April 2008 Desktop Calendar Wallpaper

Monday, March 31, 2008

This month's calendar is a Sparrow taking a dip in a puddle.

Photo Essay - Beyond Manali - III

Monday, March 24, 2008

Travelling in Himachal in June - 2007
Shimla >> Manali >> Rohtang >> Chandratal >> Ki/Kibber/Tabo >> Kalpa >> Shimla
+ Previous: Beyond Manali - II
+ Next: Exploring Solang Nala
+ Go to beginning of the story or index page

We walked over snow, crossed Solang stream and walked up the mountain on the other side.



We spotted sheep grazing and a few shepherds on mountain.



The mountain was covered in green grass interspersed with tall alpine trees.



As we walked further, we saw many flowers littering the landscape.



A little ahead was a small waterfall coming down from a rocky incline.



Walking further up and above the waterfall, we found many more colorful flowers spread on the ground.



The shepherds were already leaving when we reached near the place where they were. The last man left behind was dousing the fire they had made for preparing tea and was herding out the last remaining sheep.



The forest ahead was thick but few trees grew in places where the incline was steep, leaving green open spaces covered with grass and white flowers.

Continued at Exploring Solang Nala

Photo Essay - Beyond Manali - II

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Travelling in Himachal in June - 2007
Shimla >> Manali >> Rohtang >> Chandratal >> Ki/Kibber/Tabo >> Kalpa >> Shimla
+ Previous: Solang Nala
+ Next: Beyond Manali - III
+ Go to beginning of the story or index page

After stopping briefly at the cave temple in Solang Nala, we decided to follow the stream and walk upwards.



We saw a riot of flowers all around as we walked.



A bridle path assisted us for a few minutes, which disappeared after a while. We were left to find our own way. But then, we weren't really looking for a path taken but only wandering aimless.



We soon hit the snow line. It was old snow from the last winter, hard as concrete below the surface. But the surface was soft and melting slowly and was not all that hard to walk on it.



At places, the stream ran under a layer of hard snow and made a path where a man could easily go in! It was fun exploring it, though we did not go deep inside them. We eventually crossed the stream using the snow as bridge and walked up the mountain and away from the stream.

Continued at Beyond Manali - III

Photo Essay - Beyond Manali - I: Solang Nala

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Travelling in Himachal in June - 2007
Shimla >> Manali >> Rohtang >> Chandratal >> Ki/Kibber/Tabo >> Kalpa >> Shimla
+ Previous: Discovering Manali
+ Next: Beyong Manali - II
+ Go to beginning of the story or index page

For next few posts, it is going to be less words and more pictures.

Despite the touristy looks of Manali, its mountain peaks gave me an indication that there is much to discover around the town. We spent just two days there, one of them wandering in the town and the second, exploring. In those eight hours we spent freewheeling beyond Manali, we discovered some spellbinding beauty that wasn't discovered by tourists. same


Solang is visited by many people; is touristy and has many activities to amuse its visitors.

We rented a bike a rode towards Solang Nala north of Manali on the second day. The meadows of Solnag Nala were touristy enough that I would rather speak less of it here.


We biked to Solang Nala from Manali

The road ends at a place where the Indian Army is working on a tunnel to Rohtang Pass, which would eventually open the road to Ladakh year round. My friend opted to take a horse ride from here to a waterfall and a cave temple besides a stream, while I decided to walk the distance. It was an hour's walk to the temple, and we climbed higher as we walked.


Solang is a deviation on the road to Rohtang Pass, and is at a level higher than Manali. The higher we climb the better are the views.


Solang Nala flows from the mountains..



Continued at Beyong Manali - II

Discovering Manali

Travelling in Himachal in June - 2007
Shimla >> Manali >> Rohtang >> Chandratal >> Ki/Kibber/Tabo >> Kalpa >> Shimla
+ Previous: A Day in Shimla
+ Next: Solang Nala
+ Go to beginning of the story or index page

The first light of the day came at Kullu on my way from Shimla to Manali. My bus made its way along the banks of Beas that flowed in the opposite direction in a great hurry. From my bus, I could here the gurgle of slightly turquoise and transparent water rushing down the valley. The river bed was littered with boulders of all sizes. It is such an inviting flow that you would feel like stopping the bus and getting right down there.

