Living life KING SIZE....Jaipur

A special occasion calls for a special celebration...and in grand style. And what place can be better than Rajasthan to feel the grandeur....So some meticulous planning, impulsive shopping and last minute frantic packing later, we hopped onto our early morning flight to Jaipur.

Stop 1: Jaipur

The day began with a popat! Knowing R's love for omelettes, had planned to surprise him with breakfast at Sanjay's Omelette, a place reputed to dish out delectable varieties. Sadly, my driver informed me that the place wouldn't be open so early in the morning (is 7.30 am early for breakfast?!?). Disappointed, we proceeded directly to Hawa Mahal, enroute bowing our heads from a respectable distance to the deities housed in the Birla Mandir.

Almost as soon as we hit the roads in Rajasthan, we began missing our dear car (had originally planned to do a road trip). The roads in Rajasthan are...well, roads! What we have here in Mumbai should be called craters! With barely any traffic, we reached Hawa Mahal in no time.

Hawa Mahal, with crowds milling about

This famous five storied 'Palace of Winds' was constructed in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh so that the royal ladies could observe everyday life in the streets below, without themselves being seen. A quick look around and one can easily comprehend the scene that the royal ladies would have looked upon from their intricately carved jharokhas!

Even on a Sunday morning, the place was abuzz with activity. Endless stream of tourists pouring out of buses, cameras clicking all around, shopkeepers vying with each other to sell their ware, locals dressed in tradition garb offering to pose for photos and the constant flow of traffic....With so much crowd around, it was almost impossible to photograph the monument without random folks popping up in your pictures.

The Hawa Mahal

Undaunted, R spotted a row of shops opposite Hawa Mahal and got on to the terrace on the second floor. Promptly a shopkeeper materialized to claim an 'access fee' of Rs. 10 per person for using his terrace to photograph the monument! I am sure he made more money this way than by selling the stuff in his shop! Anyway, we didn't mind the fee as the terrace offered absolutely the best view of the honeycomb facade of Hawa Mahal. R once again unleashed his camera and got blissfully busy, while I soaked in the scene of the street below - two snake charmers attracting more attention from the foreign tourists than the famous monument itself!

Peacock Gate at the City Palace, Jaipur

We decided to skip going into the Hawa Mahal and a quick breakfast later, headed straight to the City Palace. As the royal family of Jaipur still resides here, only some parts (mostly outer courtyards) of the palace grounds are open to the public. Apart from two huge silver pots (largest in the world!) which were used to carry the sacred waters of the Ganga while the king travelled, the City Palace also houses some collections of garments, weapons, etc. It is perfectly alright to give these things a miss if you are pressed for time. What should not be missed though, (and the reason we were here) is staring in awe at the beautiful 'Peacock Gate'.  Embellished with intricate patterns of flowers, creepers and peacocks, this is one of the four beautifully painted gates (each depicting one season) in the innermost courtyard that finally leads into the royal residence. Public entry is restricted beyond this point. The courtyard, known as the Pritam Niwas Chowk, also offers a good view of the facade of the main palace structure.

We could have endlessly admired the Peacock Gate or the equally stunning Lotus Gate, but another architectural wonder, of an altogether different kind, beckoned to us - the Jantar Mantar.

Literally next door to the City Palace, the Jantar Mantar is a collection of astronomical instruments. 'Jantar' is the corrupted version of the Sanskrit word 'Yantra', meaning instrument and Mantar means (method of) calculation. One of the five such observatories built by Maharaja Jai Singh II, and the most well preserved, Jantar Mantar is included in the list of world heritage sites. This observatory consists of several geometric devices which are used to measure time, track the movement of the sun, stars and constellations, predict eclipses and monsoons, and finally, to prepare horoscopes or birth charts. The amazing 90 ft high sun dial, called the Samrat Yantra, shows the local time to a precision of 2 seconds! Most instruments are in perfect working condition and we were fortunate to have a very knowledgeable guide (Mr. Gaurav Singh Rathore) who explained the working of each one with great satisfaction. R and I spent a blissfully long amount of time here understanding and admiring how these instruments worked, quizzing our guide and exercising our grey cells. I shall not give any pictures of the Jantar Mantar here for the precision and beauty of these wonderful instruments really has to be admired first hand!

After a couple of happy hours here, we decided to move on, this time heading out of the city and towards the Jaigarh Fort. Enroute, we passed, and clicked photos of, the picturesque Jal Mahal - the lake palace. The palace is currently out of bounds for the public, but massive efforts have been undertaken to restore the beautiful lake, in the midst of which the palace is set. With the water now clean and replenished, the lake once again attracts hordes of birds, adding to the magical beauty of the place. Hopefully, this palace will soon open its doors to the public.

The Jaivan Cannon

Just a little further away, and up a hill, from the Jal Mahal is the Jaigarh Fort. The drive up the hill itself is a treat, with spectacular views of the city, the Amber Fort and the Jal Mahal. Would have loved to walk around the fort and along the amazingly intact ramparts, but lack of time forced us to drive all the way to the top where the famous Jaivan cannon reposes. At 20 ft long, and boasting a range of over 40 kms, Jaivan is the largest cannon in the world! It took the strength of FOUR elephants to simply swivel it around! The presence of this mean monster ensured that the ruling Kachwahas enjoyed a peaceful reign and thus the cannon never ended up being used in battle. Local legend has it that the Jaivan was test fired once, using 100 kgs of gun power. The shot ball, weighing 50 kg, landed near a village called Chaksu 40 km away. Today a pond marks the place of impact. Another popular local tale is that one elephant and eight people died by the shock wave created on firing the cannon. Shocking, eh!

