Side effects of rain:)
Beautiful interesting umbrellas!
Beautiful interesting umbrellas!
Shot in Mcleodganj, Himachal Pradesh
Taken at a small but popular restaurant in Bangalore, this is how I see life! We in the center, waiting, wondering while elements keep moving around us, not really pausing for anything or anyone!
Daurala is a place close to my heart and the camera! A frequent visitor to this place, I am happy walking around the streets taking pictures as I like… the people are friendly, and it has a typical energy that I like being a part of…
He might have died yesterday, however he is going to be around for as long as time stays! For as long as people would be
Dev Anand is not going to sign any new autographs for sure, but what he did is going to remain!
Forever!
And if I talk about myself, Dev Anand’s golden collection from HMV is going to be playing in my car every single time I drive back home from long drives! I call it the “driving home” music! I would not even know where to start from when it comes to selecting a favorite, however here is one that seems apt today!!
He said, D. Ram (and that he was a South Indian) D for Dashrath, and then improvised and said D.A.Ram for Dashrath Ayodhya Ram (and we could go on from there)
and then we got into a more serious discussion about when did we Indians started using sir-names or like a lot of people call them, last names!
From how I see it, Indians probably had last names for a very long time, however they were not being used very often because no artifacts being created for the names… no forms were being filled, no admissions happened with paper trails, or salaries being distributed with signed forms… and a lot of people had salutations being used instead of last names!
I could immediately think of second names of any characters that I know from the past except maybe Tulsi – Das? Kabir also had a second name, but I cannot remember it right now, and he was mostly referred to as Sant Kabir!
Yudhisthir, Ram, Lakshman, Ravan, Krishn, Bhardwaj, Dronacharya, Parashuram, Akbar, Birbal, Babar, and so on are a few names out of the many that I remember and none have a popular second name reference that I know of… they have salutations though!
I now recall some names from history, like Sher Shah Suri, Bahadur Shad Zafar, Jalal ud-din Mohammad Akbar. Akbar was more popular by his Last name, so to speak, and was the son of Mohammad Humayun (Complete Title : “Al-Sultan al-‘Azam wal Khaqan al-Mukarram, Jam-i-Sultanat-i-haqiqi wa Majazi, Sayyid al-Salatin, Abu’l Muzaffar Nasir ud-din Muhammad Humayun Padshah Ghazi“). Humayun’s father Babar, had a rather easy complete name, Zahir ud-din Muhammad Jalal ud-din Babur. So it seems to me that Mughals were also using some sort of salutation and the reference to Mohammad in their names!
As far as Hindu kings and emperors go, I remember some names like Chandragupta Maurya, however there are multiple views on his last name Maurya and his origin, however he is referred to mostly as Chandragupta only. Another name is Hemu Chandra Vikramaditya!!!
I spent a little more time reading about these names and people and seems like while the second names, or sir names, or Family names ( either before or after the name) have been there for centuries, they have not been very popular in the locals, or maybe they were! We would not know someone who is not that popular from history anyway!
With the coming of English to India, I think paper trails were introduced, documentation and collection of artifacts and forms started which made the use of second/sir names a much popular and now indispensable norm!
Thoughts?
For a long time my take on history was what the first few lines of this song are 🙂 with time, I have realized that I do care more than what I used to !!!
2. If you reach office early, let’s say before 8 or at times 7:30 am and also leave early
3. If you, when it gets hot, walk around with your t-shirt on your shoulders instead of wearing it
4. If you feel that a horn is an unnecessary part of an automobile
5. If you wear a t-shirt (polo style) with trousers and a formal leather belt and formal shoes
Or if you wear a tshirt(polo style) with short(formal looking) with a formal leather belt and sports or casual shoes
6. You wonder how people live in these countries every single time someone talks to you about India or China or Sri Lanka. And would have a never ending list of things which are not good about India and a longer never ending list of how everything can be resolved
7. If you do not associate Asia with India and visa versa! Asians are Chinese! Indians are Pakistani! and Pakistani are Indian! Bangadeshi and Sri Lankans ! well, Indians again!
8. If you fail to understand why the traffic moves at an average of 50 kmph in countries like India
9. If your footpaths are now called CURBS, if your washbasin taps are now called FAUCETS, if the policemen are now called cops! oh no! not cops, but KHAAPS (read it like PAAP in Hindi), if your taxis are now called CABS
10. If a burger or a sandwich can be treated as lunch
11. If you look for a fat free sign on almost everything that you buy from the grocery store. And one thing that you will always find in your fridge is “I can’t believe its not butter”.
