The plain lands and the Hills....Assam and Meghalaya

The North East, translated to Eeshanya in sanskrit is the most prominent corner in any piece of land, small or big. According to Vastu Shastra (study of direction and correlating architecture ) this point is a confluence of energy of the panchabhoothas, (the five elements of nature). I should admit, we did experience all the elements of nature in perfect harmony in our tour of the northeastern states of India, which covered two major states, Assam and Meghalaya.

ASSAM

Bihu is the state festival. We landed in Assam by sheer coincidence just in time to catch the festivities of Rongaali Bihu. Every small shop, play ground even a pole was decorated with typical Assamese white hand loom towel decorated with red embroidery on two sides known as "Gomsa". Every one, men and women, dressed in their best clothes participate in the festivities organized in community centers like a play ground, temple halls or at tents pitched in fields and alike. People are relaxed around this time and hence, businesses are slow. I was particularly delighted to see women dressed impeccably in their traditional mekhla sador.

Mighty Bramhaputra and the mightier Kamakhya

I wish we spent more time in these two significant places.

Bramhaputra is very dynamic. In dry season, he is very pleasent, intense in monsoon and just right in his might in winter. The cool breeze and the pleasent flow of the water with a backdrop of sky painted in hues of sunset post rain, cuddled us to get carried away. The cruise on the river was a very good idea on the day of the arrival in Assam, as it did set the mood for the vacation.

Kamakhya temple.

This temple is an important Shakti peeth in India. Maa Kamakhya is revered in multitude by different sections of devotees across the country. This temple is quite enigmatic, as a few occult practices takes place within the premises. A believer can feel the vibe while a tourist get fascinated by the taboo about the temple. Thanks to a friend, who planned our visit to temple early in the morning . This temple is considered a Jagrit (alive) shakti sthal and nishta (discipline) needs to be practiced. The architecture of the temple is interestingly visibly different at different sides. Every new addition made at different points, stands out to represent the style of that particular period. If I got it right, five dynasties worked on the temple premises at different point in time.

Kaziranga National Park

I wish somebody gave us exact picture of this place. Since we were in Assam, we decided to include it as a part of our itinerary. I would have had Majuli in the mix instead. Irrespective, the elephant ride and jeep drive around the park with some glimpse of renowned one horned rhinoceros and a bunch of elephants was good.

MEGHALAYA

As the very name suggests the abode of clouds.

The lust green plain lands of Assam lead us to winding roads of shillong. Snaking around mountains and posing (primarily, children and their mothers) for our fellow group members in traditional khasi attire at shillong point, with prodigious khasi hills in the backdrop we landed in Mawphlong forest.

1.Mawphlong Sacred forest

A must visit place in Meghalaya. You are at the sanctum of clouds and what fun would it be if you don't chase the rains and they don't chase you back. We witnessed hail storm each hail sized a size of gooseberry for over an hour. Thanks to previous night's leftover pizza and dry snacks that we carried with us. We restored enough energy to walk around 500 meters or so on freezing sheet of hail that had accumulated upto 2 feet. This forest is taken care, guarded and esteemed by the local tribe. Some of their practices are expected to be followed by visitors too in order to respect the forest and protect its sanctity.

Cherrapunji

After finishing our visit to touristy spots of Shillong. The next major or rather, The Major highlight of our trip is the trek to double decker root bridge through Tyrna village in Cherrapunji .

It's aptly said, it's not the destination, it is the journey that matters. Half the fun to experience Cherrapunji is getting there. The TT drive up and down the hills got the better of me. The view is awe inspiring and all through the day, I happened to recollect my trip to the western ghats with some of my best buddies, as a part of farewell program organized from school. As you pass through a patch of foggy path, someone looking at the mountain from beneath gets an impression that we passed through the cloud! That thought amazed me all through the journey and I was euphoric. Though I was sick by the time we got to the hotel in Sohra (local name for Cherrapunji ), I was sad, that the day was done. On the way, we did some sight seeing. The glass river, as it is known, the Umngot river, is again a must see place. The boat ride was ecstatic. Irrespective of the water's depth we could see the rock bed underneath. The boatsmen, took us to an Isolated area and the shore was filled with pebbles.. really huge ones and they stretched to a few kilometers. It was a great experience as we were lucky to get to that spot in the evening and the pleasant breeze and sunset again caressed our stressed minds while the pebbles and the nectar like water tended to the worked up body (no, I did not drink it, but the water is very very clean as we filled the water in the bottle and it looked like an empty bottle once filled.)

The double-decker root bridge

Our trek descending the mountain, around 3000 and odd steps, taught me two major lessons to be remembered during our future treks.

A. After a walking down a few hundred stairs, two of us felt the weakness in our legs and we experienced shaking of our legs. A fellow trekker advised that we drink up some electrolytes immediately. Thank to GJ, he thoughtfully carried GluconD with him and that enabled all of us to have a joyous journey downhill. Lesson 1. Go prepared.