Names like Kullu and Manali sound remote and dreamy when you hear about them from the plains below, but it is hardly so. The road is a highway and is put to good use by hoards of buses, trucks, private cars and yellow-board cabs. Resorts and camps are lined up all along the road, packed so densely that if you were to drive from Kullu to Manali stopping at each one of them for 15 minutes, it would take many weeks to reach the destination. But the journey gives many hints of what is in store further deep in the mountains. River runs cold and its color leaves the evidence of glacial origins. Temperature dips slowly and the road climbs up giving a sneak preview of white washed summits and tall trees. The anticipation of tomorrow rushes into the mind and overwhelms the moment.

Manali is a typical tourist town with hotels and resorts filling up every street, making room for tourists arriving in bus loads from the plains below. Trekking and adventure companies, cab hires, tour agents and restaurants are all that you see on the main roads. Oddly, I wasn't harassed by touts on my arrival even though a few people gently asked me if I need a room. I offloaded my bag in the cloakroom and went in search of a place to stay.


A short walk put me in love with Manali despite its tourist crowds. Nehru park is quiet and charming with its alpine trees. You look up and you see snowy peaks in every direction with rocky slopes and coniferous forests below it. Picturesque is an overused word, but it perfectly fits what Manali is. I walked away from the bustle of the town and found a quiet hotel in old Manali right next to Manalsu stream coming down from the adjacent mountains.

Later in the day, I met a friend who arrived from Delhi by bus and we charted plans for rest of our journey and made preparations for it.

About Manali

Manali town itself doesn't offer much in terms of sightseeing. There are a few temples - like the Hadimba temple and Manu Maharshi temple. Vashist, a village just outside Manali has hot springs and many budget guest houses. Solang Nala, which is a 30 minute drive from Manali on the way to Rohtang Pass is a place much visited by tourists. Solang has a ski slope operating in winter and turns into a place for paragliding and a few amusement-sports in summer. In summer, people visit the cave temple which is a short walk from Solang.

Most travellers use Manali as a base for a day-trip to Rohtang Pass. Rohtang Pass is one place which has an easy to access motorable road that can take you above the snow line for most of the year. Besides this, Manali is home to many travel agents and adventure companies that can organize treks, river rafting and jeep safaris in the Himalayas.

Accommodation is in plenty, and nearly every other road is full of hotels and resorts. Considering the number of tourists coming in from the plains in the peaks season, it would still be wise to book ahead if you are looking for mid-range accommodation.

Manali can be reached by buses from Delhi, Chandigarh and Shimla. Many people drive from these cities. Kullu has an airport which is 2 hours away from Manali.

Continued at Solang Nala

Worldhum etc..

Friday, March 21, 2008

I have been reading a lot of travel stories lately and each one is kicking up a wish to be in those places. There have been stories of a jeep ride in remote locations of Bolivia, journeys in Scandinavia, Sumatra and much more. But a lot of these great stories I have been reading are from worldhum. I have been browsing a lot and discovering many websites with excellent travel writing. Here are a few.

* worldhum. Great travel writings from all over the world.
* travelhappy.info. South East Asia
* besttravelwriting.com. Writings from all over the world.
* moxon.net. A freelance writer's diary. Check his entries on his two visits to India.

Shimla

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Travelling in Himachal in June - 2007
Shimla >> Manali >> Rohtang >> Chandratal >> Ki/Kibber/Tabo >> Kalpa >> Shimla
+ Previous: Driving to Shimla via Chail and Kufri
+ Next: Discovering Manali
+ Go to beginning of the story or index page

Finding a budget hotel in Shimla in the peak of the season is an ordeal you would not want to endure. Not that they don't exist, but they come with their compromises. A few that I checked reeked of cigarettes, toilets stank and was not fit for normal people. Some more had no windows and no ventilations of any kind and had carpets releasing a dank smell, and the shameless hosts graciously offered to get rid of the odour by spraying antidotes which was nothing more than an equally unbearable perfume. A few clean budget hotels were far from where the action is but I wanted to be in the middle of it since it was my first, but a very short visit. Someone had told me that they do exist close to the mall but I never managed to find any. And our driver would tell me later with a mischievous grin that he knew a few good places but would not bother to tell me where. 'Forget about finding a budget hotel near the mall,' my friends who dropped me in Shimla had told me, and I think they said it right.

