A 2011 Collage

2011 was the year when I was obsessed with dates. But few took it in their stride. Happy New Year!

Bandipur

Seine, Paris

Red Hills, Tamilnadu

Tungabhadra, Hampi

Auroville Beach, Puducherry

Sam, Rajasthan

The Kakatiyas of Warangal

Early last month, I visited villages in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh to observe social audits. I sneaked in a visit to the remains of the Kakatiya dynasty fort too.

My impression of the monument is kinda mixed. While the Kakatiyas are the second most popular dynasty from this region (Eastern Chalukyas beat them to the podium), there doesn't seem to be much left from their rule. This is sad considering they ruled as recently as 700 years ago.

Whatever that is left and currently made into a monument by the ASI does give a clue to their once impressive city. But I think the ASI has done a rather mediocre job of coming up with the memorial. Or perhaps this is the best they could do. I really doubt if the four thoranam's (famous warangal arches) were not in the cardinal directions. Somebody pls enlighten me on this. Me being too busy to lookup :-)

Thengovanoor

Today is my mom's birthday. Last weekend we had gone to her native village Thengovanoor near Mannargudi. While it was obviously an emotional trip for her, I was intrigued by the changes wrought to this place in about 50 years.


Few kilometers from Mannargudi, on the way to Thiruvarur are a couple of small villages Vadagovanoor and Thengovanoor. (North and South Govanoors). Its a tract bound by Vennar and Koraiyar rivers. Seemingly fertile land littered with ponds, canals and small temples.


My great grandfather's house was in the agraharam of Vadagovanoor. Surprising that as recently as 50 years ago, a part of this tiny village could have been off-limits to the rest of the community. Now the agraharam has vanished, with the Brahmins leaving for urban Tamilnadu and thence to California, I suppose.


Apparently the four village gods (Mari-amman, Kali-amman, Pidari and Ayyanar) guard the boundaries while Pillaiyar occupies the center in Vadagovanoor. Mariamman being our ancestral god.

Someone has posted pics from a Kumbabhishekham at this temple here. Thengovanoor also has its set of temples.

Change seems to have caught with our family too. My great grandfather had ran away and made a little fortune in Dhaka/Calcutta before returning to settle down. My grandfather had moved his family out to Thengovanoor, to live close to his lands. No agraharam in Thengovanoor, ours being the only Brahmin family. My grandfather was the village Munsif before he himself moved to Calcutta. The house still stands, but it now belongs to someone else.


My mom's elementary school was just outside the house thru the back gate and overlooking a rather large pond. Today there is a panchayat building there. My mom caught up with one of her classmates and a junior, to make a for some teary eyes and later, a good snap.


The neighbors gushed about the beautiful girl who went on to become my mom! Apparently I didn't get those genes or I blame it on the sun burnt Vellore district where I grew up. Or more honestly, over-eating.

For high school, my mom and uncles rode a bullock cart (themselves) to Koothanallur. This larger village being a exclusive Muslim community with palatial mansions in well aligned streets. Ayesha Palace being a particular hit, for it supplied ice-water to kids on the way to school. I remember many Muslim mansions in Vaniyambadi also have taps outside. Such nice people.

My mom eventually went to college in Kumbakonam. She has a certificate in rifle training, a sporting achievement I could never match. Oh, wait. I was the UKG rabbit race champion.

Here's the post from last year's trip to my dad's native village, Umayalpuram.

Jindabad!

Jindabad! Thats how people associated with MKSS (Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangatan) greet each other when they meet! So Jindabad! Thanks to couple of MKSS veterans in the SmartVote team, I went to the May Day Mela held in Bhim, Rajasthan (travelogue).

Now, I'm a Conservative visting one of the current dens of Indian Socialism! MKSS has been the biggest incluence in UPA govts popular socialist iniatives RTI (Right to Information Act) and NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarntee Scheme). So I decided to be a keen observer/listener on this trip. Here's what I heard from some interesting people.

Aruna Roy:

I was only hoping to say Namaste to her, if I ever get a chance. But I ended up being a guest at her residence for two days! First in Devdungri and then in Tilonia! Within 2 minutes, we (with one other person) were arguing about the origin of Dravidian languages and sankritization of Tamil! Infact, I didn't ask anything about her work at all in two days. But I found her to be fiesty. We spoke in Tamil and she inquired how fluent my Hindi was. The week later, this had a disastrous consequence for my office colleagues since I took to my text book Hindi with gusto!

