HAPPY NEW YEAR

Cool cat in Brussels

A Very Happy New Year everyone. I wonder why a calendar year matters so much to us. Do we really mean all those wishes, or are they simply a way of keeping in touch with our friends and acquaintances?

Just reminding someone that we are still around?

A long time ago, every New Year, Diwali, Christmas, we used to send out cards to our friends. Then the era of SMS arrived and now wishes go by e- mail. Now it is so convenient to simply address a wish to everyone and then press the send option. No numerous signatures, no checking of the address, the postage stamp, or dependence upon the post. No waiting....life has moved on, so fast!

Every year moves us away from childhood to youth, to middle age, and then old age. Every second, every moment, every year that goes by, takes us away from helplessness to being helped, to planning a future and then resting on our laurels or failures, whatever.

Life they say is meant to be lived, every minute. Yet all that we do is squander away each glorious minute. Each passing moment just goes. "Aane wala pal jaane wala hai-the moment that is about to come is about to go away." If only we lived each moment as it is meant to be lived, we will create lasting memories. These will be memories of joy, happiness, and laughter.

When I look around me, I often see people with huge frowns. Smiles are so rare, laughter is even rarer. There is a look of boredom, a look of pain, misery and helplessness on most faces that one would encounter at a public place. It is rather sad to see all the gloomy faces around me. 

If some person looks at our pretty child and smiles or says an appreciative word, we get paranoid, as we fear the evil eye!! Encountering a stranger who smiles, is also met with a cynical look! Pathetic, is the word that comes to my mind, because we do not trust people. We can only see evil in every action. We cannot appreciate innocent human gestures. Our minds are so full of prejudice and suspicion. What has the world done to us, to make us into these fearful hapless persons, who are so far removed from the natural goodness of human beings?

The innocence of childhood, the carefree attitude of youth turns us into cynics as we grow old. I wonder why?? Is it time, or failures, frustration, or simply the realization that our time on earth is now slowly depleting. We are no longer those bright eyed people who could make a difference to the world. We have simply taken a back seat and stopped waiting longingly for our next birthday!

What is it? Come on folks, cheer up, all is not lost. 

Variety of tomatoes at Borough Market London

We have only one life to live. This is the time when I am here. The world exists for me. I was born, I live and the world is full of joy, happiness and pleasures...all for me! The world lays out a plethora of options in front of me. I have to choose, what I want. Pick up the brightness, the colorful, and the best of the lot and live happily forever. The choice is to make life happy, vibrant and beautiful. Love yourself and the whole world will love you. You will get back what you give out. Give happiness and it will come back multiplied manifold. Just share your smiles and happiness. I appreciate this beautiful world which was made for me to use, while I live here. The here, now, is the time to enjoy. Live happily and love yourself!

Look at the innocent smile of a baby. His trusting smile, faltering step, innocence, makes me realize that childhood is indeed wonderful. If only we could start trusting people just like a child, life would become simpler. Every step in life cannot be equal and correct. Sometimes we do make mistakes without realizing it. We cause unhappiness for others without having any such intentions. Let us start forgiving our own selves for having caused that pain to someone. The ones who are hurt are usually those who are very close to us. We therefore need to be magnanimous with our own selves and forgive ourselves.

Move on and see the colorful, beautiful platter of life laid out in front of you and choose to remain happy. You will only find more happiness throughout your way. Look for roses and you will find them. If you only look for thorns that is what you will find. Choose carefully what you want, as that is what you will find. I have heard of an old Afghan prayer, "Ae Khuda, Kharche badha"! This is a prayer for increasing expenses!They believe that if your expenses increase, your capacity for paying for those expenses will increase. The end result will be prosperity!

I wish you all a lot of Happiness. I wish that you only choose happiness, health and prosperity for your own self. All those whom you love will also get these by default, because your happiness is dependent upon their happiness too!
As 2010 is drawing to its end, I say adieu, goodbye,we will wake up to a New Year soon. A beautiful year,a fun filled year, a year even better than the last!

I wish you all A Very Happy New Year, full of Joy, Brightness, Good Health, Prosperity, Peace, Love and Happiness.

Anurag

Anurag was the cutest little bundle of joy that one had seen.  TNN, the very practical  Engineer that I had married, always put a spanner in the works, by declaring that to every mother her child is the cutest! Nevertheless, I still stand by my declaration that Anurag was the cutest baby boy ever! As he was being taken to the nursery, on the 15th of May, he looked wide eyed at all the people who had come to await his arrival. My mother says he actually focussed his eyes to look!

