Highlights of 2015!

I wanted to write this on 1^st of 2^nd of Jan but could only manage this now… In fact I am writing this as I recover from the only lowlight of 2015! I came down with Dengue on 16^th Dec. Also spent couple of days in a hospital – still recovering from it as I finally write this! :-)

Recently, at a reunion, where many of us were meeting after 25 years, late at night after a few drinks, somehow we got talking about the highlights of each of our lives….What have been the highlights of my life? So many things have happened; some really big and some that didn’t seem very important at the time they occurred but have gained serious significance over time.

But this manmade juncture, where we end one year and start the new one, is probably a good point to reflect on the past twelve months for highlights… I really needed to reflect on 2015 since it has been a year without gainful employment – a year very different from the last many in that sense.

1.

In Feb 2015, I visited Tapasi in Singapore – I had visited the city twice before, but both the times it was on work and I had not had a chance to be a tourist. I roamed around the city on my own for a while and then Tapu took me around to show what appealed to her.  While I enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells of the splendid city, the highlight of the trip was the long conversations with Tapu.

We talked at home, over cups of coffee, over wonderful meals, over wine… Early in the morning and late in the night… We talked while driving around and on long walks by the bay; at fancy restaurants and small coffee shops…. We talked about places; about people; about cultures and rituals; what we liked and what we hated; frivolous matters and important subjects. And yet somehow, it seemed like we didn’t have enough time – to talk!

2.

In July, Reading Hour published my short story ‘Lost Friend’. My first published work! I was asked if I was thrilled, and I couldn’t really say no to that but what I felt most strongly was contentment! And then my novel (The Ripple Effect) got accepted by Vishwakarma Publications! It is in works to be published and it is definitely one of the things that makes me look at 2016 very positively! :-)

3.

Every year, I look for opportunities to go away around Diwali time – someplace away from all the razzle-dazzle and more importantly away from all the fire crackers! I have been managing that more often than not. Yet, Diwali of 2015 was unique – went to a small village in Konkan with family. Stayed right by the sea, watched the waves, first thing in the morning and the last thing at night! Watched the sunset every evening and walked the beach collecting shells! During the day, we went to nearby villages and out of the way temples – temples that one could go only on foot by climbing down and then climbing up a hill – place so quiet that there was no one else other than us!

4.

I have been interested in spirituality for a while now; have even ventured into a few spiritual adventures. I had heard about Isha Foundation some time back and then I read and listened to Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev (Isha blog, youtube). So finally I signed up for their Inner Engineering program and went to their Ashram near Coimbatore. The place is just amazing! Saying that it is designed beautifully, architected well and is a wonderful experience, somehow does not seem enough! It is a lot more than what I can describe in words.

The course itself was very good. But it is not just the course – but what I want to do beyond that – how I want to practice what I was taught and the change I feel in myself. I can’t really describe it; one needs to experience it…

Why Travel?

Travel is adventure; it is a chance to get away from every day and normal. It forces you to go beyond your comfort zone and expand your perspectives. It teaches you to respect other lives, places & cultures and makes you more open minded. Even without making any conscious effort, you end up absorbing some of the things you come across; they become a part of you.

To sit in a vehicle (Bus, Car, Train or plane!) and go from one place to another is to transport yourself into a different reality. Or to suspend your reality and enter a different world for a short while.  A new place or even an old place that you have visited many times earlier or sometimes a place where you lived for some time a while ago, feels different in many ways. It looks different of course, but it also smells and sounds different.  Those sights, smells and sounds become part of you.  

I love to travel. I love the journey from one place to another and I love to go and experience different places. I love to travel to nearby places and be surprised by the differences in landscape, language and people’s perspectives. And I love to plan and visit distant, foreign places and be surprised sometimes by many similarities that I can find with people there and people back home.

In London, I want to take the tube, ride the London buses and taxis and I want to walk! Walk by the Thames, looking at the Big Ben and walk even in the small suburb of Hammersmith, where you will come across pubs that are more than 100 years old. Go into those pubs and have beer with fish and chips; oh and even CTM (Chiken Tikka Masala) – I was completely surprised by CTM the first time. I want to go to the theatre and watch a play/show. I want to walk into different book stores and just browse, and be surprised by the knowledge of the attendants. I want to ride the train and go to Oxford and learn about the different colleges there. 

In a small village near Blackburn, I visited a farm and saw a typical English barn. I saw these big, fat, pigs and sows and revised the image I had in my mind of Empress of Blandings. The BBC TV show I had watched had not made me do that. Seeing things on TV or even on big screen are no match to seeing things live. When you see it on the farm, you walk in the typical English weather and you smell the farm, it’s a combined smell of the wet greens and the animals. You can see how the animal walks across slowly, almost awkwardly.  I always enjoyed reading the Blandings books and like most PGW fans, found Lord Emsworth to be this bumbling and yet lovable character, but looking at those big, fat pigs gave me a different perspective. I find Lord Emsworth’s obsession over Empress funnier now; I can almost see her!

Visiting small villages in Provence, I understood the fascination I had come across in literature and movies about regions such as Provence and Tuscany. I could feel the romance of these places. The old houses, narrow, cobbled streets, small bistros and ice cream shops and village markets  – all very well maintained but not showy. I couldn’t help marveling at how things are very modern, yet so traditional and simple.

Closer home and still far away from Pune, in Assam, on the Majauli island, visiting different Satras and trying to understand the lifestyle there, to visit the local artists, see their creations and end the day by watching a dance performance in one of the Satras before retiring to our rooms in another Satra, is a day that will forever be part of me. A cherished memory.

