Deep Blue & Hues, Malaysia

This piece appeared in The Week Magazine a few days back, you can read the full text here.

Mesmerizing Madhya Pradesh X –Bhagoria Haat, Ranapur

It was our second day at Bhagoria festival and the venue was village Ranapur, a bit closer to Jhabua where we were staying. Here the fair was far more crowded, the format was more or less the same but the style of dressing up entirely different. Girls here wore printed or to be specific Bandhini print clothes while in Vaalpur plain clothes were almost a rule. The silver jewellery here was absolutely different, though still as heavy. There was no trace of anything like Vaalpur either on people or at the shops. Girls wore fancy clips in their hair and kept the clip part of their hair open while the rest of the head was covered and reminded me of an old Punjabi Boli ’Khulla Rakhdi Clip wala paasa’. 

The giant wheels were bigger and motorized, there were far more paan shops here and business more brisk. It was a sight to see people coming in overloaded vehicles, in trucks and bullock carts. There were dances happening in some corners, there were processions being taken out with song and dance and there was the same MP visiting again, but this time helicopter was not visible. At one place there was a male dancer with turmeric all over his body, a red cloth wrapped around his upper body and a decorated coconut in his hand and there were many drums being beaten all around him.

I found the little shops amusing. We went looking for silver jewellery only to find that it is way too heavy for urban consumption. We discovered clay tawas that are baked in a way that they need to be broken before being used. We saw some rural innovations, as the old tyres were recycled to make chappals and buckets. We saw some smart tailors making instant dresses for foreigners with the hand woven clothes that they were weaving in their homes. 

We spoke to some villagers and all of them had their own version and their own interpretation of the festival. We spoke to a young couple and asked them their views and they were too shy to speak or pose for the camera but they said they had an arranged marriage that was arranged by the families. One common fact was that they all look forward to it, as this is the time for business as well as spending. 

It was a revelation that same festival can be celebrated in villages few kms apart can show us hues of culture here, of having a strong individuality within the common ethos. 

Slovakia III: Strbske Pleso Lake & Around

Strbske Pleso is a star shaped lake mountain lake, the second highest in Slovakia. Its source of water is underground streams and being in the high mountains its surface remains frozen for good 5-6 months in a year.

It is main tourist attraction of the region as is evident from the presence of the two high end hotels around it and a decent restaurant that serves the local food and a huge sports complex. This place is used as a base for small hiking / trekking day trips.

Early morning I walked around the lake on a mud path around it and it was a delight to see this quite lake from all angles reflecting the shadows of mountains, clouds, trees, boats and buildings around it. The 2.5 km path had simple wooden exercise equipments along with a small park jetting out at one place where there are benches for you to sit and admire the sheer nature. Water was so clear that at the edges I could see the surface of the lake and the fishes floating in it. Located in a quite corner, there were not many people present in Strbske Pleso, and that could be its biggest draw.

Blue of the sky and the green of the trees along with the sun create a painting in the clear waters of the lake. At places, a bright colored boat adds a spontaneous vibrancy to the scenery.

If you like flowers, look out for some wild flowers here including the ones that turn the Tatras pink.

Tatras have many caves hidden in their belly. We will visit them soon on this blog.

Natural Caverns - Siblings across Continents

My feature on natural caverns across continents appeared in the Hindu Metro Plus - you can read the full article here.

Unsung UP XII: Evening Aarti at the Ghats of Ganga

The moment you say Varanasi, the visuals that cross your mind are that of Moon shaped Ghats of Ganga with their steep steps and the much captured sights and sounds of the evening Aarti. Aarti is the time when the devotees stand before the Ganga and offer her prayers, thanking her for nurturing them on her banks and for cleansing them with her purifying waters.

Over the years tourists and travelers have started visiting to witness the Aarti and in my opinion their expectations added the glamour factor to the Aarti, which should be a solemn affair otherwise. Young boys who perform the Aarti wear silk dhotis with rich gold borders, orange kurtas and stoles across their shoulders – all in the same color. They move their hands in sync with each other on raised platforms that put them above the rest of the Junta. They are conscious of the fact that while the Aarti is going on, all the tourist eyes are on them and not on the Ganga, and it was amusing to read those expressions on their faces. Boatmen who would have little business after the sun goes down, have found a new revenue stream, as they park their boats right in front of Aarti benches in the Ganga that they let tourists use for a hefty charge.

Aarti at the Dashashwamedh Ghat is the most famous and elaborate one. There are two sets of platforms here on two parts of the ghat. Colorful canopies stand on top of each platform tied through a rod that also has electric lamps. Assi ghat also has a similar Aarti every evening. On each platform is another small platform that has all the Pooja items – flowers, copper pot with water, wet cloth to hold the heavy and hot metallic diyas and a conch shell. Central platform has a small temple dedicated to Goddess Ganga with her anthromorphic form decked in beautiful floral garlands.

If you go there as a devotee, evening Aarti feels like a put up show. If you go as a tourist, it is a spectacle – a heady mix of music, color, fire and water. It is quite a sight when few heavy metallic lamps with many layers of multiple burning wicks move in synchronization and the smoke coming out creates patterns against dark sky. The quite waters of Ganga too seem to be watching and enjoying the Aarti along with devotees and the tourists.

