Amazing Kanchenjunga

If there is one thing I miss from the USA that would be the snow and winter. Though I am not a big fan of cold temperatures, I loved the snowfall and the white wintry landscape. This year when our annual vacation got postponed from Oct to Dec, we decided not to change the destination - Sikkim. Though it snows very rarely there, we were assured we would run into snow at places like Tsomgo Lake and Nathula Pass. Apparently, a couple of days after our return, it snowed at Gangtok and Darjeeling after a decade!!!! What luck!!!

As always we went with a package tour from Make My Trip covering Gangtok-Pelling-Darjeeling.

As luck would have it, IndiGo introduced a direct flight from Hyd to Bagdogra and we saved a lot of travelling time. We were reeling under a cold wave at Hyd and when the pilot announced that Bagdogra was at a comfortable 13 degrees (which was the minimum at Hyd) we wondered about the comfortable part. But once we landed at Bagdogra it didn't feel that bad. We were greeted by the car and driver and were whisked off to Gangtok. Unlike other trips, at Gangtok apparently, we don't get a dedicated car and driver. Each day, depending upon the itinerary the driver and car change. So this guy just dropped us off at the hotel and disappeared. Mostly we look for hotels near the heart of the cities so that we can move around freely. So once we unpacked we decided to explore the city a little. 

That's when we had the first glimpse of the amazing Kanchenjunga peak. We were so stunned that we had to get a confirmation from the locals, we were not expecting to see the peak so clearly.

Kanchenjunga from Gangtok

The next day we were supposed to visit the Nathula Pass and the Tsomgo Lake but the tour operator couldn't get the passes and we had to settle for local site seeing. 

Banjhakri Falls

Local sights included Lingdum Monastery - peaceful with a breathtaking view, Banjhakri Falls - adored the 100 feet multi-level waterfall, Do-drul Chorten - typical Buddhist Stupa, Namgyal Institute of Tibetology - didn't realise so many variations of Buddhism and a Flower Show - amazing flowers and the show is on throughout the year!!!

Of course, what is life without a little adventure, I was lured into paragliding for an amazing view of both the city and the mountains around, that was the highlight of the day.

Unfortunately for us, NathuLa pass was snowed in and we couldn't get permits to go. So we had to settle for the glacial lake Tsomgo or Tshangu as it is called locally. Now a word about the temperatures before we go any further. They were brutal. Though I was prepared with everything I overlooked two things - footwear and gloves.  Gloves I didn't want to buy any but footwear was a complete oversite. I rectified it by buying boots at Gangtok on the second day. On the way to the Tsomgo Lake, with temperatures dropping by the second it was becoming unbearable. Like with all tourist places, locals were pretty enterprising, and we could rent jackets, boots etc. So we rented boots, the rubber ones which would keep the moisture out. And finally decided to buy gloves, which we can not rent. Totally worth the investment though.

Tsomgo Lake

Tsomgo Lake at an altitude of 12,400ft was an amazing, pristine beauty. The lake looked frozen, we took the locals' word for it didn't test it. There were multiple options - we could walk around in the snow risk slipping and falling or take a yak ride. We opted for the first option - slipped and fell and generally had fun!!!

On top of the World

Then, there is a ropeway taking us to a small hillock from where we had a breathtaking view of the Kanchenjunga peak. Nothing can beat the experience and no words can describe what we felt. And I got to play with snow!!!!

Due to the winter, the day ends very soon. The drivers would drop us off by 4pm and then we were on our own. Each of the three evenings at Gangtok, we visited the shopping areas and were tempted by all the woollens on display. Of course one evening for the want of anything to do, we visited the local cinema hall and watched Zero - both the movie and the theatre were a complete rip-off.

The next day was the drive to Pelling, situated at the base of the Kanchenjunga range. Visiting Namchi on the way to see Char Dham and Samdruptse Hill. Both had imposing statues which we could view all the way to Darjeeling.

