No posts for a week as I was in Bangalore for a business trip followed by a trip to Madurai and Kovilpatti to visit our folks. Bangalore was a welcome relief temperature-wise, as Hyderabad had started warming up again after a break in the monsoon early September. The tree lined streets with orderly - if heavy - traffic is a huge contrast from the chaotic roads of Hyderabad.
There are a lot more vehicles on narrower roads, but the roads actually have walkways for pedestrians leaving the entire breadth of the road to be available for motor vehicles. In the ubiquitous traffic lights, auto-drivers switch off the engine and wait patiently as opposed to feverishly jockeying for position to scream out of the gates. And the best part, they stop on red. Oh well, some day in Hyderabad..
From Bangalore to Madurai by air and then the customary 95 km drive to Kovilpatti to see my folks in my in-laws' Hyundai Santro. The big difference this time was that I drove on an (almost) uninterrupted 4-lane freeway that took an hour and 25 minutes instead of the usual 2 hours. They are finally finishing the 4-laning of roads connecting major cities in Tamilnadu. The last 2 years were painful as the roads were in even worse shape during the construction phase - but the end is in sight.
You barely notice Tirumangalam and Virudhunagar as you zoom past them on the bypass. Even if you go through the edge of a city, the neighbourhoods adjoining the now widened roads are virtually unrecognizable including the approach to my own home town. I completely overshot Kovilpatti and had to make a U-turn to get back. Hopefully they will install exit signs soon.
Otherwise, the drive was rather enjoyable and would have been more so only if the Santro had shown a bit more enthusiasm beyond 100kph. I need to work my way up the auto food chain and try this road with my FIL's Ford Fiesta next time.
- R. Balaji
Friday, September 25, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Festival season in Hyderabad (part 1) - Ganesh Chathurthi
It is the festival season in India and Hyderabad has its own unique way of celebrating it. You see, Hyderabad is a melting pot of South Indian, North Indian and Deccani Islamic cultures and it is very much apparent during this season. In the deep south, Vinayakar Chathurthi gets done in a day. In Hyderabad, like I suspect in many parts of the north, it is a fortnight long affair. Thousands of gigantic colorful Ganeshas get made and taken to water bodies in processions and get dunked cermeniously. As if we didn't have enough threats to our water resources already. At this rate, it is only a matter of time before Hussain Sagar will become Ganesh Sagar.
Anyway, this year I decided to set such pontifications aside and get into the spirit of it. The day of the Chathurthi, I went to my neighborhood Ganesha idol outlet and got a tiny beautiful white Ganesha with purple decorative powder for Rs. 50. The road-side "store" was manned (if you could use the word in this case) by a young man no more than 8 who was winding down his business and seemed a little impatient with me and wanted to get home if indeed he had one.
Then I went to the nearby market to get materials for the puja - a rare venture outside my humdrum routine. The flower cart guy insisted on giving me exact change back. I learnt that even a farmers market in India (Raithu bazaar) sells Washington apples at mind-boggling prices while the local produce was far cheaper. My daughter (who I firmly believe has a Pacific Northwest soul inside an Indian body) will have nothing less than Washington apples and thanks to her, Ganesha got Washington Red Delicious that day.
The nimarjan (immersion day) itself happens 10 days later and schools and many businesses close down since the city grinds to a halt in the evening with all the processions underway. This year, the nimarjan day unfortunately coincided with the day the news of YSR's tragic death broke out and I hear was a very muted affair. We stayed home as we were worried about repercussions from the event in the city. Last year, we had driven past Hussain Sagar as the immersions were happening - through truck-mounted cranes organized by the government itself.
So that is the Ganesh Chathurthi story; onto Ramzaan next.
Anyway, this year I decided to set such pontifications aside and get into the spirit of it. The day of the Chathurthi, I went to my neighborhood Ganesha idol outlet and got a tiny beautiful white Ganesha with purple decorative powder for Rs. 50. The road-side "store" was manned (if you could use the word in this case) by a young man no more than 8 who was winding down his business and seemed a little impatient with me and wanted to get home if indeed he had one.