12. If your kitchen does not have a door
13. If you have a panic attack if you cannot find a tissue roll in your bathroom even though there is a perfectly nice and shining mug kept there
14. The only way to take a bath that you know is a shower. You don’t know what to do with a bucket and a mug
15. If you don’t know that touching elder’s feet is a way of expressing respect like nothing else
16. If you don’t stare at cleavages and legs in aww
17. If you don’t look around before a lip kiss and after
18. If you start living in today, and not the past and not the future
19. If your requests for credit cards are getting rejected because of a bad credit history
20. If you are ok with paying for incoming phone calls and text messages
21. If you have a pair of running shoes, a pair of walking shoes, a pair of hiking shoes, a pair of office shoes, a pair of casual shoes along some specific running shorts, swimming shorts, walking shorts, casual shorts, short shorts, long shorts and so on…
22. If you have a mp3 player “with” an arm band
23. If you like to eat a cheese burger with diet coke
24. AND, if you stop missing a Chai ki Dukaan at the road side on the highways, or shall we call them Freeways!
What is the relevance of the picture? nothing! I just happen to like the color in there!
There are people who speak English ridiculously, and some who have a horrible accent, or have a very very very heavy MTI (Mother Tongue Influence) but guess what !!! It does not matter, till you can “communicate” well !!!
I say, forget about how well you can speak English, and how many bigg words you know… just think of how well you communicate… rest does not really matter !!!
One of my meetings today was chaired by a lady from China, had 5 Indians from Gharwal, Punjab, Maharashtra, UP and Madras, and all the Americans had a different accent too !!! still the meeting went super well !!!
English, after all, is no BIG DEAL !!!
Stop your brother, sister, relative, father, son, friend from doing something that is not right! Make a genuine attempt to give something back to the country, by at-least following some simple rules and basic manners!
I hope things would change, but I am scared too!
Thats how I am… I think everyone else too… But then its a generalization and is completely subject to individual opinion and perceptions…
Having said that, I find it strange and still struggle with doing something my way, and accepting the same thing when someone else does it !!!
In simpler words, when I act in a certain way, or behave in a specific manner, I find it fine and want it to be acceptable, however when someone else does the same thing, I raise a question, I judge, I reach a conclusion about the other person, I stop talking, I shut them up and other things….
And it only gets interesting and harder to handle, when I am talking to someone like me 🙂
The first meeting was over even before it started, or atleast it felt like how it was… but still it was long enough for each of them to hold on to something till they meet next… though both of them were not sure when would that really happen… or if that will even happen or not…
They waited…
They laughed…
They fought…
They expected…
They Got…
They were irritated…
They were strong…
They had a faith…
which was to last for long…
They missed…
They cared…
They wanted to say a lot, but none of them dared…
Something they said, some they left just like that…
Time was slower then it usually is, for the period they were away from each other… But like time is expected to, it did pass !!!
Things happened, both bad and good…
And time just passed… with that strong thin thread, which both of them kept holding on to…
And today !
Its a different day…
They are not two people anymore… they are a couple…
He is not a boy anymore… he is a husband…
She is not a girl anymore… She is a wife…
That thin thread has survived the test of time, and it has only grown stronger !!!
Life has a new meaning today… Brilliant !!!
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Things to do when you are not too well :
So the sunday morning well spent @ Tuglaqabad fort… followed by a session of Hindi Scrabble at the Saket Barista !!!
Absolute fun… its only when I was back that I realized how low on energy I was…
2. A couple of short and long naps during the day
3. Buy a Cycle ! Yes… I bought a cycle, A Hercules MTB; 6 gears, and drove it to home through the small streets enjoying the zip, while Aro, the actual owner of the new cycle followed me in a car 😀
4. Be; Do what you like, what makes you feel better, and try and not feel too bad about things around !!!
5. Buy pearl necklaces for Mom…
6. Meet someone who without any selfish interest says something about you that makes a lot of sense… and then says it about Aro, and leaves us speechless !
7. Fight with one of your best friends over smallest of things like why is it that he cannot sit properly while eating, and why he has to laugh when you are feeling so low
8. Discuss Hitler, Jews, Kite Runner, Red Bands (Read Ray Bans), and lots more !!!
9. Hope for a great day the next day !!
and did I mention that I got clicked too 🙂 here is a picture clicked by a dear friend… Though I am not very happy with my expressions here, but I love the presentation and the details !!!
You might want to check some more of her work HERE.
