The bloody November of ‘84

Thousands of Sikhs were massacred, mutilated and women raped in streets of Delhi after Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31^st 1984 that was nearly 25 years ago. And a generation of victims has grown up denied justice. It is inconceivable that a pogrom of such magnitude was done without political involvement and this blogger like most other people in this country very much suspect Tytler as one of them (he is a conniving sleazy scoundrel). Again as written earlier this is a matter of conjecture so after so many years it is easy to change the reality. It is about diluting the event with time.

Mr. Chidambaram may not have anything to do with what happened in Delhi decades back but to suggest that CBI is neutral is a joke which we are sick of. Also telling an emotionally charged Sikh journalist “to have patience” is a travesty, I guess he is intelligent enough to gather that 25 years is too long by any standards “to have patience”. Instead of the journalist concerned Mr. Chidambaram should apologize for being insensitive. The CBI in recent times also seems to have gone market media friendly, revealing the details even before it was official, and secondly this official matter should be presented to court not to the media. This is grievous case of corruption on the part of CBI (and those who control them), to help politician fight election. Clearly Tylter has quite a clout. Also it is clear that the market fixers have sneaked into democratic machinery. Politicians need fixers but the tilt has started to harm, it is becoming apparent.

There has been lots of discussion in the blogs and other sites on this event. How should the journalist behave is focused by some. The "journalist" in recent times is nothing short of hilarious, frankly I like most Indians have started to sympathize with their compulsions, poor people trying to make some living. I guess by throwing shoe the journalist concerned has shown more responsibility than many of these so called journalists

The reaction of Sikh community seems to have gone mild in recent times, maybe like most of the common people in this country they have taken it as fate. Secondly the so called secularist get much concerned about issues of Muslims and some even go overboard (one politician even said he will run a roller over anyone who harms this community, it is ok to be a scoundrel when playing secular I guess). For small timers been seen as concerned-about-Muslim-only serves a lot to enhance their career, never mind if most Muslims are really not bothered or tired of this game.

The massacre of ’84 is quite vivid in my memory, we knew many Sikh communities in Delhi as I did part of my schooling there. A boy who was witness to the event of a Sikh man being burned told the horrific incident in detail, when I was in Pune. It was one of the most tragic events in modern Indian history. For next few years this community was blatantly targeted, and those who knew Sikh families at personal level it was a traumatic period. Most people were angry, I recall, but then the vested interests were successful in creating fissures and so the community was isolated, people started to suspect Sikhs. Punjab burned for years.

It is amazing that the prosecution rate of communal riots is almost negligible in this country. And what is shocking they will still carry on with archaic laws and systems that are completely politicized. It helps the elite to keep the pain alive as it keeps the people divided, it helps them garner vote. Clearly it is a win-win situation so then who should be bothered. Keep the injury open, if the injury is healed who needs the doctor.

When societies are kept divided, when insignificant events/prejudices are bloated out of proportion it helps lots of powerful people to position as saviors undermining existential realities of common people. It helps power mongers and greedy people to fit into narration that is easy to understand, therefore easy to exploit. It is in this context a communal riot is the most welcome event. It is such a simple narration. It is gripping than any reality show. Infact aren’t we waiting for one?!!

Post script: quite insignificant to write this one here but when I was in secondary school in Delhi we had many Sikh community kids in the class. One kid used to sit in front of my bench, so when it was 12 o clock we used to do pong pong on his juda “sardar ke bara baj gaye” he tolerated us few times (he was a studious boy) then he complained to the teacher, she gave us some whacking and told us “peeche ja ke murga bano” (English is a funny language the translation of this would be “go back and become a cock!!”). That’s about it!!

The story of a beautiful Prince who never became the King…

The other day I was reading Octavio Paz “In Light of India”, it is an easy read. Most things he wrote one is aware of but the outsider’s perspective is what makes it interesting, also the comparison of experience of India and Mexico. This blogger’s understanding of Mexico is limited to few books here and there, caricatures in movies and few interactions with tourists…well that is true about any country for most of us. But yes in recent times Net has opened up lots of avenues for understanding through chat rooms and blogs, sometime back I found myself chatting with a Mexican!! . It was while reading this book that I came across Dara Shikoh, Paz writes “Shikoh… translated Upanishads into Persian. A French traveler and Orientalist, Anquetil du Perron, made a Latin version of Dara’s translation. That version, published in two volumes in 1801 and 1802, was the one that Schopenhauer read. The philosophic influence of that translation has been enormous; on one side, Nietzsche; on the other, Emerson”. Don’t know why but I couldn’t continue reading, I had read so much about Dara Shikoh that my focus shifted.

If there is one figure from medieval history who’s brutal and untimely death pained me deeply it was this prince. If he had become the king the history of northern part of this subcontinent (indeed the whole Indian subcontinent) would be significantly different. As Paz writes “the religious politics of Aurangzeb was, however, a more serious violation; it did not affect merely the individuals of one family, but rather the majority of people he governed. The execution of Dara Shikoh for the crime of heresy was a sign of the fatal direction events would take. The religious question, a strictly spiritual matter since the inauguration of the Sultanate in the eighth century, turned into matter of life and death” (emphasis added by the blogger). The fatal direction set by fanatic Aurangzeb engulfed generations to follow, sowed the seeds of communalizing in the society and weakened the dynasty, eventually these were exploited by colonial Britain. Rest as they say is history. And some tend to live a lot in history and not “understanding history to move forward” (former philosopher President S.Radhakrishnan).

