The Year That Was

A pictorial journey through the year 2008.

The year started on a very pleasant note when we flew down on a sight seeing trip to south India in January 2008.

On board a low flight aircraft overlooking the nilgiri hills
Visited various places like Ooty, Mysore,





Kerala



and Kanya Kumari -- seen below is the the southern most tip of Indian peninsula.

Celebrated twenty five years of our marriage in May 2008

Attended famous Durga Puja celebrations of Calcutta, (view of a Puja Pandal at College Street )

and idols of 'Ma Durga' and other gods and godesses inside the pandal.

Navratra festival --

Jeet treating the 'Kanya' (young girls ) on ashtami during 'Navratras'

'Navratras' were followed by 'Karva Chauth' -- a fast observed by ladies in devotion to their husbands. They wait for the moon to break their fast.

And there she came out after much wait, shining bright in the dark sky.

And my moon on the earth was all smiles as the wait ended.

Next was the festival of Diwali. Hustle and bustle of Diwali shopping in one of the Delhi markets

We all traveled to Shimla to celebrate Diwali there.

Dilraj, Mahak and Malvika with their nanny enjoying the swing at Shimla.

Romancing Jeet on the famous Ridge at Shimla

Shimla on the Diwali night.

And back to work at Calcutta

in the office and at home

Some days were bright

and some dull

and my regular friends kept me company, having their daily morning meal on my terrace.

The tragedy struck the country towards the end of the year.

Candle light tributes to those killed during Mumbai Carnage.

But life goes on. A song and dance programme held at a club in Calcutta to mark the year ending celebrations.

I will be failing in describing the journey through the year 2008 without mentioning about the blogger friends that i made during the year , though i have been blogging since 2005. Although i have not met any of them except Ashwani, who is my colleague, but i have already started feeling their presence in my life. The list of their blogs is :-
anoobhooti
JP's randomthoughts
Pinku-Enchanted Life
Overdrive ... :)
A Quest.....!
The Life and Times of an Indian Home Maker
La Belle Dame Sansmerci
जाने भी दो यारो........
Shobhaa De
Inexplicably
Reflections
ki-jaana-main-kaun
What we obtain too cheap, We esteem too lightly.
JP's philosphicalthoughts
INFINITY ENDS HERE
A point and a view
Stand Up India
Leadership - My Experiences and Understanding
my space
ਕਾਗ਼ਜ਼ ਦੇ ਕੁਝ ਪੁਰਜ਼ੇ / Kaaghaz de Kujh Purzei
Gazal's Blogs

2008 also brought back a long lost friend Hari Sandhu from school days -- courtesy my blog.

Seen below is Hari Sandhu's picture of school days. I mailed it to him as a New Year's gift

I received an SMS on new year which i would like to share here.

"While 2008 was a great teacher, let us hope that 2009 will be a great healer".

And I wish you all a

Happy, Safe and Secure New Year

This post forms part of my life journey. To read all the posts in this series, please click here.

Shabbash India

These pictures were taken during our recent visit to south India. You must be wondering that, while meeting with Mata Amritnandamai is fine, how come we met Mother Teresa, who has left for her heavenly abode since long. Hold your breath. These pictures are of wax idols at a museum located near Kanya Kumari (Cape Comorin). There are a number of wax statues of prominent figures including that of Amitabh Bachchan and Sadam Hussain in addition to some south Indian luminaries. While the museum may not be measuring upto the expanse and grandeur of Madam Tussaud of London, it certainly is an excellent attempt in that direction, particularly as far as putting life into the wax models is concerned. Have a look once again. 'Shabbash' India.
There are more pictures of our south India trip posted under the title 'The Garland Trip'

This post is part of the series on my life journey. To read all the posts in this series, please click here.

The Garland Trip

Recently we undertook a trip to South India, covering parts of three Indian states-- Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. Initially we flew from Calcutta (my present place of work) to Bangalore. From Bangalore we drove down to Srirangapatnam and visited various spots relating to Tipu Sultan, who went down fighting many a battle against the mighty British Army in 18th Century. We also visited Ranganathaswamy temple, an ancient Vishnu temple, short of Mysore city.

Next we headed for Mysore. The richness of Mysore palace and the soothing effect of lights and sounds of numerous fountains of Vrindavan gardens at night fall can not be explained by words alone. We drove up to Ooty the next day. Though the place did not look as exotic as we find it in hindi movies but, we certainly enjoyed the boat ride in the lake where Rishi Kapoor had sung a song for Tina Munim in the film 'Karz', and also visited the tea gardens of Cunoor where the film actress of yore, Ms Mumtaj, owns a few thousand acres of tea plantations in real life. We came back to Bangalore and spent a day going around the city. Last time I visited Bangalore  way back in 1980. While the city seems to have traveled into future with its swanky malls and the silicon companies, the administration has been caught napping as the infrastructure is crumbling under the burden of increasing demands of high tech population. Its roads remain clogged with traffic all the time, making life miserable for the daily commuters, particularly during peak rush hours. At the Bangalore airport we had to stand for one hour in queue for security check alone. The queue had taken the shape of a coil and no one knew where it exactly ended. Thankfully, a new airport has been recently commissioned and will be put into operation soon.