Trekking in Himalayas, surrounded by majestic mountains, you can find out how life moves at a different pace there. You learn firsthand that the people of the mountain are a sturdy lot; they are cheerful in face of the inherent risks and challenges of their lives. The mountains give you a sense of freedom and at the same time make you understand the importance of discipline. They can be the most beautiful, most magnanimous presence one moment and the most furious and scary the next! 

In presence of the humongous mountain ranges; sometimes intimidating, yet sometimes almost soothing, you understand your insignificance in the big picture of the nature. It does not make you feel bad about your insignificance though. In fact, you feel an acceptance and a sense of peace. 


So many places, so many experiences and so many memories! Each journey and each trip makes me richer and a better version of myself!

How to be a successful Pet Cat

I managed to mesmerize my slave about a month back and she took me in. I am sure there are better cat slaves than her, but she is getting trained and I hope that one day, I would be able to proudly say that I have the best cat slave!

I am giving a few pointers and guidelines on how to be successful as a pet cat and how to train your slave and keep her/him in line.

There are three steps to becoming a successful pet cat.

1.     Be born as a cat
2.     Become a pet cat
3.     Master your slave and rule like a real pet cat!
 

I don’t know anything about how to achieve the first step. But I know that only the creator’s favourites are born as cats.

Becoming a Pet Cat

There are a few different paths that can be followed to becoming a pet cat. Let me describe some –

A.     You are born to a mother who was already a pet cat. Which means, you are born into pet catdom!! Born with a silver bowl, so to say… Lucky you!!! It does not get easier than this, because this means you are in a family that is already trained to be ruled by a pet cat.

B.     Your mother was what they called a stray. You ended up losing her and your siblings. But you are a survivor!! You need to move about looking for someone to adopt and find someone who you can manage to mesmerize!

C.     You were separated from your mother and are taken to a place that they called a “shelter” though it looked like a jail to you because you were put in a cage there. There were other cats there and a lot of bickering going on. When some family/person comes looking for a cat, you need to hypnotize that person so that he/she will pick you over every other cat. It helps to be playful at this point. Look happy, even if you are not. Another trick that has been known to be successful sometimes is to look really desperate to get out of the place. But this really helps if you are exceptionally good looking. Going with being playful is safer. That is a sure shot way of hypnotizing humans.

D.     Then, there would be others like me, who are born to a pet cat mother but got lost. However, you then managed to find someone to take you in. Like I found my slave. You have to mesmerize/hypnotize this person. In my case it turned out to be quite easy. She was a goner in just three pitiful meows!!

 

Master your slave and rule like a real pet cat!

Once you become a pet cat, you need to spend some time to get to know your slave. If there is only one person in residence apart from you, that person is your slave. When there are more people, first step is to identify your slave – remember, it is the person who feeds you, talks to you the most and tries to make you comfortable.

Once identified, you need to start training the slave. Following are some things that should help in training the slave and then keeping him/her in line.

First and foremost – Never be predictable! Be it about the place you like as your sleeping abode, the food you like to eat or the toys you like to play with!

When they feed you something you like, first let your slave know you like it. Eat it with gusto. Look all pleased after having a tummy full. But, make sure you don’t let the slave become complacent and keep feeding you the same thing. For this, after eating it happily for about 5.24 times, you start turning away in disdain. Let them try to figure out why you are not eating it. When the slave is in the kitchen, walk around her, with your tail up and meow asking for food. Let the salve go crazy trying to figure out what you would eat.

They will give you some toys to play with. There are two different things you need to do with the toys – for some brand new toys, don’t show any interest what so ever. In some other toys, follow the same principle as the food – play with them for a short while before turning away in disdain. New papers, good paper bags that the slave is trying to save – they are the toys you want to play with – tear them, crumple them, jump on them with dirty paws! Plastic bags are excellent, especially the ones that make a lot of noise – that noise can drive the slave crazy easily.  If there are any plants then eat the flowers, pluck the leaves and bring the soil from the pots in the house. This is another thing that would drive the slave crazy. After all the slave needs to learn that what you want to do with all the things is what is going to happen and you are not going to change your ways to suit the slave!

Few other tips for the toys and play –

1.     The slave’s hands need to be scratched with nails and they need to be chewed on – this you need to do on a regular basis to keep them in line. But don’t make them realize that you are basically training them when you are scratching their hands or chewing on them. Make them think you are being playful!

2.     If there are curtains, make sure to climb those – they need to be climbed on and the slave or the others in the family can’t do it. The responsibility of this task lies with you solely. When you climb to the top, get onto the curtain rod and start meowing pitifully, let the slave think you can’t climb down. They will rush around to raise something for you to jump in or they themselves might climb on a chair or something. Make sure to scratch the slave in a few places as you climb down.

3.     When the slave is trying to sleep, jump onto their face, asking them to play. Start biting their hands; that generally would get you the attention.

4.     When you are wide awake and playful, they will play with you and let them for some time. Then walk away looking down upon them. Let them know that you decide when you will play, how much, with what or whom. Don’t let them make you play when they try to “make you”.

5.     Bird feathers are excellent toys. So are decorative items that the slave and others would try to keep you away from.

6.     Cupboards, refrigerators, washing machine – you need to get into all of them! If by chance, while trying to keep you out of these, they are even close to trapping you or you feel your foot might get caught – bellow like they are trying to murder you. Run away looking hurt. Then keep giving them a look to remind them of their guilt.

7.     Once in a while, just for fun, go into a different part of the residence from where they are and start meowing as if you are stuck or in a lot of pain. When the slave comes running to see what has happened, be standing on a bed or a chair, and on seeing them, jump down with a satisfied “meow” and walk away!

Remember that you need to do these and keep coming up with newer ways to keep your slave in line. There are many other things one can do based on the slave and the exact situation, but these should be good to get started.

