The secret is there are no secrets - John Bogle

Getting (More of) What You Want - by Margaret A. Neale, Thomas Z. Lys

I, Justine: An Analog Memoir - by Justine Ezarik

Supercrash - by Daniel Cunningham

Leh Palace (Ekaant, Epic Channel, 10 September 2015)

In Ladakhi, the word 'Ladakh' means a region of tall mountains. A saying in Ladakhi aptly describes the difficult terrain needed to be crossed to come here - Only a special friend or a sworn enemy will take pains to come here. Ladakh's history bears testimony to this.

Did you know that this difficult-to-access terrain boasts of one of world's tallest and India's oldest standing sky-scraper? That's the Leh Palace - with its 9 floors, 2 of them underground.

Ladakh's capital Leh is situated at a distance of 430 Km from Srinagar. Leh Palace is the most easily recognizable landmark here.

The dynasty that ruled here was called Namgyal - meaning victorious. The dynasty was started by one Tashi Namgyal in 14th century. His grandson Sengge Namgyal built this palace. There are lots of interesting aspects to its construction. e.g. It is built on the foundation of the mountain's granite stone. The lower part of the walls is of stones while the upper is made up of baked earth so that the structure remains light ta the top and doesn't fall off easily during an earthquake - a frequent enough occurrence in this region. Like Tajmahal, the legend goes that when the construction was over, the hands of people instrumental in building it were hacked off to prevent them from constructing a similar structure elsewhere. History tells us that it took 4 years for the construction to complete.

Floors 4 to 6 were being used for the day-to-day activities of the royal court. The upper floors might have been occupied by the royal family. Though some paintings can be seen here today, it cannot be said with certainty that they belong to the Namgyal era. The 5th floor houses royal temple where religious ceremonies are conducted to this day. Public functions used to take place on the roof of the 4th floor.

There was a time when Leh, and this palace, represented a powerful kingdom. Their rule extended right upto Kulu-Manali. It is said that Tibet's Potala Palace is inspired by the design of the Leh Palace. Ironically it is the Potala Palace, and not the Leh Palace, that gained worldwide fame.

So why was this palace abandoned? Though it is true that the Ladakhi rulers did engage in a lot of battles with the Mughals, the Mughals never came to this region either to rule or to spread Islam. They aren't responsible for its downfall.

Ladakh was never attacked from any part of India - except for one. The Dogara General Jorawar Singh was sent here in 1834 by the then king of Jammu and Kashmir - King Raj Singh. The temperature drops to -42 in winter here. Despite this he managed to bring his army through the
Zanskar ranges - that too with such swift speed that the Namgyal ruler was caught completely unawares and hence lost the battle. This attack happened because King Raj Singh had bought Kashmir and its surrounding region for 75 Lakhs (a sum that is astronomical even by today's standards!). He wanted to recoup the expense. If the Namgyal king had given money to Jorawar Singh, he might have withdrawn his troops. But he refused and paid the price. The Leh Palace sustained quite a lot of damage during the war and the royal family had to be shifted to the Stok Palace, which is situated a short distance away.

Jorawar Singh constructed a fort to keep tab on Leh. This fort, called Jorawar Fort, though made of earth, is so strongly built that it was in use even after his time. Now the Indian army looks after it. In fact, they have their stable at the same place where Jorawar Singh used to keep his horses. A well from that time can still be seen at this fort.

Emboldened by his conquering of Leh, Jorawar Singh attacked Lhasa with the intention of taking Tibet. But the British had their interest over there and warned Lhasa in advance and also supplied them with ammunition. Jorawar Singh lost his life on the battlefield.

After 1947, Ladakh became a part of India and the palace was abandoned.

Seen on a suburban local train seat:

Some ideas for future trips:

A Night In The Forest

And a note to myself for trip to Barcelona - check out Michelin Star restaurants. And try Vento De Terrano (supposedly a fruity wine). Book a local wine and Tapas tour through viator.com.

