My encounter with The Mountain God

Hii folks,

Well after a long while, its good to be back to what I like doing when I am free - Blogging. At this juncture I would like to mention about one of my classmates here in WIMWI who is one of the very few following my posts here. I have felt good whenever he has appreciated my posts; well who doesn't like an encouraging pat on the back!! A few days back he had asked me to write about my experiences about Shodhyatra - the tour to Uttarakhand we undertook a few days back this month. Well here I am with my thoughts and ramblings.

To begin with, I have always been an avid traveler and so was very excited about this trip, especially so because I was about to trek in the Himalayas. As someone who has always loved nature for its diversity, this was one opportunity which I was never going to miss. For once, it was a great relief to be away from the hullabaloo of the city and spend some time amidst the huge majestic mountains. As dramatic as it may sound but the roads, rivers and the mountains there always seem to have a message for you. Each moment you spend there is uncertain. In one of the review sessions we had with our professor there, one of my colleagues said that dangers can be avoided by embracing certainty. I disagree for there is no such thing as certainty. For me dangerous events can only be made less uncertain. The Himalayas is an epitome of modesty and humbleness but that doesn't make it less powerful. It does remind us constantly that we need to respect its strength and power. Why do you think landslides and earthquakes are a common phenomenon there? And why do you think even the scientists can't predict when and where exactly the landslides/earthquakes would occur?

I was looking forward to have a glimpse of some of the rare and endangered species like the Musk Deer and Snow Leopard. But given our itinerary, that didn't happen. On our way to Ghangria and then further to the Valley of Flowers, we were told to watch out for the majestic Tiger. Though the Tigers here are not man eaters, but nevertheless there was a mix of both fear and excitement which made me extra careful while trekking. Though we couldn't spot them amidst the thick woods, I am sure at least a tiger or two was keeping track of our proceedings (might sound very lame!!). Well my camera was finally very happy, especially after the ghastly trip to the manhole worker settlements a few days before Shodhyatra. The scenic beauty there is absolutely a photographer's delight and for the photographer me, the trip couldn't have been more satisfying.

Uttarakhand is one of the few states where access to basic primary education is available to the masses with the literacy rate being well above the national average. And with about two-thirds of the landscape there under the forest cover, you needn't think twice before going there for a well deserved holiday. The people there are extremely proud of their heritage and rightfully should be. 'Poverty' simply doesn't have an existence though people do struggle to sustain their livelihood. But people out there, especially the womenfolk seem to endure physical pain effortlessly. Science reasons that these people have a greater RBC count than us, but the fact is only the fittest can survive and so these people struggled to survive and in the process physically adapted themselves to the surroundings.

But amidst all this excitement and happiness, there were quite a few things which bothered me. I was lying by the rivulet in the Valley of Flowers surrounded by the mystical mountains covered with clouds and then.....

My conversation with The Mountain God (TMG)

TMG: So what brings you to this place, human?

Me: Who are you?

TMG: I am the mountain god, the caretaker of the Himalayas and all that is part of it.

Me: Do you exist?

TMG: Well, you humans certainly have this habit of overlooking the obvious. No wonder, I am constantly being reprimanded by Mother Nature for not being strict enough.

Me: Strict enough with whom?

TMG: You big time dumbo, who else would I be strict with? Strict with mankind, who is hell bent on inflicting damages on us.

Me: Oh, now I got you. But we are doing our best to be good with you guys. Aren't you seeing how we have set up national parks and biosphere reserves?

TMG: Whats the use of addressing the symptoms when you are not addressing the core problem?

Me: And may I know what is the core problem?

TMG: The core problem is the way educated fellas like you are spending money on buying fur overcoats and leather jackets and belts when you can very well spend the same money on buying a few plants or raising a small garden!! You guys just don't respect Mother Nature

Me: But we work very hard to earn money. Don't we have the right to enjoy and splurge some on ourselves?

TMG: Look human, you are not a small kid anymore. You very well realise the fallacy of your argument and so stop making a fool out of yourself. You have come to enjoy the beauty and so do that.

Me: Sorry, but why are you talking to me? Why am I able to see you?

TMG: Well, don't think you are special just because I am talking with you. I was only looking out for a human and its just a coincidence that I found you sitting here besides the rivulet.

Me: Hmmm, is there something special you want to convey to me?

TMG: Yeah, there is a message which I want you to convey to your friends and everyone else you know.

Me: Yeah sure, so what is the message?

TMG: Well, the message is "Mother Nature - Best before 2050".

Me: Which means...?

TMG: This means that at the current rate at which you humans are adding Carbon to the atmosphere, you will kill Mother Nature in the year 2050.

Me: Oh my god!! What should we do then to prevent this?

TMG: Don't you know what you guys should do to prevent this?

