Mixed Thoughts

Tomorrow is Diwali and is my 62nd since my birth. There has been lot of changes over these years in celebrating Diwali.
The very first or known Diwali to me was around the age of 8 or so. A team of musicians will visit every house in the street and sing MANGALA ISAI – Holy music around 4.30 AM. We all will be given an oil bath – GANGA SNANAM by our parents.
Sometimes, we were given new dresses and we wore them with great pride and happiness.
My mother would have made sweets and salty dishes of few kinds and we will eat the same along with hot idly with sambar and chutney.
The sweets were always shared with neighbors and they exchanged greetings along with sweets. My parents gave us money to buy crackers, sparklers, chakras, flower pots, ribbons, snakes and red color caps and a variety of light emitting matches.
In all we would have spent a good FIVE RUPEES then. This amount was very big and made DENT in the monthly family budget.
Rich family children spent more money and letting off in smoke by way of indulging in setting fire to crackers etc;
I used to go with fellow children from our street and roamed around till what we ate has been digested.
As the years passed, I gradually distanced myself from celebrating the festival as I felt many of my friends were less fortunate in observing any festival.
Then came my college and career days when I continued to observe Diwali with friends of the like nature. We gave away sweets and crackers to needy children and enjoyed their being happy and sumptuous in their celebration of the FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS.
There were few DIWALI occasions such as the first one after my FIRST JOB, marriage and one after joining job in gulf.
On all these occasions, I remembered my past and that of most of my friends who were sailing in the same boat as me.
Now it’s my children’s and my grandsons’ Diwali. Last week we were in Bangalore where my children and Ayush briefly celebrated DIWALI, as were to be in our own house on Diwali day.
I see in my grandchild- Ayush- my days when I hid myself from the noise of ever bursting crackers, and ever blinding lights from various flashing sparklers, pencils etc;
Ayush held my daughters’ sari and hid his face and was afraid of the noise from the lighting sparklers alone. Then, I decided to save the embarrassment and took him off to a far off location.
Diwali is NOT a simple festival anymore!
A simple humble festival has become a very occasion involving entertainment, heavy spending, and whiling away precious time in the name of festival activities.
I read in the news papers that the GOVERNMENT target for liquor sale in Tamil Nadu (TASMAC) alone is set for 250 Crore rupees. True and spirited festival! Almost everyone will be in full spirits.
I saw lots of advertisements in NEWSPAPERS promoting sale of everything that is needed for Diwali. I’m surprised that people have enough funds if not, facility to take loan for buying anything. You name it, it is there!
Gold, diamond, variety of ornaments, dress, dress material, utensils, Pressure cookers, DVDs, A/C units, life size wall mountable TVs etc; the list goes on extending.
The festival is time for spending more money; loan is available to be paid back in 60 monthly installments and beyond. No wonder some of the offers are publicized as ONCE IN A LIFE TIME OFFER!
All regional TV channels are showing variety of programs sponsored by business houses such as home appliance makers, gold and jewelry companies, Mobile phone makers, silk sari show rooms, and so on;
There is EQUAL opportunity for these companies to publicize their products as there is for festival spirited buyers. Millions of rupees are involved in publicity alone especially with FULL PAGE COLOR ADVERTISEMENTS IN ALMOST ALL NEWSPAPERS. Who pays for it, the buyers, as every cost of production and publicity is added to the product.

What is missing is true spirit of happiness and reciprocation of the same.
Most activities are for showing ones wealth and competing with relatives and friends in showing off, false prestige and fictitious happiness, and what is lost is a good amount of money that could be spared for a better cause.
Well, that’s what I feel as my observations lead to similar thoughts. May be one day the fervor will be back as festival of lights which represents the death of evil and resumption of goodness everywhere.
With all these wavering thoughts generated by feeling of exposure to the entire present environment, I decided to seek solace by sitting quietly in the prayer room requesting the all powerful GOD to give me peace and strength for overcoming the state of affairs around.
May GOD bless us all.