'Splurge,' I finally told myself myself after an unsuccessful search, and splurge I did. The hotel room I took in Shimla cost me exactly 22 times more than the cheapest accommodation I enjoyed in Himachal. But then, the cheapest acco was real cheap, a dhaba in a remote village - Batal - where we were one of the first tourists to arrive this summer. And then if I may add, we probably had 22 times more fun in Batal than in Shimla.


Sit back, relax and watch the world go by. That's the best thing to do while in Shimla

That doesn't mean Shimla is a bad place. On the contrary it is a place with a feel good. And if you have come there from super heated Delhi of summer, you will jump with joy and love its pleasant air to no end. A 25 degree weather is not the only attraction of Shimla, it has an easy going and charming atmosphere where no one is in a hurry to go anywhere. Unless of course, you are travel agent or a tout with a target to hassle at least a few dozen people in a day. The mall road is (fortunately) closed for vehicles which means people walk there merrily munching ice creams and candy floss, eating in one of its numerous restaurants or occasionally even singing and dancing right on the road. And the ridge, just above the mall often turns festive with tiny groups gathered watching a play, listening to a singer, watching Himachali women dance or indulge in the greatest 'time pass' of the entire country - munching something nice and warm sold by a street vendor. And when people have had enough of all that there are always benches laid along the road to sit and watch other people lost in indulgence.


Staying at one end of the mall road, I spent no more than a day in Shimla doing little more than walk to the other end of the mall and back, and then repeating the same walks a few times over. I would squat in a coffee shop or an ice cream parlour when I wanted a break and move on further looking for - well, looking for nothing in particular. The morning breakfast happened at the India Coffee House sitting next to a window overlooking the valleys of Shimla. The Coffee House's dosas, idlis and coffees tasted precisely as they did in India Coffee House back in Bangalore. I was left wondering if they had it air-delivered from there. Further, I walked around the scandal point and up the ridge and found many more people walking aimlessly just like me. Gaiety Theater on the ridge, which William Dalrymple described as 'unaltered since the last British sailed home' is finally under renovation. A few buildings here and there do remain from the colonial era but the evidences of this being the summer capital of the British are not many.


The India Coffee House in Shimla. Yes, I was eating dosa with a fork and knife, because I was writing my journal through the breakfast

Further on the mall road, a few people are selling litchis, peach and a few other English fruits of which I would have probably heard but can't associate the name with shapes. Many of them grow locally and I have a go at a few of them. A tall deodar forest appears bang next to the road beyond the secretariat where, if you are brought blindfolded, you will definitely presume being in a forest and not a city.

It is evening before I know and it is time for me to move on. As I pack my bags and head out, I go with good feelings of Shimla but nothing to carry with me as memories. It is not one of those places where I feel sad to leave, even when it does have its charm. It is the deodars of Chail and Mashorba that are refusing to go away from memory and remain etched forever.

About Shimla

Shimla's vicinity to Delhi, Chandigarh and Punjab makes it a popular summer retreat to beat the heat for people from these places. Shimla again sees tourists coming in large numbers in winter whenever it snows. There isn't much in terms of sightseeing within Shimla, even when travel websites and brochures make a desperate push for a church or a temple here and there, the mall and the scandal point as places of interest. It is a place where the best thing to do is to hang around and kill time.

How-ever, there are many places around Shimla that have excellent vistas of lower Himalayas. Go to Chail, Kufri or Mashobra to enjoy dense deodar forests and some good views. There are more such places, like Naldehra, Narkanda and Kasauli, all within 2 hours drive from Shimla.