The most important thing is to have the right attitude. You are a cat! You are superior to every other living thing. Your adopted family and most importantly your slave needs to be made aware of this and you need to keep reminding them from time to time to keep them in line.

It is a lot of work but once you train your slave keeping them in line is not too bad. A well trained and kept in line slave is really worth it. They make your life so much easier. You can then have the choice of food, the choice of place to sleep and relax or play as you wish!!

 

Stupid Idea!!

I have been on the Idea network for more than 7 years now. And generally speaking their service is not too bad – or more specifically here in Maharashtra, they are probably better than others like Airtel and Vodafone. So even though there have been times in the past when I have had frustration with the speed of the data connection on a 3G network, I have not switched my service provider. Also, I know firsthand that their customer service is better than some others like Airtel and so much better than Tata Indicom (docomo).  Having said that, I do feel that people handling customer service (in general) have been trained to be stupid! Following is my recent communication with Idea, that I absolutely love for stupidity of it all!

My first mail to Idea customer care:
Hello,

Since yesterday, whenever I make a phone call I hear a message that says that my information with you is incomplete and it asks me to dial a number for details.

First of all, the message is not very clear and I can't understand what number I am supposed to dial to get details.
Secondly, I have been an Idea customer for over 7 years now - so I am curious about what information is not there with you after seven years. And why is it that for last 7 years you didn't ask me for this informaiton.

I then called customer care, and told the person that I want it in writing from Idea, what information you don't have and need from me; he told me he cant help me - I should write on this email adress to get that - that he can't ask Idea to send across the details in email.

So can you please explain to me what information that needs to be with you, is not with you?

Secondly, why can't Idea ask for this in writing, in the first place?

My account details -
 Phone number – 98XXX- XXXXX in Name of Sonali Gogate - I also have a add on card – 98XXX- XXXXX.

Thanks,
Sonali
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
No reply from the customer care for more than 24 hours, not even to acknowledge the email. Hence, I wrote again -

I have sent this mail yesterday but I have not even got an acknowledgement from you!!
How is one supposed to communicate with Idea if they do not even acknowledge your emails??
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Idea customer care reply:

Dear Ms. Gogate,

 

Thank you for contacting Idea Cellular Customer Service.

 

We regret the delay in reply.

 

This is with reference to your e-mail regarding below given concern for your mobile number 98XXXXXXXX and 98XXXXXXXX.

 

Further to your below email, we wish to inform you that as per TRAI guidelines you have to submit your documents for reverification purpose at your nearest My Idea.

 

We request you to submit following documents at your nearest My Idea:

• ID Proof
• Address proof
• One passport size photograph

We have attached the list of My Idea for your perusal.

 We greatly value your patronage and look forward to an opportunity to delight you.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My response to Idea customer care:

Can you please tell me WHY I need to resubmit these documents when I have been an Idea customer for over 7 years?

Also, I finally figured out that the number I was being asked to call was 53596. On calling this, I got the message that Idea has all my valid documents and that if needed they will get in touch with me.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Idea customer care said:

Dear Ms. Gogate,  

Thank you for contacting Idea Cellular Customer Service.

Further to your below e-mail, we wish to inform you that as per the TRAI guidelines the you are required to re-submit the documents at nearest My Idea.

To know the document status kindly dial 53550 from your Idea mobile number.

We greatly value your patronage and look forward to an opportunity to delight you.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now I was really annoyed and I wrote. (I like to call this Sonali’s attack.:-)) And what is this about "opportunity to delight you" anyways.....???!!!!

 

So the message I hear when I am trying to dial out gives a different number to call (53596) than the one you are giving in this message. Why is that?
Secondly, when I call 53596, I am told that my documents with you are vaild. But in your message here, you are asking me to submit the documents again!!

There is a MAJOR discripancy in what Idea is telling me!!

You need to fix this - I want to hear a consistent message to BELIEVE that, I need to do that.

I hope I have made myself clear.

Regards,
Sonali

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Idea’s response: (This is where the training in being stupid was well utilized :-))

 

Dear Ms. Gogate,  

Thank you for contacting Idea Cellular Customer Service.

Further to your belo e-mail, we wish to inform you that to deactivate your pre tone service request we would need the request from your registered e-mail id.

We greatly value your patronage and look forward to an opportunity to delight you.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was actually laughing when I wrote this final email to them (Sonali saying “you idiots!!”)

 

This communication that we are having, is from my registered e-mail ID. If this email thread is not good enough for you to turn it off, I suggest you keep it on.
Anyway, I would MISS it now if I didn't hear the annoying, unclear announcement every now and then!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Idea (finally) relents:

 

Dear Ms. Gogate,  

Thank you for contacting Idea Cellular Customer Service.

Further to your below e-mail and telecon dated 5th January 2012, we wish to inform you that the Pre-tone announcement has been deactivated with effect from 5th January 2012.

Kindly note the docket number XXXXXXXXX for your reference

We greatly value your patronage and look forward to an opportunity to delight you.

Idea wishes you a very happy and prosperous new year.

2011 - The year that was...

It’s a new year once more…. At the beginning of the year I look forward to the year with a lot of hope and expectations. I find that I also tend to look back at the year that is over to see what it did in my life…
2011 was really a mixed year.

At the beginning of the year (Jan & Feb), my mother went into the hospital couple of times – she underwent a procedure on her right knee the second time. But from that point onwards, slowly her health improved.

We celebrated my father’s 75th birthday in June. To start with, he didn’t want us to celebrate but we managed to convince him on the condition that we will not do anything religious. So we had a small function where his grandson sang for him, his grandniece gave a dance performance and we had a poetry reading session. A lot of people came over to meet him. Overall, it was a very good function and the celebration was the kind that suited best for the kind of person he is.