Amer Fort, reflected in the Maota Lake

Well, if Jaivan is the largest cannon in the world, the meal (Rajasthani Thali) we had thereafter would have easily qualified for the largest meal in the world....well, atleast until we realized that its the norm out here! I barely managed to create a dent in the huge quantities of sumptuous food served on my plate and was more than glad when our next stop, the Amer Fort, presented me with the chance of digesting all the heavy food with some robust walking around.

Ganesh Pol

Situated atop a hill some 11 km out of Jaipur, the Amer Fort was the seat of the Kachwaha rulers from the 11th Century onwards, until they moved their capital to Jaipur in 1727. Like the Jaigarh Fort, Amer too has seen peaceful times and hence the structure is pretty much intact. However, unlike the Jaigarh Fort, which is purely a military structure, the Amer Fort is more of a palace complex tastefully constructed in four levels, each with a well adorned gate and courtyard. The most beautiful of the gates is the Ganesh Pol marking the entry to the third level. Decorated with numerous frescoes and dedicated to Lord Ganesha, this gate leads into the private quarters of the royal family.

Sukh Niwas and the garden

If the entry gate is so stunning, could the private quarters be any less? The Ganesh Pol leads into another courtyard consisting of the Sukh Niwas (Hall of Pleasure) which overlooks a garden with hexagonal designs. Currently the garden is in need of some tending, but once upon a time colorful flowers used to adorn the plants in the sunken beds. These were trimmed in a way that made the garden look like a colorful plush carpet. Fountains in the center spouted scented water which was run through concealed wall channels to cool the palaces.

Opposite the Sukh Niwas is the exquisite Sheesh Mahal or the Mirror Palace! Thousands of convex shaped mirrors carefully cut and laid in intricate patterns on the walls and ceiling give this palace the look of a 'glittering jewel box'. It is hardly difficult to imagine how the place would have glittered in the light of even a single lamp!

Ceiling of Sheesh Mahal

Sunlight reflecting off a panel in Sheesh Mahal...
Just imagine what the palace must look like with lamps lighted!

Discharging our guide, we decided to simply hang around at the fort. As closing time approached, the courtyards quickly became devoid of tourists and not before long we had the fort all to ourselves in near perfect solitude! We simply ambled around, clicking pictures and watching the sun disappear behind the ramparts....

But having seen the fort was not enough, so R and I headed for the sound and light show conducted at the Kesar Kyari complex. The location, at the Maota lake, offers excellent panoramic views of the Amer Fort, the nearby Jaigarh Fort and the surrounding hills. The hour long show introduced us to the history of the Amer Fort and its rulers, the Kachwahas. Tales of blood and gore have been intertwined beautifully with soulful folk music, offering a glimpse of the eternal spirit of Rajasthan. 

Our bored-to-death taxi driver breathed a visible sigh of relief when we emerged out of the sound-and-light-show complex. Infact, he even declared that he has never been this bored in his life - cooling his a** off for over 5 hours in the parking lot of the fort! Apparently, other tourists are done here in under 2 hours. Obviously he wasn't at all delighted when we announced our intention of heading back into the main fort complex - this time for dinner. 

Candle light dinner at 1135 AD

A beautiful moon smiling overhead, gentle breeze blowing over the ramparts, soft lighting around the fort walls and the fort all to ourselves! Could we ask for more?..... Well, why not! How about some mindblowing, finger-licking good traditional Rajasthani food served in best-of-its-class royal ambiance....1135 AD offered us just that! Fantastic food....impeccable service....superb ambiance....and the company of a loved one....I WAS THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD! 

After a long leisurely dinner, it was finally time to head for the railway station to board our late night train to Jaisalmer. Waiting for the TC to check our tickets before we called it a day, I sat glancing through some of the photos we had clicked during the day. The quintessential snake charmer to the Jantar Mantar,  one of the best private astronomical observatories in the world....Jaivan, the largest cannon in the world to the Sheesh Mahal, a palace of exquisite beauty - Jaipur is a perfect reflection of the contradiction that is India!....I am sure we'll be back to explore more of this city soon, but for now, I was looking forward to our next stop - Jaisalmer....

Dance Festival, Mumbai

Nehru Centre's Cultural Wing organizes, throughout the year, several cultural programmes in all branches of performing arts such as dance, drama, music, etc.,. One such programme, held this year from 14-16 November, was the annual Dance Festival which brought together some of the most renowned dancers of the country - Pt. Birju Maharaj, Dr. Mallika Sarabhai and Dr. Sonal Mansingh.

Day 1: Kathak by Pt. Birju Maharaj
The three day festival commenced with a Kathak performance by none other than the legendary Pt. Birju Maharaj, along with his senior disciple Smt. Shaswati Sen. After a brief introductory talk about the programme and the ceremonial lighting of the lamp, by Pt. Birju Maharaj, we were off to a mesmerizing start with an invocation by Shaswati Sen - the Madhurashtakam, composed by Shri Vallabhacharya and rendered in the voice of Birju Maharaj.

