Snapshots between Now and Then

" What is this life so full of care, we have no time to stand and stare" ...
No that' s not a reason why I havent stood and ruminated to write for more than a year... An overdose of writing with a goal was more a reason that turned me off, until those creative juices turned on again.. ( well an ideal time.. given that its summer.. we could do with some respite from thirst !!)
Lets just rewind to some turning point in our lives.. Right here as you read.. If any of us had to choose some point in the past, and between then and now, replay that journey.. how would that path be? If our lives were stationed at some point, we would never be where we are presently. But then how fulfilling has our journey been? Some of us , are perhaps too busy living then? or perhaps existing through events to realise that its a journey that we are embarking on and living through. Why do I compare life to a journey , its well so much like that...Life is such that we perceive, imbibe and chug along as we go on. Its the sights and sounds that stick on in memories and make those memories. You can live two years in ten minutes as you run through those moments as snapshots. Like milestones ... But wait there isn' t really a fixed destination. At each milestone that we create , the paths can change like quicksilver.. Now thats quite unlike a railroad track!

There have been those times that I have seen in these snapshots that leave me dumbfounded. At the stops of those ' journeys" sometimes we ask ourselves, is this where we wanted to head out. It hasn' t ended ( and never will ) but then are those twists the ones which we wanted to take , or did we even realise that we would stand at a different juncture because of that one turn? I would like to think of each turn as a discovery of another one that will follow. One must drive to get somewhere, and if one doesnt, he is just there stuck in a rut with an engine that begins to rust. And then there are times when the armour gets dusty , but you can shine up by turning again on a path that settles the dust.
There are storm clouds to face, blazing heat, cold showers and well a rainbow at the end of the horizon as well.
How much can we brave , endure , persist on a road that seems rough, for if you want to see a rainbow you have to pass through the rain first.
Apart from my passion for " politically correct" actual travels that you read about on this blog,life to me is the biggest journey but not one to the grave with intentions of arriving safely in a pretty well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming ... WOW! What a ride!

PARIS - Je t'adore

Paris - Have its splendour and charm been sufficiently sung?

"Its not a city , its a world" marvelled a Renaissance admirer. To me, it was the world of my dreams, the embodiment of history culture and grace, of gastronomie ( despite my vegetarianism), of fashion and beauty, of lovely old tree lined avenues and quiet charm of the numerous eglises.
From the hustlebustle of Charles de Gaulle- Roissy to Central Paris ,you catch a few glimpses of the Parisian suburbs. I even found a Saree Palace en route; it's amazing how you look for signs of your own country in distant lands as well.

My first real tour of Paris- was a "Paris By Night" on a Vespa. Verily Parisien and truly a delight. Its a different world at night, from the hum of the vehicles , to the quaint little sidestreet cafés all with samovar lookalikes radiating a glow that warms the alfresco atmosphere. Picturesque; and every avenue seems to be a window to another world that lies ahead. From gilded statues to the world's most magnificient square and the inimitable Champs Elysées,la Seine and the bateaux-mouches ,ah in Paris ,there are fleeting pleasures that must be seized instantly.

A solitary visit to the cathedral of Sainte Chapelle left me quite awestruck. Dating back to the 13th century it is a masterpiece of Gothic art . Its immense stained glass windows in rainbow hues leave you spellbound. And you walk out with a sense of unparallelled peace.

Next, the famous museums of Louvre and Orsay. There is something about French history and the love of art that is quite marvellous . Connoisseurs and patrons over the centuries have collected works of art of unimaginable worth and beauty. Housing the relics from the temple of Zeus at Olympia, Egyptian antiquities, Roman and Greek sculptures that emanate vibrance and Renaissance Paintings that speak to you ,the museums are a realm of rarity and a celebration of human creativity.The nocturne at the Louvre was an unforgettable experience that shall remain etched in my memory. From the crystal clear pyramid that reveals the starry night sky, to the depths of the Eqyptian crypt and the mystique of the Mona Lisa ,I drunk in every moment.