My cousin got married at the beginning of December. This was just about a month after my grandmother’s death… We all were coming together just about a month after her death and we kept remembering her… we all went first to Nagpur and then from there onto Raipur – which is where the wedding took place. This was the first time that we all got onto a bus (a bus hired just for us) as the “marriage party” and went from one place to another, in a typical Indian wedding style.  It turned out to be quite an experience! And while we had a lot to complain about in the journey (the bus was not comfortable, the roads were really bad, the driver was driving very slowly and stopping quite often; oh and while returning we got stuck in bad traffic, which meant we reached Nagpur around 2:00 AM etc.), it gave us some wonderful memories of having had fun together. We will be talking about it for years to come… “Remember when we were going to Raipur….”

I made two wonderful trips in 2010 –
In the month of April I went to Assam with Motiya, Girish & Ojas; It was just so awesome. I wrote about that trip on my return (Awesome Asssam).
Then in August, I went on a trans-Himalayan jeep safari and visited the land of thousand passes – Ladakh! This was a trip that I had been looking forward to for years…. I was supposed to go in 2010 but thanks to the cloud burst, that had to be cancelled.  The trans-Himalayan safari was definitely an experience like no other and Ladakh was everything I had expected and more – its a place of start, heart wrenching and stunning beauty. I wrote about the safari (Trans-Himalayan Jeep Safari) and about Leh (Leh). I think I should write about our visit to Nubra Valley – the high altitude desert where we saw double hump camels and the surreal Pangong Tso (lake).

Looking back at the year, it also seems like the year of death… We lost so many well-known personalities from various fields - Just way too many of them. The two deaths that I felt most saddened by were those of Bharatratna Pt. Bhimsen Joshi in Jan 2011 and Yahoo man,  Shammi Kapoor in August 2011.

But the one death that affected me the most was that of my grandmother’s. I lost my grandmother in the month of November, but she had been very ill since the beginning of the year. While I (and others around her) knew that it was time for her to go – she was bed ridden for over 1.5 years –  and while there were times when we all had felt that God should relieve her from her state… when she did go, it made me (and others) very sad. She had been an important part of my life for a long time – and it was such a positive presence! She was someone who loved unconditionally. 
She passed away early morning on 4th of Nov, very peacefully, surrounded by her son, daughters and grandchildren. I miss her so much!! Someone saw an old photograph of hers and said that I looked a little like her. I was so pleased with that! But I wish to be more like her in more ways than just the looks…

Leh...

We reached Leh, late at night on 15th Aug. After the adventurous and strenuous journey of two days, we were really very tired.  So we decided that we will not start early in the morning the next day, 16th Aug. 



View from our room at the Nature Residency

 
On waking up on the 16th, we found that our hotel, (The Nature Residency Hotel) was by a small river.  It was a beautiful and peaceful location. We stayed at this hotel in all for 4 days and enjoyed the stay very much.  But at such a good hotel too, we found that the things we take for granted in cities like Pune don’t come by easily. There are regular power cuts in Leh – for good 8+ hours daily. The hotel used to run an inverter/generator for some time, but a few hours in the afternoon and in the night there was no electricity – and at night it got pitch-dark. Hot water was another luxury which we had to do without for most days.

As we discovered going around the place, Leh is a very nice and friendly town. When we went sightseeing or went to the market to shop for gifts and souvenirs, we came across simple and cheerful people who were happy to talk to us, provide information or generally have a conversation about life…



Shanti Stupa

  On 16th August, we started with Shanti Stupa and went to different monasteries and palaces. This is such a hilly region that each place you visit, there is a climb to reach the place. Most places, you go to the entrance gate of the place in a vehicle but beyond that point, you need to climb to reach the actual palace or the monastery. Even within the complex, you need to climb to go from one building to another or one temple to another. These climbs are about 50+ to about 150+ feet at a stretch but since Leh is at an altitude of 11000+ ft, each one of these seems quite difficult.

We started our sightseeing at the Shanti Stupa and ended at Sindhu ghat where we watched the sunset.  And during the day, we visited the Stok Palace & Museum, Thiksey monastery and Shey palace.
Shanti stupa itself and the view of Leh from the top of the hill is magnifiscant! We spent close to an hour here and took a lot of photographs. Devendra and Mayuresh got people to wear big sunglasses so that they could take photograph of the stupa reflected in the glasses. It was a lot of fun!
 


Stok Palace & Museum

 At the Stok Palace and the museum, we took a lot of picture outside, near the entrance of the museum since photography is not allowed within. The most impressive item on display in the museum was a sword that has been made into a “knot” by king’s oracle to demonstrate his muscle power. How does anyone do that?? Make a knot in a sword, as if it’s a cable??!!




Lama Monlam Gyatso

 As we were coming out of Stock, we met Monlam Gyatso, a lama and had a wonderful conversation with him. He talked about his path as a lama, his views on various things from army (its necessity) to various places to visit and of course about life. Sitting there in the Stok portico, feeling very relaxed and happy, looking around at the beautiful place and listening to a lama talk about various things – that will remain with me for a long time…

Before climbing to Thiksey, we had lunch at this quaint restaurant called “Chamba” near Thiksey. We sat outside in the courtyard, under a shade and spent time looking at the birds and butterflies and bantering with each other, waiting for our food. The place runs at a laid back, relaxed pace (which means the service is slow ), but it’s a place to enjoy just sitting around, taking in the atmosphere – especially if you have a good group.

Thiksey was quite impressive – the Maitreya Budhha is 2 stories tall.  There are old frescos of Jatak kathas (These are tales depicting the Buddha in several of his births in the form of animals) in the courtyard and there is a temple for Tara. I found this place really beautiful – the combination of the architecture and the colors and the views of the surrounding mountains, they make many beautiful frames…





Jatak Katha frescos

  



Thiksey

 



Shey Marshes

   Climb to Shey seemed the hardest and you also can’t enter the palace; but the view of the Shey marshes from the top makes the climb worthwhile.



