Writing after such a long time! This topic has been lingering in my mind since long, and finally, today I am putting it into words. My grandma is a superwoman. I have always felt that she is a person born way before her time! She was born at a time, when India wasn't a country that encouraged girls to follow their dreams. I would not get into how challenging those times were since most of us know that pretty well. But it is something else that I realized staying with her. I saw how easily she would manage the entire household with few and available resources. "Jugaad" is something that comes so naturally to her! She has a fix available ready at hand for any possible problem. When she cooks, she never needs to buy ingredients, instead she would create a unique amazing recipe out of all available ingredients. Being able to do it with such amazing passion for more than half a century is surely commendable! I believe this must be the case with most of our mothers and grandmothers. Just imagine them being born in this generation. I surely feel with my grandmother's talent, creativity and energy she would have been a successful businesswoman!
December! That time of the year when I turn the traveller, the explorer!
So this time it was Tamil Nadu, the land of mythology, natural beauty and finger-licking(quite literally) cuisine. My visit included Kanyakumari, Madurai, Rameshwaram, Mahabalipuram and Kancheepuram and Pondicherry. But the most interesting and the highest point of my trip was a small visit to this town called Dhanushkodi in Rameshwaram.
Dhanushkodimeans “Bows End” and it is literally a strip of land barely 1 km wide and 20 kms long and 18kms in distance from Sri Lanka. According to the epic Ramayana, it is from Dhanushkodi that Lord Rama had built the bridge to reach Lanka to rescue his wife Sita from Ravana. It is a fishing hamlet, hardly habitable; nearest telephone booth is 20 kms and no mobile signals. I was too excited to visit this town for one very special motive. Dr Abdul Kalam whom I always idolize; belonged to Dhanushkodi during his early childhood and that is the reason why I wanted to especially visit this place.
To go to Dhanushkodi, we need to hire a special kind of vehicle with more ground clearance that is suitable for the sandy terrains. The drive from that location to the land’s end is one experience I can never ever forget in my life! Bascially the land is extremely marshy, sea roaring on both the sides and you are at the mercy of the driver with no connection to the outside world.There were times when our wheels were stuck in the moss, and the cleaner had to get down and give directions to get us out of it. So after this bumpy ride of around 7 kms we reached Dhanushkodi, the ghost town.So there is this story that goes about Dhanushkodi. This town was wiped away by a fateful cyclone that struck in December 1964 killing every living soul there. Before the cyclone this town used to be a flourishing tourist and pilgrimage town. A train would connect from Madras upto Dhanushkodi and passengers would travel to Sri Lanka via a steamer. After the cyclone, the town was declared as a “ghost town” unfit for living.
Dhanushkodi is simply beautiful yet has an eerie feel to it. You can see ruins of buildings partly buried into the sand, corroded by sea water adding a mysterious beauty to the place. A destroyed church, a ruined post office, a temple lie among the debris. You can almost imagine the flourishing town that once existed with all its buzzing activity. The houses that would have heard the sounds of laughter, of anger, smelled the aromas of fish cooking or of the sandalwood incenses, stand there covered in weed, decayed, devoid of any emotion. The sea, now peaceful and the white pristine sand, somehow makes you sad about the whole tragedy that shook this once lively place. The place is haunting, deserted yet somehow feels full of life.
It is a thrilling, overwhelming feeling standing at the tip of India. I could find a variety of cheerful chirpy birds flying away merrily. And to my surprise, a group of horses grazing and gazing into the ocean! The white sand beach and endless stretch of sea on all sides is breathtaking.The entire view was magnificent and simply spectacular, something that will remain in my sight for my life.
We left from Dhanushkodi in less than an hour. I kept wondering about the moods of nature and how empowered we are by it. It was one journey where I felt closer to nature like never before!
When I think of 24th Dec 2010, there are two things I distinctly remember being said on the inaugural ceremony of Tata Jagriti Yatra 2010. 1. Every person takes something out of the Yatra, more or less, but some positivity, that's for sure. 2. Bid goodbye to the person you saw in the mirror before coming to this journey. You wont meet that person again. So true. Experienced and confirmed.
As quoted by Siddarth Kak, the creator of famous TV series Surabhi "No one can tell you how the Yatra would be. Its an experience, to be felt and absorbed differently by every person." Yatra for me has been a journey of self discovery and realization. It gave me a better understanding and reassurance of my thoughts, helped me place them to an extent. A journey in which I made friends for lifetime and some very special memories to last forever.Meeting and interacting with people from varied backgrounds gave me an exposure to different thoughts and ideas that they have. I learnt more from the "role models" within the train, within my compartment apart from the formal role model visits. Apart from this Yatra also opened my eyes to the reality of rural India, as they say seeing is believing. Many many lessons to take home and a lot of food for thought.
