The land that is known as Devbhumi.... Amazing, salubrious, uncanny, and sacred! Here the air one breathes is so energetic; Stimulating consciousness & sensibilities! One perceives nothing else but only nature; The greens, browns and blues of the landscapes! Hills, playing hide and seek with the passing clouds; Snowy peaks are sparkling in the sunlight at horizon! The sound of the flowing river-unconfined & unfathomed; Splashing the stones & pebbles, permeating twigs & leaves! All these ascribe Mother Nature in her indigenous form; Leading to the kingdom of tranquillity and paramount! The submerging villages unfurled in the woods; Reflecting a way of life that is harmonious with nature! FORAM N. BHATT
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Me and Aditya participated in a workshop which took place at Chennai, last month. During this trip we also travelled around Chennai and it was one of the best trips where we also met new friends and colleagues. Here we are narrating our experiences generated out of interactions with place & people which have built euphonious dialogues and delightful memories…. DAY 1- 15TH MAY 2017 I and Aditya began our journey to Chennai from Ahmedabad. We had booked newly introduced train named Hamsafar Express! My love for railway stations brought us 45 minutes earlier to the platform No. 7 at Kalupur railway station. I find railway stations very interesting in terms of the layers and complexity of activities they take place in great coordination and harmony. Various activities generated at same time are of different nature and also take place in such a beautiful manner that they do not conflict or disturb other activities. Announcements of arriving & departing trains, passengers waiting for the train, vendors selling snacks and beverages, as well as the rhythm of the trolleys moving heavy luggage. Somewhere there is a sound of chirping birds, barking dogs, children playing around with happiness on their face and elders discussing on various aspects of railways, politics and what not! At the same time somewhere in-between I am also standing in the same surrounding. Me and Aditya found an empty bench and sit there. Sitting there my senses was suddenly active and started noticing many things! We were surrounded with passengers belonging to different culture and region. Children, youth, as well as senior citizens were present. A variety in the luggage ranging from bistro, jholas, suitcase, duffle bags, and rucksacks were colourful; some of them were branded while few with local manufacturers! The same differences and similarities as well as diversity one can observe in the people present over there. Humans do also have such characteristics in their way of life! Suddenly I felt that, railway stations are the best place to understand the culture, tradition and behaviour of humans. From the ornaments, clothes and language I found that significantly three regional groups were surrounding me: 1. Indeed Gujarati, 2. Marwadis, & 3. Tamil…as my Hamsafar Express was going to take us to Tamil Nadu! I was noticing the details and patterns of their ornaments, and the style in which they wear the bindi differently. And here the train comes! Newly designed train was looking so beautiful in turquoise colour. B14-17, 20 seats were allotted to us by railways as if they are aware of the significance of the number 17 in our family (Adi’s birthday, Eeshan’s birthday, mummyji’s birthday and on 17th of the month of August my family shifted from Agra to Lucknow.) Remembering all these associations, I felt like a picture is must with the tag of seat no. 17! Now I would like to introduce my neighbour for next 30 hours. In our compartment a gentleman from Himmatnagar with his subordinate, and a Marwari Jain family were travelling with aunt, husband-wife, kids-a daughter and a younger son. With tea, coffee, snacks and gossips our train was moving on. Kids named, brother Arihant and sister Nikita are very sweet but equally notorious! These kids are busy playing virtual games in their parent’s mobile phone. Gradually, I started interacting with these kids and we were opening up with each other. I have come across a phrase/saying many times but I felt today that mind and heart of a child is like moist clay, they can be easily moulded with sensitivity. Sweet boy Arihant started eating and throwing rappers here and there and continued doing so. His parents were not bothered about this gesture of him and so finally, I could not resist myself and told him politely that, “Dear Arihant, we need to be here for next entire one day and if you keep throwing the garbage here and there, then it will be difficult for all of us to sit in the dirty place.” He realised this and next time when he got rapper, first he looked at me and then went to the dustbin. I was impressed and did appreciate him. Now he is again busy playing the mobile game. Arihant’s father is a cloth merchant and migrated to Chennai before 15 years for the expansion of the business. His daughter Nikita is seating across the passage on the side lower seat. I think she wants to come here and be a part of the conversation but she is feeling shy. She is hiding herself in the curtains! Her mother is sweet and mostly busy in serving her aunt and these two kids. Her aunt believes that if one does make his/her daughter provide “more” education then be ready to face the consequences as she will be having her own thought process and won’t be living the way we live. Basically she was against the freedom of a girl or a woman, being a woman. I felt sad for her orthodox thought and for little