Smart phone away

Yes, the relief of finishing four years of engineering! The external project demonstration was the last step towards graduating with a B. E. degree. Then came the realisation that it was time to bid goodbye to our dearest friends who made so many memories with us in these four years which we will never erase!
It was half-heartedly that I decided to escape the pain of parting by travelling to my native place with my mother. I believed that the monsoon in Kerala and the joy of meeting relatives would help me forget that I will miss my friends, at least for a few days.
At 10:30 AM on the day before yesterday, we arrived at 'Ammath' - which translates to 'Mother's house'. My grandfather who is now 86, has trouble remembering things. At least three times in a day, he asks me what I am studying, which is a relief considering that he usually forgets that he has any grandchildren at all! I spent the rest of the day recovering from the fatigue of travelling and catching up with friends on WhatsApp.
It was a mild shock when I realised that my phone charger was not working. I erupted like a volcano and caused discomfort to everybody around. It is only after some careful thinking that I came to my senses and accepted it as a blessing in disguise.
A good night's sleep did me a great deal of good. I decided to kick start the day after posting an update on Facebook about the present scenario, using my mother's phone. It helped deprive me of the guilt of not responding to any messages.
It was rather ironic that we had a homa (pooja) here yesterday, meant to ask God to bless my grandfather with a long life. Every now and then, he says he is feeling all alone, he is going to die soon and makes some far-fetched requests - to hit him with a stick and kill him! "One foot in the grave" is how he describes his condition.
Amidst all these, one of my mother's many cousins arrived at home. He was in charge of executing the Mruthyunjaya (winning against death) homa to perfection. I do not remember seeing him before and was awestruck that he remembers my name. Some sort of peace lingered on in the air after the completion of the pooja. It was a good sign that my grandfather sat quietly throughout the proceedings.
I ventured to enjoy the closeness to nature by stepping outside for a while. Everything that unfolded in front of my eyes made me want to click photographs and make my friends jealous. The pond, the 'Ayyappan kaavu' cloistered amidst trees with beautiful white flowers, made me feel so lucky I was here rather than anywhere else in the world. I was dreaming about building a house and spending the rest of my life here, a prospect that delighted my grandmother. It was interesting to be stared at by a mongoose, which seemed to look for signs of familiarity on my face for a couple of minutes.
Later, the single worry on my mind disappeared when I bought a charger for my phone from the nearby town. I was back on WhatsApp before the day ended, finding pleasure in reading few messages which seemed to indicate some people missed me slightly. The fascinating conversations my mother and her sister had about their school days and the hearty laughter took my mind off the phone too! My grandfather clearly remembers the days long gone by, when elders forbade him from educating his daughters. We have clearly come a long way, haven't we?

Expedition to heaven

  

  It was a fitting end to the year 2011, an unforgettable journey to the north eastern state of Sikkim and parts of West Bengal. The flight from Bangalore to Kolkata takes a little more than 2 hours, notwithstanding minor delays. Once we landed there, there was enough time on our hands to have a look around this iconic city which has an old-world charm to it. The taxi ride to see the Howrah Bridge is a nice way to get a feel of the city which has been familiarized to us through nostalgic accounts by journalists and the like. There were trams slowly chugging through the busy streets. We did not forget to try some Bengali sweets on our way back to the airport. The airport at Bagdogra, situated in North Bengal is the closest to the state of Sikkim. Vehicles can be arranged to take people from here to Pelling, one of the biggest tourist destinations in Sikkim after the capital city of Gangtok. It is a pleasant journey through the narrow roads on the hills and we arrived at the hotel sometime after 10 PM that night.

  We reveled in the awe inspiring spectacle that surrounded us, in the morning. The sight seeing was off to a great start, our first stop being a rock garden. The road is aligned with plenty of orange trees. The Kanchenjunga falls became a beautiful backdrop for pictures with the rainbow spread across the falls. The walk to the holy Khecheopalri Lake, with a temple on its bank and a monastery on the way, is truly awe-inspiring. After the luncheon which lasted for an hour or so, we were off to explore the Rabdentse ruins. Rabdentse was the ancient capital of Sikkim and this site, which is under the Archaeological Survey of India, housed the ruins of the palace etc. The view from atop the ruins is breathtaking. Pemayangtse monastery was our penultimate stop for the day. The helipad, more of a tourist spot, is a photographer’s delight. Darkness sets in by 5:30 PM, which means sight seeing is over for the day.

