The Shades of Sun; The Scent of Rains

Sunset over the Himalayas

Sunsets have always been intriguing and sunsets of Himalayas have always intoxicated me to the extent of loss of distinction between enlightenment and delirium. Himalayas have always attracted my body and soul with combined powers of an enchanting seductress and divine commandment. Thus the slightest of opportunity to get in the laps of Himalayas is a good reason to get away from Delhi, No matter for howsoever little period of time.

Monsoon  Blessed Naldehra

Although every moment in the pristine folds of the mountains are worth living lifetimes, as greedy as my heart can get, I long for the  moments that are  referred to in photography as golden hours i.e. a period shortly after sunrise or before sunset during which daylight is redder and softer; when the shadows cast are long and the land meets the sky at horizon in diminished individuality becoming a canvas for unsurpassable pictures painted with elements of creation.

It was during the late monsoons when I had a chance to visit Naldehra in Himachal Pradesh.      Naldehra, a small place 22 kms from Shimla,  is almost a picture perfect destination for the monsoons. The blue skies with scattered clouds every now and then,  green forests of Deodars and an occasional rainbow thrown in makes the place look like it has been painted on a canvas, purposefully with more than naturally saturated colours. It was here that I was lucky to have witnessed one of the best sunsets that I have seen so far.

Colours of  Monsoon Sunset

The pictures do convey the grandeur of  the landscape and the skies. Scattering clouds, being blown by  moderately gusty winds and the near perfect illumination by a setting sun provided frame after frame of vividly painted sky and intriguing silhouettes the undulating mountain ranges. Interaction of wind, clouds and the setting sun gave birth to unusually shades of colours and textures, worth being seen for hours at a stretch. What neither pictures nor words can justifiably describe is the atmosphere created when rains meet the mountains.

Rain after a dry spell cause one of the most intoxicating scents of nature and captivating session of aromatherapy that so human intervention can replicate. The scent of rain, circulating in the moist monsoon air casts a spell that is strong enough to linger on for long after physical detachment from the place and alluring enough to crave eternally for more. 

This earthy fragrance was named “petrichor” by Australian researchers in 1964. They described it as a combination of plant oils and the chemical compound geosmin which are released from a class of soil-dwelling bacteria, called actinomycetes when it rains. Petrichor! A nice word to describe one of the most beautiful exeriences of rain. Science sometimes does peculiar things. It unearths complex phenomena and brings forth unbelievable gems of knowledge but at the same time simplifies them to an extent that the ecstasy of experiencing such phenomena by an ignorant is lost.  As an erstwhile student of science, when it comes to nature and natural phenomena, the knowledge of it seems to be useless without the ability to experience and get involved in nature itself. Given a choice, I would prefer to be in state of blissful ignorance, awestruck with all surprises thrown in by nature. Personal choice of course! 

Ganga Beyond The River: On The Banks of Betwa at Orchha

"Chhatris" : Cenotaphs across Betwa River in Orchha

Orchha is a small hamlet in Tikamgarh District of Madhya Pradesh on the banks of River Betwa. It was a post monsoon long weekend that I could manage to get to this place. The place has its own slice of historical interests in the form of 16th and 17th Century palaces and temples. As a place of religious importance, the peculiarity of Orchha lies in the fact that after Ayodhya, Orchha is the only place where Lord Rama is treated as a king rather than God. The imposing Ram Raja temple is witness to this.

The flowing Betwa imparts a great deal of grandeur to the town and the frame with the "Chhatris" or Centaphs across the river  is any photographer’s craving and so was mine. The Betwa or Betravati is a river in Northern India, and a tributary of the Yamuna. The Betwa rises in the Vindhya Range near Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh and flows north-east through Madhya Pradesh and Orchha to Uttar Pradesh where it meets Yamuna near Hamirpur. 

Betwa flowing through Orchha

On  the penultimate day of our trip I was strolling around the Betwa Banks, aimlessly trying to aim the camera at something worth a click. It happened to be an “Ekadashi” the eleventh day of lunar month considered auspicious in Hindu religious practice. There were scores of pilgrims feverishly bathing the river but what drew attention was the loud cries of “har har gange” and “jai ganga maiya” of the pilgrims. This is certainly not Ganges! The Ganges river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. Obviously oblivious to my confusion, the cries of faith continued and so did my doubt infested thought process.

Sadhu under Bayanan Tree

The hitherto aimless stroll brought me to a frame where a sadhu was meditating. The position of the Sadhu beneath a big Bayan tree with  the slant morning sun rays falling on his face seemed like making a  good composition and I clicked the picture. Having safely put the Sadhu in the memory card of the camera I thought of having a conversation and started with the most striking query in the mind at that time, which was, why do people call this river Ganga? The Sadhu was suffering from a very sore throat and amidst coughs and sneezes he could only mutter: “Betravati Ganga hai yeh……… yeh jeevan deti hai, isiliye Ganga hai” – this river is called Betravati Ganga, she gives life that is why she is Ganga. Answer to half an hour of dilemma came in one and a half sentence! 

