Adalaj Vav (Step Well), Adalaj, Gujarat

'We would also like to visit Adalaj Vav' I said to the young lad at the reception desk of the hotel we were staying at and paused to see his reaction. He was basically from Mumbai and had been in Ahmedabad only since a few months. Though the Vav was described as a popular tourist spot in the city, in my experience, such popular spots on the internet are seldom known to the common man in the city streets. I was, however, relieved when he nodded his head vigorously and sort of endorsed its inclusion in our itinerary.

It was blazing hot when our hired car started its journey from the Sabarmati Ashram towards the village of Adalaj in Gandhinagar district. But the roads were a Mumbaikar commuter's dream. No potholes, only roads - perfectly paved, lined with green trees and without any traffic whatsoever. I was to come face-to-face with the chaotic inner city traffic and totally insane driving during my trip to Kankaria Lake on the second day. But for now I was at peace as I watched the glimpses of daily life in Gujarat's villages float by as the car ate up the miles. When it finally did halt I was confused for a moment. Are we at the right place? Apparently so because I saw a few tourists clustering around a person who could only have been their tour guide. I walked towards them as if to ask for directions when I saw the steps and started climbing down.

Whoa! This one word summarizes my reaction to a structure the likes of which I had never seen in my life. I didn't even know anything about step wells till we planned this trip. If the internet is to believed, this well was built by Muslim king Mohammed Begda for the Queen of the Vaghela chieftain Veer Singh in 1499. That means the well has been in existence since five centuries and a dozen years or so. Obviously, the water at the bottom has turned green because of neglect and lack of use. The tourism department should clean and restore it to its formal glory. But when you start ignoring the smell of the bird (or was it bat?) droppings, this five story structure simply takes your breath away. The words 'intricately carved' simply don't do justice to its beauty. You are amazed at the dedication, hard work and time it must have taken to build this. How I wish I could travel back in time to the era when this well was frequented by travelers in caravans as rest stops during their long travels and sacred rituals were conducted during festive times.

As an aside, this well strongly reminded me of the scene in 'Bhool Bhulaiyya' in which Akshay Kumar is brushing his teeth in the morning and gets startled by the young guy who dives in to swim :-)

So if you are ever in Ahmedabad, make sure that Adalaj Vav is part of your itinerary.

Vaishnodevi Temple, Ahmedabad

We had passed the temple on our way back to the hotel in the evening on the very first day but I wasn't sure about visiting it. My research on the internet had told me that it is modeled after the temple at Katra and so has a couple of places where you have to get down on all fours to be able to move forward. I have plans to visit the original temple some day so I was in two minds about going to the replica. However, I decided to take the plunge the next day.

As I walked in after removing my footwear, the lady manning the gate barked 'Mobile band karo'. My face fell. No photos? 'I hope I can carry the water bottle' I asked with a bit of sarcasm. Apparently it was lost on her as she barked again 'Pani ka bottle chalega'. Praise be to God! Being in a holy place, it was time to wonder about the state of my soul. Instead, I was worried about the state of my soles - because I was walking barefoot in the afternoon heat. :-) But it was fun to walk on pretending that you are in the temple at Katra till I came to the first spot where it was necessary to crawl to move on. A group of 3 ladies (one of them a senior citizen!) and 2 gentlemen was ahead of me. One of the ladies (of sizable proportion) saw the tight space and opted out. The gentlemen shouted something to the senior citizen. Though I couldn't understand their language, I realized that they were asking her to take a short-cut instead. But the wiry old lady was determined to have it her own way and passed through the tight space. Encouraged, I did the same - with ease, if I might add :-)

There was one more tiny space up ahead (hard to negotiate for tall people!) and we were face to face with the Goddess. It felt good to have undergone a bit of a physical discomfort to be able to reach Her. As we left, a vermillion Tilak was applied on our foreheads and a tiny coin given as the Prasad.

Normally I strictly follow the rules wherever I go, but I couldn't resist the temptation of capturing a few of the images of the Goddess that dotted our return path.

It is said that you get to go to the Katra temple only when the Goddess Herself calls you there. Well, I am waiting for my invitation. :-)

Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad

If you ask me who is my favorite Indian leader from the pre-independence era, I would be hard pressed for an answer. I might perhaps say Sardar VallabhBhai Patel, for being instrumental in ruthlessly bringing together the various princely states to make way for India - though I must confess that there are moments when I wonder if it was wise to do so. I will neither name Jawaharlal Nehru (he trusted the Chinese for God's sake!) nor Mahatma Gandhi. I am not sure I will ever be able to figure out what made him give away a tidy sum of 55 Crores to Pakistan. We didn't owe them anything - after all it was their decision to separate. And it didn't help them in the long run anyways. Also I don't believe in the philosophy of offering another cheek when (and if!) someone should strike me on one (and you don't have to be a Muslim to say that, Mr. Parvez Musharraf)

But I put 'Sabarmati Ashram' in the list of places to be visited during our recent trip to Ahmedabad because I looked at it as a place of historical significance.