B. I have a bad habit of not reading up about the places I visit, if I did, all of us would have dressed appropriately, comfortably and most importantly carried lighter bags. Lesson 2. Go prepared.

The descend to the waterfall at nyoyong village was not all that strenuous. Kids managed very well. While on the way, we cross two more suspension bridges and it's fun. The water fall was an amazing spot. We could even swim in the adjoinging pond and it was an exciting experience. The sight of double decker natural Bridge is awe inspiring to say the least. Generations of people have come together to twist, tweak and enable these rubber tree roots to grow in a specific manner so that they form the bridge. This site is something that needs to be experienced to get a better feel. No explanations, definitions and travelogue can do justice to such natural wonders.

I thoroughly enjoyed my solitude ascending the hills. Some of my treasured memories flashed back and it is that 1.5-2hrs of our 8 days trip topped with priceless moments spent with our good friends and children, that will stay with me for a long time to come.

To every place I go, I get back not only memories but a burning desire to go back. Hopefully I will come back again to Assam and Meghalaya.

Wounded words

Still Looking

I am not a dream,

I have no end or a beginning

I am the dark of the night, the sleep.

I am not a song.

I have no melody or voice

I am the essence, the thought.

I am not a breeze

Not the wind by the sea.

I am air, the unseen entity.

I am not a story.

I am neither allure or astute.

I have no name or identity.

I am Joy.

you have hidden me,

In your heart, in your mind.

I am not out there for you to find.

Don't wriggle, just stay

Let them drench

Sitting on the park bench

To wash down the frustration

Of this thing called competition.

Their battle is neither real nor fake

While some choose to accelerate some hit the brake.

Everything is so opaque

They can't see through

Their feelings often make or break

They believe everything is true

They will cross the bridge one day

They will learn the game of race

They will look back just to say

When did I give in to the chase

It's then my friend

"Brutal" takes over the " cute"

Let them shine

Like a pebble after rain

Dont let them go,

JUST let them be.

And She walked.....

She didn't regret the path she took when she tripped, for she had nowhere to go but she walked

She walked to walk out of the situation, With same dignity and grace that she walked into.

She learnt to gather herself, Not when she was broke, but when she was told so

She figured her way back home, Not when she was lost, but when she had none.

She reckoned, her ability to forgive and forget,. To keep the momentum and move on

She unleashed the valiant her To let herself go

Excuse “US”, shall we…

If you give it a thought, we have stopped using softer, gentle words totally from our vocabulary , perhaps in our thoughts as well.

What’s with the words, the way we connect to them, our thought process on their usage….I am often bemused. ‘looking forward to’ is replaced with an all consuming word “Expect”. “Being Rationale” is scratched off to “Being opinionated”. To be argumentative is now, to be judgemental. 'Casual ’ has its forbearing only to clothes. Anything done and said casually can easily turn into offensive or even worse, abusive.

Growing up, I never saw myself being tolerant, I was flexible and forever adjusting…Only pain needs to be tolerated. Today, tolerant is applied to every situation and perhaps it’s seeping into our relationships as well. What I understood as 'Pretentious’ is 'assertive’ today. Practices are now, 'formalities'. While customs have lost their battle to 'obligations'. Feelings still find the place in songs, poems and books but practically sold out to 'sentiments'. In fact, 'feeling sad' has over blown shady terms to it 'depressed', 'devastated' and the terrible 'feel like a looser', unhh...looser is a contender who had a bad day, that's it. Who knows, how he feels...it's technically inexplicable.

Have we willingly relinquished to be natural, organic, rythmic and simple. Simple as in plain, real, as is, and instead opted to be satirical. I do understand that urban dwellers undergo refinement within themselves but it’s supposed to be in tandem with 'self’ as in one’s personality in and out.

We have started using being 'Busy’ as a refuge for not returning calls and emails. We do not look into the eye of a stranger we only focus on the 'strange’ part of him. We have stopped sending signals of care, compassion and empathy while the word 'security’ hovers around the head, which actually is, an illusion of safety. We just have to take little care to be safe.

I was cocooned thinking - 'its the Cosmopolitan lifestyle, that’s why I feel so’ but unfortunately, its the same all over. I am not paranoid , I am worried, genuinely to experience the humility fading away very slowly. Hopefully I am not 'over reacting’ but only thinking aloud!

Kashi- an unending Yatra begins

'Kashi is spiritual capital of India', they say. It is indeed.

Ganga, the first sight of her, filled my heart and soul with content. As a river, she feeds more than half of the second most populous country in the world. That, along with the unfolding mystery that Ganga has demonstrated a strange yet scientifically proven activity namely 'Bactericidal activity' . The viruses in the water that infect and kill bacteria could provide a useful alternative to antibiotics in the form of phage therapy. In fact, the river has shown to have antibacterial properties and it can retain high amounts of dissolved oxygen, even in extremely polluted conditions. This alone was sufficient for me to offer my gratitude to say the least and I feel indebted to her.