Char Dham

Samdruptse

Triveni

The next day was the drive from Pelling to Darjeeling - a drive I would not forget in near future. The road was under construction, it was horrible all dug up. There were places where the road would be closed for construction work to proceed. Since the construction involved cutting the hill and the risk of landfall, the traffic would be closed for hours together. Luckily we hit these areas around lunchtime, so the workers stopped pretty soon. The distance of 100kms from Pelling to Darjeeling took nearly 6hours!!!! The highlight of the drive was Triveni - the confluence of two of the major rivers of Sikkim - Teesta and Rangit.

DHR, Darjeeling

Once we reached Darjeeling, though we were tired, we wanted to stretch our legs a bit. So after unpacking and freshening up, we went around the Darjeeling Mall road, and visited the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway station, had steaming hot momos. The joyride was overpriced and we were told it was not worth the money, so there ended my dream toy train ride.

The creme da la creme of the trip - watching the sunrise over Kanchenjunga from the Tiger Hill viewpoint. For this we had to go at 4am, to beat the crowd and to get a vantage viewpoint. From then on it was a waiting game, if you move you lose your spot if you don't move you will be frozen, literally, it was one degree!!! We survived, first the light crept it around 6am half an hour before the actual sunrise. We could see the peaks and all. I thought that was it, so disappointing. And then 6:20 am sunrise time, the sun's rays strike the peaks, the peaks turn orange, golden and bright. It was a sight to behold and we were lucky to view the Everest, too!!!!!! I can not and will not describe the spectacle in words, it was out of this world. Totally worth the effort.....

The next day entire Darjeeling was shrouded in clouds and no one could see the sunrise.

The Himalayas from Tiger Hill

The rest of the day was like a dream, we went to Batasia Loop - war memorial; Darjeeling Zoo which also houses the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute; Tibetian Refugee Center; Japanese Temple and Peace Pagoda and of course Tea Garden.

I was not impressed with Darjeeling or Sikkim. Two years back we visited Bhutan and people who saw the pics compared it with Sikkim, that was the main motivation for the entire trip. Though the scenery is much similar, the cities in Sikkim and Darjeeling were crowded with narrow dirt roads. We kept seeing posters of Swach Bharat, and Sikkim boasts to be plastic-free but felt like the basic sanitation and hygiene were lacking. Though one thing needs to be said about the people they are very friendly and polite, like in the movie theatre the couple sitting next to us offered us popcorn!!! And Sikkim being an organic state, I found the vegetables very tasty and meals sumptuous. Their local cuisine - Momos (yummy) and Thukpa (not a big fan of noodle soup) was also good, the chillis are supposed to be very hot, the chilli sauce served with Momos proved the point. Overall it was a satisfying trip (my Fitbit was ecstatic with me exceeding my daily goals), the closest I would get to the Himalayas, I guess!!!!

Reconciling with Death

Babumoshai, 

zindagi aur maut upar waale ke haath hai ... 

usse na toh aap badal sakte hai na main ... 

hum sab to rangmanch ki kathputliyan hai 

jinki dor upar waale ki ungliyon mein bandhi hai

Death is inevitable, as we are all mere mortals. We can always strengthen ourselves and be prepared for it. But how do you deal with the death of another, close to you. It is very tough and we have all tried to deal with it one time or the other. I have seen death from close quarters and each time the experience is new and fresh. Every time I think, 'Ok, now I know what to expect and will be able to deal with it better next time', but each next time is as difficult.

Death is hurtful. Be it due to old age, disease or accident. But I feel the worst to deal with are the accidental deaths, the ones with no reason. They are the toughest to reconcile. Death in old age can be reconciled with the fact that death is inevitable and life was fully lived. Disease again with death is inevitable and out of pain and suffering philosophy.

But what about the untimely deaths? What justification, especially when the person is in their prime and the accident was no fault of theirs? How do you reconcile? Where is the sense of justice and fair play? What is the Super Power doing, our Guardian who is supposed to protect us? Hinduism talks of the cycle of rebirth, sins of past lives, etc. etc.. But do these really make any sense? Carry forward concept of our sins might be a motivation to lead a good life but how does it help deal with untimely deaths? Questions Questions..... No answers.