It is indeed difficult, nay, impossible, to translate into english the essence of the word 'Madhuram'! The most simplistic translation would be 'sweet' or 'beautiful', but these words miserably fail to convey the divine essence of this poem which describes the lovely attributes of Lord Shri Krishna's form. But where words fall short, expressions convey even the deepest of emotions with utmost ease! And Shaswati Sen did complete justice to the essence of Madhurashtakam with some wondrous emoting. Whether it was as an innocent child, or a playful cowherd, a naughty thief, or an amorous lover, every depiction of Krishna was totally endearing! Indeed, "madhur-adipater akhilam madhuram" - everything about the Lord of sweetness is sweet!

Another short performance by Shaswati Sen and then her guru Pt. Birju Maharaj took over the stage!

In keeping with his philosophy of making classical dance comprehensible to the masses, Birju Maharaj chose to get down to the very basics of understanding the rhythm in things and its expression in dance. Be it the depiction of a prancing hen trying to avoid trampling its chicks, a boy joyfully skating, a peacock dancing with its feathers unfurled, or a gopi complaining to Yashoda about her brat Krishna, Pandjitji was grace personified! Thundering applause and a standing ovation from a packed-to-the-last-seat auditorium is proof enough of why Pt. Birju Maharaj is considered one of the foremost exponents of Indian classical dance.

Day 2: Bharatanatyam by Dr. Mallika Sarabhai and Revanta Sarabhai

Dr. Mallika Sarabhai

Day two of the dance festival had Bharatanatyam performances by Dr. Mallika Sarabhai, a noted Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dancer, with her son Revanta Sarabhai.

If Birju Maharaj has chosen the down-to-the-basics approach in dance, Dr. Mallika Sarabhai has boldly experimented with new themes, trying to make classical dance more enjoyable and relatable, particularly for the younger audiences. Her efforts have earned her the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Creative Dance (2000), apart from the prestigious Padma Bhushan (2010).

While the mother-son duo emoted with their eyes and hands, an overhead projector usefully flashed English translations of the traditional Tamil compositions to which they performed. Though the repeatedly changing phrases on the projector screen was a bit distracting, I realized it was helping the audiences overcome the language barrier and truly enjoy the dance recital.

Revanta Sarabhai

For me, the highlight of the day was a solo by Revanta, about long distance relationships in present times. Penned by Mallika Sarabhai, and translated into literary Tamil by her troupe, it is the story of a youth whose girlfriend relocates abroad for a job. Over time, the heroine gets caught up with her career and stops responding to calls, emails and skypes from her lover. While a fastrac lover would have moved on, not so our hero. Though he is desolate and heartbroken, he understands that his lady's career is as important as his own, and hence ardently prays to God that she must not forget his love. As is the case with all happy endings, the heroine finally returns to the hero for a joyous union.

I have often scoffed at, and surely never been able to relate to, goofy mythological love tales of Shakuntala pining for Dushyanta, who has obviously forgotten her, or Pururava roaming the forests, searching desperately for his lady love Urvasi who has deserted him. But how different is our reality from theirs? In the absence of telephones and computers, these mythological lovers turned to birds and beasts to carry their messages of love. They roamed the forests and often revisited the fragrant bowers which were witnesses to their love scenes. Since we no longer have the privilege of forests and bowers, we make do with malls and movie theaters for meeting our loved ones. The form in which we maintain relationships has indeed changed a lot, but the essence remains the same. The pangs of separation, the sorrow of loneliness, the ecstasy of union are still the same!

Though Revanta's performance was not spectacular, it was very effective because of the strong connection the story was able to establish with the audience.

Day 3: Odissi by Dr. Sonal Mansingh
The festival drew to a close with a spectacular Odissi performance by Dr. Sonal Mansingh. A disciple of Kelucharan Mohapatra, she is the recipient of several awards and honors including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1987), Padma Bhushan (1992) and the Padma Vibhushan (2003).

Dr. Sonal Mansingh

Sonal Mansingh's performance started off with the traditional blowing of conches and an invocation to Lord Ganesha. This was followed by an oh-so-forgettable nritta (pure dance movements as a medium of visual depiction of rhythms) performance by a youth whom neither the organizers nor Sonal Mansingh herself felt the need to introduce to the audience!

Thankfully, we were not subjected to the torture of watching this youth for long and Sonal Mansingh soon took over the stage to present what was undoubtedly the highlight of the day - Shiva Navarasas, depicting the nine rasas (or emotions) through mythological stories connected with Lord Shiva.

The storytelling in each of the rasas was phenomenal, with Sonal Mansingh bringing out even the finer nuances dramatically with her gestures and expressions. Two rasas which were a particular treat to watch were Hasya (amusement or laughter) and Bhayam (fear), two emotions that are very difficult to associate Shiva with! But not only was the selection of episodes spot-on, Sonal Mansingh's dramatization of the fables was totally enchanting.

For depicting Hasya rasa, Sonal Mansingh chose the Mohini-Bhasmasura encounter where, much to the amusement of the celestial beings, Shiva himself gets enamored by the enchanting beauty of Mohini, forgetting that it is Lord Vishnu who has assumed this form to kill Bhasmasura! The dance contest between Mohini and Bhasmasura was brought out beautifully with the softer, more graceful movements of Mohini, the enchantress, as against the aggressive, even arrogant, reproduction of the same by Bhasmasura, the demon.