The crowd somehow fits around these raised platforms, behind them, on steps in front of them and on boats parked in Ganga in front of them.  Live music plays just behind the platforms and those who know the Aarti join in to sing. Sadhus sit around and join in their own ways, their eyes looking for the potential donors.

It is a very balanced combination of a formal ritual in an entirely informal environment.

Unusual Museums Across India

This article of mine appeared in The Hindu Sunday Magazine sometime back, talking about some very unusual museums across India: http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/strange-sites/article4720637.ece

Malaysia Marvel XII: Snorkeling in Blue Waters around Redang Island

Pilau Redang is a small island in South China Sea, in the northeastern part of the peninsular Malaysia. It is actually a part of an archipelago with many small islands around it. These islands stand like green spots in the blue waters of the sea. White sand surrounds the islands and beaches are as inviting as they can get. It is a popular tourist destination and has many resorts and hotels to manage the tourist’s flow. Redand Island can be reached either via ferry from towns like Terengganu or via air. Besides KL, Redang Island has flights to Singapore from its small airport.

My biggest memory of Redang will always remain that of doing Snorkeling for the first time in my life. I had only heard the term snorkeling and always thought of it as some less adventurous form of deep sea diving till I looked at the Snorkel and tried to figure out how it works. Well you do not have to go below the sea, all you have to do is wear a goggle like equipment around your eyes and nose, breathe through your mouth and look down below the surface from the surface. A long pipe attached to your mouth ensures that you have contact with the air outside and with a bit of practice you can easily start breathing from your mouth. If you know swimming, it adds to the confidence while hitting the water, but it is not really required if you wear the life jacket that keeps you afloat all the time. I know just a little bit of swimming; definitely not good for swimming in the ocean, so I panicked as I first landed in the sea. One look beneath the sea and I willing to let go of all my fears and did not want to loose even a single moment of looking at the sea bed.

Coral reef formations and their colors is something you can never imagine till you see them. The huge formations can take the flora shapes, brain like shapes, leaves and just about anything. To understand that there is whole world of these living organisms below the calm blue surface was like a revelation to me. Intellectually, you understand it, you have seen it on television, in documentaries, but being in the same space as these underwater creatures is an experience that no visual can match. I was so happy to see this world that I was singing and if I could I would have danced too. It was a world that I did not want to come back from. Since the time I have come back from Redang, I have been recommending this to everyone who has not done it.

Till I saw the colorful fishes under sea, I had no idea that they really exist in so many colors. In aquariums they look more like an exception than a rule, but here they were floating in their very own world, playing around, running here and there. Sometimes they tickled me and teased me, tempting me to try and hold them, but no they were too fishy to be caught by a novice like me. I could have been lost in trying to figure out their colors and patterns had the instructor not called us back.  

Other things that you can do on the island are trekking in the thick rainforests of the island and walk around white beaches. Apparently a lot of people come to Redang Island for destination weddings. Some of the private beaches with resorts can prepare the whole beach for your wedding with sand art and theme settings for the romantically inclined with deep pockets.

Majestic Maharashtra V: Nashik or Nasik

Nashik was our last stop on Deccan Odyssey before we headed back to Mumbai. There was no set itinerary for the city except going around the banks of Godavari and visiting some temples. It was my first visit to this ancient and holy city, a city that I know for Kumbh Mela, for being the place of Aranya Kand in Ramayan and more recently for its vineyards. It is also the origin of River Godavari and a home to one of the 12 Jyotirlingas, making it a holy in more than one ways for Sanatana Dharma followers.

We landed in Nashik at ‘Godhuli’ or dusk, the temple lights were coming up and shining in the waters of Godavari, street side vendors were preparing diyas that devotees would light and leave in the waters as an offering and soon enough temple bells reverberated everywhere. There are old and new temples, old ones in stone with carvings telling their potential age and new ones in cement telling their ages by default. Some temples were just four pillars and a roof with a Shivalinga beneath it while others like Kale Ram temple are elaborate ones. 

Small narrow streets one leading to another - dotted with temples – big and small and in between them there are lines of small time vendors selling flowers, brassware, trinkets, Prasad and other pooja items. People come as much to shop here as to pray, to take back souvenirs or a piece of the place for those who could not come. Chat and Chiwda shops attracted people with their colorful and promising to be tangy snacks. What stood out though were the bright yellow, orange and white garlands made out of not flowers but sugar. They seem to be favorite with the Gods here.

Sita Gupha or Panchvati - the place where it is believed Ravana in Ramayana abducted Sita bring the visuals of the story alive. You can go inside an artificially made cave through narrow pathways that you have to slide through and visit the temple beneath it. Outside there are five Vata i.e Bargad or Banyan trees that give the place its name, numbered in case you miss them. The trees are obviously quite young and are surrounded by a bustling bazaar, making it tough to imagine that it was a dense forest once where the Ramayan trio lived during their exile. Faith to me reflected in the yellow red ‘Maouli’ threads wound around the fat trunk of the tree, and more than anything a faith in nature, in the forces of the universe and in the thoughts of the believer. 