We had filled in the forms the previous night to enter the park so did not have much to do in the morning except wake up on time, have a quick cup of tea, and rush to the gypsy which was ready to rock and roll… Manoj was our driver, and he looked like a pretty quiet fella, and he turned out to be one lost character too… too bad, but never mind…
So we were at the Kisli Gate around 0600 hrs, the main gate had already opened, and we were let in quickly… 3 kms later was the main gate of the park, which is where a route and an essential guide is assigned to the gypsy…. Our park guide for the day was Dinesh Kumar Soni… a young but enthusiastic fella… was ok with admitting that he was in the second layer of the guides, but this enthu and nature made up more than enough for some lack of knowledge… not that we were taking notes anyway…
Kanha is full of Saal Trees… and here is a small point of view about Saal..
Sau Saal Khada
Sau Saal Pada
Sau Saal Sada
Stands for 100 yrs, lies does for another 100 and takes 100 more to decay…
This is the same tree, wood from which was used to make a base for the railway lines sometime back, which is now replaced by concrete and iron…
So we moved around the park on the route number 10 looking at animals, trees, dust, listening to many birds stopping and moving and stopping and moving…
In the center of the park (The Kanha Side) we took a break, had breakfast and also registered for the Tiger Show… At a fee of 100 rs. per head you are taken to a spot where tiger is seen, and then you climb the elephant back and go into the bushes to have a face to face with the jungle CAT….
We did too… and when I saw the tiger, I was hoping that he does not look at me, because I could sense the attitude in his eyes and I was having mixed feelings of excitement, fear, nervousness etc etc… but it was really sad to see how the Elephants were made to chase the tiger to make sure people who have paid get to see the tiger… and this poor animal only kept running around to avoid the crowd.. but then how can we step back… we are known to bully when the other person is backing off… so all the gypsy drivers, the 4 mahauts were after this poor guys life… I only wonder what would happen if the TIGER decides to charge… on second thoughts, this tiger show is generating a lot of revenue for the park which I feel is essential, and is also helping the park give employment to loads of local people around…. I feel a balance is what needs to be made though, these wild cats needs their space and independence and should not be bothered like I saw… it hurts…
Our Safari finished by 1200 hrs, and we were back in the resort by 1230 hrs… all covered in dust, the first thing I noticed when I entered the resort was the swimming pool… and I knew what I was going to do next… so a rushed walk to the room, and a even more rushed walk to the pool… and 45 minutes of fun… Even managed to have the hippo who walks like an elephant to take a bath in the pool… And Aro loved it too 😀
Had some real good lunch and slept but not before we planned to get up around 1600 hrs to take a hike into the jungle to a few nearby villages… but we managed to wake up only by 1530 hrs and obviously the plans to walk around were to be canceled…
At tea, we met Mr. Pramod Singh who manages Foreign traffic to Kanha and is a active member of loads of wildlife clubs and has been an avid trekker himself… He also suggested that he could join us for the safari next morning, which did sound like a good idea…
We had tea and got talking to a few people around the resort, one of which was a driver called Dilip, the elder brother of Manoj… Dilip had been around for a while, and that small 30 minute conversation with him was full of many interesting stories about the tigers and other wild cats making rounds of places… it was a very very interesting half hour of the trip… and then he suddenly decided to give us a night safari, and we left the resort around 1900 hrs… and kept driving around till 2130 hrs in the dark… did not see many animals but the sky was obviously wonderful, and the dark interesting…
Were finally back and decided to eat quickly and call it a day, to wake up early and be the first in the queue. Told Mr. Singh that we would be ready by 0515 hrs…
So next morning we indeed were ready by 0515 hrs, and left only to realized that we were a li’il too early for the gates to open… We still were the 3rd gypsy in the queue, filled the forms and managed to reach the main Kisli gate around 0545 hrs… I think the route number today was 14… Manoj was at his lost best, and the guide even though knew a lot, was put off by a few remarks made by Mr. Pramod when we started the safari…
Highlights of the day were Bisons, some spotted deer, the barking deer, and some foreigners with loads of 1Ds and L Series lenses… I think that group of 4 had 2 EOS 1D each loaded with L series lenses of different focal lengths… phew !!!