Dinners at the ancient cafés are a must-do. You never know when you might bump into an artist or a writer. Crêpes , soufflés , fromages, truffades and the wines are a delight to be savoured. There could be no better place than Paris to celebrate my first Champagne. And oh la la ! the desserts are as sinful as they can get, undoubtedly my greatest indulgence. Not only does Paris take your breath away , it also keeps you wanting to stop the sands of time.

My last 2 days were at La tour Eiffel and the Notre Dame, one a rising grace in steel and the other a Gothic tale in stone. As you rise to the dizzying height of the summit of the Eiffel , the experience is exhilirating. Built as a model for an engineering exposition, the Eiffel wasnt meant to tower over Paris for the years to come.But ,the citizens loved it so much that it became their favourite monument. It was never torn down and today no one can imagine Paris sans la tour Eiffel .

How long does it take to build a magnificent masterpiece? Notre Dame de Paris took 200 hundred years to build and its every stone exudes grace and solemnity. The treasures of the church, the 480 step climb to Emmanuel ( the bell) and the mellifluous mass at the cathedral , to be here and to feel it changes you intimately. And the most beautiful sight, is that of a silvery old couple walking hand in hand into this ancient cathedral ,with the certainity of a moment that they have long awaited to cherish.

Ah , its a city that leaves you as an incorrigible romantic for days to come. But the perfect blend of magnificence ,glamour, harmony and quaint charm is unmatched. Its a city that would live up to any one's dreams , a city where any heart's desire is met, you only have to discover it and unbridled joy is yours in Paris!!

Tonight I can write, can write about..

"To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore to love is to suffer, not to love is to suffer. To suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy then is to suffer. But suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be unhappy one must love, or love to suffer, or suffer from too much happiness. I hope you're getting this down"
Woody Allen.

I have heard so often "its love that makes the world go round", but me being a believer in realism of late, musnt write about something so dreamy as love?

We live with a constant urge to be loved from birth, as babies , as children, as youth, and as parents and grandparents ourselves. Is this instinct innate? And , at the same time isnt everything that we do , just to be loved a little more?

It's this very same love, that brings infinite unbridled joy, deeply ingrained grief even; drives you to heights of insanity and depths of depravity.Sophocles said that it is this one word that relieves us of the pain and weight of life, and yet it makes your heart heavy to part with that someone who showed you to love...

We learn that love is something that must be sustained, not by action, but by the pattern of devotion in the things that we do for our loved ones.Its nurtured tender,and yet its this gentleness that provokes the passion, jealousy, hatred , anguish and despair.

In the final analysis , I am yet to know if love is an act of endless forgiveness, or yet immortal sacrifice or just the pleasure of doing things together and endless thoughts that connect without words being spoken.We live in an ordinary world , and are but ordinary mortals , so how divine can human love be , a cynic might say. It has worked wonders and it maybe the key to heaven on earth for a few, and yet the gorgons of a past love trouble a few others.

Some verses are best left unsung , so you sing them yourself , some ripples in calm waters when there's no pebble tossed , to make you smile and sigh..

Well its not love that makes the world go round , it's what makes the ride worthwhile!
( Now does that finalé make me a romantic??!!)

Wanderlust Again - Pondicheri

That urge to wander, to break free, to let waves wash over you , to reminisce as time goes by....
Destination Pondicherry...

Being a French language expert and spouting French at the drop of a hat,Pondicherry was the ideal destination, I should have visited long ago... Finalement I did.. I needed that long weekend off , a weekend to let the saturation and frustration out ;Partners in crime , 2 sweet girls who i know for not too long , one of whom is an awesome driver...Hats off to her driving skills . She drove us all the way and back... She rocked and I would have crashed had I been driving..
We set off at 4 in the morn on that fine Friday after our brains were literaly fried by "Saawariya". This is not a movie review ,else would have ruminated on how Sanjay Leela Bhansali got it so wrong... Well , after a satisfying coffee and midnight breakfast( is that the correct usage in space and time??) at the Royal Orchid, us adventurous ladies set out for the long drive ahead. Armed with maps and our good sense which seems to be a lil drowsy thanks to the meal !
Across tollgates and hamlets and bumps we hastened. Sunrise was at Krishnagiri at 5 :30 a.m. welcomed with do rupaiya chai... taste still lingers.. yummiest tea..these highway shacks get it right I say...
The ride then, to Chengam was a lil slow due to the bumpy road.. Then ,Gingee : alongside the fort wall went our steed..We stopped at Tiruvannamalai for breakfast at "Auro Usha". Starvation abated somewhat. With drooping eyes we pulled along Tindivanam and finally reached Aurovillle at 12:30 p.m. That was a long ride...


