Posted on June 29th, 2009 by Amrit
There is this feeling of floating. Floating in air. The air is mostly humid. Flesh wet. Occasionally it gets hot. Occasionally, air turns into water. Liquid. Cold. Warm. Boiling. Gravity is mostly weak. The difference between closed eyes and open eyes is marginal. I talk and yet I am silent. I smile and yet I am lost. I work and yet I am asleep. I might be floating, but a particular direction of flow, there is none. Bubbles surround me. Some burst the moment they are sighted. Some grow in size, and then burst. Sometimes I am floating alone – everything else left glowing white by sun’s glare. At other times, it is dark. In the moon-light, I can see bodies other than mine. Some stink. Some smell of jasmine. They all float. Once in a while, a drifting body gently collides with my own flesh. Liquid turns to solid. Everything freezes. The limbs, the eyes. The entire body. And yet breathes the soul. The soul whispers something sweet. I smile. I chuckle. I am a kid who is floating no more. I am running. I am running with a grin on my face and a spring in my legs. I am running with a glow in my chin and a shining shin. I am running over water and running over air. I run, and then I trot, and then I stride and then I slow down and then I fall and then I drown. I go deep inside till I touch the bottom. And then I feel something. There is this feeling of floating.
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Posted on June 27th, 2009 by Amrit
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Posted on June 25th, 2009 by Amrit
I am sure there are more sarkari holidays in Bhubaneswar than anywhere else in India. Yesterday was a holiday. Yesterday was Ratha Yatra. I went to Puri to witness the religious tamasha. I went pretty early – eightish in the morning. Crowd had only started to build up. There was a wide paved road with hotels and shops on both sides. Between the edges of the road and the permanent structures along the road, lay several vendors – some selling jadibuti, some beads – some selling miniature wooden idols of Jagannath, some water. There was energy in the air. It was hot and sunny and humid but the heat was less than what it had been a day ago – thanks to the faint presence of clouds. As I walked on the road, passing one vendor after another, I saw three red coloured temple-domes on one end. I kept walking in their direction till I was close enough. They were red coloured wooden temples – three in number – built atop a wooden platform. The platform was supported on wooden wheels. This was the Ratha – the chariot. The yatra (journey) would begin only later in the afternoon.
One couldn’t go all the way to the Ratha. I went as far as one could – a mere hundred meters away from the wooden structure. A line of CRPF jawans formed a human chain that ran parallel to a rope-chain. On one side of the chain were the Ratha and the pandas (priests) and the volunteers. On the other side were the devotees and I. I had a camera. I shot pictures. I stood right next the to the barricade. Few volunteers were busy sprinkling thin spray of water over everyone’s head. Everyone who didn’t have a camera liked the sprinkling – it gave a lot of relief to the body being tortured under the sun. I tried my best to keep my camera dry. I more or less succeeded. I got bored and moved away from the Rath. I was still amidst the crowd. The crowd was building up. Every second.
There was a middle-aged red coloured hanuman swaying his cheap golden gada around to get some attention. He got a lot of attention. The hanuman loved it when I took his pictures – he knew how to pose when in front of the camera. Hanuman was not alone. He had a middle-aged friend with a shining paunch over which ran a thin line of hair. His entire body glittered like gold – thanks to the chemical lotion he had applied all over his skin. He wielded a sword now and then and almost always maintained a dumb killer look in his eyes. Mythology was bright and gleaming out there in the open. So were the admirers – both rich and poor.
The poor dressed in bright, gay and flashy clothes ambled around flashing their white teeth over their tanned skins. They looked more happy than excited. They were as happy as children. The not so poor ones, dressed in lighter shades tried to compensate for their lack of child like happiness with that extended bout of excitement that engulfed them. There were losers too. They were the ones sitting in comfort of the hotel balconies, sitting under shades, blowing fans with hands and with their eyes – looking below at the Ratha and the fervent crowd that smelt of sweat and incense. Everything that could be sold was being sold – peacock feathers, cheap chunris, books on religion printed on recycled paper, flutes, plastic whistles and space on hotel balconies that promised eagle views. There were saints and sanyasis – some sitting quietly while others charged up beating dhols and singing bhajans.
All the while I was there, the Ratha never moved. I returned. I returned via Konark because the Bhubaneswar Puri road had been turned one-way yesterday. So I spent some time in Konark – in the Sun temple. It immediately reminded me of Khajuraho. It was a shade smaller. The sculptures were a shade less erotic. But it was good. It was brownish, stony, arty, spacious, enchanting, erotic, attractive and rustic.
Dark clouds hovered all over Bhubaneswar in the evening and later light rains did occur. I lived yet another day.
PS: Pics of Puri | Pics of Konark
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Posted on June 21st, 2009 by Amrit
Posted on June 20th, 2009 by Amrit
Posted on June 19th, 2009 by Amrit
Well, well well (all dry). By now, monsoon should have covered all of Bihar, most parts of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and the Gangetic plains of UP. But that hasn’t really happened. It is stuck around the Deccan Plateau and the coastline of the Gult-land and Orissa [3]. I live in Bhubaneswar, and I don’t think monsoon is here yet (Bhubaneswar is only 60 Km away from the Orissa coastline by the way).
What has been the impact so far?
- Prices of Indian Spices have gone up [1]
- Private water suppliers in Rajkot have found a nice pretext to ask for almost double the usual rates [4] and
- Elephants in Rajaji park are just not moving their asses [2]
And why the fuck has the monsoon delayed? My first answer would be God is no better than Government. But I do have a better and boring answer. A study published in the January2009Â issue of Geophysical Research Letters had the following [5] to say:
Rising global temperatures will likely lead to an eastward shift in monsoon circulation which could result in more rainfall over the Indian Ocean, Myanmar and Bangladesh but less over Pakistan, India and Nepal, the study found.
Ah, if only the officials at Rajaji park had known about the result of this study, they could have kept the park open for some more time (yes – they closed it last week assuming that monsoons would arrive – when monsoons arrive the elephants migrate away). Also – those who are into masala export business, be happy. My only sympathies as of now are for 1. the Rajkot junta because they are going to be charged more year after year and 2. myself because I want to start running on roads once again.
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[1]http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINBOM43616820090615
[2]http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20090618/1053/tnl-monsoon-delay-hinders-elephant-migra.html
[3]http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20090617/1053/tnl-monsoon-delay-not-cause-for-worry-ye.html
[4]http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-58165.html
[5]http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jlEsxGrBmhmZZKiKaJF7GQ34jb6Q
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