Sindhu Ghaat

  Sindhu ghat was the last thing on our itinerary for 16th – the river is very small in Leh, but the ghat was picturesque, with the small chhatris there. It was made more attractive by lack of tourists..




Shapo

   Then on 20th, we went to see the confluence of Sindu (Indus) and Zanskar. On our way there, we saw the Himalayan Urial (Shapo) high on the mountains. It would have been impossible to spot these for me. And the only reason I got to see them was that Devendra and Mayuresh, with the trained eyes could spot these!!



Movie shooting...

  Driving ahead, we also saw a movie being shot – a song, for sure. Watching the girl do the same steps again and again, the camera, the people around – it looked pretty ridiculous and we had a good laugh! Of course, it also looked like a LOT of work  - standing in the bright & hot sun, in a fancy dress and doing the same dance steps again and again definitely can’t be easy or fun!

On the way we also passed the memagnetic (??) hill. At the magnetic hill, they ask you to park your vehicle in neutral and watch it slide up the slope; which is supposed to be due to the magnetic force. However, this is not so – its only an optical illusion caused by the layout of the landscape. Also, it looks like the vehicle is moving up the slope, only from s specific spot.

At the confluence of the two rivers, one can see each of the rivers distinctly different from the other – Sindu looks muddy and Zanskar looks “white”.

Hall of Fame museum, Leh –
On 19th August, after returning from the Nubra valley, we went to the Hall of fame museum in the late afternoon. It is a glorious museum built/setup by the Indian Army.  The museum has two separate sections one of which covers various facets of Ladakh region – like the geography, history, culture as well as flora and fauna. The other section covers a lot of information about various wars and operations carried out by the Army. It makes one realize about the difficulties faced by the army – especially when you read about the highest war zone of the world – the Siachin glacier; it makes you proud of your army and it also makes you feel very emotional.

Shopping in Leh – We went to the market street 2-3 times in all – looking for some things specific – like the T-shirts with embroidery, so instead of a T-shirt, with “Ladakh – at the top of the wolrd” printed on it, you buy a T-shirt with the same embroidered on it!! And it makes a big difference to the overall look of the T-shirt. There were a lot of cool T-shirts too – about Leh, about Khardung La. Some of the ones I really liked were “My sister went to Ladakh and all she got me was this silly t-shirt!” – having this embroidered on the t-shirt in beautiful silk colors, makes it look anything but silly!  The best one had 5 yaks standing in a line with this line at the bottom – “Yak Yak Yak Yak Yak” – just loved it!! Needless to say I got t-shirts as gifts…
Apart from these, we were told that one gets good turquoise (which is found in Ladakh) and other semi-precious stones here. We mostly only window shopped for these…

Apart from the T-shirts, things we ended up buying were apricots, apricot jam, prayer flags, prayer wheels and some small souvenirs like key chains.

By the time it was time to leave Leh and return home, we had gotten very comfrotable in Leh - with its simple people and simple life as well as the beauty of the surrounding, start mountains and the background of blue, blue sky! It was really difficult to say goodby to the place on 21st morning and board our flight to Delhi...


  

Manali to Leh – the Trans Himalayan Safari





Hadimba Temple, Manali

 


Our journey was a little complicated. We flew from Pune to Delhi, and then got on a bus to Manali around 6:00 PM. It took us 16 hours to reach Manali. It was sunny and actually quite hot, when we reached Manali at about 10:00 AM the next day. We were doing the Trans Himalayan road Safari from Manali to Leh.  We were to start for Leh early morning on 14th August, but it was raining incessantly from 12th evening. The Rohtang pass closed down on 13th due to snowfall and landslides. Due to the heavy rains, the Delhi-Manali road also was closed.  We were stuck in Manali! However, if we had started for Leh from Manali on 13th, we would be stuck at Rohtang; if we had tried to reach Manali a day later than when we did, we would have been stuck on the road from Delhi and not reached Manali. So if we looked at it from the right perspective, our timing was perfect!

So, whether we would start on 14th morning for Manali was something we were going to be able to decide only on 14th morning. On 14th morning we were all packed but as it turned out, on 14th morning, the pass had not yet opened so we definitely were not starting on that morning. Around noon we decided to start from Manali at about 3:00 PM and drive to Rohtang. If the pass had opened we would go across, if not we would come back to Manali. 

As we made our way to Rohtang, we were going close to the snow clad mountains, the sky started opening up and with all the tall trees and the clouds that we were driving through was creating just the perfect atmosphere. I couldn’t help thinking about Shammi Kapoor, my favorite actor who had passed away just that morning. I couldn’t help but imagine him going “Yahoo” in that place – the setting seemed like out of one of his movies from 60s.

We made a stop at Marhi, the last place before Rohtang, where one can get good, water etc. After our drivers discussed the situation with many other drivers, it was decided to drive to Rohtang. It meant that if the pass didn’t open up, we will have to stay put in our vehicles close to the pass for the night. As we got closer and closer to the pass, the road became gradually worse. There were large patches where we were driving in feet deep mud. The fear of having a vehicle stuck in that slush or slipping on it and going over the edge was on everyone’s mind.

As it turned out, the wonderful people of BRO had managed to work on the patch where the landslides had taken place, and though the road could not be cleared, they had managed to make an alternate road and light vehicles were able to drive over it to make way to Rohtang after about 6:00 PM. So we were able to cross that patch around 6:30 PM and make our way towards Rohtang pass.  But it was now getting dark and the road was pretty bad – and very narrow. Finally we crossed the Rohtang pass at about 8:15 PM that night. Watching all the snow in the dark of the night was a different kind of magic!

