Day 2 - Apr 6 - Jaipur

We started early on Sunday to visit the Rajput city of Jaipur and the Amber fort nearby. The highway was just next to Gurgaon and was a breeze to drive through. My brother and sis-in-law joined the trip and it was fun to drive (I mean watch the driver drive ;-)).J wanted a stop at the McD on the road hoping to picking up hash browns and nuggets. The Indian McD unfortunately, don't even has a breakfast menu, let alone hash browns. So we just picked up coffee and ate the Idlis cooked by mom and proceeded onwards to Amber fort.
Amber fort is about 30Kms before Jaipur and through its narrow lanes one can drive almost upto the entrance of the fort. The fort is huge and interesting to go around. There was a festival in the local temple inside the fort and so the fort was crowded with tourists and the pilgrims. It was amazing to even think that someone can conceive of a fort in such a place and of the magnitude which defines belief. It was just fantastic to walk around the rooms and the long corridors and the ramp-style dark walkways leading to different parts of the fort. It was easier to imagine the kind of life the Rajputs must have led in this hot region with their forts/palaces built in marbles and feuding with each other on a regular basis. I cannot but keep my mind off of the people who live in squalor outside the fort and the little, if any, comforts they have.
Talking of squalors brings to mind the Pink city of India, Jaipur. You enter the city through a road overflowing with sewage and the path to the city palace of the local Maharajah strewn with petty shops and dust. It is a shame that such a high profile place is maintained in such a shabby manner. The city palace was huge and displayed the Maharajah's dresses, swords, guns, the Jar to carry Ganges water etc. I was left wondering what they ever did to the people of Rajasthan apart from fighting the wars and carrying jars of Ganges water to bathe in London. While the older Rajahs might have been benevolent, I couldn't bring myself to admire the big, fat Rajahs of the past 250 years with the trophies of Tigers and bending over back to accomodate the 'white Sahibs'.
The hawa mahal was beautiful with ASI digs all around the place. While J wanted to do some shopping, we did spent few minutes and left. The traffic during the return journey was unbelievable to find our way through 100s and 100s of trucks. One thing I found was that the truck drivers simply park their vehicle on the highway and vanish. Being a 2 lane highway this results in traffic jams after traffic jams. After a tiring drive of 3 hours, came back home to Gurgaon.

Vacation - Lost and found

Day 0
After 4 years, we decided to go on a small vacation this summer and decided that we will be off to Delhi where my brother resides and with that as base, will try to cover as much as possible. The kids wanted to fly and so tickets were booked and all set. Sibi's cousin Abhishek joined the party.

Day 1 - Apr 5 - New Delhi
SpiceJet took off ontime and we were in Delhi for breakfast. My brother picked us up and had breakfast in his house and the grand vacation began. Started off with a local trip to all the standard local places and took the necessary photos for the album. Qutb-Minar, Lotus Temple, India Gate, Rashtrapathi Bhavan, Parliament, Raj Ghat were covered by evening and lunch was had in the rather overcrowded Andhra Bhavan. After given a token and waiting for what seemed like hours (actually about 20 min), we were given the honor of getting seated and then served with a Andhra meals. I hate having people standing behind my back ready to pounce the minute you start pouring the curd into rice. But then, the food was good and felt it was worth the wait.
To end the day, we went to the rather garish looking Akshardham and there cannot be a louder proclamation made with the very theme park looking building the years. It was a building built not to raise the level of anyone's sprituality but to say it loud the virtues of the founder of this sect. Anyway, had a late dinner at home and off to sleep we went.

Tibet & The Hindu

I consider myself as a liberal in terms of the views I have on issues. But I dont let it cloud my judgement to interpret things as it happens and the opinions I have. One such issue is Tibet. The past week of demonstrations in Lhasa is interesting and probably the reason is to grab world's attention to the Tibet issue when China is all busy with the olympic preparations. No doubt about it.

But I believe the issue needs a sympathetic hearing atleast. The coverage of the protests in 'The Hindu' over the last week, to say the least, is just disgusting. Probably Hindu just chose to reproduce the Xinhua wires and decided not to report on it. The worst happened on March 18, when Hindu published Wen's statement calling Dalai Lama as instigating the protests and calling him a violent person and the Lama's protest was buried in the clutter of Page 18.