V.Sivasubramaniam

Pilgrimage

We were planning for a pilgrimage to places like Kedarnath, and Badrinath for the past few months. We had been to places like Haridwar and Rishikesh few times while living in Ghaziabad in the 1970’s.
Since we are now settled in Coimbatore, we explored the best option to visit these two places without much strain and within a span of one week to ten days as the weather conditions are increasingly getting colder in September / October approaching winter season in these places.
More over we were to call on my brother Ramakrishnan whose beloved wife Smt.Latha passed away a year ago, but couldn’t make it as I was away working in Africa.
As such chose Southern Travels P Ltd for arranging our tour and related air-travel bookings. I booked on the 5th of September 2011 for the tour commencing on 19-9 and concluding on 26-9.Our booking included a night’s stay in their hotel before and after the tour. The idea was to relax before setting out for the trip and also to allow any unforeseen situations towards the final day of the tour upsetting the return air travel on 27-9-11.
18-09-2011 – Sunday
We woke up by 4 AM and completed our morning routines. I prepared chapattis for lunch as we were flying by NO FRILL air-line who does not provide anything other than 300 ml of bottled water per passenger. Our milk vendor delivers milk only after 7 hrs every day, since we had to leave by then; I procured milk from the vendor’s house at 6.30 hrs. After having light food and beverage we were ready to leave our house by pre-arranged call taxi at 7.30 hrs.
At the air-port, we noticed tighter security – due to recent bombings in Delhi High Court area (and no clue was found yet) - but had no problem in entering the premises after furnishing I.D and address verification by the concerned authorities. We carried with us documents like PAN cards in original, copies of our ration cards, passports, receipts of house tax, water tax and telephone bills besides 6 photos of each of us.
None of these (Except original passport and visa copy) were ever demanded in my first few air-travels years ago but has become mandatory due to uncertainties and anti- social activities by terrorists or the like. It showed how insecure is our precious life.
I was looking for daily news papers at the shop situated in the waiting lounge. Though I was delivered news papers every day, I could not read them on this day due to lack of time. The bookshop keeper told me that news papers are kept in the boarding lounge and is available from four different publishers.
We checked in after waiting for 45 minutes. Checking in- was smooth as our luggage combined weighed only 21 Kg including a hand bag and air bag. We soon passed the security check and were in the boarding lounge. We could get 4 different newspapers and enjoyed reading till boarding the air-craft at 10.15 hrs. I carried the newspapers to while away flying time as it took us four hours to reach Delhi via Hyderabad.
We consumed our food for lunch as we were at Hyderabad. The flight was very comfortable and smooth. We were worried about rains at both Hyderabad and Delhi. In Delhi, there were two incidents of aircrafts over shooting the run way in the previous week due to torrential rain.
It appeared that we were flying faster than scheduled and as such I informed our family friend due to picking us from air-port - to come to Delhi air-port 30 minutes earlier. Yes, we landed at Delhi air-port half an hour earlier at 14 hrs.
Hari is the one who picked us from the air-port. Hari is married to Kala – daughter of my wife’s elder sister who lives in Tanjore.
We reached his house located close to the air-port – In sector 8 of Ramakrishna Puram.
Hari and Kala have a lovely daughter by name Swetha whom we last saw as tiny tot during our daughter’s marriage in 2004. Swetha has grown since and sings Carnatic music and has won many prizes in competetions.
I noticed that this part of Delhi has become cleaner and better looking than I last saw in the 90’s.
We spend the time till evening talking about our in-laws and out-laws; and familiar matters of the day including tense condition in the Capital after the recent bombing at the High court.
In the evening, we were dropped at my brother’s house - place which is at sector 5 in R.K.Puram itself – a drive of 10 minutes. We bade farewell to Hari till we meet again possibly on 26-9-11- after our pilgrimage trip.
We met my brother Ramakrishnan alias Kalyanam and his daughters – Subha and Smitha. We were at loss for words to express our sincere condolence as the loss of Mrs.Latha Ramakrishnan was unbearable and could not be compensated in any manner whatsoever.
My brother narrated the final moments of Mrs.Latha before leaving for eternal peace on 3-9-2009. Later, we spoke of the past years where Mrs.Latha had taken care of both responsibilities at home and in the office.
Subha arranged a taxi for us to go to our Hotel in Karol Bagh – a distance of over an hour from his residence due to night travel. We reached Southern Hotel and checked in by 21.00 hrs. There was delay in allocating us a room despite confirmation twice by e-mail both by me and their representative in Coimbatore.
I went out to buy small tube of tooth paste and shaving cream to be used for the week. I intentionally did NOT carry them for two reasons: 1.It will be confiscated if kept in the hand baggage, 2.Cannot keep inside the check-in baggage as it might come out due to pressure.
We went to bed by 22.30 hrs. We had the whole of the next day to relax and get ready for a fully exciting and vibrant tour.
19-09-2011- Monday
We got up by 6 hrs, and completed all routines. Hot water was provided separately for my wife, as I was comfortable in using cold water. We ordered and received two coffees; the waiter poured coffee in the cups and took back the jug as there was shortage of jugs in the hotel.
Later we went to their restaurant named Amaravathi for breakfast. The arrangement was just good enough with minimum attention for hygienic condition. We had south Indian dishes for our consumption besides cornflakes for my wife. I noticed the waiter collecting the spilled over flakes and putting it back in to the dispenser. I couldn’t bear the sight of this and informed his supervisor, and the cornflakes were replaced.
Then we called our daughter Sheeba and informed her about the situation around us. Sheeba called back using her landline and hotel switchboard, and we spoke to Ayush as well.
Later, I went out to see the changes around this area since my last visit in 1984. The Arya Samaj Road, and Ajmal Khan Road area were literally the same but with new buildings. Many out-fits seems to have disappeared. New buildings nearly covered the remaining old ones. I could locate the Raymond shop from where I purchased cloth for my wedding suit in 1977 and the tailor who stitched the same - Narang Tailors - located in the same area.
I located a new vegetarian hotel – Rama Hotel – and enquired about dishes for lunch (without garlic) but I was given to understand that every item except coffee, tea and sweets were laced with flavor of garlic. As such I abandoned my enquiry further regarding garlic free lunch.
I made few rounds in the market and the area was dirty and penchant in odor – nothing has changed in this regard since ages. Karol Bagh has NOT changed at all.
I came back to my room at Hotel Southern and decided to have our lunch at the Kamath Restaurant which is a vegetarian one. I found out that they prepared food / dishes without garlic on specific orders. So self and my wife (Mrs.Sarojam) enjoyed a good lunch.
After lunch, we visited the attached Super Market and explored the contents figuring out any snacks for our tour. We managed to procure some eatables, water and biscuits.
Once again back in room, we took rest for couple of hours and re-packed everything for the tour commencing at 21.00 hrs.
In the evening, I reconfirmed my room bookings for 26-9-2011 to check in at 04.00 hrs at the end of our tour. This was done to prevent waiting outside at the wee hours. The payment was already made at Coimbatore where we made our travel arrangement with Southern Travels’ branch office at Coimbatore.
We checked out at 20.30 hrs and collected our boarding passes and boarded the bus at 21.00 hrs. The bus left after ten minutes. We were 20 PAX in all, besides our tour guide – Mr.Prasanna kumar from Andhra, driver –Mr.Kailash Rawath, two cooks and a conductor.
Prasanna kumar briefed us about the places of visit in the next few minutes to the last day of our trip. He was very knowledgeable in what was he doing since conducting 532 trips over the past years. Self and Saro occupied the first two seats (1 and 2).
Our first stop was at Hanuman Temple where a small ritual was performed by the temple priest – breaking a coconut, placing lemons under the bus tires for crushing and lighting camphor – on the onset of the tour.
My wife and few of our fellow travelers visited the Hanuman temple across the road, while the above ceremony was taking place. I took a photo with the priest.
Later we continued on the tour. The next stop would be our first stop-over; RISHIKESH by 3.00 hrs next day. So, we went to sleep extending the seat to serve as a mini bed. At a distance 80 KM away from Haridwar, the bus was stopped for tea / coffee and for using toilet for intended / needy guests.