There are many hotels and resorts within Shimla and all around it, but finding an accommodation that is value for money at any range is difficult in peak season. So planning ahead is advisable.

Continued at Discovering Manali

Book Review: City of Djinns

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Author: William Dalrymple
Publishers: Penguin Books
Pages: 339

The most important thing that I felt after reading City of Djinns is that Delhi has so many worthwhile places to see, and I should some day be seeing them all. I was speaking to a friend and she expressed the same thing, and said it might takes months to see all those places just within Delhi. And another friend had a head start. He told me over the phone - 'I have been going to Nizamuddin theses days, visiting those places in City of Djinns'.

That is the charm of the Dalrymple's excellently written book. Sometimes it takes you right there where he is and in other times you will wish you were there. Dalrymple spends a year in Delhi researching its history and works it backwards from the days just after independence, continuing to the British era and then to Mughals. History doesn't reveal about the days much before that and he gives up. He has done great research on the topic and the length of bibliography is a good proof of it. And in the process of his research he unearths many monuments still existing but unknown to most of us - like the Nizamuddin Darga, Tughlakh's fort, Safdarjung's tomb, Havelis of old Delhi to name a few. He mixes history remarkably well with current day Delhi while he describes his own experiences of living in Delhi as he does his research for the book. It succeeds in making its reader fall in love with the city and at the same time remain cautious about it. An excellent book, needless to say.

Driving to Shimla; Chail and Kufri

Monday, March 17, 2008

Travelling in Himachal in June - 2007
Shimla >> Manali >> Rohtang >> Chandratal >> Ki/Kibber/Tabo >> Kalpa >> Shimla
+ Previous: Giri River Camp
+ Next: A Day in Shimla
+ Go to beginning of the story or index page

Four of us left Giri River Camp and drove towards Shimla, taking a detour via the deodar forests of Chail and Kufri.

Winding mountain roads took us through pine forests interspersed with villages and small towns. We drove through them slowly and gently at speeds varying from 20kph to a high of forty plus. It was often narrow, and dangerous at blind curves and a moment unaware could immediately take us a few hundred feet down into the valley. But it is not as bad it appears and the road is more scenic than fearsome. I did not get behind the wheels, but for me, love is driving in the mountains and I have done many thousand kilometers of it down south. Nothing to beat the might of the Himalayas though; where in the world can you find mountains so tall and steep and yet so well connected and inhabited?

The other folks in the car were veterans of Himachal who gave me plenty of dope on the local way of life, culture, people and places as we drove on. There were hilarious stories to know about rich folks of Kinnaur with excessive obsession to alcohol, about the kindness of people in the high mountains, richly beautiful landscapes of Spiti, of landslides blocking the roads every now and then and so on. Apparently public transport can sometimes be faster than your own vehicle in Himachal's roads frequently affected by landslides; in case of a landslide you can just walk across the slide and hop into a bus waiting on the other side.

We drove via Solan town on the Shimla highway and turned towards Chail at Kandaghat. Initially a vegetation of stout trees and shrubs with a generally dry atmosphere, things started changing as we climbed up towards Chail village. A small village it may be, but not undiscovered by Delhi's footloose population trying to escape from the summer heat. Resorts and hotels litter the way and giant ad-hoardings welcome you to their properties in Chail. But thankfully, Chail village itself is unspoilt as the region around it has been declared a reserve forest and no construction permitted. The village is tiny and is marked by an old palace of the Maharaja of Patiala(now a hotel, Rs.10 for visitors to see) and the world's highest full size cricket ground(no entry for visitors, but you can manage a sneak peek) owned by the local sainik school. It was a moment of nostalgia for one of my friends in the car who did his schooling here and went on saying 'this was our dormitory.. this was our classroom..'.