 

Later I was quite surprised on my confusion hearing the “har har gange” chants on the banks of Betwa. The phenomenon is quite common throughout the country. Rivers have always been the cradle of civilisations and their role in sustenance of life have imparted divinity and holiness to them. Ganga is the epitome of this effect. In fact the word Ganga is considered as a synonym of pure and holy water. That is why the word is attached with the names of many other rivers all over India. The religious importance of Ganga is evident from the following verse “Tatra tatra sthitaa Gangaa,Sarva Punya Phala pradaa; Bhaveth smarana maatrena,Sarva Deva namaskritaa”, which means: the simple act of remembering the various places that River Ganga traverses through, would be equivalent to offering salutations to all Gods.

I did remember then that Godavari is held in reverence as “Vridha Ganga” or simply, Ganga; the Kaveri is known to devout Hindus as “Dakshina Ganga”, or the Ganges of the south and so it the case with Narmada or Reva which is also called by the name “Ganga”. My mother’s native place, Nabadwip in West Bengal  is flanked by two rivers, Bhagirathi and Jalanghi, but these are revered as Ganga by residents and so is the mighty Hoogly river in Kolkata.

The key to this phenomenon of perplexing nomenclature comes from the one and a half sentence uttered by the Sadhu:- she gives life, that is why she is Ganga. The word Ganga in Indian context traverses far ahead of the realms of linguistic and geo-physical nomenclature. This river bestows life to a major chunk of the population of the country, people live by it and they die by it. Hence the name Ganga moves much above the existence of the river and becomes an apt adjective for life sustaining rivers of the country. Ganga thus moves from being a name to a set of attributes that hold life, and also that which frees from life on death. So be it Betwa or Betravati, the Sadhu’s definition sums it up all: “the one who gives life is Ganga” 

Aligning the Elements: Evening Arati at Pushkar

A stone throw’s distance from my home  across the Nag Pahar lies Pushkar. Often remarked as the place holding the only Brahma temple in the world, a fact which is at the most near to reality as there are other Brahma temple as well but of course very few. Some of the other places are Bithoor in Uttar Pradesh, India; Khedbrahma in Gujarat, India; Uttamar Kovil  near Srirangam, Tamil Nadu;  Temple of Besakih in Bali, Indonesia; and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Having said that, these in no way undermines the importance of Pushkar in Hindu mythology, where the revered place is seen as “Tirth Raj” or the King of all Piligrimages.

Essentially a small cluster of temples and meandering narrow alleys, Pushkar had been the most common excursion while growing up in Ajmer. Crossing Nag Pahar to get to Pushkar used to give that adolescent kick of out of town travel on my own without prior permission.

Recently while at Pushkar, I fortunatley spent some time on the Ghats at dusk. Till now, Pushkar had just been about Brahma temple and getting back the delectable Malpuas from shops that promise a fortune if proven that the Malpuas are not made with pure Ghee.

The picture on the left depicts the mood of the time. The act of arati itself depicts an entire thought process of Hindu theology. It depicts that  our inherent physical tendencies when lit by the fire of knowledge which  of the truth, these tendencies burn themselves out completely thereby dissolving the fake sense of  individuality that keeps us separate from the Lord.

The atmosphere on the Ghats can be best depicted in oxymoronic expressions as it was loudly serene and boisterously down to earth. The evening arati venerates the holy lake and all of a sudden bells of the near 500 odd temples around the lake start ringing in frenzy. The sound and the vibrations seep into being deeper than the depths of the ears, the scent of amber and incense sticks travel much farther than the olfactory senses and one does realise man’s interaction with the elements that make 

him.

The picture on the right is that of the offering during the arati, it symbolically contains the elements of fire; earth; water; earth and ether. That drew my attention to this as a subject to photograph. The offering to Brahma at the arati comprised of all the elements that comprise the creation itself. Thus someone said it so apt – “Tera tujhko saup de, Kya lagat hai mor; mera mujhmein kuch naahi;

jo howat so tor” – Whatever is yours, I offer to you. There is nothing in me which is mine, whatever is there is yours.

Humble Beginnings...

The picture squarely relates to the author’s stage of development in writing blog posts. The picture is that of a little boy that the author found interesting subject on one of the weekend crowd infested beaches of Raigad District in Maharastra late January this year. The innate courage of the child, exposed to the elements, to take on the breakers of Arabian Sea, oblivious to the nature of the waves defined the non-indoctrinated nature of human beings, best manifested in the stage of childhood. Soon this child will learn the art(?) of distinction. Soon he will learn about the element of danger present in the waves and soon he will become more like the author and his fellow matured human beings, careful; timid; and with a penchant to restrict to the centre of  a cosy comfort zone in a bid for survival.

This first post is briefly about why the author did this. Having reached approximately the mid section of his travel that started in late 1970s, the author  found that the journey has imparted a lot to assimilate and still more to reflect upon. He  thought it is time to do the reflections now, for as for journeys like this, a travelogue after return is not possible! Having inculcated all the vices of  maturity and personality development and having constricted to a comfort zone of urban life, the wandering mind does off and on wants to break free. So he made use of this this free platform to write down about a common man (no political inclination intended!!) leading a common life amongst common surroundings imparting common experiences that raises a few not so common thoughts in the wandering mind with an average intellect.

This therefore is a humble beginning of chronicling some of the seen, felt and lived moments that reflect upon the author’s journey in this world and sharing some interesting as well weird events and experiences that are yet to come during the future wanderings of the wandering mind. 

Bon Voyage….