It was a hot summer's day in Delhi and right ten minutes after mid day Anurag was born. He was a child who was the pet of the whole household. For my in laws he was the grandson to carry on the lineage and fulfill all the religious obligations, and pave their way to salvation. To my parents he was a pretty baby toy, sorry boy!

As a baby he would ride from one end of our house to the neighbor’s house extremely fast on his walker. Zoom, zoom, zoom was his buzzword. Later when he acquired a tricycle he would go very fast on it too. By this time he had a baby sister who was quite roly poly. He would insist upon taking Chaitali on a fast ride too. Perhaps that is the reason why Chaitali is still so fond of adventure sports.

Anurag with his walker

Anurag was always fond of friends. As a small child he would love to play with the neighbour’s children and eat with them. I used to serve his food on a plate and give it to the neighbour to make him eat there. Once after such a meal, Anurag came home and asked me why I could not cook like the neighbour aunty!!

He started going to school riding a cycle in Chandigarh. His school was hardly two kilometers away, and the traffic was negligible. I used to watch him till he reached school from my back verandah. This practice of watching him from afar continued even when he went to College. We had strict instructions not to visit his hostel. He must have been terrified to see emotional parents coming with loads of goodies for their son languishing in a hostel! Therefore Banaras, and Lanka all remained a mystery for me! 

Whenever I remember parents teacher's meeting of school, for some strange reason I always remember the 'Venn diagram’. Perhaps because till that time, I could teach Anurag and follow up his studies. Maths was however my Waterloo and I had reached it! Anurag was always a good student and quite regular with his studies. He and his sister saved all the calcium sandoz tablets that were given to them to eat and planted them in the kitchen garden, waiting for trees of calcium to grow!They also threw away glassful of milk down the drain! Sandwiches and unfinished cheese cubes given to eat on the way to school was also dutifully thrown away, as soon as I was out of sight!

Anurag was always a good student.Every year we were the proud parents who were invited by DPS(Delhi Public School) RK Puram, to attend the Scholar's Badge ceremony. This was an exclusive ceremony, for selected students and was addressed by eminent people. I remember one year it was Madhav Rao Scindia, the next it was Natwar Singh. They were great orators and it was a proud moment for us to see Anurag go to receive his Scholar's badge year after year! 

 Sports, and  reading were Anurag's forte. Tennis,was the game he excelled in. He learnt to play and was coached at The Secunderabad Club, by the legendary Shiv Prakash Mishra who played qualifiers and Preliminary matches at Wimbledon and the US Open during the 60's. Anurag represented his University in matches.

When he passed out from IT BHU at the age of 21, I was very keen that he pursue further studies. He dutifully gave the Entrance exams for GRE and scored 99 percentile. He got invites from a number of Colleges of USA, but he was keen to take up a job as soon as possible and then go in for further studies with work experience. Perhaps he did not want to burden us with expenses of his studying abroad. 2 years of Infosys were followed by 2 years at IIM Bangalore. Anurag has always been a responsible, caring and loving child, who never gave any anxiety to us.

Sharing space!

Chaitali and Anurag got along like a house on fire. Yet there were major complaints that Anurag pulled her hair, or teased her or called her fatso or moti. There was nothing new in this, as this is the story of every brother and sister in my country. Anurag would be scolded or even beaten for these complaints.Anurag being my eldest child got a lot of undeserved beating from me, for which I have never been able to forgive myself. Maybe Anurag will need to forgive me for all those unjustified and inhumane beatings that he got from me. Then I may be able to forgive myself and get over this guilt complex that I harbour.

There is an old saying that a son is a son till he gets a wife, a daughter is a daughter for life. I do not agree with this at all. My son is my son and my daughter is my daughter. Both my children are very devoted, loving and extremely caring. I have actually gained a daughter in Jharna, my daughter in law, and a son in Raja, my son in law. They too are as devoted, loving and caring as my own children. I could not have asked for anything more in my life.

 A son is often misunderstood because boys hide their emotions, they try to appear macho,indifferent and practicle. The truth is that they too are emotional, loving, caring and devoted. A lot of men are indeed indiferrent and try to keep themselves away from brewing storms, but there are others who take the initiative to ensure that brewing storms are nipped in the bud! Some like Anurag are generous, loving, caring and sharing. They do not go around in the world with illusions of being some mighty gift to the world. 