It wouldn't have been the same had all this happened in a confined discussion room or a meeting. As Shashank Mani says, train symbolises movement, it symbolises change. It also most definitely added the adventure and fun part to the Yatra. It is no mean feat to stay aboard a moving train for 18 whole days and nights! Having bath in the makeshift cubicles, charging phones and moving in the "pythons belly" itself were no mean tasks. It goes unsaid that all yatris are finding it difficult to adjust to regular routine life, I may call it boring! Life on board was full of daily excitement. Meeting new people and striking an interesting conversation randomly, waking up in a new state every morning, and impromptu song and dance sequences(By the way, I surely wont miss Sheila ki Jawani!). And many little little moments that would remain in our hearts forever. Be it dancing all night on the New years, or gossiping about crazy people and lovebirds on the train, or awesome food that was served with so much love. To add to that list, morning wake up calls, disembarking the train in a hurry, change in weather and increase in layers of clothing, games on the platform, and surely the fun filled bus rides. I would surely miss my own cohort and group the most, would write separately about us, the crazy like minded 'S' group!!
Yatra as they say is not over, it has only begun on 12th Jan 2011!
Finally the wait was over! Come 19th nov, and I could feel the same kid inside me who first met Harry and his friends 11 yrs ago. Harry was 11 then and so was I.I lived every bit of the fantasy and believed it with full faith.I lived those days wishing every night that I woke up the next morning to find a mail from Hogwarts, inviting me to join the school. After all, there were many wizards whose parents were Muggles like our very own Hermione.Why couldn’t I be one of those?
It was an amazing time. My lunch breaks in school were filled with discussions about what clues JK Rowling might have left hidden between the lines. Verbal fights between me and my brother were replaced with duels and filled with spells(Expelliarmus!Stupefy!Petrificus Totalus! )Then as the books got darker and gravier I began worrying about who might be killed next. I celebrated their birthdays and dressed like them..( I had round framed specs that looked exactly like Harry’s !! ) That’s not all, it was an achievement if someone managed to get hurt on the forehead…and the scar was lightening shaped…!!! It was almost as if we lived in 2 worlds at the same time….yes, we lived it!
So 11 years later, it was time again…it brought back all the sweet memories and fantasies. Following the tradition, I went for the show first day, against all odds! Met Harry, he has turned out to be the handsome smart brave guy of my dreams now, and looks cute with that little stubble on his face and a mission in mind! I could feel the shivers when he entered in the frozen lake to get Godric Gryffindor’s sword, and feel his emotions when he reached the Godric’s Hollow and saw his parent’s memorial. The real hero no doubt was Dobby however. He saved so many lives,fought bravely, but sadly got hit with Bellatrix’s knife. The most touching part of the movie is how Harry non-magically digs a grave for him and puts him inside it wrapped in a cloth like a child. He died a hero’s death, I salute him.
The sad ending to this part, added to the existing grief of the fact that this was the penultimate movie, which sadly means the Harry Potter era would be ending soon!
When I was a kid of around 9 years, we stayed in the Govt provided flats. Huge flats they were, so huge that no kidding, I learnt skating inside the flat! It was simply wonderful to be on wheels for the first time ever. I would perform every tiny movement inside or outside the house on "my wheels". Absolute fun! Some years later, I even learnt to ride a bike, but never enjoyed that much.
Many many years later, I am stuck with a huge skate that can accomodate me inside it, but its not that much fun either! After another couple of punctures and coolant leaks and some more replacements, the car had managed to induce a new kind of phobia inside all of its passengers called the "Car breakdown phobia". This disorder would result in serious sweatiness (out of fear) to each of its passengers. It would cause severe nervousness and anxiety to the driver in case of bumpy roads. And if there were any kind of smoke or its smell anywhere near the car, it would cause terror amongst the passengers. This was becoming a threat day by day!
So ultimately, I had to make my decision to sell it off! I decided to cut off two wheels for the sake of my peace of mind. I found a potential buyer in a female enthusiastic learner who was ready to pay a decent price. After finalizing the deal, we had the best two weeks ever with the car. It took us to some memorable parties, long drives and gave some unforgettable memories to last for life. I myself learnt to drive it in that period and it never gave a single problem. I had started loving it back, and gained back my confidence. But all good things do come to an end, and so did my journey with the car.It was time for it to go away to its new home. That's when the thought struck me. That's when I realized how much it had given me in such a short period. It had taught me so much without my knowing that I could never have learnt in a car that never broke. I had so many first hand experiences with it and learnt a lot of technical stuff about a car.It taught me how to deal with people and situations. It made me a better person somehow. Also I thought about all the good times I had in it with my family, and never once did it trouble us back then. Those were the times of its youth, and now that it has past its prime; like all aged people, it too keeps falling ill. And like a mature grandparent, it had imparted wisdom and shared so many experiences. And so with such wonderful thoughts and many happy everlasting memories I bid it a warm goodbye.