Beauty and the Priest.
20-09-2011 – Tuesday
We reached Rishikesh around 03.50 hrs and taken to the guest house. The guest was a 3 storey building with a kitchen at the open balcony. The rooms were on second floors as first floor was used as a hall, while ground floors had shops.
We were given time to take bath and changeover to new attire for the visits of various places by 7.00 A.M.

The guest house, where we stayed in Rishikesh.
Our bathroom had no geyser and so was the case with few others, but it was pleasant to have cold water bath after a very tiresome travel with outside condition as hot as summer.
Our coffee was ready by 5.30 AM followed by breakfast at 6.45 AM. We then left, for the tour of local places of interest at 7.00A.M.
Our first visit was to Swamy Dayanand Asharam.
Rishikesh (Rishi means SAINT and KESH means dwelling place) is a religious town with many ASHRAMS and Sanskrit colleges, besides medical institutions of various natures. The famous temple of Sh.Sathyanarana is situated here. RISHIKESH is resident for many SADHUS. (those who have abandoned all pleasures of life and living with devotion to GOD till attaining eternal peace.)
Rishikesh is a mountainous city and is gateway to other places like Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangothri and Yamunothri. A temple for LORD ShriRam’s brother Bharath is in this town and the town has grown up around this temple. The beauty of nature is handy work of GOD and the presence of the ALMIGHTY can be felt everywhere.
There are two bridges that help to cross over to the other side of River Ganga. By crossing the bridges, one can reach places like Gita Bhavan, Swarg Ashram, Shivananda Ashram, Paramarth Ashram etc;
One was an ancient rope bridge which was later re-constructed with steel ropes- Lakshman Jula, and another one by name Ram Jula. Jula means swing as the bridges were swung due to its construction by means of ropes.
There is a vegetarian Restaurant by name CHOTIVALA restaurant located near Gita Bhavan.
I’m requesting the reader to explore the relevant website to find more information about places and locations mentioned in this brief note. My purpose of writing these lines are for the sake of intended visitors who are new to everything besides to serve as a guide to our posterity.
We visited places of religious interest – Geetha Ashram, Geetha Bhawan, temples on the bank of Ganga. We also floated oil lamp in the river Ganga – Aarthi for Sacred Ganga. Meditation and Yoga is practiced in Rishikesh being an ideal place with favorable climate all around the year.
We returned to our guest house by 11.30 AM and took rest before lunch at 12.30. After a sumptuous lunch, we left for SRINAGAR where we are to spend our night before leaving for KEDARNATH in the early hours of next day. Please note that this SRINAGAR is NOT the same named SRINAGAR and in JAMMU AND KASHMIR.
We covered the distance of 105 kilometers to reach Srinagar via Devaprayag – a town situated en-route and situated at an altitude of 475 meters above sea level – in four and quarter hours and reached our Guest House at 17.30 hrs.
The city DEVAPRAYAG is on the confluence of the rivers ALAKNANDA and BAGIRATHI and located 70 Km away from Rishikesh and 35 Km from Srinagar.
Here we were advised to get OXYGEN canister on hire to be taken /used if needed at Kedarnath to where we were leaving in the early hours of next day. So, I took one canister after paying a deposit of Rs.350.00 If the canister were not used an amount of Rs.50 will be deducted as rental towards the can and balance refunded.

The guest House at Srinagar.
21-09-2011 Wednesday
We got up very early, completed all our morning routines and packed separately the items required for a night’s stay at Kedarnath. The reason was that we had to depend on mule / pony for climbing 14 Km upward and another 14 Km back to the base. We took all our woolen clothing / items, water bottle, Oxygen canister, use and throw type rain coat, umbrella, and a loose bag besides cash. The rest of our luggage was kept within the bus. After usual morning coffee / tea we left for GOWRIKUND the city at the base from where we have to take pony ride or walk 14 Km to reach Kedarnath.
We had breakfast on the way. Normally, food was prepared in advance to save time and then provided at the appropriate time – breakfast or lunch – by breaking our journey close to a guest house with tea / coffee and toilet facilities.
We reached GOWRIKUND at 11.00 AM.
GOWRIKUND is located at a distance of 209 Km. The temple for Devi Gowri( Wife of Lord Shiva, also known as Parvathi devi) is located here. This place has many hot water springs around the city.
At Gowri kund, we purchased tickets for hiring mules for both of us. Many of our fellow tourists either availed pony ride or engaged porters to carry them to Kedarnath and back. The hire cost including insurance was Rs.1600 per person- up / down).