Me: I am sorry. Yeah we do know, but as you said we humans have this bad habit of overlooking the obvious.

TMG: Thank Mother Nature, you realise this. Ok, then I have got to go and soothe my crying (melting) sister 'Gangotri'.

Me: ???? (Confused)

TMG: You indeed are a big dumbo!! Bye and do convey my message.

Me(Thinking to himself): No, we humans are indeed a big dumbo species!!

Just now, I received the latest issue of Forbes India magazine whose title reads "Greed is Back". When was Greed gone anyways??

Regards,

Taureansandy

Nikon Speaks out..

DISCLAIMER: This post is a crude and an actual description of the Valmiki community's lifestyle. Nikon doesn't intend to hurt any reader sentiments and emotions.

Hii readers,

People call me Nikon D3000. I was lying inside a sealed box for about 20 days in a well known electronics retail store in Ahmedabad and was sleeping happily. One fine evening, I was dreaming about being in the hands of Atul Kasbekar in his brightly lit studio with .... and the grumpy salesman rudely woke me up from my glitzy and flashy dream . And the first thing I saw after I woke up were two guys who were staring at me as if ...Whatever!!..They were comparing me with my fierce competitor and checking which one of us was better in terms of the grip and weight. I was seething with anger. How dare these guys compare me with "***on"?? Don't they know that I am the best!!

Thankfully my owner ultimately chose me, for he had already made up his mind. In short, it was a planned purchase. My first day on the field went about helping him click some fantastic and some not so good clicks of the T-nite proceedings in his campus. It was quite a boring proposition compared to the dream I was having before I was woken up. Anyways, I never imagined that my owner would introduce me to an altogether different world on the day this country called India got its independence. From now on the use of the word "we" shall refer to both me and my Lord together!!

We reached a filthy and pungent settlement located on the outskirts of this city, apparently to study the lifestyle of manhole workers belonging to a community called "Valmiki". I could observe that my lord was visibly upset and wanted to desperately cover his nose and ensure his olfactory senses don't malfunction in the future. The scene there was acrid and nauseating to say the least. Thankfully I only have eyes to see, so I was least bothered about the smell. My lord had a firm grip on me, even as he was carefully watching his steps to avoid dung and the dirty drain water while carefully crossing the muddy and slippery paths totally disoriented by the rains that had lashed this city previously.

Even while we were crossing another huge "dungy" obstacle, I overheard a woman mumbling something in their local language. Apparently she had mistook my lord to be a media reporter and was begging him to do something to uplift their present situation. My lord had already understood what she was saying, but could only nod his head to ensure she at least deserves some attention. Pangs of guilt and the realisation that he could do nothing tangible and effective for their welfare at that point of time, were the thoughts playing out loud in my lord's mind. But I was totally disoriented. The journey, in my dreams from the glitzy and flashy world of hot and pretty models posing for the fashion photographer to this isolated hell, totally cut off from the outside world was something that made me realise that I would be more useful clicking the anguish and the pain in their eyes and thus help my lord spread the awareness that India is still not independent. Ironically, no one within the settlement was aware that their country was celebrating its independence that day.

After a brief discussion with the community elders and knowing about the squalid conditions in which they were living since 40+ years, we bid goodbye to them. I was wondering why people out there were particularly enthusiastic about getting their pictures clicked. Malnourished children were following us and my lord was kind enough to oblige them by taking their pics. He was led into a lane that was extraordinarily squalid and where he took around 5 minutes to traverse about 50 feet inside that lane. Finally he reached a spot where he tried hard not to vomit. I was shocked to see a family of 6 people living out there, besides a hut which belonged to a manhole worker. "Saheb, hamari photo bhi keencho naa saheb", and that is where I clicked this photograph displayed above of a girl child who surprisingly wasn't scared of me. I am a simple DSLR camera and I only know how to click good photographs, but there at that moment I was disliking the very idea of capturing those gory inhumane living conditions. My lord was kind enough not to put me further through that horrible experience. I could see my lord walking very fast while returning back and that was understood. But on the way back, even the baby calf out there and the big huge fat goats seem to block our way, as if shouting at us and saying "Kai log aap jaise aaye aur chale bhi gaye, par hamaari kisko padi hai!!"

India's GDP is now worth more than $1trillion and is accelerating rapidly in terms of industrial and economic development. But, is internal development happening? I was manufactured in Tokyo, where I have never seen or experienced things like the caste system, exploitation and no access to primary education. So, when I describe this visit and the overall experience as heart wrenching don't say that this is nothing new in this country for because I am simply not used to all this goriness!! The huts in this settlement don't have toilets, no water supply and no power supply. People didn't dare sleep during the floods for the fear of getting washed out. Doesn't all this make this settlement a living hell??

