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

First, the gardens The Botanical Garden was a pleasant surprise! Beauty of an unkempt garden? or that of the late morning winter sun? or of a path less taken? Jug Suraiya had once written about how a major role of the branches of State Bank of India was to serve as landmark for addresses - to help people reach their destinations. On similar lines trees help those in love? An Indian addressed as Sir and his name placed above that of a European. Not common this! Just outside the gate of the Shrubbery Nightingale Park - amidst the hill trees!  Now, to the museums Museums are ever fascinating. This one of the DarjeelingHill Railway was not an exception. It also had a sketch of Mark Twain when he took the journey during 1897. Tibetan museum at Dharamshala was stark. The museum at Darjeeling too was nicely done. Cultural maps of areas around ours often reminds how little we know about our neighbours! How long before this moves from the road to the museum? Finally, the cemeteries...

Darjeeling has a fairly high number of buildings that ooze grace. Many of these had windows that were special.  On some of the walks I wondered if the windows too were  looking at me?   A house of windows? Did someone replace the walls with windows? The Deshbandhu Museum on the Bhutia Basti route. Walls of this graceful building are home to windows of different shapes and sizes. What to say of a town where the Post Office exudes such beauty! Is the afternoon light trying to peep in through the windows? This, somewhere on the road to the Japanese Temple. A solitary and lonely window high up from the ground! The Union Church on the Gandhi Road. Windows about to be strangled? The Hill Cart Road has surprises on offer when the traffic allows one to languorously walk and look around. A chimney and an electricity pole waiting for the windows to open? On a road with an intriguing name - Toong Soong. Windows in the dark!  These sit in silence atop a bustling street - n...

Walking up and down the roads and lanes of Darjeeling was a pleasure.  Every now and then I would come across a bench that I would sit on. Here I would enjoy the views, savour the bakery products I carried or just sit - happily lost in thoughts. Benches with a view at the Shrubbery Park. Part of Mr. Tartan's private bungalow it was purchased by the then ruler of Cooch Behar who coined the name - Shrubbery. Sometime hence it was then transferred to Raj Bhavan. During the recent years the Hill Council has turned it into a tourist destination. Even the parks here drip with history! This somewhere on the Zakir Hussain Road. For some reason I felt glad it was there. At the Alubari Monastery These benches offered views of the hills, peace of the monastery and songs of the flags. On the road to the Peace Pagoda . What an idea this! Benches along the road. A bench on rails at Ghum . The station - for some reason - had a stall selling Banarasi Paan. Multicoloured benches on the approach pat...

Moving beyond comfort zones Nimesh Ved, Arti Pandey and Anshumalika Rai Thanks are due to Teacher Plus . Published in their January 2023 issue.  Beginning Our journey began with a few conversations on the need to bring gender and sexuality on the discussion table in our school. Located in a peri-urban setting in north India, our Hindi medium school caters to lower income group families. During the initial days we agreed on certain basics: It may not be easy to sell the concept to colleagues – yet it is crucial to get them on board. Given that none of us had swum in the proverbial waters – we would not only need to get more familiar with the subject but also converse frequently amidst ourselves. Sporadic visits by experts would not help – we would need to take the plunge ourselves. We were taking a gamble – the chances of failure were not low. Ourselves During the initial days, we realized that the three of us need to give our time, move beyond our comfort zones, and cross a few bar...

Aligarh sits in western Uttar Pradesh - about 50 kms away from Firozabad ( associated with bangles ) and roughly same distance from Hathras ( famous for its hing ). Agra is roughly 100 kms further and Delhi 150.  The first quick impression of the town is that it retains a distinct character. As one moves one comes across the bustling, cramped and noisy lanes of the market area and a very different 'Civil Lines' part of the town. Like Banaras this is a town which takes its food seriously. Aligarh, of course, seems to have more options on offer. And, like Banaras, Aligarh is also on way to becoming a 'smart' city.  The windows here have a special feel! Walking the market area was fun. We came across ' Gajak ' being made - with help of large wooden hammers, a sweet by the name of ' Makhan Santra ', ground-nut being sold as ' Gujarati Singh ' and a lot more - including (very reasonably priced ) pottery from Khurja -  that fascinated. People too were ...