Pattuppadava? (Can I sing?) A ride, on the back of mule?
We were given a cap each for wearing – with logo of Southern Travels – for easy identification of our group of 20 and we started climbing precisely at 13.00 hrs. The ride was not smooth for the following reasons:
The mule was tied with rough belts; the saddle was also rough with worn-out buckles, which tied the seat. The seat was NOT as we see in cinemas where a rich person / a king rides – smooth and nice. A piece of luggage was also tied to each animal. The mule suffered more than us as it had to carry us! – Humans!
I found out that cost of a pair of mules is Rs.150,000!
Our set of mules – carrying me and Saro appeared to be fiancé to each other, as they were colliding very often licking each other while our legs were hit hard over their bodies between the two animals. I had the sharp buckle nearly piercing my pants and hurting both my legs. I had to call our mule owner for help and I discovered that he was DEAF by birth!
So, I had to use sign language whenever I was hurt. His assistant- by name Munna was an angry young boy who kept losing his cool / patience whenever I called for help. Soon we realized that our bottom and back besides the already hurt legs were in pain. We stopped at 7 Km to Kedarnath – at Rampara -for food.
Each rider has to (feed the mule and its keeper as necessary and as part of the requirement) spend for food of the animal and keeper. Once down from the back of the mule, we felt that our body was very stiff and motionless for few minutes. It was like waking up after an anesthesia.
It started raining as we were about to resume our climbing of another 7 Km. Fortunately, it was mild drizzles and Saro covered herself with the use and throw rain coat. (We actually did not throw it as it was still in good condition).
As we continued climbing UP, the temperature was coming DOWN for every hundred feet of climbing and we sensed cold condition around us. We were praying for NO RAIN as it would create untold misery at that level with biting cold setting in.
Fortunately, the rain stopped and we were progressing as required and reached the top of the hills and were on the plane of KEDARNATH around 17.20 hrs.
There were places for the pony to urinate and drink water where these animals went on their own and used the facility. There are 30 water taps along the 14 Km climb for the benefit of passengers / devotees / travellers.
There were hundreds of streams / water falls from where the water was gushing out and joining the river MANDAKINI below. The other source of water was the polluted / urinated / washed out liquid from shops, roads, toilets and any possible washed out water all was added into the holy water stream.
The path way was a very rough and dangerous strip of terrain that was full of pebbles with un-even depth between them. Just to explain the condition here it is: The path was about SIX feet wide. The pebbles were with a gap of a good 3 or inches between them. There was always flow of water from the mountain besides waste water from human use. In some places the width was hardly enough for the mule to walk thru’ with the deep valley on one side. No wonder people kept loudly mentioning the name of GOD – Kedarnath all the time.
We reached our place of stay – Himalaya Guest House (from the pony station where we had to leave our carriers for rest till next day-) by 17.30 hrs. We had coffee at Rs.40 per cup – was at much higher price than petrol or diesel for that quantity!
Soon we were in our respective rooms; local priest came to each one of us and took details for a ceremony (Pooja) at 5.30 to 6.30 AM next day). We booked for a full fledged ceremony in the sanctum covering all our family and paid Rs.501.00 being the minimum fees. We then changed over to heavy woolen clothing and went to the temple of Lord Kedarnath. Besides having full view of the Lord Shiva, we also visited the final resting place of Shri.Sankaracharya.
We had to book for Hot water to be provided at 5 AM next day at Rs.40 per bucket of 10 liters. The Himalaya guest house is owned by Mr.Rao proprietor of the travel company – Southern Travels.
We had our dinner consisting of Chapattis and potato curry. Here the arrangement was for us to pay for all facilities – hot water, food, tea or coffee. We went to bed early.
22-09-2011 Thursday
We got up by 4.30 AM. I went out for getting hot water for completing our morning routines. Hot water was only warm water and we managed to make use of it wisely and were ready to go to the temple at 5.30 AM. Our fellow tourists were also ready and we went to the temple at 5.45 AM. The priest accompanied us in to the temple.
Our turn for performing the ceremony was at 6.15 AM and we were helped by our priest. During the time we performed the pooja we felt very warm inside the temple and experienced a sort of sumptuousness in all respects and aspects. I mean we had no other feeling than devoting ourselves to Lord Shiva.

We completed all poojas by 7 AM (Please see the picture above with time mentioned).
We returned to our room for a quick breakfast and coffee, and started our climbing down wards by 7.30 AM. Some of our guests opted to take helicopter ride to the base and left. We returned by the same way and had food half way thru’ at Rampara and reached Gaurikund precisely at 12.00 hrs – midday.
Saro felt dizzy almost at a Km away from the base and had to take few minutes of break before resuming the ride.
Once back in Gaurikund, we went for a dip in the Hot water spring. We hired a room for an hour to use a locker facility and took bath in the spring. Few minutes of this immersion of our body in the Hot Water massaged us very strongly and we got relieved of all our pain experienced while riding on the mules. I took a wow that I WILL NEVER ADDRESS ANY ONE BY NAME DONKEY ever; for these four legged men suffer more than two legged donkeys.
We then started to reach Srinagar (for the night’s stay before leaving for Badrinath next day) and were in our guest house at 14.00 hrs.
A short trip was arranged for us to visit temple of TRIMURTHY NARAYAN located 20 KM from our guest house at 16.30 hrs. After brief rest and having coffee we left for temple and it rained on the way to temple
We had Darshan of Narayanji and also performed some ceremony for the sake of all the family members, later we returned by 18.45 hrs. We called Sheeba and spoke briefly and conveyed the day’s events on the tour. All of us had early dinner and went to bed by 21 hrs.
23-09-2011 Friday
We woke by 4 AM and completed all our morning routines. Had breakfast on the way – prepared earlier and served on the way to save time. We reached a town named Pipalkotti at 11.45 AM and had our lunch there.
The main road for reaching Bdadrinath from Srinagar starts at a place called JOSHIMATT. The roads are opened from 13.30 hrs and used as one way and closed after 16.30 hrs. Vehicles are not allowed after this time as the roads very narrow with hair pin bends.
We reached Badrinath at 17.30 hrs-covered the distance of 195 Km in 10 hrs. The environment was natural and very green. We noticed landslides in many places on our way up the hills. Badrinath is located at 3110 meters above sea level. The weather was cold but less torturous than at Kedarnath.
Here too, a priest approached us for performing ceremony in the early hours of next day. The minimum cost for the ceremony is Rs.750.00. Most of us agreed for the same and the priest had to arrange accordingly everything as per our individual belief.
After relaxing a while, we went to the temple of Sh.Kedarnath. We went round the area which is covered by usual shops where they sold mementos, religious books, CDs, DVDs, photos coins etc; We also were briefed about the next day’s activities to be performed by each of us before actually doing the ceremony – for the elevation of departed souls of each ones ancestors.
We returned to our guest house located very close to the temple and had our dinner at 21 hrs and went to bed early.
The neighborhood was dirty and covered by breed of mosquitoes despite the cold weather. There was penchant odor everywhere with urine smell all over. We were surprised that a holy place of this caliber is surrounded by unhygienic conditions. We carried de-odorants, but it did not work in this place for the aforesaid reasons.