  We reached Gangtok in time for lunch the next day. The Teesta hydro electric power project is visible on the way. Gangtok, the city of joy, pretty much changed our impression about Sikkim. What with their winter clothing, everybody appeared very stylish! The shopping complex at Lal market is where all the shopaholics should head. The next day of our stay was devoted to visiting Tsomgo Lake and Baba mandir. This region is under the jurisdiction of the army and hence we have to get special permits. The journey towards Baba mandir took about four and a half hours and it was nothing short of excitement. It is one of the highest roads in India. We could see people working on the roads, and small villages greeted us now and then. Almost every house seemed to have a garden, or at least potted plants in front of their house. We passed near Nathu-La pass, the Indo-China border on the way. The deity at Baba mandir is Baba Harbhajan Singh, who was a military man. Everything at the temple is managed by army personnel. It is at the restaurant here that we finally tasted momos, a snack that would appeal to all people, accustomed to different tastes. The calm and serene Tsomgo Lake, at an altitude of 12,400 feet, is a treat to the eyes as well as our dazed minds. The other interesting places in and around Gangtok that we visited the next day are Bakthang falls, a park and flower exhibition centre with a rather difficult name to remember, the handloom and cottage industry under the Sikkim government and Do Dul chorten, a place of worship akin to a Japanese pagoda. We missed a visit to the institute of Tibetology as it was a public holiday. We were on our way to Darjeeling, also called the ‘Queen of hills’ soon. The excellent roads added to our experience of driving amidst splendid, tall trees and rivers. The air turned chilly as we neared Darjeeling. Sprawling tea estates and the view of Mt.Kanchenjunga at a distance are bonuses. We decided to explore the market after we had taken adequate rest. It is a whole new world out there, which gets crowded as darkness creeps in.

  We were up and about at 4 in the morning on the next day, to leave for Tiger hill, to witness the magnificent sunrise over Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. There was a huge crowd and it is with some difficulty that we managed to catch a glimpse. Batasia eco garden and the Ghoom monastery beckoned us before breakfast. The Japanese temple, along with a pagoda, tucked away amidst tall trees, is a sight to watch. The rock garden, Ava art gallery and the tea garden were some of the other tourist attractions in Darjeeling. The Tibetan refugees self help centre is situated atop a hill and houses a photograph exhibition centre, tracing its history through the times. Another visit to the market in the evening was a temptation we could not withstand.

  The final destination in our itinerary was Kalimpong. The golf club which belongs to the army, Durpin Dara monastery and some photogenic view points formed the major part of our sight seeing in Kalimpong. The pine view nursery, a private collection of cactus, was really exciting. We would have never imagined that cacti could exist in all those different shapes.

  We returned to Bangalore on New Year’s Eve. We were driven to Bagdogra airport, and then flew to Kolkata and to Bangalore. It was a truly delightful experience and only a person insensitive to the beauty, which our motherland is abundantly blessed with, would not want to go back to this tiny state tucked away in the Himalayan Mountains. Though there are many languages spoken in Sikkim, a sound knowledge of Hindi is advisable while visiting. Nepali is the official language. The cultural diversity in the least populated state of India is remarkable. There are different festivals happening in different towns of Sikkim throughout the year, which would be a wonderful opportunity to get acquainted with the culture. The ‘heaven’ that is Sikkim is enticing, leave no stone unturned to take a trip to heaven in this mortal birth.

Mouthful :D

As a teenager nearing the end of my teens, I am always wondering what it is that makes a ‘bad word’ really popular amidst adolescents. When I say a ‘bad word’, I mean something specified as vulgar slang in the dictionary. In the past decade, we have observed that these words in the English language have come out of oblivion and have attained utmost popularity.

   I would like to recount my first experience of encountering a ‘bad word’ in the English language. It happened while I was in the 8^th STD. One day, during our lunch hour, there was a chaotic situation in class, and many of my classmates seemed to be looking at a particular desk, which was supposed to be the root cause of the problem. I went up to them and enquired what is happening, not able to hide my curiosity. One of them pointed at something written in bold dark letters on the desk. I could not understand what it meant and hoped my friends would enlighten me. Someone said it was a very bad word, but no one knew what it actually meant. As I remember, the first thing that I did that day after getting back home from school was to hunt for the meaning of that word in the dictionary. I very well understood what it meant, but till today cannot hide my amazement when I hear any person uttering this word. That was about 6 years ago, and now I think even primary school going kids are familiar with these words, whose meaning does not make any sense to them.