We kept driving through the night and reached a town called Keylong, around 11:00 PM. But we could not find any accommodation and so we decided to drive over to Jispa; as per our original plan we were supposed to drive to Jispa that day and had a booking in a good place there.  Driving another hour through the night on another patch of bad road, we reached Jispa around midnight and went over to the hotel where we thought we had confirmed accommodation for the night. Since Rohtang was closed and so was Barlacha, the pass on the other side, the people who were to have moved ahead, had been stuck in Jispa and so there was no rooms available for us. So it was past midnight, extremely cold and we didn’t have any place to stay… So we drove on… went to a place called Darcha – about a few kilometers from Jispa. Here, we found place to sleep on cot basis in two Dhabas. We, four women took four available beds in one dhaba. The three men in our group and our two drivers took 5 available beds in another Dhaba. 





The dhaba we stayed at in Darcha




The accommodation was really very basic – there were about 10 people sleeping in one room in the Dhaba where we slept. The toilet was outside and basically was just a small enclosure with 3 walls and one curtain. But we all were very tired and it felt awesome to lie down and relax for a while. By this time it was past 1 AM. The next morning we woke up around 6:30 AM and after having some tea at these Dhabas went back to the hotel where we were supposed to have stayed the night. We thought we could freshen up there and have a good breakfast.

When we went over the hotel they gave us a good breakfast and couple of rooms to freshen up. While freshening up we realized that the place where we were supposed to stay was really good. Where we ended up staying was the most basic of accommodations, even in these remote areas. Two things struck me – one, that people stay is such basic conditions and seem quite happy. And two, even our basic needs are very simple. We complicate our lives and think that all these things we have - our houses, cars, computers, TVs, Fridges, phones and so many other things are “essential” – but they are definitely not! While I have trekked many times and staying in tents on the trek seemed right. But to live in a dhaba, with the family who runs the dhaba, to see how they lived is something that I learnt a lot from.

After having a good breakfast, we started ahead.  It was a wondrous journey from that point onwards – the vast open spaces, snowed in valleys in places, the painted mountains in others and no trees as this complete journey is above the tree line. 

We kept passing through changing landscape – and kept looking at the mountains, the valleys, the moor planes and various birds and animals that we came across, quite mesmerized. It was long drive, but it seemed to get over too soon – we wanted to spend more time going through that terrain – looking at the valleys and mountains.

We definitely wanted to spend more time looking for the animals we were hoping to see – Bharal (mountain goat) and Tibetan wild ass.  But we didn’t see them. The weather that had changed unexpectedly – the untimely rains and snow must have been the culprits.

This was quite an adventurous journey – it turned out to be a lot more adventurous than what was planned, thanks to the weather - but it was an amazing journey. It turned out to be the most memorable journey of my life so far!!

Ooh Ladakh!!

I had heard about Ladakh – how it is a very different place and how it is beautiful; I had seen some beautiful photographs of this region first when my uncle made a trip there. Later on, I saw pictures takes by some friends – some amazing almost professional pictures. So I thought I knew what to expect when I went there – Blue sky, Buddhist architecture & culture and stark mountains. I recently went to Ladakh with Foliage Outdoors and though I found all these that I had expected, I realized that really didn’t know what to expect!!

I am planning to write about the place and the journey here in 2-3 parts.

Mountains and Melodies

“Juda hoke bhi…. Tu muzme kahi baki hai….” I was hearing the notes of this song from Kalyug for the first time when we were making our way to Gangtok from Baghdoghra. It was late in the evening and we had been driving for about 3 hours. We had all been fascinated by the narrow mountain road we were driving on, the tall mountains, the clouds and the greenery. We had watched mesmerized till there was light and then the mood had become silent and thoughtful. It was quite dark when the driver switched on the music player and these notes floated to us. All we could see in the dark were many, many stars in the sky that we didn’t normally see in the cities and the electric lights far away in the hills – that was Gangtok…

The natural beauty surrounding us, hidden from us by the curtain of the darkness now, was still very fresh in our minds. The darkness, starlit sky and the dipping temperatures were adding to the feeling of being in an unearthly place. And this song, “Juda Hoke bhi…”, added beautifully to this overall experience. I don’t know if I fell in love with the song because of the overall atmosphere of the time when I heard it for the first time, or it was a lovely song which made the atmosphere so amazing. But, every time I hear that song now, I remember that late evening, that starlit sky and the mountains that we were driving through. 

On our trek in the Kanchanjunga national park, before which we had visited Gangtok, when we reached Bakhim after a long and strenuous trek from Yuksum, we stayed at a Jungle lodge. In this lodge, after we had had our dinner, our sherpas sang for us; some of them also danced. “Resham Phiriri” is a Nepali folk song that I heard for the first time in that wooden cabin at Bakhim. It was around 8:00 PM but it seemed much later because it had gotten dark even before 6:00 PM and there were no lights anywhere as far as we could see. The only light was those of the candles burning on the big wooden dining table. It was very cold and so a fire was setup in the fireplace. We had had our dinner in the candle light after a long and tiring trek. It was another of those surreal times. I think of that song sometimes when I remember that jungle lodge. And I think of that jungle lodge when I think of this song. I don’t know which one is the stronger memory; they are so completely associated with each other…

There are other melodies that I have heard in mountains at different times that have stayed with me as reminders of those places and times in the mountains. Some of these are old Hindi movie songs, some that have always been my favorite. But even these favorites have become more special because of the specific times & places in Himalayas.