The second day, Aro and me agreed was more or less of a waste in the jungle… and I guess to compensate we ate like wild animals at lunch… whoever said that eat light when you are traveling may please go to HELL 😀
so a stomach full as full is, and a body not ready to move, we checked out of the Mogli Resorts and rushed to catch the 1330 hrs bus, but only to realize that it had already left… and the next bus was about an hour later…
This bus ride was also very interesting as expected…
We changed the bus at Mandla again, which reach Jabalpur around 2000 hrs with one pitstop at Narainkunj…
So here we were in Jabalpur, with an open plan… we could stay back in Jabalpur and go to Duandhar the next morning and then move to Piparia and to Pachmadi (where we planned to stay for the next two days) or we could go to Piparia straightaway and go to Pachmadi the next morning… we knew that Piparia was about 4 hours away by train and decided to take the Overnight express (Jabalpur to Bhopal; leaves Jabalpur @ 2300 hrs and reaches Bhopal at 0615 hrs)…
We check the availability and then moved to the booking clerk (with the train number this time) who suggested that we could take the ticket from the counter at the station itself in about an hours time… This is when Aro realized that he had dropped his mobile and we rushed to the bus stand only to search the bus without any success… not too good an incident, but we could not really do much about it… so we let it be…
Came back to the station, took the tickets for the overnight, and then asked one of the guys at the counter about a decent place to have dinner and he was kind enough to walk us to the restaurant… We had our food without much talking as we were pretty tired and were only waiting for the clock to strike 11…
We finally boarded the train, and found out that the train leaves Piparia at 0230 hrs which was definitely not a convenient time to reach any new station… but the thought of doing something of that sort was exciting enough for us to change our minds anyway… and so we slept… only to be woken up by the kind hearted TC at 0130 hrs ( so about an hour and half of sleep) because the train had already reached Piparia…
We quickly walked out of the coach thinking that the stoppage was quick there, but looks like the train reached there well before time and was only waiting to leave at its scheduled time… so we sat on the platform bench, thinking if we should sleep on the platform itself ( which honestly did NOT seem to be a bad idea) or walk around and find a hotel… after a lousy cup of tea, some odomos rubbing on the arms to avoid the killer mosquitoes, and some serious thinking later we decided to walk around the town to find a hotel for ourselves 🙂
It did turn out to be a very good idea because it did not take us much hardships to find a decent, rather more than decent Alka Hotel with an AC room for 400 bucks a night… its a different story that i twisted my ankle bad enough to almost scream in pain in the middle of a desert lane in a town which was sleeping silently at that hour 🙂
So here we were… Piparia, Hotel Alka, Room number 203, AC on.. and a TV and we talking again.. God when would these conversations finish… I don’t know when I slept and when Aro did, or who slept first… all I remember is waking up the next morning, all fresh and happy happy…
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Now some travel information
Safari Costs:
900 per gypsy (Morning Safari; 0600 hrs to 1200 hrs)
700 per gypsy( Evening Safari; 1600 hrs to Sunset about 2 hours usually)
Entry per gypsy : Rs. 650 (500 entry charges + 150 guide fees)
Gates open 0600 hrs in the morning
Approximate per night expenditure in Kanha : Rs. 1200 per head to 1800 per head depending on the place you are staying in…
Kanha to Mandla : Rs. 36
Mandle to Jabalpur : Rs. 50
Jabalpur to Piparia ( 3rd AC ) : Rs. 300 something…
To Do:
Carry water
Carry Dust Brush
Cover Your Camera to save it from the dust when you are not using it
Enjoy the jungle and the sounds ( They are more then enough to make you fall in love with the place)
Ask questions (thats what the guide is there for)
Do Nots
Avoid Changing lenses ( Carry two cameras instead)
Avoid throwing stuff on the road or walking on the road except the designated areas
And blah and blah and blah…
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What happens the day we wake up in Piparia is pretty interesting… and I am happy it happened the way it happened… so watch this page for more…
Till then… ROAR !!!!
While eating my favorite Doritos and having Litchi Juice in a Pint Glass i write this post…
I am talking about a small plant with yellow flowers that i got for my room sometime back… the instructions said that i need to ensure that the soil is damp and moist and that it needs water once a week… i read the instructions and was happy to see the yellow flowers everyday in my room…
now what happens day before yesterday is that i come home and for some reason i had to change the place where i had kept this small plant… and i realised that it was dying… the stems were loose, the flowers dull, and leaves almost giving up…
i felt so bad about it and added some water quickly to it… maybe because the room is pretty warm the water had evaporated earlier than usual… but for whatever reasons, i was loosing my lovely yellow flower plant…
i checked it yesterday, and it was better… and today its looks as if its kinda improving… i hope it lives for some more time…
It forced me to think, as if it needs a trigger, but still, about people… don’t we at times treat people like i treated this plant… they are good, we feel nice that they are there, we look at them feel good, they are around we feel happy… but miss out on that small attention that they need to stay that way… and also wonder when we loose people as to what went wrong…
I think that staying alone has made me more sensitive towards people that I care for, and at the same time makes me want more from people who I feel should take care of me… No, I am not looking for attention here, not at all… I can manage pretty well on my own… and am doing that too…
the crux of the post, that i wanted to write about, is that this incident just reminded me to do something, however small it may seem, for things that give me something… and not because i am returning a favor… but because I should…
And lights are coming up slowly all around… the one above are being put up on Lamp-posts in Horley, where I live…