Now I have no doubt that Hindu is almost the mouth piece of the CPI-M in India and views the governments of China, Cuba and Venezuala as revolutionary. But to act as a propaganda tool for the Chinese is the proverbial last straw. I never had any illusions on the credibility of Hindu in terms of objective reporting when it comes to Left and the Communist governments. But this probably beat everything. The anger I felt on that morning seeing Wen's statement was real and I wanted to puke on the paper. I think my days with The Hindu are numbered now and am seriously looking for an alternative to drink my coffee with.

உதயனானு தாரம்

இரண்டு நாட்களுக்கு முன்பு 'உதயனனு தாரம்' பார்த்தேன். பல வருடங்களாக மோகன் லாலின் ரசிகனாய் இருந்தும் இந்த சில வருடங்களில் பார்க்காமல் விட்டு போன சில படங்களில் இதுவும் ஒன்று. ஸ்ரிநிவசனின் கதையோ ஏன் படமுமே மோகன் லாலின் முந்தைய சில படங்களை எட்டிய 'Perfection'ஐ எட்ட முடியாதுதான். இருப்பினும் யதார்த்தமான நடிப்பு, மிகை இல்லாத கதை, சில விஷயங்கள் தமிழ் சினிமாவில் வெறும் பெருமூச்சுக்களாய் மட்டுமே இருக்க முடியும். அடுத்து 'கதா பரயும்போல்' பார்க்க வேண்டும். அதை, தமிழில் ப.வாசு எடுப்பதை எண்ணி இப்போதே மனம் நொந்து விட்டது.
மிகப்பல முயற்சிக்கு பின் ஒரு மாதிரியாக தமிழ் blog. இன்னும் சில விஷயங்களை எழுத வேண்டும்.

Sujatha

I am coming back here today to mourn one of my childhood heroes. Sujatha died today. It sounds crazy because I never felt him to be a old person. He was something like a demi-god to me right from the day I started reading 'En Iniya Iyanthira' till today and probably will remain so for the time to come as well. I dont remember whether 'En Iniya Iyanthira' was the first Sujatha story I read. But I remember the days, when I was in 8th standard then, when we (me and Anantharaman, another childhood friend disappeared without a trace) would wait for the next episode of 'En Iniya Iyanthira' in AV (it was serialized). We used to discuss a lot on the science behind such a story and terms like 'teleport' or 'hologram' introduced me into a science I never heard of till that date. It astonishes me that such a novel like that was written by Sujatha in 1986-87 for a bunch of readers who dont even have TVs in their houses(we had none). It also shows the reach of his intelligence and the gift of simplifying things for the lay man. Even today, both 'En iniya Iyanthira' and 'Meedum Zeno' remain my favorite sci-fi novels. Who can forget that little presumptive robo-dog giving lecture on Zeno's paradox?
If 'En iniya iyanthira' introduced a new world, his essays in the, now stopped, 'Dinamani Sudar' explained in simple terms the workings of a computer and pushed me to start taking seriously the primer computer classes happening in my school(1988, I think). I still have those note books with my first basic program and the base-2 calculations along with flowcharts. If not for Sujatha, I dont think I would have sit through those saturday afternoon classes (while the other kids went home and having fun).
In those days, I had a crush on this neighbourhood girl. She is slightly older than me and was good friends with me. When she presented a book of short stories by Sujatha, the first story in it was 'Thanimai Kondu'. This has been analyzed, ripped apart, praised in various forums. But it is a story that is seductive and triggered a lot of thoughts about Love and Death. It is probably the most powerful story written in Tamil after Pudhumaipithan and would rate probably 'Nagaram' (another Sujatha gem) on par with it. It had a profound influence on my thought process in those days.
It was a period in my life that shaped me as I am today. There was lot of exciting things happening (although I never realized at that time). I had computer classes, buying old issues of magazines like 'Computer world', 'Semiconducters' etc in the bylanes around Meenakshi temple, trying to discuss literature with neighbourhood girls, writing,literally, hundreds of poems in my journal, trying out my hand in story writing, I remember writing a porno story even (1988-92). Much of my interest in literature and world literature had its origins in three important influences.
1. Sujatha, who introduced various technological innovations, and the nuances of writing short stories or Haikus etc.
2. NCBH, which was selling the works of Dostoevsky, Pushkin and other Russian masters in throw away prices. I remember buying 'Idiot' for 28Rs.
I read 'Nylon Kayiru' and other Ganesh-Vasanth thrillers along with what Rajeshkumar, PK Prabhakar, Subha were churning out. I believe Sujatha started the trend of the 'detective with a sidekick' concept. Apart from 'Naren-Vyj' I dont think I liked anyone better.When I learned that Sujatha is not held at a high esteem by the literature crowd, my world crashed down. This is some time in the 1993-95 timeframe when I got introduced to the masters of the modern Tamil writings.He was accused of compromising with the commercial world (meaning he is writing in Kumudam/AV etc). I never understand how writing in a junk magazine will make your writings also junk. Guilty by association?
But I never got tired of Sujatha. His 'Srirangathu Devathaigal' or 'Anithavin Kathalgal' or 'Aah!', he was the master who just hooked me into his writings. Everytime I read a novel or a short story, I was never tired of wondering how this is possible for him to think through such a plot. His computer essays 'Silicon sillu puratchi' or '1000 kanipori vaarthaigal' are all shaped my thoughts and he was a pioneer in thinking about the necessity of coining tamil words for various computer terms. Ofcourse, nothing beats the 'Kanaiyazhiyin kadaisi pakkangal'.
When I read Carl Sagan for the first time, I was wondering the similarities with Sujatha's writing. Sujatha introduced Jay gould and others and discussed the existence of God and it is difficult to find a topic on which he hasn't written.
Today I am saddened that the man who was talking to me through his writings, his wit is no more. I can go on write about 'Nila Nizhal', 'Irul varum neram', 'Pookkutty', 'Vannathu poochi vettai' and may other short stories/dramas he has written. But I stop here.
Rest in Peace!