This blogger feels it to be very important to spend some time on this amazing prince who had such a tragic end. Dara Shikoh, whose name means “The possessor of Glory”, was born to Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal in 1615 at Sagartal near Ajmer (now of Rajasthan) It is said that his father, the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, visited the tomb of the great Chishti saint Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti and had prayed there with folded hands and down knees. It is for no reason that Dargah is considered special, I too have felt the vibration of this place (decades back I spoke my first sentences in English after visiting Dargah at Ajmer-also Pushkar…these two places are quite special to me. I should write about this one of these days). Dara was a unique and marvelous personality. He had combined in himself the qualities of his two great ancestors Humayun and Akbar. The habit of passing more and more time in the Library to acquire knowledge was inherited by him from Humayun who had lost his life while descending from the stairs of the royal Library, while the interest in comparative religions, universal brotherhood, humanism and peace came from the great emperor Akbar. These influences played a notable role in shaping his mind. He had no likings for luxuries and sensual pleasures but had developed refined tastes in his life. The credit should also go to one tutor named Mulla Abdul Latif Saharanpuri who inculcated in him the habit of reading and unquenchable thirst for knowledge. The Sufi leanings of his tutor had great influence over young Dara. Besides this, the influence of contemporary Sufi saints had played a significant role in shaping young Dara’s mind.

In 1640 he was introduced to Lahore’s famous Qadri Sufi saint, Hazrat Mian Mir who had urged both Jehangir and Shah Jahan to be kind to all their subjects (this Sufi saint was so respected by the people that he was invited to put the foundation stone of Golden temple-the most sacred place of Sikhs), also Mulla Badakhashi and other saints. This was a remarkable phase of his life when he spent his major time in the royal Library busy in intensive studies in mysticism, the philosophy and the principles of the Qadiri order. This resulted in the publication of his major works on Sufism namely, the Safinat-ul-Auliya (1640 A.D.), the Sakinat-ul-Auliya ( 1643A.D.) the Risala’i Haq Numa (1647 A.D.), the Tariqat-ul-Haqiqat and the Hasanat-ul-Arifin (1653 A.D.). The first two books are biographical dictionaries of the Sufi saints and the last three contain his exposition of some of the Sufi fundamental doctrines. This was in fact a period of intellectual pursuits for Dara.

His interests took a steep turn when he met Baba Lal Bairagi, a Hindu agnostic, conversations with whom he recorded in a little book entitled Mukalama Baba Lal wa Dara Shikoh.. Majma-‘ul-Bahrain (The Mingling of the Two Oceans). Like his great-grandfather Akbar (the pic here), Dara tried to bridge the gap between Hinduism and Islam was also devoted to a revelation of the mystical and pluralistic affinities between Sufic and Vedantic speculation. This book came to light in 1656, just three years prior to his execution. In fact it was a pioneering attempt to find out the commonalities between Sufism and Hindu monotheism. He describes this book as ‘a collection of truth and wisdom of two truth-knowing groups’. Contemporary Hindu pundits too acknowledged him (one Jaganath Mishra even wrote a book named “Jagatsimha in praise of Dara”).

The Emperor Akbar had strongly believed that his Mughal nobles needed to understand their Hindu subjects and had set up a translation bureau to render the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata into Persian. Prince Dara Shikoh went much further his translation called the Sirr-e-Akbar (The Greatest Mystery) and in his Introduction he boldly states that the work referred to in the Holy Quran as the Kitab al-maknun or the “hidden book” is none other than the Upanishads. Dara Shikoh carried forward the enlightened tradition of Akbar to evolved understanding.

In the war of succession, Aurangzeb- his fanatic younger brother, defeated him. Despite the fact that Dara was favored as a successor by his father and his sister Jahanara Begum (Aurangzeb was also to place Shah Jahan too under arrest till he died a depressed man), Dara was brought to Delhi, placed on a filthy elephant and paraded through the streets of the capital in chains and murdered on the night of August 30, 1659. He was buried without ceremony, his headless body dumped in a hastily dug grave. And so died a beautiful prince. It is no surprise that after Aurangzeb the Mughal Empire collapsed.