'Every man fears his wife!' Sonal Mansingh quipped as she explained her choice of incident for portraying Bhayam - Shiva trembling in fear at Parvati's fury when she realizes that Shiva has beheaded Ganesha. Sonal Mansingh's expressions in this piece were simply mindblowing, especially where she enacts Parvati creating a clay image of a boy, breathing life into it, watching with pride as her boy grows up instantly and then torn by anguish and fury when she learns that her husband, Shiva, has beheaded the boy so created by her!

Unlike Mallika Sarabhai's programme on the previous day, which was extremely well coordinated, today's programme was marked by several highs and lows. Sonal Mansingh and her accompanying singer lost sync when he missed one paragraph in the invocation (maybe because of the low light on stage), but he quickly recovered. Then again, Sonal Mansingh's armbands came loose and after trying to adjust them a few times, she finally discarded them (her attempts to adjust and discard the jewellery were so beautifully interwoven with her dance moves that it was lovely to watch) and the lesser said about the performance by the unnamed gentleman the better (who also performed a duet with Sonal Mansingh)! But Sonal Mansingh's unmatched storytelling and wonderful portrayal of a few episodes saved the day and earned her a standing ovation.

At the end of it all, I really enjoyed the dance festival and look forward to being here again next year...

M for Muse....

I often playfully crib when R makes me hold a pose for several minutes while he works on the perfect composition and camera settings. But when the final result is something like this, who minds a few moments of discomfort....

For those of you who are interested in knowing how R ended up clicking this fantastic photo, please do look up his blog post on the subject (http://ramansharaph.blogspot.com/2011/10/m-for-muse.html).

As for me, well, R has just purchased a new lens - the Canon 70-300 mm f/4-5.6 IS USM. Loaded with a much superior lens, and with a wonderful holiday planned ahead, I am looking forward to many more breathtaking memories captured for eternity....

Shiv-Hari Jugalbandi

Have had the chance to watch Pt. Shivkumar Sharma perform live on several occasions, but was yet to watch Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia. So when I found out that this matchless duo was performing in Mumbai on 5 Nov 2011, I had no intentions of missing it!

The concert was being organized as a fund raiser by the Asian Cancer Foundation (ACF), an organization dedicated to providing aid, financial and otherwise, to people suffering from cancer. What sets them apart from the thousands of others operating in this field is that this probably is the first such organization formed by doctors themselves. ACF also runs a division called C-Kids, which is engaged in helping children afflicted with cancer. Some of these kids were even called on stage to present flowers to the chief guests (the sponsors and one bollywood actress), and on seeing those cute little darlings I was happy that I too was making a small contribution to this cause by having purchased tickets to the concert.

However, the concert started off on an entirely wrong note. In a bid to attract some attention of the press to the noble cause, ACF had invited a well known bollywood actress (whom I shall refrain from naming here) as chief guest. Much to our dismay, the lady arrived more than an hour late, meanwhile holding up the concert! I really fail to understand why the organizers did not start the programme as scheduled, and honor the chief guest as and when she arrived?!?!?!? After all, neither was the lady performing herself, nor was she even required to honor the two maestros. And the audience was there to listen to the maestros, not to see her! Frankly, I found it quite ridiculous and insulting to have two such great personalities, and Padmavibhushans at that, waiting for a bollywood actress to arrive so that they could start their performance! Anyhow, after an hour's delay, the show finally started. Sadly, though, both the maestros had to entirely cut out playing the alap due to paucity of time. Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, while re-tuing  his santoor, could not refrain from making a sarcastic comment that both he and his santoor had been ready for the performance since over two and a half hours!

Anyhow, the performance finally began and it wasn't long before the audience was lost in the magical world created by Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia's flute. The maestro chose to play raga Madhuvanti. I knew nothing about the raga or its mood apart from the fact that it was an evening raga. As I shut my eyes to the lilting flute, I could almost visualize lord Krishna engaging in love games with Radha and the Gopis in secluded, fragrant groves! It was only later, when I was looking up raga Madhuvanti on the internet, that I found out that this raga oozes with the sentiment of eternal love and romance! What beautiful rendition by Panditji, and what better instrument to play the raga on than the flute!

Taking the magic further, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma chose to entice the audience with raga Janasammohini, a rare and beautiful evening raga creating an atmosphere of tranquility. True to its name, the raga had the audience spellbound!

With the individual performances over, the maestros then came together for a brief jugalbandi, playing an assortment of ragas. The duo, which has worked together in the past on several highly popular musical and film albums, was totally in sync with each other and enthralled the public with some super melodious, and later some super fast paced musical dueling.

Finally, my wish to see Shiv-Hari perform together had been fulfilled, and I wondered - is it possible for music to get any sweeter...

Kala Virasaat - A Cultural Treat

Was randomly flipping through the Bombay Times when an ad caught my eye - Pt. Birju Maharaj was performing in Mumbai on 26 Aug! In a flash I was onto my lappy picking up the tickets. Mumbai had waited for five long years, and I had waited many more to watch this legend perform live. There was no way I was going to miss this!