Our large university campuses have a beauty, a feel of their own. Having savoured the environs of the Maharaja Sayajirao University, the Banaras Hindu University, the Allahabad University and the Forest Research Institute I was keen to put in time - doing nothing in particular - at the Aligarh Muslim University. Finally was able to visit Aligarh and walk the campus. The campus is open, treed and neat. The buildings it houses are inviting. Many of these buildings are old, some have the exposed brick exteriors and most seem to have windows which had us pause our walk and re-look. Jarokhas made for stories! Next to the very graceful jaali , the air-conditioner looks very much out of place! The art gallery is clean and spacious. Some of the paintings displayed were - to put simply - exceptional. Next to the art gallery sits a canteen - the late morning winter sun lent it a special feel. Just outside the art gallery sits an art installation made with used glass bottles. Inside a spiral sta...

  Banaras Talkies Author: Satya Vyas Translated By: Himadri Agarwal Publisher: Ebury Press, An imprint of Penguin Random House ISBN: 9780143454595 Number of pages: 207 Price: 199/- Thanks to the team at Purple Pencil Project  for publishing the review.  The Hindi version of Banaras Talkies came out during 2015. This campus life story is based in the Banaras Hindu University (BHU)– the author’s alma mater. The book, he says, is ‘ as fictional as you think and as factual as you can understand ’.   Given that it is his first book chances are high that his experiences find place in the story. This translation has come up 7 years hence courtesy the Ashoka Centre for Translation . The translator has invested time on a campus observing ‘ action ’. She found ‘students from Banaras Hindu University even in a swanky private college nearly a thousand miles away from where the novel was set ’. Banaras Talkies is about three young men Jaivardhan, Anurag aka Dada and S...

  Between Heaven and Earth – Writings on the Indian Hills Editors: Ruskin Bond and Bulbul Sharma Speaking Tiger Books First Published: 2022 Pages: 420 Number of pieces (non-fiction): 37 Price: 699/- Thanks to team at The Hindu for publishing this  here .  An anthology provides a glimpse of life in hill stations in the north, south, east and west of India. If you are tuned to the news, the hills today are about traffic, water shortage, landslides, cloudbursts, work-from-home, tourist-hostels, drugs, over-populated towns, empty villages and so forth. Long before the pretty mountains were ‘colonised’ with the British perching ‘English townships’ on hilltops to escape from the ‘heat of the plains’, they were home to the ‘devis or goddesses’, tribal communities and Mother Nature. Between Heaven & Earth: Writings on the Indian Hills, edited by Ruskin Bond and Bulbul Sharma, is an anthology which provides a glimpse of life in hill stations, warts and all. Quaint resorts Bond...

Is baar aap religious ~ spiritual trip pe aaye ho! - I was told at the German Bakery at Naggar.  Well, let us begin with the temples at Jagatsukh ! Shiva Mandir This is what a report by ASI - Chandigarh Circle states on this : This Siva Temple, located on the left bank of the river Beas, is an architectural gem dateable to the 8th century. It consists of tiratha sanctum with a sikhara which is devoid of corner amalakas and a porch resting on 2 tall octagonal pillars.  Gayatri Mata Mandir Known for its 'unique folk style architecture', the temple today stands cheek by jowl with a school ( and its play area! ) The pujari aunty insisted that I enter the temple - 2 welcome surprises here! On to those within Naggar now ( Both of these are within a stone's throw from the Naggar Castle ) Gauri Shankar Mandir Tripura Sundari Devi Mandir Some temples strike you with the visual splendour on offer. This is one such. Another temple dedicated to the very Goddess - in Banaras - too is ...