HIMACHAL TRIP

(Part-I)

It was a 4 years old dream come true when I along with my wife Vani embarked on a customized 10 days Himachal & Punjab tour by Tata indica Car from Delhi on 5^th April’10, arranged by Travelmart.com, a Mumbai based travel portal.

SHIMLA-The journey to Shimla started from Delhi, a distance of 370 Kms covered in 8 hours. Immediately after Kalka, when the Himachal Pradesh starts, you are on a mountainous terrain and the journey thereafter is a roller coaster ride every where in Himachal with narrow serpentine roads going up and down never giving you a chance to sit upright! The entire journey offers some stunning views of the mighty Himalayas. Shimla, former summer capital of British India and now a capital of Himachal Pradesh is situated on step like slopes. It’s a pleasure to watch Shimla by night with lights in far flung areas come alive on hills. Evening stroll at the Mall & Ridge is a must. St. Michael’s Cathedral with fine stained glass and Indian Institute of Advanced studies are some of the local places to visit.  The institute was originally called Vice Regal lodge built by Britishers in 1888 where the draft of Indo Pak partition was placed before the great Indian leaders. Kufri , a 30 minutes drive presents a panoramic view from hill top of far flung points like Kailash, Everest, Fago temple etc. Here one can enjoy horse/Yak ride.

MANALI- Manali is 260 kms from Shimla and can be reached in about 7 hours time. A picture perfect hill resort at an altitude of 1929 meters, set amidst pine clad mountains, Beas river flowing parallel to the road ,scattered village hamlets present a beautiful sight. The road passes through a very big tunnel (3 Kms long) cutting across a mountain at a place called ‘Oatt’. It’s a human engineering marvel worth mentioning here. Those with brave heart can go for river rafting at several places on way to Manali.

Manali is a small town where a Tibetan monastery, 450 years old Hadimba temple and Vashist temple hot water spring is situated. However the main attraction is ‘Rohtang Pass’ on the Himalayan range at the height of 3978 meters from sea level. Hats off to Border Roads Organization, who are looking after the roads to clear off the land slide debris and snow from the road. Normally this road opens during April for normal traffic and tourists. Entire area here is covered with snow and one can enjoy skating, skiing, parachute gliding, snow scooter etc to heart’s content. On the way, one can enjoy the thrilling view of the deep gorge through which the river Beas swiftly races. Rudyard Kipling said of this region “Surely the God live here this no place for men”. True and that’s why this region has a number of temples of God and Goddess in every place.

85 Kms away from Manali in Kullu region is Manikaran on the banks of river Parvati. This place is famous for Gurudwara, Shiv Temple and hot spring. The boiling water in the spring will be so hot that a pot containing raw rice gets cooked up in no time and the same rice is served to devotees at the Gurudwara langar.

DHARMSHALA & DALHOUSIE- Dharmshala is 240 kms & 8 hours away from Manali and can be used as transit night halt on way to Dalhousie as there is nothing much to see here except Tibetan Monastery. Dalhousie is another 130 Kms/ 4 hours from Dharmashala. A 45 minutes drive to Khajjiar is one of the most scenic saucer shaped plateau surrounded by dense pine and deodar tree forest. There is a small but dirty lake in the center. There was a 9 hole golf course which does not exists now.

From here our Himachal trip comes to an end and another 225 kms/4 hours drive brought us to Amritsar in Punjab. After visiting the Wagha Border to witness the evening flag retreat by Indian/Pakistani soldiers, Golden temple, Jalianwala Bagh and Durgiana Hindu temple (a replica of Golden temple) and Rock garden, Rose garden & Lake in Chandigarh, we finally returned to Delhi to take flight back to Bangalore.

Photos of the trip can be viewed at the following link: -

http://picasaweb.google.com/srayyangar/HimachalTrip5th14thApril10?feat=email#

HIMACHAL TRIP (Part –II)

The Global warming has not spared Himachal Pradesh also. Every where the days were hot around 30 degrees and only in the evenings and nights the climate used to become some what pleasant and cold. The worm cloths taken by us were never used! So here is a piece of advice to those wanting to visit these places during summer vacations- Its better to plan a visit during fag end of winter rather than summer to enjoy  snow fall and real cool climate. Also, if you plan to go by Bus or Car in summer, better to opt for A/c vehicle for comfort during day journey. The temperature in Punjab was around 38-40 degrees while at Delhi; it was 42.3 degrees, an all time high in the second week of April in the last 50 years!

Being a capital place, Shimla has become too commercial with several hotels with 4-5 floors and resorts coming up at every available space. The traffic on road is so much that one can witness bumper to bumper traffic especially in the mornings and evenings. The parking problem is so acute that one can find cars, trucks, buses and vans parked on hill side at each and every curve away from the town. Thankfully, the Mall road has been spared where no vehicles are allowed including two wheelers.

