Tuesday, 4 October 2011

Durga Pujo - Maha Saptami !

an awe inspiring, divinely scintillating, and an ever so vibrant celebration marked the occasion of maha saptami. have been witnessing the pujo since two decades, but today was certainly different. for once I stood spellbound by the magnificent display of devotion represented by its most sublime form - the dhunuchi dance ! it is deep devotion and love for the Goddess that is reflected in those many faces that perform the dance. and it does not get you meddled up in the technicalities - it is simple yet sophisticated, and at the same time a test of your balancing abilities. the accompaniment are wine-glass-shaped earth pots with a wide mouth. in it are put burning coir, coal and wood. to make the pot smoke, in goes dhoop at perfectly orchestrated intervals. the
devotees hold these pots in their hands, either one or both and some expert dancers even hold it in
their mouths or on top of their heads! the sight is marvelous.
the dancers dance to drum beats, of drummers who surround them to form a circle. the drums vary in their beats and so also the dancers. the rhythm is catchy and hypnotic. the atmosphere is all charged and divine, with all the smoke from the dhoop.

for the first time i tried my hand at the dhunuki. the organisers were warm enough to invite the onlookers to offer their services to the Goddess ! it was fun to say the least. the vibrancy of the bengali community and their much-spoken about sweetness was indeed very touching... Sure to be a regular visitor here !

Sunday, 28 August 2011

Royals @ Gir



The piece de resistance of the trip was to be the last abode of the Asiatic lion - Gir ! An early morning ride brought us to this far flung place by breakfast and we decided to take the small bus ride inside the Gir Interpretation Zone at Devalia, a few kilometres from the main park - one of the many bad decisions we took during the trip. Devalia is a cordoned off area, having a few really sick lions, who don't even bother to open their eyes to catch a glimpse of the huge bus besides them, mainly meant to act as a sure shot sighting locale of the lion, for those whose only aim is to see a lion, ANYHOW in ANY condition! What a pity! The first wrong decision was to leave early morning as we ended up being flate for the morning safari! Nevertheless we found ourselves a room to rest and had pucca Gujrati food for lunch!
The afternoon safari was an eye-opener of sorts. For hours and hours we sighted zilch! Except for the unnecessary addition to the forests - Deer, there was only a solitary jackal walking past us. No sign of the elusive lions, whose strength has been documen

