Of People and Places

Mumbai never fails to astound me.Its energy, the multitude of people and the gorgeous amalgam of different cultures, different temperaments, and a quickness - a jostling that leaves a Bangalorean like me quite breathless. But then some might say it's a stereotype. I don't know. I haven't spent a long time there but whatever I have seen leaves me a bit starry-eyed. When the British came here, they recreated a sense of their home. And one of the most magnificent specimens of Victorian Gothic revival architecture was the Victoria terminus, now renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus. It's a crazy looking place, and it makes me feel like I am in a Harry Potter movie, as do most other buildings in the area. I really love the architecture and how it has withstood changes. Mumbai has evolved rapidly since the time it was built but if you feel like indulging in a bit of nostalgia, in a bit of time travel, all you need to do is take a walk in South Mumbai.

We were given an assignment to build an impression of Mandu through illustrations. We spent a week there, explored all the places and monuments to our heart's content and built a relationship with the place. This doesn't often happen when you travel as a tourist. So, I was glad. This assignment made me focus on the place, on what made it different from other places I had visited and the kind of mood and ambience it had. As soon as we enter Dhar, the landscape changes slightly. There is a fantastic view of the valley and a very prominent gorge enroute - called suicide point. Cliched really. I wish it was called something else. The current name is not befitting something as magical as Mandu.  We enter the fortified town through a large, ancient gateway.It is quite dry and arid outside. The Vindhya ranges that Mandu is located in show their characteristic flat- topped, plateau-like peaks. The Gray Langur, more human than animal, watches us from the tree near the ruins. The...

Bangalore, 18 years ago was like a hill station. It was an upheaval of sorts - moving from Udupi to Bangalore. Being teased a little about our accent and way of speaking in school, staring wide-eyed at mothers who came to drop their kids off to school in nighties with a little shawl or dupatta or even towel for modesty purposes! I have seen that only in Bangalore. The number of bakeries and hot chips all across the streets! And the free-handed way in which my classmates spent money to buy snacks or some Bombay mittai (Candy made out of sugar that can be shaped) that they sold in fluorescent colors on cycles outside the school.  The seller would nimbly shape the mittai into an animal or a doll while a bunch of noisy students would hang around, jostling each other and waiting their turn. Another nostalgic favorite was something they called 'coffee beeja' but for the life of me, I can't figure out what that was ( possibly tamarind seeds?) If anyone knows what that is, ple...

I grew up with Swami. If it weren't for the fact that fiction renders you immortal, he would be 85 years old  now.  Since my childhood, I have read, reread and still read Swami and friends, still laugh at his follies and still relate to all the stupid things that he does. He is a reflection of what I was as a child -a shy, average kid easily impressed and easily frightened.  Unlike most fictional characters, he is no hero. He is not exceptional in any way and perhaps that is how R K Narayan works his magic on kids, by making Swami just as goofy, just as mischievous as you or me.  This is one of my favourite passages in the book ( Excerpt from ' What's a tail?')  - "Swaminathan was loitering in the compound. He heard familiar voices behind, turned round, and saw Somu, Sankar, and the Pea, following him. Swaminathan wondered whether to stop and join them, or wait till they had passed and then go in the opposite direction. For it was awkward to be c...

On a trip to Mysore, we met this little fella in Dubare - A frisky baby elephant happy to be let loose for a little while. His mahout was a little kid of  about 8 or 9 years and I thought to myself, Well! Isn't this a great pair. They both ran into the Kabini river for bath time accompanied by a horde of tourists  wanting to  'bathe' the baby elephant while he just laid there in the cold water , happy as a lark , making gurgling noises and flapping his ears. I was one of the tourists and I was also happy to give the little one a scrub. I like elephants. As do most people. But I suppose humans liking them is not a very good thing for elephants themselves. There is a lot of cruelty involved in making them ' human - friendly'. Have you visited the Mysore Dasara and seen the elephant parade? Or seen an elephant in South Indian temples? And admired them because they look so mammoth, majestic and grand? And felt affection and warmth for them, accompanied by a lit...

My favourite place to visit in Hoshangabad is Bandrabhan. It is the confluence of  Narmada and Tawa rivers. From Hoshangabad twenty of us would go there on a sketching trip and have a gala time drawing, sketching or just plain wool-gathering. I couldn't believe such a gem existed when I first set my eyes on the place. You need to walk a little way downhill to get there and cross a vast expanse of sand that leads into the river and the wind roars past you, billowing your clothes and hair. Try turning and walking backwards and suddenly everything is calm and quiet just as it was noisy and chaotic a few moments ago! ( I hope nobody was watching me. I must look eccentric doing that!) Across the river there is a temple with a structure in the shape of a  trishool glinting in the sunlight, surrounded by shrubs and bushes. It looks so tranquil in the evening.  Once, when we went in the monsoons, our feet sank down in the sand and slowed us down as it stuck to our foot...