Deodar Forests of Chail

Chail is a different world and demarcates itself from the rest with sudden surge of deodar trees. They grow densely with little space left between trees, climbing higher and higher in search of more sunlight. But for a few rays of the mid-day sun escaping the branches and falling on the tarmac, sunlight never makes it to the ground. The temperature dips considerably on approach to the village and you have to look hard to find a place to bask in the shine. The thick vegetation occasionally gives out in steep slopes, revealing the gigantic Himalayan valleys and waves of mountain peaks beyond them. The same tall trees also hide the concrete resorts and hotels on the road approaching the village.

The one main road on the village is littered with restaurants and shops, giving an unlikely feeling of a busy town. But it is hardly a hundred meter long and in a sudden twist, makes way for the prolific deodars. Chail is the quintessential Himalayan village perfect for travel brochures; an ideal retreat that has hardly changed much within its borders.


Chail's main road, stretching no more than a 100 meters

We drove on from here towards Kufri and eventually to Shimla. The road to Kufri continues to be narrow and without much traffic. Soon after we descended from Chail, deodars disappeared and gave way to shorter trees. The valleys here were deeper and the peaks taller, time and again reminding me that we are amidst the Himlayan ranges. An hour of drive took us to the famous Hindustan-Tibet highway and eventually to Kufri where deodar trees made a comeback.


On the road from Chail to Shimla..

'Kufri's arrival is marked by horse shit,' remarked one of my friends as he drove towards it. Sure enough, Kufri is crowded with horses meant to give joyride to tourists and we started seeing them miles before we reached Kufri. In the center of the village stood the horses and many drivers in a manner very similar to auto-rickshaws waiting for passengers in bus stands. Kufri also has a small zoo and an amusement park but none of them are worth the effort. But a walk along Kufri's road, among the deodars at a height with vistas of the green valleys below makes being there worthwhile.

Before we hit Shimla, we stopped briefly at the tiny village of Mashobra, which hosted the famous Wildflower hall and offered views of Shali Tibba, the highest peak around Shimla. Sun had just set when we finally arrived at Shimla where I parted from my friends and walked in search of a hotel.

More Information

Chail is a little more than an hour away from Shimla and is well connected by buses. Roads are decent, and if you are used to mountain roads it is worthwhile driving. Chail village itself has no more than 2-3 hotels, but the road from Chail to Kandaghat is littered with resorts. There isn't much to do in Chail except to walk around the deodar forest, but this is sufficient attraction to get there.

Kufri is 30 minutes away from Shimla on the same road that leads to Chail. It has some nice views and Deodar forests. You can go on horse rides and visit some tourist attractions like the zoo. Kufri is littered with resorts all around it.

Mashorba, which falls on the same road too is little more than 10km from Shimla. Although I haven't seen any, the place is said to have a few guesthouses. There are a few restaurants along the main road. The attraction of Mashorba is similar - vistas of the mountains and deodar forest.

If you are driving and not planning to stay in any of these places, it should be possible to cover all these place in single day.

Continued at A Day in Shimla

Karnataka: One State, Many Worlds

Sunday, March 16, 2008

"One State, Many Worlds" is the catchy line that Karnataka Tourism has been using for a while now. And any one who knows the state can't but approve. India Travel Blog, of course, has more content on Karnataka than any other region. Here is all the 'worlds' in the 'state' you can read about on India Travel Blog, and pictures on my Image Gallery.


Thadiyandamol, Coorg

TRAVELOGUES

1. Chikmaglur
2. Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary
3. Coorg
4. Yedakumeri - on the train tracks
5. Jog and Karwar
6. Muthathi
7. Ranganathitti Bird Sanctuary
8. Kaveri Sangama, Mekedatu and Chunhi Falls
9. Shivanasamudra
10. Talkad


Hirekolale Lake, Chikmaglur

11. Balmuri falls
12. Hogenakkal
13. KRS dam and Brindavan Gardens
14. Muthyala Madu
15. Bandipur National Park

16. Muthodi - Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary
17. Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary
18. Jog and Murdeshwar
19. Gokarna
20. Hampi


Sunrise at Matanga Parvata, Hampi

21. Badami
22. Aihole
23. Pattadakal
24. Mahakoota
25. Melukote
26. Belur and Halebeedu
27. Nandi Betta

IMAGES

1. Hampi
2. Badami,Aihole and Pattadakal
3. Coorg
4. Monsoon
5. Bangalore


Skandagiri near Bangalore

6. Chikmaglur
7. Gokarna
8. Melukote
9. Janapada Jaatre

In a Hurry..