The struggle between Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb has a reflection in contemporary world, the struggle between the fundamentalists (religious and market, as also self serving power mongers) and the people who understand religion and its goodness for humankind. There is an amazing play The Trial of Dara Shikoh by Dr. Akbar Ahmed he says this story serves as a powerful metaphor that explains the current struggle of Muslims to establish a true identity in a culture (Dr. Ahmed was also Pakistani Ambassador to UK) that has labeled the Islamic faith violent and extreme. He writes "Dara was an enlightened Sufi intellectual and a lover of the arts, music, and dancing. Anticipating the challenge of ruling a religiously diverse empire, Dara sought to build friendships with members of different religious traditions. This approach to governing dovetailed with his own deep adherence to Islam’s mystical and universal message. Aurangzeb, on the other hand, practiced a more orthodox and fundamental interpretation of Islam. As emperor, he enforced a strict interpretation of Shari’a law for the entire empire, forbade dancing and music in his presence, and reinstituted a jaziya tax on all non-Muslims in the empire". Through this play Akbar Ahmed tries to draw a picture of a larger struggle within Islam today, a struggle for meaning, identity, and perception. The prevailing and dominant perception of Islam in recent centuries has been an interpretation of orthodox adherence to the religion’s laws and teachings, with the implication that Islam requires violent practices and terror. This interpretation is vividly embodied in Aurangzeb’s diatribes and cruelty towards Dara and his family. In exposing the story and character of Dara Shikoh, there is an attempt upon Muslims and non-Muslims alike to rediscover a richer and more diverse expression of the religion of Islam. "The tragedy of Dara Shikoh is not only the loss of an extraordinary scholar, not only that his death pushed a large part of the world in dangerous directions, but the fact that he appears to have been erased from history. Dara has become the forgotten man of history. As the twenty-first century confronts a world locked in religious and cultural conflict Dara’s story becomes urgently relevant. Salvation in the future could lie in the message of Dara Shikoh". The transcript of the play is available on the Net…

Dara Shikoh a beautiful prince who could have been a great king, a king who could have carried forward the tradition of Ashoka and Akbar to greater heights.

Countdown to Copenhagen...

The much awaited United Nations Climate Change Conference is to be held at Copenhagen (the capital of Denmark) from Dec7-Dec18. The official website is http://en.cop15.dk or you could go to the link in this blog. Hey guys are you following the events at G-20 meet at London?. Finally they have started to understand what Mahatma Gandhi said almost a century back "there is enough for everybody's need not greed". It is not poverty that pollutes but greed spinning policies of richer and irresponsible societies. Nature can nurture if the relation is symbiotic, and not exploitative as is happening for centuries now. Clearly there is a need for regulations, days of Laissez-faire capitalism is over...hip hip hurray to that!!

The legacy of UPA Government…

UPA Government came to power with lots of expectations. This blogger is not a political analyst nor has the competence to be an expert but yes I would say running a huge country like India in relative peace and progress is a great achievement. There was also a sincere attempt on NREGA. There were also positive steps taken in socio-economic front. But I would say the path breaking policy decision was on Right for Information, the RTI Act. There are many problems but this was a valiant effort towards democracy. Like 73^rd and 74^th Amendments that strengthened PRI, with unprecedented and farsighted provisions that helped in strengthening the grassroot democracy, RTI was a tremendous step towards transparency. Although one would have expected a more Ombudsman like power. RTI has awakened people to their rights. In rural and urban India the impact is quite significant. That was strong policy decision by Manmohan Singh government (the pic above is taken from a small village in north India).

This blogger is peeved by the fact that political leaders make allegations and counter allegation on events that has happened years back but has done nothing to create system for prosecution. That is what policy makers are expected to do, I guess. They could have easily taken steps on police reforms; atleast CBI could have been depoliticized. They did create Investigating agency after Mumbai attacks, but is it an independent agency and what is it power?. This blogger has become a cynic of executive orders, a strong agency has to be through legislative mandate. This blogger thinks this step is seriously overdue otherwise every crime gets politicized and therefore looses credibility. Thus becomes ambiguous and reduced to conjecturing, hence milked for gains by vested interests. Why are politicians involved in all the rioting and massive corruption around the country in last many decades not punished? Why does justice on these matters take years and years?. What has UPA government done on these matters that has serious implications on security and integrity of the nation?. Well if they haven’t done anything then it is a matter of shame. That surely is sign of weak union government whether UPA or NDA.

The case of Varun Gandhi is a classic example, the counter allegation here is CDs were doctored. Why is this not investigated and established beyond doubt within a day or two?. But then who places trust on the investigation. They will make the report also subjective saying this is politically motivated. There is nothing like fact it seems. So again this will go on, and everyone around will try to milk the issue (those who are communalizing and those who are positioning as non communalizing, both profitable venture but the latter looks sexier option!!). Varun Gandhi despite serious allegation of communalizing society comes out as a gainer-“smart move” (the boy is from London School of Economics is it not?. I am here assuming that tapes are true). It’s a win-win for both sides. The reason why they are not keen on reform of archaic law and order machinery, and depoliticizing the system. It’s a nudge and wink relation they share at the expense of lives of common people. The CM of Kerala puts it this way “the allegation against Madani cannot be denied or accepted”!!. Why?. What is the law and order machinery doing?. It is so politicized that they will keep it hanging for many years. In the meantime get some airtime making allegations and counter allegation, and try maximizing from the situation. Then not only the reality is lost but replaced. In the meantime lives and livelihood of common people are put at serious risk. The government that ruled the country for last five years will have to take the blame, the Parliament the highest law making body has failed the people. I don’t think it is business as usual. As far Madani is concerned this blogger feels Muslim League a powerful party could be very well working to bring Madani down, it is quite likely. There is a possibility of Madani being made scapegoat, now this too a matter of conjecture. But then what is law and order machinery doing?. They are politicised to have any credibility. What has UPA in last few years on these matters?.