 As a child Anurag introduced a lot of new words in our vocabulary. Pindada for pajama, pachchach for chammach,dusara wala pachchach for the ice cream spoon! He started calling his nani as Anni, and the word has stuck. All my mother's grandchildren call her Anni and not Dadi. Anurag stayed with my parents for a good portion of his childhood and was therefore a great favourite of everyone.

When at the age of seven he went on a school trip to Jaipur and Agra, he came back with classic observations. Agra and the Taj were summarily dismissed as a tomb where Shah Jehan and Mumtaz were buried. Jaipur was found interesting, as he liked the famous cinema hall Raj Mandir, where he saw "Naseeb" and learnt to eat curd with Aloo ka paratha!

My most glamorous golfer!

Anurag is now an avid golf player. I love to see his devotion to the game. He always watches Golf on TV and so his little daughter Aaria too is getting groomed into the game. She already owns a couple of golf sets! She will be a sports person, I guess! A fashionable one to top it all! Aaria is a great fashion diva, with numerous sun glasses, clips, bangles and clothes! She is all of two and a half years old! The fashionable portion will be thanks to her mother, Jharna.

Anurag, my most precious son, is a boon to me. As Julie Andrews sang in 'Sound of Music', "Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good." I do believe we are rewarded or punished in this very life. This is one life that I have and I have been amply rewarded in it! Thank you Anurag, for being my son! I am indeed proud of you! 

LEELAWATI NAGPAL

In Pakistan there is a town called Imnabad  or Eminabad. It is near Gujranwala. This little town was the place where Saraswati was born in the family of Lala Sharampat Rai Gulati, sometime in the beginning of the last century, most probably on 13th April 1905. Her father was a government servant and from what I had heard, he was a 'Dipty' or a Deputy something. He lived near the canal and had a horse on which he rode to go around on inspection.He must have been  someone in the revenue service of the then Government of British India. Saraswati belonged to a large family. She had three brothers and six sisters.
At the age of sixteen, in the year 1921, she was married to Narain Das Nagpal, the son of a cloth merchant of Gujranwala. Her name was changed to Leelawati and that is what she remained for the rest of her life.Her brother Lajpat Rai,who was called Unca by his nephews,was the only one who would  always call her Sarasati.

Devi, Neena, Prem, Mataji, Pitaji

Leelawati alias Saraswati, became my mother in law in 1970.

Her story is what I would like to tell you today. Leelawati was a very beautiful woman, who was stylish and also had a very strong personality. In the early twentieth century,women were not educated much. The aim of most women then was to just get married. Leelawati was not satisfied to be just a housewife, so she educated herself after marriage and graduated from the Punjab University, which was located at Lahore. In those days, I am talking of the year 1924, there was no University in Delhi.
By this time Leelawati or Mataji as she was called, already had a daughter who was named Phulan. Perhaps from the day Phulan was born her dowry started getting collected. Mataji lived in Delhi as Pitaji was working in the Education department at Delhi. Their ancestral house was in Gujranwala, and therefore all the dowry was collected and kept in that house. It is another story that during Partition, all those saved goods were lost. There were about forty trunks full of stuff.
After Phulan the couple had two sons Surender and Dharampal who both died as infants. Leelawati went to all the pilgrimage centers of North India and prayed for a child who would live. After long penance, a daughter was born in Shimla in 1932, who was named Devika, and kept a vegetarian as she was a gift of God. After this three more girls were born, named Pushpa, Premlata, and Neena, but then in a Hindu family having a son is compulsory, or else it is thought that there would be no salvation for the ancestors! So again began that journey to all the pilgrimage centres of North India. All the difficult places were visited and promises were made that stones would be donated and all sorts of penance would be undergone so that they could have that much desired son! Finally a son was born in December 1945. He was named Trilokinath.



Prem and Cuckoo

 Leelawati was a modern lady with modern thoughts. She was determined to educate her daughters and bring them up as boys were brought up, with equal opportunity. To the credit of that lady goes the success of all the daughters of the house. Each daughter turned out to be better than the other. Devika Rani joined the Education department and retired as a Dy. Director. She was a double M A. Pushpa and Neena became Doctors. Neena was a Gold medalist from Lady Harding Medical College, Delhi and received her gold medal from the then President of India, Dr. Zakir Hussain. Neena  later on became the Dean of Maulana Azad Medical College. Pushpa worked in the Nuclear Science Lab in Delhi as a Doctor.Premlata was  a Professor of English Literature in Delhi. She did her Doctorate from Canada and has a lot of literary work to her credit. She is a poet and has a lot of work published. Phulan also worked as a Teacher in the Government School of Delhi. It was a rare feat in those days for women to work. People generally had the thought that women should stay at home and look after the home. Working women were looked down upon, and some people even thought that it was derogatory for women to work. I salute my mother in law for having the vision to educate her daughters and give them the direction to be self sufficient and the courage and conviction to face the world as individuals with their own personality.
Mataji, was very fashionable and always wore silk sarees. She was a devout Hindu while her husband was more of an Arya Samaji.She was quite flexible in her views and did not observe very rigid religious fasts and strictures.