Himachal Pradesh government is earning huge amount of revenue from the tourism in the state but very little has been done towards the upkeep of tourist spots. At all the places of tourist importance, there were hardly any public toilets. Drinking water facilities were scare and tourist spots were littered with empty water bottles, juice cans, liquor bottles, plastic cups, cigarette boxes and discarded plastic carry bags. No sign boards could be found to keep the place clean and litter free. If no corrective steps are initiated by the Government as well as NGOs now and if traffic situation in Shimla is any indication, things would become out of control in coming years.

Morning Pickers

You have heard of morning walker and flower pickers but who are these morning pickers? If you are an early morning walker, next time watch those ladies and some senior citizens carrying a bag or carry bag with them. Amidst joggers and health freaks, you will observe these bag carrying walkers keeping a sharp eye on road side flower plants in front of houses and bungalows. For a moment they stop, glance around and start picking the flowers in a hurry and sometimes break the branches. They will try to pick as much as possible and quickly move on to the next street or road in search of more such booty. Seldom are they caught and seeking prior permission from the owner does not arise.

Older people trudging slowly with the stick in hand are not so quick like ladies but they too try their luck plucking flowers here and there. Sometimes when the bunch of flowers is inside the compound wall, first they try to climb the grilled compound and then with the help of walking stick in hand try to get hold of the bunch even if it is risky, unmindful of the open storm water drain nearby.

The house owners who are nurturing the plants as hobby and flowers for own use either get nothing or have to be contended with whatever is left out. Sometimes if by chance owner objects, they have stock replies in retaliation- “ This is a public road and trees, plants grown out side the compound wall is public property” or “Why don’t you also pluck them before any body else does” or “ We are plucking them for offering to God, who are you to stop”.  Here ‘Do not pluck flowers’ notice carry no sense.

One should observe the glow and sense of victory when these pickers are able to lay hands on handful of flowers even if it costs mere rupees five if purchased legitimately. At the end of the morning walk, these pickers feel pride in their achievement. After all ultimately, these flowers are offered to the God for prosperity and enlightenment!

Living in , Love & Arranged Marriage

The Supreme Court on 24TH March gave a historic verdict that live in relationship i.e. living with one another without marriage is not illegal and cannot be defined as "criminal offence". If two person, man and woman want to stay together, what is the offence they are committing here? The SC has also given example of Lord Krishna & Radha relationship to corroborate its judgment and said if they can live together why can't today's adults. The example of Lord Krishna is bound to raise a storm in certain quarters.

This can be a matter of debate as to which of these options is the best for an ever lasting happy married life. Those days of ‘Sati Savitri’ are gone where ‘Pati’ was ‘Parmeshwar’ and the life of a wife used to be full of sacrifices towards her husband, children and family. They looked perfect couple ‘Made for each other’, but not any more. The society is moving from ‘Pati, Patni aur Who’ situation to live in relationship now. Umpteen number of arguments can be put forth in defense of each of these options- Love marriage, arranged love marriage, Arranged marriage and live in relationship culminating in marriage but ultimately which one of these is foolproof?

Many arranged marriages are breaking up on account of complexes, difficulty in mutual adjustments, misunderstanding, dowry demands etc. Love marriages have broken because of couple not able to face the reality, fading away of love towards the other, infidelity and insecurities. In a recent case a celebrity’s engagement was terminated on the grounds of incompatibility even though they were childhood friends. Such was the understanding of love for so many years. Even those advocating live in relationship for better understanding have fallen apart. This despite the fact that present day parents’ mindsets have changed now and they freely allow the couples to meet, talk, explore and understand each other any number of times before marriage without any live in tag.

There is no time tested formulae for successful marriage. Horoscope or no horoscope, it is all ‘luck by chance’ situation. Perfect understanding, mutual trust, will to make minor adjustment in adversity, unconditional love, commitment, feeling of respect and responsibility towards each other as well as family can all go a long way to make the marriage work. Love marriage, arranged marriage or live in becomes secondary issue then.

Life is to live

Open any newspaper and you would find at least one or two news item about a suicide taking place in the city. There is a long list of people from a newly wed bride to a student appearing in exam, farmer struggling to make both ends meet to a debt ridden carpenter, lovers separated by parents to an executive working for a BPO committing suicide on any given day. Bangalore has a distinct Suicidal Capital tag along with Garden city and IT/BT tag. Nearly 2000 suicides per 1 lac of population takes place every year in this city and this is increasing at an alarming rate of 8% every year. To top it all, this just an official figure where as several cases of suicide goes unreported to the police and the press due to social stigma attached with it and sometimes stature/ izzat  of family comes in the way.