Further there was also urgent need for huge policy rehaul on matter dealing with environment. I guess most people around the world are looking for international level actions, since national governments are too weak to make such strong policy decision as they face influential pressure group. I guess the non trade issues (read environment concerns here) should be an important element of WTO.

A day may not be too far when these leaders will have to take the responsibility, earlier the better. Like the discussions they had before adopting the Constitution in the Constituent assembly (this blogger had the opportunity to read most of it, it was an amazing experience). I am cynical about it though because those were the leaders who had sacrificed immensely for freedom, and understood values. What we have now is manipulators and backroom fixers. In the market driven world sacrifice doesn’t have any space (so why am I bothered about future, there is no profit) and values are increasingly made subjective -as they say “who am I too judge” or “live and let live”. But then there is something called right that may not be market friendly. Market spin can make it subjective (as they often say “I am not judging here”- that non committal talk. They did that during Bush administration to scuttle the climate issue), and confuse us but it doesn’t confuse earth/nature. If this system we live in is so very right then why is earth not into “live and let live”? That is because these are all posturing, manipulating, avoiding reality, self gain and short term benefits. Nature doesn’t understand these. Truth maybe uncomfortable but is rarely subjective. And yes earth has started to judge.

Few months from now UN climate meet will be held in Copenhagen, with the change in USA it is hoped there is progress. Also this blogger prays for an enlightened and open minded discussion. This blogger feels that better site for climate discussion would have been Maldives. People in here are facing the brunt of climate change; global attention would have made it urgent. Incidentally Maldives recently pledged to shift to carbon free country in ten years. This bold step has to be acknowledged by the world.

Post Script: this blogger has created a blog on birds few months back (plz go to link birds blog) dedicated to Salim Ali, amazing guy he was. I will be only including pics of birds I shoot (only those pics that has come out properly, you got to respect birds!!), and write as much on bird as is known. My intention in next few years is to take photographs and write about 100 different species of birds. Trying to hit a century!!

So who is stronger?

This blogger came to know that PM has called the opposition leader weak, and the opposition in turn called him weaker. They seem to have quoted incidents happened in past, the kind of incidents which are generally used for scoring brownie points. In the meantime police reforms have not been done, quoting these incidents helps to consolidate their vote bank. When they had the power to reform they didn’t do anything now they are posturing against each other. What a shame.

The market rule is you get more attention if you are in confrontation, it is an easier narration this A Vs B nonsense, the market media actively do the spadework to accentuate these fissures. This spares the subtleties of national issue. The so called leaders are playing for the gallery; probably they know they cannot face the real issues. Or maybe it’s a ploy to make the issues superficial, as they are caricaturizing through party ads (when will they realize these things don’t work- they may work to sell few thousands products more, national elections are about billion people. They are playing a joke on common people). India is not USA, media friendly leaders can be there but when it enters the mainstream the danger is evident. Media by its very nature is about sensationalisation and grave issues don’t last too long. Further issues are created and also manipulated and when elected leaders in responsible positions participate in these they give credibility to these nonsense (the recent Mangalore pub issue is just an example). With population in big metros getting more vocal the flip side is the reality of majority of people in this country which is already on the periphery will most likely be pushed out. This blogger prefers a casteist politician from rural (where it is the reality) than an urban based market media friendly politician, if these are the two choices I have (hypothetical situation both regrettable options though). In the end people prefer politicians who are able to make policies that have long term positive impact on the society. This blogger as one of the billion citizens of this country prefers politicians who are part of solution rather than creator of more problems for common people. These statements by senior leaders against each other are regrettable to say the least, basic courtesy and propriety is minimum one expects.

The statement that Mr. L.K Advani has done only negative things may not be acceptable to millions of people in this country, so is the statement that Manmohan Singh is a weaker PM (incidentally I really don’t know what this weak and strong means). This attempt to create wedges is what market does best, confrontation as competition. Some insight is necessary here. The dichotomous reality is a western civilization world view. The hell and heaven. God and Satan. The split between bad and good is quite entrenched in these societies for centuries (as Mr. Bush said you with us or with them). Capitalism through its “competitive” nature tends to replicate this illusion. It is but obvious that market media will accentuate fissures wherever exists. In last few years they have become too crude. The fourth estate in India mostly lacks credibility. India is a poor country and when few people have unrestrained power, they can easily undermine democracy.

