. Since we went on a saturday, the church was sadly, closed to visitors. There wasn't even a caretaker to be found. The precincts were immacu

lately kept, and the facade was imposing. Since the main entrance was locked, we missed seeing the famed stained glass windows - apparently the largest in India. Will come back on a sunday morning post monsoon and post pics. Pic courtesy here: googlemaps/panoromio

From the Afghan Church, we proceeded to Kala Ghoda, to the Jehangir Art Gallery. There were several solo exhibitions on, mostly abstract paintings. Also on display were sculptures by an artist who works with mixed media: fibreglass, brass and metals, clay etc., I am sure there are people that appreciate modern art, but sadly we were not those. Hence a quick tour and exit, to Samovar Cafe.

Samovar is a quaint cafe attached to the Art Gallery, immortalised in the Basu Chatterjee movie Chhoti si baat, starring Amol Palekar, Vidya Sinha, Ashok Kumar (as the unforgettable Col. Julius Nagendranath Wilfred Singh) and Asrani. An open corridor running down an entire length of the gallery building is cloistered and converted into a narrow cafe, with rows of chairs on either side of the aisle. Since it was early noon, there wasnt much crowd save for a solitary foreign tourist. Sadly, the menu did not feature chicken-a-la-poos, though it did list kheema paratha and dahi vada. The menu had several delights for the maansaahaari, such as mutton samosa, chicken patty etc., We settled for the spicy cheese-veg roll, veg sandwich and the mango lassi. The staff were extremely courteous, efficient and quick, though on a lazy sunday morning, I'd rather they were slow! The ambience was enhanced by the background music - a collection of fusion music titled Chitra, by Venus. The staff even obliged us by getting us the CD cover when we enquired about the album!

From Cafe Samovar, we headed to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, formerly The Prince of Wales Museum (strangely, an internet search turns up a large number of hits for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Sastu Sangrahalaya!) Surprisingly, the museum attracts a large number of visitors, from within and outside Mumbai. The visit began on a high note, munching on slices of kandmool - a juicy tuber supposed to be good for digestion.

The museum authorities permit use of a camera, without flash ofcourse, on payment of a small fee. Unfortunately, we had not carried the camera, hence, no interesting images from the visit. The museum building has an imposing facade: set in the Indo-Saracenic style, the structure draws from Islamic and Deccan styles. The structure itself would be an object of study for architecture enthusiasts.

The teeming crowds actually surprised us - who would expect Mumbaites to turn up at a museum on a sunday, rather than some mall! Anyways, it turned out that most of the visitors were tourists from other cities - Chennai, Kerala, AP, Rajasthan, UP etc., The excitement of the crowds was palpable!
Interestingly, a significant part of the collection is donated by Sir Ratan Tata (son of Jamsetji Tata), his wife Lady Navajbai Tata and brother Sir Dorab Tata. Many artefacts donated by the family are priceless: jade artefacts, antique furniture, jewelry, sculptures - there's something from the family in every section of the museum. In fact, it is surprising that the museum was originally called The Prince of Wales Museum and not The Sir Ratan Tata Museum! Yet another example of the Tata family's selflessness in service of the greater public good.

The audio guides available for Rs 100 give a pretty useful introduction, though we found the explanations for the sculpture section (dominated by mythological themes) fairly basic. The central hall, formed by the cavernous dome, is awe inspiring. The dome itself is inspired by the Gol Gumbaz of Bijapur - probably the largest free standing dome in the world. The ground floor has an eclectic collection of jade figurines, ivory sculptures, jewelry and an entire section devoted to ancient sculptures, that easily took most of our attention and time.

The sculpture section
This houses sculptures from various Indian temple sites as ancient as 200 BC to as recent as 1600 AD. For the mythologically and historically inclined, like us, this is a treasure trove. What it lacks in quantity, it more than makes up in variety. Spending more than an hour browsing the collection, we made a few startling observations. For instance, most of the scupltures of the feminine, be it goddesses or dwarpalikas, upto almost the 15th century, are portrayed with a yagnopaveetam, the sacred thread. Though it is a known fact that the scriptures nowhere prohibit women from chanting the Gayatri or undergoing the thread ceremony, the recentness of the depiction was surprising. A couple of artefacts were wrongly labelled and we did have a good mind to speak to the curataor, but by the time were done with the exhibits, exhaustion overtook us and forgot about it. One of the exhibits that caught our attention was a life size Durga made entirely of dried plantain bark. The featuring and attention to detail was spell binding.
The central hall houses several smaller artefacts and trinkets, of which the jade collection was the best. Carved jade cups so delicate that they are translucent, jade jewelry, carved jade boxes and keepsakes... one can spend the rest of the day gazing at these. There are carvings of ivory and wood, mostly Goan, at this level too, but none can match the breathtaking beauty of the jade word.

The first floor several sections - an extensive collection of Indian miniature paintings, one of the largest collections of Indian coins, and an assortment of arms and armour, various wooden and ivory artefacts.
The collection of miniature paintings is very extensive and showcases the different styles prevalent in various regions of the country. We quickly moved to the coins section. The history of coinage is traced with specimen from each phase. There are coins from the pre-Mauryan period, through the various dynasties across India and right up to the 'Company' issued coins of the 18th and 19th centuries. We were already running short on time and hence couldn't spend enough time here - probably another visit dedicated just to this section.
Exquisitely carved wooden and ivory furniture are placed all over the first level. Most of these feature delicate filigree work as well as inlay work in metal and semi-precious stones. Most are donated by the Sir Ratan Tata family.
The section on European and contemporary art was closed for renovation and was sadly, out of bounds.
It was nearing closing time and we decided to make a dash of the natural history section. Though it was saddening to see magnificent animals killed and stuffed for display, two specimen caught our attention. The first was an Indian rhino, in all its magnificent hulk, standing five feet tall toe to shoulder: never imagined that a rhino could be this huge. The second was a bison that M found immensely handsome and dashing - I had to agree. Though only a display, the bison had the calm commanding look that women swoon for, helped in no small measure by the huge bulk of atleast six foot tall.
It was now officially closing time and the guards started herding the laggards out. We made a quick stop at the museum bookstore and picked up a couple of books on the Indus Valley civilization and ancient Indian coinage.

It was almost six in the evening and we were ravenous, the small Samovar lunch long since digested. Headed to Delhi Durbar for a hearty meal, which turned to be not a great experience. Un-responsive staff, slow service, dysfunctional AC were only a few of the complaints. A quick repast later, we headed back home. Surely, there is more to Mumbai than just her malls and shopping high streets....

Places to eat

2011-10-28T20:31:00.004+05:30

This one is not about fine dining - its about fantastic dining, about places that offer fabulous food in an all value no frills package, dug out from the memories of singleton days.

Crystal - Chowpatty
Topping the list is Crystal - an irani style vegetarian only punjabi restaurant on Chowpatty, on the corner after Wilson College, if you are driving towards Nariman Point. A typical blink-and-you-miss joint, the easiest way to find the place is to simply look for the hordes of office goers and college kids waiting their turn outside the door at lunchtime. Its not uncommon to find investment bankers rub shoulders with college students on adjacent tables. This place is for food and food alone - if you are looking for ambience, even traces of it, this place is not for you. The interiors of the place are dimly lit and a makeshift mezzanine floor gives the restaurant a claustrophobic feel. The chairs are tacky plastic and you will find a bottle of Kissan ketchup and mixed fruit jam in a cupboard above the cashier's desk. The waiters here are courteous and will help you with choosing the dishes if you are a newcomer.
Their aam ras - available during the mango season - is to die for. So is the kheer, which should be had chilled. For the main course, choose from the spread of rotis - they are all fabulous, but if you are particular, go for the aloo paratha and butter roti. Black dal and aloo gobi make for excellent accompaniments. Topping the list is rajma, which is a work of art. A courteous request and the waiter will fetch you a nariyal pani from the vendor next door. A sumptuous meal for two for about Rs 200 - it can't get better than that!

Stadium Restaurant

This is another true irani type restaurant near Churchgate, across the road from Gaylord, in the WIAA building, next to the Vodafone outlet. High ceilinged with irani style wooden chairs and tables, the place also boasts of an internet browsing centre, located above the kitchen! A dour faced cashier oversees several waiters scurrying around, taking orders and serving dishes. The place has some of the best biriyanis available - I will vouch for the vegetarian biriyani and the egg biriyani and my non-veg friends from as far away as Bangalore make it a point to visit this place for the mutton biriyani. The curries are finger lickin' good too - have the egg curry or mutton curry with chapatis. The chapatis are large and five should be good for someone with a voracious appetite. Top off the meal with chai - brewed in true Irani style. Be sure to ask for the regular chai, which is served in cracked porcelain cups and not the special chai, which is served in fancy glass cups, but not as good. A meal for two costs about Rs 150. If you are in the mood, try their 'special dessert' - a serving of custard as well!

Deluxe
This for a change, is not an irani restaurant! It is a malayali restaurant, tucked in a bylane off DN Road, behind the Citibank building. A narrow staircase leads to the restaurant on the first floor, with an exclusive 'family' section with A/C as well! Once you squeeze in behind the tables, the waiters, most of them malayali of course, will toss the menu on the table. If you do not know what to order, you'd better head there for lunch and ask for the thali. The thali is veg, but the restaurant serves delectable mallu non-veg dishes too. The thali, our all time favourite, starts with the pineapple chutney, followed by kachumber, paruppu, vegetables in the south indian style, aviyal, poriyal, red rice (they serve white rice on request, but who'd miss a helping of red rice!), curries, sambhar, rasam, curd, chillies pickled in curd and fried, payasam etc., For a truly authentic mallu lunch experience, don't miss this. And a word of advice - skip breakfast if you want to do justice to the lunch!

New Toy - Samsung Wave II

2011-10-26T19:21:00.000+05:30

The wife always wins! And so it was this time too. A feeble defence in favour of extending the retirement life of the trusty Nokia E63 were quickly overcome and the diktat to immediately identify a replacement was issued.
Turns out picking a mobile is no longer an 'I went, I saw, I bought' task. At the pinnacle of the pecking order rules the very desirable iPhone 4S that sold some 4 mn pieces in the weekend after Steve Jobs' passing away. Several thousand other models follow down the hierarchy, with a lowly 1000 Rs mobile boasting more features than the one I used not less than a couple of years ago.
Listing out the features that I wanted in a mobile didn't help either: basic features such as ability to make calls, sms, address book and set an alarm and 'advanced' features such as conferencing ability and good speaker phone are available even in ones that are certainly not considered piece de' resistance.
In order to narrow down the choices, decided to add multi-touch screen, robust media player and presence of a qwerty keypad. With a triumphant smile, I put these requirements to the salesman, expecting him to dish out exactly what I needed. A few quick questions followed that had me back at square one:
"Android or Symbian or Windows?"
"Looking for great app experience or multi-media experience?"
"LCD or amoLED?"
"Browser preference?"
"Single camera or dual camera?"
That's when I decided to get professional help and do some serious research. Typed "best smartphone for Rs x" in the Google searchbar and did a recce at an electronics store. Had to turn to my faithful Samsung again - apparently I am some sort of Samsung loyalist. Shortlisted Galaxy Ace and Wave II. Online reviews and the helpful salesman recommended Galaxy Ace for a great app experience and Wave II for a great multimedia experience. Having rarely used a mobile for much beyond the basic features, opted for the Wave II.
The ongoing festive season with its share of freebies and discounts was an added bonus. Here's a download on the first few days usage.
What came in the box: the phone, charger, USB cable, headphones, software CD and user manual, pouch.
What didn't come in the box: scratchguard, memory card (added an 8 GB to start with).
The brushed metallic black exterior gives a classy look and feel to the handset. This also prevents the surface from being a fingerprint magnet. Though a cm longer than the E63 and almost as broad and thick(er?) (12.4 cm x 6.0 cm x 1.2 cm), it didn't take much time getting used to.
Though tiny, the external buttons (volume jog, camera, screen lock) are well raised and provide excellent tactile feedback. A lot of thought seems to have gone into the design of this phone: for instance, the combined charging and micro-USB port are protected by a plastic slide-out cover, not the rubber covers that tend to tear soon. Another one: place the phone face down and it automatically goes into a silent mode! It's small things like this that make the phone extremely practical.
The phone itself is a nifty package: has a great 'Super Clear LCD' 9.25 cm touchscreen with a brilliant 480 x 800 display. Colour reproduction is crisp and the contrasts are great. The multi-touch touchscreen is a joy to use.
Voice quality is clear and crisp.
Text input with the 'trace and type' function is a boon for hardcore physical qwerty users with clunky fingers, like me. I expect to quickly surpass my qwerty keypad typing speeds on the trace and type.
Internal memory of 2 GB plus expandable card slot of 32 GB can handle any and all stuff that my 2 year old laptop does. Combine that with great battery life (400 min talk time and 555 hrs standby on 3G), multiple video format support including divx and a great pair of in-ear earphones means those early-morning-late-evening flights no longer have to be spent fidgeting and watching 'Karthik calling Karthik' five times a week.
The 5 megapixel camera was another surprise package. In addition to auto focus and image stabilisation, it has adjustable ISO settings (50 to 800), white balance, 15 scene modes and 6 shooting modes. Now that's giving some competition to my point and shoot!
Well, that's about how much I have used the phone the last couple of days - am sure it's gonna be great.

The world of small things - fun with macro photography

2011-09-11T21:13:00.000+05:30

After attending the Canon basic photography workshop yesterday, was raring to have a go with the camera today. A lazy afternoon, with M away and I was looking for things to photograph. Stepping out was ruled out - didn't want to take that chance on the 10th day of Ganapati, what with visarjan crowds thronging the streets!

It's been four months since I got the camera, though haven't used it much. The last couple of weeks, have been trying to take as many practice shots as possible. Did the same today, though being confined within the house limited the options. That is when I chanced upon a lone apple in the refrigerator.

Photographing it posed several challenges; first, there were different sources of direct and reflected light in the room. Then there was clutter everywhere. Third, I didn't have anything to prop the apple on! Decided to set up a makeshift studio: hung an old dhoti over the window to diffuse the direct sunlight, pulled a black chair and draped another old dhoti to camouflage the black cushion and provide good contrast (red on white). The white cloth would also reflect the light off the flash, thus reducing the effect of harsh shadows. Pulled out the tripod for good effect (currently am making do with SLIK, hope to progress to a Manfrotto someday) and I was set. Got some neat shots of the apple... Increased saturation in the first snap, but decided to leave the other two untouched, for the natural effect...

Love the angle of this shot... The out of focus front half and out of focus background, with the light shining off the side adds to the effect. Increased saturation to bring out the colours...

More experimentation here... have gone against the rule of thirds, splitting the frame into two and dedicating one half each to the subject and the background. The composition turned out interesting results... No post processing here, not even crop.

Repeated the same half-half composition here, with a side view. Though not as dramatic as the previous one, this nevertheless gave an interesting shot.

After the shoot, rewarded myself the apple; the fructose and carbs acted on me and I set out finding other things to shoot. Shot a bottle of coffee powder and honey; the results were not satisfactory - too many reflections from various sources of light - have to get that polarising filter soon.

I was still not done. Picked up a dismantled CD-ROM player and decided to shoot the interesting electronics and small parts. Here are the results:

This is a line up of tiny screws from the player. Notice the one rupee coin on the left side to get an idea of how tiny these are...

