A Documentary on the 2008 Bihar (Kosi) floods

Sri Lanka Trip June 24 to 27, 2010

On to Sri Lanka (24^th - 27^th June 2010)

As I pick up the pen to write again, I wonder if I can really do justice to the places that I’ve been to, to all my experiences. But here’s my shot.

My trip began when I woke up hapless, scratching my dishevelled hair at 4 AM in Delhi, and swiftly departed for the airport. There, I caught up with RM and my to-be companions for the trip. They’re a nice bunch, although I’m youngest by a significant margin. Anyhow, after switching flights at Chennai airport, I was on this glorious trip!

                From the moment the plane took off, my eyes delightedly absorbed the lush green landscape of the Southern reaches of India, and then of Sri Lanka, complemented by the deep blue stretch of sea, with the occasional white-out as the plane poked its nose into cloud territory.

                From Colombo, we hitched onto a tiny bus named LSR (Lanka Sportsreizen) and promptly departed for Kandy, a popular hill-station of Lanka. On the way, we paused for a bite. The egg-Kotthu (a dish created seemingly by chopping omelette, veggies + spices and roti into one glorious dish) and the tea were superb.

Ps. If any of you readers get a chance, don’t miss the roadside food of SL. It’s brilliant!

25 June

                Reaching the hotel on 24^th night, I spread open the curtains and my jaw dropped. A town nestled in the mountain, brilliantly green, brimming with trees and the tips of the mountains enveloped by pure white clouds. In the morning, the town was shimmering like a hazy dream of heaven due to the light fog.

                Equally beautiful was the Kandy lake, which we sauntered off to in the morning. There was a cool wind, and a light spray of water on our faces from a frothing fountain in the lake. In the morning, we went to the ‘Tooth Relic’ temple. Here, they had preserved a tooth of the Buddha. It was a colourful, cheerful business with a huge crowd bustling about the magnificent temple. In the temple, traditional music was being performed. As we exited, we encountered Mahouts showing off their elephants. We also saw the Batik factory and the gem museum today.

                The route from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya was divine, a graceful, beautiful drive through mountains so enchanting it would perhaps require a Dylan or Byron to do them justice. The water dripping gently off elegantly shaped tea leaves in green step-farm landscape stretching as far as the eye could see was an incredible sight.

                As we moved further, the landscape was adorned with beautiful waterfalls of various shapes and sizes (just like us :p). And we stopped at the most magnificent of these – the Rambola falls, which were a sheer cascade thundering in its resplendent beauty. Here we had another great dose of Sri Lankan cuisine (delicious chicken curry I remember, other dishes were even better, but I don’t remember their names).

From the falls we proceeded to the tree factory. The moment we disembarked, a strong, arrogant but deliciously heady smell hit our noses, as well as the gentle drizzle, along with some women working in the garden with baskets laden over their back. They told us the process (plucking, withering, rolling, drying etc). Here one of my more technology-minded companions asked – ‘why not use robots to pluck tea leaves?’ to our much-baffled and bemused lady guide.

26^th and 27^th June

                It was another glorious day. In the morning we went to the Seethalamman temple, a temple to Ma Sita, nestled by a corner in the hill-side with a flowing river below it and Ashoka trees in the adjacent mountain. From there, we proceeded to the ‘event’, a program to initiate building of a temple to Sita Mata at the site of her Agni Pariksha. This place was named Divrumpola (sounded like some polar bear rolling on some divine rum, if you ask me). I won’t dwell on the strong political undertones and religious overtones that were obvious, but rather, on the decorated Sri Lankan dancers and traditional musicians who were playing a tune to a strange beat.

                27^th did not have much Masala, just the general bustling hurry to reach the Airport in time for our flight (we still managed to freak out shopping at Odel, where they have superb clothes).

Well, I’m not great at conclusions, but I’d say that Sri Lanka is a must-visit place – alive, colourful, beautiful with the nicest people you can find. The violent past is now really past.

The Zombies are Coming!

सोचता हूँ

सोचता हूँ

की चढ़ाऊँ प्रत्यंचा

और छोड़ दूं

शब्द बाण |
 
मगर किधर?

इस जलाशय की कलकल बहती आवाज़ पर

या पानी की हंसती खिलखिलाती अठखेलियों पर?

क्या बयाँ कर पाऊँगा यह अनन्य शान्ति का आभास?

