Inspired

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments

by narrow domestic walls;

Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;

Where the mind is led forward by thee

into ever-widening thought and action,

into that heaven of freedom, my Father,

let my country awake.


-Rabindranath Tagore


Its 7 am. Been studying since afternoon. This is possibly the only thing keeping me awake, other than the coffee of course.

Euro Trip

I’ve been travelling across Europe for the past 3 weeks. When I started the journey I didn’t realise how super duper fantastic it would turn out to be. Paris, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest and Krakow. 6 wonderful cities, 6 very unique cultures and languages. I must say I liked Vienna and Krakow the most. Vienna mostly because it was home to Gustav Klimt and the secessionist movement and to me it seemed like a wonderful place to live in........And Krakow because of its cultural charm, history and the fact that there is so much to do there. I did like Berlin, but the fact that I was always reminded of the holocaust or the wall wherever I went wasn’t very appealing. It seemed like an apologetic city. I understand why. It is important to remember history so that we don’t risk forgetting and repeating it again.....but then again, even though Krakow has an equally gory history, there were plenty of places I could go to where memories of the holocaust weren’t always in my face. This trip made history real for me. All the statistics came alive, all the sentences in history textbooks were translated into sentiments and the people and what they felt became a reality. I am definitely going back to some of these places to spend more time there, especially Austria and Poland. After graduation perhaps.....Pictures will be up soon :)

A Small Update

The past few months have been such a roller-coaster ride. It is the longest I’ve ever been away from home and honestly I do enjoy the independence. Just a few months at LSE have been life-changing. I know this sounds very clichéd, but it’s true. For the first time I’m truly excited about what I’m studying. The subject is something that I can lose myself in and get so involved in. I’m not going to sit and give a day by day account of everything in the past few months, but all I’ll say is that it has been an eye-opener. I always knew that I had so much to learn, but never quite really knew what it was that I had to. I still don’t know everything, but being at LSE these few months, I’m starting to realise some of them.....And I find some of my friends so inspiring, it’s hard not to learn anything from them. I’ve had so many ups and downs since I got here and I love having the freedom to take care of things myself.
Apart from that, the environment here is so stimulating. Dinners are filled with interesting conversations and controversial debates. I’ve already met people like Thomas Friedman and Jeffery Sachs.....How often does one get opportunities to listen to well-known people and question them in person? I’m loving this whole academic experience here. I know some people might wonder why I’m so much in awe of it because for many it isn’t really that great an experience.....But coming from a place where little was expected and where education had a completely different meaning, my mind feels liberated here. I enjoy the freedom that I’m given to have my own opinion and not be afraid to share it. I have an enormous amount of learning ahead of me and while it does seem challenging, I’m nothing, but excited about it.

PS: I miss all of you back home. Even if I’m not in constant touch, I want you all to know that I always think of you :)

Farewell ???

Farewell ?

Not yet. I know there are just 7 more days till I say goodbye to 22 years of friends, family, teachers, experiences, memories, 22 years of my life. I keep saying that it hasn’t sunk in yet, that the thought of leaving home and studying in a foreign land doesn’t seem real enough yet...But today I met my professors from college. It was the first goodbye that felt strange; it felt like a transition from my previous illusory feeling to reality – that it was time for me to leave. I then said goodbye to 3 years of WHARF, Leo and all the sweat and toil - Another subtle reminder of the future that awaits me far away from home. I tried to ignore it simply because it felt like a growing sense of desperation, anxiety but eager anticipation at the same time....... too many conflicting emotions. Then came the “Bon voyage (Son+Rup) al Bash. The farewell dinner arranged for Sonal and me by Kartik, Anuj, Preeti and Ena. It was one of the best evenings I’ve had in a while and in some way it eased me into the process of accepting the fact that it was really time to bid farewell. There were sudden brief moments during the dinner when a random thought would just pop up in my head reminding me of the need to say goodbye. Uncomfortable? Certainly not. Difficulty in expression? Yes, very much so. Even though I’ve always felt a sudden surge of emotion when I’m about to say my goodbyes, I can never get myself to cry or turn into a mumbling sentimental wreck. The only time that happened was when I left South Africa because it was too intense an experience. But yes, I experienced a similar surge of emotion tonight, but found no way to express it. All I can say perhaps is that you guys have no idea how happy I was tonight and how terribly I will miss all of you. Thank you for this wonderful evening, which was the perfect goodbye. I’m not good with saying these things, so I hope you read my blog :)

People have been telling me for nearly 6 months now how painful the farewell will be and how much I will miss everything and everyone. Why do we need other people to make us realize things that we knew right from the beginning? Why this delayed sense of acceptance? Of accepting something inevitable that we were aware of all along? Which will be the most painful farewell of them all? Is there such a thing anyway? Aren’t all farewells tinged with a little bit of sadness?