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Updates

Wanted to write about a few things. Got busy with work in the past few days and couldn't write much. Here is an update on the books read.

1. En Sarithram - U.Ve.Swamynathaiyer

Fantastic piece of work. Traces his life from 1855-1896. You get to read about his initial efforts in publishing Sivaga Sinthamani, Silapathikkaran, Purananuru, Manimekalai and a few other books. It may be just a rhetorical question, but without this one person, we may not have had most of our literary heritage we take so much of pride about. We may have still known the names but there may not have been an edition (what they call a 'sempathippu') which we can bank upon. Its kind of mind boggling to imagine the amount of travel he undertook and work he has to do to make sure he is publishing 'THE' edition (for ex., he compares 5/6 versions of suvadis for Sivaga Sinthamani to get the right version to print). On the other hand, we have a generation who do not want theur kids to learn Tamil.

2. 'Sanangalin samigalin kathai' and 'Karppamai iruntha kannigal' - A.K. Perumal

I was always on the look out for stories of the numerous ayyannar temples and amman temples doting the landscape of south Tamilnadu. So when I saw these books in the book fair, I bought it without hesitation and they document the stories of some of these temples and a few essays on how these temples came into existense. So apart from the stories, you get a long essay on the worship of mother-God. Perumal is a professor in Aralvaimozhi and is a field reseacher on the Gods of south Tamilnadu. These are excellent books if you are in the least interested in the culture and history of Tamils.

3. Vijayamarthandam - A. Mathavaiah

This is a novel that documents to some extent the life and times of a Thevar zamin in south Tamilnadu. It is full of ethanographic details of the people in the area and the lifestyle. For a book that got published in 1903, Mathavaiah puts forth some very progressive ideas. For ex, he laments the fact that if a women comes alone to a public place or seen outside during ungodly hours, the immediate reaction of the community is to brand her a 'loose' female. We dont rush to help these poor women and rather we take pleasure in making sure her reputation is sullied. I dont see any difference after 104 years of this comment and we are still very jittery to let our wives talk to other men or stay late in office. Probably the tamil male has a complete lack of self-confident and respect irrespective of what our politicians want us to believe.