Here is a larger blown up view of the first four fellows: the one on the left would not be more than 3 - 4 mm tall.

A couple of views of the circuit board and the mechanism that moves the CD:

The non-cropped view - the CD player in its entirety with the innards exposed. The whole thing is about 4 - 5 inches across.

The circuits and IC's blown up (the little green square in the bottom left corner of the previous image). This bit is only slightly larger than a one rupee coin.

This is the mechanism that moves the 'reader' back and forth. The stub on top is a tiny micro motor, no more than a centimeter in length.

Hope to move outdoors soon, once the rains subside and get more pictures...

Malshej: driving through clouds and rain

2011-09-01T20:35:00.000+05:30

On a whim, decided to head out to Malshej, the popular monsoon destination 140 kms from Mumbai. Knowing that the only place worth staying over is the Flamingoes Resort, run by MTDC that gets booked four months in advance, it had to be a day trip. Holidays are not for waking up early and here we were, starting from home at 10.45 AM, for a 300 km single day round trip (yeah, we are like that only).

The route is pretty simple: head out of Mumbai via Thane toll naka, take NH-3 (Mumbai-Nasik highway), turn right towards Kalyan at Chokhi Dhani, cross Kalyan, Ulhasnagar, Shahad on NH 222 and head all the way to Malshej. That's what Google maps said and we religiously followed the route. NH-3 was a breeze, though the traffic snarl-up on the other side gave us an idea of what we would encounter on the way back. Crossed Chokhi Dhani in a flash and then the traffic nightmare started. A broken down dumpster on the other side reduced the already narrow NH222 to a single-lane road. 'This is only for a short stretch, the road will open up in no time' we convinced ourselves. Surely, it did, only to lead to an even more congested stretch across the bi-lane Kalyan rail overbridge. We compounded the delay by taking a wrong turn that landed us smack in the heart of congested Kalyan town, along Agra Road. Realising the mistake quickly, we asked around for Malshej and were directed to a narrow lane and told to 'strictly' take a turn at Vallabh Tower. The six storey Vallabh 'Tower' led to the highway NH 222 towards Malshej. We had spent over an hour and half and barely covered 45 kms - another 100 to go. The flyover before Shahad was more of a cross country track, making me want to drive a 4x4. Such thoughts were immediately dismissed as we hit yet another jam in front of Century Colony at Shahad. We decided to turn back if we hit another bad traffic spot. Thankfully, the road opened up thereafter and we were finally on the way to Malshej. Only worrying footnote: 2 hours down and only 51 kms crossed.

The road after Shahad is pretty good, save for the occasional pothole. Rolled down the windows to the thin drizzle and the cool breeze - we could only imagine how Malshej would be.

Road below: silver ribbon through green tapestry

The ghat road

As they say, the path to heaven is not easy. So was it with Malshej. About 27 kms before Malshej Ghat, the road turns really nasty - this is only for those with a stout heart and a stouter suspension. The alert driver usually manages to navigate the sea of potholes without accident; we saw atleast three broken down cars being towed. Signboards with phone nos of tow services are pasted in many places, to help the stranded drivers. At places the potholes are so bad, one has to search for even a square inch of tarmac. This bad stretch is about 17 kms long and has to be tackled at crawl speeds. Alas, this only meant more delay.

Can you count the number of waterfalls?

After what seemed an eternity, we finally hit the ghat road (and with that the bad road stretch ended too). This has to count among the most scenic drives - lush greenery all around, innumerable waterfalls dotting the mountainside...

Mesmerising falls...

In fact there are waterfalls gushing by the roadside - so close that we could reach out and touch them! The ghat road was full of waterfalls which were in turn full of picknickers frolicking in the water!

One of the many falls by the roadside...

Picknicers at a waterfall

There are even spots where you actually drive through water falls - there was this spot where the water descended in torrents onto the road from an overhanging ledge above, creating a curtain of water to drive through! Ofcourse, we drove through it windows rolled down!

Driving through the waterfall: it's
actually water on the windscreen!

Waterfall on the road!

Valley bathed in golden glow

The entire drive through the ghats is scenic: there were moments when the clouds parted to bathe the valley below in golden sunshine. The effect was breathtaking.

After a drive that melted away the stress of driving potholed roads, we reached the Flamingoes Resort, run by MTDC. As we drove, we had decided to look for a place to stay, so that we could enjoy the place more, but one look at the crowds milling at the Resort and we knew we'd have to return the same day. Nevertheless, we decided to try. The grumpy gentleman at the booking desk informed us curtly, 'kamra nai'. It was past 2.30 and we were starving - headed to the restaurant at the resort for lunch.

For a moment, we thought we were underneath a water fall again - make no mistake, the restaurant is a covered one! Buckets of water seeping through the concrete roof were the culprit! The restaurant was crowded with noisy tourists and the lone waiter was struggling to keep pace. We managed to catch his eye and ordered a simple fare of dal, rice and aloo: food that we consider 'safe' in most places. When our order arrived, we realised this was going to be an exception: the aloo was stale, dal not properly done and rice doused in cooking soda. Inspite of being ravenous, we only managed to finish half a portion. This has to count as the worst restaurant of all our travels.

Driving through the clouds: approach to the MTDC resort!

Glad we didn't have to stay back at a place like this, we decided to explore the place: figured we had about an hour. The resort sits atop a small plateau, at the edge of a cliff looking into the valley. The place is mesmerising. Tall cliffs rise to touch the clouds all around and as we watched a thick cloud engulfed the whole place, including us, reducing visibility to barely a few metres! We were literally 'walking in the clouds!' Not to waste the opportunity M and I let loose our cameras - there were several photo-worthy landscapes begging to be shot!

If there is heaven, this will qualify!

The hour that we had slotted to spend here quickly merged into the next and before long, it was time to turn back. Promising to return soon, we headed back.

Views of the valley

Bypass from Murbad

After negotiating the bad 17 km stretch, we decided to try a different route: cross over to Shahpur on NH 3, instead of driving through what would certainly be a Shahad-Ulhasnagar-Kalyan teeming with the faithful breaking fast on the last day of Ramadan and the mandals bringing home the Ganapati's. There are two options for this: one is to turn right at Saralgaon junction and the second is to turn right at Murbad. Helpful locals advised us to take the latter, a route preferable to even the NH 222. We did that and were welcomed by a relatively smooth stretch of tarmac. Though the last few kilometers of this road is pretty bad, it was still better than having to weave through Kalyan traffic.

Views of the setting sun

We were even rewarded for our efforts with fantatic views of a small river that we drove over: the sight of the setting sun glistening off the ripples was a fitting finale to the trip. Driving 300 kms for 10 hours just to spend a couple of magical moments in the Malshej clouds - was it worth it? You bet!

Here are some photos of this captivating place...

Clouds take over

Breathtaking views

Shrouded in clouds

Pondering moment...

Walking into the clouds...

Photo credits: Meenal Dutia, Ram Sharaph

Back to blogspot

2011-08-11T19:04:00.000+05:30

After a lull of an year and a half, am back to blogging. Much happened during my absence: Google+ threatens the supremacy of FB, US of A is humbled by a rating agency, Sensex tanked, Team India won many cricket tournaments and lost several, Salman made a resounding comeback with Dabangg and Ready, inflation in office commute cost is > increase in earnings, a friend ran the 250 km 4 Desert Race (Atacama), I swam 250 mts in the pool, graduated from point and shoot to DSLR, moved jobs...

Will be back with more details on all this and more, watch this space!

Sir, is there a problem sir?

2010-04-25T08:39:00.000+05:30

A flyer for Pizza Caprina, a home delivery pizzeria drifted in with the morning's newspaper. Since the quality of pizzas at the more popular joints is steadily declining, we decided to give it a shot. After all, it can't be much worse than D or P, we thought. We called in our order and 35 minutes later, a puffing and panting delivery boy handed in our order.

The pizza, and the garlic bread turned out to be a surprise package. The garlic bread was fresh, and did not require appetising by a dip. The pizza was even better. Excellent base, well done with sauces and cheese that did not require a leather cutter and generously sprinkled with toppings. We enjoyed the pizza so much that we decided to call back and pay them a compliment. What unfolded was unbelievable.

Tring... tring...
Hello, Pizza Caprina?
Good evening, Pizza Caprina, may I help you sir?
Hi, yes, about an hour ago, I ordered a pizza and...
Sir, can you give me your name sir?
Yes, my name is Raman, but...
Sir, the pizza is on its way sir, it will be delivered in five minutes. Sorry for the delay.
But my friend, the pizza has already arrived and we have eaten it and wha...
Some problem sir?
Arre, I am calling to say that the pizza was excellent, it was really good.
Sir, what is the problem sir?
Boss, में यह बोल रहा हूँ के pizza बहुत अच्चा था, इतना अच्चा pizza अरसे में नहीं खाया. बहुत मज़ा आगया.
नहीं sir, ज़रूर कुछ problem होगा.
नहीं यार, में हमेशा Dominos और Pizza Hut से pizza खाता था, लेकिन आपका pizza तो ज़बरदस्त था. It was fabulous.
Sir, I will speak to manager and call you back.
Click!

Guy probably thought I was being sarcastic or was a prankster. Probably no one's ever called back to compliment a good pizza. Shows how unappreciative we have become.

Odd foods - kharwas

2009-11-05T10:31:00.000+05:30

Been wanting to do this series for quite sometime now. So heres the first of the series - kharwas (the marathi name for this mildly sweet snack), also known as 'ginnu' in kannada.
For the uninitiated, ginnu is made from the milk of a cow that has given birth to a calf recently (within a week, the closer it is to 'calf birth', the better). Animal rights activists rest assured, the calf first has its fill and only the excess is used.
This milk, which is extra thick and full of nutrients is boiled with gur (jaggery) or sugar (jaggery version is better) and let to cool, and thicken. After cooling, it gains the consistency of jelly and is eaten as a snack/sweeet.
Available at the Aarey store in Aarey Colony, this mildly sweet sweet brought back memories of childhood when mom used to prepare it, getting the necessary milk from any of the many tabelas that existed (then) in cosmopolitan Mumbai.
Yummmmm!!!

We, the people

2009-11-04T20:12:00.001+05:30

The captioned event that yours truly witnessed, took place in that microcosm of life, the Mumbai local train. It was late evening and the train was fairly sparse. People were all lost in their own thoughts, ruminating over the day's events, when all of a sudden, this middle aged gentleman starts playing blaring music on his mobile. The numbers that the contraption belted out were jarring, to say the least. The eight odd passengers in the immediate vicinity, were visibly annoyed. To my great surprise, not one, I repeat not one person told the guy to pipe down. Even the chaps sitting next to him made faces, but did not utter a word. After watching this drama for a few minutes, I tapped the guy and told him to use his headphones. Evidently, the guy was oblivious to the nuisance that he was causing, apologised and switched to earphones. Half a dozen faces looked at me with a mute thanks. All it would have taken was for one person to speak up than suffer silently.
We, the people. We Are we like this only?

Kempaadavo yella kempaadavu

2009-09-10T21:55:00.000+05:30

An amazing song from a Suresh Heblikar movie, with Lokesh in the lead. I think the movie was ಅಪರಚಿತ (Aparachita meaning stranger). Fabulous lyrics... the last paragraph is simply phenomenal. The lyrics in kannada (you can't beat the original) followed by the english translation... The song describes the sunset...
ಕೆಂಪಾದವೋ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಕೆಂಪಾದವು
ಕೆಂಪಾದವೋ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಕೆಂಪಾದವು
ಹಸುರಿದ್ದ ಗಿಡ ಮರ ಬೆಳ್ಳಗಿದ್ದ ಹೂ ಎಲ್ಲ ನೆತ್ತಾರ ಕುಡಿಧ್ಹಂಗೆ ಕೆಂಪಾದವು
ಕೆಂಪಾದವೋ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಕೆಂಪಾದವು
ಹಸುರಿದ್ದ ಗಿಡ ಮರ ಬೆಳ್ಳಗಿದ್ದ ಹೂ ಎಲ್ಲ ನೆತ್ತಾರ ಕುಡಿಧ್ಹಂಗೆ ಕೆಂಪಾದವು
ಹುಲ್ಲು ಬಲ್ಲಿಗಳೆಲ್ಲ ಕೆಂಪಾದವು ಊರು ಕಂದಮ್ಮಗಳು ಕೆಂಪಾದವು
ಹುಲ್ಲು ಬಲ್ಲಿಗಳೆಲ್ಲ ಕೆಂಪಾದವು ಊರು ಕಂದಮ್ಮಗಳು ಕೆಂಪಾದವು
ಜೊತೆ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ನಡೆದಾಗ ನೀಲ್ಯಾಗಿ ನಲಿದಂಥ
ಕಾಯುತ್ತ ಕುಂತಾಗ ಕಪ್ಪಾಗಿ ಕವಿದಂಥ
ನುಡಿ ನುಡಿದು ಹೋದಾಗ ಪಚ್ಚಯ ತೆನೆಯಂಥ
ಭೂಮಿಯು ಎಲ್ಲಾನು ಕೆಂಪಾದವು
ನನಗಾಗ ಕೆಂಪಾದವು
ಜೊತೆ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ನಡೆದಾಗ ನೀಲ್ಯಾಗಿ ನಲಿದಂಥ
ಕಾಯುತ್ತ ಕುಂತಾಗ ಕಪ್ಪಾಗಿ ಕವಿದಂಥ
ನುಡಿ ನುಡಿದು ಹೋದಾಗ ಪಚ್ಚಯ ತೆನೆಯಂಥ
ಭೂಮಿಯು ಎಲ್ಲಾನು ಕೆಂಪಾದವು
ನನಗಾಗ ಕೆಂಪಾದವು
ಕೆಂಪಾದವೋ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಕೆಂಪಾದವು
ಕೆಂಪಾದವೋ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಕೆಂಪಾದವು
The translation with a few literary liberties...
Its red, its all red
Its red, its all red
Green shoots, creepers leaves
An’ the white blossoms
Av’ all burnished red, blood they’v drunk such red
Its red, its all red
Green shoots, creepers leaves
An’ the white blossoms
Av’ all burnished red, blood they’v drunk such red

Be’dewed blades an’ the crawlin’ creepers
Av’ all turned red, a burnished red
Frolickin’ babes nigh a malaise
Av’ too turned red, a burnished red

Tha blue sky like the ecstasy o’ my heart with your arms in mine
Dark heavy clouds like my dark moods of loneliness waiting for thine
Green of the earth heavy with harvest, chirpy as your laughter shine
Av’ all turned red, a burnished red
Av’ all turned red, a burnished red

With apologies to the author of the original, for the poor translation

Istanbul

2009-08-18T22:04:00.000+05:30

Never imagined that Turkey would be so awesome. Had heard accounts of the place from friends who had been there earlier, but nothing prepared me for what I was about to experience.
A narrow strip of land connects the Asian side of the city and the European side, with the Bosphorous Bay cutting through the middle of the city. The Bosphorous connects the Sea of Marmara (which in turn leads to the Mediterrenean) on one side and the Black Sea on the other. The blue of the Mediterrenean has to be seen to be believed. A pleasant 24 degrees C, we were told by our hosts that most of the populace had left for Antalya, a resort town by the seaside, to escape the summer heat! Our reaction was 'Heat? What heat!'
In Istanbul, the sky is clear and the air, crisp and invigorating. It reminded me of the Bangalore of the early 80's. Alas! There are very few high rises - most of the structures were not more than four stories tall and topped with red tiled roofs. The effect was awesome. There are signs of growth as well: the tallest building in Turkey (and the second tallest in Europe) was nearing completion, next door to our hotel. To add to the attraction of the place, our hosts were extremely gracious and hospitable. We are told this is true of Turkish people in general. The presence of our hosts saved us the trouble of having to survive on fries and bread. I was recommended various vegetarian delicacies: Black Sea omelette (a cheesy preparation of farm eggs and corn flour), veg mintas (fried dumplings with spinach, cheese and potato filling, though the dish in its original form has meat filling), egg plant salad (a less spicy version of our very own baingan bartha), pilav (buttered rice) with channa curry and bean curry (I forget the local names) etc.,
We were also taken by the surprising similarity between the Turkish language and hindi: pilav for buttered rice (our own pulav!), helva for halva, kofta, kebab, patata (for batata), dunya for duniya, sada for plain, hava etc., The place is full of roadside eateries, pavement cafes etc., We had our fill in some of these too: thick chewy Turkish ice cream, rolls, corn on the cob (mind boggling and a must have) etc.,
Unfortunately, since we had gone on work, there was little time to look around. Selim, one of our hosts went out of his way to host us: we drove around the walls of the old city, Hagia Sofiya (a medieval cathedral converted into a mosque), Sultanahmet Mosque (famously known as the Blue Mosque), Dolmabache Palace (the residence of Ataturk, father of modern Turkey). We also explored the place by travelling on local city buses, trams, metro etc., Ortakoy (a must visit for great night life) and Taksim Square / Istiklal Caddesi (for late European architecture, shopping) were some of the places that we visited.
With a long history and deep rooted culture, we found Istanbul to be an eclectic mix of the modern and the ancient: it is common to find a scarf covered woman wearing jeans.
All in all, a fantastic place: am surely going back for a vacation.