24-09-2011 Saturday
We woke up as usual by 5 AM, and completed all basic routines. It is a belief that we one had to perform ceremonies for departed souls; shaving should be postponed for the next day. So, I did not shave my face. Also one should NOT consume liquid or food till the ceremony is over.
We all went to the temple area, took bath in the hot water spring named THAPTHA KUND and went to worship Lord Badrinath.
There after we went the location RED PLATFORM at 7.30 AM. Our priest / Pandit Mr.Desik came in Dolly and started explaining to each of us in our languages the necessity for doing the ceremony on the banks of river ALAKNANDA.

Visiting card of our priest, & our team about to perform ceremony.
The priest spoke in all south Indian languages and the verses are in Sanskrit. He has been helping many Hindus doing this for several years. He cannot walk long distances and hence being brought to the location by dolly everyday – carried by human beings in a basket.
The ceremony is to feed the departed souls with BALLS cooked rice mixed with sesame seeds. Then, after the ceremony, the entire lot is immersed in the river in a place called BRAHMA KAPAL.
I was in my normal Dothi and chest cover and used a cap to ward of cold air entering my ears. Later, the sun rays were strong enough to sweat us as early as 9 AM.
We (All of us in the team) skipped our usual morning coffee and breakfast and left for the next place of stay – Pipalkotti at 10.30 hrs.
On the way, we had lunch and reached Pipalkotti at 17.30 hrs. The place of stay was better than all the previous guest houses and we were comfortable after the long travel in the past few days. It rained in the evening and the weather was pleasant.
We were advised to sleep well and rest well as the last leg of our tour starts at 04.00 hrs the next day (Sunday) and ends in Delhi at the same time on Monday Morning with very brief breaks in Haridwar.
25-09-2011 Sunday
We were woken up by 03.00 hrs and hot water was made available in the taps by 03.30 hrs. After completing all our morning routines, and sipping a cup of coffee, we left for Haridwar at 04.25 AM.
We had breakfast and lunch at designated times and reached Haridwar at 14.00 hrs. Our first place of visit was to the show room maintained by Uttranchal Government. This was earlier part of Uttar Pradesh and with change of name became so. There were plenty of handicraft material, saris, and many type of dress material – all from the region.
Immediately, we hired auto rickshaws for visiting by various places of worship / interest in Haridwar.
Hridwar is an ancient pilgrim city on the right banks of river Ganga. The main attraction in haridwar is temple of DAKSHINESWAR situated near the main bathing centre HARI KI POURI. (Feet of Lord Hari).
We visited the temple of MANASA DEVI located on the BILWA MOUNTAIN at a height of 178 meters. We used the rope way to reach there and back. The main attraction in the evening was AARTHI IN THE GANGA after the traditional pooja at 18.30 hrs. This ceremony is performed every day at the same time and thousands of devotees gather to see the lamps being set in motion in the river Ganga.

Ganga pooja / Aarthi at HARI KI POURI
After witnessing the fantastic scenes comprising of hundreds of floating lamps, we returned to our place of rest few Km away from the river Ganga.
Our pilgrimage has literally come to close as we were about to commence our return journey back to where we started – Delhi. All we team members spoke to each other of our individual experience and discussed the overall state of participation.
We took rest, some of us slept briefly before having dinner at 20.55 hrs. After loudly pronouncing the name of Lord Shiva we boarded the bus back to Delhi at 22.45 hrs and reached Hotel Southern in Delhi by 03.45 hrs on 26-09-2011 Monday

26-09-2011 Monday
We wanted to check-in as per our booking at Hotel Southern but were shocked to learn that there were no rooms for us at all due to some problems with their soft ware. We were told to wait till 8 AM and possibly someone will solve the problem. This was the same for few others from our group as well. They left for some other place after an argument with the desk staff. We then called Hari / Kala and went to their house by 5AM. They were kind enough to accommodate us under the prevailing conditions especially at the very early hours of the day.
We took rest and later completed all our morning routines and had breakfast. Hari took leave of absence from his work to be with us as we were only flying out the next day.
We visited the nearby Sarojini Market later and purchased a pair of T shirts for me and a sweater for Ayush (As wanted by him), besides two dolls like chicken which can be activated by the attached keys.
Self and Saro visited the temple known as MALAI MANDIR where Lord Muruga is blessing devotees.
We took rest in the evening and visited my brother Kalyanam and bade farewell to him and children.
We packed all our belongings after adding the shopped items and went to bed after dinner.
27-09-2011 Tuesday
We woke up by 5 AM and completed all our routines and had breakfast. Hari and Kala gave us chapattis for us to have during the air-travel. We travelled with Swetha who was dropped in her school, (As we could not get a cab or auto rickshaw to air-port) and Hari dropped us at the air-port and bade farewell.
Check-in was smooth, but for they discovered my pocket knife in the air-bag. Iwas advised to put it back in my checked in baggage. I could do so with the help of the air-line staff who realized that my knife set was very expensive. Later I checked in again thanking the concerned security officer. The flight took off at 10.15 hrs.
We flew after a stopover at Mumbai and reached Coimbatore at 14.45 hrs. Our regular cab driver took us to our hose and we were in the house at 15.45 hrs.
We called all concerned and informed them of our safe return after the trip.