R was scheduled to travel on work, but my cousin P decided to join me. Together, we braved an hour and half of nasty traffic snarl-ups before we managed to reach the venue, Nehru Centre, Worli, just in time for the first performance.

Taal India
The first item lined up on the agenda of this two day cultural festival organized by Banyan Tree Events was Taal India. A concept created and directed by Mr. Mahesh Babu, MD of Banyan Tree Events, and led by Anubrata Chatterjee on the Tabla, Taal India is a percussion ensemble of folk and classical drums from across India which features instruments such as the Dholak and Khadtaal from Rajasthan, Dhol from Punjab, Pung from Manipur (also commonly known as the Manipuri Mridanga), Edakka, Chenda and Mizhavu Thayambaka from Kerala, Tabla, etc.

Taal India (photo courtesy www.mumbaimirror.com)

To begin with, each percussionist played a short solo piece, followed by an impromptu jugalbandi which culminates into a unified pulsating crescendo. The audience was not to be left behind even for a moment as they spontaneously clapped to the beats.

Here is a video clip from a past performance by Taal India (courtesy YouTube):

Even though this video is thoroughly enjoyable, it does not convey the electrifying atmosphere created by the artists as they performed live for an hour! Taal India is a MUST WATCH if you ever get the chance. I would love to watch them again!

Odissi
If Taal India was electrifying and pulsating, the second item on the agenda transported the audiences into a totally different world of tranquil grace - an Odissi performance by Madhavi Mudgal and her group.

Madhvi Mudgal and her Group
(photo courtesy www.mumbaivibes.com)

An internationally acclaimed Odissi danseuse, Madhavi Mudgal learnt Odissi under the tutelage of the renowned guru Padmavibhushan Late Shri Kelucharan Mahapatra and has been the recipient of several awards and honors including the prestigious Padmashree (1990) and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2000).

The first composition presented by the troupe was Gangastavan, an invocation depicting the river Ganga's descent from Lord Shiva's tresses. The superb choreography (by Madhavi Mudgal) evoked images of the majestic river cascading down the mountains, purifying everything it touched.

The second composition, Vistaar, an exploration of Odissi in its pure classical form, was a visual treat with Madhaviji and her troupe maintaining perfect balance and grace as they executed sensuous movements and struck sculpturesque poses!

The third, and sadly final (I could have watched them all night!), composition presented by the troupe was an excerpt from the great Sanskrit poet Kalidasa's Kumara Sambhavam.

Madhavi Mudgal (left) and Arushi Mudgal (right)
(photo curtesy www.google.com)

Oppressed by the demon Tarakasura, the Devas realize that Kartikeya, the son born of Shiva and Parvati, would be their protector and savior. Kamadeva, the god of love, is commissioned to bestir Shiva out of his deep meditation, but fails. The story opens with Kamadeva being burned to ashes by Shiva's third eye. On witnessing Kamadeva's destruction, Parvati realizes that beauty and lust will not stir the great ascetic Shiva. Hence, discarding all comforts and luxuries, Parvati engages in the severest of austerities. The enchanting woods, the scorching summer, the terrifying thunder nor the freezing winter deter her from her rigorous penance. Overwhelmed by her devotion, Shiva playfully decides to engage with her. Disguised as an ascetic and feigning ignorance, he inquires from her the reason for such harsh penance. Parvati, through a friend, coyly indicates that she seeks Shiva as a groom. Horrified, the ascetic describes the repulsive appearance of Shiva and belittles him. Outraged, Parvati retorts that the ascetic obviously knows nothing of the real Shiva, the Lord of the Three Worlds, reciting whose name alone is enough to bestow salvation. She bids the ascetic to depart, only to find revealed in him her heart's desire - Shiva! Dumbstruck, her senses reel, and she becomes like the flowing river obstructed by an immovable mountain - neither able to halt nor move away.

Madhavi Mudgal plays the ascetic, while her niece Arushi Mudgal plays Parvati. Wonderful choreography (by Madhavi Mudgal), beautiful lighting and soulful background score (by Madhup Mudgal) transport you into a surreal world. But what really takes your breath away are the delicate expressions and striking poses struck by the dancers, especially Arushi Mudgal.

Needless to say, the audience bestowed the troupe with thundering applause and a standing ovation! After having watched them for an hour, I was still greedy for more! My cousin P, who has learnt Bharatanatyam, thoroughly enjoyed the performances.

Kathak
The clock struck 9 pm and it was finally time for what most people had come there for - to watch Pt. Birju Maharaj live!

Pt. Birju Maharaj
(photo courtesy www.google.com) 

Born on 4 February 1938, Pandit Brijmohan Nath Mishra, popularly known as Birju Maharaj, is undoubtedly India's foremost Kathak exponent. Belonging to the Lucknow Gharana of Kathak dance, Birju Maharaj has learnt kathak from his father Late Shri Jagannath Maharaj (popularly known as Acchan Maharaj) and his uncles Late Shri Lachhu Maharaj and Late Shri Shambhu Maharaj, all of whom were renowned kathak dancers. Apart from being a Kathak expert, Pandjitji is also an accomplished Hindustani Classical vocalist and a poet. Birju Maharaj has won several accolades including the Padmavibhushan (1986) and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1964).

