Dance - The Latino Way!

It’s amazing to see the growing popularity of Latin American dance forms in India. Sometime back, one of my friends participated in a dance workshop, which included both corporate professionals and students. The workshop culminated in a charity event marked by some spectacular performances by talented dancers.

It was a razzle-dazzle of Salsa dancers and Bachata dancers, while others tripped between Merengue, Cha Cha and Jive. There’s something special about classy dance, sassy music and a spirited audience; all the ingredients of a first-class evening. I have to agree with the Austrian writer Vicki Baum when she says, there are shortcuts to happiness and dancing is one of them.

Ganesh Chaturthi à la Pottery Town!

I had been meaning to go to Pottery Town for quite sometime now. But something or the other always came up at the last minute. The last attempt, a week back, had to be cancelled as rain played spoilsport. So this Sunday, I was glad to be finally in Pottery Town despite a not-so-good weather forecast. Pottery Town is a street full of pottery vendors in East Bangalore behind Frazer Town, quite close to the Cantonment Railway Station. It was formed years back when the Government decided to give a piece of land on lease to a group of 60 potter families. The profession has been carried on for more than three generations with currently more than 20 families still in business.

The place provides a great opportunity to see the world of potters and their workmanship. The entire life cycle of pottery can be experienced, right from wheels making pottery to drying them in symmetric way and finally burning them in kilns to make the final product. The pots are then painted using spray paints and kept in shops for sale. Mahendra and I reached the place early, around eight in the morning, hoping to get some pictures of potters turning their wheels and moulding clay into beautiful pots. But we were in for a pleasant surprise.

The whole place was transformed in anticipation of Ganesh Chaturthi which was the next day. Beautiful idols of Lord Ganesha in myriad shapes, sizes and colors, each depicting the Lord in different poses adorned the streets. Several makeshift tents had scores of completed and work in progress statues with artisans putting finishing touches.

Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chavithi or simply Ganeshotsav, is one of the most joyous of Indian festivals. The day marks the birth of Lord Ganesha, the benign elephant-headed god, considered the destroyer of all evils and harbinger of good luck. Lord Ganesha is the lord of all the good qualities in us. He is also the lord of knowledge and wisdom. It is believed that when we worship Lord Ganesha, all good qualities will blossom in us.

People across the country, and even abroad, celebrate Ganeshotsav with great zeal and passion. But the celebrations are opulent, colourful and elaborate in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and the entire coastal belt of Konkan where thousands of small villages annually come alive with the music and lights of Ganeshotsav. In this region, the festivities were started by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the first popular leader of the Indian Independence Movement, cocking a snook at the then British government. During the British Rule of India, common public was prohibited from gathering in large numbers. Lokmanya Tilak founded the publicly celebrated Ganeshotsav Festival as a means of promoting the dream of Indian Independence, uniting people from diverse groups, and enhancing their sense of social belonging.

Wishing everyone a happy Ganesh Chaturthi! Ganapati Bappa Morya! Mangal Murti Morya!

Celebrating 66 Years of Freedom - Happy Independence Day!

15 August 1947, India became a free nation. Pandit Nehru's landmark speech captures the essence of the political freedom from the British Empire, "at the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance."

India did not achieve its independence from the British Empire on a silver platter. It was the culmination of decades of struggle led by revolutionaries like Chandrasekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhash Chadra Bose and countless others. In those days Indians weren't considered equal to the foreigners who ruled over them in their own country. Today, all Indians enjoy equal rights irrespective of their race or region. We have the freedom of speech and expression, freedom for life and freedom for hope. We owe our freedom to those unsung heroes who made supreme sacrifices in India's freedom struggle so that we grew up in a free country.

On August 15, we celebrated the 67th Independence Day. The Flag hoisting followed by the National Anthem and some cultural programs is the norm. On this day. the whole nation is gripped by a fervent wave of patriotism. Vehicles, public and private, can be seen sporting the national flag as they ply to and fro. Shops which remain open, are usually spruced up in tricolours, some flying the national flag at the shop entrances. Youngsters adorn themselves with the tricolours of the national flag displaying it on scarves, badges, wristbands, hairbands or face paintings. The spirit is reinforced as most television channels start play patriotic movies and songs as a build up to the Independence Day. The whole nation rejoices in happiness and celebration, saluting the ones who made this possible.