I liked one of the paragraphs in Anne Leclair's Leaving Eden so much that I can't resist the temptation of quoting it here:

Mama believed what counted was conceiving of possibilities that stretched beyond us. It was having aspirations - in spite of geography or circumstance - and then reaching for them with all your might. That's what mattered, she said. That and not letting fear of anything or anyone else stop you. If your dreams were true and your heart was big enough, Mama said, you could make them happen. You just couldn't wait too long.

Raamnagar (Ekaant, Epic Channel, 3 September, 2015)

Raamnagar is situated at a distance of 100 Km from Jammu in Jammu-Kashmir's Udhhampur Jilla. To be frank, every state of India has at least one place called Raamnagar. If you look for 'Raamnagar' on Internet, you will get a whole list of such places. One fact, however, remains - be it a village or a city, every Raamnagar has an interesting story. Same goes for Jammu-Kashmir's Raamnagar. It is just that the story is a bit difficult to find. It is an ancient historical city. There are 3 important buildings here - Puraana Mahal, Naya Mahal and Sheesh Mahal. There is also a fort constructed by the rulers of the Dogara dynasty (from Jammu). This dynasty believes that they descend from Lord Rama.

Puraana Mahal - this is the oldest building. Though it is called Mahal (a palace) it looks more like a fort. The main courtyard has rooms on both sides. There are 3 floors. Maybe the place was inhabited by the royal family. Now it is in dilapidated condition. But still you can see the remains of Pahari Paintings. You can read about these on the internet. Though these painting on the walls and wooden roof have lost their sheen after all these years, you can guess that at one time they must be really breathtaking. The topmost floor commands a grand view of the entire Raamnagar. It is said that this place was constructed by king Suchet Singh.

During 18th century, Jammu consisted of 22 princely states. Raja Ranajit Dev, who was considered the mightiest king of his time, brought them together. He had 3 grandsons - Gulab Singh, Dhyan Singh and Suchet Singh. When Maharaja Ranajit Singh conquered Lahore in 1798 the entire Dogara family started working in the royal court there in one capacity or another. Maharaja Ranajit Singh conquered Jammu in 1815 and brought the 3 brother here. After Ranajit Singh's death in June 1839, Suchet Singh fell out with the Sikhs. Then a time came when the situation turned so bad that Raamnagar saw one king in the morning and another one at night. Then Ranajit Singh's son Kharak Singh died. Dhyan Singh (who was the Chief Minister then) was assassinated. His son inherited his designation but he too died. Suchet Singh died in the battle with the Sikhs in 1844. He didn't have any children so the son of his elder brother, Ranabir Singh inherited the throne. After him it was the turn of his younger son Ramsingh. After Suchet Singh, it is Ram Singh who is considered as the most important king here. Ram Singh constructed Naya Mahal behind Puraana Mahal. The walls of Naya Mahal also have similar Pahari paintings but they have better endured the ravages of time.

The best paintings can be seen in Sheesh Maal. This building also was constucted by Ramsingh. There are 3 parts of this building - Darabar or Diwan-e-khaas, Rangmahal and Sheesh Mahal. It is said that the paintings here are so beautiful that they will give any art gallery in the world a run for its money. Unfortunately, to preserve them as they are the ASI does not allow any tourists to take photos or do video shooting here. That is the reason these paintings were not shown during this program. But it was mentioned that not even an inch of the walls is bereft of paintings. A lot of them contain golden color. The credit for the paintings goes to kings Suchet Singh and Ram Singh. If it were not for the patronage of these kings, the paintings wouldn't be here.

Suchet Singh also constructed a fort at a distance of about 800 meters from here. This small fort is called Ramnagar Fort. Maybe the reason behind constructing this fort was to make sure that the army guarding Ramnagar would get some sort of protection in case of any attack. During those days, it was customary for every ruler to have one such fort. This region has about 100 forts like this. In fact the Dogara dynasty got its name from the word 'Durg' which means Fort. Suchet Singh used to be mostly at Lahore or Peshwar. Maybe he built this fort for the safety of his family.