Suicidal tendency or an attempt to commit suicide is a cry for help needing attention. For some it may be a gesture of aggressive intent but the fact is that it stems from hopelessness. The purpose of suicide attempt may not be intent to die but it’s a response to fear. Fear of shame, guilt, family and society at large. Studies have found that 90% suicides take place in lower and middle economic group in the age group of 15 to 45 years, men to women ratio being 1.4:1.

CASUSES:

 The main cause of action can be a single or multiple –

-Failing/prolonged illness

-Family problem- dispute, break ups. Diminishing family support in Urban area due migration for living.

-Financial problem, loss, Poverty.

-Marriage discord, break up in relationship, dowry demands.

-Frustration, guilt, humiliation.

-Alcoholic/drug addict.

-Pressure, competition, over ambition, unrealistic goals in studies/ jobs.

Adolescents are at a particular vulnerable stage in their lives. They are hyper sensitive, feel insecure and having low esteem especially during the examination time. Stress and depression happen to everyone in some or the other way. Depression is a medical condition under which a person sometimes is not able to share his problems with those around him for fear of neglect or rejection. 5% of population suffers depression at a given point of time and 15% of persons under depression commit suicide.

SYMPTOMS:

Depressed mood, loss of interest, guilt feeling, loss of concentration in studies or at work place, disturbed sleep, negative feelings, Sense of hopelessness or not wanted by any one, loss of self esteem, and self harm in aggression are some of the main features pointing towards a person undergoing depression. Under such circumstances, people around such a person (family members or friend) should never be critical or judgmental towards them. At this juncture, active listening, empathy, understanding the emotional problem and exploring the alternatives and suggestions to over come the situation is of utmost importance. However in most cases, such a response from family/ friends does not come easily and the affected person goes in to deep depression. And here comes the role of a counselor and psychiatrist. Counseling requires tremendous effort and skill to be a non critical, non judgmental listener. The process involves helping a person to help himself. Through counseling, the affected person comes in touch with his underlying emotions and feelings. Over a period of time, the person moves from a position of hopelessness to HOPE, hope of living. However in extreme cases, medical intervention is needed through psychotherapy.

HELP

“SAHAI” (Phone No. 25497777) in Bangalore is one of the few dedicated ‘Suicide prevention  telephonic help lines’ in India and first in Karnataka to help those who are feeling low, depressed, unwanted and need some one to listen to and share their problems. Started in October 2002 with the joint initiative of Rotary Club Bangalore east, NIMHANS and Medical Pastoral Association (MPA) , this helpline has helped save the lives of scores of people under depression or having suicidal tendency by counseling them over telephone as well as face to face interaction. This helpline is manned by a team of dedicated volunteers from all walks of life who have been trained by experts from NIMHANS to handle the distress calls. The services are free and callers are assured of total confidentiality and anonymity. The helpline functions from 10 am to 8 pm (except Sunday) with the option of leaving message during off time. So here is a helpline just a call away. (Website: www.sahaihelpline.org)

Problems, stress and depression are all part of our life and let not them override your emotions. Manage your emotions in a positive manner because Life is to Live.

“A” Certificate for Ashram

Once again a new age god man hailing from Tamil Nadu but based near Bangalore is in the news for all the right reasons. He has been caught on camera indulging in love making with all possible sexual gestures with lady attender and disciple lying on his cozy bed. In fact, one of the disciples shown on TV channels is reported to be a film star from south. There is very little doubt that they have been doctored. As of now, the god man is reported to have gone to attend ‘Kumbh Mela’ and possibly washing his sins in the light of this expose.

As far as my memory goes, such a kind of merry making was started 4 decades back in Bhagwan Rajaneesh ashram at Pune. Hundreds of westerners and elite people from our own Bollywood   used to throng Rajneesh ashram in search of inner peace. The disciple’s commune remained out of bound to outsiders and insiders were always tight lipped as to what happens inside. All that was reported in newspapers was nude dance inside the ashram in the presence of Rajneesh and traders in Charas, Ganja etc had thriving business outside the ashram. One of his books in Hindi sold like hot cakes those days was “Sambhog se Samadhi tak” (From ‘Sex to grave yard’ is a crude translation in English).

Many of such present day demi -gods live like a king in fort like surroundings, stay in all the comforts of wide spread ashrams and villas with  five star facilities giving occasional  ‘darshan’ to the public in a Hindi mythological filmy style  sitting on a huge ornamental chair studded with gold , silver and may be jewels.