Sadly, this euphoric feeling of unity and big hearted patriotism doesn't last more than 24 hours. People get back to their well paying jobs and cozy lifestyles once the fervour wears off. Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to fly into space, was asked a question on how India looked from space by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He responded, "Saare Jahan Se Acha, Hindusthan Humara!" Given the humble start and plethora of challenges faced by our country, its achievements over the last 66 years are quite remarkable. As a proud Indian, I believe we can be the best. But only if the citizens of this great nation sustain the Independence Day spirit for 365 days of the year. Vande Mataram!

Eid-ul-Fitr - Celebrations in Bangalore!

I was up today at the crack of dawn, which is rather unusual for me. One of my shutterbug buddies woke me up to join him in capturing the festivities of Eid-ul-Fitr. Yesterday the moon had been sighted. My friend proposed going to Fraser Town where a good gathering was expected. So there I was was sitting huddled in the backseat of his Scooty Pep, quietly chiding myself for forgetting my jacket, as we travelled from BTM to Fraser Town.

In Bangalore, Eid-ul-Fitr is celebrated with great fervour and gaiety. This festival marks the culmination of the fasting month of Ramzan (also known as Ramdan). Eid-ul-Fitr literally means the festival of breaking the fast. During Ramzan, Muslims fast from dawn till sunset with no food or water. The idea behind the fasting is that by experience hunger, they will develop compassion for the less fortunate.

Thousands of Muslims clad in traditional attire trooped to the nearest Idgahs and mosques to offer the special Eid namaaz. Mass prayers were held at mosques. The namaaz was followed by warm exchange of greetings and embrace spreading the message of love and unity.

My friend and I were well in time for the Eid namaaz and got some good pictures. In fact, we had a gala time. An early wake-up meant a rather long day but it has been good fun. Eid Mubarak!

A Mother's Mantle - St. Mary's Basilica

Last Sunday while roaming the crowded streets around Commercial Street in Bangalore, we chanced upon the St. Mary's Basilica. Amidst the chaos of Shivajinagar and the bustling Russel Market, the church appears like an oasis: a beautiful immaculate structure, the embodiment of peace and harmony. At twilight, the dipping sun created a nice golden glow in the sky as a backdrop to the church.

Built in Gothic style with stained glass windows, arches and ornamental motifs, the oldest church in the city, it was elevated to the status of a minor basilica in 1973. At present, it's the only basilica in the state of Karnataka and only the sixth in the country.

The church was built from 1856 to 1882 and consecrated in September 1882. Dedicated to Mother Mary, it is famous for St. Mary's feast held every year in the month of September. The festivities, attended by thousands from in and around Bangalore across religions, goes on for 10 days culminating in a grand chariot procession on the last day. Looking forward to attending this festival this year.

The Beauty of Street Photography!

Street photography is an art almost as old as photography itself. With the advent of portable cameras, photographers began exploring and documenting the world around them, capturing unstaged moments, interpreting life and challenging the perceptions. But I find myself very timid when walking down a street taking pictures of absolute strangers. I start off hesitant clicking a picture here, another there. And soon you will find me clicking away to my heart's content, approaching and talking to strangers, the original misgivings forgotten. I still prefer being invisible; it gets amazing candid shots!

Busy public places are fantastic for street photography as its easier to be invisible in a crowd. In the words of Joel Meyerowitz, "There is something exciting about being in a crowd, in all that chance and change - it's tough out there - but if you can keep paying attention, something will reveal itself - just a split second - and then there's a crazy cockeyed picture."

Madivala market, just a stone's throw from my place, is an ideal location for street photography. Having someone like Pattu along definitely helps soothe the nerves. While shooting on the streets, I find him quietly confident, observing the scene with an open mind ready to capture whatever appears in the viewfinder. He can easily strike a conversation with absolute strangers, complimenting them and requesting permission to take their portrait.

Street photography is all about gestures and expression. Subjects and settings can vary greatly and spontaneity helps. The goal is to tell a story in a single frame, communicate an emotion. Henri Cartier-Bresson, considered the father of modern photojournalism, has opined "Photography is not like painting. There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative. Oops! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever." He termed this the decisive moment. Street photographers strive to capture the life and culture of city streets, searching for the decisive moment.

I normally prefer black and white for this genre as it helps remove any distractions of colour from the frame, allowing the viewer to be more drawn to the subject. The best thing about street photography is that it is possible for the final viewer to see more than the original photographer. There are lots of stories out there waiting to be told. And I am ready with my camera to have some fun!

Gudiya Sambhrama

With the aim of reviving the fading age old traditions and culture in contemporary society, the Heritage Trust conducts Gudiya Sambhrama, the Bangalore Temple Festival, across different temples in the city. Since its advent in 2010, this annual festival has emerged as one of the city's and probably South India's most innovative and energetic temple festivals.