The Indian understanding is oneness, heaven and hell can be in same person. No one can be a Satan forever, there is always a space for goodness to exist in bad too. The attempt to portray BJP (a major national party) as Satan- agent of destruction, is a dangerous understanding. First it undermines intelligence of millions of people who vote them, second every political party has extreme elements. If BJP is destructive then Election Commission should debar it. They should also have stricter laws to debar disruptive elements (like for instance Varun or Thackery), I am for laws and facts. The allegations are always subjective and easily manipulated by vested. You don’t know whom to trust. If Mr. Advani was involved in destruction of Babri masjid why is he not in jail?. What prevents him to be arrested? Clearly there is something wrong with the law and order machinery which no government had made any serious attempts to reform (certainly Manmohan Singh is as weak leader, what has he done to reform the system?. Indeed the parliament is the weakest). Or else cases against Mr. Advani are creation of vested interest. Allegations of these natures are meant for communal polarization of society, whenever they are needed by leaders to work on their vote bank as much as media for TRP, somewhere the reality is lost. Political leaders at the centre are supposed to be policy makers, and if they haven’t placed any systems to prevent destructive elements or parties from contesting elections then it their fault. You cannot say they haven’t broken any law or we don’t have any laws but these people are bad. This blogger doesn’t understand that logic. Creating these ambiguous situations and prolonging the events that happened years back helps lots of people aiming at garnering power. Tragically the reality of people is lost in these competitions.

Here take some reality: Did you know that in capital city of India that is Delhi where these leaders live every hour one child goes missing (statistics from HDI and incredible India’s position in the list is no secret. I am giving this example since this shocking fact brought out by a Hindi news channel a month back-they did an excellent job, few weeks back BBC took it up as its main news. Indian media ofcourse is as usual concerned about angst of “people like us”). Almost all of these children are from slums because if a single one from richer section go missing it would be breaking news and a national scandal (remember the CEO son going missing in NOIDA, it was during the same time many children from poorer section in the same vicinity were being brutally killed by “people like us” in the neighborhood. Some mediocre celebrity playing intellectual might get themselves photograph with slum children in Mumbai, some may make pretentious movies and work it out in Oscars. But the fact is “slumdogs” don’t end up making cucumber sandwich. There is not much ‘feel good’ in lives of millions of people. Worst part here is that they are not from a single community (otherwise there was a possibility on communalizing and be seen as saviors), they are poor people mostly migrants to big cities. Poor migrants are the most vulnerable section of society and millions of them move to cities every day to make a living.

This data of Delhi is official version reality must be worst. Think about what might be happening around the country. This is the national shame (NOT shifting of corporatised cricket, incidentally I do think they could have had the finals at home). In a more civilized society thousands of missing children would be scandal.

Small children going missing must be really tough on parents and people around, also to be aware that these children will be abused must be very painful. I cannot even imagine how they deal with these. As also that nobody cares, add to that already tough life in slums (they also become easy prey to attention seeking socialite activists). Children are kidnapped and abused from pedophile to organ traders. India is an easy market for these horrors. Western societies might find shocking that thousands of children can just go missing that too from capital of a country but in India it is normal, one wouldn’t be surprised if richer section thinks it as population control. What is abnormal is defined by how much money and clout you have. Jai ho !!

I am still confused about what or who is a stronger or weaker leader, really intriguing this one!!.

On bus from Bangalore to Jodhpur…

Traveling is a great experience and this blogger considers himself a travel buff. When I had turned thirty I had traveled so much around the country that I used to consider myself as one of the very few in my age group who had traveled that much!!. Last few years my travels has become quite limited, more to do with dwindling resources than lack of enthusiasm. While traveling one tends to face different situations, in most cases totally unpredicted, Indian reality is about contingency decisions. Since I have traveled so much I have thousands of anecdotes. Here is my travel scribble on my recent road travel, the experiences may give insights or some understandings (need to add here that I do read lots of travel blogs and gained a lot).

One basic rule I follow while I travel is to relax, when you are relaxed your senses tends to be sharper and intuitions works better. Intuition is very important since one has to not only experience but anticipate. The latter is about survival instinct. Things can go terribly wrong so one has to be a step ahead to reduce the damage. Hundreds and thousands of tragic incidents of cheating, injury, murder…happening around the country is a testimony of things gone wrong. I too had my share but nothing serious.

My travel to Rajasthan recently started on a wrong note. I had managed to get tatkal ticket from Bangalore to Pune. I was quite happy since traveling in unreserved is always dreadful experience (within-5-days tatkal is a clever ploy to fleece passengers that Indian railways have introduced sometime back, now there is even waiting list for tatkal -I was surprised when saw that one. You end up paying 300-400rs more than usual fare, and yes it is not refundable). I got the timing wrong, this had never happened before. I took departure time 20.10 as 10.10pm, so missed the train!!. I came to know later that many people had similar experience to share. You see we rarely say the time is 20:10 when somebody asks it is 8:10. Maybe the railways could write this in the bracket for the benefit of people. So here I was stranded in the railway station with money loss not knowing what to do next, going back was an option I ruled out instantly as had already planned the itinerary also got a confirmed ticket back from Rajasthan. I took out the atlas to check out what are the options I have, first rule here is never stick to a place keep moving. I took a bus to Belgam (reached about 8am), then to Kholapur (reached about 12) then to pune, reached at 4.00 pm earlier than the train would have reached albeit with more than 1000rs hole in pocket. I need to add here that in last one decade the roads in India have improved tremendously, it’s a miracle. It is a pleasure to travel on road, offcourse buses are quite cramped (I guess that is ok considering Indian reality), body does go stiff. Traveling in bus is quite different from train, apart from physical restrictions, interaction is also very limited. You get hypnotized in the drone of the engine as also similar terrain (pic here is of visually handicapped copassenger).