Though the fort is being looked after well these days, after Ram Singh's death in 1899, there wasn't anyone to look after it in those days. In 1947, Jammu-Kashmir became part of India. Even after that no one paid any special attention to Ramnagar and it had fallen into neglect. By the time Suchet Singh died the custom of Sati had been banished from India. But his wife did follow the custom. Her resting place is nearby.

Jaageshwar (Ekaant, Epic Channel, 27 August 2015)

Jaageshwar is situated at a distance of 36 Km from Almora in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, in a dense forest of Deodar trees. Everyone knows the 4 holy places (चारधाम) - Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. But people in th Kumaon region believe that at one time there was a 5th holy place - Jaageshwar.

A river flows near Jaageshwar - Jatagangaa. This is a complex of about 124 temples of all sizes - some of them shaped like stone sculptures. Though every temple has a Shivalinga, religious ceremonies and Pooja are conducted in only 4-5 of them. Some of the temples are facing West, some North and there are some facing East. The reason being that around 108 temples are of Lord Shiva and the rest are of other Hindu deities. The temples face the direction belonging to the deity each contains.Out of the 12 Jyotirlingas of India, the 8th one is situated in one of the temples here - Jaagnath temple. That's why it is considered as the most important temple of this complex and even today the pooja here is conducted as per the religious norms.

It is said that the custom of worshiping the Shivalingam started at this place. The legend behind this custom is very interesting. After his wife Sati died in Satya Yuga, Lord Shiva came to this place to do his penance. Some holy men were here at that time to perform a Yagnya. Their wives used to roam about in the area collecting the ingredients to be used for the Yagnya.When they saw Lord Shiva they were spellbound by his looks and fell unconscious. Enraged at this, the holy men cursed the Lord that his Lingam would fall off. When that happened Lord Vishnu used his Chakra to break it into 12 pieces. The regions where these pieces fell became the Jyotirlingas. And that's how the practice of worshiping the Shivalingam started.

Maanas Khanda of Skand Purana describes this place in detail e.g. as 'नागेशं दारुकावने' i.e. Jaageshwar in a dense forest of Deodar trees.Of course, some people do say that the description fits the temple of Naageshwar that is situated at a distance of 13 Km from Dwaraka. Adiguru Shankaracharya has written a Dwadasha Jyotirlinga Stotra.

The temple of Dandeshwar is located a short distance away from Jaageshwar. This is supposedly the place where the holy men cursed Lord Shiva. The legend behind this goes thus - when Lord Shiva was doing a penance here, the village belles became infatuated with him and tried their best to win him over. When the village men were embarrassed about this, Lord Shiva promised them that he would do his penance in the form of a child. Hence this place is also called BaalJaageshwar.

Some people believe that these temples were constructed by Pandavas at the time of their ascension to heavens in Dwaapaar Yugaa. At that time the one ascending to heavens along with his body (सदेह स्वर्गारोहण) had to perform his last rites himself. It is said that the Pandavas performed their own last rites in the Jataaganga river and then ascending to heavens along with their bodies.

But history tells us that these temples were constructed by the Katyuri dynasty in 8th to 10th century. Before that time, wood used to be employed in temple construction.But during Katyuri reign, stone began to be used. They kept on erecting temples as long as they ruled this region.The oldest temple here is that of Mahamrutyunjaya. It is said that the construction began with this temple and that it is about 1200 years old.

Legend has it that the route to go to Kailas Mansarovar used to pass through Jaageshwar. The pilgrims would visit Jaageshwar first and then proceed to Mansarovar. It is also said that the wishes expressed in this place would be granted. When Adiguru Shankaracharya came here he thought that this could be dangerous in future and so put an end to this power using spells.