The event organized across 22 heritage temples, a few of them thousands of years old, endeavors to reverberate the city with traditional dance, music, theatre, puppetry, story-telling and more with artists hailing from all over the country. Traditionally temples have not been limited to only religious activities; they had served as centers of communities for centuries, a platform for performing arts. Gudiya Sambhrama is an attempt to take the classical arts back to the temples and in the process reduce the ever growing chasm between today's generation and our rich culture.

I was lucky to catch the Odissi dance event organized at Sri Siddhivinayaka Devasthana in HSR Layout. All the dancers were from Sharmila Mukerjee's Sanjali Center for Odissi Dance institute in Bangalore. Sharmila Mukerjee, who learnt Odissi dance from the notable guru Kelu Charan Mahapatra, and her troupe kept the audience enthralled with their scintillating performances.

The event was special for me as Odissi dance originated from Odisha, my native state. Considered my many as the oldest surviving dance form of India, it is distinguished from other classical dance forms by the importance it places on the independent movement of head, chest and pelvis, the Tribhangi and the basic square stance known as Chouka which symbolizes Lord Jagannath. The dance is characterized by various stances, called Bhangas, which involve stamping of the foot and striking various postures as seen in Indian sculptures.

Saraswati Puja

In the eastern parts of India - Odisha and West Bengal, Saraswati Puja is celebrated on Vasanth Panchami (which literally means the fifth day of Spring). Hindus, especially the student community, worship Goddess Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, with great devotion and reverence. The goddess is also a patron of music, art and science.

I had the good fortune to visit a puja organized last week by the Bengalis in Bangalore (BIB) association. And it did trigger a trip down memory lane. Saraswati Puja is not celebrated in a big way in Bangalore (or I can probably extend it to the whole of South India). But back home, in Odisha, educational institutions across the State will have a festive ambience on this day.

Seeking blessings of the goddess of knowledge, students from primary schools to universities organize the puja with fervor and gaiety. The rituals start early in the morning and last till midday in schools, colleges, coaching centers, community places and households. The environment is abuzz with chanting of mantras by priests and the ringing sounds of conch shells. Students line up to perform pushpanjali, offering flowers to the goddess along with the chanting of mantras. Devotees place books, pens and musical instruments at the feet of the goddess. The worship of books also meant this day has traditionally been a no-study day.

Also, this day is considered auspicious for Vidya Aaramabh or Khadi Chuan, as it is commonly called. Young kids mark the beginning of their academic journey on this day by learning the first letters of the alphabets with the blessings of the goddess.

Bannerghatta National Park, Bangalore

Located on the outskirts of Bangalore, Bannerghatta National Park promises a retreat from the chaotic city life, a rendezvous with nature. It boasts of 25,000 acres of zoological park that includes a Tiger and Lion Reserve, a Butterfly Park and a zoo. Owing to the close proximity to the IT capital of India, it has emerged as a very popular tourist attraction. One of the main attractions is the Grand Safari conducted by KSTDC which includes lion, bear and tiger safari and lasts for one hour.

I recently had an opportunity to try the Grand Safari and will say I am disappointed. I really felt sad at the sorry state of the animals. At the onset, I had imagined the animals in a more natural habitat while the safari progressed in a caged vehicle (that's how I would describe the mesh covered mini-bus that took us through the safari). But it seemed more like a big zoo with wider enclosures. The animals seem more domesticated than wild. There is no thrill or adventure that you normally expect from a jungle safari.

It may have been the wrong time of the year (summer is quite unforgiving in India), but the first thing I noticed was the predominantly brown landscape. In the herbivore enclosure, the deers were feeding on cut grass provided by the park attendants. The bears looked quite lost walking along the barbed wire fence with the unrelenting sun bearing down mercilessly. The only available refuge in the vicinity were small buildings made of brick and mortar like you see in a zoo. The lions looked forlorn in the receding shades of trees stripped bare of its foliage. A white tiger was lying in one of the small pools of water in a desperate bid to cool off the heat. But with such low level of water, I wouldn't be surprised if the water became boiling hot in sometime.

The park attendants in the safari vehicle seemed courteous and waited for everyone to take pictures of the animals. But at times, I felt, they were a bit too obliging. On one occasion, the driver parked the bus next to a bear and started calling out to it loudly so that it may give a better pose for the photographers. No one in the safari seemed to mind this. Instead, everyone seemed more excited at the opportunity to click more pictures. It was sad to see the animals didn't exhibit any of their natural instincts. These animals are in a rather sorry state, reduced to mere performers put on a show for entertaining the visitors.