In love with Parbati...

2009-05-25T19:24:00.000+05:30

Four of the five rivers from which Punjab derives its name flow through Himachal Pradesh. Of these, the Beas (pronounced ‘Byas’ locally) flows through the Valley of the Gods. The Beas has several tributaries and the Parbati is one of the more important ones. Fed by glacial snow from the Pin Parbati glacier, the waters of the Parbati are cool, clear with a greenish tinge from mineral deposits high up. How water so clean and clear could have such a greenish tinge was a mystery to us. It was not the murky green of the rivers of the plains, nor was it the green of the sea at Chowpatty. This green was different, a glassy green that flows with a gushing force, a personality of its own.
Our destination Manikaran is an important religious spot on the banks of the Parbati, about 30 – 35 kms from Manali, high up in the mountains. Rich in religious lore, the place, visited by Guru Nanak, has an important gurudwara as well as an ancient Shiva temple. The gurudwara is well maintained, with attached lodging for pilgrims. The langar of the gurudwara serves meals to all pilgrims. The food at the langar was among the best we tasted during the entire trip. There is also an ancient temple of Shiva adjacent to the gurudwara. The langar serves food to an endless stream of pilgrims, without any break in service. We were wonderstruck at the efficiency of the kitchen that could feed with such speed… until we saw the kitchen. The kitchen, is actually the hot spring adjacent to the gurudwara! At more than 90 degrees C, these bubbling springs are hot enough to cook rice and vegetables! Huge brass and copper pots with upto 10 kg of rice are immersed in the hot spring and in 20 minutes flat, the rice is cooked, ready to eat! We were witness to a batch of cooked rice removed from this amazing kitchen. See it to believe it…

Until the earthquake of 1905, the spring used to shoot up to a height of several feet, but now, is just a bubbling spring at ground level. The underwater channels are so hot that the boulders nearby turn hot to the touch!
After a sumptuous lunch at the langar, we headed back to Manali. The drive back has much signs of progress and civilisation: several hydro power projects dot the scene. At some places, the road was almost at the waters edge. We stopped to take in the enchanting scenery: the crystal clear of the Parbati, the gushing over rocks and boulders, conifer forests on either bank, the tall peaks in the background… I could sit here in quiet solitude forever…
The water of the Parbati is crystal clear with a visible greenish tinge, from mineral deposits high up. The water is clean, cool (cold!) with an energy of its own.
Inevitably, we fell in love with the Parbati and got into the water. Had it not been for our impatient driver, we would have spent more than the two – three hours that we did at the bank of the Parbati!

Valley of the Gods

2009-05-21T20:34:00.000+05:30

Rightfully has Himachal been described as the Valley of the Gods. The clean air, the clear waters, the breathtaking views of snow capped peaks... Truly, this is paradise on earth. After spending a day in Chandigarh, we proceeded to our destination, Manali. Armed with bagfuls of warm clothing (compared with the 40 plus of Mumbai, anything southwards of 30 degrees warrants a sweater), we undertook the overnight trip to the place of Manu.

Manali in the morning was cold (10 degrees I suppose) though our driver complained that it hadn't snowed in town this year and the resort, which is a few kilometers away from town did not receive the usual three feet of snowfall! Three feet? Gosh! For someone who hasn't ever seen snow, even one inch will make my day! Set away from the bustle of Manali town (thankfully!), our resort, Sarthak Resorts, is perched IN the Beas valley. Though basic, the lodgings were cosy and comfortable. The best part was the view from the balcony... the private balcony opened up into the vally, with a commanding view of apple orchards (foreground, not yet in bloom), the Beas river and the Pir Panjal range. I could sit here watching the mountains all day!

Treated to hot and tasty aloo parathas, pooris and aloo bhaji by the very hospitable Narender, we headed to explore the countryside on foot. There is not really much in Manali for the sightseeing tourist: there is Jagatsukh - an ancient temple of Lord Shiva believed to be worshipped by the Pandavas, Arjun Gufa - where Arjun meditated upon Lord Shiva and obtained the Pashupatastra, though the place is now buried deep under a landslide, Nehru Kund - a natural spring from which Nehru drank water, though this place was destroyed by a landslide a few years ago. Then there is Vashisht Kund (not buried under any landslide) and Manu Temple (it is believed that at the end of Pralay, Manu first disembarked at this place, hence the name Manali). There is also the Manali market where traders will pester you with deals for Chingu and Chamanga. More about Chingu and Chamanga is a different post. The market is quaint, selling dry fruits, warm clothing, souvenirs, trinkets and other touristy stuff.

There is also the Hadimba Mandir, the place where Hadimba, Bhim's wife dwelled. The gargantuan deodhars led us to believe that giants did live here in the hazy past. At well nearly 150 feet, these conifers lorded over everything else. For the local outing, we tried all modes of transport: walking, local bus (that was swell, with one old gent remembering his son after looking at me!), hired motorcycle (believe me, all my biking skills were put to test), paddle boat, and even a yak!

We spent one day in the snow (though we had to drive for over an hour to reach the spot that had enough snow to frolic in), guided by the affable Pinkah and concerned Rudra. We spent so many hours in the snow that Pinkah, our driver, thought we had fallen off into a chasm and came looking for us! The sheer excitement of the place (and some well intentioned thermals) numbed us to the sub-zero temperatures. Our local guide Rudra turned out to be a brilliant photographer in his own right. A few masterpieces he clicked: M pasting me with a snowball and me ducking another...
We had a swell time, skiing (falling all over more than skiing), sliding in the snow, throwing snowballs at each other. In the process, we managed to get snow inside the gumboots and gloves and by mid afternoon, we were freezing. An enterprising local (god bless his soul), was selling hot Maggi noodles and tea. Though overpriced (Rs 40 for a pack), they were a life saver. It had started snowing and with snow in our boots, we were freezing. The temperature was cold enough to freeze water in a bowl and we had to drink tea straight off the kettle (no kidding!) to get the life back in our limbs!

That was one fun day! We also had days cooped up in the room, due to pouring rain and a day spent in the company of Parbati - M and I fell in love with her... More about that later!

You are only Bala, no?

2009-04-15T19:33:00.000+05:30

Some phone conversations are memorable. Several years ago, I was part of one such conversation on my mobile. The time: sometime between late night and early morning. The location: a friend’s place, partying. The person on the other side of the line: a young lady with a shrill voice and a strong kannada/tamil accent. Here goes…
My phone rings.
Ding! Ding!
Me: Hello?
Lady: Hello?
Me: Hello? Yes?
Lady: Hello? Bala speaking?
Me: Sorry ma’am, you got the wrong number.
Lady: Hello? I want to speak to Bala?
Me: Sorry ma’am, I am not Bala.
Lady: You are not Bala?
Me: No ma’am.
Lady (every word drawn and stretched, the way only women can): Heyyyy, you aaar only Bala. I know you are Bala.
Me: No ma’am, I am not Bala.
Lady (petulantly): I know you are Bala. You always fool me like this only.
Me: No ma’am, I am telling you I am not Bala.
Lady: Ai, you are only Bala, no?
Me: Well ma’am, I am not Bala, but if you still insist, I have no problem speaking to you.
Click!
Some phone call that!

Smell the roses

2009-04-02T19:06:00.000+05:30

We took off on a longish vacation last week. The destination was a small town off Manali. Enroute, we had a day in Chandigarh and we took in the sights and sounds of Corbusier's very well planned and well laid out city. The best part of the day was the visit to the Rose Garden. We reached the place late evening, immediately after a light drizzle just as the sun was beginning to set and were immediately captivated. Acres of well manicured gardens, swathed in green and dotted by thousands of roses in vibrant hues... A picture is worth a thousand words... here are a few of my favourites... Other than blowing up and cropping the edges, the images have not been touched up / photoshopped in any manner.This one is my favourite... just look at the intricate folds...
Another favourite... the hues are mindboggling...
Magical... Wish I had a pro camera with a better macro lens...
I want to blow this up into a 4 x 5 and put it up in the drawing room...
The effect of sunlight streaming through the 'water lens' is captivating...
Need I say anything...
Vibrant...
I just love the effect that a black and white snap gives... unfortunately, there isn't a good photo lab that develops b&w negatives on silver paper...

Mumbai

2008-12-14T21:37:00.000+05:30

I have taken trains to and from CST everyday, for more than an year.
I have had business meetings in every restaurant, meeting room and even the lobbies of the Oberoi and the Trident.
I have been to several luncheons, parties and conferences at the Taj.
I have also been lucky that none of those days was 26 November 2008.
I have anger at what happened. But that anger has not led to action. Instead, the needs of daily life, the struggle for survival, the mortgage, the deposits into the pension fund, worries about inflation et al have taken over. That is my shame.
I will not rave and rant against the system, the politicians, the bureaucrats etc., who were in a position of power to do something about it. I will not, for I have done nothing about it. I could have applied for ICS, I could have contested the local elections (panchayat at least?). But I did not. I have therefore, no right to sit in my comfortable armchair and demand ten things from the Government. But there is one thing that I will do. I will vote in the elections.

Krazy @ Karnala

2008-09-29T20:51:00.000+05:30

After a tumultuous week (the Big 4 investment banks biting the dust), M and I decided to cool it off by taking off on a short ride, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. And so, some last minute planning later, we decided to head to Karnala, about 60 kms from the city. Karnala is a bird sanctuary with a fort on top and trekking trails thrown in for good measure. We closed the planning on Friday evening, resolving to wake up early and hit the asphalt before eight. A great deal of self motivation and we were on the road by ten. Some packed lunch, emergency rations and we were set.

Or so we thought. A wrong turn, as many as three massive traffic holdups and multiple diversions later, we were finally on the track to Karnala, albeit delayed by an hour. The moment we entered Karnala, the climate changed drastically, the temperature dropping by a couple of degrees. Encouraged, we decided to explore the place first and lunch later. Some fooling around revealed that there was a 3 km trek to the fort, at the base of the famous ‘thumbs up’ of Karnala. We decided to trek and eat the packed lunch at the top. After all, a 3 km trek shouldn’t take longer than an hour, right? Wrong! We underestimated the difficulty of the trek. After the first 200 metres, we knew we had made a mistake. Not one to give up, we egged on. Much of the stretch was a steep ascent over rocks and boulders that were no doubt sparkling streams during the monsoon. We had covered barely a kilometre in the first half hour.

The first stroke of encouragement came shortly thereafter, in the form of a kind fellow trekker, on his way back. ‘You got another hour and a quarter more’, he informed us. That should have been enough to discourage us – we had endured an hour of the torture and were in no shape to go through another excruciating hour – considering we had to return by the same route! ‘Your footwear is adequate and at this pace, you will do it in about an hour and a quarter, with a minute or two break every 15 minutes. The view from the top is worth it. Do it!” We had already covered half the distance and it only took as much to cover the rest as it did to turn back and reach base. Convincing ourselves thus, we marched on. Thankfully, we rationed water and soft drink, so that we would have enough for the return trip. The trek only got tougher thereafter. There were straight and level patches, but these were interspersed with steep climbs, strewn with boulders. At several places, we had to climb near vertical stretches. There were also insect bites to contend with. After about an hour, we made it to the base of the fort. We stopped for a quick snack break and realised that anything more than a light bite and we would not be able to walk. And so, we limited ourselves to some juicy (and really sour) mosambis and apples. That was a godsend – we were recharged and more importantly, rehydrated. We decided to give the final stretch one last push and clambered up the fort. This was thrilling – some places, the path was as narrow as two feet, with the fort wall on one side and a vertical drop on the other. Maybe because we were too exhausted, the view was not as exhilarating as we expected it to be. After a short five minute break at the top, we decided to head back. It was already past four and we had to be back at base before dark.

The descent proved to be more physically challenging than the ascent. Though not as exhausting, the physical strain of the climb turned our joints to jelly and progress was slow. After several stops to regain our balance, we finally reached base, exhausted, thirsty and hungry. We had also exhausted the stock of water. By some stroke to luck, the dhaba at the base was just closing for the day and we were able to re-stock on water and juices. We devoured the packed lunch like we hadn’t eaten in ages. A brief respite later, we were back on the road, heading home. Luck was on our side – there were no traffic jams to hinder us and we made it in about two hours.
Looking back, the trip as such was not great. However, overcoming the intense fatigue was a personal victory: at two junctures, we almost decided to give it up and turn back. Had we given in, the guilt of defeat would have forever rankled. After reaching the top, I silently rewarded myself two small pats on the back.
PS: I don’t think the trek itself is too difficult: on our way, we encountered several women in sarees and salwars, struggling though they were, make it to the top. The combined exhaustion of riding through three hours of traffic and pollution, lack of fitness and an abrupt, physically intense trek was what made it difficult. Nevertheless, for future trekkers, I suggest that you start the trek early and carry enough fluids – two litres per person and high energy snacks. Oh, and yes, exercise regularly and stay in shape!

The Konkan coast

2008-09-26T19:25:00.000+05:30

I have fallen in love with the Konkan coast of Maharashtra. Here have I walked on some of the best beaches. Beaches elsewhere pale in comparison: the world famous beaches of Bali, even the Nusa Dua beach resort, rated the best in the region by Conde Nast, pale in comparison to the pristine Anjarle, calm Kashid, furious Ganapatipule, serene Revadanda, majestic Murud... the list is endless. It seems God in his playful mood hop skipped and jumped along the Konkan coast, pulled out of the bowels of earth by Parashurama's mighty axe, creating paradise at each step that fell on the ground. Looking forward to the next beach on the trail...