On the same trek in the Kanchanjunga national part, we had a guide called Amar, who sang quite well. “Phoolon ke rang se” from Prem Pujari was a song he sang very well. I heard Amar sing this song many times on this trek. I myself had requested him to sing this a few times as I have always loved this song; its one of my all-time favorites. But the one time it made the most impact was when we were climbing down from Samiti Lake to the camp. There had been just four of us at the lake and it was possible to imagine yourself to be all alone; it was so beautiful and peaceful. Samiti Lake is one of the most tranquil places one can go to. After spending some time at the lake, we made our way back to the camp where others were waiting for breakfast. When we were climbing down to the camp, Amar started singing “Phoolon ke rang se”… We still had 4 days of trekking, but it was all going to be much easier since we would be climbing down. It was early morning of a surprisingly clear day and we had just visited one of the most beautiful places we had even been to. Because of all these, we were in a very happy frame of mind. That climb down to the camp, and that frame of mind is what I remember now every time I hear “Phoolon ke rang se”…

My trek to valley of flowers has been one of the most fun treks I have been on. In Rahul Bhusari and Dinesh Patil, we had 2 very good camp leaders, and we seemed to have a group with great sense of humor – that always helps on treks. When we started off on this trek, it had been raining very heavily and we weren’t sure we’ll be able to make it to the valley. In fact, that year we were amongst some 5 groups who did make it upto the valley. The first day’s trek from Govindghat to Ghangaria is 13 kms of up and down through the mountains. Its tiring but the view throughout is really beautiful; so much so that later on your remember the beauty of this path rather than the struggle you had climbing. After we reached Ghangaria in the evening, we washed up, had dinner and then went to the visiting center there to see a short film about Valley of Flowers.  After the film, when we were walking back to our lodge through the small town, I heard “Chand fir nikala, magar tum na aaye…” from Paying Guest. It was a dark night, very cloudy and no moon in the sky.  We were walking on a small mud road with a big ground on one side. And this song was probably coming from one of the small houses, being played on a transistor radio and the station tuned I would guess was Vividh Bharati. But hearing the longing in Lata’s sweet voice, at that place and at that time brought me to tears. This is another of those beautiful songs that I have always loved. But it had never made my cry earlier; somehow the impact of this song at that time was so much more intense. And now this song reminds me of walking through Ghangaria at night; I can clearly see the open ground we were walking by…

Somehow, the songs heard in the quiet of the night leave a big impact, especially in the mountains when you are already “away” from the real world. But sometimes even on quiet afternoons, when you are resting on a mountain slope, when you can see leaves fall noiselessly to the ground, you hear some melody as it rides the light breeze, coming from somewhere in the valley,  that can take you by surprise and touch your heart like never before. 

I was on a trek to Saurkundi lake in Himachal Pradesh and I got sick at Baggi Thatch. So I didn’t go up to Saurkundi lake that day. Along with Meena, who too had stayed back with her daughter, I went on a small “picnic” – we took our books and climbed a little distance away from the camp. We spent a beautiful afternoon there, reading side by side, napping when we felt like and talking very little. On this afternoon, seated there under the tall trees on that mountain slope, I heard “Hai duniya usiki, jamana usika…” from Kashmir ki Kali. It floated to us from some small village down in the valley. It was coming from a distance and if it had not been for the tranquility or the fact that we were absolutely quiet at that time we wound not have been able to hear it. But barely audible notes of this soft song, heard there on the remote mountain have remained with me very solid. Now, when I hear this song, in my mind I am back on that remote mountain….
Hearing music in remote mountains, where everything else is quiet and you are feeling closer to the universe,  is such a magical experience!! I have felt this in Himalayas every time I have trekked there.

America that I miss...

I moved back to India in 2001 after living in America (US) for about 5 years. I moved back because I missed India a lot and India is where I felt I belonged. Of course the India I had left in 1996 was different from India I came back to in 2001 but I belonged here in India (changed one too).  But, I loved my time in US and there are many things I miss about America – specifically the America that I left behind in 2001. Things have changed there too in the last 10 years; some things a lot more than others…

After 2001, I have traveled to US some 7-8 times and enjoyed each of those visits, but have not “lived” there. And though I meet many friends and visit some of my favorite places every time I travel, I still miss the America I left in 2001. Here are some things that I loved about living in America…

Melting pot of world culture:
I worked for Microsoft and a product development team had people literally from all over the world working together! People from many European countries, South Americans, Canadians, Chinese, Korean, People from Middle East,  Indians  and of course Americans – all working side by side, making software and in the process sharing their stories, food, experiences and feelings. One learnt such a lot about each other’s culture, developed a more open and tolerant views and became more aware and capable of handling diversity. This was probably one of the best things from those days at Microsoft – those crazy days of working really hard, trying to meet the milestones, meeting to discuss and debate requirements and designs…. Playing foosball and throwing darts!!  And making some great friends!!!

Driving:
I lived in Bellevue, near Microsoft campus. And in 1996, driving around was such a pleasure.  The traffic got really bad after about 2000, I think. But I LOVED driving around then… Of course, driving in US is still a lot easier than India (I guess for most part), but before 2000, it was really simple and easy. The gas also was a lot cheaper…

Western Washington:
Whenever people hear about Seattle or western Washington, all they can think about is rain – how its cloudy for days and rains some 300 days a year. But its also a very beautiful region. On a clear day, its so beautiful… Seeing Mount Rainier in distance, and the skyline of the city – it’s a site one just does not get tired of… And it’s a great place for hiking, climbing and outdoor activities in general. I enjoyed living there a lot… It never really got very hot, and it never got too cold. I could handle the rain – I love rain anyways…  Oh and the people of the region were simple and friendly. I have made some great friends in this part of the world and really cherish their friendship…