Two days at pune, found that my ticket to Jodhpur is still in the waiting list but tantalizingly close to the confirmed so went to the station tried to talk it out with the TT, who after initial courtesy told me to get lost. Went to counter and got the refund, also had to fill up somebody else’s form, there still are substantial number of illiterate people but the good news is they are traveling, must be unskilled migrant worker. So took a bus to Ahmedabad. Had some bad vibe about the verbose fellow on the next seat, something about him told me to careful. As he talked he offered me chips I refused, he insisted I had to be bit rude. Maybe I was wrong the way I behaved but one never know what could have happened, with drug laced food and so on. Or probably he was a friendly guy, the latest casualty of increasingly paranoid society. It was quite late as the bus raced to Mumbai (I gave out a curse I had preferred Nasik route). The fellow on the far end was busy on his laptop, my interest became obvious he turned it away, far from eavesdrop my fascination was for the contraption. The bus stopped for dinner at eatery and fast food chain next to petrol pump, found that shops and fast food joint were manned by malayalis (you cant miss that accent !!). The young man who could be in his early twenties told me when asked that he himself doesn’t know how he landed up here. I understood him. His Malayalam accent suggested that he was from mid travancore region.

An hour later I was fast asleep, and when I sleep I sleep. Period. So tied the end of my bag to my wrist. Ahmedabad was quite chilly, the auto charge from stand to station took 100rs, quite hefty. The auto fellow had lot to talk about forthcoming parliamentary elections, I though was not keen so just kept up with hanji-since I wanted him to keep speaking otherwise I would sleep (he was an admirer of Modi- he has done a lot for development he said, but added outside Gujarat he will not work, and if he persists he might fail in Gujarat too. He mentioned that Manmohan Singh was a good PM, Rahul Gandhi will take 4 to 5 years more. I vaguely recall him saying that that middle class prefer him married, his appeal will increase with family!!. I was quite drowsy and disoriented from travel so couldn’t catch much. I guess Gandhi family don’t really has much privacy!). Had cup of tea with delicious healthy dokhlas (I am a big fan of this dish). Train to Ajmer had left next one was in the afternoon, so changed the plan and took a bus to Jodhpur. It was tiring day journey the Rajasthan state bus was not one of the best I have traveled in, predictably it broke down, waited on the highway with other passengers for a substitute bus, realized that I was famished but the nearby shop had nothing worth eating- packet chips and freshly fried delicacies, people in this region are mostly vegetarians but the eating habit don’t seem to have too many healthy choices (atleast that is what one gathers from roadside shops. I like poha though. The pic of typical breakfast at Pushkar hot milk in kulad + hot jalebis=heaven!!). So sipped some water, reached Jodhpur quite late, next day afternoon took a bus to Phalodi, a day later another bus to Pushkar. It is here I realized that I have traveled thousands of kms on bus!!.

While traveling from Ajmer to Pushkar an 8year old boy was my co-passenger, he was going back alone for holi vacation. There are no good schools in the village he stays so he studies in city school. It is supposed to be “English medium” but he couldn’t converse in that language. I asked him what his father’s occupation was. He said woh shanth ho gaye (he has attained peace). That is a beautiful way to define death. I recall an incident some years back I was traveling from benaras to ahmedabad, a boy who was almost the same age and had lost his father (infact he was coming back with his family after immersing his ashes) said woh off ho gaye ( he is off!!). In his nonchalant gujarati accent it sounded so funny that I laughed. This gujarati boy even suggested me how to put money on share!!. The difference between these two kids I felt was the pushkar boy had so much of innocence and a deep desire to learn, he asked me many questions. The Gujrati boy was study in contrast matter of fact tone, seen it all attitude and a confidence that he can handle anything. He firmly believed in making as much money as possible, his reference point was always money. Quite interesting experiences.

A visit to Pushkar and Ajmer

Pushkar is the place that has the only Brahma (the supreme Hindu god-the creator) temple in the country, while Ajmer is where Dargah of Sufi saint Kwaja Moinuddin Chisti (Garib nawaz) is located. I first came to both these places when I was around ten. Since then I have come here many times.

Both these places are different in many ways. Pushkar holy site is about assertion of life while Ajmer Dargah is about the link to god through spiritualism. Pushkar is about giving space to all living forms while Ajmer is about not neglecting the downtrodden. Pushkar is about taking the life in its chaotic turns while Ajmer is about seeking almighty in the shrill. These contradictions are what make these places interesting. It is as if Pushkar completes what Ajmer lacks and Ajmer completes what Pushkar lacks. They seem to complement, both have elements of truth. The reason why it is important to visit both these places. Beauty is that they are located about 10 odd Kms from each other, separated by a mountain.