Nikita. We are living in the 21st century where sky is the limit and we talk about gender equality. How our country may progress if such mentality still exists! I was again having a conversation with kids and we were discussing games and sports. Surprisingly they were not at all interested in any kind of sports! What they liked the most is to play mobile games and watch television! “What do you want to do when you grow up?” I asked. Arihant said I will go to the shop the way my papa does. And I asked: “Nikita?” She said that she will stay home and help her mother in the household works and her brother explained me that “ladkiya thodi office jati hai? - Don’t you know that girls don’t go to the work place? They just stay at home!” I was taken aback. I was worried a little for the environment in which these kids were growing up. It’s good to follow tradition, but with changing time one must learn to adopt new ideas and explore the horizon otherwise life without progress may become stagnant. DAY 2- 16th MAY 2017 When I woke up around 8:00a.m., our train has reached station Solapur, in Maharashtra. We all passengers travelling in the same compartment had become very friendly with each other. Along with the tea all were sharing and exchanging the snacks which everyone did bring from home like, peanuts, gram, khakhara, thepla, pudi, etc. Fortunately after long time we both- me and Aditya had got the window seat and so we were enjoying the changing landscapes outside next to the railway track. The rich & organic landscape with green fields, banana farms, orange farms and in between appearing water bodies with beautiful scenery were mesmerizing me. Changing built forms, somewhere ruins, small but beautiful religious buildings being representing various religions through their flags and many more are talking a lot about diversity in Indian culture. We just could not realize that when the time passed and we were about to reach the destination- Chennai Central. We waved good bye to our co travelers, and exchanged contact details. I do love to go to the door before few minutes of arrival of the destination. The moist air touching my body and hair made me realize that you have reached very close to sea. Our train reached on platform no. 10. The railway station is very neat, clean and indeed beautiful. The 19th century railway station has a beautiful facade with a clock tower. Here auto rickshaws are yellow in colour. We took an auto from the road to broadway street. Dada (Auto driver) was listening to a melodious song in Tamil language, on a local radio channel. We usually prefer to stay at Gujarati Samaj that is available in most of the cities. We had enjoyed our stay at Gujarati Samaj at Delhi two years back. But unfortunately, we realized that the ambiance and the condition of the place were not so appropriate. It was 12 at night and so we decided to stay here till morning. By the time we quickly booked alternative stay online and went to sleep. Technologies have really made our lives so easier and comfortable, I was wondering. DAY 3- 17TH MAY 2017 Morning was cloudy. Around 7:00 a.m. we packed our luggage and went down at the canteen for morning tea. We did seat on the steps of the closed shop in front of the Gujarati Samaj. It was a pleasant morning. After finishing the tea with Fafda we thought of having a walk on the streets of George Town. Suddenly, it started raining! We were happily enjoying this rain away from the hot and dry days of Ahmedabad. We went back and called a cab to reach the newly booked hotel Kailash at Mylapore. We had an opportunity to pass by magnificent buildings on the way. Chennai has really very well preserved historic buildings. We saw iconic buildings such as the Secretariat, High Court, Law College, Anderson church while travelling on a rainy day. Our cab left the old town behind and entered in area which has stores belonging to the international brand. Soon, we reached at the hotel Kaiash. We quickly got ready as we had to reach to a venue for the workshop for which we actually had come to Chennai. In the evening as soon as we got free from the workshop, we headed towards the Kapaleeshwar Mahadev temple, which belongs to the 7th century. We took a walk to the temple which was roughly 2 kilometers from our hotel. The temple is still holding its religious sanctity. The ambiance over there was so pious. Devotees were reciting shloka in the premise. The shrines with deities were beautifully decorated with flowers. Visitors do seat here quietly and do their chanting without disturbing others. We were fortunate ones who could get a chance to witness the evening aarti of lord Murugan. The priests were performing the rituals very elegantly and systematically. The musicians were playing the classical music on instruments. Surprisingly, all worshipers were standing in front of this shrine in such a way that the central passage was kept clear formulating queue on both the sides so that everyone can see the deity. I have never experienced such discipline in Indian temples. Mostly, there is rush in our temples and people do push each other to see the deity. I was really impressed with self-discipline of inhabitants. We really felt so peaceful at this temple. After seating over there for quite some time we took a walk around the temple complex. It comprises of water tank, chariot and group of shrines. There are shops selling traditional artifacts, silk saris, lungi-dhoti, etc. on the streets located on all four sides of the temple. We took a walk back to our hotel. In between we stopped at a restaurant to enjoy the traditional Tamil