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Stumbled upon this while reading Dominique Lapierre's 'City of Joy', the book on Kolkata.

For Kovalski it was a marvelous observation ground. A girl came up to him, gave him a big smile and with authority... Placing a finger on his wrist, she said to him in English.

'Dada, you must be in great hurry.'

'Why do you thin that?' asked Kovalski'

'Because you have a watch.'

Giri River Camp, Himachal

Friday, March 14, 2008

Travelling in Himachal in June - 2007
Shimla >> Manali >> Rohtang >> Chandratal >> Ki/Kibber/Tabo >> Kalpa >> Shimla
+ Previous: First day in Himachal
+ Next: Driving to Shimla via Chail and Kufri
+ Go to beginning of the story or index page

It has been nearly a year since I made a trip to Himachal. Several attempts to write about it were never successful. First I kept procrastinating, and then I had found other things to write about. Later I suffered for many months with writers block, or blogger's block if you wish to call it, and so on. Excuses are many, but finally it meant that a report was never completed. Here is one more attempt, I have no idea if I can finish it at least this time, but thats the goal.

To set the context first, it started as a series of posts like I normally do. Here is the story so far.

* Arriving in Delhi
* Loosing things
* First day in the mountain country

The story so far: And here is a quick summary if you are not to keen to click through all the posts. It was in mid June that I started off on a trip to Himachal. After spending a day in Delhi, I took a night bus and got down at Solan town an hour before Shimla. I was to meet a friend at a river-side camp owned by him on the bank of Giri river, nearly 30km from Solan. I reached the road head to Giri Camp where I was dropped off and walked towards the camp.

Continuation. It was a pleasant walk to the camp along the river. A few houses dotted the landscape to my right and to the left flowed the river silent. Steep hills rose up on both sides of the valley with trees hugging the slopes precariously. The camp was located along a wide curve of the river in a small plateau in the valley, where mountains blocked out views of everything beyond the curve and gave a sense of isolation. River ran deep and wide at sections near the camp, and then its channel narrowed and the flow gained speed after the curve. A few tents were pitched sparsely on the plateau. After exchanging pleasantries and meeting with a few other guests who were there, I checked into one of the tents to make up for the sleep lost in the night long journey.



At the camp

I have a never ending fascination for the rivers and Giri River provided an ideal indulgence. Its clear water flowed gently down the mountain with a pleasant gurgle. I walked along its bank for a long distance, occasionally crossing it and feeling the current pushing my legs. Pebbles in the shallows gave way to fine sand in deeper parts which was visible far deep under the water. The same river that is in a hurry to run away in a shallow stretch turned calm and inviting where it is deep. Thick vegetation of ferns drooped from vertical walls on the bank and pearls of water condensed from them into the river.


...pearls of water condensed from the ferns into the river

My fears that the river would be too cold were alleviated quickly. There was a bit of chill and it was not inviting enough in the morning but things changed later in the day as the sun moved up. When I saw few villagers going for a swim, it wasn't easy to resist. With initial hesitation to jump in gone, I was soon wading in the water, resisting giggles as the fish bit my legs and tickled the senses. I found a deeper section of the river going down to 10 feet and spent nearly an hour in the river swimming or sitting on the rocks. Refreshed, but tired and hungry after the swim, had a session of refueling soon after.



I took my camera and went for another walk in the later hours when the sun started moving downwards. Temperature dipped slowly in the sunset hours and a gentle breeze blew across the river. Sun went beyond the hills early in the valley while he was still shining brightly, and the golden hues of the evening were mild, with it being the the summer. The river continued to flow gently regardless of the time, playing melodious notes as it bumped off the rocks jutting out in the shallows. We sat by the river and watched the darkness slowly capture the mountains as the last lights of the day faded slowly.