On our journey back, I was sitting comfortably in the darkness of the camera case that protects me. I knew my lord had become totally silent after that experience; evidently he was deeply anguished. But I never expected him to scare off the auto driver when he suddenly shouted out "How can those people live in such disgusting conditions!!" even while his friend was calming him down. I then thought that even a lifeless thing like me enjoys the protection of a camera case, whereas people out there in that settlement are living a hopeless life without any protection of sorts. What an Irony!!

Regards,
taureansandy's Nikon D3000

Yikes and Sharks!!

Dear "Future Kothapalli Sandeep",

I hope you will be in good health to read this ten years hence (Pun intended)!! Anyways, the 23 years I have spent so far have been dull, bland and boring, with little adventure. I have neither done anything exciting nor something that I wished I would do at this age (There are always some exceptions though - Doing MBA at IIMA!!). Though books have been my constant and faithful companions so far, I am yearning to do something beyond just thinking and analysing.

Before you read this letter in 2020 A.D, I want you to have settled down well in life after having done all of the following:

• Sky dive with a parachute that fails, dive in perfectly into the south Antarctic ocean, and piggyback on a Blue Whale that drops you on an Iceberg inhabited by the Emperor Penguins
• Conquest the K2 mountain with Barack Obama and Osama Bin Laden in tow, give them each an AK 47 on the summit and then ask them "Are you still enemies?"......(Whether the AK 47 will really fire at that altitude is a question that only either of the two can answer!!)
• Direct a 180 minute movie with the following setting - SRK and Salman sitting in a room, each with his arms tied to the window sill with an unbreakable metallic chain made of "Titanium-Gold alloy" (Though I am sure Salman will break the chain!!)
  
• Bungee jump from the top of Burj Dubai
• Act in an ad film that advertises "Space cars" with the tagline "Earth to Mars in three hours - Be there, live there, Experience RED!!"
• Meet "Christopher Nolan" on his fiftieth birthday, and steal all his ideas in a "shared dream" with him (A befitting tribute to the director who labelled "Idea" as the most obnoxious virus known to mankind!!)
  
• With PC Sorcar's tacit support, break into the arsenal of all the nations hoarding the nuclear weapons and just make them disappear into thin air

I would like you to tear this letter as soon as you finish reading because you and I both know that you would have to be bitten by a "genetically mutated" spider or drink the holy "elixir" to have done even a single thing listed above. Even as you are reading this, I hope to find you at least riding a " Tata Nano " that moves without catching FIRE!!

Yours,
"Present Sandeep Kothapalli"

PS: "Yikes" and "Sharks" are two of the most used words by the blogger :)

Disclaimer : This post was meant to be an absolute nonsense and the author doesn't intend to hurt anybody's sentiments!!

Regards,
Taureansandy

1984

"What do you think are the three most important turning points in the history of post independent India?". I took a long pause, even as I was thinking of mentioning the three most important events in the 63 years of India's existence as a sovereign nation. The interviewer's question was a tricky one, which you always expect in a premier B-school interview. After ten seconds or so, I listed down the three events:

• 1974: India became an atomic power(Smiling Buddha)
• 1984: Indira Gandhi's assasination
• 2008: 26/11 Mumbai Attacks

There are many other events which have been as tragic and historic as the above, but I don't know why I mentioned those three. As was obvious, they asked for my justification and I suitably came up with my arguments.

But now I feel, the second event which I mentioned as the Assassination of Indira Gandhi holds a special place. As in, it led to a chain of events that changed the course of Indian politics. Till that time, Congress was a virtual monopoly. Post 1984 saw the emergence of the BJP and other Hindutva oriented fundamentalist parties.

Indira Gandhi was a visionary and a true leader, popular amongst the masses with her "Garibi Hatao" movement. We are now almost self-sufficient when it comes to food production and the credit must be given to her. But people do forget that she was above all a human being, with shades of egoism quite evident from the way she toyed with the democracy during the emergency. Her tactical mistakes cost India, a large part of Kashmir. And the antipathy she shared with the then US President Richard Nixon amply proves that sparks fly when two giants clash!! But regardless of the blunders which she did, she was a towering personality, one who engulfed thousands of people even after her death.

Yes, I am talking about the Delhi 1984 riots. One of the worst ever organized government sponsored homicidal killings of all times, comparable to the holocaust under the Nazi Regime, not in terms of scale but definitely in terms of the intent. Official records cite a figure of 3000 sikhs killed, but thousands went missing and so the effective casualty figure almost doubles. Even, Osama bin Laden would have had a tough time motivating his cadre to kill that many people in the 9/11 attacks (Pun Intended). I distinctly remember not being taught enough about the 1984 riots in my history textbooks and I now know why. Mental trauma and agony are two things which hurt you more than anything else. That is what precisely happened with thousands of families who have lost their dear ones in those riots. Justice has been denied, and the the ones who conducted the pogrom are still drinking their cup of tea with glee. Names can't be mentioned out here, because the "matter is subjudice"!! An alibi most politicians involved in crimes use to escape the media.