Dvaita Advaita reconciled

2008-09-25T05:36:00.000+05:30

This some reference to the earlier post The Whole and the Part. As in the earlier piece, consider an apple. Now, cut a small slice from the apple. What do we now have? We have the big apple from which the smaller slice was cut out. Is it apple? Yes. We also have the small slice that we cut off. What is it? It is also apple! So, the smaller piece that also has the essence of the apple is also apple. Thats Advaita. Now, look at it from a different angle. How many entities do we have now? Two. The bigger apple is distinct and separate from the smaller slice, there is no refuting that. Thats Dvaita. Essentially, Advaita and Dvaita and two different ways of looking at the same thing. There is no conflict at all. Wonder what all that brouhaha over the ages was about.

1258

2008-09-24T16:52:00.000+05:30

1258. That’s the number of days that I have spent in Mumbai, in the current stint. What an eventful period this has been! New jobs, finding domestic bliss, beginning to ‘settle down’… The three and half odd years have not been without the fair share of thrills either. Floods, bomb blasts, riots, curfew (lived through it)… been there done it! The adventures have been several: jumping off a marooned local train in the middle of nowhere and wading through waist deep water, living through a curfew for four days (I was saved by the magnanimity of my kind landlady, who ensured that I got a regular supply of meals), riots replete with firing outside my apartment block, bomb blasts…
What a journey it has been, from the day I set foot at Chhatrapati Shivaji Domestic Terminal, with two bags of luggage! I remember walking along Marine Drive one of those early days, flinching at the unmistakable stench emanating from the sea. Not surprising, considering the waste of over twenty million and more humans pours into it! And yet, not more than a year later, I remember walking along the same path, enjoying the cool breeze blowing over the sea. That particular moment, I did not feel a stranger in the city any longer.

On the mythological trail

2008-06-25T19:34:00.000+05:30

This seems to be a period of epics. First it was Krishnavatara by K.M.Munshi. Then it was Prince of Ayodhya by Ashok Banker (volume 1 of the Ramayana). This was followed by Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (the Mahabharatha as narrated by Draupadi) and now, I am onto Parva by S.L. Bhyrappa (the Mahabharatha told in the words and thoughts of the various characters, such as Bhima, Kunti, Draupadi etc.,). What will it be next - Mrityunjaya by Shivaji Sawant (Karna's Mahabharatha)? Or will it be Kisari Mohan Ganguli's translation of the Mahabharatha? Whatever it is, I can't wait to finish Parva - Bhyrappa's narrative is gripping and the depths he delves into the hearts of the characters is unmatched. Also, there is the added joy of reading a book in ಕನ್ನಡ - ನನ್ನ ಭಾಷೆ ಕನ್ನಡ - after many many years.

Krishnavatara

2008-04-09T09:31:00.000+05:30

Until I met M, I had considered my knowledge of our mythology to be pretty good. Thats when I was introduced to Krishnavatara, an eight volume compendium of the life of Krishna by Kanhaiyalal Maniklal Munshi, popularly known as Kulapati, the founder of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and one of the architects of our constitution.
Te book itself is a beauty. Simple in style and language, Munshi de-mystifies Krishna the God and presents the miracle worker in an almost human form. In a split second, Krishna becomes one of us, humans, bringing him that much closer, that much more accessible.
Consider this: the working of Krishna's divine weapon, the Sudarshana Chakra, is laid out to be a cleverly forged discus, that operates much on the same principle as a boomerang does: it flies out, hits the target, and returns to the thrower. Its sharp, serrated edges added to the lethal impact! Munshi goes on to explain that Krishna was such an expert at using it that with just one flick of the forefinger, he could whirl it and throw at the intended target with absolute accuracy. And it never failed to return to his forefinger!
The work is also a masterpiece in that it lays out the elaborate plot of the Mahabharata in a simpler fashion: it is now far simpler to look through the machinations and motives of the various key characters. The skill of Krishna as a master strategist who foresaw every situation and event as a result of his logical judgement and pre-empted them with political acumen that would put present day politicians to shame is excellently prtrayed.
There is a certain degree of divergence from other popular versions of the Mahabharata; however, I guess it is a matter of individual judgement and . Having not studied Vyasa's original, I am in no position to comment on that.
The series is however commendable in the way it puts the story of Krishna, why, Krishna himself, within the reach of the commonest of people. You don't need to be a learned scholar to understand Him here.
Munshi intended to write the story of Krishna upto the point when He reveals Himself in all His Cosmic Vishwarupa glory; however, he passed away while the eighth volume was still in progress - the story had not even reached the game of dice that the Pandavas and Kauravas played. Who knows, what other mysteries Munshi would have unravelled in those unwritten volumes!
The seven series volume (the publishers decided to add the unfinished eighth volume as an appendix to the seventh) is available at all Bhavan's book stores (that's how the bookstores of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan are popularly known) and are very economically priced. There is a Bhavan's book store in Mumbai near Chowpatty, in the lane that runs adjacent to Wilson College. The shop assistant here is a fabulous guy and will guide you to the book you want - he knows all the books stocked there, and probably a synopsis of each, by heart!

ಸಿರಿಗನ್ನಡಂಗೆಲ್ಗೆ

2008-04-08T21:39:00.000+05:30

ನಮ್ಮ ಊರು ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು, ಹೊಯ್, ಆನಂದದ ತವರೂರು... ಹೊಯ್ ಹೊಯ್ ಹೊಯ್ ಹೊಯ್!
ಸುಮ್ಮನೆ ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಬರೆಯುವ ಹಂಬಲ, ಏನು ಮಾಡಲಿ, ನಾಲ್ಕು ವರ್ಷಗಳಿಂದ ನಮ್ಮ ಭಾಷೆಯನ್ನೂ ಓದಿಲ್ಲ, ಬರೆದನ್ತು ಹಲವರು ವರ್ಷಗಳೇ ಕಳೆದಿವೆ! ಎಂಥ ಆನಂದ, ಎಂಥ ಆನಂದ! ಕನ್ನಡ ಭಾಷೆಯ ಲಿಪಿ ಎಷ್ಟು ಸುಂದರ! ನೋಡಿದರೆ, ನೋಡುತ್ತಲೇ ಇರೋಣವೆನಿಸುತ್ತದೆ! ಇಂದು ಆನಂದ ನಾ ತಾಳಲಾರೆ.

Death of an icon

2008-04-08T20:14:00.000+05:30

Charlton Heston, better known for his portrayal of Moses in the movie The Ten Commandments and Judea Ben Hur in Ben Hur passed away, at the age of 84. Endowed with an Adonis like face and a deep rumbling baritone, Heston seemed made-to-order for larger than life mythological roles.
My earliest memory of Heston is of Moses in The Ten Commandments. Such was his screen presence that even today, many many moons after I first saw the movie, the mention of Moses evokes the face of Charlton Heston. Though personally, I believe he did a better job (of acting) in Ben Hur. Another memorable movie is The Planet of the Apes, in which he essays the role of Taylor, a spacecarft-wrecked astronaut who crashlands on earth in the distant future to find that apes are the dominant species and humans, primitive and mute. "Take your stinking paws off me, you damn ape" - a line delivered by Heston to the shock of a couple of ape scientists, is immortalised in movie lore, and memory. Heston has such a towering presence in the movie that a 2001 re-make faded in comparison, and in the box office too.
Active till the very end, Heston appeared in several cameo roles and lent his voice: the last I recall of him is in the role of Spencer Trilby, Arnold Schwarzenegger's boss with an eye patch in the 1994 action flick True Lies and as a narrator in Armageddon. Here's a tribute to the actor who brought mythological figures to life on the big screen.

Mumbai Photofair

2008-03-20T08:44:00.001+05:30

Caught the Photofair 2008 on sunday, the last day of the exhibition. Never imagined that the people of the city had weekend interests other than hanging out at malls or going for the movies. Was I proved wrong... and how! The place was so packed, we had trouble finding parking slot in the Goregaon exhibition grounds. The organisers had thoughtfully, organised shuttles to and from the station.
The registration process was extremely slow and inefficient, the people manning the desk sloppy and indifferent. Once inside, it was different though. There were rows and rows of stalls displaying everything from camera spare parts to developing chemicals. The crowds seemed to prefer the stalls selling photo albums and photo frames. We were here for specific items:

black and white film roll: yes, even in this digital day and age, not only will you find arcane people who shoot pictures on film, you will occasionally run into eccentric bums like me who want to shoot on vintage silver nitride film and have it developed on paper of the same family, in a traditional dark room (oh, the joy that hearing the clickety-clack of the shutter and the satisfaction derived from manually advancing the film after each shot on an SLR is undescribable. But thats another post in itself)

carry case for my 24" tripod

zoom and focus lenses for my SLR

Looking for these was easier said than done. There were very few stalls that stocked carry cases and none stocked a tripod carry case; some were even bewildered that such a thing existed. Hope came in the form of a Case Logic stall, but that was not to be. They did indeed have a range of tripod carry cases - of all sizes. However, these were not yet launched and were only on display. The kind hearted guy manning the stall let me inspect the case, which was as is the case with Case Logic products, quite good. The pricing was not steep either. The only hitch being that it would hit the stores a couple of months hence. He refused to be convinced with my arguments that since there was hardly an hour left for the exhibition to come to end, he could part with it. With a heavy heart,I handed the case back to him. On that front, we come away empty handed.

We were not very lucky in the analog lens department either. The shops that stocked lenses could be counted on the fingertips of one hand. Among these, all except one stocked only DSLR compatible lenses. Finally, we found the shop that stocked Tamaron lenses. Though they had a good range, the lenses were all both DSLR and SLR compatible. Not a bad bargain, but untile I graduate to a DSLR, thats of no value to me. And if I am going to pay through my nose, might as well go in for a Canon lens. I think I will hit Chor Bazaar for second hand lenses.

It was tougher going on the black and white film department. There were hardly any stalls that seemed to stock film at all. After much looking around, spotted a Kodak stall. Hope soared as I knew that Kodak still manufactured those vintage rolls, though only the high end range. On approaching the stall, it turned out that it belonged to a wholesaler who, fortunately, had what I wanted! Though from a local manufacturer, a name i had never heard before, I picked up a dozen of those - time will tell how good they are! The wholesaler also gave me several photo labs where I could get black and white film developed the traditional way! This was good!

Ha, now to the exhibition. The most crowded corner was the one where a fashion show was in progress. The next most crowded area was the snacks counter. There were hardly any takers for the photographs on exhibit - some of which were simply breathtaking. There was one picture of Ladakh and a few of the Taj that were astounding: brilliant shot composition, technically excellent and flawless execution. The camera manufacturers stalls were overly stocked with the regular point and shoots and were disappointing. Found a few interesting stalls though. There was one that displayed a digital camera that could shoot on film as well! Now that is interesting. However, it was quite steeply priced. Storage media was also available at throwaway prices: a couple of thousands for a 16 GB pen drive! Wow!

Came back wishing I had carried my trusty SLR - at least, could have checked out a few lenses. All in all, an evening well spent.

Jodhaa Akbar..............a laugh riot!

2008-02-29T19:17:00.000+05:30

That's right. The movie IS a laugh riot! The producers had anyway declared that the movie is not a documentary of historical facts and we walked in without any expectations. All that we had for reference were the conflicting movie reviews, some that lauded the movie and some that took it all the way to the cleaners. Anyways, the movie is full of bloopers and fun moments. Check these out:

Takhleyah!

Though an unfair comparison, Hrithik will forever be benchmarked against Prithviraj's powerful portrayal of Akbar. Prithviraj Kapoor's screen presence was so overpowering that when he screams Takhleyah!, you feel like getting up and leaving! There is this scene half an hour into the movie when Hrithik Roshan utters the awaited Takhleyah! We burst out laughing! In all fairness, it was not that bad, but then, it reminded us of little Samba trying to roar in the movie Lion King and ends up getting only a mousy squeak! Seriuosly now!

There are other gems in this movie. Hrithik has tried hard to get a majestic gait, resembling that of an emperor. In fact, he has tried too hard, with the result that his hips sway when he walks and the gait is almost feminine! To top it all, he wears a lady's sandals (this is no figment of my imagination) in a scene. Look out for this in the scene when before the wedding, he walks into Jodhaa's tent, to hear out her pre-conditions for the wedding. The camera zooms in from behind, and you can clearly see that Hrithik is wearing a lady's white sandals!

Look out also for the song Khwaja mere khwaja. In their zest to portray an expression of spiritual ecstasy, the extras in the song end up looking loony and doped! Towards the end of the song, Hrithik joins them swinging loonily to the song and the effect is quite clownish.

Then there is this asssitant of Akbar, who walks around wearing a greenmat on his head (actually, it is a green headscarf, but being made from a thick canvas like material, it resembles a doormat more). For some inexplicable reason, he hovers around Akbar throughout the movie, walking around in the green doormat. We were thrilled, when in one of the scenes, he opts for an orange coloured doormat instead!

The sets, that have received varying reviews, are disappointing, for a movie of Jodhaa Akbar's scale. The outdoor sets are shoddily made: the paint work is patchy and reminds of cheaply made water colour paintings, the cardboard-thermocole ensemble is put together badly. There are places where sunlight streams through the chinks in the cardboard forts. The indoor sets are a tad better, but still, have a tacky feel. The quarters of Queen Jodhaa are pretty cramped, reminiscent of Mumbai apartments. Not surprising, considering that the director is a Mumbaite! The director's idea of creating a 'period' feel to the sets is to place large wooden chests all over. There are several of them strewn over - all over Jodhaa's quarters, in the corridors and passageways. Reminds one of storage-type furniture, so typical, again, to Mumbai!

There are other minor details that the director has glossed over, such as the colour of the lead pair's eyes. The jet black eyes of a young Akbar and young Jodhaa are miraculously transformed to green grey when they grow up into adults, portrayed by Aishwarya and Hrithik! There are others, particularly the moustaches. The lengths of the characters' moustaches vary between scenes and in certain cases, one side of the moustache is longer than the other. There are also scenes where the moustache is badly glued to the upper lip.

The kings and emperors in the scene slouch frequently, particularly in scenes where they are seated on the ground. It is difficult to imagine that warriors who braved the elements, sword and arrows, have to support themselves with their hands when arising from the ground, as all the characters in the movie do.

The action sequences, particularly those with Aishwarya in them, are badly choreographed. Her swordsmanship is laboured and she has to swing her arm, shoulder down, in a wide arc, for each stroke. And the strokes are slow, not the rapid cutting strokes one would expect in a sword fight. It almost looks like she is playing dandiya and not sword fighting.

All in all, watch it at your own risk, and if you have nothing better to do!

Mumbai Matinee...

2008-01-06T04:37:00.001+05:30

This one is on movies - to start with, picked up the VCD of Samson and Delilah - the 1949 classic by Paramount and produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille - the same legendary director behind such epics as Ten Commandments. Based on an episode from the Book of Judges in the Bible, the movie tells the story of Samson - a strongman - who delivers the Israelites from the Philistines. Samson is endowed with superhuman strength: he kills a lion with his bare hands and slays an army of thousands using the jawbone of an ass as a weapon.. The highlight of the movie is the climactic scene in which Samson topples a pagan temple - very well shot, considering that this was half a century ago, and long before the advent of computer graphics. Had been looking for the CD for many years and was thrilled to find it today! The best part - found it in a mall! Better still - its a Moser Baer CD! Kudos to Moser Baer!