 What strikes me as bizarre is that people resort to such words to express their fury, happiness, remorse, all alike. Teenagers are easily drawn to this way of communication because nothing seems to be easier than expressing every feeling of yours through a set of words, which are used in every context. Sentences with a sprinkling of bad words are heard everywhere these days, sometimes in the most unexpected situations. If you happen to be walking in a hurry and run into someone by mistake, chances are that you will not escape the flurry of cuss words emanating from that person! More so if that person is a college-goer. No one is spared for that matter, whether you are young or old, rich or poor.

 One of my teachers used to say that while trying to learn a new language, we always learn the bad words first. The wonderful idea of learning a new language is reduced to the unproductive purpose of enjoying one’s self by scolding another person in his own language. The one factor that seems to give bad words such an immense mass appeal, in my opinion, is the versatility wrongly associated with these words. They are used as nouns, adjectives, verbs and what not! The very fact that these words are not wholly disclosed in the print media and the visual media, who try to cover them up with beeps and *s, render them an aura of mystery, which only adds to a young mind’s urge to stock up on them.

 Gone are the days when parents were responsible for every word that their child spoke. This is the age of helpless parents, who have no say, whatsoever, in moulding their ward’s verbal skills. The concepts of ‘culture’ and ‘tradition’ have now been forgotten, at least to a small extent, or are interpreted however we choose. The number of people who have not developed the habit of hurling out curses when in the least trifling annoyance is lessening quickly enough. After all, we are human beings…. Go with the flow, they say!

Paradise on earth

The mention of the very name ‘Kashmir’ reminds us of two contrasting entities. One is the captivating beauty of the valley, which many film makers in various languages have tried to capture through their cameras throughout the years. The other is the bane of terrorism, which has also been an interesting plot for many movies. The occasional outbursts of terrorism have definitely affected the Jammu and Kashmir tourism sector in a bad way. Even then, a lot of people head to Jammu and Kashmir every year to get away from the hassles of daily life, as well as for pilgrimage. As for me, it was truly a dream come true when my father announced that we could go to Kashmir on a four day trip.

   There was an air of thrill and enthusiasm about as our aircraft landed at the Srinagar airport, late in the afternoon. The atmosphere was rather cool and it was drizzling. The road leading us away from the airport towards the heart of the city was lined with CRPF jawans, who were very observant and scanned each and every vehicle passing by.

Other than that, everything else seemed very pleasant and welcoming. Once we were inside the hotel rooms, we started feeling even colder, though we expected it to be the other way round. Our dinner, though served late, was mouthwatering and we were offered a generous helping of vegetable pulao and rotis with vegetable curry. We enjoyed a good night’s sleep with the cold weather making it even more comfortable.

On the way to Gulmarg

   The next day, we left for Gulmarg after breakfast, which consisted of tasty aloo parathas. It was quite far from Srinagar, around two to three hours drive. We had to wear overcoats and boots, when we neared our destination. We were really excited when we heard that we were going to see snow, for the first time. From one particular point, we had to ride on horseback. It was ultimate fun. For those whose mind is on the weaker side, it would appear a little scary. The ghodewallas were large heartedness and diligence personified. Another thing noticeable about the Kashmiris is that all of them are absolutely beautiful people, young and old, men and women alike, on the inside as well as the outside. On our way up, we were shown the spot where the Hindi movie ‘Mission Kashmir’ was shot. The whole place was very picturesque. The horse ride was very thrilling, especially so because our group took some steep shortcuts. My horse seemed to be the most sensible one amongst all, and both of us were more or less left to ourselves. I think I almost learnt horse riding. If not, I at least learnt to turn the horse to whichever side I wished. The rain pouring heavily added to our once in a lifetime terrific experience. After riding upwards for almost two hours, we reached a spot where there was a dhaba. There was a huge crowd surrounding the small fire burning there. Our lunch there was vegetable pulao. It was at this spot that most of the women and children cut the journey short, only to wait till the others went to see the snow and came back. After that, we continued our journey on horseback. This part of the journey was shorter and way colder. Lo and behold! We could now see snow. It was freezing cold. We rather felt a little sad when we were told that we wouldn’t feel like coming away from there at all if it was sunny and not raining. We had fun riding on a sledge. The man with the sledge told us that he has been working there since the time the Hindi movie ‘Junglee’ had been shot there.  After that, the journey back was very quick. We couldn’t enjoy a gondola ride, as we didn’t know that there was a time limit for the tickets and we reached there well past the prescribed time limit. As soon as we reached our hotel, we changed and huddled in front of the heater.