Personal Notes / Observations
I and Saro enjoyed the trip thoroughly and are very happy for undertaking this pilgrimage despite our age and related slowness in general.
We checked with our family doctor before undertaking the trip as it is tedious and tiring to visit places on high altitudes. We were given adequate medical support and were declared fit for this venture.
Our team members were equally aged and had been to many places in their life span of 60+ years. Some had been to Kedarnath and Badrinath in the 1970s.
I would like to suggest the intended traveler to carry Oxygen canister from always. It is better to have it procured from proper dealers. These should last a good six months and not heavy but portable.
Luggage should be light and containing only very essential items, as it is very difficult to carry them while walking or riding on a mule.
The roads in the hilly areas are riskier and pose danger to all sorts of movements. Though the concerned authorities are doing their best, it is never complete as some of the places are closed during winter.
It is better to travel in a company of identical natured people no matter what the age of the group is. We saw about 50 boys travelling over the motor cycle to Kedarnath from Ambala. They were fully dressed for the trekking and were in uniform – yellow and red color dress.
Group travel is more beneficial to all involved especially when it comes to managing expenses of the trip without pinching the pocket more than necessary. It is far safer in all respects to travel in groups.
There are hundreds of waterfalls / streams – contributories, tributaries which add up to the holy rivers Ganga and Yamuna. We noticed more than a hundred landslides during our travel. At few places we briefly stopped while our driver and conductor removed large stones blocking the roads.
Despite the human trafficking in these areas, the nature is still bearing with the pollution caused by the people and their activities. We noticed that literally every area all along the rivers, where shops are located is full of plastic waste and left over food contaminating the beautiful area.
Most holy places are money spinners for the so called guides, helpers, priests, holy men and so on. There is NO accountability on these peoples’ earnings which is nothing but by force. Our faith in God forces us to shed money to ward of the so called evil around us especially when threatened by a vested interested holy man.
We felt attracted by nature as we believed GOD is nature and NATURE is GOD. Our spending money was minimum towards ceremonies and we prayed to pardon these men who fleece us / others in the name of religion and related activities.
We also procured some pots of Ganges water (to be given to those who may not get an opportunity to visit these places) coins, figures of Gods / Goddess and a DVD on these places.
We felt a trip like this is most needed for people like us for a change / diversion from routines of different form. As always done, all activities are based on some kind of faith, belief and individual custom especially carried out in the name GOD one believes / has faith in.
For some reason unknown to us, we never felt that we were travelling on our own, nor we have children, relatives or friends. Dreamless sleep and motionless feelings were part of our travel for seven days.
Once back in Coimbatore only; we realized that were like steel rod and falling into sleep and felt the tiredness at one go.
The purpose of making the above narrations is for the sake of my children or for the posterity or the intended traveler who may need some sort of real time facts on such trips.
I feel grateful to all involved in making our trip memorable and for making it a pleasant travel despite the strict schedules followed.
I’m NOT adding any material which are available in the website especially the names of many townships and rivers we came across. Modern technology is so efficient, one can obtain even the minutest of facts when it comes to places and travel.
The photos from top to bottom are:Aarthi in Haridwar,Ourselves at Badrinath,on the banks of river Ganges, and taking Mules to reach Kedarnath.

The above narration is completed as per my diary maintained during the travel and completed as of 14-10-2011.

V.Sivasubramaniam
Coimbatore
E-mail: vsiva2001in@rediffmail.com / vsiva2001in@gmail.com

A visit to TajMahal

Prelude / Planning:

Having lived in Delhi since 1969, I had to face frequent questions from my friends and relatives, if I ever saw the Taj Mahal in Agra. They also wanted to know if I visited places like Red fort, Qutab Minar etc;
Being a workaholic, I never had time even to dream of visiting these places of historical interest, due to my tight work schedules and my dedication for devoting most of my time to work place.
So, at one point, I decided to go to these places after my marriage. Again, I could NOT visit these places till after my daughter Sheeba was born.
Therefore, I planned to see these places along with my sister-in-law – (Thankam,) who came to Ghazibad escorting my wife and the new born.
I took the help of my wife’s cousin Mr.Subramaniam – affectionately known as Mani- who was staying at Janakpuri with his family. We too wanted to visit them for a long time. They suggested us, to stay in their place and make the trip to Agra from there. This was the best plan to accomplish both the visits at one go.
As such I booked our tickets – three tickets each costing Rs.15.00 for the trip - thru’ the agent known as Panicker’s Travel established in the location known as Karol Baugh.
The Travel:
We left for Janakpuri on Friday the 23rd of March 1979. We hired a cycle rickshaw from our residence in Old Raj Nagar to the local bus station to board a bus to Delhi – Kashmir gate terminus. From their, we took another bus to Ajmal Khan Road.
The travel agent – Panicker’s travel had its office there and hence we took this route to Janakpuri. We collected the tickets and also procured some items for Mr.Mani and family who was our host.
We reached our host’s residence by evening and were greeted in a lavish manner. Sheeba – our nine month old daughter was quiet and did not even know we are travelling with her.
My sister-in-law, Thankam was seeing them after a long time and we all in general had gossip about almost every one in my wife’s family since time memorial to tem. In short the assembly of family members created a happy atmosphere and we had our dinner late and went to bed late as well.
We woke up at 5 AM on 24-3-1979, to the fragrance of steamy idly and equally attractive sweet smell of Mysore pak etc; We had quick breakfast as, we had to leave for catching the bus from across the road. (The stops for this kind of trips are located - called pick up points- in few places around Delhi.)
We were also given to carry some idly for consumption during travel. We left for the tour and boarded the bus by 8 AM on 24-3-1979. Our first stop was Agra Fort followed by Taj mahal.
There was a young man who boarded our bus and called himself as our tour guide. He briefed us about the fort, the city and the monument – Taj mahal. Since I knew the history of the town, I enjoyed verifying the facts as told by this young man. Apparantly, he turned out to be a student and worked as tourist guide at times. I think this boy’s name was Saxena.
There was reasonable crowd in all places being Saturday, but not disturbing as we could get entry tickets to all places with ease. For some reason, the movement of all of us was smooth and no way a rushing us from one place to another. We spent more time in a place far away from Taj Mahal known as old fort.
We had quick lunch within the bus as carried idly along with soft drinks from the nearby shop where our bus was parked. We also saw places of historical interest in and around Agra.
Then we briefly visited Mathura and worshipped Lord Krishna and attended the Arthi ceremony. We could not proceed to Virindavan as it was getting dark.
We reached Janakpuri late by 23.30 hours, on 24-3-1979.
NOTE: The film roll, I used was accidently opened by Sheeba – Sheeba grabbed th edge of the film and pulled it out exposing the whole strip and our tour had only one photo as memory- the one took by wayside photographer at the Taj.
Details of expenses for this trip