Have also been watching lots of movies these days... call it being vela, or the absence of cable, but I have been enjoying this every bit. First on the list is Om Shanti Om - a Karz like movie, only, this one is a comedy and far more enjoyable. Add to it a controlled performance by SRK (if you've seen his movies from the 90's, you will realise what I mean!) and a gorgeous Deepika Padukone who looks pretty in a over-the-top imitation (I'd rather not use the word recreation) of the 70's look and it was full paisa vasool. Here are my favourite scenes from the movie - though spoofs, they are all done in good taste:

At the top of the list is the shooting of a Rajnikanth-like movie. Its hilarious and we laughed our guts out. The "enna rascola!" and "mind it!" were really well delivered to the accompaniment of background music that heightened the effect.

Following closely is the Filmfare awards sequence showing the nominations for best actor. Akshay Kumar's macho Matrix-cum-Mithunda-style action sequence had us rolling.

Several others, like the one in which SRK plays an extra in an action sequence, the premiere of Deepika Padukone's movie with the now famous Manoj Kumar incident... overall, a fun package.

We also watched Dus Kahaniyaan. Its a package of ten separate and unrelated stories of 10 - 15 minutes duration each. Loved the format: diversify and derisk, as they teach in Finance 101! Each story is an incident - a slice of life. Some were lousy - High on the highway and Sex on the beach, for instance. Loved Matrimony (had the best plot), Rice Plate (Naseeruddin Shah with just one dialogue was awesome, as always and Shabana Azmi was disappointing in the role of a bumbling Maami, again, as always. But she tried; she tried REALLY HARD - you can see it), Gubbare, in that order. Puran Mashi written by Gulzar and directed by his daughter is tragic, as most Gulzar short stories are, though M liked it. Rise and Fall and Zahir were, well, also there. Manoj Bajpai did not impress in Zahir and the background score in Rise and Fall was good. Overall, another good package. Hope they make more movies in this format.

Have lined up more movies for the weekend - watch this space for more.

Coco-nutty

2007-12-28T20:01:00.000+05:30

This one is for that heavenly drink that comes in green bundles – packaged by nature, served by your street corner nariyal paani walla. Widely spread across the sub-continent, the only common thing is the nomenclature – tender coconut. The similarities end there!
To start with there is the Sri Lankan variety – called King coconut. Bright orange in colour – like the rising sung – this large nut will easily quench the thirst of two people, and more. It is HUGE – king size. And intensely sweet. Its nothing like what is available in India. The malai or the flesh of the coconut is another treat – sweet and creamy (unless you opt for the mature nuts that have a thicker and tougher flesh), and a meal in itself.
Then there is the Indonesian variety, that I got to sample in Bali. The way the vendor opens the coconut is a work of art in itself. Four chops and the top does not fly off, like they do in Bangalore. Instead, off it comes in your hand like a lid off the tender coconut. The water tastes very similar to the ones in India, however, these are far larger and have probably thrice as much water. It appears that most firangs are not aware of the fact that the flesh of a coconut is edible – when we asked the vendor to remove the flesh for us, he simply handed us a spoon with a “help yourselves” look. Extracting the flesh with the spoon was naarikela paka, as referred to in Sanskrit literary circles, but it was abundant.
And there is the Bangkok variety. I am not sure if the vendor that I purchased it from had spiked it with alcohol, though he opened it in my presence, for it had a slightly fermented taste. It was not repulsive though – far from it, in fact. It was in a way, a voyage of discovery for the taste buds – a completely new taste and texture. Ah, how can I forget the texture – the water of the coconut had a velvety feel to it, not the creamy feel of the malai wala nariyal, or the watery feel of the paani wala nariyal. This was different – it was like the caress of the softest velvet. The flesh too retained the flavour, taste and texture of the water – though not as abundant as the King Coconut or the Balinese variety, it was more mature, thicker and tougher, but tasty nevertheless.
And now to the Indian variety – and how many of these are there! Right from the look and feel of the nut, to the way it is served and the taste – it differs across regions. First the Bangalore variety – large and bulky, you can opt for either the ganji (the equivalent of the Mumbaiya malai wala¸ or the variety with edible flesh) or neer (meaning paani wala, or watery one, with only the hard shell inside and no flesh) variety. It is cut open with powerful chops delivered with a large sickle that makes you look in awe at the dexterity of the vendor who does it with finesse, not harming a fingernail on his hands. The water in the ganji variety is sweet and that in the neer variety is flat, with a woody taste. This is common across regions – the more the flesh, the sweeter the water (and lesser in quantity!). The flesh is extracted in a similar fashion, by splitting the nut – shell coir and all – longitudinally, with the same power chops. A piece of the outer covering chopped off serves as a rudimentary scoop. Then there is the Mumbai variety. Smaller in size than the Bangalore variety, there are two sub-varieties, depending on the source of the nut. There is the Alibaug nut and there is the Gujarat nut. The Gujarat nuts are sweeter – with even the paani wala varieties being sweeter than in the rest of the country. The Alibaug nut has a flatter taste. In Mumbai, the nuts are opened with a very sharp kitchen knife; the tougher shell is cracked with a flat strip of iron a couple of millimeters thick. The small opening at the top is enlarged and a piece of the outer covering cut out to form an improvised scoop is used to extract the flesh through this opening. Did I say that the paani wala variety does not have edible flesh? Well, for those who like it, the shell of this variety of nuts has a crunchy layer, that can be cut and stripped with a knife – it tastes somewhat like the flesh of a raw singhada, with a woody tinge. Its supposed to be good for digestion and yes, I love it.
So its not for no reason that the coconut tree is called the kalpavriksha – the tree that grants all desires; I would go one step further – this is the tree that gives life – quenching the wayfarer’s thirst with drink and fruit.

The whole and the part

2007-11-13T20:55:00.000+05:30

Got this wonderful comment from M on my earlier post on Time travel, space time and the works. Too profound not to share.

In your posting on Time travel, space time and the works dated Wednesday, August 08, 2007 you have mentioned: “... purnasya purnamadaya purnamevava shishyate...Purna can be roughly translated as 'the whole', the translation being a far cry from the true meaning. Purna is the whole, the all encompassing ... the everything. In that sense, purna is nothing but the universe, because the universe is the whole, the all encompassing, the everything. Now, a translation of the verse would be: "if you remove the whole from the whole, the whole remains!" That is, if you remove the universe from the universe, you are left with the universe!”

There is another interpretation to this. Krsna has used this sloka in the Gita to describe to Arjuna how we all are united with the God in spirit. That our soul, that we, are nothing but Him. The Whole, the all encompassing, the everything, is God! The human soul has been formed out of Him, the Supreme. Therefore, applying the above sloka, we are HIM.

Let me make this simpler with an example. Consider an Apple. For the time being, the Apple (we’ll call it Apple1) is the Whole. Now, cut a portion out of this Whole Apple (say 1/4th) (we’ll call this portion Apple2). Now what happens??? If you ignore the quantitative aspect (whereby you are left with 2 apple pieces) and concentrate ONLY on the qualitative aspect, you will see that the Apple1 is still, in essence, an Apple though a portion has been removed from it; whereas now Apple2 as also become an Apple (as it now has the standalone essence of an Apple in itself). Thus, when you removed a part from the Whole (ie our Apple) the Whole still remains the Whole and the part also has become the Whole. Once again, I urge you to concentrate only on the qualitative aspect of this.

Apply this example to the human soul. Let God be the Whole. The human soul is formed out of Him. While a part of Him has been transformed into the human soul, He still remains the Whole; and by virtue of having a part of his essence in us, we too have become the Whole – Him!

Let’s take this to the next level now. And let’s take our Apple1 again – the Whole. Beat it into a pulp. What happens? It becomes Apple pulp. What if instead of pulp, you decided to make juice out of it? Then it becomes Apple juice. How about a milk shake? Or tarts? Then we’d end up with Apple milkshake or Apple tart. No matter what you do to the Apple, it always retains its basic essence; that of being an apple! The Whole! An apple seed will always sprout only into an apple tree – never into a coconut tree!

Now consider the processes we performed on the Apple (viz beating into pulp, making juice, milkshake, tarts, etc). The Apple has to bear the brunt of the process performed on it and will hence take the next external form accordingly (as pulp, liquid, solid, etc). But no matter what process is performed, the Apple NEVER EVER loses its essence (that of being an Apple)! Akin the processes performed on the Apple to the actions performed by us, humans – our Karma. Our soul too has to bear the brunt of our actions, our Karma, and in the next birth it will take form accordingly. Hence, depending on our actions, we will be born as higher mortals or lower mortals (such as animals). But, alike the Apple, our soul never ever loses the essence of being Him!

This leads to the most conclusive proof that we all are indeed truly and closely attached to God! We ARE Him! And He IS us!

Krsna has beautifully summarized into a few words the greatest knowledge that a man can ever aspire to learn!!!! May this knowledge be with us and lead us to realizing our true selves!

Om shantih shantih shantih!!!

Shutterbug!

2007-10-11T03:01:00.000+05:30

You may have seen in earlier posts some photographs that moi has clicked in the past. Those were all shot using an analog SLR of Seagull (China!), 2002 make, with just the camera body and a 35mm focus (no zoom) lens. The image quality is fantastic: unbeatable sharpness and above all, the satisfaction of hearing a loud "click" on pressing the shutter button every time, and winding the film after every shot... what joy!

However, the absence of a zoom, the suspense of having to wait until exhausting the entire roll of film and the difficulty in finding a good colour lab (believe me, it IS difficult) meant just one thing: move on to a digital camera.

And yours truly did. Though not a DSLR (woe... that will have to wait), its a handy point and shoot digital still image camera. I should confess, part of the inspiration to get a digicam came from Meenal, who complained of having to hold a pose long enough for me to evaluate the lighting conditions, adjust the shutter speed and aperture and finally click the snap on my analog SLR.

The new camera is a beauty. It's a Canon Powershot A 570 IS. Though meant to be a point and shoot, it has enough manual controls for the novice, and keep me from ruing about the lack of "control".

The basics: this one comes with 4x optical zoom (won't even mention the digital zoom, for I consider digital zoom redundant, and a marketing gimmick), which is about the same as a 140 mm zoom on a 35mm equivalent, and 7.1 megapixel, which is way more than enough for those quick "on the fly" or "picnic" shots. And it has an added face recognition function which is very effective for portraits and image stabilisation (thats where the IS comes from) for those really shaky hands, though I have not been able to conclusively demonstrate that the IS function is good.

Now for the auto and pre-set modes. I found the auto mode quite good - managed to click decent shots in low light and excellent ones in good light. The by now standard landscape shot mode and macro function (upto 5 cm!) are present, though the auto focus goes for a toss in the macro function. And yes, it has a manual focus function as well, though I am yet to figure that one out. In addition to the night shots, kids and pets and indoor shooting modes, it has seven pre-set shooting modes (aquarium, underwater, beach, snow, foliage, fireworks, night scene) for those wanting a bit of creativity. For the more adventurous and lion hearted, it lets you play with almost all controls: aperture (though limited to 5.5 to 8.0), shutter speed (upto 1250), ISO (80 to 1600, though after 400 the image gets increasingly noisy), white balance, colour settings, metering, flash output (unfortunately in only 3 discrete gradients), image size and quality. And believe it or not, it comes with an adaptor ring to accomodate a macro lens (upto 2 cms!), telephoto (2x) which of course, are not part of the standard kit.

It has a red eye reduction function and oh yes, it can even shoot movies! Though I have not explored that bit yet.

In terms of the hardware: having been used to the bulky and heavy feel of an analog SLR, I am having trouble handling this light beauty, for no fault of the camera. The tripod screw and the adaptor ring are of plastic - should have been metal to prevent faster wear, but I guess someone who uses telephoto and macro lenses and a tripod would go in for more professional cameras - read hybrid or DSLR - and therefore, its not much of a complaint. The battery compartment lid has a funny latch and hinge mechanism, which could have been better. The telescopic projection and retraction mechanism of the lens is not very smooth. Not serious complaints though. Will stick to the basics here and not get into the image processor, sensor and other serious and boring stuff - assuming that you are not already bored!

Image quality: been good so far: sharp and good for a point and shoot, colour reproduction - good, noise - present at higher ISO (400 and above, which is probably the only thing that I am unhappy with), extremely user friendly with easy to navigate controls and menus that are very intuitive.

All in all, a great camera and total VFM!

Am in the process of setting up a photoblog for those award winning shots ;) until then, check these out!

By the way, I am nowhere near discarding my analog SLR - that's my old and faithful, the camera that got me hooked to photography!

Twenty - Twenty

2007-09-27T09:38:00.000+05:30

Fast paced, hectic, entertaining and cricket - I can now say all these in the same breath. Right from the word go, the T20 World Series has been exciting, to say the least. And a match that lasts no longer than three hours means no more bunking work to sit glued to the telly, watching a one day match. The new format of the game has succeeded in doing what its cousins - the limited over one day match and the longer five day test matches - have failed to do: appeal to a wider audience that is bored by 10 fielders lazing on a green oval and two bandaged men with planks of wood ambling from crease to crease. If someone like me, who thought that first slip and second slip referred to layers of innerwear, got hooked on, you can imagine.

The very first match of the series - featuring a ballistic Chris Gayle and a possible victory squandered by West Indies by poor bowling and sloppy fielding - got me interested. The action: the entire innings is played like slog overs, the excitement: it is difficult to predict a winner until the last few overs, if not the last, the shorter duration: 40 overs bowled in about three hours - the equivalent of a five set tennis match or a longish hindi movie, all add to its attractiveness. That this format would be a winner was clear from the first innings in which Chris Gayle blasted away, setting the direction for all future matches and players. For that single feat, he deserves the title of Man of the format.

There could be allegations of match fixing, particularly in high octane matches like the India - Pakistan clashes, particularly for close finishes such as the group level India - Pak match that we won in a bowl out. Even if the match was fixed, it would have taken some skill on part of the match fixers, and the players even, to get the match to as close a finish as the bowl out. Nevertheless, the format IS and will be a huge success and is here to stay.

The best part about the Indian team - underdogs who went on to claim the title - is that they achieved this feat without any of the larger-than-life players a.k.a. Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid et al. This fact probably worked in favour of the young team (average age - 24 years!), which had nothing to lose and everything to gain. None other than probably Sehwag and to a small extent Yuvraj, had a reputation to keep. Therefore, everyone played as a team, and beautifully so. Batsmen at the crease supported the one in form by putting him on strike, fielders supported the excellent bowling with great catches (Dinesh Karthik), direct hits (Robin Uthappa) and great saves. Apart from dependable bowlers like Harbhajan and Irfan who had fantastic spells, the tournament brought out fabulous young talent in Sreesanth and RP Singh. The batsmen were not far behind. Yuvraj with the scintillating six sixes, Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir who carried the innings on their shoulders when the line up tottered at times and Uthappa who was fantastic both on the crease and off it. His impromptu ballet style bow to the crowds on getting the stumps in the bowl out against Pakistan is unforgettable. Not to forget the able captaining by the young Mahendra Singh Dhoni - who kept a cool head, supported the younger players with sage advice - the magic words he had with Jogendra Sharma in the last over of the Australia semi-final had this talented bowler snatching two wickets for a measly five runs in THE over that mattered, displayed intelliegent strategy - using Jogendra Sharma again in the last over of the final, and humility. He is probably the only player who has credited the support staff in his post victory speech. He gave all credit to the team and recognised the never appreciated support staff. That IS remarkable.