Crashed and woke at 5:00 p.m. to set off on a food hunt. We stayed in a Japanese guest house that had self service meaning= you hunt for your food if you aint on time for the meals.. Sigh.. What a day... hunt ended at Roma's I Kitchen where both the stomach and heart were appeased( I get pretty emotional about food, folks who know me will agree). Swtich to relax and doze mode for the rest of the night. Have to admit the place was so serene and peaceful, every breath seemed like it would break the silence.




Early next morn, we were headed to Auro Beach ( a private beach with a smattering of firangs and the most adorable kids building sandcastles). After a satisfying breakfast at Repos resort and a swing in the hammock, the sea beckoned us.. Too old to build sancastles, not too young to set myself adrift in the waves... There's a strange magic in the echo of the waves, that brings back memories from the sands of time.After some insane splashing and falling, with many thoughts we left for Pondy town. Quaint ,cobblestoned and where every street was a "Rue" , it lives up to its ex- French colony status. Lunched in 5 Star at the Promenade, we all give in to indulgences dont we? Quite heavenly, though at the end of it , it left a hole in our pocket by the beachside.


The Boutiques, the parks ,the quiet nice little town life makes you want to stay time locked indefintely.

After much ambling through the rues, we dined at a lil French place l'Hotel du Parc: exquisite Indian and continental Buffet at unbelievable prices with wonderful service.The place ,just 4 months old had won its first patrons,us ,having visited it twice in 2 days.

As we drove back in a race against time , we passed by the hamlets and rivulets and the sunset. Life was quiet for 3 whole days, and here we were hurtling back to the "train train de la vie". We returned tired , but happy , strangely peaceful till our mundane life would buzz again.


These spur of the moment trips , with people who have slight affinities work wonders. We found buddies in each other when we least thought we would. We promised to return , to return to those waves that brought us back refreshed. Au Revoir. Je vais revenir Pondicheri

Wanderlust Awakens - Part 2

DAY 2- 5th July 2007 Nuwara Eliya “little England of Sri Lanka”
We awoke to a chilly crisp morn, with just a hint of the sun gleaming across the tea estate that spread outside our windows. Must be dreaming... But it was real, the beautiful green and mists for miles across... A welcome contrast to my daily mornings that overlooked into my neighbour’s kitchen.
A morning walk in this idyllic little estate was simply charming. The roaring winds, the crystal clear streams , the floating mists. We are so wound up in our clockwork schedules;“We have no time to stand and stare” , and here I was in utmost peace , in surroundings where you could hear a bird chirp, as the dawn cast its glow over a limpid morning.

Ceylon tea is one of the best quality teas around the world and is harvested by hand to guarantee that the leaf is whole, undamaged, and that only the top two leaves and a bud are picked. On every quality tea estate there are hundreds or even thousands of tea harvesters, known as pluckers. In Africa, the tea pluckers are almost always male -- but in India, China and Sri Lanka they are always women.



Well, and we did get a few of them to pose for us, shy as they were , they obliged much to my delight. Wicker baskets and a few of them with umbrellas all set for a long day’s work.
We set out to Lake Gregory, which marks the beginning of the Nuwara Eliya town. A windy morning, a four wheel drive, oldies on the radio, and some lovely company made it a perfect drive down. “Little England truly lives up to its name”. A numerous tea factories dot the landscape of the town and we stopped at the Lakeboville Tea Centre. Here the tea is dried, processed and packaged.