Gee-Ga-Go ..remembering three forms of the letter Ga in Sanskrit can save one from comitting grave sins , as per the Puranas. Gee for Geeta (following its principles) Ga for Ganga ( cleansing one's mind and soul ) Go for Gow (cow) ( to be selfless and metaphorically speaking, in cow resides, all our gods and goddesses) it is one being that has abundantly served humans in every aspect and multitude from vedic times as per the scriptures. The number of cows in Kashi, from my understanding is not far from its demography. They go where they want to, they pave way only if need be, else, you got to squeeze yourself and go around. The cow urine, dung everywhere is normal and if you mind, you cannot move an inch in old Kashi. I liked the fact that in a bylane that's barely two feet, there are people, cows, dogs, rats and monkeys all headed in their own direction. One can not afforf to mind the other. Coexistence in modern civilised terminology but laws of nature at Kashi. Its amazing to see that People put up fire for warmth for themselves and cows, dogs, rats in unseen corners, and cats too gather around. All sleep together. This exactly why Kashi is named so, kas in Sanskrit is 'to shine'. Its the humility that shines.

Kashi, as a place can manifest itself into many forms. Its opaque for destination tourists who see it as an attraction, quintessential for artists like photographers, dancers, musicians, painters and the like, lucid for poets and writers, transperant for seekers and translucent for visitors like me, who are left bewildered and perplexed oftentimes.

Varanasi is mystic. Manikarnika Ghat, feeds the enigma. The strange feeling one experiences when dead bodies are burnt one after the other on the pyre engulf the onlooker with a hollow (or shallow) feeling. I will be doing a disfavour to my own mind, if I try to replace words for that bizzare yet beautiful experience we had standing by manikarnika Ghat. We particularly were attracted to one Dom(people who set up the pyre and help the dead to undertake their final journey). His face was dark complexioned, he looked so emotion free yet all content to do his job and in him we saw how light life can get. Philosophically, his face meant - there's indeed nothing more to life than doing your duty that's destined for you. If we find happiness doing it, we are successful else, we have to catch-up with the thought sooner or later.

Mahasmashana is the name associated with Kashi due to the practice of bringing the dead here to help them attain salvation, yet, its amazing how this place houses close to 2000 temples. Trust me, its not just a number, they are real. So, I often pondered if this is an oxymoron. These temples are built by people from all walks of life and they stand tall even today except one, that I shall share later about. Temples in form of mandaps alone, some with beautiful architecture, some in a form as simple as a house and some as an idol of the lord just by the street. Every idol, even a stone that looks like god in some form or the other is worshipped with equal devote to that of maa Vishalakshi, Annapurna or the holiest of all, the kashi vishwanatha Swamy in the form of jyotirlinga. We noticed that some temples are now residences of local people. Some temples have taken up the role of store rooms, kitchens and sleeping areas for local people and businesses. This is an effect of, lack of or rather, irresponsible governance in independent India, though times are changing. Every time we took the gate number 4 to get to vishwanathji mandir, I felt the pain in my heart and dent in the religion. We are tolerant and hence we are subdued. The original vishwanathji mandir was destroyed by Aurangzeb. Today a mosque stands there. Kashi still stands tall and pristine in the hearts of millions of seekers, believers and philosophers. So mighty is the belief.

Banaras is the abode of fine weavers and masterclass craftsmen with silk. I gathered from my conversation with the locals and fellow travelers that the finest silk from south India, especially mysore, Karnataka always ends up in the hands of these weavers and craftsmen who produce world famous Banaras silk sarees and other versions of silk fabrics like organza and georgette. Offlate these fabrics are in high demand in international textile market.

Food connects us all. It is the only thing with so many varieties and forms unanimously wins people's hearts and puts the arguments to rest. At Kashi, we savored hot and spicy chaats, tamatar ki chaat and chuda matar sufficed our dinner every day. Samosas, kachori and puris were outstanding. We relished magnanimous quantities of rabri, basundhi, malaiyo, gajar ka halwa, sadha doodh ki malai, Raj bogh and more. The mahaprasad at Annapurna mandir is the most revered meal for me.

People are people. You are what you eat, is a catchy phrase people fail to apply in places like Kashi. People here are sweet and spicy depending on the situation. Its true, you will be cheated, you will be ripped apart in terms of money and every one is in it to make some dough. In Kashi though, means are dubious. I agree, the geography and politics of the place is such that, its unlike other cities in the country. I shall save it for another post. Life is hard here for localites and that should explain their bitterness. What impressed me was, people mind their language to start with, they are loud, but not rude. They mean business after they settle it, they are kind, generous and most importantly patient.

I can never wrap up writing about Kashi. The sunrise and sunset at the ghats, the smell of the tea served in clay cups and the beauty of the local language and unadulterated sweet hindi by even sweeter people of the place. There's always more, but I want to keep it crisp, so that you can experience it yourself.