We event went on a stroll through the zoo and found it over-crowded with visitors. The whole place had an aura of ill-maintenance. The cages were not very well-kept and the animals didn't look much healthy.

Well-connected by bus services, even air-conditioned Volvo buses, that ply between the city of Bangalore and the park, the park seems to be doing well with huge number of daily visitors. However, major improvements are needed in maintenance of the zoo as well as providing a better and more natural habitat to the animals in the reserves. The wilderness may just help them get back their missing wild side.

Bus Trip from Chennai to Bangalore

Bangalore is not too far from Chennai. A little more than 200 kms and hardly 7 hrs by bus. With most of my friends based out of the city, it was logical I head out there for a 5 day break. I was visiting a friend in Indian Institue of Science (IISc). IISc is one of the premier institutes of higher education in the country, located in the beautiful city of Bangalore, and I was looking forward to my stay in a college campus after almost 6 years.

Now, I am not much into planning. I had run into issues the last time I attempted the trip. So, after some admonishing from my friend, I went ahead and made advance reservation for the 11:00 pm bus. The bus was starting from CMBT bus station which is located in Koyambedu. Residing in Mahindra World City, I needed atleast 1.5 hrs to reach Koyambedu. Mahindra World City is supposed to be a part of Chennai but is actually 50 kms outside the city.

Time 9:00 pm. I had a good dinner and then went to get a printout of the ticket. Old habits die hard. I had made online reservation but put off on taking a printout of the ticket till the last minute. Anyway, I fired a print and then stood intently staring at the printer, willing it to print ASAP. Couple of minutes passed. I realized something must be wrong. It doesn't take this long to print a ticket. Is that a light blinking? Darn! No paper. I hurried to check the remaining trays. As luck would have it, not only the trays, but even the spare paper stacks stored near the printer were empty.

Time 9:45 pm. I should have started 15 mins back. Nary a worry. I am usually lucky and tend to be bullish about it. I was confident I will be able to make it to the bus station on time. And the PNR number in the SMS sent by the booking service will have to do for a ticket. Making up my mind, I went back to the Guest House, collected my luggage and started off. Almost immediately got an auto-rickshaw, reassured that Lady Luck was with me. The auto let me off at the main gates of Mahindra World City. Long distance buses frequent this route. I was hopeful of flagging one and hitching a ride to the main bus station in Koyambedu.

Buses were frequent. I got that much right. But none seemed to want to stop for me. A few minutes later, it started raining. There I stood by the road side, somewhat drenched, but still in high spirits. Time for another timecheck. It's 10:00 pm. Seems a bit difficult to reach the station on time. Nary a worry. I have the bus contact number. All I need to do is call the number, rant a few excuses and get a seat for the next bus. Darn! Number temporarily disconnected. Tough luck.

All cockiness gone, I reassessed my situation. The last bus for the service I had opted for was at mid-night. So I could still get a bus if I reached the station. I could take a local bus till Tambaram and then catch one of the long distance bus from there to Koyambedu. Reached Tambaram in 15 minutes. After waiting for 10 minutes, caught a bus going to Koyambedu. The conductor assured me we should reach the station in 45 minutes. As it turned out, it was much longer than that. By the time I got off at the main bus station, it was 12:15 am.

I hurried inside, inquiring for the bus terminus to Bangalore. Following directions, I reached a platform. Looking around I felt something amiss. Where are the counters of the bus service providers? Am I at the correct terminal? I turned to the person next to me and made some inquiries. Communication in Chennai is a bit difficult, given that I don't know the local language and many localites speak somewhat less than passable English. Somehow I managed to get a few answers. I gathered there are two bus terminuses - Government and Private. I was at the Government Bus Station. My bus was supposed to be at the Private Bus Station. Now why didn't I know that?

Anyway, started walking in the direction towards which the gentleman pointed his finger, stopping and confirming the route from passerbys on several occasions. Finally reached a place that didn't at all resemble a bus station. But it was! I found someone in my bus provider's counter and dunned him nice and proper. The fact that I didn't have a ticket never even came up, he was totally to be blamed. How dare he not have a valid phone number on the ticket? By the time I was done, the poor guy was really miserable and I started feeling sorry for him. There were no more buses of the service. So he tried with the affiliated service providers for any available seats. Unfortunately, all were booked. So I bid adieu after thanking him and went back to the Government bus station.

To my good fortune, I was just in time to catch a KSRTC AC bus which had a seat available. Completely tired by now, I fell asleep almost as soon as I boarded the bus. I wasn't up till 7:30 am. And we were in Bangalore. I have learnt my lesson - Planned Trips, no more!!