When we got down from the car, all I could see were a few scattered buildings - 'is that it?' was my first thought, till I was told that I will have to walk down a little to be able to reach the main complex. And when I did, I was charmed, despite myself. A vast expanse - impeccably clean - dotted with trees and simple cottages. And lots and lots of squirrels running about everywhere. It was evident that they had becomes used to the presence of humans as not a single one ran away even if you got close enough to take a snap. I especially loved the small one that reclined in the sand to munch on something.

The rooms are filled with photographs depicting Gandhiji's early life as well as major events in Indian history. I would have loved to read but being a tourist I had limited time at my disposal and so had to move on. But not before I took photographs of various envelopes that were used to post the letters addressed to Gandhiji. I remember reading about one in my school History textbook - 'To Gandhiji, wherever he is' it simply said. Needless to say, it was delivered to Gandhiji :-)

There is a section containing various letters written by Gandhiji, a library full of books and of course, a section selling Khadi artifacts.

I walked in wondering about what the place would be like and walked out with the satisfaction of visiting an important place in my country's history.

Goodbye Dr. Cristina Yang!

'Find out how Cristina's story ends' I groaned when I heard these words in one of the last episodes of Season 10 of Grey's Anatomy. To be frank, I cannot be counted amongst the fans of Cristina Yang. I find her confidence annoying. Of course, that could be because I am not a genius like her. 'It takes one to understand one' I guess. :-) And though I am not one of emotional type, I find her lack of emotions bewildering. But her characters, like all others in the show, had something that endeared her to you. For once, you knew how Cristina would behave in certain situation. No room for disappointment there. In a way, that is good.

Back to the Season Finale. I was mightily curious about the way her character would depart. And I was not disappointed even one bit. There is only one word to describe the manner in which they showed her not wanting to leave and becoming emotional in her own way - Fantastic! I envied Shane for being able to leave with his mentor. An opportunity of a lifetime and he grabs it with both hands. I thought I heard myself speak when Cristina says 'You are my person' to Meredith and tells that they will call each other twice a week. I remembered goodbyes with many friends which had ended in the same mutual promise. And yet we have lost track of what's happening with each other. Life is a funny business. It never lets you live completely the way you want to.

I also loved the way Cristina says goodbye to everyone. She hugs Derek, Bailey and Weber. She comes back to dance with her best friend Meredith. And there is only a moment when she catches Owen's attention as he is operating. One moment she is there, the next she is gone and he gets back to the operation. No emotional dialogues, no loud music, no multiple shots from different angles. How I wish our daily soaps would take a leaf or two out of these episodes.

Some of the other stories also were wound up pretty well. e.g. Murphy comes to help when she hears of the mall explosion, does her work quietly and when it is done, just calmly walks out the door. What a dignified way to go! I had never liked her character before but I loved her for this action. Another one to surprise me was Jackson's mother Catherine. I don't envy April for having such a mother-in-law. But after listening to her talk to April I felt that every woman should have such a mother-in-law. :-) Then there was the moment when Torres and Arizona realize, almost at the same time, that they can take the help of a surrogate mother to have a child. Again, no dialogues whatsoever in that moment - but the essence was conveyed beautifully.

Of course, I was happy that Cristina made Meredith realize that she doesn't have to sacrifice her career just because her husband is moving to D.C. Meredith has every right to work hard to choose her own path and she should take that chance. That's the only way to come out of the shadow of Dr. Derek Shepherd.

I am glad that Alex will not leave. His is one character that I have come to love. But I dread the moment when he and Bailey will realize that they are competing for the same board seat. The moment the new Head of Cardiothoracic said that Ellis Grey is her biological mother, I realized that Weber's relation with Meredith and Catherine will undergo a major change.

Can hardly wait for season 11 airing in India. 

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wise people so full of doubts

-- Bertrand Russell

A weekend with nature.....

and some wild life.....

Spanish - Class VIII to X

"Preguntas Con 'SER'" was the topic of the day for class VIII - from rather philosophical sounding Identity based questions like 'Quien Eres?' (Who are you?) to mundane questions related to colors. When the teacher asked me 'De Que Color es el pelo?', I blurted out 'blanco' (white) instead of 'Negro' (black) and everyone had a good laugh. I swear I wasn't thinking about Godrej hair dye :-)

We began class IX with verbs. There are 3 types - the ones ending with 'ar', ones ending with 'er' and the ones ending with 'ir'. So it was hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, hablais, hablan till vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, vivis, viven. The teacher must have thought this was very easy because she piled on quite a bit of vocabulary - mainly adjectives to describe the physical characteristics of a person. Our homework was introducing some Latin American or Spanish personality. I chose Jennifer Lopez. Here goes my description:

Mira, te prsento a una mujer bonita.
Se llama Jennifer Lopez.
Es Estado Unidense.
Vive en Estados Unidos.
Trabaja en Hollywood
Es actriz.
Habla espanol y ingles.
Tiene la buena figura y los ojos oscuros.
Tiene el pelo liso y marron.
Es alta, canosa, morena.

Today was class X (we didn't have class on the Dussera weekend). The teacher mainly revised the verbs taught during the last class. And handed 5-6 sheets of more vocabulary because we don't have a class next Sunday. Gosh! I don't have a clue as to how I am going to learn all this.

With 10 classes done, we are already halfway through. :-)