1 Rickshaw fare from Raj Nagar to bus-stand 2.25
2 Bus fare to Delhi 3.75
3 Bus station to Ajmal Khan road / Arya Samaj road 2.10
4 Jasmin Flower strings 0.90
5 Apples – one Kilo 6.00
6 Soap – Mysore Jasmin - for use while staying out. 2.70
7 Biscuit 4.50
8 Bread 3.00
9 Cashew nut – 200 gms 2.00
10 To Janak puri 1.20
11 Fare to Agra- for 3 persons 45.00
12 Entrance fee to Taj mahal – 3 persons. 6.00
13 Do- Agra fort. 6.00
14 Cost of Tajmahal marble models-2 33.00
15 Marble kum kum box 5.00
16 Marble stand for agarbathi stand 5.00
17 Cost of Portarits – taken by wayside tourist staff including mailing to Ghaziabad. 10.00
18 Birds – moulds – 2 boxes 8.00
19 Rings – bangles 2.00
20 Coffee 0.15
21 Cold drinks 4.50
22 Pan – Beatle leaves and nuts 0.75
23 Kum kum 1.00
24 Ticket for entering Fatepur sikiri fort 1.50
25 Tip to tour guide 1.00
26 Rent for safe keeping chappals at Taj 0.10
27 Toys for Sheeba 0.50
28 Donation into hundi 0.25
29 Repairs to chappals 0.15
30 Return trip-Janakpuri to Madras Hotel 1.50
31 Madras Hotel to Shadra 1.20
32 Shadra to New Ghaziabad 1.95
33 Cycle rickshaw to house 1.25
TOTAL 164.20
The above was total expense incurred
For three persons for this tour.
PHOTOS: self,wife and AND self,wife,daughter Sheeba with sister-in-law Thankam

Of Songs and related Memories of the past---

I think once Shakespeare, said, what is in a name, a rose is but a rose nothing but a rose, always a rose no matter what you call it,
For me what is in a song, what can it do to you?

It is said that, (don’t ask me who said that- as it could be myself)
Any sound when made with rhythm and in a sequence, then it is called music. If sung with proper wording or humming then it is admired further and, when supported by instruments of modern times, it puts the listener to some kind of emotional order.

Well, then given the opportunity, most of the sinners will abstain from committing any un-holy act at-least for that duration of time when he / she is spell bound and concentrating in listening to such music.

I’m neither a sinner nor intended to commit few (more), but love to be absorbed into my own world of old memories- all related songs of the past.

One can co-relate anything with anything- an instance, an experience, an acquaintance, or some kind of attachment of two things.

I do not wish to drag any one for narrating such inter actions but of my own.

I hit the alarm at 4.30 before it hits me, for, I normally is awake by 4 AM, no matter what time I retire to bed in the previous night. Every day, when I get up so, I just think of my father who was behind this harsh practice. Yes, it was harsh to get up by 4 AM every morning at the shout of my father followed by my mother.

The orderly, Ramaswamy, was already up and waiting to take me to the well side, to pour at-least two buckets of water over me to really wake me up!! Washing the teeth and mouth was done before being washed in full length. Then, this ritual is extended to all my brothers and sisters as well.

Then other thoughts that follow are about how I was given a tumbler of coffee, strict instructions to complete chanting of few lines of prayer songs from holy scripts, home work etc;
Then there was RADIO CEYLON, broadcasting every available song from 7AM (or so) filling the streets with adorable noise.

The numbers of songs I know are purely due to the compulsory pumping of the same into my years, during child hood, as I walked to school. While listening to a song, I also was talking to a classmate- whenever this song was audible; I get back to see my friend in my thoughts.

Another song reminds me of few of my classmates who also sang it as it was seen in a particular cinema. Few songs were sung in the class room, being philosophical, or it conveyed some moral – (NOT obscene message as it is in these days) information.

For e.g, a song narrated a series of advices to a young bride by her brother as how to take care of husband, uphold the values of parents, in-laws and above all herself. Whenever I listen to this song, I saw my Tamil Pundit Shri. Athmanathan Pillai and most of my classmates, alive in front of me.

There is another one from a cinema. I skipped my class and went for this cinema. The tragedy is on that day, they started the film reversing one of the film reels. In other words, had to re- run the same in the proper order, taking more than necessary time for completing the show. This caused my arrival with a delay of more than an hour. The film is NEELAVANAM.

There is another song, which when listening to it, reminds of my Tamil Exam in class 10.I challenged few of my classmates that seeing a film prior to the day of an exam will not affect the performance in the exam. I scored above 60% in that exam. When ever I hear the song from that film, I laugh to myself and recall my good friends and their friendly challenge.

So, a song, even when you are NOT even the singer but a good listener and an admirer, can trigger your past related to something as you heard it for the first time in your life.

I sang some songs just to make people to laugh – like RAHASIYAM, Parama rahasiyam, or Nan Enna sollivitten NEE aen alarukirai,etc;

Then there were weddings, where people became real singers- teasing the groom / bride depending on whose side where they, became heros by singing a particular song on demand, etc;

There were several weddings including my own, where very many songs were heard. I remember each one of the guests who sang the song – as and when I hear them and I am over Joyce as always.

There are sad songs, which, reminds me of those passed away, and some related to hospitalization of few of them.

Few remind me of my school time picnics, and the company of the students involved.

Then comes another one from a near horror film after seeing which I walked thru pitch dark roads, chased by dogs and seeing elephants on the side walk. Name of the film is GUMNAM and the place was high way of Trichur. Year was 1965 or so.

I was asked to stand up on the bench for singing a song quietly, but fellow students laughed at it exposing me to the class teacher. At that time I was very much upset with my friends, and to-day I again laugh at this incident. The song was from film KAIRASI – Kathal ennum atrinile kanniyaram odathile---

I could listen to songs from films in Tamil, Malayalam and later from Hindi movies as well.