Instead of letting it remain the privilege of an elite few, Birju Maharaj has taken Kathak to the masses, establishing a deep connection with his audiences where ever he has performed. Today's performance was no different. Dance is no rocket science, it is just a simple expression of what we feel, what we observe, Panditji explained. The dancer's ghungroo (anklets) are like the heroine of a story and the tabla is the hero. Sometimes the heroine teases the hero, at other times the hero flirts with her. But in the end, they always meet. Other accompanying musicians are like the runway at an airport, Birju Maharaj quipped. After all their flights of fancies, the dancer and the percussionist have to ultimately land on the runway - the tune being played by the accompanying musicians. Mudras, movements of hands and facial expressions, are nothing but brush strokes of a painter through which he brings alive his painting. There is music in everything, there is rhythm in everything - he explained as he demonstrated this through his dance depicting the flight of birds, the dance of a peacock, the waddling of a duck, a bird feeding its young ones...Kathak, or any dance for that matter, is just a way of expressing this rhythm, this music!

It was simply awesome to watch Birju Maharaj in such extempore mode. After an hour of dancing, Birju Maharaj was just warming up and had barely progressed to depicting larger creatures. His energy and his passion for dance is amazing! But, sadly, it was close to 10:30 pm and I had a long drive back home. So P and I, very unhappily, decided to leave the concert midway. Wonder how long Panditji carried on! The kind of mood he was in, I am sure he could have danced through the night. I would have really loved to see the entire performance, but hey, no regrets. The entire evening had turned out to be a fabulous treat, something that I will relish for a long time to come!

Here is a video of Pt. Birju Maharaj giving one such performance (courtesy YouTube):

As my taxi crawled through bumper to bumper traffic (Yes! At 11:00 pm!) and jolted violently over potholed roads, I recalled Birju Maharaj's words - there is music in everything, there is rhythm in everything...Would I be able to find rhythm and music in Mumbai's potholed roads? I wonder....

(Photo courtesy www.google.com)

P.S - The second day of the two day festival featured performances by the young Santoor maestro Rahul Sharma, accompanied by Oud maestro Mohammed Farghaly from Egypt and renowned harpist Gwyneth Wentink from Netherlands, followed by Sufi Qawwali by the famous Sabri Brothers of Jaipur. Unfortunately was not able to attend the second day of this festival.

Into the clouds and back...Misty Malshej

By now, R and I have developed quite a reputation of being vagabonds...Come a weekend and we are off to some unknown offbeat corner. Naturally, then, it came as a major surprise to everyone that we hadn't planned anything for the Independence Day long weekend or the Eid break! Well, our logic was to beat the crowds that would be heading out of town, and spend some quiet time at home!

Then, the two day break arrived. Eid and Ganesha Chaturthi. After four days of incessant rains the sun was finally shining brightly. The sky was a clear blue. The air fresh and crisp. Just the perfect day to roll down your windows and go off on a long drive! So we did just that....

On a whim, decided to head off to Malshej Ghat - the MUST SEE monsoon destination of Maharashtra. The lure of driving through clouds, soaking in a waterfall and watching flamingos take off in synchronized flight was too much to resist! So we grabbed a few essentials, had a hearty breakfast (and thank God for that) and hit the road by 10:45 am (too late a start for a 300 km round trip, but better now than never). What followed was a crazy and yet awesome day! We did drive through the clouds (and was it great or what!), didn't soak in a waterfall (there was no place to change into dry clothes again), nor see the flamingos (horrendous roads ate into our time), but had a lovely time simply drinking in the beauty of this piece of heaven and walking hand in hand into the mist.

Dear R has already written a wonderful post about the trip, so the lazy me will simply put a link to the post here (click here to go to R's blog post about Malshej Ghat) and save myself the trouble of writing about it all over again ;-)

Instead, I will simply follow the maxim that a picture speaks a thousand words and let these talk about the magic of Malshej!

Into the clouds.....

One of the hundreds by the roadside

The bliss of solitude!

Busy bee

Lost in the clouds....

And back....

P.S - Photos contributed by M and R (before someone cribs again!)

Concert for Tranquility - Pt. Shivkumar Sharma

Decided to attend a concert on 24 Aug at NCPA, Mumbai. Was supposed to be accompanied by R and two other people, but they all ditched last minute, so headed off alone. (There was no way I was going to miss a concert by Pt. Shivkumar Sharma! Even if it meant I had to go all alone!). Thanks to R, who always takes the bleakest view of the traffic situation in Mumbai, I ended up reaching Churchgate more than an hour earlier than required! With nothing better to do, I decided to check out the tiny Sarvodaya Book Stall inside the Churchgate Station. Sarvodaya is known for its collection of odd reads, but what I was looking for turned out to be not just odd, but also out of print! Did manage to find a few other good books though.

Couldn't spend much time at the book stall. It's really difficult, when you have huge crowds milling about you! So finally took a shared cab and reached NCPA, with still a lot of time to spare. Chose to settle down at a nice spot on Marine Drive and was treated to a rather amusing lover's tiff (quite a common sight around here)! Now, I am totally against eavesdropping, but can you be blamed of eavesdropping when someone is screaming at the top of their voice and creating a public spectacle? Anyway, the antics of the couple kept me entertained for a while and I killed the remaining time enjoying a lovely cup of coffee. And then, at last, headed for the concert.