   Our next destination was Sonamarg, which is on the way to Leh, Ladakh and Kargil from Srinagar. There was something unexpected for us on the way. We had to wait for about two hours at a particular place because a bridge had broken. No one got very disheartened due to the delay, as the place where we got stuck was really beautiful and it was a place worth exploring. Now that’s an advantage that us, people living in the city do not always enjoy. We reached there at lunchtime, and ate at the one single hotel that everyone crowded to. We were happy that we had already made some acquaintances here in Kashmir, because we met so many people here, whom we had spoken to in Gulmarg. Here too, we had to ride on horseback to have a look at the snow covered mountains up close, though it did not seem as risky as at Gulmarg. Here everything looked like photographs taken from a calendar or so. It was breathtakingly beautiful and anyone with or without a camera would get lost here. I did get lost, literally and found myself dejected over my new jeans, which had become terribly dirty because I slipped and fell right over a muddy puddle. A lot of people, especially foreigners, seemed to explore the hill stations on their own, which is obviously much more adventurous and risky than the ordinary trips. It is definitely not for the people traveling with their families. I would love to come back and explore Leh and Ladakh, and if possible, more of these hill stations on my own or with my friends. There’s a lot of trekking to be done there.

   Pahalgam seemed to be a much more advanced and modernized town in contrast to Srinagar. Throughout our drive to Pahalgam, we had an awesome view of the Himalayas. On the way, we could also see people rafting, which we did not try owing to time constraints. We had a sumptuous south Indian lunch after quite a few days. There was horse riding here also, but no snow. Here it was terribly exciting, because of the steep inclines. I should accept that we had quite a good time savoring the terrified and crying looks on many of the grown ups’ faces. There was a beautiful waterfall on the way and also a Kashmiri king’s shootout spot. There were many kids here and there with baby goats urging us to click photographs with the goats, so that they could earn something. Our destination was lush green with snow covered mountains in the backdrop. On our way back from Pahalgam, we stopped our vehicle near a waterfall and clicked a few photographs.

   We had a local tour of Srinagar arranged for the next day. First of all we visited the very huge and amazing Nehru memorial botanical garden. Our next stop was the Mughal garden at Chashmashahi. Parimahal, very close to the garden, is an old palace under the Archaeological Survey of India. The view atop Parimahal was very beautiful. We also spent a lot of time shopping for carpets, shawls, dress materials, bags and the like, which Kashmir is famous for. Our lunch was at a roadside dhaba this time. After lunch, we enjoyed the beauty of the Shalimar garden and towards evening, we reached the Indira Gandhi memorial tulip garden. Our final outing for the day was to enjoy the peace and calm of the serene Dal Lake. The boating on the famous Shikara of the lake was immensely joyous. It spanned more than two hours, during which we saw many places of historical importance. Akbar’s fort was seen at a distance. We were showed Karan Singh’s property. We halted at the Nehru Park for sometime. The floating market which we see on the Dal Lake is a rare treat for all who come here. The floating land that we saw would definitely arouse anyone’s curiosity. One interesting feature that we were informed of here was that the parts of the lake belonged to people here, just like land. They use their ‘water property’ to cultivate lotuses.

   The day we were returning from Kashmir, we visited the Sankaracharya mandir in the morning. We had to climb around 240 stairs to reach the sanctum at the top.

  Each of these days, we returned to our cozy rooms in the hotel late in the evening, and after a while, we could help ourselves to delicious parathas or rotis with curry. There is a lot of preparation anyone needs to do while heading to a place like Kashmir. I would advise you to get a postpaid SIM card, in case you don’t have one. The food is very tasty, and anyone not very choosy can easily get adjusted to it. Then of course, with regards to the weather make sure you have the kind of clothing required to suit the conditions. It has been an amazing, one of a kind vacation for us, though we would like to come back, not only to relive our pleasant memories, but also to visit some important places like Amarnath and Vaishnodevi, which we could not visit this time. On the whole, looking back at our pleasant vacation in Kashmir, I do feel it is something I have earned to cherish for the rest of my life and would love to go back there again.