Coming to the initial question - how to reconcile with untimely deaths. When I am in a dilemma, I resort to studying people around me to get inspiration. I categorised them into three types.
First are the type who lament, blast the doctors or anyone for that matter. I found these and those who vent their emotions at the funerals and hospitals when they hear the news, are the best copers. They are letting the emotions out and get an instant relief. Once the emotion is out, they are back to some semblance of normalcy and get along with their lives sooner than later.
Next are the ones who plunge themselves into tasks like making funeral arrangements, ensuring that the family and visitors are well-fed and taken care of, and taking care of other knick-knacks. Though they are repressing their emotions, the energy is spent and the intensity dilutes. They too are able to jump back to normalcy soon.
Third is the so-called "brave" ones, who are pillar of support and strength to the above two categories. They stand behind and offer a shoulder to cry on. They don't cry, they don't offer any opinion, they just stand by stoically and are available for any who wants to talk. They take the longest to heal. They bottle up the emotions and save it for later, but later when they want to vent everyone around has already moved on and a proper channel for outlet is not available. It is for these people that the concept of mourners and rudali came into existence. They act as triggers and are supposed to move even the stoic ones.

So to answer the question, how to reconcile with death. The simple answer is you can't and you don't. Death happens with or without (an apparent) cause. One has to learn to cope with it either by venting out or tiring it out. Trying to find a justification or reason is a futile endeavour. There are no answers. As always I fall back to Bollywood for inspiration:

Maut tu ek kavita hai....
Mujhse ek kavita ka vadaa hai, milegi mujhko ...

Doobti nabzon mein jab dard ko neend aane lage
Zard sa chehra liye chaand ufaq tak pahunche ...
Din abhi paani mein ho, raat kinare ke kareeb
Na andhera ho, na ujala ho ...
Na aadhi raat, na din
Jism jab khatm ho aur rooh ko saans aae ...

Mujhse ek kavita ka vadaa hai milegi mujhko....

translation:
O death! You're like poetry
And I've been promised by a poem, that it shall be mine

As the pulse (of life) recedes, the pain & suffering go to (an eternal) sleep
And a yellowish (young) moon starts to rise and reach its zenith
The day is yet to sink in water, as the night waits, nigh, to the shore
It's not dark, it's not bright
it's neither midnight nor high noon
And as the body loses material, the free soul gets seeped with (fresh) air

The poem has (fulfilled the) promise of being mine!

When Cable Took the Day Off

Those who know us well, know the importance of TV in our house. For the uninitiated, TV is on the entire day, if it is off it means either we are not at home or the master of the house is sleeping.

Now, one fine Saturday, cable decided to take the day off. Yes, we still have cable and no, we are not into online channels. Initially, it was fine. We caught up on the movies from Amazon Prime, HotStar etc. Since there was no cable, once the movie ended we didn't switch to some random show on cable but had a discussion over the movie we just watched. A first for us.

Out came the puzzles and board games, and everything we used to enjoy before the advent of TV and cable into our lives. Evening for want of anything to do we decided to take a walk!!!! Dinner was filled with conversation and fun.

The location of the TV and the architecture of the house is such that we can hear the TV from every room of the house. My husband has this habit of putting it on higher volume levels either to drown the noise from outside (that's my conjecture) or he is turning deaf (which he refutes). So when we talk it sounds like a yelling match. With cable being off all this changed. Now we could re-discover our normal voice and talk without losing breath.

Come Sunday, cable was still off. Being Sunday, the college and school near our house were closed, resulting in less traffic noise. We could enjoy the birds chirping and appreciate early morning calmness of nature. But slowly, boredom started creeping in. We had run out of topics and ended up in one too many arguments. The arrival of the maid was greeted with enthusiasm. Amazingly, she finished her work in record time, apparently, TV was a distraction for her work, too. Who knew!

Of course, there are advantages of having the TV on. Now that we were obliged to talk this lead to more fights! Despite my ranting over the high decibels, it does keep your mind away from all the noise pollution.

But no TV allowed for some introspection and revelations like the fact that we were no longer the young couple who could go on for hours talking. We got to do things that we kept postponing forever like cleaning closets, going shopping, cooking lavish menus, talking to friends, etc etc.