Nikhil Dey:

Mr. Charming! If organizations have such cool minds, they are bound to be successful. I sat thru a late night conversation where Nikhil spoke at length about what MKSS has achieved in the last 20 years and where they have not been perhaps successful. The next morning, I invited myself to a meeting Nikhil and few other activists were having wth a group of villagers from Dholpur. Let it be recorded that it was my first Hindi speech to an audience as big as 12 people! As someone said, Eternal Vigilence is the Price of Liberty. I see such vigilence being put into practice atleast with respect to Narega (thats how NREGA is pronounced) in some 4 districts of Rajasthan.

Shankar Singh:

I didn't get a chance to speak to him. But heard him crack folksy jokes and keeping the volunteers engaged.

Chunni Singh:

One of the core members of MKSS, he went with Aruna to collect the Ramon Magsaysay award. Heard from him, the events leading upto the formation of MKSS. These stories have become some sort of a legend now. In a nutshell, villagers provoked by Aruna/Nikhil/Shankar rebelled against a local feudal lord, then faught with authorities for higher minimum wage (asked for ~23 bucks then, its 100 now), asked authoritizes to itemize and declare spending in their villages (sowing seeds for RTI act of 2005), ensured that job schemes meant for famine relief did actually get created (later influcened NREGA) and are now busy forming village level NREGA Employees Unions. Incidentally the burning issue these days is more more pay (150 bucks). History repeats 20 years later!

Sarpanch Pathi of Vijayapura Village:

He is a MKSS supporter, who later became the Sarpanch of Vijayapura Village. His wife is the Sarpanch now. This proxy candidacy created much anxiety. But Vijayapura is touted as a model village. They have written all spending under NREGA on public walls! I enquired among other things, what he/his wife are doing to properly run the PDS (ration) shops in their village.

Ram Charan Singh:

A veteran RTI pioneer. He visited a government office 73 times to get some information about his village panchayat, which the Sarpanch was unwilling to share. This one man satyagraha resulted in Ram Charan Singh being sued by a vindictive government and the cases are still pending!

Kiran:

She is a member of the National Commission for Child Welfare. Don't know if I got her office name correctly, but she influences education policy at the national level. Heard from her about the 'Right to Education' which both as a fundamental right and as a welfare scheme has come into effect since April 1, 2010.

Unnamed MKSS activist:

Sorry I forgot his name, but he helps spread MKSS message in villages. He is from a tribal community and his anecdotes were awesome. In his community, the bridegroom is supposed to spend few months in the bride's home. The elders will observe his behavior and only if found good, will they give the bride in marriage! So this MKSS activist got married in this fashion.

For the wedding, he had arranged for a horse ride to the marriage hall. Now a tribal man riding a horse was too much for the upper castes (or even for Caste Hindus) since he is a tribal man! There was lot of commotion and he eventually did not take the ride. But in a somewhat sad twist, he refused to go live in the brides home permanently as is required in their system. This resulted in the annuling of their marriage. But the story doesn't end there.

Our man got arranged to be married again after some years. This time he had his way and how! He went to the marriage hall sitting atop an elephant! But but this time, he had gained a lot of clout and the village conditions had changed. So the upper castes couldn't do anything abt the elephant ride. Incidently he some kind of a known 'stones for rings' expert who counts several politicians including former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Babulal Gaur among his clientale. (husssssh ... he admitted that all his ring stones have no effect whatsoever on future events except perhaps on the personal confidence of the wearer!)

Sarpanch Puttar:

Talking of marriages, in a conversation, I mentioned that marriages are one of the greatest causes of financial ruin in this country. I was merely paraphrasing Swaminathan Aiyar here. So we inquired about the cost of marriage in a typical Rajasthani village family. A Sarpanch puttar (a Sarpanch's son!) first explained that in Rajasthan (atleast in that part) there is no dowry but instead the groom has to pay a bride price. But the girls family also bears some costs. He estimated the cost of the latest wedding he had attended to be about 80,000 rupees from both the families.

He mentioned another wedding where the father clubbed the weddings of all four of his daughters to reduce costs! Thats by 'delaying' the elder daughter's wedding to 23 years so that the youngest turned 18!

Rajasthan

After a typical trip, a post like this with pics wud have excited me enough. But I did something more awesome during last week's trip to Rajasthan. So wait for my next post. Jindabad!

Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur:


The haze in the above pic is infact dust blowing from the desert :-)

Not all houses in Blue city are painted blue, huh?

Bhim:

MKSS mazdoor Mela on May Day. Detailed report soon.

