yet again ... getting lost ... then enjoying self-discovery ...

Tuesdays with Morrie An old man, a young man, and life’s greatest lesson Mitch Albom This book does what few books do, Touches you somewhere deep inside. It shakes you up, Brings out tears hidden somewhere, And leaves you in the company of questions. Questions on your life. Few lines ( 4 each on 3 themes ) below  Life and culture The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it. The culture does not encourage you to think about things until you are about to die. We are so wrapped up with egotistical things, career, family, having enough money, meeting the mortgage, getting a new car, fixing the radiator when it breaks – we are involved in trillions of little acts just to keep going. So we do not get into the habit of standing back and looking at our lives and saying, Is this all? Is this all I want? Is something missing? Part of the problem is that everyon...

Baati Chokha Let us, to quote Lewis Caroll, " begin at the beginning ", Next come the favourites, I have had debates with colleagues, on potatoes, they (colleagues) are not able to fathom my love for them, And, of course, we (colleagues and I) reside in a town that boasts of alu jalebis, A A Milne and I, however, are on the same side of the proverbial fence here, to quote him, " what I say is that, if a man really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow ", Some say Banaras is at the cusp of (yet another) change, One of the indicators being the idlis and vadas challenging the popularity of baati chokha, For now we can take a look at the chokha preparation, As I smelt and photographed these suddenly spiced tea appeared in kullads, and soon vanished, The fun had me recall another such instance - food with friends, first rain of the season and a lot else had got together that evening, here , We then move to the baati Of course, no meal-time images, it ...

Peepal along the Ghats   The Ghats of Banaras boast not just of temples, akharas, steps ( and more steps ), hotels ( and so on ) but also trees. Here too, like at many other places, the Peepal stands out.  Right from the north at the Krishnamurti Foundation India's campus to the temple at Tulsi Ghat ( abutting Assi ) - the Peepal registers its presence along the Ghats.   Gaay Ghat  The early morning light makes the Ghats more special!  A light which is difficult for mortals like me to capture in clicks or words! Swimming camps used to be organized here ( during summers ) before masks came to our lives! Hanuman Garhi Ghat Two Peepal's stand next to each other at the Akhara!  Do they also join the Akhara proceedings I once wondered! This Ghat is the point we can walk up to ( from Rajghat ) when the water level is high! Bundi Parkota Ghat  This is where we crane our necks to admire the Peepal! Where does the tree gets its food and water from - a colleague...

A Governor General's Tomb in Ghazipur One of my first memories of the monument is a conversation between two colleagues. Wahan kya hai asked one. Ek angrez tha - woh sala wahan ghoom raha tha tab mar gaya - uska makbara hai : came the response. A fan of direct talk I ended up finding more about the moment and ultimately visiting.  Amidst the haze and chill of the winter morning the grandeur of the tomb reminded me of the parliament building. Much smaller in scale but a structure that visually stuns, appeals. Nico Slate writes thus in Lord Cornwallis is Dead: The Struggle for democracy in United States and India ; Outside the city of Ghazipur, an hour east of Varanasi, the tomb of Lord Charles Cornwallis overlooks the Ganges. A marble dome, seventy-five feet high and sixty feet in diameter, the Cornwallis mausoleum embodies the ambitions of the British Raj. While the Ganges swells and shrinks, the stone crypt holds firm. Cornwallis would be proud. As governor-general of British In...

Sher Shah Suri's Tomb How did they visualise this then? A structure in the middle of a pond! Locally known as Paani Rouza Sher Shah Suri's tomb is beyond stunning. The tomb is Located in Rohtas ( Bihar ) - about 125 kms from Banaras. On our way back from the tomb it struck us that we were driving on the Grand Trunk Road - one that Sher Shah Suri had built.  Would the makers have known then that centuries later it would be Sasaram's claim to fame, provide refuge to local young folks ( there are walk-paths around the structure and pond! ) and have people come to pay respects, to pray.  A structure large yet not intimidating (is it the water! ) and grand yet accessible. ASI's curbs on boating and carrying plastic inside seem to have helped keep the water clean.  When we have maintained the monument so well can we also pay more attention to signage? To what introduces us to the monument, to the first object we sight as we enter the monument.  Moving beyond the Tomb...

A temple with a view Some places I am glad that I have been to. These places I revisit to sit in silence. This is one such place. A door with bells! A temple which stands out including for its craft and aesthetics in Banaras, a town of temples, has got to be special.  Here, artists have created magic with wood. The Cambridge dictionary describes wooden (adjective) as awkward or disapproving. People who coined this have possibly not been here! Lights, Camera, Window! This replica of the Pashupatinath Temple at Kathmandu was spruced up recently for the visit of the prime minister of Nepal.  The gherua walls and 'wood' appeared to be happily welcoming the sun. Playing with the morning light! One morning a colleague and I were affectionately offered curd, banana and sweets as prasad. As I thanked and figured out a place to sit a monkey (efficient fellow!) ran away with the sweets. He was silent, quick and happy. Bird on a tree! A board on the stairs asks people to not smoke at th...

  Jaunpur and the magic of Sharqi architecture   This piece finds place in Sunday Herald .  Thanks are due to the team at Deccan Herald .   Warm thanks to Sanjay D, Dheeraj, Kumar, Siddhartha and Sanjay M for being together on the trips.     Some images from a previous post on Jaunpur – here .   What it is about these old and large masjids that one experiences a unique peace and calm here- a colleague asked. They also appear strong enough to stand tall for another few hundred years at least – remarked another. Three of us were at the Jami Masjid in Jaunpur.   We had driven from Banaras. 75 kms. From the town we took the road heading to the airport and went further. Rail is another option: Jaunpur is on the Lucknow – Varanasi route. However, despite this proximity to and connectivity with Banaras Jaunpur lags far behind on the tourism front. Is this despite Banaras or because of Banaras we wondered.   On the other hand, ...

  Gothic Architecture in the heart of Banaras For Banaras’ past one goes to Diana L Eck’s Banaras: City of Light This is what she writes on the place In education, the British years brought a change from the ancient pandit-student pattern of learning which had predominated in Kashi for 2,500 years. In 1791, the Governor-General, Warren Hastings, who had presumably recovered from the indignities of his flight from Banaras, approved the proposal of Jonathan Duncan for a Sanskrit College in Banaras, where Sanskrit texts would be collected and pandits employed. In 1853, the present buildings for this college were erected in a Gothic style strikingly out of place in Banaras. The Sanskrit College, preserving the most traditional Hindi learning, was oddly called Queen’s College. This is what James Kennedy had to say about the place in Life and work in Benares and Kumaon (Shristi Book Distributors, New Delhi, 978-93-85088-44-5) In 1853 a very fine Gothic structure, said to b...

    Books in the time of COVID   Anshumalika Rai and Nimesh Ved   This piece finds place in Teacher Plus’ February 2022 issue. Thanks are due to the team at Teacher Plus and colleagues for the questions (below) and more.   In the July 2020 issue of Teacher Plus we shared the initial steps of our journey of launching the Book Room. A few months after the launch COVID struck. In this article we talk about our experiences during the COVID times.     A colleague from a sister unit, during one of his visits, asked - as we discussed a book that had just arrived – to the students of which class will you give this book to read?   One of us responded thus - we do not tell the children which books to read, they decide . As we revisited the conversation, we realized that we had moved a few steps towards understanding children, books and the two together. This conversation had taken place after the students began coming regularly post - ...