In Pushkar you will find huge pond, with ghats and temples. I saw lots of fishes, as also birds (pigeons, sparrow, stilts, myna…so on). There are squirrels, cows, monkeys, dogs, donkeys so on, there is so much of vibrancy of life. People feed animals and birds, there seems to be god everywhere!!. And yes the place is strictly vegetarian; there is also high emphasis on taking care of animals. There are lots of foreigners, people from different part of the world stay here for months. It’s a terrific sight to see the sunset over the pond (the photo was taken at dusk, the place is usually crowded during festivals). Yet there are things that would make you cringe, it’s a place where you can get easily fleeced. Many people come here for ritualistic reasons; the wily Brahmins are ready to take them for a ride, capitalizing on superstitions. Somewhere in the mêlée the concept of God and goodness of scriptures and sacred thoughts are lost. It becomes crass commercial; exigencies and compulsions.

While Ajmer (Dargah) is about unconditional love to almighty, there is so much spiritual energy inside the dargah that one feels a sense of ecstatic running over the body. Despite the chaos there is a sense of peace, it’s pure. I sat at one of the corner for a long time. Later I went out and had lunch (very much Non veg). There is so much emphasis on charity for poor that it is hard to miss. There is also a sense of communitarian feeling. Yet one knows life not about human beings only, it’s also about birds and animals and that is what one starts to miss. The Nature, the vibrancy of different life forms not isolated from understanding of almighty…I start to feel that absence. Also one tends to find similar type of people the foreign backpacker crowd is absent. There is also feeling of restriction as one gets circumspect, that relative carefree of Pushkar is absent. Ajmer too is not isolated from commercial influence (I found some even selling mannat ka dhaga).

So if you go to Pushkar don’t miss Ajmer, vice versa true. And that is what I have been doing and believe me it’s an immensely satisfying journey. I guess in the end it’s about silence. It’s about awareness of silence in the music. I have nothing against religion but I prefer more silence, the nature. Sometimes a garden, a long walk in the woods can give you peace, understanding and awareness of what is referred to as almighty.

Post Script: in recent times cameras are not allowed inside these places of worship. I took photos from outside that I will put in photo blog in few days (I have been too much into my computer-reading many downloads and so on…so kind of tired, bear with me).

Two villages that play host to birds…

It is amazing that there are two villages in India one located in south and another in the north part of the country that share love for birds. Birds are quite sensitive creatures, migratory birds in particular are quite cautious in their dealing with human beings. So when they settle amidst human habitation it only shows the trust. In these two villages the process of respect and trust between human beings and birds took many centuries to consolidate. Now that is incredible. This blogger had the fortune to visit these two villages that are located thousands of miles apart. Two villages that speak different languages but understand birds. In one village it is about Pelicans and painted Storks wherein the other it is Demoiselle Cranes, apart f rom these there are host of other species of birds. Both villages though are economically quite backward with some very poor people. But the houses and lanes are mostly clean and people have dignity about themselves. Infact in both villages I was offered food, how unprofessional!

So here is this blogger’s travel diary of these two villages.

Kokkare Bellur (Mandya District. Karnataka)

The translation of the village name means homes of Storks. This village is located about 80Kms from Bengaluru (Bangalore). From the Bangalore-Mysore highway about 70odd Kms just after Maddur there is a road going inside. From here it is about 45minutes journey into some fertile land and cluster of villages (it is amazing that few Kms from big cities almost always are small villages). There is bus service but it is once in an hour. Amazingly enough Kokkare Bellur signals itself much earlier with many birds flying around. But it’s only in Kokkare Bellur that Pelican and painted Storks like to settle, even the villagers have no explanation for this just that it is happening for centuries. Almost all the canopies of trees are taken by these birds. While painted Storks don’t mind small trees, Pelicans only nest on taller trees with sturdier branch. There are also other birds like egrets, pond and night herons (grey heron come to roost at night), even white ibis. There are hundreds of other species that could be found in an around the village (apart from common birds I spotted bush chats, robin, hoopoe…the snaps though didn’t come out that well).

In 1996 ‘Mysore amateur naturalists’ started a pen for orphaned birds (in last decade or so they have put back over 300 hundred pelicans into wild). Nanje Gowda was the man who took care of the pen, he was a proud man who could converse in English (anyway my Kannada is quite bad; I haven’t really picked up this language despite some efforts, can understand though. I guess as one tends to get older conversing becomes limited). Nanje Gowda introduced himself, and yes he is a graduate (and so while he glanced through a newspaper he mentioned that it is going to be hung parliament!!). The pen was rudimentary mostly running on donations it had wired enclosures few pelican chicks were being fed fresh fish- that was caught from the river nearby. One chick had its wing broken “will not be able to fly ever” informed Mr. Gowda. On weekends during holiday season they conduct awareness programs for children from cities as also summer camps. In recent years outreach programs have been initiated aimed at creating awareness about birds and conservation to surrounding villages that share foraging space of the birds. Over a tea in the nearby shop (they use jaggery instead of sugar that taste quite good) Mr.Gowda mentioned that there have been no support from the government, the initiatives of creating awareness and saving orphaned birds were from contributions by people. He mentioned that the government has infact done harm when few years back they allowed high voltage transmission line through the village. This has killed many birds “they could have chosen a different route or maybe cover these wires with insulation” he says. Don’t know whether the bureaucrats understands these! These long winged birds are in constant danger of being electrocuted.