There was this one last gift that my beautiful car gave me. Even after it left, it wanted me to be happy and independent. It had always wanted the best for me, just I could never recognize. I bought a scooter with the amount that I got for my 800. Though I am on 2 wheels now, it is the best for me and the best for Pune. I have a fantastic time with it and love it to the core. Its wonderful!
After shifting to Mumbai from Delhi, my parents were on a shopping spree. New fridge, new TV, new washing maching, new AC and new Car. And thats precisely when my journey began. We previously owned a humble Maruti 800 like most middle class families in the good old 90s. And like most dads, my dad to replaced it with a big lavish Chevrolet. And again, like the fate of most Maruti 800s these days, it came to the learner, who can bang and dash and experiment with the poor old car. Me!
It was a different experience, owning a car, hey whetever, it has 4 wheels!! So with the help of my friend (the poor soul who offered to help me with the learning), we decided to take the car out for a drive, to show it around Pune, the city that is going to be its home for the next couple of years atleast. So we start the car, smooth, and take it out the society gate, when my friend suddenly stops abrubtly and gets out. And before I could realize what is wrong with him, I understand its not him, its the car. Puncture!! And we spend the next 20 mins replacing the tyre and then another 20 mins to fix the stepney. And that was my first drive with the car.
Well no, it didnt scare me away, because I feel, every person and every car has its bad days. So two days later, on New years eve, all my friends gathered at my place and we decided to go for a long drive and spend the New years some 40 kms from Pune at a beautiful place, surrounded by hills, that looks amazing at night with moon overhead and cool breeze flowing. And the same "driver" friend of mine, who is also a "musician" brought along his guitar. So with due preparation we left for a celebration. On reaching the place, we were amazed, it was just perfect. So satisfied with the place, we parked the car and turned it off. The engine went off, but the headlights just wouldnt!
After every wannabe engineer in my circle tried their hands with "turning off" the car, we were left with no other option but to return back immediately. Because if the batteries drained out, we would have to spend the entire new years eve(till morning) in that stupid barren place!! So suddenly the place that was so beautiful, serene, perfect started seeming secluded and scary! And we take a U turn to back home. Never mind how we spent the time later. The car accompanied us back to each of our houses faithfully after that. I was feeling sorry for the poor car. It happens with me too, so I decided every person and every car should be given a second chance!
It was a nice cloudless Sunday! And we decided to give my car the golden chance, only this time we decided to be a little careful and not go to any secluded area. So we decided to show it around the real Pune. We met many of my 800's brothers and sisters on the way, and that made me very happy for some reason. We were on the highway, stopping for the signal to turn green, two huge trucks loaded with milk on both our sides,when it happened very fast. We sensed smoke somewhere, then saw it coming from our engine bay, and then as we opened the doors, we stepped on green fuming poison also coming from our engine compartment. And by that time the signal had turned green, and since it is India, people had started honking horns; in short it was total chaos! Two traffic havaldars came rushing from across the street and diverted the traffic, and to our luck there was a garage just across the road. He checked the car, and told us that we had to change half the internal parts. Since I was too scared by all this at the time, without thinking about the money (I was bringing it to use, not wasting it) I just told him to replace everything and also check the car for any other damage. So that was the third chance.
By the end of this episode, my confidence and the spirit regarding my "4 wheeler" had dropped to an all time low. Let alone driving it, I was afraid to even move it from its place. But my spirited friend had promised me that he would make me ride the wheels. So he patiently made me understand that infact, there is no more damage that can happen now. All has been replaced. I took time but finally understood his point. After all, what more can happen now!!
So with this attitude in mind, we left one fine day to pick up a friend from the station in my car. The roads there have many one ways and people who are always in a hurry to catch the train or meet their loved ones. The car hadn’t been any problem all the way, and we were happy about it. It is amazing to meet a friend after a long time!
So we were having fun , and taking a turn to head back home, when a biker in medium speed, heading wrong way, comes and crashes into us! It was totally his mistake and he agreed to it. And so my friend who was driving rushed out of the car, shouting at the fellow, who was so scared I could see him trembling! And again, there was a scene, Indian crowd simply enjoys watching a "lafda" more than any movie or sport! When I got down to see the damage to my baby, I saw that that the headlight and the front guard and the indicator light were all smashed. Well, the poor fellow was so frightened about going to the police; he quickly gave us the damage money and left off. And so I took my car to the hospital and got it admitted till it got back all fine. Well, we learnt a lesson that day, that you should never underestimate your fate and your car's fate. So that’s what more happened to my car that day!!