ted at 411, yet. the gruelling heat and the parch climate were taking a toll on us poor wildlife enthusiasts, but still the lions wouldn't budge! Lazy creatures! I had strictly warned the guide to NOT show us ANYTHING BUT LIONS !!!
Trust me when the Minister said Gir has 1411 lions, he didn't really mean it and certainly didn't expect you to believe him. I mean, NOT A SINGLE LION could we see for all those hours we ground our backs to the rough journey! But then as providence would have it, and as the old adage goes, when you really want something the entire universe conspires to make it happen for you! Well, in this case it was not exactly the entire universe
, just a few smart forest officials ( i assume prodded by the tourism department) had generously placed, what they described themselves as - TRACKERS - all around the forest ! Now what these trackers do, our guide explained, is they TRACK ( how obvious from the name right? ), prides of lions or just the solitary ones (a rarity given the feline is the only family wala cat around), and supposedly mark their behaviour.
For us, it all meant, that these stick-wielding, foot-travelling, certainly not less than brave warriors, go deep inside the jungle and spot lions (and his lionesses) . And this is the first National Park where I actually saw these forest people, guides included using mobile phones ( in most of the others, you don't receive even the faintest glimmer of connectivity). Haven't they the faintest idea how harmful an effect the radiation would have on the poor animals? No wonder the Devlali Lions were so feeble.
Coming back to the topic, these guides and these trackers have constant mutually beneficial updates going on. And we ended up at one such tracker family. We could see
them sitting a few metres inside the forest thicket, hands busy rolling tobacco. I had to crouch down to actually even spot a tracker, let alone the pride of lions, which was supposedly entrenched further inside the forest. Even as I continued to decipher what the guide and the driver were muttering in chaste Gujarati, my nostrils, ever so alert like my other sensory organs when in a Jungle,
picked up a putrid, rotten smell. As the wind blew in our direction, the smell wafted towards us. On enquiry, I was told that the pride was treating itself to a deer it had killed and the odour was emanating from the dead carcass.
Not knowing what was happening around us for a while due to distinct language barriers, we
waited with gusto, braving the fetid smell. As the minutes crawled by, there formed a serpentine
queue of jeeps, all wanting to catch a glimpse of the pride. There were around 25 jeeps, if I may
hazard a rough guess. Then, a seemingly better equipped jeep passed by all of us right to the
head of the queue. We were told that it hadsome saab in it. So much for favouritism!
Then came the moment of the trip - the trackers actually carried out the half eaten carcass of the
deer right into the clearing at the edge of the thicket, in wide view of the surprised onlookers!
You do that in a normal, untouched by man, jungle environment? Didn't know that ! And behind
followed a few lionesses and their cubs. I was shocked and awed at the guts of the trackers to
actually deal in this casual manner with the lionesses. We were instructed to one by one watch
the (domesticated) lions and move ahead, like some darshan. The lion didn't come out though.
He was certainly least bothered to see what was happening as the trackers hadn't pulled out his
part of the deer. Smart, eh?
As soon as everyone had finished seeing this spectacle, they threw back the deer and the
lionesses pounced on it right away. What a sight! Two lionesses fighting over the dead deer! I
managed to capture a beautiful shot on my camera, but my able friend, Tanay, managed to get it
deleted (inadvertently of course). But yes, we had managed to see REAL lions (DOMESTICATED
real lions I mean).
Luckily we were carrying caps and wet cloth to protect us from the blazing sun, else we would have been roasted dry for the lions to later relish our innards! We did one more safari the next morning but ended up only with loud roars of two lions about to engage in a territorial fight ( Well that's what we were given to understand) ! I must confess, having seen tigers in the wild, lions were but a muted and inferior cousin of the royal panthera tigris. But, I would most certainly not leave a chance to visit Gir again, this time in the winter and with even more determination and prayers to not only spot a REAL LION but also Leopards, which the park is also famous for. Till then, Ao Jo !!!

Friday, 24 June 2011

Tranqilising Dalhousie!!!


Lord Dalhousie was surely one lucky man! To have one of the most serene hill stations christened after him, he must surely have done his part of good deeds! Dalhousie or the locals call it - Dalhojee, is an erstwhile summer retreat of the British, nestled cozily in the Dhauladhar and serves as the entrance to the Chamba Valley as well as a base for the Indian Army! A paradigm shift in the weather from the hot winds of Amrtisar, makes you feel like you have just landed in heaven, which Dalhousie, in reality is.



There are two main chowks, Gandhi Chowk and Subhash Chowk, the former being a junction of 8 roads and hosting the Tibetan market. We stayed a few metres above Subhash Chowk at the SBI Holiday Home, from where we got a scintillating view of the beckoning valley. Its a very calm and peaceful hill-town, much different from its more commercialized state peers like Shimla and Manali. The town still maintains its British heritage with neatly kept bungalows and empirical looking houses of the then officers of the Empire. There are ring roads which take you from Gandhi Chowk to Subhash Chock and the Bus Stand and back! It was fun exploring the roads, taking a stroll amidst the pine laden trees, scurrying for shelter when the rain showers would momentarily hurry to wet us. The 3 days we spent at Dalhousie were spent luxuriously in visiting a new destination everyday which others do in one single day!

Khajjiar

or the aptly nicknamed Switzerland of India, is an expansive glade surrounded from 3 sides by tall conifers and with a small lake at its centre. It has become a picnic spot with a host of adventure sports on display. Though the sports 'look' very enticing, they in actuality are not! They are but miniature versions of their true self, haplessly fitted in at Khajjiar! The next day was spent in visiting the Chamera Lake cum Dam. One of India's only dams where you can walk across over the wall holding the water, its a magnificient body of fluid, spanning in all directions and enveloped by tall hills! An half an hour boat ride and a quick desi lunch later, we were back in the evening to relax at Dalhousie.
We decided to give Chamba a skip due to the strenous nature of the road journey!
At Subhash Chowk, there is an old Parsi-type hotel, which is worth a meal or two and is run by a very jolly Punjabi family from Chandigarh.
all in all Dalhousie is a paradise for people of all ages, to come and soothe their nerves from the pains of everyday life!