The concert was organized in the memory of Mrs. Kiran and Mr. Jagdish Khanna by their family members (no, they are no Page 3 celebs or something like that. Just some nice individuals who loved music and who have loving family members surviving them) with a desire and hope to see peace and tranquility prevail over this world. And who better than Pt. Shivkumar Sharma to transport you into such a peaceful and tranquil world!

Born on Jan 13, 1938 in Jammu, Shivji not only rediscovered the Santoor, a little known, obscure folk instrument of the mountains, but also in a way reinvented it, by making numerous changes to the traditional instrument thus rendering it suitable for playing classical ragas. He has indeed, single-handedly, put the Santoor on the global stage. Panditji's relentless pursuit of excellence has earned him several national and international awards and honors, including both the Padmashree (1991) and the Padmavibhushan (2001). For all the recognition and success, Shivji remains a tremendously humble and jovial man. 'Research has proved that excessive exposure to cell phones causes brain damage. But exposure to music causes no damage! So why dont you put away your mobiles and enjoy the music instead?' he quipped, as someone's cell phone rang out aloud.

Just as I was getting ready to enjoy the upcoming treat of scintillating music, my nostrils were assaulted by a hideous stench! Giving away my extra passes turned out to be both good and bad. Good cause the passes ended up going to people who were obvious music lovers. Bad because the seat next to me ended up being occupied by someone who stank like he had just waded through all the gutters of Mumbai! All my life I have ridiculed women who roam around bathed in perfume that one can smell a mile away. And here I was now, desperately praying for precisely such a woman to walk in and save me! Sadly, no such thing happened. But thanks be to God who gave me the forethought of carrying a stole. After securely covering my nose with two rounds of cloth (which still did not manage to keep out the odor entirely), I let the music of Shivji take over my senses.

In keeping with the theme of the concert, Shivji chose to start the evening with Raga Bhoopali (or Bhupali), also known as Raga Bhoop, a beautiful evening raga evoking a devotional mood. The same raga in Carnatic music is known as Mohanam. Starting with an alap, jor and jhala, Shivji followed it up with a second composition in Raga Bhoopali, gat in Roopak Taal. After a brief break during which Shivji retuned the Santoor (and the audience relieved their bladders), he chose to play three compositions in Raga Mishra Shivranjani, a light classical raga. Interestingly, this raga can convey different moods depending on the tempo in which it is played, Panditji informed us. When played in a slow tempo, this raga conveys melancholy; in a medium tempo it evokes feelings of love and romance; whilst in a faster tempo the raga infuses the listeners with joy. Naturally, the maestro chose to play this raga in a faster tempo. And my joy was undoubtedly doubled considering that the stink-man next to me had disappeared during the break and had not returned!

Panditji enthralled the audiences, as ever, and at the end of three hours, we were left wanting to hear more of this incomparable genius. It just struck me that even to give a three hour long performance at the age of 73 is a commendable feat in itself! It is surely the eternal nature of music that keeps Shivji young even at this age!

God bless Shivji and the Khanna family, because of whom I could enjoy this wonderful treat!

Wings of Joy



The Striped Tiger

Mumbai - a city choking with pollution and population! Would you believe that tucked away somewhere not far away from this madness is a piece of heaven? Where countless butterflies spread their colourful wings in joy!



The Oakleaf Butterfly

Unbelievable, yet true. This piece of heaven is created through the hard work of a single man - Rajendra Ovalekar, who decided to convert his 2 acre plot of agricultural land into a garden for butterflies. India's foremost expert on butterflies, Isaac Kehimkar, lent his expertise and support in making this garden a reality.



The Common Grass Yellow (this fellow is really tiny!)



At the Ovalekarwadi Butterfly Garden, butterflies are not bred in an artificial environment. Instead, special varieties of plants are cultivated here that provide ideal food and breeding grounds for butterflies, thereby attracting these delicate winged creatures in large numbers.



The Danaid Eggfly



As can be expected, the garden has become a favourite hangout for butterflies, naturalists and shutterbugs alike.

The garden is home to more than 70 species of butterflies, with several migratory species visiting as well. On any good morning, it wouldn't be too difficult to spot atleast 20 to 25 varieties. We spotted quite a few ourselves....



The Common Crow



But capturing these creatures of flight in a camera is quite a task in itself! It requires tremendous amounts of patience and luck to get the right shot. And it is absolutely essential to stay quiet and not disturb the butterflies (sadly, something that a lot of visitors there simply refused to understand).



The Striped Tiger



The Blue Tiger

In order to really enjoy the Butterfly Garden and get good photographs, it is best to arrive as early in the morning as possible when butterflies are at their slowest. Butterflies become increasingly active as the day progresses.

The Common Jezebel



The Common Rose



Mr. Ovalekar and his team are always available at hand to guide the amateur visitors in spotting butterflies, cocoons, caterpillars and other interesting creatures found in the garden.

Located off Godhbunder Road, Thane (West), the Butterfly Garden is open on Sundays between 07:00 am to 02:00 pm. A nominal entry fee is charged. Space to park cars is available at the garden and breakfast can be arranged if adequate advance notice is provided to the team. Contact numbers are: +919892138338/ +919869323383.

For the Mumbaikar tired of seeing concrete jungles, the Ovalekarwadi Butterfly Garden is truly a sight for sore eyes....




