Looking back

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Back in Mumbai, I often went off to Marine Drive to recharge, it was something about the sparkling little diamonds in the sea I usually thought that gave me peace. But only when I went off to Taiwan I realised it was also the clear, beautiful, horizon above the sea, uncluttered with cement and concrete that put me at ease. For the first time in my life just driving around from home to work was so beautiful. One could see the sky stretching endlessly from the windscreen beyond the buildings. Although Houli was just a small town in Taiwan, it would surpass Bombay anyday in terms of development and infrastructure.

It wasn’t just the external beauty of the place that made Taiwan such a memorable experience but also the simplicity and purity of thought of the people that makes me want to go back and visit the place. The concept of dignity of labour very much existed in practice in Houli, wherein the family I lived in dined with their domestic helpers and factory workers on the same table, in the same space. And my home-father even cooked me breakfast and served us food at times. Never have I seen such humility in our own country and I was pleasantly surprised because the people I was living with were probably the richest in that town.


ps: Shayne Rana and me have qualified in the Top 10 in 'The Wanderers' contest.I am super excited! So far we have got 150 votes and are at fourth place, the competition is getting fierce. I hope we win!

If you'd like to vote or spread the word, this is the link: https://apps.facebook.com/wanderer-voting/OR           http://tinyurl.com/6btekfg


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Vote for me!

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You can vote here: http://apps.facebook.com/freakytraveller/?voteprofile=236796117

I won't make long false promises if I get selected but I promise to keep this blog more alive and updated than it has been in the recent past. Click on that link, and vote, go, NOW!

Update: Did not make it to The Freaky Traveller but perhaps I am not meant to travel around alone and one is blessed to have such a good companion to experience each other's life with, right? :)

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Lalbaugh Cha Raja (Ganpati Utsav)

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I was born on Ganpati Chaturthi twenty-five years ago. So you see, I have a special connection with the dear one. I am sort of partial to Ganpati, the Lord of prosperity and good fortune. Every year I thought, I should go see the Lalbaugh Ganpati this year but I never got around to doing it. People come from far off lands to just get a glimpse of this mighty statue at Lalbaugh, waiting for hours on end. My friend told me that people who wish for a mannat stand in a seperate special queue for atleast 15 hours.

Almost there: people trying to take pictures from their mobile phones as they are pushed ahead.
So this year when a family friend said she had special passes to see Lalbaughcha Raja, I jumped at the opportunity. The whole place to the surrounding road was under heavy supervision of military men dressed in blue, cops and traffic police trying to manage the thousands and thousands of people standing in the queues.We left at 10a.m., we stood in the VIP line for barely fifteen minutes and there we were, in front of the famous Lalbaughcha Ganpati. I had goosebumps when I finally saw the majestic statue, part of me also wanted to cry.


I felt dizzy when I was finally pushed out of the queue, you had to keep moving. After all the line behind me only kept increasing. As I walked out with the several others, some sobbing, some trying to get back in, some   grinning broadly, I felt a little dizzy. Either it was the effect of the holy experience or the overcrowded space or both.  But I have ticked yet another thing off my bucket list. Ganpati Bappa Morya!


Note: The birth of the son of Lord Shiva and Parvati is an interesting story for people who don't already know. It's something I remember from an old episode I saw on TV and the Amar Chitra Katha books I read as a child. Parvati collected the sandalwood paste she used prior to bathing on her body and breathed life into it, Ganpati, also known as Ganesha was born. She asked him to keep guard while she took her bath, so when Shiva arrived a little later, Ganpati didn't let him in. That's when Shiva unknowingly severed Ganesha's head and hence he has the head of an elephant.

http://www.lalbaugcharaja.in/

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Lunar Eclipse from Nehru Planetarium, Worli

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                                                                                                On a regular day, post a swim at Mafatlal Bath Club, my friend and me would have headed back to our respective homes. But this was the day of the Lunar Eclipse, which last happened 40 years ago! Who knows how long you're going to live and why wait for another 40 years right? So we decided to head out to Nehru Planetarium at half past eleven.                                                 
The next thing we are at the staircase opposite Nehru Planetarium, where telescopes were set up for the public. We had a very kind and patient gentleman, who gave us gyaan about what an umbra and penumbra shadows are, bringing back flashes of scientific diagrams from school. Wiki link for umbra and penumbra here.
About the experience of it all? There was a telescope alright, but there were also a fairly decent number of excited people. We tried to weasel our way to where the scholars had setup their equipment and we did get partially lucky with the binoculars and viewfinder of a camera, attached to a telescope, capturing images. Unfortunately, I forgot my own camera, so all you get is a picture taken from my phone.  
Taken on June 16th, 2011 at 12:06 (IST)
Just a blob of light in an otherwise extremely cloudy sky, taken at earlier stages of the eclipse.

My dad asked me not to go, "why don't you just watch it on TV beta?". And I'm so glad, that I didn't listen to him. Sorry Dad. But it was worth the trip. We were standing under the heavily clouded sky for two hours patiently (11:30- 1:30 a.m.), gaping as the eclipse moved in from the left over the moon, while the clouds moved in from the right. Everytime the sky would clear out even partially, there were shouts and random hands pointing, "See! Do you see that? There!".  
There were sudden bursts of showers during which we were offered refuge under strangers umbrellas twice, which stopped in minutes. The anticipation of the cloud cover clearing and the atmosphere buzzing with people of all ages plus TV crews from various News Channels, while people sang rain songs, cracked jokes and shared umbrellas made it all worth it.
There were quite a few children, and they just kept amusing me. I overheard one telling the bunch of kids encircling him in Gujarati, while peering through a telescope, "What no moon? What eclipse? If we are not going to be able to see it, why don't they tell us. What timepass!"

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The first hail in my journeys

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A shower is all it takes for spontaneity
It also justifies madness.
Singing and dancing,
jumping in the dirt.

A shower lifts up your spirits.
You close your eyes,
you breathe in the smell,
of the wet earth and of flowers.

You let the drops hit you,
 lightly at first, and then
the water slaps you,
washing you with mirth.


Don't be fooled by the water.
It showers overwhelming emotions.
It can mend broken hearts.
While the breeze caresses you,
and wet clothes stick to your skin.

The first piece of hail on your palms.
You stare at the cold, solid form at first.
Then touch it and you jump again
and scream and watch it melt.

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