There is no indication that there were any attempts to destroy these temples. Then why were they abandoned? Katyuri dynasty ruled this region till 11th century. After that there was internal strife in their kingdom. The Chand dynasty came to power later. They also constructed temples, donated land and made arrangements for religious ceremonies to be conducted in the temples. Around 1745, the Rohilas attacked this area and tried to destroy the Jaageshwar temples. But not much information can be found about this in history. The Chand dynasty was defeated and their power weakened. Their patronage to the temples wasn't as much as it used to be. Around 1790, the Gorakhas started ruling here and continued ruling for next 25 years. There was a lot of chaos and people had to go undergo a lot of hardship at the hand of their Gorakha rulers. The people were so sick of them that they allowed the British to rule here instead. Though the Gorakhas had to leave, these developments led to the decline in number of pilgrims visiting Jaageshwar.

In 20th century, when the ASI was given responsibility to look after these temples, they noticed that a lot of idols had been stolen from the temples. To make sure that the rest survived, they shifted them to a museum located a short distance away. It is ironical that the God who people go to in the time of distress has to be kept locked up behind glass enclosures to keep Him safe.

One of the priests here believes that whatever the historical reasons behind the temples being abandoned, only those people come here whom the deity Himself calls because of their good deeds in their past lives. :-)

Where Troy Once Stood - by Iman Wilkens

Leaving Eden - Anne Leclaire (Spoiler Alert!)

Now that I have turned the last page of the book I realize that I wouldn't have normally selected this for reading - not because I am not familiar with the author but because I generally go for crime or mystery novels. I cannot even begin to speculate on the genre of this one.

The story is simple, told by a teenage girl called Tallie who lives in a small place called Eden in Virginia. When she is 12, her mom - who we are told bears an uncanny resemblance to a famous actress - leaves her daughter and husband to follow a dream in Hollywood. Tallie is forced to cope with an absentee mother and a drunk of a father. Her mom does return but succumbs to cancer in just 6 months. As Tallie struggles to come to terms with the complications in her life, her village is roiled by the supposedly accidental death of another teenage girl and apparent murder of her father, a wealthy lawyer, by her brother. And then one day, Tallie realizes that her mom has kept a secret from her all these years.

The murder isn't hard to figure out, and I suspect that the author never wanted it to be. Because murder is just the backdrop to Tallie and her life. And the author does a commendable job of making the reader get interested in both. You can feel for Tallie as she loves, hates and is angry with her mom for going to Hollywood. You feel sad for her when her mom passes away. You are happy when she is allowed to undergo a makeover on Glamour Day. And you fail to understand her,maybe even be angry with her, when she lets Spy into her room. But at no point can you remain aloof from Tallie. A fact that a reader like me, who is miles removed from Tallie's age, ethnicity and geography, feels that way speaks volumes for the author's expertise.

Even though the end resembles a typical 'and they lived happily together' outcome of a typical Hindi movie, you feel happy for Tallie. :-)

Trojan Odyssey - Clive Cussler (Spoiler Alert!)

Frankly, I have read better Cussler books. True, some of them have set the bar a bit too high and this one had raised my expectations even higher - what with the mention of the Trojan war, the Celts and an underground vault containing artifacts buried long back. In the end, I felt cheated as the novel was neither about any archaeological mystery nor about a villain hellbent on achieving his ends, no matter what the cost.

Oh, and it was hard to accept that Dirk Pitt suddenly has two grown-up kids. Seriously, couldn't Pitt Jr. be named something else? For the first few pages, I had hard time figuring out if the author is talking about the father or the son.

And there were a lot of unanswered questions - Why was Specter so obsessed about the Celtic culture? Who were the women who were looking after his business interests? How come no one noticed that so many imminent scientists were suddenly missing? And how the underground vault came to be resting where it had no place to be?

I hope this turns out to be the only Cussler novel that I didn't like.