Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Kathmandu, the Heritage City

Dandrub Guest House, part of a Buddhist  monastery, was my home for a week in Kathmandu.I gave them full marks for food, ambience and service.I also thank them for providing me a good driver cum guide cum mentor in a foreign land.
Day 1
Lalitpur (Patan)





                                                        Royal Bath





Krishna Temple








Kumari Ghar, the home of the Living Goddess of Nepal















View of the courtyard from one of the galleries of the museum 








Day 2



Chandragiri, by ropeway

















                             Chandragiri


Day 3:








 Doleshwar Temple
















Bhaktpur: 
constructed by  King King Yaksh Malla in 1427. पचपन खिड़की वाला दरबार  








Nyatpol mandir  A 5 storied temple. 

Wrestlers ( Jai and Pratap) 
Elephants
Lions
Shardul  ( griffins)
Devtas (gods)
Each twice more powerful than the previous one.

Wonder why I did not climb up and saw the temple? and why the guide I hired  did not guide me! 











Bhaktpur is also known for its potters











Day 4                                              









Pashupatinath Mandir, by the river Bagmati.
Oldest Shiva temple in Kathmandu. 












The Narayanhiti Palace Museum 
The majestic air of the museum was amazing. The pictures of kings and head of states who were king's guests 


My most moving and saddening moments in Nepal was in Sri Sadan, where King Birendra l
lived with his family. It was heartbreaking to see the pictures of princess and the two princes, their rooms and belongings.  Cassette collection of queen Aishwarya is still intact.
The adjoining house was the place where the whole royal family was assassinated in 2001.

                                              Thamel, good for food and shopping

I wish prosperity and development for our dear neighbouring country Nepal.



 

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

The City of Swami Vivekanand, Tagore and Netaji

I have heard Calcutta stories since childhood from my  bengali friend Rinku,

 thanks to her  annual trips to 'Cal'. She was born and brought up in Doon and 

was as North Indian as any Sharma or Verma girl, But she used to transform into a 

Tagore's heroine during those 9 Pujo days. Now blogs, FB and books keep Kolkata 

alive in my psyche.

 Howrah Bridge and Victoria memorial were in my mind when I planned a trip to 

Kolkata on a friend's persuasion, but I came back with a heart full of reverence  for

 the gems Bengal had produced.


Victoria Memorial                                 

The first glance of the edifice reminded me of the Taj Mahal, but it was more welcoming and not haunting as the Taj because of the obvious reason that the Taj is a tomb and I was entering into a museum. It was majestic, but did make me sad to think about the loot and suppression by the British. The queen's proclamation inscribed on the wall calling Indians as her subjects was painful. 

xyz

Lord Curzon, the founder, would have never thought that one of the galleries in the museum would belong to  freedom fighters.

Kalighat:
I had started my day with breakfast at Sharma Kachori at Bhawanipur. Ah! The taste of UP.




Walked quite a distance to reach the temple.The narrow lanes were ok, but the main road was full of pilgrims, and the claustrophobic me gave up and turned back. Walked the same lanes back.Bought a few pairs of red and white bangles shakha Pola and paid rs200/.Walked further and bought one more pair for Rs 20/. Found the quality just the same.


                                                                   Gugni with Laiyya,      joys of travelling                  


                                                                                                                                                                                 On the way to the temple
Park Street: Strolling out there was a flaneur's delight. loved visiting the iconic bookshops and the ambience in general. 
Reached Flurys, not because I was hungry but just to be there.  Loved the bakery items.

Flurys

Indian Coffee House at College Street was charming for sure.  Like Alice, through a narrow entrance I entered to find a different world, a big hall with a very  high ceiling. Oblivion of the outside world, a happy lot of people looked engrossed in food and conversation. I chose to climb up the stairs to reach the balcony through a narrow gallery which was also used for accommodating a few more people.  Got a table all for myself. It did serve sumptuous snacks, but I was thirsty for tea only. The ground floor as well as the  balcony was full to its capacity. There was no place for the quiet loners like me. Sip by sip, I enjoyed the ambiance.