What I found most re-assuring was that the whole group was so happy to be in Nashik, they all had a bit of spring in their feet, they all felt re-charged at the end of a long tiring journey and they all were beaming as they got back into the train. There was a strange parallel that I saw with Varanasi, which also has a similar impact on people – they become carefree. Is it a sheer co-incidence that it happens at the locations marked holy since ancient times? Was there a scientific reason camouflaged in the religious rituals that these places were chosen for periodic pilgrimages? Is it the prayers performed over ages that have added to the energy levels of these places? I do not have an answer, but I know it for a fact that places like Nashik do have a positive impact on you, and probably that is why they devised rituals, fairs, festivals to ensure that people who do not live closer to them can keep visiting them regularly through their lives.

I could not visit Trimbakeshawar and the origin of Godavari, so this visit remains incomplete till I go back and complete it.

Hyderabad Hues XXVII: Charminar to Purana Pul via Mehboob Chowk, Hussaini Alam

This is an almost two kilometer stretch that begins at Charminar and goes through Laad Bazaar, Mehbook, Chowk and Hussaini Alam till you finally reach the Purana Pul. One Saturday morning I met my favorite photographer Madhumita for the first time at Charminar, an appropriate place to meet someone whose love for the city speaks through her pictures. We walked this stretch and the story that we discovered can be best described as the story of closed shutters, as most of the bazaars were yet to open, but these closed doors has a story to tell about the times they have seen and the people they meet everyday.

We started at Laad bazaar and there was precisely one shop open and we actually asked the owner why is he open so early in the day and figured out that it was a day he decided to clean the shop.  As we moved out from this famous bazaar crossing the gate that used to fence the parade grounds of Chowmahalla palace once to reach Mehboob chowk, we read boards of bookshops with names like Hindustan Kitab Ghar, a Kalaighar that polishes brass utensils, Unani medicine shops that promise relief from all kinds of ailments, a Karchobwala i.e. all kinds of accessories for garments, milk shops called Doodh Ghar, pearl shop called Moti Mahal and flower shops called Gul Mahal. There was a dry cleaner shop called This Evening and a Patang House where you can get kites around the year. An old man was selling a sweet made from ginger that he claimed can take care of any disease related to stomach and went on the tell why he gets out of home in the morning to sell those small medicinal cakes while his kids are earning well. Shining chariots used for marriages along with brass bands were lying low as if taking rest after long working hours. There were a few gorgeous houses that have been very well maintained but they also spoke through their closed windows that morning. Shop shutters, old wooden doors, gateways, arches and some closed doors were the highlight of this walk.

At Mehoboob Chowk, the clock tower stands tall still giving the right time if someone cared to look at it for that. Around Mehboob Chowk exists the wet market selling all kinds of meat though it is called Beef market. Both of us being vegetarians, we skipped this as sooan as we could. We found a key replicator machine at a lock and key shop that displayed locks and numerous keys like pieces of art. Most interesting interaction was with men at the Naan shop who were making the famous fluffy Naans of Hyderabad. A tandoor or oven in the front was being manned by two men, one was putting the Naan shaped dough in the tandoor and the other was taking it out with a long iron road and keeping them in a basket. Behind them were few men putting the kneaded dough in the shape of Naans and passing them to the tandoor team. They told us that each Naan sells for Rs 8/- and is mostly picked from the shop by other restaurant owners or directly by consumers. After breaking ice with this chit chat they fondly told us about the genesis of this Naan and how this is the first things that the Nizam used to have in the morning and how much he loved it, almost feeling nostalgic about it though I wonder if they ever saw the Nizam having it or they just heard it from their elders.

There were 2-3 Hindu Maths with brightly painted doors.  They were open probably but did not expect visitors at an early hour. First math that we went inside was called Alakh ka math and a lady showed us around the temple inside while she was still brushing her teeth. I was surprised to read the Kabir Sakhis painted all over the math. Another math we entered was curiously named Udaasin Math and here we could not go inside and the people were still not awake but we discovered a Peepal tree planted in an old colonial era bath tub that had been painted bright orange. I thought it was a great was to re-use broken bathtubs for planting treed indoors. There was a small Hanuman temple at the base of an old tree standing in the middle of the road.

Towards the end we discovered the dargah of Moosa Quadri that appeared freshly painted and well maintained, though I could not gather much about the man who lies here. As women we were not allowed to go inside but they allowed us to click pictures from outside. Combining the Rajasthani and Mughal architecture there were many Chhatris with graves below them, very similar to the ones you find at Paigah tombs. In pale yellow and green with pink outlines and delicate paintings, dargah stood out in the rest of the surroundings.

By the time we finished walking, daily wage workers had started gathering in hope of work, iron boxes were being heated for the day’s job and Idly-Wada shops were selling them fresh out of the steamer and the frying pan. We ate hot wadas while the cook kept adjusting himself and his equipment for the best pose. We ended the walk at Goodwill Café that looked straight out of 1970s when these kinds of cafes were favorite meeting joints.

A very ordinary walk through the living bazaars of the city…