Tree lined avenues and an old fashioned post office in the red and white greet you in the town area. Unlike the rolling mountains of velvety green, the downtown area has the regular shopping centers and hotels and souvenir shops. We stopped at a pastry shop for some short eats, quite unlike the Indian stores. An assortment of spicy cutlets, bittara rotti( egg filled yummy roti),and cold pastry. Simply satisfying!

Wanderlust Awakens - Part 1

AYUBOWAN SRILANKA.
DAY 1- 4th of July 2007 Colombo J’arrive..
The dawn of the 4th of July heralded my long awaited great escape.. Away from the technological hell.. to a land of the sun, seas, wild lush hills of cool grass… the thought was invigorating enough , to brighten up the cloudy morn in Bangalore as I took off…
The first sight of the shores of the land that has it all…. It was simply beautiful, the white frothy waves licking the sandy green topped shores.. Coconut plantations and red roofs… so quaint… well this is what love at first sight is called I guess…
It’s amazing, in an hour ,how you can be transported across shores to a land so different yet so similar to your own… Colombo, my first experience of the city was a hot and humid afternoon, an airport bustling with life and sun browned people on the beaches…
I awaited Neo (a.k.a Tsunami(li’l one)), was a little lost among the crowd but soon spotted her… rather she spotted me looking around for a familiar face. One hour drive to Wattala , her home gave me my first views of Colombo, Growing skyscrapers , malls and restaurants but you had the quintessential coconut palms and the red brick British buildings to give your eyes a glimpse of green and the old world, in a city that was coming of age in the 21st century.
Ravenous with hunger, we were welcomed by Neo’s mother to a typical home cooked Srilankan meal of stew, sambol, dal, rice and lime cordial. We set off almost immediately on a 6 hour long drive to the hill country my first destination.
We were headed to Nuwara Eliya ( City of Light, not Blinding though) . From what I had heard it was set in the heart of the tea country, complete with the English countryside which the British had created way back in the colonial times.. the drive uphill was fascinating enough with the Rambutan and Mangosteen stalls spotted along the Avisawella road.Moi was the typical tourist , stopping at wayside places to get a feel of the country, and this coupled with my love for photography was quite an experience captured not just in my mind’s eye , but for anyone who might read this travelogue..
We stopped halfway uphill at Hatton town for an evening snack. The cool air was refreshing, an absolute change from Colombo, just a 100 kms behind. One of the most amazing things to be experienced in SriLanka is the vivid changes in landscape and weather as you traverse the country. Distinct transformations that might leave you surprised if you had your 40 winks en route.
The night stop was at Talawakelle, home to many tea estates and our home for the night was the St. Coombs estate. A misty glen driveway led us to the Green gabled estate bungalow. Picturesque, is what came to my mind, a warm house carpeted, complete with a fireplace and rustic bamboo furniture was our haven. After a sumptuous meal we retired for the night, tired but refreshed by the misty mountain air. Neo as usual had to play upon my imagination with ghosts of the colonial past that haunt the estate, despite the fears of which I felt into a peaceful slumber in moments.

A new day approaches on a pitch black night

Starry Starry night.. The perfect day for a blog? Did I just say day..

Life is a paradox of sorts. The beginning of a day on a starry night as the clock strikes twelve, white nights across the Arctic circle, the constant urge to resist temptation, fighting a war for peace, and that if the future hasnt happened it does not exist, and that future cannot come 'cause when it does it is already present...

What then results is the state of systematic chaos. Or so I believe. With every waking day as we still blissfully sleep , we step into another time trap of day and night that presents us more and more situations that juxtapose themselves. And we clever humans , play our cards well and win everyday's game or do we really ,since we are back to square one next morning?

How many times have you or I felt the urge to break free from this circle of destiny and fate,and then just at the circumference of the circle , fate just has something else in store for us. So did we change fate or are we mere pawns in this great game of the universe .

From "loving hate", to "cold fires", to " found missing" , to " alone together" and " small crowds" in miserable abundance that surround our little lives I wonder if we have been " clearly misunderstood" .