Diwali in Chennai

This was a unique diwali. But then, most of the Diwalis I have celebrated have been unique. The first one, in 1997 was in Rajasthan, close to the border. Then, there was one in Kashmir, where we woke up to the muezzin’s call to the faithful for prayer. We lit crackers and distributed sweets amongst the devotees and maulvis at Baba Reshi. The Diwali in Tripura was celebrated by just a handful of us, in the dense jungles that surrounded our HQ, over drinks in the Mess. One advantage of being in chennai, close to sivakasi was the cheap rate at which we got fire-crackers. One cannot plan to have a quiet diwali in the Forces. I talked to a whole lot of friends and colleagues, apart from family. One special moment was talking to Jairaj Padmanabhan and Sanjay Ruparel after around 15 years. Felt good. I have mainly to thank ‘Facebook’ for this.

It is unique experience to watch the meeting of two oceans, each having different traits. The waters on one side are as silent as a lake. The waters on the other rage with waves rising high. This is Dhanushkodi, around 20 kms from Rameshwaram. The four wheeler that took us to the land’s end rattled over the sandy remains of the erstwhile town of Dhanushkodi, which had been wiped off in the 1964 cyclone. It is from this point that Lord Rama built the bridge to Lanka with the help of the Hanuman and other divine creatures. From Dhanushkodi to Maudrai is a 4 hr drive by govt buses that run every 30 min. The Meenakshi temple is an architectural splendour dedicated to the Goddess Meenakshi, the sister of Lord Venkateshwara of Tirupathi given in wedding to Lord Shiva. It is a huge temple, with imposing gopurams resplendent with figures of gods, goddesses, animals etc. The 1000 pillared Mandapam inside the temple premises is indeed one of its kind. It is astounding to listen to the seven music notes emanating from a stone pillar when tapped! A whole day is required if you wish to take in the beauty of this temple.

Rameshwaram

Rameshwaram is one of the 12 Jyotirlings of India. According to myth, when Lord Rama returned from Lanka after slaying Ravana, some sages advised him to perform penance before a Shivling for having done a ‘brahmahatya’ – Killing of a Brahmin. Finding no shivling in the vicinity, Hanuman was dispatched to Mt kailas to get one. As usual, the monkey god, being the perfectionist, spent time looking for the perfect one. In the meantime, sita built a shivling from sand, which Lord Rama worshipped. When Hanuman returned with two Shivlings, he found that one shivling had already been built and consecrated. He was dejected. But Lord Rama assured him that in the future, whenever devotees came to the temple, they would first worship the two shivlings that Hanuman brought and then the one that Sita built. It is so till this date. Before going to the temple, one has to bathe in the sea (a mere 200 mtrs away), followed by a bath each by water from 22 kunds (wells), change and then worhip the lord shiva. Of course, the sand shivling no longer exists. But the grandeur, the fervour is still evident. Beware of fake godmen and intermediaries when you visit Rameshwaram.

Mind it

“Leave the ladies, I say!” Not me. This is what Sh Q G Murugan tells ‘gunpowder’. This is ‘Quick Gun Murugan’, the iconic Indian Cowboy (Strictly veggie!) from MTV. This is one rip-roaring cowboy yarn, with Q G Murugan returning from the dead to battle ‘rice plate reddy’ and his goons with the help of ‘Mango dolly’. More than the movie itself, it was great fun to enjoy it in a movie hall, jam packed with Tamilians enjoying every bit of the spot in the sunlight of their very own ‘cowboy’. For us, the laughter came from reading the subtitles. For them, it was spontaneous. Action, emotion and humour at its quirky best. Mind it! Also a must watch is a local blockbuster, ‘Kanthaswamy’. Great fight sequences, exotic locales (the Mexican deserts are ones that we normally see in movies from abroad), good songs, music that threatens to blow you off your seat and a sultry Shriya Saran. People in Chennai enjoy their movies. There are no seats available in any theatre, for any movie on a weekend.