In the end, these lads played for the love of cricket, played a good game and had a good time. Yuvraj rushing into the ground at the end of the India - England group match and the India - Australia semi-final and Harbhajan's bhangra in the last over of the semi-final and his jig after the victory in the final are etched in memory forever.

Hats off to these young lads who have made us proud.

PS: I now know the difference between first slip and second slip

The Mumbai - Goa motorcycle trip - Part II

2007-09-18T17:52:00.000+05:30

After receiving several death threats for not posting the complete account, here is the rest of the installment of the trip and also some photographs

Day 4: Back on the road to Goa

With a reluctant heart (and a still slightly sore bottom) we set out the next day to resume our journey to Goa – reluctant coz we knew that the beaches in Goa would never compare with the one we were leaving behind at Ganapatipule! But the love of biking lured us on. And soon we were happily threading our way back on to NH17 and onwards through the long, lovely, lonely stretches of the last few ghats between Mumbai and Goa.

The ghats after Ganapatipule are nothing spectacular, though the quality of the road appeared to have deteriorated. Watch out however, for numerous little villages that dot the length of the highway where the locals have right of way. But for Gudugu’s trusty brakes (believe me they are good, the front disc brake holds the road in an instantaneous vice like grip), we would have run over the ankle of a village woman who decided to leap in our way from behind a stationary bus. Quick nerves and a quick getaway avoided what would surely have been a small fight.

This stretch marked a personal milestone – crossing the 1,000 km mark on our new bike – an exhilarating moment. Apart from a rattling noise that sounds more like a helicopter taking off and incorrect ignition timing that turns the exhaust pipe blue, the bike’s been handling like a darling, averaging more than 35 kms to the litre. Two days rest (relatively!) and the experience of the 380 kms stretch behind us meant a not so stiff back and a not so sore bottom. The solitude of the unwinding highway with rolling green fields on either side and the rhythmic thumping of the 350 cc engine is a different matter altogether. After briefly considering taking up an alternative career as a motorcycle tour operator and discarding the idea as quickly, we reached Sawantwadi…

With the customary stops for food and rest, we reached Sawantwadi by 4’ish in the evening. A small town, Sawantwadi is known for the Wadi (or Palace) of the Sawant Bhonsales, where the last living Rani of the Bhonsale dynasty still resides. As we walked into the gates of the palace, we ran into who else but Her Highness Rajmata Satvashiladevi sipping tea with her son in the palace garden. Our ardent hope of enjoying a hot cuppa tea and 2 minutes of fame with the royalty was, alas, dashed to the ground as we were led away to witness those parts of the palace that are open to public viewing. We later discovered that the garden tea was occasioned by power failure at the palace. Stuffy heat and lack of any power backup system drew the royalties out into the garden. The grandeur that these royal lawns would have once witnessed…

The palace is nothing phenomenal that can make your jaw hang in awe. Its just plain nice and simple, and a bit run down. I do hope the private residence of the Rajmata is in better shape! If nothing else, the palace is good for some nice shots with your camera and for picking up your own set of the Ganjifa cards. The game of Ganjifa cards, though now out of vogue, was once the game of the royals. Local artisans employed by the royal family are engaged all day long in putting brush to woodpulp and board for creating artifacts which, to me, seem quite exorbitantly priced! Thanks to the efforts of the royal family, the art lives on.

The palace overlooks the Moti Talao (a serene lake in the midst of the hustle-bustle of the town), which also provides you some good photo opportunities. Another Kamath is also handy for a quick bite before you rush off to complete the last 60 kms to your destination – Goa!

The lake itself offers some good photo opportunities – we took maiden photos of the bike with our luggage still strapped on here. The palace itself is a tad disappointing and its present condition, tragic. The walls of the palace however, are a treasure trove of old photographs, appropriately labeled – ranging from hunting expeditions of the erstwhile Sawant Bhonsale’s sister standing over a panther that she gunned down to the coronation ceremony of the last Sawant. We were totally bowled over by HH Hemalata Raje (the late Sawant Bhonsale’s sister) who as per an account, waited on a treetop with the customary goat bait to hunt down a panther / tiger. And hunt it down she did! There are several sepia toned photographs of her in khaki hunting fatigues, with a sure grip on a mean looking rifle!

Regarding the Kamath…be warned – though the Kamath here is well placed, at the edge of the lake, the fare is below average. The puri in the bhel was soggy and the pav in the pav bhaaji was not fresh.

The last stretch of Ghats just after exit from Sawantwadi is probably the shortest and the worst! So keep your eyes peeled to the road as it twists and turns and heaves and falls sharply. To make matters worse, there is enough loose gravel around the bends to make you feel you are riding on marbles! With this stretch behind you, the rest of the road is quite nondescript. And then, BANG! Suddenly, you’ll find yourself in the thick of mad traffic in Panaji!

A word of caution: the stretch of highway between Sawantwadi and Panaji is narrow and twisty, with several patches of peeling asphalt and little children running all over. The stretch just before you hit Panaji is the worst, filled with potholes galore.

We veered off the NH17 to head towards Calangute, and soon checked into Calangute Residency (a resort run by Goa Tourism Development Corporation) – our haven for the reminder of the days in Goa. Well, it wasn’t as easy as it sounds here! Without prior bookings and with no rooms available, we had to pull up a long and haggard face and give the manager the ‘we’ve-been-riding-all-the-way-from-Mumbai-&-could-drop-dead-any-minute’ story before he obliged! As expected, the resort was bang on the beach, very clean and well maintained, most definitely lacking in ambience, served decent food and was super economical (what with the monsoon discounts and all!).

The food at the hotel was a revelation! Whoever imagined that a Government run resort would cook up delightful and tasty stuff! The breakfast (served in your room!) was again splendid. While here, don’t forget to sample the puri and bhaji. Contrasted with the dry aloo bhaji that is staple with puris along Konkan Maharashtra, the Goan bhaji accompanying the puri, though with an aloo base, has a thin gravy and a hint of tang. The end result? Heavenly! A dash of besan and it would almost be the same delectable bhaji that Amma prepares. Also try out their aloo paratha: served with curd and pickle, the paratha is as good as you can get!

Day 5 and 6 – exploring Goa

A bright and sunny day, God in his heaven and all well with the world, a bike of your own and a loved partner – what more can one ask for! Off we went to explore the known and the unknown corners of Goa. Beaches, forts, churches, temples – you name it, we did it all! If you are less fortunate than us (as in you don’t posses a bike of your own) then you can rent one from virtually any shop in Goa. In respect of other aspects, arrhhmmm, we have no help to offer!

Any good travelogue worth its price will tell you the places to visit in Goa, so we’ll tell you the stuff you just shouldn’t miss! And at the top of that list is Old Goa – the churches here are just mind bogglingly spectacular! The beaches are of course great, but I still maintain they are nothing in comparison to Ganapatipule!

The first stop for the day was Fort Aguada. A former Portuguese bastion, this fort is devised in two storeys. The upper level, which is thronged by tourists has the customary bastions, turrets, watch towers, and even a defunct lighthouse. Walk along the fort walls for a view of the sea and Panaji in the distance. What caught my fancy though, was the lower level, which is a huge water reservoir. A good part of the upper level is supported on top of this underground reservoir by massive pillars. Barred ventilators on the ground give a sneak preview into the now in disuse massive reservoir that must have once been a harbinger of life to parched sailors arriving from the west. A short drive down the Fort Aguada leads to the Aguada Jail. Not surely a destination for someone visiting Goa on a holiday, but trust us to find the unlikeliest of places to visit! On reaching the gates of the jail (barred for entry, since this is no tourist spot!), we were pleasantly surprised to find another young couple on a hired Scooty looking for photo-opps. Apparently, we were not the only crazy people around!

Our next port of call after Fort Aguada were the famous beaches of Goa. Though no comparison to the serenity of the Ganapatipule beach or the calm white sands of Kashid, the golden sands of the Miramar beach were inviting for two souls worn in the bustle of the city. The sands were hot, but the beach was calm, with hardly any of the otherwise boisterous tourists around. After lounging on the beach for a while, we headed to the Dona Paula beach. What a contrast! Compared to the quite Miramar beach, Dona Paula was a riot of colour and babble of noise! Shacks selling the stipulation “I love Goa” tees to garishly engraved conch shells lined the beach. Transported back to Andheri station for a moment, we bolted right out of the cacophony and headed back to Miramar for a quick bite. Finding Miramar Residency – a GTDC run inn right on the beach, we ambled in wearily and placed our order. What followed was a gastronomical delight. We sampled the best vegetable biriyani ever: not too oily, not too spicy, and just the right amount of gravy and vegetables. And the frozen dessert that followed… delectable.

Throughout our trip, we placed great faith in the Outlook Traveller for tips on places to see and stay. And our faith was proved to be well placed till now. So, understandably, we were very excited to learn of a Brahma Temple in Goa. In recorded history, there is only one Temple of this elusive God, in Rajasthan. So a chance to visit another such temple led us on a wild goose chase all across Goa. And a wild goose chase it was in the end! After traversing the length and breadth of Goa, we finally located the temple and were rather surprised to find a Gomateshwara (Shiva) temple in its stead! But if communion with God is the motive with which you visit a temple, then you’ve certainly come to the right place! Declared as a protected site by the Archeological Survey of India, the place is totally isolated. Not a single soul around to distract you. All you can hear are the sounds of chirping birds and temple bells ringing (well, you’ll need to ring them yourselves!). You can have your tête-à-tête with God to your heart’s content.

The Brahma Temple was indeed a disappointment. Setting out on what almost seemed to be a wild goose chase that took us through the campus of the University of Goa, never ending winding village roads, we finally reached an obscure place – Brahmapuri - that sounded like the right place. Reaching the temple, which was closed at the time, we realized there was no way it could be a Brahma Temple. Not with a Nandi in the front of the temple and shivlings on the vimana of the sanctum. Disappointed, we turned towards Old Goa.

Old Goa is indeed a delight. The Basilica of Bom Jesus, where the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier are embalmed is an architectural delight. Constructed from basalt and laterite, the church with its richly carved pulpit, gilded altar and expansive ceilings transported us into a different era. Compulsive shutterbugs that we are, several rolls of film were exhausted in this one monument. Fading light forced us to turn back to Calangute and we left Old Goa and what was left to explore of it for the next day.

Returning to Calangute, we headed straight to the Calangute beach. We spent many hours chatting (yes!) on the beach and gazing at the stars, picking out the constellations. We even sighted the flicker of the Aguada lighthouse in the distance! What bliss, to be sitting on a beach unpolluted, gazing at the stars overhead with the roar of the crashing waves in the background! Never would such a feat be possible in Mumbai. I savored every moment of this peace…

We started the day heading off to the ruins of St. Augustine’s Tower in Old Goa. A stone’s throw away from the Basilica of Bom Jesus, this church certainly had seen better days. A crumbling bell tower, long collapsed ceiling, and were once vast prayer halls are all that are left of this once magnificent church. The Archaeological Survey of India has done much to clear the place of dense shrubbery that had overtaken the ruins. According to the ASI, the place was so once bad that the movie Gumnaam was shot here! St Augustine’s has lots of photo opportunities – archways, broad stairs, platforms, awnings and the like. Be careful when you step on the platforms or the stairs – rain fed alga makes them slippery to the touch.

A stone’s throw away from St. Augustine’s is the Museum of Christian Art. The well maintained Museum has many artifacts from over five centuries, including a manuscript (the handwriting was more beautiful than any printed document I have seen) setting out rules for girls joining the convent. After a quick look through the Museum, we headed to the “Gateway of Goa” located within the premises of the Church of St Cajetan. The Gateway turned out to be nothing more than a stone doorframe / archway, less than fifteen feet tall. The gateway was created by one of the Bijapur sultans and brought to its current resting place when the Portuguese overwhelmed the local rulers. A stone’s throw away is the Church of St Cajetan. Situated in a sprawling premises, many parts of the Church are under renovation and the ASI has laid out wooden planks for tourists to walk on. The central dome of the Church was imposing and I got down on my knees for some long exposure shots. My antics lying on the ground caught the attention of one of the keepers who walked in to investigate.

She left shortly, convinced that I was either a madcap or a top notch professional photographer!

We headed back to the Basilica of Bom Jesus for snaps that the previous day’s fading light has prevented us from clicking. Across the road from the Basilica is the Se Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of St Catherine of Alexandria. An imposing whitewashed structure, the campus also houses the office of the ASI and another Museum of Christian Art. The white imposing structure of the Cathedral is set in the midst of a sprawling manicured garden. By the time we approached the entrance to the Cathedral, we were so tired that we decided to limit the photos here and head for a good meal.

The last sightseeing spot on our itinerary was the Church of our Lady of Immaculate Conception – the site of many Hindi movies – right from Amar Akbar Anthony (remember the white church with criss crossing steps) to Bichhoo (Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Chandrachur Singh).

Before that, however, I was keen to get my bike checked up at a Enfield service centre, for the engine was now sounding like a rattling old ceiling fan. The service centre we found easily. The mechanic grumbled that we had dropped in un announced, that he had several bikes to service and that we should come back the next day or leave the bike with him for a couple of days. That was ruled out since we had to head back the next morning. However, the legendary Bulletteer camaraderie surfaced when we told him that we had biked down all the way from Mumbai and that we had to leave the next morning and could not afford to set off on a bike that was probably unfit for such a long travel. The service centre in-charge immediately directed the more than willing mechanic, who had by now dropped whatever he was doing to inspect our bike. After the mandatory check of the engine oil level and gearbox oil level and tightening of the various levers and cables, he gave a satisfactory nod. He also took it for a short ride and assured a concerned me that the noise was routine (this is a Bullet you are riding, he reminded) and nothing to be bothered about. Reassured, and proud once again to be riding a great bike, we set out for the Church of our Lady of Immaculate Conception. With no other bikes can you witness such camaraderie. Bullet! What a legend!

Finding the Church, which by all description ought to be famous, was another matter altogether. While I was asking locals for “the Church of our Lady of Immaculate Conception” (you can imagine the bewilderment on their faces!), wifey dear reminded me to go by a much simpler description, for no one would probably use such a long name to refer to a name so long. Imagine asking a Juhu panwalla for a temple of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness! He would probably think you landed on the wrong planet! So it was that we asked for “bada church”, “famous church”, “purana church” etc., and finally landed at the appointed place. The façade of the Church was pretty – with symmetrical, criss crossing stairs. We took many snaps here. After seeing the grandeur of the Basilica of Bom Jesus and the majesty of the Church of St Cajetan and St Augustine, the inside of this Church was a bit disappointing, though to be fair, the comparison was not called for. A Kamath restaurant nearby beckoned us and two weary nomads walked in to the welcoming AC (never realized AC could be so refreshing!). The fare, though average, was far better than what we sampled at Sawantwadi. As dusk fell, we turned our backs to Panaji and headed back to Calangute for another evening of peace with the surf and the stars! And peace we had! Building sand castles, though we could never agree on the architecture, resulting in our sand castle resembling something of a cross between St Augustine’s Tower and the Aguada Fort!