Neena with Dr. Zakir Hussain

After the Partition of India a number of her family members had to flee from Pakistan. Mataji accommodated a number of such relatives. My in laws helped rehabilitate a number of relatives and helped them get employment in the Government Service. Phulan had got married at an early age due to pressure from the family. After that mataji became her own master and decided that no one could force her to marry her daughters off in haste. The family ultimately turned out to be truly modern. All the children married people of their own choice. There was a Malayali, a UP Kayasth, a Maharashtrian brought into the family.It was national integration at its best.
Mataji ruled her house with a firm hand. Her daughters were excellent cooks, and great house keepers in spite of having a career of their own, in a man's world! Prem the Professor was always a story teller. She tells us that once Pushpa was very ill and Mataji had to be away from the house attending to Pushpa. Prem had to cook the food and look after her younger brother and sister. Prem would keep the two children  beside her in the kitchen and tell them stories. Once the dal got burnt. Prem was very scared that her mother would get annoyed, so she told Neena and Cuckoo(Trilokinath) to pray that the burnt smell of the dal would go away.
Sometimes when her roti got burnt those would be thrown up on the roof of the house!Anything would be done rather than face the wrath of her mother, who was very fastidious!

Mataji and Pushpa at leisure

Cuckoo was the apple, pear, orange, and every other fruit of his mother's eye. When he joined Hindu College to study Physics Hon's a scooter was bought for this royal prince. As was expected prince charming spent all his time measuring the galis of Delhi and failed the examination! That was quite a shocker for everyone and the Prince charming having learnt a lesson, joined Engineering College and then always passed his exams with flying colours.
My father was a staunch atheist while my mother in law was a great believer in God. The discussions that they had were often quite interesting. All the other observers in the house would be petrified as both the people were strong personalities, yet they never clashed. They discussed and each one left the other with dignity and their own beliefs.
Mataji loved travelling, fun, picnics and movies. Her favourite hero was Ashok Kumar. 
After pitaji retired from the Government Service, he worked for some time in Bangrod near Ratlam with his brother, Manoharlal Nagpal. Later Mataji and Pitaji came and stayed with us in Chandigarh and then Hyderabad. She died on 19th November 1986, in my house at Hyderabad.
She was a  very strong personality, an intelligent lady, a visionary, and emancipator of women. She was beautiful, graceful and an excellent cook. She was full of life and laughter. I wish I could befriend her and know her better. It is now 24 years since she left us, yet her laughter and cheerful countenance is still remembered and missed.

4th November 2010.



On the see saw Varsha and daddy



We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun...... but Alas! All too soon, the days, months and years just rolled by and one day without saying goodbye to anyone my dad just died. None of his children was in Delhi when he died. One was in London, one was in Dar es Salaam and one was in Mumbai. None of us had ever thought that daddy would leave us, without telling us that he was going away. He was a very courteous  person and not a single day would pass without his wishing us a hearty Good morning, good evening or good night.

True to his nature, he did not give anyone even one hour of tension or anxiety at the hospital. No one had to EVER do a hospital run for my father. He was always very particular and took good care of his health. He was very regular with his walks, he was very careful with the food that he ate and  he was very generous with his time which was always available to anyone who approached him for anything.

He was a very caring, compassionate,and considerate person who had nothing but kindness for one and all. He was generous to a fault and was very approachable. He would go running to pick up the phone,and never thought that a phone at any odd hour was a disturbance. He could have been eating or sleeping, yet any phone call would always be attended to by him.

His helpful nature was such that anyone could approach him for help, and he would go out of the way to help the person. He would take the people in his own car all over Delhi and speak to any number of people to render help to the person. Often it was a thankless job, and he would not even get a verbal thank you in return. Even this sort of behaviour did not frustrate my father as, he thought that it was his duty to educate people. He would always say that if people do not know how to behave, then it is our duty to teach them.