Ghee roast and Arun's

Not much here in terms of markets. Spencer Plaza and Citi Centre are the two Malls that Chennai can boast of. This is a town of simple, peace loving, book reading, artistically inclined folk, much like what Pune was when we were in school, around 25 years back. Lots of temples and vegetarian food joints. The Pallava architecture is astounding. Where we stay, across the road is an icon of South Indian food, the Sarvana Bhawan. This is a chain of restaurants, with branches across Tamil Nadu, some in India and surprisingly franchisees in UAE, UK and the USA. It is a must visit for an introduction to South Indian food. Arun’s Ice Cream, another very famous local, can give Baskin Robbins, Walls and the others a run for their money. On my list (of still to visit) is Murugan Idli. Sanju tells me the Ghee Roast (Dosai!) and idli there is out of this world!

Marina Beach

Reaching Chennai in the night of 12 Aug, the first thing that was palpable was the heat and humidity. My first exposure to Chennai was an evening on Marina Beach with Pankaj and Nirmal, on a fisherman’s boat, with waves lapping on its beached keel, Nirmal’s phone playing Golden Hits, the bottle and snacks on a plank and the sea wind hitting us with its ferocity. The lighthouse beacon in the distance welcomed distant ships. Marina is a big big beach, both, in length and in width. From where you get down from your vehicle, you can’t even see or hear the sea. You have to actually walk some distance on the sand, skirting your way carefully around the ‘night-birds’ before you reach the sea shore. The sea here is more violent than the one at Mumbai or Goa. But then the mythical links of this side of the continent abound with tales of hard fought battles between Gods and demons.

Vacation 09 - Pune

So much to do in so short a time. But I managed to squeeze in most of my engagements. After reaching Pune on the 2^nd of July, I found the climate a welcome change from the heat and humidity of Delhi. The rains also opened up, adding to the already existing pleasant ambience. In fact most of the times over the past one month, I have not had to use a fan. Shyam has been posted to a place called Kankavli (in Sindhudurg district). He left a few days before I arrived. Although he helped me out with his scooter, the rains prevented me from venturing out. After he came down on leave for a week, we went over to Arshad’s place. The same evening we also saw the latest Harry Potter. I must read the series if I hope to understand the finer details of the story. I survived a stomach scare the day before a trip to Shirdi, thanks to divine intervention and some help from my friend ‘Norflox’.

This time around, we also went to the Balaji Temple, situated around 3 Kms off the Pune Bangalore Highway. The difference between Shirdi and this temple is startling. What strikes one the most is the level of cleanliness in the Balaji temple. Even though it was pouring and the water was washing away all the mud, there were these employees on their haunches, wearing raincoats and brushing the pavements! Not a speck of dirt anywhere. There are no hawkers here. Let's hope Shirdi reverts to the simplicity of the man we all worship!

homecoming

Going home after more than a year! And what a year it has been. From Siliguri to Manesar. From the peace and tranquility of the mountains to the noise and dust of the plains of Delhi. But then change is inevitable in our job. I am looking forward to meeting Arshad, Vineet, Jeetu and some of the other 'permanents'. Thank God for their permanency. What would I ahve done without these 'faithfuls' at home base. This time I am also looking forward to experiencing the rains in Pune. It has been a dry and parched summer in Delhi. The mangoes from the tree at home must be ripe now!

IBM is Great!

Last week I had a scare with my Thinkpad. I thought I would have to take it to a repair centre. The fault was totally mine. While uninstalling Norton, I accidentally deleted some registry entries. When I re-booted the computer, it just would not continue beyond a point. A system file was corrupt/could not be found. But I rang up the national helpline and they helped me out. If it would have been an assembled PC, I guess I would have had to re-format the hard drive and lose all my data. But the guys at the IBM TP help centre guided me through the rescue and recovery process and within hours the TP was up and running (without loss of any data). I am impressed with their professional attitude as compared to that of Airtel, which I have mentioned in an earlier blog. No customer is treated lightly by IBM, however dumb (like me) he/she is.