Ajmer:

Dargah of Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chisty at Ajaymeru.

Pushkar:

Alley from the Pushkar Lake upto the Brahma Temple. Brahma being Sarasvati's husband/father as the legend may be. I was reading The Lost River, On the trail of the Sarasvati thru the trip and crossed Luni river on the bus ride from Jodhpur to Beawar (pronounced biyawar). More on Sarasvati later.

Lanka

There is so much I wanna say about my Lanka trip that this post won't be enuf. You better call me and ask! Or wait for my next post.

But two things need to be mentioned.

1. Visiting Anuradhapura was one of my dreams. I did it on the last day of the decade, on a auspicious Poya day. And then began the new year in Polonorruva, the new Capital!

2. I resent that men in Kerala, Bengal and now Lanka, get significantly more opportunities to ogle at nature's most beautiful creations :-)

Kandy

Temple of the Tooth Relic. One of Gautama Buddha's tooth is worshiped here.


The Tooth Temple abuts a lake in this cute Hill city.

Anuradhapura

Anuradhapura is the ancient capital of Lanka. Its been inhabited probably from about 900 BC. But definitely so from the time of Ashoka.

Ruvanweli Saya, the stupa built by the legendary King Dutugamunu. He was the son of King Devanampiya Tissa who received Arahant Mahinda (son of Ashoka) in Lanka. The above structure is a renovated version from about 100 years ago.

Sanghamitra (Ashoka's daughter) had brought eight branches of 'The Bodhi' tree from Gaya. The Mahabodhi above is one of them. Pilgrims are dressed all white on the occasion of Poya (full moon) day.

One of the monastery ruins on the Western end of the city. Rather vainly known for the urinal built for (senior?) monks, as seen in the foreground.

Polonorruva

Polonorruva was made the new capital by Vijayabahu the First, following the sacking of Anuradhapura by Rajaraja Chola. Rajaraja ofcourse built the Big Temple in Thanjavur, which was completed in 1010 AD and hence celebrates 1000 years now!

3 remaining levels of the 7 storied palace built by Parakrama Bahu. He had succeeded Vijayabahu after about 40 years of chaos.

Vatadage.

Rankot Vehera (Gold pinnacled stupa) at the Alahana Parivena. Parivena roughly means a monastic group. This pic doesn't capture the awe that strikes you while being near this colossal brick structure.

This is Lankatilaka. Look at the height of the Buddha and the canopy built for him!

Galvihara. Wonder who got the brain wave to build this shed. The sculptures were out in the open until recently.

Dambulla

I wasn't planning on visiting Dambulla which has above such paintings in some five caves. These are from about 400 years but I guess the originals are much older. The place is ordinary. I wish I had visited Sigiriya instead.

Knuckles Trek

Trekked up to one of the knuckles, a range north-east of Kandy. About 16 km hike from one side to the other. This is the Deanston side of the range. Ended at Thangpo village having started at a hamlet on the other side of the hill.

Thats me looking down the cliff. To the left is Ravi of srilankatrekking.com.

Galle

The Dutch fort and its famous lighthouse. A cute cricket stadium is coming up right outside the fort.

Unawatuna


Honestly, I don't know whats the fuss about this beach.

The Sunset of the Decade

As the noughties come to a close, its time to look back. In my case, its also ten years since I left home for College and beyond.

As a small town kid from Vaniyambadi, who set out to explore the world, I had a chip on my shoulders. I had topped my town in both 10th and 12th standard board exams. And having literally lived at the Perumal temple, lot of people knew me. Or atleast I knew many!

But in late 1999, I went to live in Chennai, having made a serious mistake. I chose Engineering and Computer Science! After 6 years in the academia and 4 years in the industry, Computer Science bores me no end. I could have earned a doctorate in Indian History and been a Professor somewhere. But that story, which may still materialize is for another day.

Chennai initially alarmed me. I was living with my grand parents and the city as such was devoid of life and impersonal. Actually, it was just me. I remember doing nothing worthwhile in my undergrad years. And another bad decision followed. I accepted a campus offer to work as a coolie. Sometime during that coolieship, in 2004, I was sent to Maharashtra and my life changed.

In Ahmednagar, my client factory worked 6 days a week and the seventh day, there was power shutdown thru the town! For 3 months, every Satuday, I travelled the span of Central Maharashtra including Ajantha and Ellora. From that trip on, until now, I have mostly lived between trips. At any point in time, I always had a trip in the horizon. Thats a good feeling.