And not the least, I got time to write this blog 😄😃

Me & My Fitbit

These days we are seeing an activity tracker on every other wrist, mostly male. Wristwatches have given way to activity trackers. But do they really help in maintaining a healthy active lifestyle or is it just another "all ado about nothing"? You decide.

Last December, my friend bought me a Fitbit from the US. By then I was into running and owned a TomTom. I tried telling my friend that I won't be needing another activity tracker to no avail. I started using it and to be honest, started liking it. It was lightweight compared to TomTom and fit neatly on my wrist. And it was better at tracking and reminding activities.

One can set goals like the number of active minutes (exercise), the number of steps (activity) and the number of floors so on and so forth. The most important of these goals is the step goal, you can have a step goal for the day and for the hour. Fitbit will vibrate very discretely on the wrist as a reminder towards the end of the hour if you have not met your hourly goal.

Which is all well and fine, except for the addiction. What addiction, you ask? The day I forget my Fitbit at home, I am totally demotivated to step away from my desk for the entire day. What is the use of any activity if you cannot record it and get an appreciation for it? (Oh, yeah, the little thing vibrates into a small dance when a goal is met). Another disadvantage, there is no concept of carrying forward. That is if you exceed your target steps for this hour, the excess won't be added to the next hour. I started to time my strolls to my colleagues' desks, to the pantry and even to the restroom according to where I was on my step status. I started hating meetings which went beyond 45 mins since that would mean I would not be able to meet my hourly goal. Come to think of it, that might be the reason for many walking out of these meetings feigning an important phone call.

All was going on fine, I was hooked and was feeling great about myself, not that it made any dent in my weight. It just gave me a feeling of achievement and wellbeing.

Then, all hell broke loose. A friend added me to his friends' list. Till then I was happy with my progress and my weekly status emails. Now, these emails had an added statistic and it always put my friend in the first place and me in the second. How can that be? I always thought myself to be more active than him and most importantly I go for morning walks regularly and he doesn't. So how can he achieve more than me? After a bit of sleuthing, I realised he wears his Fitbit 24x7 (except when in the shower). Now that set me thinking. You see I don't have my Fitbit on when I am at home, only for my walks and office. One day out of curiosity I wore it the entire day, I clocked an additional 2k steps. Wow, so many days wasted wallowing over the missed daily target, when I actually achieved it!!!! Can I add these steps? Alas no, one can add exercises but not steps, unless you convert the steps into walks (1K steps ~ 1k walk). But this bit of cheating also didn't help, he was still in the first place. Reason? I don't have my Fitbit on over weekends. Imagine the loss.......

Pratyusha - beginning of an end?

Growing up we used to shift a lot. Dad working at a bank meant transfer every 3-5 years, and even if we were in a single city for a continuous period of time, we used to change residence due to bank lease terms etc. This meant new language, new location, new friends, and a new culture. Everything new. But wherever we were located, every summer we used to visit my grandparents at Rajahmundry and there was a visit to Hyderabad attached. I always felt like I belonged to Hyderabad. Whenever anyone asked about my hometown/ native place I would say Hyderabad, much to my Mom’s frustration. I never could say Rajahmundry, the city where I was born and my maternal family was located. Nor would I say West Godavari, where my paternal family hails from. Might be it was because of Pratyusha. Visiting Hyderabad meant visiting Pratyusha. In all this moving around and changes, Pratyusha was one stable factor, sort of an anchor.

Who is Pratyusha, you ask? Well, the question should be what and not who. You see, Pratyusha was our house. In the early 70s, Dad took up the project of building a house. In those days it was a great achievement at his age to build a house. Now, owning a house is no big deal, you get a job, apply for a loan, select a reputed builder and you are all set. In the 70s, house construction was a project. The entire family had to pitch in. You needed to get involved at every stage – right from getting blueprints, hiring contractor and labour, buying cement, sand and bricks, choosing the floor tiles, electrical fittings, everything. I remember we had shifted near the construction site so we could keep an eye on the progress. Mom says after school, I would freshen up and go to the construction site to complete my homework. I don’t remember that but I do remember sitting on the window ledge while the floor was getting polished. My paternal grandparents stayed with us during the whole time, to help my parents with all the supervision and give suggestions. My maternal grandparents also used to drop in time-to-time. I think the construction took close to six months.  