Long long ago, in the 50's, he was posted at Nagarjuna sagar when the dam was being built. He was Deputy Director and had a jeep, which he loved to drive. While going to Hyderabad, he would give a lift to any number of people who asked for a lift. He would always say I need just a little space to drive, in the rest of the place, you people can adjust. His philosophy was, "arre bhai, bahut jagah hai, dil me jagah honi chahiye". I learnt this from him, and to this day, I can occupy the least possible space and accommodate any number of people in a car.

He was a person who believed whole heartedly in Buddha's philosophy of 'Atta Deep Bhava', which means be your own light. He believed that one must always reason out, and not follow anything blindly. His philosophy was very different from the philosophy of most parents who think that children must obey them as parents know best! We three children were given the freedom to  make all the decisions in our life. After one year of Engineering from IIT Delhi, Sunil my brother decided that he did not really like Engineering, so Daddy asked Sunil to study whatever he wanted to, and sure enough Sunil studied English Literature from St Stephen's College.

FUN LOVING PERSON

When he was Director in the Ministry of Defence Production, at a meeting with Mrs. Indira Gandhi he put forth his arguments on an important matter and convinced the then Prime Minister. Those were the days, when fearless men worked, spoke and were extremely honest!

He used to travel by Bus no 610 from Netaji Nagar to G block, his Office near Sena Bhawan. On returning home he would give his return journey ticket of Rs one to Anurag my son, who would wait everyday to get that ticket. Those were small gestures which brought big smiles.

Anurag with daddy in 2005

He was very simple in his needs. A beautiful song would bring tears to his eyes.He could forgive very easily. He never held a grudge against anyone. It was his generous disposition which made him always see the other side of a person's behaviour. He could reason out, and therefore could forgive easily.
He was extremely fun loving with a great sense of humour. He loved people and was the Pied Piper who could entice children away from their mothers. He was a person who would treat the lowliest of low with respect. He always remained a simple man from the very backward District of Gadchiroli,with impeccable manners, and style of a polished citybred.

Dad and mum 1949.

There are so many memories, which come flooding to my mind. Today, on the 4th death anniversary of my daddy, I wish for the legacy of having the generosity to forgive, the vision to see a beautiful world where there is no disparity, no discrimination, no favouritism, and no nepotism. I wish that I live a life as fulfilling as my father's. I wish that I never hold a grudge against anyone.

I quote from The Dhammapada,my wishes for everyone,

"Sabbe satta sukhi hontu, 

Sarve santu niramaya.

Sarve bhadrani paschchantu

Ma kashchit dukkhbha bhavata”.

Au revoir.

FORTY YEARS OF TIME

MY FAMILY

TRILOKI & I IN LUCERNE

40 years is a long time in any one's life. It is 4 decades, 2 scores, 1 generation and a Ruby wedding anniversary!

Forty, is rather an interesting number.

 It is the atomic number of Zirconium.

The temperatures at which Fahrenheit and Celsius correspond are
 -40°F= -40°C.

The Hanuman Chalisa has 40 verses.

Remember the story of Alibaba and 40 thieves?

Lent consists of forty days before Easter.

There is a saying,"Life begins at forty"

Then there is the proverbial "Forty winks"

The Roman numeral for forty is XL. Rather appropriate as by now one fits into Extra Large clothes!!

Rain fell for 40 days and 40 nights, at the time of deluge, when Noah's arc had to be  used.

Well, that was just some trivia! Now let me get back to the real issue.

IN ROME-TREVI FOUNTAIN

In the last 40 years a lot of water has since gone down the Ganges, Yamuna, Mahanadi, Danube, Thames, Charles, Seine, Gomti!

Where are we now, the people who have been married for the last 40 years? It all started for us on the 12th of October 1970.

We don't seem to have changed much except for the weight, the wrinkles, the worry lines, and the weird sense of humour! Noticed, everything began with the alphabet W? W, which also stands for 'We'

Looking back, one can see two people setting out in life with almost nothing except a lot of hope, dreams, a clean vast horizon, and a whole span of time ahead. We had only a few years of life behind us, but a whole panorama in front of us. We could paint it as we wanted to. Life was ours, time was ours and decisions were ours.

After forty years, I see that the canvas is painted, and the picture is almost complete. The colours are all there, and they are quite co- ordinated.  It is our canvas and our painting. Our painting is very beautiful.