Songs from Katipatang reminds me of my dinner in a restaurant in Ghaziabad – Sangam Restaurant near clock tower – Ghanta Ghar.

I was in Tamil Nadu express when the songs from film JOHNEY MERANAM - film with Hema malini and Dev Anand.were shown in the compartment T.V.

I wrote exam at one time- hopelessly, when marks came I was reluctant to show the paper to my parents for getting their signature. For a while, I was very much worried, then sang a song to myself –Ennathan Nadakum nadakkattume, a songt from MGR film, Don’t ask me if my father ever signed that paper?

Then there are devotional ones. I listened to them, when attending temple functions. Most reminds me of Lord Ganesha, Muruga, and many Goddesses of Specific powers.

There are situations when I listened to few in exhibitions, hotel clubs, and road shows in native village.

The very emotional ones are still those which I listened and tried to silence my younger ones to put them on sleep as they were infants.

So, if nothing can keep me quiet, the very song from one of the many I keep listening has the power to give me invisible company at all times, - a good and healthy companionship of course.

I can write a kind of auto-biography only based on my interest towards listening songs of various times which will bring all my friends closer, bring all my past alive and there by keep me alive as well.


Sounds like going through my life again


V.Sivasubramaniam

15-08-2010

The Festive days at home here in Coimbatore

Few weeks ago, we (self and Sarojam) learned that, Anushruthi- our daughter –in-law is due to come to India in July 2011. The real purpose was to have her sponsorship changed to my son Sudhin.
Anushruthi /Sudhin wanted to make use of this opportunity to visit us and her parents within the short duration of the vacation.
Sudhin had to go to Shangai on an official visit and hence Anushruthi came on her own via Dharmsala – where a house is being constructed by her parents.
So, Sheeba too wanted to accompany Anushruthi during her visit to our home in Coimbatore.
Anushruthi, Sheeba and Ayush arrived here on Saturday the 16th of July 2011. Everything was normal and we went to Aliyar dam, Amaravathi dam and to Masani Amman Temple on our return path to home.
This trip was NOT of any great importance but gave all of us a break from our hectic daily routines, especially when we had to travel within 3 hrs of Anushruthi’s arrival.
It rained all the way, I was against taking umbrella (Saro took one despite my suggestion, which came as a great relief and I was proved wrong.)I was sure of the rain stopping sooner we entered the Aliyar dam park.
We carried with us 3 iddlys, biscuits, ribbon pakoda, banana chips, (Gems, potato chips, and wafer biscuits for Ayush), tang pouches and water in two bottles – including one for Ayush.
The rain stopped after wetting us formally and we enjoyed cool weather as we walked up to the dam wall taking few snaps as well. Ayush wanted to take a boat or at-least get in-to water. Some how, we persuaded from standing firm on his demand. We took him to the cage were few hamsters were kept in captivity. Ayush fed them grass blades with fear if they will grab his hands too! We managed to chew off some of the items during this period and left for Amaravathi dam / near the famous Sainik School. There was nothing there that we could spent time on, and hence chose to return via the famous Masaniamman Temple.
We reached the temple around 4.00 PM. All went inside the temple and I chose to stay outside. Asymbolic pooja was performed by the priest and all came out later.
We drove straight to Annapurna Hotel in R.S Puram where we reached by 6.45 PM.
We were not tired and enjoyed evening snacks with Ayush having poori baaji like a sahib. Ayush was so natural in his act; he defeated us in all aspects when it came to dining in a hotel.
The trip was enjoyed by all of us and we returned home safely by 8PM.
I certainly, enjoyed the get-together as we – Anushruthi, Sheeba,Ayush, Sarojam and myself, were meeting after a long spell of time and the visit was brief.
We all felt that Sudhin and Ananth too were with us but that was over come as Sudhin called twice during our snack time in the hotel.
I wished that our next gathering as close knit members of family includes Sudhin and Ananth.( Group of Seven)

Masaniamman Temple

Masaniamman Temple is situated at a distance of 15 miles away from Pollachi. This sanctified shrine attracts large number of devotees.
The idol of Masaniamman is very powerful one and offer blessing to all devotees who have a stunt belief in her. Devotees also expect that Goddess will respond their prayer within three weeks. There is a stone image in the temple representing as a Goddess of Justice with the body of serpent.

Merchants meeting loss in their business, people hassled by enemies, women or men who lost their belongings take bath, sport holy ashes of the shrine, grind red chilies in stone grinder of the temple, smear the paste on stone of Justice called ‘Neethi Kal’.
In the sanctum, the extensive image of Masaniamman lying on her back measures about 15 feet long from head to foot. The gigantic image of Masaniamman is painted with flashy colours.

Here, one can see Goddess Masaniamman in the lying posture. The idol has four hands, two hands placed on the ground, two hands raised above. While the top left hands hold a skull and snake and other two hands holding drum and a trident.

On Tuesdays and Fridays devotees rush to this temple, during Krithigai and New Moon day they undergo special pooja.
There is a historical background for the configuration of this powerful temple. Anaimalai, a place near Pollachi was ruled earlier by the king called Nanan. He treated their people very badly. During his reign he had a very big mango tree in his farm on the riverside of Aaliyar, which was very special to him. He was so particular that nobody was permitted to use neither mangoes nor its leaves.
Once,a gang of girls went to river to take bath they noticed a mango floating on the river which belongs to Nanan's tree, one of the girl picked up and ate the fruit. Even after several pleadings made by her father, instead of excusing her the king sentenced her to death.
After some time villagers in that area formed a female statue in lying posture using sand in graveyard with the remembrance of innocent girl and worshipped as ‘Masani’. Later Kozhinkhosargal defeated king Nanan and destroyed the mango tree.
It is also believed that Lord Rama on his way in search of Seetha was attracted by this powerful temple and made meditation over here which adds glory to this temple. So, once you visit Pollachi don’t miss to worship Masaniamman.