Once completed, we shifted with much fanfare. There are so many memories. Like the time Dad bought and set up a wall clock and Mom explained how to tell time; getting a black and white TV and hosting the entire neighbourhood for Sunday evening movies; starting a garden; getting lost on the way home from school on a rainy day; and much more. We took pride in the house, so much so that cleaning the window grills didn’t seem like a task. Checking the water level in the overhead tank was a big responsibility. Alas, all good things come to an end. Dad got transferred. Hardly 2yrs of stay and we had to move. My brother was wondering how we would pack and move the house!!!

After about a decade, Dad got transferred back to Hyd. And back to the beloved Pratyusha. It was like a reunion, and for a brief period, I got my own room. No need to share the room with brother. For the 4years that we stayed, the top floor was constructed, the plants had become trees. Now I started witnessing the troubles that my parents were going through to maintain the house – from getting a plumber or electrician for repairs, getting a maid to sweep around the house, everything was an achievement. But still it was our Pratyusha and none of it seemed like a chore. College days, traveling by city bus, going to exhibitions, everything was fun. Later when I got married, this was the base (parents were at Mumbai then). Same when my brother got married.

All this nostalgia, Pratyusha as we knew it would soon be coming down. Like with everything else in life, Pratyusha is getting upgraded. An apartment complex will be coming in its place – Swarna Pratyusha Residency. Though we stayed there for hardly 6years of its 40+ years of existence (for 20+ years, my maternal uncle stayed there and we had access to it whenever we wanted) still pangs of separation are being felt.

Annapurna - Goddess of Food

Roti, Kapda aur Makaan (food, clothing and shelter) were the basic necessities of man for ages. But lately, we are seeing a shift in this trend. We are witnessing many young homeowners, they seem to be eager to own property soon after starting their career, might be for investment purposes. We see many owning houses before marriage and brides preferring homeowner for life partner. Earlier it was a joint effort where husband and wife planned and built their house with care to suit their needs and it was a lifelong commitment. Now it has become a commodity and like anything else in life can be replaced when the need arises. So looks like Makaan has taken the number one spot on the priority list.

The less I talk about Kapda the better, it seems to be shrinking in all dimensions except cost. We seem to be reinventing the wheel and it won't be long before we see people dressed like cavemen or worse a la Adam and Eve.

Coming to the topic of today's rant - Roti. Growing up meals were the most important time of the day. An effort was put not only in the preparation but also in consumption. Cooking was an elaborate process which has been considerably simplified with the arrival of various gadgets and methodologies. So has consumption process. Earlier entire family used to gather and eat without distractions. The concentration was totally on the process of eating which I believe enhances the process of digestion and assimilation. Even with the advent of nuclear families, it was still a family time - a time when father shared office tales, mother gave family updates and kids shared their experiences. It was fun.

The advent of the TV to some extent spoiled the fun. Everything became TV-centric. People started abandoning dining table for couches in front of a TV. No one paid attention to what they were eating any longer. Right from infancy parents started feeding kids in front of TVs, using it as a distraction to force food into the poor kid's mouth. The kid has no idea of what they are eating. They do not know any other way of eating. I realised this when I insisted on switching the TV off during meal time and my friend's son wondered how they can eat without TV!!!!! Now with smartphones, people feel obligated to be on social media all the time - including mealtime. Visit any restaurant and you will witness people glued to their phones. 

All this clubbed with the fad of eating less has made people not respect the first and basic need of the body - sustenance. Food has become a pastime, more for fun than for nourishment. In case you are having health issues have supplements but not proper food. Food is to play around with - throwing pieces of food across to catch someone's attention or smear their face in the name of fun - seems to be the motto.

The most saddening part of the whole scenario is that the respect for food has been displaced. Be it as a career option (agriculture) or as a sustenance. I cringe whenever I see all the food wasted. Not only because we are in a country where more than half the population goes hungry every day, but also because I feel that it is a sacrilege to disrespect food like that. Every meal used to end with a blessing to the provider - 'Annadaata sukhibhava'. Such is the importance of food. It's Annapurna Devi - Goddess of Food.