I have a week more to discover it or perhaps a lifetime to understand it. For now, all I can say is, I will miss my life here, but I absolutely cannot wait for the new one that is about to begin soon. It’s not goodbye yet.

Religious weekend

I recently got back from a super-religious trip planned by my dad. We went to practically every temple in our native village and a few others. I was initially really not keen on going, but in a way I realise that it was nice to see where I come from atleast once before I leave for London. I obviously did not enjoy the religious part of it. My thoughts on that in my next post perhaps... but the travelling bit was wonderful. So this is a brief note on some interesting parts of my journey...

We were waiting at plaform no.5 of Thane station to catch the late night Siddheshwar express to Solapur and we were standing patiently next to this food stall at the far end of the plaform.....Thats when I noticed something




I wasnt carrying a camera, so this picture taken from my phone isn't good, but notice that greyish blur somewhere near the bottom of the white plastic bag in the top compartment ? THAT blur is actually a hyper-active mouse. I was shocked !!!!! Then within a few seconds I saw another one happily nibbling onto the packets in that upper glass compartment. I couldnt resist. I had to go and tell the person running the stall.

Me (in a very low tone) : Bhaiyya, aapke oopar wale compartment mein 2 choohe hain.

Him : Haan madam. Maloom hai. Kya kar sakta hai hum ?

Me : Aapko maloom hai aur aap kuch nahi kar rahe ?

Him : Kya karega madam ? Hum nikaal ke bahar fekta hai, phir bhi waapas aata hai.

Me : Abhi to nikaal deejiye naa. Nahi to kuch chooha marne ki dawai daal do wahan pe

Him : Kaise madam ? Galti se dawai khaane mein ghus gaya aur customer mar gaya, to mereko hi pakdenge naa ?

Point

Me : Acha, to jab jab ho sake nikaalte rahiye aur ek "mouse-trap" wahan par daal deejiye ( I didnt know what the Hindi word was for that)

Anyway, I didnt know what more to say to him, my train was arriving on the platform. My advice to you - Unless you intentionally want to fall sick, dont bother eating at stalls like these. Who knows, there might've been more mice in there...


Anyway, I couldnt sleep the entire night in the train coz some idiots were snoring away to glory. Not one, but three people were snoring...It was very rythmic, no doubt, but so very disturbing. No sleep.

Reached Tuljhapur the next morning. That's where our 'kul-devi' is. Visited the temple....Took hours n hours to enter the sanctum sanctorum and it was a completely un-religious, un-spiritual experience for me. If anything, I was horrified, because people were throwing away banana peels inside the temple as if it were a garbage dump and there were paan stains everywhere. If this is what it means to be religious, then I do not want any part of it. Some pictures from the Tuljha Bhavani temple :





A lot of people do this at this temple. It's some form of devotion I guess. I've never been inclined to do so. My idea of prayer is quite different from this.






I do not like the way they slap the haldi and kumkum onto your forehead. Even if you do manage to form some sort of connection with God inspite of the crowd, the paan stains, the banana peels and the waiting, this completely kills it. My connection with God at this temple = Zero

This is what Tuljhapur looks like :





Nice town. I like the cows sitting right in the middle of the road...

That very evening we headed to Bijapur - my native place.



Paan stains on the inside of the bus that I was travelling in. Is it really so difficult to understand that spitting is disgusting ?




The landscapes however were beautiful. I felt great simply looking out of the window. I love this one especially...all the greenery with the sugarcane fields in the background.




A few pictures from Bijapur :







Buffaloes...It's very easy to spot them.










Little black pigs. I think they're adorable !!! They are all over the place. You can find them everywhere and if you're not too careful, in your house too ;)




Check out the spelling :)




Auto rickshaws run without meters in Bijapur.




Cows lazing around in the middle of the street :)


I like these pictures, not because they're funny or anything, but because they remind me of a simpler life. It feels nice to be free of complications, rules etc etc once in a while. I wouldn't advocate too much of it though.


Some other interesting pictures :



The glittery things that you see on that suspended tray are slippers. It is believed that these slippers were actually worn by Hanuman at one point of time. This is in one of the Hanuman temples in Halagani.




It is said that you should wish for something and then hold this stone with both hands. If the stone turns to the right, your wish will come true. If it turns to the left, you wish will not be fulfilled...And if it doesnt move, it implies that your wish will come true but after a long long wait.





I loved this !!! This was a Shiva temple in Shivgiri with this huge structure. It looks really elegant and dignified.

Thats all for now. I have one other temple to visit in Basar which will be a few weeks from now. That would officially complete my religious adventures before I leave for London...4 weeks more to go :)