meal in banana leaves. It had been quite an eventful day. DAY 4- 18TH MAY After finishing the session at workshop we went to meet our dear friend Hareesh who is currently working at NCSHS, IIT Madras. He had invited us for a dinner at Coco Jaunt. We remembering sweet memories and days spent together at CEPT felt as if we were travelling back in time. We almost remembered everyone from our college times. It was almost half past midnight when we parted. DAY 5- 19TH MAY Today was the last day of the workshop. We got free around 3 o’clock in the afternoon. We had weekend coming up so had decided to explore the East coast. Apoorv, my younger brother and his friend Mayank joined us. They are currently pursuing their PhD. from IISc, Bangalore. We waved goodbye to all participants of the workshop. We had opportunity to have new friends. Apoorv did click our group photo at the workshop and we left for our trip. We were really excited to have company of Apoorv and Mayank. We took a zoom car on rent for next two days. After finishing the formalities we left for Mahabalipuram at 6 in the evening. In 2 hours we reached Mahabalipuram. After dinner we took a walk in the dark night on the streets of Mahabalipuram. We saw a temple near bus stand. We could not figure out in the dark but it was 7-9th century temple Sthala Sayana Perumal belonging to God Vishnu. The town was already asleep and we also went to bed. DAY 6- 20TH MAY The morning was peaceful. We walked down to the beach and took a little swim in the sea. There were boats lying on the shore. They were colourful. It seemed as if they were waiting for their turn to sail in the sea. Fishermen were preparing to venture out in the sea to catch fish. Few inhabitants were also enjoying the Sunday morning on the sea shore. Though we wanted to spend some more time here, we had to leave to reach further ahead according to our itinerary. We visited the shore temple and pandav rathas. These monuments are magnificent. What a glorious era these monuments have witnessed and still they behold their stature in the present times! We left the town Mamallapuram/ Mahabalipuram and went on East coast road. While referring to the Google maps we located Alamparai fort on our route and thought of stopping there by. We took left from the East coast road and approached Alamparai fort. There were series of coconut trees and it was giving us a hint that the shore is behind them. We almost ran to see the shore. Our legs were dipping in sand and it was making our speed slow. The sand was really hot as it was noon. There were ruins of 18th century fort wall, made in brick and lime along the sea shore. Huge pieces of broken fort wall were lying on the shore. The brick had corroded over the period of time. It seems that when there must be a high tide these broken pieces does get submerged in sea. The sea water over here was crystal clear. The sea was surrounded with the coconut trees and the ruins of the fort wall. This place was so peaceful that we felt like staying over here and spending more time sitting quietly on the sea shore. Time was a constrain, so we had to leave. Within one hour, around 3 o’ clock we reached Pondicherry. The town had very different nature compare to the places from where we were coming. We had booked a guest house which was originally a Tamil courtyard house. After reaching here we took a nap and relaxed ourselves.
We decided to stroll in the town on foot and experience the streets. We visited Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The church is more than 100 years old and stain glass panels have portrayed the events from bible. I saw such a grand church for the first time in my life. Later, we took a walk on the beach promenade. We were there for quite some time and then left for dinner. The town was very crowded perhaps because it was a weekend. We had nice pizza at Café Xtasy which was suggested by Hareesh. We were on a roof top which was allowing us to have a bird eye view of the neighbourhood. This town had its own rhythm. There were Tamil as well as French traditional quarters on both the sides of the street. DAY 7- 21ST MAY Our morning began with a lavish French breakfast at a French bakery where Aditya had been there earlier with his classmates back in 2011. We decided to now visit the Arvind Ashram but because of the long queue we dropped the idea. We also visited the Sunday market thinking that it would show some local products, but unfortunately it was a market selling common and contemporary items only. We left Pondicherry and went to Auroville. Here we visited the visitor’s centre which was very well designed. In a book shop over there a father was sitting and reciting the storybook to his daughter. I really felt amazing looking at his involvement and just felt like again becoming a child and sitting and reading out stories with parents and grandparents in company of my sweet younger brother. It was time that we start our journey back to Chennai. We just could not realize that it’s already been 2 days and we all had to get back to our routine. Our Chennai-Pondicherry trip was about to end. This chapter of life has added more colours and made our lives more vibrant. I am always going to remember simplicity of Tamil people, their kind & helpful nature, fragrance of mogra being sold on every street corner, gorgeous women in traditional sari-with long braid decorated with flowers, and the traditional meal in banana leaf! We are definitely coming back, but for a while, Bye Chennai...... :) |
AuthorAditya Jain Archives
March 2018
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