From time to time some or the other god man, spiritual guru or tantric is getting involved in these kind of scandals. Few years back in Tamil Nadu, a self styled Sri Lankan set up an ashram in Trichy, managed to lure many girls including minors in to his ‘free consciousness’ style of thinking. After several girls leveling rape charges against him, he was convicted and now cooling his heals in jail serving a double life term. Another god man from Gujarat is facing charges of killing 2 young boys. A very famous and powerful tantric during the regime of than Prime Minister, had an easy access to the PMO’s office in Delhi. He was involved in hawala transaction as well as unauthorized arms deal. A holy man from a mutt in south is facing a charge of conspiracy to murder!  In the name curing or helping issueless women, many Sadhus and Tantriks have been caught in heinous sex crimes. The list of such unholy act by holy men is aplenty.

Thinking of all these,  I suggest to  the Government to categorize such ashrams and self styled god men as “A” on the lines of film censor board so that only adult devotees can join these ashrams voluntarily who are not ignorant of happenings inside so that again no more ashram rocks with  expose like this in future! Amen.

In search of an answer

Have you ever wondered why people starts pelting stones at shops and buses whenever a high profile celebrity like a film star or mass leader/ politician dies? All of a sudden, from no where they get all the stock of stones, rods and wooden logs to carry out the mass destruction? Why the administration & police become a helpless mute spectator to burning down of vehicles, destruction of public properties and looting of showrooms. There are ample appropriate laws to deal with such a situation but the perpetrators of hooliganism and political party supporters to such riots are never punished. Long rope given by the law makers and keepers encourages future happenings.

‘3 idiots’ raised a storm over the story writer issue. The original writer Chetan Bhagat was all over the TV channels for a day but the heat generated by the hype died the very next day. I am still figuring out if it is a case of ‘Pen is mightier than……’ or the other way round. From the beginning, writers are an exploited lot, under paid and often made to shell out from their own pocket to bring out their book in the market. Now, they have to promote their own book through ‘book reading session’ or ‘sit in’ at book stores.

The issue of National film awards and Republic day Padma Shree Awards of late raises lot of eyebrows every year. Whoever thought that a film like ‘Oye lucky oye’ deserves a prestigious national award or Saif ali khan a padma shree must ponder over their histrionic? Why is that a common man from the street or a slum and not associated with any NGO silently doing some thing for the poor and needy gets the award?

There are umpteen number of Music and Film channels churning out the same songs and films day in & day out. How many of these so called Music channels have regular slot for classical songs, folk songs, devotional songs, folk music, talk shows by music teachers, music directors, singers or any programme on imparting training in music instruments? Similarly, which of the film channels has slot for award winning films, old classics, programmes on the art of film making, film appreciation, film direction or film editing etc?

Every now and than politicians keep talking to media on some or the other issue and whenever a hue & cry is raised by the public, they make a shameless U turn saying that the media has ‘misquoted’ them or they bluntly deny the report even when said by them in camera! What makes them utter some thing which has to be denied later is a bone of contention? News channels create hype on certain issue for a day or two and sleep on it like a government. All of a sudden several years later a case like Ruchika’s crop up springing a surprise and leaving every one bewildered.

E-Terrorism!

Even if you are not computer savvy but have an email account, than it is for sure to have encountered email terrorist attack on your mail box. Wondering who these terrorists are and what are they up to?
Definitely you must have got mails at some point of time from your own near and dear ones with a beautiful picture of some God or Goddess and asking you to concentrate on its eyes to reap many fold benefits or witness some kind of miracle in your life to happen in the next 7 days. Needless to say that normally such kind of unsolicited chain mails keep coming on your mail box. These mails with spiritual or religious sentiments attached come with statutatory warning that the chain should not be discontinued to avail the benefit and also must be forwarded to another 10 persons failing which you shall encounter some miss happening! And lo! You are in soup what to do next, to forward the mail or not. God only knows who the perpetrators of such mails are and what their agenda is but one thing is sure, the threat and the fear factor works. Invariably, the recipient of such mail is tempted to pass on the buck on to another 10 persons. This is what I term as e-terrorism!
In a similar manner, there is one more kind of e-terrorism not in the nature of chain mails which keep popping up on to your mail box. These are bound to rob you off if not acted wisely. Sample this:-
“Congratulations, your email Id has been selected by our electronic random selection system for a cash prize of US$ 50, 00,000/-” OR “You have won a UK lottery of 165, 50,000 pounds in our monthly draw, Congratulation!”
In such mails, you are asked to send them Bank details; password, email Id password, etc along with foreign remittance of few thousands to cover handling charges. What happens next should be well known to avid readers of any newspaper. The bank account is hacked and computer injected with virus through e-terrorism!