Door to eternal adda of bhadralok

                             


                                                                         

                                                     Time to buy a souvenir

Day 2 

 Dakshineswar  Temple is a visitor's delight, may be because of  it is spacious and there was order. No crowded mob to push you. The queue I joined at the nearby bridge reached the temple in an hour or so, but it was a smooth walk.

       

Jitne mat, utne path   

 

Howrah Bridge:


 

  


 Thakurbari:

Gurudev's home, now a museum



 Netaji Bhawan

It would be an emotional moment for any Indian to visit the house of our supreme hero. 

Day 3

There was a tie between Chandannagar and Sunderbans.The longing to see the mangroves since school days took me to later. Although no luck with the mangroves.


                                                                 
 








Sunderbans visit needs at least 3 days. In a day I could only have a round in a steamer boat and came back  within an hour or two. 

On the way back:

How cool it is to have your own pond beside your house with lots of fish.


Making of date palm jaggery :


Hunger bites

                             





One tick on my not very ambitious  bucket list is done. My thanks and apology is due to a few people. Thanks to my other half for all the bookings and support for my solo venture, and my companion, photographer and driver Ravi Yadav ji. And my apology to an FB friend for continuously  pestering him with my queries regarding places, food, safety etc Thank you friend for patiently answering all my queries.
 





Saturday, March 23, 2024

MiL's Diary






Born in the Tehri district of Uttarakhand, my village Kunti was fertile and prosperous. My father was a businessman and a politician, whom, people lovingly called Netaji. After completing my primary education in the village school, I was sent to study at Sarlaben's Ashram in Kausani. At the ashram, along with gaining a formal education, I learnt various life skills. I faintly remember spinning yarn on Charkha and making cloth on a loom. I also got to travel on study tours – this gave me the chance to visit cities of Bihar, Maharashtra, and South India. This was the time when Bhoodan movement had captured the nation’s imagination.

After finishing middle school, I joined Sevagram Ashram, Wardha in Maharashtra, where I studied for two years. Soon after my return, I was married to a history lecturer posted in a college in Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand, which was a charming little town with friendly people. The Inter college, where my husband was teaching was not yet recognised and there was a time when we did not get salary for 11 months. It seems unbelievable now, but there was no dearth of ration, wood, milk, vegetables, fruits etc at home, thanks to the shopkeepers who used to send everything on our grocery list on monthly basis. Bills were paid only when we got our arrears and the Swami Sachhidanand College got government recognition. Our two elder sons Yatindra and Dhirendra were born there. Our dear nephew Govind, a brilliant student and a loving child, kept us in good humour.

My husband was more of a friend to me. We read many books together, and we would read by taking turns, chapterwise. Phanishwarnath ‘Renu's’ Maila Anchal, Acharya Chatursen Shastri's Vaishali ki Nagarvadhu, the Bhagava Gita are the ones I particularly remember. Once I was busy in the kitchen and he called me, " arre suno, kitna achha likha hai" (see, how well it is written). He was reading the Bhagwat Gita. The discussion went on for a long time till we could smell the burning milk in the kitchen.

Soon we were transferred to our home district Uttarkashi. My younger son Girish and daughter Manju were born in our village Raturisera. There I was unanimously elected for the position of Gram Pradhan. I completed two terms and was the only woman among the forty Gram Pradhans. Later I was offered the chairmanship of Samaj Kalyan Vibhag, where I volunteered for nine fruitful years. At one time, we were given a grant from the department, for ten women from different villages to go on a tour to any place we wanted. Many women were interested but could not leave the house. A world of chores like looking after the cattle, cooking, and agriculture depended on them. To exhaust the grant, with the permission of the District Magistrate, we organised a ten-day camp. We invited experts in various fields to deliver lectures on healthcare, animal husbandry, food preservation etc Around fifty women from three villages attended the camp. Looking after the Anganwadis was one of my main duties, for which I was given an assistant, a vehicle, and a driver. It was very fulfilling to be able to help women turn around their lives through the government schemes.

Now, I stay with my sons in Mumbai, Delhi, and Kanpur. I read, watch TV, and enjoy my short walks in this beautiful and pollution free campus of IIT Kanpur.

-Shanta Bahuguna (m/o Prof Dhirendra Bahuguna)
                                                                             penned by Vandana Bahuguna 

appeared in our campus mag EYES,  March' 24