I spent few hours roaming around the village and outskirts. It is an amazing sight to see huge birds sitting on branches nearby while people carry on with their daily chores. I saw some very active people. While some women were involved in packing tamarind, many household were into sericulture, most though were involved in agriculture related activities.

I found this old man who was mending his house roof with coconut palm leaves, I stopped to observe him. He saw my shadow and asked without looking up “from which place”, I said “kerala”, he said “that’s good” and enquired whether I had my lunch. All this without even looking at me!! Clearly he was used to intrusive tourists!

Keechan village (Jodhpur District. Rajasthan)

From Jodhpur there is a small town called Phalodi on the north towards Bikaner, it is about 4hours on road, there are frequent State bus service. From Phalodi Keechan is about 20minutes drive (autos ply very frequently on this route, charge 5Rs). This part of the world is semi desert with sandy landscapes and sparse vegetation. It is therefore amazing that Keechan village has been playing host to Demoiselle cranes that migrate from Siberia for five to six months every year for last many centuries. Last few years had been quite bad for this beautiful creature with war in Afghanistan and Iraq taking it toll.

Demoiselle cranes are dainty birds that are very cautious of humans. They come in hundreds and are a sight to watch against the sand dunes. The villagers have provided a space for the birds to feed. Jowar (don’t know the English term. Millet?) is the basic diet that is fed. Tons of feed is spread everyday morning and evening. The expense is covered by donations. Marwaris are rich community that generously donates for welfare of animals and birds. Villagers had opened up their home terrace for tourists to watch these birds when they land for morning feeding (I found few Europeans, with sophisticated cameras), they also have placed chairs and few pages on these storks, and water to drink (all these as courtesy, no money charged. How unprofessional can people get!!). It is an amazing sight to watch hordes of graceful birds alighting and flying away followed by another bunch. In the afternoon these birds rest at the pond nearby, so I came back again in the afternoon to observe them.

Rattan lalji is an elderly man who is responsible for the feeding and taking care of injured birds. He stays in the richer part of the village. Three kids became my guide and took me to his house on the way they talked about the village and themselves. One kids father was a teacher in a school of “1^st to 5^th standard” and he was the only teacher there! While the other kid's father “carried the keys of jail” and he was really proud of it, he explained in detail how his father bashed up few thugs! They also took me around the village and showed me carved elephant of the local temple. I gifted them each a ballpen and some chocolates from a shop nearby.

 Rattan lal ji was busy churning curd when I entered his house! As we got talking his wife took up the chore. He insisted on tea and biscuits “ann ko kabhi na nahi karna chahiye. Kabhi nahi” (don’t say no to food. Never). I meekly agreed, although I don’t like biscuits I ended up eating all, the last few he pushed onto my palm despite resistance! I have experienced this before, in most Indian household they feel the guest is being polite by taking less of what is offered, so the onus is on them to be take up the cause, even vigorous protest don’t work! His wife asked me to shift my chair to other side of the room as I was blocking the path of the cat that usually visit during this time! Rattan lalji explained to me about demoiselle stork and said he considered them as his children, he was quite dramatic about it. He showed me photos of injured birds on my request, as there were no injured birds in the pen. He was very meticulous about keeping records of expense and contributions, people from across the country and around the world had contributed. I too contributed 200Rs, he insisted on writing my details on the book and receipt.

On the way back I met the man who had told me about Ratan lalji. Now this elderly man was someone who loved talking. He said he had come to Bangalore when there was a big circus fire many decades back. Although he spoke quite loud he came quite near me with eyes closed as he gave his version of the birds (as he spoke I took a snap of him!). He poked his finger on my chest and said “ye chidiya bohut chalak hoti hai raat ko pehera rakhti hai. Koi pas aye tho aise chonch se marthi hai aise” (very clever these birds, at night they keep some as their guards if any one comes near they attack with beaks, like this), he poked me again! I thought he was being funny but found him quite serious with his narrations. Then putting his hand on my shoulder he explained other habits of birds (like they are very suspicious, and that they lay their eggs in Siberia and come here so when they go back chicks are ready and so on “bohut chalak hoti hai” was his verdict on storks. (The laying eggs part I am not sure whether true, I am trying to get the details from Net). He also blessed me (?!) for coming all the way from Bangalore to see the birds “Indians kum athe hai, jadather videshi athe hai” (Indians rarely come, it is mostly foreigners)

By the time I came back to feeding area the foreigners had left. I saw few peacocks roaming around the village so positioned myself to take photo, the peacocks didn’t find it amusing and scampered away. In the meantime the news had spread among the kids circle that there is a fellow who is giving pen and chocolates. And so a small group of children waited for me, I somehow managed to convince them about later visit and walked towards the bus stop.

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