Road Trip

Ever since I bought the car I had always looked forward to going on a long road trip. It finally materialized. My brother suggested the idea at first. I took it up, added a few details regarding our stay and we were off in May to Himachal! We first halted at Chandigarh, visiting Nek Chand’s Rock Garden. It is a ‘must-see’. The rocks have been arranged in many different patterns, human shapes and landscapes. The walk-through is very tourist friendly, talking you on a winding path flanked by these stone images. It is an amazing testimony to one man’s hard work, patience and ingenuity.

We then went up first to Kullu-Manali-Rohtang, like all diligent tourists do. Rohtang was the first introduction our kids had to snow. Although most of the snow was melting fast, there was still some left for them to frolic in. The pollution is a major factor affecting the meltdown. We could not reach the Pass due to a traffic jam some Kms short of Rohtang. The govt should regulate the traffic to Rohtang like it is being done by the Sikkim State govt for Nathu La. On our way down, we visited the Hadimba Devi temple. Crass commercialization has overtaken religious sentiment. When I had last been there in 1989, there was only the temple; standing serenely in the pines. The temple now seems lost and more like a bystander gawking at the human circus around it. We also visited Manikaran. Steaming hot water from underground and Hindus and Sikhs both laying claim to its origins.    

            But it was the trip to Sarahan that was out of the normal ‘tourist’ pattern. We drove from Kullu to Aut-Banjar-Jalodi Pass-Sainj-Rampur-Jeori-Sarahan. The drive was through rough, narrow roads, climbing steeply through dense pines, with no service station for miles. Speaks volumes of the Hyundai engineering and of course of Sanju’s driving. He drove all the way gamely, with his leg injury. I definitely could not have done it alone. Sarahan is relatively unexplored (we met just a couple of tourists). There is an ancient temple of Bhimakali on the top of the hill. The view of the snow clad mountains catching the first rays of the morning sun made all the effort to Sarahan worth it. I wish we had spent more time here than in Kullu. We returned via Shimla, which seemed just like Mumbai, except that it was perched on the hills. The same hustle-bustle, crowds, pollution and traffic-jams.

Although the car behaved perfectly well in the hills, we have decided to restrict it’s usage to the plains in our next trip, which could be to Rajasthan. Even if anyone of you is planning to take a car to the hills, do keep to the National Highways. And once you reach your hotel, any local sightseeing should be done in local taxis/cars. These drivers know the roads and the risks.     

A few Good Men

I had a recent experience with Airtel that I must share with you all. After my posting here, I got a new postpaid connection, paying over the counter to a retailer. As you are aware, companies like Airtel made their fortune by allowing pan-wallahs, grocery stores and other such local shops to sell their SIMs to customers. Now my retailer registered my SIM (an advance 998 post paid rental) under a different Plan (444 Monthly Plan). When I corrected it, naturally Airtel billed me for the new Plan as well. I refused to pay the outstanding amount that was being reflected in my monthly bill. When I contacted the local retailer, he washed his hands off the affair, saying he had forwarded my money to a relationship centre for further submission to Airtel. Every second day someone from Airtel was ringing me up, asking me when I would be paying this amount, Rs 1000.00 And every third day, my phone was being shut down. On 6 April, the line went totally dead, with both the incoming and outgoing being shut off. As a last ditch effort, I confronted the retailer, saying I would not move unless my problem was resolved. It took an hour for him to get me in touch with an Area Sales Manager, who further put me through to a colleague, Ashish Sangwan. It was this person who resurrected my faith in Airtel. He traced the relationship centre that had registered my connection, had him cough up the amount (Rs998) and finally got my number working again. All these three months, I must have talked to at least 50 people from Airtel without any satisfactory response. I wrote emails to the Appelate and Nodal officers that were ignored with just reference numbers being given to me and terse one liners telling me that I could not be contacted. How could I, when they were shutting me off every few days? It is sometimes the small cog that keeps the wagon wheel rolling. So the next time you face a problem like this, go from down to top. Catch hold of the next person up the line. He's bound to take your call!