Day 7 – Homewards drawn

The thought of home and work beckoned us and we packed up our few belongings and headed home. But only, the trip back home was vastly different from the one onwards. While the Ghats were as wonderfully breathtaking as ever, this time we too ended up getting as rain-soaked as the Ghats! Incessant driving rains hampered our way, but not our spirit. Riding through clouds lifting up from the valley lifted up our spirits with them and we rode on – sometimes along with the clouds, sometimes into them, sometimes chasing them and at other times being chased by them. Thanks to our riding jackets, we managed to avoid getting soaked to the last bone, though there weren’t many bones left undrenched! Finally, and thankfully, well before dark, we reached Chiplun, our destination for that night’s halt.

The ride back upto Chiplun was wonderful and we rested a bit easy, in the knowledge that there was nothing wrong with the bike and the fact that we now knew the way back! The ride upto Chiplun was otherwise, without incident if you discount the fact that we got soaking wet (inspite of the thick jackets!) and my riding boots were sloshing with several litres of rainwater!

Chiplun was a surprise package altogether. We hadn’t realized until then that Chiplun could be a good weekend getaway in the monsoons! Located in the midst of Ghats among floating clouds, a beautiful Savitri River flowing by (in spate during the monsoons), and a good star resort to stay, Chiplun is a good destination to spend a quite weekend away from Mumbai. Once again, we didn’t have reservations at the resort, and this time our story of ‘riding-all-day-&-dead-on-our-toes’ story didn’t work too! (Moral of the story: you can fool some people with some tricks, but you can’t fool all people with the same tricks!) Fortunately though, the people at the resort were good enough to direct us to another hotel some 6 kms ahead towards Mumbai and even called up and blocked a room for us there while we made our way thither. And luck was on our side this time too! The hotel (called Hotel Pagoda for some strange reason), though small and rather no-frills type, is total value for money. And their restaurant just left us licking our fingers! Apparently, this place is quite famous even in Chiplun town and several eminent companies (Chiplun being an industrial town) and social groups (such as the Lions Club) prefer to conduct their meetings and conferences here.

Day 8 – Back to the madding crowd

What was of interest to us in Chiplun though was an ancient temple of Parashurama Rishi. Over 700 years old, the temple is around 6 kms outside of Chiplun town on NH17, towards Mumbai.

The temple of Bhagawan Parashurama is located near the apex of the Parshuram Ghat. To reach the temple, we had to backtrack and hit the ghat road again. As we climbed the ghat, a passing cloud cover hit us head on and we were literally riding through the cloud. It was exhilarating to ride through the clouds in visibility less than fifty feet, on a steep ghat road with no idea of the oncoming traffic or the bend in the road, headlights on high beam (it was eight in the morning). How I wish I had a point and shoot to immortalize these moments in print. A rock strewn road led us to the Parashurama Temple, which was indeed old world. Legend has it that Bhagawan Parashurama, the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu, threw his axe into the sea and the Konkan emerged out of the sea. The Parashurama Temple is said to be the very spot where his ashram stood. The temple itself is of ancient construction, with shoddy renovations and improvisations. The sanctum has the idols of Bhagawan Parashurama with kala and kama - whom he conquered - on either side. Remember to ask the pujari for the sthalapurana i.e., the legend of the place. Though the outer structures are badly preserved, their condition worsened by shoddy additions / renovations, the sanctum itself vibrates with a powerful energy. Spend some time here, if you will. Though, oil lamps in the stead of fluorescent lights would have been better. Remember, that photography in the temple premises is prohibited.

The cloud cover had passed by the time we completed our darshan of the temple and we rode back in relative ease (but far less thrill). It was now time to hit the highway back to the madding crowds of Mumbai.

Rejuvenated by an early morning visit to this temple, we proceeded on our way to Mumbai. It rained cats and dogs and several other animals that day and we were soaked and shivering by the time we approached the outskirts to Mumbai.

This was the second day in running that we were riding in driving rain, the rain today far worse than yesterday. Our attempts to outsmart the rain gods were in vain, for wherever we went, it was heavily overcast and pouring. On the way, we crossed several rivers in spate, their water levels visibly higher than during our onward journey. Crossing the Kashedi Ghat was thrilling again, as we rode through clouds of mist (it was noon) and several steep curves. But for a speeding Tata Sumo that almost pushed us off the road, the ride through the ghats was without incident. Nor did we savour the lunch at a nondescript place, since we were keen to get home at the earliest. In the process, we even skipped the mandatory stop for late afternoon snacks, choosing instead to ride home non-stop, without even stopping for the hourly break.

We knew we were nearing civilization as we ran into a mad stream of trucks, buses and other assorted vehicles at Vadhkal Naka. Rain had slowed the traffic to a crawl and I had to wind up the throttle to zig zag through slow moving heavy vehicles. The traffic condition improved somewhat as we approached Panvel and we bid goodbye to the last of greenery as we exited Panvel and headed towards Vashi. The last bend in the highway before you hit the straight stretch to Vashi has the last spots of greenery. It was back into the concrete jungle and pollution again. What a torture to get into the smog barely hours after riding through the clouds! An hour later, after negotiating crazy traffic at Vashi, Chembur, Sion and BKC (and attracting curious glances of fellow motorists who were no doubt awed / amused at the bundles of luggage strapped to the bike and the riding gear that we were in) we hit the last mile that separated us from home – the Western Express Highway.

The soaking condition that we were in, and on a stomach fed on poor lunch, made us even overlook the jarring contrast of the never ending concrete in Mumbai to the beautiful hues of green and brown that we had just left behind. We were just longing to get back into the cozy warmth of our home, feel the fingers of hot jets of water from the shower caress our skins, eat some deliciously mouthwatering home cooked food, and curl-up in bed tucked into warm sheets! Bliss! Now I know why its called Home Sweet Home!

As I rolled into the parking lot of my apartment block, the speedometer read 2047 – 1,600 kms, a stiff back and a sore bottom! What a holiday it was!

Of "the whole and the part"

2007-09-11T02:54:00.000+05:30

Received this comment from Meenal on my post Time travel, space time and the works; it is so thought provoking that I had to post it in full. Here goes...

In your posting on Time travel, space time and the works dated Wednesday, August 08, 2007 you have mentioned: "... purnasya purnamadaya purnamevava shishyate...Purna can be roughly translated as 'the whole', the translation being a far cry from the true meaning. Purna is the whole, the all encompassing ... the everything. In that sense, purna is nothing but the universe, because the universe is the whole, the all encompassing, the everything. Now, a translation of the verse would be: "if you remove the whole from the whole, the whole remains!" That is, if you remove the universe from the universe, you are left with the universe!"

There is another interpretation to this. Krsna has used this sloka in the Gita to describe to Arjuna how we all are united with the God in spirit. That our soul, that we, are nothing but Him. The Whole, the all encompassing, the everything, is God! The human soul has been formed out of Him, the Supreme. Therefore, applying the above sloka, we are HIM.

Let me make this simpler with an example. Consider an Apple. For the time being, the Apple (we’ll call it Apple1) is the Whole. Now, cut a portion out of this Whole Apple (say 1/4th) (we'll call this portion Apple2). Now what happens??? If you ignore the quantitative aspect (whereby you are left with 2 apple pieces) and concentrate ONLY on the qualitative aspect, you will see that the Apple1 is still, in essence, an Apple though a portion has been removed from it; whereas now Apple2 as also become an Apple (as it now has the standalone essence of an Apple in itself). Thus, when you removed a part from the Whole (ie our Apple) the Whole still remains the Whole and the part also has become the Whole. Once again, I urge you to concentrate only on the qualitative aspect of this.

Apply this example to the human soul. Let God be the Whole. The human soul is formed out of Him. While a part of Him has been transformed into the human soul, He still remains the Whole; and by virtue of having a part of his essence in us, we too have become the Whole – Him!

Let’s take this to the next level now. And let's take our Apple1 again – the Whole. Beat it into a pulp. What happens? It becomes Apple pulp. What if instead of pulp, you decided to make juice out of it? Then it becomes Apple juice. How about a milk shake? Or tarts? Then we'd end up with Apple milkshake or Apple tart. No matter what you do to the Apple, it always retains its basic essence; that of being an apple! The Whole! An apple seed will always sprout only into an apple tree – never into a coconut tree!

Now consider the processes we performed on the Apple (viz beating into pulp, making juice, milkshake, tarts, etc). The Apple has to bear the brunt of the process performed on it and will hence take the next external form accordingly (as pulp, liquid, solid, etc). But no matter what process is performed, the Apple NEVER EVER loses its essence (that of being an Apple)! Akin the processes performed on the Apple to the actions performed by us, humans – our Karma. Our soul too has to bear the brunt of our actions, our Karma, and in the next birth it will take form accordingly. Hence, depending on our actions, we will be born as higher mortals or lower mortals (such as animals). But, alike the Apple, our soul never ever loses the essence of being Him!

This leads to the most conclusive proof that we all are indeed truly and closely attached to God! We ARE Him! And He IS us!

Krsna has beautifully summarized into a few words the greatest knowledge that a man can ever aspire to learn!!!! May this knowledge be with us and lead us to realizing our true selves!

Om shantih shantih shantih!!!

1600 kms, a stiff back and a sore bottom!

2007-08-27T12:15:00.000+05:30

That doesn’t quite sound like a relaxing holiday does it? But what a holiday it was! Absolutely kick ass! Mumbai to Goa and back, on a biking trip: 1,600 kms in all in eight days! In those eight days, we rode through scorching sun, driving rain, floating clouds (yes!), winding ghat roads, steep climbs, rocky mountain trails and what not! The best part of the trip? Riding a gleaming new Royal Enfield Motors Bullet with my wife, no e-mails, no phone calls, not even tracking the rise and fall of the Sensex! Of course, a lot of preparation went into this trip – most of it planned by Meenal, who also doubled as the navigator for the trip. And what a trusty navigator she was! Onto my navigator for a kilometer by kilometer account of the trip, with interruptions by yours truly in italics.

Hi from the navigator! Before I start giving u an account of what was truly a wonderful holiday, I must confess that the credit for my navigational abilities goes to Ram (who gave me the links below, and who – unlike the most popular cliché about men – has no hassle asking for directions!), the Outlook Weekend Traveller (Mumbai Getaways) and Google!

Having bought a Bullet (we have named it Gudugu), we had some major ambitions like a biking trip to Ladakh! Soon, however, we realized that we were in no fit shape to undertake such an adventure. After considering virtually every goable place in and around India, we finally hit upon the idea of a biking trip to Goa. Then were spent days and days of preparations – researching the route (to this end, the links below were of immense help), selecting interesting places to be covered, getting the bike and us ready for the trip (road maps, bike spares, bungee cords, riding jackets & what not!). And then we were set to go! Set to Goa!

http://www.indiacar.com/infobank/drv_may01_02.htm - this gives a very detailed and reliable route guide from Mumbai to Goa (mentioning even the best eateries and 24 hour petrol pumps enroute)

http://www.imd.ernet.in/section/satmet/dynamic/insatsector-ir.htm - if u are crazy enough like us to undertake a biking trip in the middle of the monsoons, do be sure to look up the satellite map posted by the Indian Meteorological Department to know what u r driving into!

In retrospect, exhaustive research and planning and picking the right gear were key to this trip in more ways than one. We had planned to the extent of pre-determining at which hotel / inn we would stop at for snacks, tea, lunch etc.,. A word of advice for riders – wear a comfortable, but thick jacket – even if it is not cold. Apart from the obvious protection from rain / chill, this serves two purposes: one, it saves you from nasty bruises in case of a fall and two, it prevents dehydration. Without any protection from dehydration, gusts of wind (if you ride at 50 kph in still air, it is the equivalent of a 50 kph gust of wind) and the sun will squeeze you dry. For our trip, we picked winter jackets with a rexine outer layer and thick felt lining on the inside, rather than leather jackets, which are bulkier and difficult to handle and maintain.

Day 1: Mumbai - Ganapatipule
After a ceremonial breaking of a coconut outside a Ganapati temple near home and fuelling up the petrol tank, we zoomed off into the riding sun towards NH17. Once past the concrete jungle that is Mumbai, we encountered a riot! A riot of lush green! Fresh rain, new leaves, budding flowers, chirping birds, mountain streams – sights and sounds we had almost forgotten in the rush of traffic and local trains! It had been raining for a few days prior to our trip and the result was rainwater streams cascading down the Ghats, a pretty sight to behold. The Ghats themselves were breathtakingly beautiful after the rains. And the road, winding through them, was quite a pleasure to ride on.

The highway roads taught me to take innocuous road signs seriously. Ranging from “saavdhan! Pude gaanv aahe! Saavkaash za!” to “pude gatirodhak aahe” interspersed with witty slogans such as “this is a highway, not a dieway!” that only the traffic department can come up with, they help wake you if your alertness is waning. Ofcourse, it helps if you can read and understand Marathi, since most lifesaving signs are in the Maratha language. Something that I should have realized to prevent some unpleasant consequences: there was this sign that I was trying to decipher when the road suddenly started to heave up and down! Only then did I realize that the sign which read gatirodhak aahe meant speed bumps ahead!

Having done long trips before, me realized the wisdom in taking frequent, but short breaks. We took a 5 minute break every hour or so. A bite of chocolate, a sip of water and sugar rich soft drink provided the necessary rest and energy shots for the remainder of the trip. They are also necessary to keep up alertness, lack of which on a highway ghat road can be fatal.

The ride to Ganapatipule took us through some truly amazing sights. Riding parallel to the Konkan Railway for some distance, we realized how awesome a ride on the Konkan Railway would be. There are three long ghat stretches that you hit before Ganapatipule. The first – Kashedi – is also the longest, at about 18 kms base to base. Apart from being the longest, Kashedi is also the most thrilling ghat to ride on. It has several hairpin bends, sharp S curves and steep gradients. Watch out for corners covered in gravel – can be treacherous, particularly when driving downhill. Honk away to glory to warn drivers who think SUV’s come with 4 wheels and 2 wings.

With only an occasional drizzle to hamper our progress, we were well on track to reach our destination for night halt well in time before darkness fell. But thanks to a sore bottom (which required us to halt a few times) and some misdirection by an idiot, we reached our destination – Ganapatipule when it was quite dark. The road to Ganapatipule is on the right off NH17. Once off NH17, though the road is a state highway, it gets pretty isolated and its advisable to get to Ganapatipule before darkness falls.

There are several Vithal Kamath’s outlets on the way – stop by for a quick breakfast / lunch / snack. Breakfast at Mathais Manthan – 5 kms before Vadhkal Naka is a good place for breakfast. They have one of the best highway omelets.

On reaching, we checked into the MTDC (Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation) resort. If you are fond of 5 star comforts, this is not the place for you. The cottages are very cleanly maintained, but are most certainly lacking in ambience. But if you are the kind who means business, then you’ve come to the right place! This is the only resort in Ganpathipule which is bang on the beach. And when I say bang on the beach, I mean BANG on the beach! The resort is about 100 mtrs from the sea, and during high tide, the water almost reaches up to the compound wall of the resort. A rear-side pathway leads directly on to the beach and all the balconies open out onto a splendid view of the sea. And the beach here is just spectacular! The sea – sparkling clean! Furiously roaring! Crashing on the rocks as if it wishes to eliminate anything that stands in its way! Infact, the sea here is so loud you can hear it in your room even when the balcony door is closed! Our original plan was to stay at Ganapatipule for only the following day, but love at first sight with the place and the constant reminder from a sore bottom for rest decided that we stay on for another day!