Then I went to the nearby market to get materials for the puja - a rare venture outside my humdrum routine. The flower cart guy insisted on giving me exact change back. I learnt that even a farmers market in India (Raithu bazaar) sells Washington apples at mind-boggling prices while the local produce was far cheaper. My daughter (who I firmly believe has a Pacific Northwest soul inside an Indian body) will have nothing less than Washington apples and thanks to her, Ganesha got Washington Red Delicious that day.
The nimarjan (immersion day) itself happens 10 days later and schools and many businesses close down since the city grinds to a halt in the evening with all the processions underway. This year, the nimarjan day unfortunately coincided with the day the news of YSR's tragic death broke out and I hear was a very muted affair. We stayed home as we were worried about repercussions from the event in the city. Last year, we had driven past Hussain Sagar as the immersions were happening - through truck-mounted cranes organized by the government itself.
So that is the Ganesh Chathurthi story; onto Ramzaan next.
Friday, September 4, 2009
An Arangetram
Last week, we watched a Bharata Natyam Arangetram performance by Ms. Chelna Galada, student of Padmashri Ananda Shankar Jayant, one of India's top performing artists. My daughter has been taking dance lessons with her for the past year and my wife joined recently, thanks to which we got invitations to the event.
This was the 25th disciple of Ananda Shankar getting to do an Arangetram - a feat that requires meeting the "exacting standards" of Ananda - in her 26 year teaching career. The highlight of the event was the varnam that was based on a story from Jain mythology - the fourteen dreams that Queen Trishala had when she was pregnant with Vardhamana Mahaveera.
The program brochure claimed that this was a world premiere of a Bharata Natyam performance narrating a Jain story - there have been narrations from other major world religions before. I have seen an earlier performance by Ananda Shankar and her troupe - Darshanam: An ode to the eye, which was another example of her pushing the boundaries of her art. A Hindu art form narrating stories from other religions is indeed a great example of India's multiculturalism (Prof. Amartya Sen's point in The Argumentative Indian - see my earlier post).
The performance itself was top-notch, to a layman's eye such as mine and to more discerning eyes, as attested to by none other than Chitra Visweswaran (a guest of honour for the function) during the "blessings" ceremony in the middle of the event. I did feel that Chelna danced better in the second half when she perhaps was more relaxed after the big examination (the varnam) was over and the grades were in.
It is great to see this art in its modern mode of operation - being passed from guru to disciple while both are performers. Chitra Visweswaran talked about students today having the added advantage of watching their teachers perform; while the performers of yesteryears learnt from nattuvanars, who were pure teachers.
Right from starting on time, up to the stage design, lighting, the composition and singing by Venu Madhav, this was a professionally organized event and it was free to boot. Looking forward to another one in a month or so.
- R. Balaji
This was the 25th disciple of Ananda Shankar getting to do an Arangetram - a feat that requires meeting the "exacting standards" of Ananda - in her 26 year teaching career. The highlight of the event was the varnam that was based on a story from Jain mythology - the fourteen dreams that Queen Trishala had when she was pregnant with Vardhamana Mahaveera.
The program brochure claimed that this was a world premiere of a Bharata Natyam performance narrating a Jain story - there have been narrations from other major world religions before. I have seen an earlier performance by Ananda Shankar and her troupe - Darshanam: An ode to the eye, which was another example of her pushing the boundaries of her art. A Hindu art form narrating stories from other religions is indeed a great example of India's multiculturalism (Prof. Amartya Sen's point in The Argumentative Indian - see my earlier post).
The performance itself was top-notch, to a layman's eye such as mine and to more discerning eyes, as attested to by none other than Chitra Visweswaran (a guest of honour for the function) during the "blessings" ceremony in the middle of the event. I did feel that Chelna danced better in the second half when she perhaps was more relaxed after the big examination (the varnam) was over and the grades were in.
It is great to see this art in its modern mode of operation - being passed from guru to disciple while both are performers. Chitra Visweswaran talked about students today having the added advantage of watching their teachers perform; while the performers of yesteryears learnt from nattuvanars, who were pure teachers.
Right from starting on time, up to the stage design, lighting, the composition and singing by Venu Madhav, this was a professionally organized event and it was free to boot. Looking forward to another one in a month or so.
- R. Balaji
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