The Great Eggfly Female

 
Photos contributed by Mr. Raman Sharaph















The Mumbai Museum

With almost all of Mumbai heading off to some or the other weekend destination close by, R and I decided to avoid crowded outstations and dedicate the long weekend to some long pending local city sightseeing.

We began Saturday with a visit to the Church of St John the Evangelist, more popularly known as the Afghan Church. This church was constructed by the British to commemorate the dead of the First Afghan War of 1838. Sadly for us, the Church was closed as now the Church holds very few masses. 

Next we visited the Jahangir Art Gallery. On display were several collections of modern art by renowned artists. But R and I don't quite understand modern art and hence we decided not to spend too much time here. After a quick bite at Samovar, the famous restaurant at the Art Gallery, we headed to the Mumbai Museum.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya

Originally known as the Prince of Wales Museum, this Museum was set up in the early 1900s in honor of the Prince of Wales (who later on became King George V) visiting India. The Museum architect George Wittet has designed this building in the Indo-Saracenic style, which incorporates features of Indian as well as Western architecture. Later, the Museum was renamed as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya.

The museum has a collection of: 

• Stone Sculptures, predominantly from sites in Maharashtra, Karnataka and parts of western India; 
• Miniature Paintings from the various schools of miniature painting that developed in India; 
• Decorative Art Objects in ivory, silver, jade, etc; 
• Indian Coins, dating all the way back to the 7th Century B.C; 
• Nepalese Art, primarily being metal sculptures of the various gods, goddesses and demigods worshiped in Nepal; 
• Prehistoric stone age tools and artifacts; 
• Natural History Section which houses a collection of 'taxidermied specimens' of mammals, birds and reptiles. 
• Certain sections displaying Arms and Armors, European Oil Paintings, etc were closed for reorganization and renovation. 

I personally liked the Coin Gallery very much (who doesn't love money, eh!) as it illustrates how the usage of currency developed and flourished in different eras in India over the centuries. Some of the specimens in the Natural History Section are also mind blowing! I was totally astounded by the sheer size of the Rhino (as large as a Mahindra Scorpio!), a 21.5 foot long Whale Shark (these things normally grow to a size of about 50 feet!!!! Gulp! Thankfully, they are not interested in harming humans) and a 6 foot tall Bison (he was damn handsome too!). But overall, being the animal lover that I am, I was saddened to see all these dead creatures. The kids at the museum were having a good time though. I guess in a place like Mumbai, most kids don't get to see anything more than pigeons, dogs and cats!

A good part of the collection at this museum has been donated by generous individuals such as Sir Ratan Tata and Sir Dorabji Tata. Though the collection at this museum can not hold a candle to the Salarjung Museum of Hyderabad, it is certainly worth a visit. Ultimately, R and I enjoyed the time we spent here, though our legs were aching like hell!

Debit what comes in....

In response to a frantic call from my neighbour (who is a professor), I recently found myself addressing a classroom of some 40 odd 3rd year law students of the Pravin Gandhi College of Law, Mumbai. Earlier known as the SVKM College of Law, this is part of the Sri VileParle Kelavani Mandal (SVKM) which runs several educational institutes across Mumbai, including the prestigious Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics, Mithibai College of Arts, Commerce & Science and the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies.

As part of a student skill development program, the College had decided to conduct short (2 hours) sessions on various topics which would be useful, interesting as well as fun for the students. I was roped in to deliver a talk on 'Fundamentals of Accounting' (which honestly is neither useful, nor interesting nor fun). Wondering why law students need to know fundamentals of accounting? Well, that was the very first question I put to my prof neighbour who was part of the faculty incharge of organizing the skill sessions.

The fact of the matter is that lawyers are involved where there are disputes. Disputes occur over things that are worth some money. Where money is involved, accountants are surely involved. And when the lawyer and the accountant have to deal with each other, all hell usually breaks loose. So, the objective of the session was to familiarize the would-be lawyers with atleast the basic concepts and jargons of accounting so that they are on the same page as the accountants (which rarely is the case). Fair enough!

So I quickly put together a few slides on the topic and enthusiastically presented myself to the class (I dont know how much of my enthusiasm was shared by the class :-) ). Luckily for me, a good share of the class had opted for commerce in their Class 11 and 12 and had a decent idea of what I was talking about. For a subject as dry as accounting, I had a phenomenal amount of class participation (may be it was because of the fact that all my examples to explain the concepts had something to do with pocket money, pizzas and mobile phones). Just as we were discussing the golden rules of accounting, one of our latecomers walked into the class and the entire class erupted into 'Debit what comes in....'. Imagine applying one of the rules of accounting on flesh and blood persons!

Anyway, the session went well (nobody hooted, booed or threw stuff at me!) and one of the students even got me a nice cup of hot coffee during the break. It was great interacting with the younger generation (sad, but true, we are all aging), but what I enjoyed even more was interacting with other guest lecturers. One session which particularly interested me was on collecting forensic evidence from the crime scene. The lady who conducted the session is a professor at the Institute of Forensic Sciences, Mumbai, and was carrying this extremely interesting kit with all sorts of finger print dusting powers and what not. Obviously couldnt get to attend her session, but managed to get a few minutes with her where she explained some of the stuff they teach. Quite an interesting field of study!

Really look forward to more such opportunities to break away from the monotony of regular work and broaden my horizons!