The tides close in pretty rapidly at the Ganapatipule beach, with strong currents – the sea moved in several ten feet in a matter of minutes that we were clicking snaps on some faraway rocks, drenching us to the bone. We were fortuitous enough to have a live encounter with some denizens of the sea – portugese men of war that look pretty in aquariums. But not when they sting you! The incoming tide swept hundreds of them onto the shore, several of which stung us with their long tentacles. Boy, did that hurt! While on the beach, we gorged on awesome nariyal paani – the best that I have had in India and the closest contender to those available on the beaches of Bali. The authorities have also put up a billboard that explains in detail how to calculate the exact time of incoming and receding tides. We spent several minutes trying to decipher the devanagari on the board, but finally gave up. Why didn’t I learn Marathi in the last couple of years that I’ve been here.

Also, 100 mtrs away from the sea and opposite the MTDC resort is the Swayambhu Ganapathi Temple. This ancient temple is constructed at the foothills of the Ghats where an idol of Ganapathi appeared out of the stone. While other features of Ganapathi are left to a devotee’s imagination, the right hand of Ganapathi, raised in blessing, is very distinctly visible. The temple’s fame is wide spread and devotees throng this place on festival days. While at the temple, do try to get your share of the Khichdi distributed as Prasad every day between 12.30 pm to 2.00 pm. Hot khichdi + spicy mango pickle = awesome. Can I stand in line for the Prasad again?

The food at the MTDC resort is average fare. Step outside the resort and walk into any of the several hotels (khanavals) for better tasting, konkani fare. Sabudana khichdi at the MTDC was a different matter though – hot and tasty, try it with mango pickle... mmmm…

While at Ganapatipule, you can also explore some nearby places of tourist interest – Ratnagiri and Jaigad. Ratnagiri is about 35-40 kms south of Ganpatipule, whereas Jaigad is 20 kms north. If you aren’t on a bike or a car, you can easily hire a local auto from outside the resort to take you to these places.

Day 2: Ratnagiri
The road to Ratnagiri is quite an experience in itself! You will encounter some of the steepest gradients you have ever seen in your life! Maneuvering a vehicle on these curves needs some skill. And for this very reason, and the fact that the road tends to get isolated at times, it is better to head back to Ganapatipule before dark. Ratnagiri contains a light house and a sea fort. Of the fort (Ratnadurg) only a few crumbling walls remain (and some of the credit for this goes to the Govt also, which used the stones from the fort remains to construct the new jetty!). One can visit the light house though between 4.00 pm and 5.30 pm. If you are interested in some more history, you can visit the birthplace of Lokmanya Tilak, which is located in the heart of Ratnagiri town. But getting a clue into this great man’s life and past can be a difficult task as all information here is in Marathi, with some photos and a family tree (which no one has taken the trouble to explain!) The authorities have also put up a 6 ft tall replica of the Lokmanya’s birth chart on a wall. Why????

The ride to Ratnagiri was the highlight of the day. Rather than take the longer route from NH 17, we turned off right from the District Highway about 5 kms from Ganapatipule. Its called the Nevre Road. I have seen roads carved into mountainsides – in the form of hairpins and S curves but nothing unlike what I was to see here. This mountain road is cut into the face of the hill and drops from top to bottom in a straight line, just like that. No curves, no bends. Just a straight drop. Imagine the steepest and longest slide that you have ridden as a kid. Now make that steeper and longer, say a kilometer. That should give you an idea of the mountain road that I am talking about. And there were three of them! The downhill ride was exhilarating and the uphill climb arduous, with several stretches covered on the first gear. That was one unforgettable ride! But for the ride, you can give the Ratnagiri fort a miss.

Day 3: Jaigad, Ganapatipule redux
The Jaigad Fort (also a sea fort) is in some better state. Atleast, it looks like a fort once stood there. Surrounded on all sides by the sea and located on top of a cliff, the fort offers a spectacular view of its surroundings. From here, one can also view the confluence of the Sangameshwar River into the Arabian Sea. At Jaigad too you can visit the light house between 4.00 pm and 5.30 pm. To get to the light house though you will need to ride/ drive over barren rock on the top of the cliff. Once dark, the faded tracks left by a jeep on this rock are no longer visible and you may have some problem getting back. And do make sure you are back out of Jaigad before nightfall, as the road from Ganapatipule to Jaigad (though very beautiful – as it runs along side the sea most of the time) is very isolated, and with some sharp turns too.
To be able to visit the insides of a lighthouse is an experience in itself. Don’t miss it. The downside though, is that you are not permitted to click snaps. Have a trusty point and shoot handy – I regret not having one. (We were however able to click some shots of wild creepers flowering on the walls of the Jaigad fort - have uploaded a few of them at the end of this post). Exhilarating views of the western ghats and the sea emerge dramatically as you turn around bends in the road. The rain soaked ghats, cloaked in lush green and dotted by mountain streams are a sight to behold…

Time travel unravelled

2007-08-24T16:59:00.000+05:30

Time travel has always intrigued me. Be it Einstein's Theory of Relativity, which states that the faster you travel, the slower time moves, or HG Wells' Time Machine, the possibility of time travel itself is exciting!

Let me share the result of my recent thought experiments:
We know from our physics textbooks that the faster you travel, the slower time moves. i.e., if you travel faster than the speed of light, you can travel back in time. Find it difficult to believe? Here's how:
Imagine that you are taking off from the earth in a super speed rocket. For simplicity's sake, imagine that your body itself is the rocket and you are moving away from the earth, into space. After moving several million miles into space away from earth, you reach the speed of light, and move forward at that constant speed. Now, at the precise moment (lets call this z)when you achieved the speed of light, certain light beams emitted by the earth were right next to you i.e., you were neck to neck with those light particles, which portrayed a scene of the earth at time n. Lets call this scene s. In the next one second, you have travelled 300,000 kms which is the speed of light. The scene s has also travelled the same distance with you! So it you look at the earth at z + 1 seconds, you see the same scene that you would have seen at z! This is because the scene has moved with you! If you continue to move at the same speed, you continue to see the same scene! Its as if time has stopped!
Let me extend this thought experiment further. Imagine you are travelling at twice the speed of light. Now, as you move ahead, you are overtaking the light particles! So, at z+1, you will watch a scene that is equivalent to z - 1. If you continue at this speed, you will progressively overtake light particles and will progressively watch the scenes in reverse! Which means, you will see the earth rotate from west to east! IT'S AS IF YOU ARE TRAVELLING BACK IN TIME!

Are you with me so far? Good! Now let me introduce a twist in the tale. All this while, I told you that you were moving away from the earth. Imagine now that you spontaneously turn around and move toward the earth. As you move toward the earth (say faster than the speed of light), the light particles overtake you. This means you again see the earth moving from east to west, but at a faster rate than what the physics text books say. i.e., if a is the moment of time when you turned around spontaneously, at a+1, you will see the scene from a+2! The faster you move toward the earth, the faster these scenes will hit you. The earth will now appear to whir rapidly from east to west. Its as if you are catching up with the backlog of time (remember - you were moving back in time till now). Its as if you are moving forward in time! By the time you are back on earth, you are at that precise moment that you would have been, had you not undertaken your space odyssey! (This is an important result, as it resolves the grandfather paradox - we will get back to this later).

Let me now extend the second part of the above experiment further. We have noticed that when you moved toward the earth faster than light, you moved forward in time. So, instead of moving toward the earth, had you moved toward the Andromeda galaxy, you would have been moving forward in time with respect to the Andromeda Galaxy! Which means behind your back you were moving back in time and on the front, you were moving forward in time! This sounds absurd, how is it that the same person can move both forward and backward in time at the same time? Actually, its not that absurd. Imagine a line connecting points E and A. Now, imagine you are an ant walking along that line, from E towards A. As you walk from E to A, you move away from E and towards A. Wow! This means behind your back you are moving away from E and on the front, you are moving toward A! See the connect between moving from E to A and Earth to Andromeda Galaxy??

You still with me? Good. Now for some complications.

We have described what happens when we move in a straight line. What if, instead of moving away from the earth, you moved around the earth, circling it? With one complete circumnavigation, you are back at the same point where you started. So, you moved away from point X and moved toward point X, at once! So when you land back at X, are you ahead in time? Or have you moved back in time? The answer is neither! You will actually be in the present i.e., where you would have been had you not traveled at all! That’s for another post!

Confusing? Its actually quite simple. Remember that in our earlier example, we moved away from the earth in a straight line and turned around to move back in a straight line. The result, you were back where you were supposed to be. Effectively, you moved, turned, returned, completing a loop. A circumnavigation of the earth is also a loop! Its just that instead of moving in a thin oblong loop, you have now moved in a wider, elliptical loop! So, you started from Mumbai, India, moved west until you hit say Mexico, and returned. Just that instead of retracing the path, you instead continued around the earth! So, how is that different from our oblong loop? Not convinced? Let me explain further. We have established that as we move away from a given spot, we move back in time and as we move toward a given spot, we move ahead in time. If you are starting from point X on the equator in your world tour, as you move away from it, you are moving back in time vis-à-vis point X. After you are halfway around the earth, if you continue moving along the equator, you are in effect moving toward X. Which means, you are moving ahead in time vis-à-vis X! With every step that you take towards X, you cancel out the time lag and catch up with time, such that when you reach X, you are exactly at the moment that you would have been, had you not moved at all!

Now back to the grandfather paradox of time travel that I said is resolved. This is the grandfather paradox: imagine I travel back in time and kill my grandfather. Since my grandfather is dead, there is no way that I could have been born. If I was not born at all, then how did I go back in time and kill my grandfather in the first place? So, if I did not kill my grandfather, then I am born and hence can go back in time to kill the grandfather! The loop continues. From our explanation above, we have demonstrated that you can only “view” the past, but not affect it! This means, you can go back in time and see your grandfather, but can’t shake hands with him. The same holds for your grandfather – he can see you, but can’t hug you! Can you hear what he is saying? My guess is you can’t. Neither can you smell the aroma of the rich coffee he is brewing on the stove.

I do not know if my theories above stand up to the scrutiny of the equations and theories of higher physics. This thought experiment has however, given an incomparable joy…. the kind of joy that I experienced when I tallied my first balance sheet. Is this close to ananda???

Bullet is a Bullet is a Bullet

2007-08-24T10:12:00.001+05:30

Can't but stop ogling at my new dream machine - a full blooded Bullet! Its a gleaming black and chrome Royal Enfield Motors Electra 5S. We call it Gudugu, which means thunder in Kannada. Have done 2000 kms in about 40 days. Watch this space for more on Gudugu. Till then, happy riding. Gudugudugudugudugudugu....

Time travel, space time and the works

2007-08-09T10:50:00.000+05:30

Meenal has lent me a wonderful book: Hyperspace by Michio Kaku. This is probably the most thought provoking book that I've read in recent times. Thanks Meenal, for introducing me to this book that has caused me to sit up, think, ask tons of questions and find the answers.

In this book, Michio Kaku simplifies such heavy technical concepts as space - time curve, quantum physics, quarks, mesons, bosons etc., and puts them within the grasp of the common man. If he could make a technically challenged person like me understand concepts of higher physics, then anyone else can understand them too.

This book in a way explains and proves concepts that our rishis have spelt out in the shastras aeons ago, though without any direct reference. A few, which are my personal favourites:
... purnasya purnamadaya purnamevava shishyate...
Purna can be roughly translated as 'the whole', the translation being a far cry from the true meaning. Purna is the whole, the all encompassing ... the everything. In that sense, purna is nothing but the universe, because the universe is the whole, the all encompassing, the everything. Now, a translation of the verse would be: "if you remove the whole from the whole, the whole remains!" That is, if you remove the universe from the universe, you are left with the universe! Which means that if you step out of the universe, you have a universe! Another universe??? Out pops the concept of parallel universes in different dimensions!

You thought that the Big Bang was propounded by the modern western physicists??? Nah! Our shastras have this to describe the origin of the universe:
... hiranya garbhat samavartatagre...
which translates as "arising from the golden womb"... everything emerged from that one mass of energy / matter (hiranyagarbha)

How did our ancient rishis discover these concepts? Thats in a later installment. Watch this space.

Om shantih shantih shantih!!!

What lies beyond the universe?

2007-07-22T15:17:00.000+05:30

Physicists and mystics galore have pondered over the question perennial “what lies beyond the universe?” Why did this question come up? Simply because we imagine the universe to be “in” something, to be part of something. There is something beyond the fish because you imagine the fish to be “in” something… in water.
Let me take a different view here… instead of thinking that the universe is in something, what if we took the approach that the universe is “the” thing, the universe is everything…
The question of what lies beyond the universe now sounds so out of place and irrelevant… stupid even!
Profound!!!!

The importance of bai...

2006-05-28T11:23:00.000+05:30

It will be a foolish DINK (Double Income no Kid) or SINOS (Single Income no Spouse) that will deny the importance of a bai – the ubiquitous maid – who dominates our very lives. More so in a place like Mumbai where the local train jostles to dominate your life and very being, thus adding to your woes.

The bai determines what you wear (or do not wear!), when you wake up and when you leave for work. The bai who does the cleaning and washing at my place – an otherwise efficient lady – suddenly decided to absent herself for two straight days. Result: a distraught me had to do the clothes and dishes myself. To my great relief, she reappeared after two days. Noticing that I had done the clothes, she asked incredulously “tum kapda dhoya?” Yes ma’am, I prefer to use as little deo as possible, thank you!

Being fascinated by figures the way I am, here is a bit of statistical trivia: there is a 1.0 correlation between the time my bai comes in to work and the time that I reach office. Sample this: the bai ten minutes late to work, I get delayed to work by ten minutes. The bai decides to skip work, I get delayed by anywhere from one to three hours for work. [Author’s observation: that’s because I oversleep, not because I am doing the work myself]

That brings me to the topic of the importance of local trains in a Mumbaikar’s life. But that’s another story, and another blog. Watch this space.

Maa nishaada..

2006-05-27T17:56:00.000+05:30

These immortal words from the opening verse of that epic of epics Ramayana come to mind as I muse on the materiality of mundane existence. Not because my inner voice - that little fellow who sits on my shoulder by my ear whispering things with a mind of his own - tells me to do goodly deeds, but more from a sense of putting a lazy saturday afternoon to better use than lounging in front of my PC and surfing arbit sites.

Nearly a third of a century and a couple of inches hairline hence, the mind, like that of countless young people (I take the liberty of calling myself young!), continues to look for the all elusive wowsecond similar to Rishi Valmiki's witnessing the heartless killing of the krauncha bird couple that led to an outpouring of anguish and the consquent composition of the Ramayana.

And then, as the dark clouds lift from the heart, a story long forgotten and filed away in some deep corner of the brain flashes. It is the story of a little girl who cried 'wow!' when a gust of breeze wafted off her pretty balloon to the heavens. A flood of memories rush in, each a wowsecond, a sliver of life when all else but the beauty of life is forgotten. Like the rainy afternoon last July, while walking along the Worli seaface thinking depressing thoughts about the long evening of work ahead, a large wave crashed against the seawall, bursting spray all over me; in the wowsecond that followed, my eyes opened to notice a bunch of urchins jump with joy as each crashing wave drenched them in surf, a family with the car parked by the roadside enjoying the strong gusts and the occasional spray from a distance, the early evening sun no more than a silver plate through thick clouds....

Many such memories from my yet short life jostle for space... I turn on the music, playing hits from the movie Rang de Basanti, and turn around for a serious chat with my colleague about this assignment that we are working on in the office...