Having discovered my disinterest in CS, I still went for a Masters from Arizona. The travel appealed to me. I was too finicky with food and hated Chipotle becos of unflavored rice. I also started a blog. My English was much, much worse than what it is now. My academic life in Tucson was awful but at that point, I didn't even care. Among the various trips Colorado stands out. That I reckon was also the last trip when I sported a moustache.

Los Angeles changed me in so many ways. Food to begin with. We checked out every affordable restraunt in Beverly Hills and today I can eat anything Vegetarian on the planet and savor it. Some afternoons, I have walked about a mile for Chipotle! (But spare me the awful Kannadiga Sambar please.)

And I wonder if there is any Star Bucks in West LA that I haven't been to. My coffee has remained firmly black for 4 years now. A South Indian who rediscovered Coffee in a faraway land! And While I was content with finishing the IMDB list and the odd Amelie or two in Arizona, I went full throttle on world movies.

And the trips kept on improving. One nice evening, in a sweet little town called Gardiner in Montana, just north of Yellowstone, I tasted wine for the first time! Today, in parties and happy hours, people just count me for wine. And I have tasted lots of other foul liquids too. From these years, I hate to pick one trip as stand out, but I'll cherish Alaska forever.

Before returning to India, I wanted to travel for a month in southern Europe. But in the end, chose not to travel alone for fear of boredom. And not visiting Machu Picchu is another regret.

Anyway, the vast swathes of India beckoned. Until 1999, I had traveled outside Tamilnadu, exactly five times. 3 of them to Thirupathi! In the last 20 months, I have explored a lot more of India without having touched a single Hindi speaking state!

For the decade, that exposed me to so much diversity, of places, people, cuisines, coffee, movies, wine and unforgetable experiences, a big Thank You! It was awesome.

How fitting that I'll culminate the noughties in the quiet surroundings of a place that'll take me 2400 years back into the past!

Deeksha Bhoomi, Sevagram, Pavanar

Went to Nagpur for a friend's wedding. Pity there isn't much or rather nothing left from the Vakataka dynasty that ruled this area around the 4th Century. But I did check out few places of contemporary importance.


Deeksha Bhoomi, the place where Ambedkar along with his followers initiated into Buddhism on 14 October, 1956.


Pavanar ashram of Vinobha Bhave. Reading his writings now. I'm amazed at the breadth of his knowledge. And inspired by his call for "freedom from the government". If and when I form a liberal political party of my own (!?!!), 'Sarvodaya Sangha' cud be a possible name for the party :-)


Sevagram - preparing for the evening prayers. Gandhi used to lead such prayers. I wish Sevagram had remained a 'gram' (village).

Travel tip: Sevagram and Pavanar are near Wardha, which is some 70 kms south of Nagpur.

Notes:

1. Nagpur seems a cute city. I wud like to spend more time there.
2. Maharashtrians are such a nice people. I had spent 3 months of 2004 roaming around Ahmednagar. Nice to be back.
3. Pity that north-indians are abusing the hospitality of such a cultured and proud people.
4. And ofcourse, didn't bother to visit the supreme fascist head quarters based in the city.

Jai Maharashtra!

Chola Desam

The famous south gopuram of Srirangam. There is no God to absolve me the crime of using the 250 rupee shortcut darshan!

Kaveri beside the Thiagaraja Swami Samadhi at Thiruvaiaru. I see the water levels in Kaveri are kept deliberately high for canal irrigation, thereby depriving its distributeries, esp Kollidam.

A couple of residents of Umayalpuram, who helped establish this school in 1897, may not be amused to know that education has utterly escaped one of their great grand sons.

My ancestors on my grand mothers side lived on this street facing the Perumal Kovil, while my grand father's house was on the next street.

Darasuram. Pity, in a town full of temples (Kumbakonam), this umbilical cord with the Golden age of the Cholas, has tourists outnumber locals.

Big temple at dusk!

Itinerary:

Friday: Bus to Trichy from Bangalore. Checked out Srirangam and Thiagaraja Swami Samadhi at Thiruvaiaru on the way to Umayalpuram, our ancestral village. Stayed the night in Kumbakonam.

Saturday: Darasuram in the morning. Went to Saraswathi Mahal and other museums at the Thanjavur Palace before spending the evening at the Big Temple. More pics from my previous trip there.

Note:

Chola Desam's infrastructure seems incapable of servicing such high population density. Not to mention the huge influx of religious tourists and the Tam-Brahm community which flocks back to get a glimpse of their roots.