Time has gone by. As journeys are supposed to be, our journey too was not smooth. No journey is, otherwise it would be rather boring! Journeys have their ups and downs, gains and losses. You win some and you lose some! I love travelling and I love journeys. Incidentally we two met for the first time on a train journey, in 1967!

On a journey one experiences the various facets of life, meets new people, sees the world, learns from different environments, faces new challenges, learns to deal with different people, and their moods. Journeys are therefore learning experiences!!

Just as time goes by and seasons change, life too goes by, and ones features change. One’s thinking changes, style changes, and values become relative.

Punishment meted out to your own child is a total no no for your grand child. While your child had to be disciplined, and scolded and corrected, when your grand child repeats the pattern, you beam with great pleasure and are filled with delirious joy! When your child tries to correct his/her child, you are again on the verge of shouting at your child (who is now in the thirties) and telling him/her that children should be given freedom to explore, break things and also be naughty!!

Oh yes it is all a theory of relativity!!!

AALIYA,KUNAAL,AARIA WITH ME

Well, my journey up to here has been interesting, adventurous, and intriguing. I still do not understand my husband, and I guess he too does not understand me. We are still on the trip trying to know each other. Perhaps that is what is keeping us together...the surprise element??

Every year I surprise my husband by buying a present for myself from him, on our wedding anniversary. I do not allow myself to face the disappointment, just in case he forgets to get me something.

About 3 decades back, Triloki or Cuckoo as he is called was a bad smoker. He used to always twist the filter edge of his cigarette butt into a flower and present it to me. Over the years his smoking has reduced and so even these floral gifts that I got, have stopped coming my way. Earlier he did paint a card for me, now he is so busy with his laptop, that if a paint brush and paper found its way in front of him, he would think that it was for writing out a list of grocery!!

Oh yes, time has taken its toll!

Never mind, I shall wait till the morning of 12th October, and then go and buy myself something ruby red in colour, and surprise myself and Cuckoo once again!

Here's to us Cuckoo and Varsha...A Very Happy Anniversary!

Let's keep going on our journey and keep looking at the beautiful landscape and wonders of the world. Life is a journey, so, go on and on and on!!!

SIS IN LAW & MOTHER

This day has triple importance for me. It is my mother's and also my sister in law's birthday! It is a GREAT DAY, a happy day, a joyous day.
THREE CHEERS to all of us.
MANY MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY!!

  

LUCERNE SWITZERLAND

I had heard so much about the amazing beauty of Switzerland, that I was secretly not wanting to see it. I did not want the imaginary picture of Switzerland that I had in my mind, destroyed.  My fears however were unfounded. As soon as we left Italy and moved into Switzerland, my eyes, my mind, my whole being was stupefied. This place was so unimaginably beautiful. It was more pristine, picturesque and pleasing to the eye than the picture that I had in my mind.

So much of beauty, calm, peace, colour, cows, in one place was simply amazing.

VIEW OF BEAUTY

The meadows, the hills, the lakes,the mountains were bewitching. I did not want to look anywhere except outside, and etch the entire place in my mind for ever.

Lucerne, our first stop, is near  a huge lake. There is a promenade around the lake. Beautiful houses on the other side of the lake are spread out all over the mountain. They are not cluttered up. There is a lot of green, lot of beautiful flowers on every window sill and the all pervading calmness of peace and serenity in the town.

One could see beautiful exclusive shops of famous watches. One was really tempted to buy the watches!However, window shopping is all that I did.

Shops are pretty, each one has a character, all its own. They are not like the usual departmental stores. There were little winding musical instruments playing old famous tunes, like Lara's Theme from Dr. Zhivago and Edelweiss from Sound of Music. There were lots of watches on display, and pleasing faces welcoming us even if one did not want to buy anything. They made one feel most welcome even to simply browse around.

Swiss chocolates, Swiss watches, Swiss dairy products, Swiss cheese, Swiss knives all were well stocked all over the place.

I could not get Dev Anand and his beautiful song "Phoolon ke rang se, dil ki kalam se, tujhko likhi roz paati,"(with the colour of the flowers, with the pen of my heart,I write a letter to you everyday) out of my mind. If I remember correctly, it was sung in a train in Switzerland, in the movie Prem Pujari. The scene from that film, of those exquisite windows, full of flowers had been  permanently etched on my mind. I was delighted to see that very scene with my own eyes, after almost forty years of that film! Nothing seemed to have changed!
I couldn't believe that any place with so many tourists could still retain its old world charm.