नहीं जानता

शायद जानना भी नहीं चाहता

बस आभास

और मन के सौर्यमंडल में घूमते

सितारे-से विचार

और हर विचार एक छिपा, सोया सौर्यमंडल |

Awakening

In the slumbering abyss of Eternity

I awoke

Resounding deep, a creature evolved, Beyond

A thought, as ancient as the first silence

Silent, as the hearts in union

Formless – as yesterday’s meal

I awoke.

And forgot

my eternal purpose.

I left home, wandered and returned

But only in body, never in the mind

I arose.

From the thirsty lips of Aghoris in Himalayas

From the grave musings of Llamas, rocking wisely

From the recesses of minds thirsty for knowledge

I arose

जागरण (Awakening)

असंख्य गहराइयों के अचेत चैतन्य में 

मै उठा |

कहीं दूर गूंजता, एक नाद-स्वर-रूप

एक विचार, पहली शान्ति से प्राचीन

शांत, जैसे अदृश्य बंधन से जुड़े हृदय

रूपहीन, जैसे बीते कल के भोजन का स्वाद |




मै जागा

और स्मृति लोप का शिकार बना

भूल गया

मेरा सर्वस्व अस्तित्व

घर छोड़ कई यात्राएं कर लौटा

पर मन के घर में बंधा रहा

मै जागृत हुआ, जन्मा |




हिमाद्री में तप-ताप से जलते प्यासे अघोरियों की ज़बान से 

लामाओं के गंभीर मग्न अंतर्बोध की गूंजती गहरी ध्वनी से 

ज्ञान के प्यासे मन-मस्तिष्कों की अज्ञात गहराइयों से




मै उठा |

ॐ

Nothing is complete without you

Nothing is complete without you

Not the skies.... with their abstract, beautiful clouds

Not the rain.... with the soft essence of the earth

Not the sands.... stretching into infinitude

Not the ocean.... its clear blue depths reflected in your eyes

Not the mountains.... magnificent, noble, proud, yet alone

Nor the wise rivers or the gentle streams

Even the thundering waterfalls seem to ache... calling your name

The green translucent veins of the elegant leaf seem imperfect

The perfect complete full moon seems dull

Aphrodite, Bast, Adonis all are askance

Quiet, guilty, they glance

But I smile, within and without

For the illusion means little to me

You’re here.

Your hand in mine

Your heart... or is it mine?

I no longer know

The colours are there

Dancing, alive, ferociously  vivid

In the raas, the chhaya Malhar

And I know... you and I will never be like this again

You... never so perfect as now

So alive.... so much mine

Smile, and make me alive again.

Infinite ends

Infinite ends, goodbyes, betrayal

Infinite pain, sadness, lonesomeness

I glance back with rosy romantic vision

At the years that passed me by

Beneath the humid Mumbai sky

I know not the source of this rhyme

It’s no song, it’s no mime

It’s a weary, sad glance back at all I didn’t see

Another regret within breaks free

A grim glance at all I have passed through

A sad look at my foolishness all through

And I pass again into the void

Another chaotic robot, droid

Something cuts me apart from its shadow-hands again

It’s my old alter-ego, my silence

My child, inner violence

And I scream into the blank space again

And no one can listen from the emptiness

Maybe if I died, maybe if I cried

It would hurt a little less

I loved a face, I hated disgrace

I hate the bullshit, the fake

I put my sense at stake

And bit into the poisoned cake

Swirling, snivelling, soft-no-longer

The harsh lines etched in dark silence draw into light

She holds my hand again, the lonely god

The game of desires

A burning, gently burning rod.

Like a mountain stream

My love is like a mountain stream

Bubbling, smling down ravines
 

And I’m stuck in the plain
 

Awash with the acid rain

 

Like a mountain stream
 

in green vales of fern and moss
 

Pure and Free
 

She too wanders, lonely

 

Hidden in steep mountain curves
 

Naught knows the sweet waters but me
 

My love’s got a graceful walk
 

And her heart’s here, with me.

The Wind

Shrouded in eternal death

I pass the lonely sea

Crowds pass me by

I again cease to be

Utter silence calls the void

The forests sing no more

My family is suffocated

My eyes seek the shore

Lost again am I

The mystic muse of nature

Silent, dying wind in skies

I long again to behold her

My forest calls, my fields do call

I answer no more

Bound to eternal death

A silence, silent door.

Satpura cries her deep thrumming cry

Narmada weeps evermore

In the silence, in the violence

My body floats ashore