Does the Indian Government have the right to morally preach the Uzbek Government for the genocidal killings in Uzbekistan?? No, unless and until its hands aren't stain free, it has no right to do so except allowing the foreign secretary to release an official statement condemning the killings and then keep quite. India desperately needs a Handbook on "How to protect its citizens" and I guess Israel would be the fitting author for such a handbook if ever, it was published. I am not justifying Israel's actions, some of which are equally if not more ghastly.

Point to ponder is that the government hasn't learnt its lessons well as was evident from the Godhra Riots in 2002. So, are we different from any other nation that has and still indulges in ethnic cleansing? Yes and No. Yes, because we are still a democratic nation and uphold the values as written down in our constitution. No, because the government and the whole system wouldn't hesitate to "discreetly" support the rioters and the arsonists when the need arises (read vote bank politics).

P.S: Watch the movies "Amu" and "Parzania".

Regards,
taureansandy

"Raju in Bengaluru"

hii folks,

The summer this year has been a great experience for me, for I have traveled to newer places and met different people from various backgrounds. And in the process, realised that I am lucky. In plain simple terms, just lucky enough to be what I am now.

It was 4'o'clock in my watch, weather cloudy and with a soft breeze blowing through me, I was feeling very good about myself. I was doing things which I never thought would be able to do. I was going to conduct focus group interviews with two groups of people whom I have never met. And the thought of meeting new people and talking to them, asking questions and seeking answers was leading to a little bit of anxiousness and nervousness!!

I was waiting at the Nagarsandra circle, wondering why Bengaluru is full of places named with "Hallis", "Sandras", "Gudis" etc. I was utterly confused when I heard the guy on the phone saying "Nagasandra" while he was actually referring to "Nagarsandra". Incidentally both are different places, something which I realised after visiting "Nagasandra" only to find that this wasn't where I was supposed to be that evening. Finally I was at the right place, waiting for a guy who was according to what the guy on the phone described was, supposed to ride an Activa in a blue T-shirt, and coming to pick me up from the circle.

I instantly recognised that guy, and he also recognised me too. I don't know whether its your instinct or something else, but once you have a description of the one you want to meet, its amazing how you can recognise them, though you have never met each other before.

He was a tall frail looking guy, but almost scared the hell out of me with his ridiculous driving skills manoeuvering the Activa through small corners and streets. It was like the Activa was obediently following his instructions!! I heaved a sigh of relief once I reached the destination. Well the initial apprehensions I had about my ability to communicate with newbies were uncalled for as the objectives I set for myself were met. Participants were telling me more than I had asked for. After a spate of emotional outbursts and jokes apart, I was ready to leave when "Raju", the guy who had dropped me asked me where I was from.

Minutes later I was at ease talking with Raju because he was also from AP, the state where I am from. It always feels good to have someone with whom you can speak in your mother tongue in a "foreign" land. You can always learn something in life by meeting new people, and that is what precisely happened with me.

"Raju's" life has been nothing short of a roller-coaster ride. Born in the sleepy town of Anantapur in a peasant family, he was only expected to earn for his family as early in life as possible. As has been the case in most of the rural India, he too was a school dropout but was quite aware of the happenings around him. "Experience is the best teacher". He came to Bengaluru three years back, with dreams in his eyes, carrying his families expectations and burdens on his shoulders. Fortunately for him, the city didn't fail him. His ever smiling face had masked various emotions of pain and struggle that he and his family had to endure in his childhood, getting oppressed and exploited by the princely Zamindaars of Rayalaseema. After working as a mechanic for an year, he now is working as a Video operator recording focus group interviews and earning a decent 3000 bucks each month. His employer has been kind enough to provide him his daily share of meals and shelter to sleep. He narrated me his entire story during the 20 minute ride on the Activa, back to Basavanagudi bus stop. Though Bengaluru's traffic was noisy enough to act as an hindrance, but still I managed to hear him throughout, even as he was evading Trucks and jumping Traffic signals with ease!!

While I was wishing him all the best for his future endeavours, he pulled out his cell phone from the pocket and asked for my number. I was shocked, but then realised that the Telecom boom had already empowered the masses. I realised that at such a young age, "Raju " has seen and experienced much more in life than I have and so here was a guy whom I admired for his courage and conviction. His family is now somewhat in a better condition because he sends half of his monthly salary back home.

The "thousand watt" smile that he had while he bid me farewell left a strong and indelible impression on me. Something which will always remain memorable for a long time to come.

Regards,

taureansandy