A boat ride on the lake enabled us to see all the lovely places around the huge lake. There was a palace which Michael Jackson wanted to buy. Also the fabulous hotels where a whole lot of important and famous people had stayed.

LION MONUMENT

 We went to see the Lion Monument, which is the statue of an injured lion. It is located a little away from the city and is inside a secluded garden. It actually commemorates the sacrifice of more than 600 Swiss guards, who died while guarding the Tuileries in Paris during the French Revolution. The statue depicts a dying lion who is hit by a spear. He rests covering a shield engraved with the 'fleur de lis' which was the symbol of the French Kings. This monument is dedicated to the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss. The expression and the entire statue carved inside a rock, are very moving and brings tears to one's eyes.The Swiss are well known for their discretion, loyalty and bravery. Interestingly, the Vatican is also guarded by Swiss guards,who have a very colourful uniform.

THE COVERED CHAPEL BRIDGE

The Chapel bridge is one of the oldest wooden bridges in the country. It is across River Reuss. It was made in 1333, but got burnt down in 1993. It has since been restored to its past glory and beauty. The bridge is covered and the interiors are full of beautiful paintings throughout. The sides of the bridge are fully covered with colour coordinated flowers. Walking on the bridge is a beautiful experience.

ALPINE HORNS

We went to a show where the various facets of Swiss culture were shown. Audience participation was invited and appreciated. The Swiss are well known for yodelling, which is very melodious and catchy. They also have very- very long musical horns, called Alphorn or Alpine Horn, which are quite akin to musical horns still played in Ladakh and some other parts of India The Alpine horn is wooden and has a cup shaped mouthpiece, which was used since time immemorial for communication in the mountains.  One boy of our group,went on stage to try and blow the horn.Then, there was very beautiful music played on the bells which are placed around the necks of cows. There was a Swiss folk dance performance where O'Maira from our group joined in. In the end a big black and white cow came into the hall and moved close to the audience. It was really a beautiful experience. Since audience participation is invited, it becomes all the more exciting. Yours truly, could not let the chance go past, and I bravely went on stage with a few others to learn yodelling. The girl would yodel a  bit and ask each one of us novices to copy that bit. It was fun to be on stage, on the huge TV screens and make a complete fool of oneself! I loved every moment of it. After the yodelling,  they brought a pitcher of their local beer and asked each one of us on stage, to gulp the beer down at one go. I simply cannot drink beer and here I was  gulping it all down at one go! Never one to fail anywhere, I succeeded here too!!!Hick!!

COWS GRAZING

The cows of Switzerland are pretty, healthy,and graze all over the hills. The music of their bells is beautiful.  Reminded me of the cow bells of India, and the sound of bells when the cows are returning home at dusk. In Switzerland one can buy beautiful souvenirs of these bells. Going to the top of Mount Titlis in a cable car with the green plain below and music of the cow bells coming through, is delightful. It is the most  splendid view, which fills one with a feeling of peace and serenity. Nature has gifted beauty to this place in abundance. 

One goes up almost 3000 metres to the top of Mount Titlis. There are three stages to go up.First one goes up in a gondola where 6 people can sit, then up a huge gondola, and finally a gondola which rotates and can take up to 80 people in it. When one reaches up there is a flood of Indians that you can see!  Right at the tip there is a big platform and lo and behold what do I find? A huuuuuge cut out of Shahrukh Khan and Kajol in the film DDLJ(Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge). I was simply amazed.What a lot Yash Chopra has done for Swiss tourism!!

I also came to know that there is a special tour operated from India which takes people to all the spots where Yash Chopra's films have been shot!! AMAZING!!

MOVIE CUT OUT

I also found to my amusement that in the restaurant there were two buffets. One had the usual European stuff and the other provided typical Indian food. Speaks volumes about the number of Indian tourists visiting Switzerland.
Instructions in the rest rooms were also provided in Hindi.
There are a lot of tunnels and trains in Switzerland.
The colours in Switzerland are breath takingly beautiful. The blue of the lakes, the green of the meadows, the red roofs of the cottages and a riot of colours of the myriad of flowers, were never better.
There was an all pervading feeling of peace, tranquillity, cleanliness, beauty and the bounties of nature, which I have never felt anywhere else. The place exudes serenity, calm and is extremely beautiful. One feels peace from within. Actually, I think that Switzerland is the most beautiful place that I have seen on earth! 