Community College: 
I took art classes and dance classes and language classes and oh, mountaineering classes in the Bellevue community college. Loved these classes that let me explore new things and work on my hobbies. With my mountaineering class, I also went snow shoeing and went climbing Mt. St. Helens in the month of March when it was fully covered in snow (and hurt my knee badly – but that story some other time).  I wish we had something like community colleges in India… We do have different classes here, but most of them are private classes and there is no way of knowing how good they are going to be, their format or how the facilities are going to be etc. Of course some ARE quite wonderful…

Public library:
Oh the public libraries!! The public library system and how much you can read, listen, see and learn!!  I spent many Saturday afternoons at the Public Library in Bellevue. Unfortunately, there is nothing comparable in India…

Pro Club:
Pro Club in Bellevue was the first gym I joined. It is big and has many facilities – from a huge section of treadmills & cross trainers & climbers to personal gym machines, to tennis courts and basketball courts… to Aerobics, kickboxing as well as Yoga studios…. It was just too good. I have not seen another gym which can come anywhere close to Pro club in terms of facilities or the services offered… And especially in India, gyms have been quite disappointing…

Yoga Class:
I used to practice Yoga in India before I went to US, and I practice it (on and off) even after coming back. And I have attended different Yoga classes in India, some good, some not good and some definitely not good. I live in Pune, where the world famous Iyengar Yoga institute is and many people from all over the world come here to learn Yoga. But they conduct courses not just classes. And I have to say that the best Yoga class I attended was in Bellevue…

Travel around:
In those days, traveling around US was so easy, and so affordable!! Going to the airport to see people off meant going and seeing them off right at the gate, see them board the plane. I remember that even when my parents were to board their flight for their return to India, I had gone to see them off till the gate on the SEATAC airport. And it was so easy to take the car and go someplace, just for the day or a weekend or even longer (which I guess still is) and so affordable (which is not as affordable with the gas prices now).

Bookshops!!:
I grew up with books around me and have always loved going to bookshops. But the bookshops I saw in America just blew me off – they were big, had so many books that I didn’t even know anything about, on so many subjects, they had neat little places to sit around and read, and they stayed open for a long time!! There was a Barnes & Noble very close to where I lived and many times I would spend late evenings there, since it did not close till 11:00 PM. I also used to frequent a Borders store in Redmond. And how can I forget the Half Price Books???
We have big bookshops in India too now, but they still don’t compare well with the bookshops in US.

Malls:
When I went to America in 96, India didn’t have “malls”, per say – some big shops yes, but the malls no. And America was full of them!! And those big malls had so many big stores and big parking lots!! Oh and so many things that I had never seen or heard of in India. Simple things like chocolates and cheeses – I went berserk buying these!! And when my sister got engaged, I actually sent her a suitcase full of chocolates and cheeses from America!! Just the abundance one saw in these big chain stores or malls was over whelming. Till 96, I didn’t know that there were so many different varieties of milks to choose from – we had only choice of buffalo milk or cow milk – and packaged milk or fresh milk from a milkman… Things have changed a great deal on this front in India – India today has big malls in many places, big chain stores too – but they are a lot smaller, a lot more crowded and I just HATE the way the shop assistants keep following you around!!! I tend to avoid the malls in India….

Having said all this, if someone asks me whether I want to move back to America, my answer would be “no”.  I figure, its better to live in India and miss America than live in America and miss India.

Ganesh Festival and two songs

When I was about 12-13, we moved from our rented apartment in a gated society on the outskirts of the city to our own house in the heart of the city. Our new house was close to a big Ganesh Mandal  (group or circle) – one of Pune’s well known Mandals – namely Hatti Ganapati (meaning “Elephant Ganapati” – the idol is a big one – hence Hatti Ganapati).

The Ganesh Festival in the city was very different from what we thought of “Ganesh Festival” when we lived in the outskirts. The decorations for the festival were huge in the city. There were pandals put up right in the streets. Many of the big Mandals put up big scenes in front of the Ganesh idol – many times the scenes were based on some story in the Hindu mythology. Sometimes there were some scenes which had a political message. There were also some other scenes which showed some scientific progress. Some other mandals didn’t have a scene, but huge lighted decoration, where the lights “danced” to the music. But one thing that was common to most of the Mandals was that in the evenings, they played records of songs – many songs from Hindi movies. Many of the songs were from the latest movies, but some old, famous songs too were played out.

Whatever music Hatti Ganapati Mandal played, we could hear loud and clear in our house.  And many times it was source of major annoyance, since you heard the loud music from about 7:00 PM till late in the night – till 11:00 PM or sometimes even later. The loudness became more and more annoying as the evening progressed.  I came to dislike many of the songs that they played out again and again and again. But there were two songs, that no matter how many times they played, how loudly they played and how late in the night they played them, I just loved them. These two songs were played every year, every day for ten days. And till date, they are amongst my favorite songs.

Both are from 60s – Both have been composed by S. D. Burman and sung by Lata; both are also dance numbers – “Raat ka samaa” from Ziddi (1964) – a very young Asha Parekh dances to this number, and “Hoton me aisi baat” from Jewel Theif (1967) – Vyjayantimala sets the floor on fire with this one! “Raat ka samaa” is penned by Hasrat Jaipuri and “Hoton pe aisi baat” by Majrooh Sultanpuri.

And while both are my favorites, I like them for different reasons. In terms of visual presentation, the choreography, or the dancing skills – “Hoton me” is definitely the winner. Every time I hear the song, I visualize Vyjayantimala dancing – and dancing so gracefully and with such ease!! But then she is one of the best (if not the best) dancers to have ever danced in Hindi movies. But minus the visuals, I love “Raat ka samaa” lot more – the tune, the way Lata has sung it – its extremely sweet. To sit in the open at night, under the stars, light breeze bringing with it fragrance of some flowering tree nearby, and listening to a song like “Raat ka samaa” can transport you to a different world altogether…