Next we flew down to Trivandrum by a small low flight air craft of Jet Airways, overlooking the Nilgiri hills. At Trivandrum, we did some speed boating in the back waters of Velli, enjoyed sunset at Kovalam beach and next day left for Kanyakumari, the southern most tip of Indian peninsula. The confluence of three waters i.e, the Indian Ocean in the south, the Bay of Bengal in the east and the Arabian sea in the west, deserves to be called a wonder of the world. The different shades of the water on the three sides as well, as of the sands, is so evident of the marriage of three water bodies as mentioned above. However, the serenity of the place has been snatched by commercialization.

Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin) is named after Kumari Amman or Kanyakumari Temple, situated in the town, on the sea-shore. According to folk lore, Kanya Devi, an avatar of Parvati, was to marry Shiva, but as he did not arrive on his wedding day. Kanya Devi is now considered a virgin goddess who blesses pilgrims and tourists who visit the town. Swami Vivekananda swam accross to the rock and worshiped goddess Parvati.

The place is further embellished by two structures in the sea just a few meters away from the main land. One of them is Vivekanand rock memorial and the other, a 133 feet tall statue of Thiruvalluvar, a Tamil sage and a poet who lived in 6 century B.C. Thiruvalluvar wrote Thirukkural, which is a precious gem among the classics, unique in the deliverance of code of conduct to the mankind to follow for all times to come. It consists of 1330 couplets under 133 chapters, the chapters containing 10 verses each. The chapters again fall under three major divisions - Virtue, Wealth and Love. This classical work written in Tamil, has been translated in over 60 languages of the world.

There is a small wax museum near Kanya Kumari, having many wax idols of some celebrities of national and international fame. Though the museum may not be measuring up to the expanse and grandeur of Madam Tussaud of London but it certainly is an excellent attempt in that direction.

After getting back to Kerala, which is known for its spices and rubber plantations, Jeet was keen to see how these are grown, so we visited Ponmudi, a small hill station near Trivandrum, where she could pluck some raw cloves, peppers, cardamoms and coffee beans. We also saw how rubber sap is collected in small bowls fixed to the trunk of rubber trees. The panoramic view of the hills of Ponmudi was really breathtaking. It seems to have escaped the attention of our film makers.

At Trivandrum I took my folks to the cantonment where I had served as a young Army officer in 1980s. It was a nostalgic affair for me to have visited the place after twenty eight years, where our Battalion had been located at that time. I particulraly enjoyed the visit to bachelors' quarters where I had spent three years of prime of my youth from 1979 to 82. The life seemed to have stood still, as not a brick had been moved there. Only change was that of the wild growth of shrubs among the cashew nut grove which surrounds the Officers' Mess area. The cashew trees had now grown to full height, laden with fruit.

From Trivandrum we flew to Bombay and concluded our sojourn before falling back to Calcutta. Our line of travel looked somewhat like a garland around the feet of India, hence the title.

I have uploaded some photograhs of our trip to let the pictures speak for themselves as to how really we enjoyed our 'Garland Trip'.

I start the picture gallery with a photograph of a temple . The pictures are not exactly in the same sequence as we traveled :-





Ranganathaswami Temple -- an ancient Vishnu temple near Mysore built in typical south Indian style.

A short trek at Ponmudi , a place above the clouds near Trivandrum Come on, it is really pleasant out here
And the climb was worth it

A 'top of the world' experience

And we found the missing link too, a tree with animal face

Jeet on a wild swing

Let me try your glasses

This is how rubber sap is collected from the rubber tree.

Breath taking view

and the walk back was equally enjoyable

We shot him (with our camera). Encounter with a tusker. Poor soul was chained.

Dilraj with his friend Nikhil

Mysore city in the background. View from Chamundeshwari hill

Tourists enjoying bucket ride in Kaveri river at Mysore

Tipu Sultan's Tomb

The grand Mysore Palace

Guess his height (clue -- the boys are six feeters). Tall man at Vrindavan Gardens. And no false legs there, look at his hands.

Vrindavan Gardens (above)

Ooty ( below), smell of romance in the air

Ooty Lake

Tea gardens of Cunoor

Tea processing factory of Mumtaj, the film actress of yesteryears

Speed boating in the back waters of Kerala (below)

The back waters of Karela (above) , rightly called "the God's own country"
Kovalam Beach (below)

Sunset at Kovalam




Shanmukham Beach near Trivandrum (below)



An earstwhile palace turned Guest House at Trivandrum (below).
A nostalgic affair. Visit to Cantonment at Trivandrum where I served from 1979 to 82 (below)


Bachelors Officers' quarters (below)
Officers' Mess from inside (above). Of course, a different Battalion is located there now.

Kanya Kumari (Cape Comorin), also seen in the background are the Vivekananda rock memorial and 133 feet tall statue of Thiruvalluvar Kanyakumari, the southern most tip of Indian peninsula.


This post is part of the series on my life journey. To read all the posts in this series please click here.