That night was spent huddled around a campfire, listening to stories of the highlands of Himachal from my friends amidst crackles of the burning wood as we ate our dinner. The night came early and quickly and we retired soon listening to the sounds of nature in the silence.


At the hour of sunset

Next morning, it was already time to leave. The feeling that I was leaving too early lingered with me for a long time as we drove towards Shimla.

Continued at Driving to Shimla via Chail and Kufri

Construction Boom..

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

This is not about the rampant construction we are seeing in our cities.

For last 2 months, I have been travelling and visiting places of historical importance in Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. It looks like someone has been watching my itinerary and putting efforts to foil all my trips. Wherever I go, the monuments were wrapped up in bamboo poles for restoration work. It first started with the Bhoothanatha temple in Badami.



Then it was Amber Fort in Jaipur.



And yet another famous structure in Jaipur - Hawa Mahal.



Another one again in the south - the gigantic gopuras of Madurai.



The job of these champions was not all that easy in Madurai though. There are more than a dozen towers, each scaling higher than the other. They still worked hard to finish mounting those poles before I arrived. As you can see, there is some work left at the top. And in a few of those dozen or so towers, they had managed to cover only halfway.

Fortunately, this will be all, since I have no more monument trip planned in near future. By the time I get out again on the heritage trail, I hope anything that needs to be repaired would be already repaired. :)

...

Monday, March 03, 2008

After a burst of postings on India Travel Blog, there is going to be a slowdown, but just for a week. I will be travelling, and may or may not make an update or two from the road. In the meanwhile, a small sneak peek to my Rajasthan trip - an image from Pushkar.



I woke up on a cold morning in Pushkar decided to go for a walk and see the town waking up. There was hardly any activity. A few men were walking on the street and a couple of tiny shops were open making tea. I was wondering if it was worth coming out in the cold. It turned out rewarding after all. A few langurs were sitting in a huddle to escape from the morning cold, still feeling sleepy. A tiny one peeped out from it's mother's protections and peered at me inquisitively.

...the earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth...

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Something not travel related. Exceptions have to be made on things worth making exception.

Here is a speech from the chief of an American Indian, when the president of USA offered to buy a vast area of land from them in the 19th century. It is long but don't save it for future, read it now, and right away.

How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us.

If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.

The white man’s dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man. We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and man — all belong to the same family.

So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us. The Great Chief sends word he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves. He will be our father and we will be his children.

So, we will consider your offer to buy our land. But it will not be easy. For this land is sacred to us. This shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you the land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water’s murmur is the voice of my father’s father.

The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes, and feed our children. If we sell you our land, you must remember, and teach your children, that the rivers are our brothers and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness you would give any brother.

We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his father’s grave behind, and he does not care. He kidnaps the earth from his children, and he does not care. His father’s grave, and his children’s birthright are forgotten. He treats his mother, the earth, and his brother, the sky, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads. His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert.

I do not know. Our ways are different than your ways. The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man. There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring or the rustle of the insect’s wings. The clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around the pond at night? I am a red man and do not understand. The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of a pond and the smell of the wind itself, cleaned by a midday rain, or scented with pinon pine.

The air is precious to the red man for all things share the same breath, the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days he is numb to the stench. But if we sell you our land, you must remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.

The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh. And if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred as a place where even the white man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow’s flowers.

So we will consider your offer to buy our land. If we decide to accept, I will make one condition - the white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers.

I am a savage and do not understand any other way. I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie, left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am a savage and do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be made more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive.

What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of the spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected.

You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children that we have taught our children that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.

This we know; the earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected.

Even the white man, whose God walks and talks with him as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers after all. We shall see. One thing we know which the white man may one day discover; our God is the same God.

You may think now that you own Him as you wish to own our land; but you cannot. He is the God of man, and His compassion is equal for the red man and the white. The earth is precious to Him, and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator. The whites too shall pass; perhaps sooner than all other tribes. Contaminate your bed