I have spent a lot of time in Kashmir too. The beauty there also is out of the world. Yet, to my mind the sheer calmness, quiet, and tranquil feeling that I felt in Switzerland made it feel like heaven on earth!

SEVENTH WONDER??

I wonder why so many things are associated with the number SEVEN. 
The heavens are supposed to be seven-Seventh Heaven.


The rainbow has seven colours.
The notes of music are seven.


In Indian marriages we take seven circambulations around the fire. 
There is another ceremony called Saptapadi or seven steps.


The children's game of Seven Tiles.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs!!Dopey, Sneezy, Bashful, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Doc.

There are seven continents.

There are seven wonders of the world.

There are seven days in a week.
The seven year itch.


The atomic number Seven- Nitrogen, is a constituent of all living tissues.
I wonder,yes I wonder....

CHATEAU DE VERSAILLES

PALACE OF VERSAILLES

PALACE OF VERSAIILES

A visit to Paris is incomplete without a visit to the Palace of Versailles. Yes indeed, you do not read the "lles" in the name. It is pronounced as "Versaii". It started off as the hunting lodge of  Louis XIII in 1631. His son Louis XIV transformed it into a palace. His successors further transformed it into the most beautiful and luxurious palace of all times. This palace was the venue for the “Versailles Treaty” after the First World War. It was also the venue for the wedding of the daughter of Laxmi Mittal-the richest man in UK, an Indian by birth. I personally think that this Palace was also one of the reasons for the French Revolution. 

I need to get enough Adjectives to describe the beauty and grandeur of this Chateau. It is large, beautiful, grand and gilded with gold.  The palace dimensions are gargantuan and the gardens are exquisite. They spread out over acres. In spite of its huge size, the gardens are meticulously maintained and are almost perfect in its beauty. The Schonbrunn palace of Vienna was largely based on the Versailles palace. The Holkar Palace of Indore, India, was also designed on the Versailles palace.

The gold paint used on the walls was real gold. The splendor of the palace has to be seen to understand what grandeur really means.

The palace has been maintained as it was, during the reign of the Bourbons. Furniture, chandeliers, drapes are all there. Originally the furniture was mostly made of silver, but silver was melted to meet war expenditure by the Bourbons themselves, and wood came in its place.The rooms are large, airy and most of the windows open to the beautiful view of the fabulous gardens. 

GARDEN

The gardens are planned and very well laid out. One could look out at a riot of colours, where the flowers have been planted meticulously and are colour co coordinated. There is a lake, beautiful statues, fountains, an orangerie and, huge trees lining the garden, again very planned and beautifully laid out. There is a separate garden which belonged to Marie Antoinette.

HALL OF MIRRORS

There is a Hall of mirrors in the palace. There are seventeen mirror clad arches which reflect the seventeen windows overlooking the magnificent gardens. Each arch contains twenty one mirrors. Mirrors were very expensive in the seventeenth century and Venice held monopoly for manufacturing mirrors. Several workers from Venice were brought to France, by Jean Baptiste Colbert who was the French minister of finance, so that the mirrors could be made locally in the Gobelins factory, to maintain the integrity of "philosophy of mercantilism". This hall has been the venue for signing of many treaties, including the famous Versailles Treaty  signed after World War I.

In the times of the Bourbons, Royalty was considered divine. They were called The Sun King. Reminds me of the Suryavanshi(Descendants of the Sun God) Rajas that we had in India! The French Kings had to actually live infront of the eyes of the public. The King had to sleep in view of courtiers. He also had to wake up in the presence of his chosen courtiers. In the Royal bed chamber there was place for all those courtiers to stand and await the waking up of the King. The Queen had to deliver her babies in full view of courtiers. I wonder what life really must have been for them!

GARDEN

Louis XIII, up to Louis XVI all lived here. The Dauphin or the Crown Prince also lived in these palaces. Louis XV, lived so long that his own sons died before him and his grandson became the next King.

The Kings and Queens living away from Paris were totally lost to the needs of the country and the public. They lived in splendour and spent their time in pursuit of fashion, soirees, and balls. The powdered wigs, jeweled shoes, high heeled shoes, huge bouffant, coiffures, heavily and richly embroidered gowns were all the contribution of these rulers of France.

BED CHAMBER

There is therefore no wonder that the French Revolution happened. When oppression gets beyond endurance, then a revolution is bound to happen. When most of the French population was suffering from lack of food and other essentials of life, the Rulers were happily enjoying their life without a care for their people.

It is said that when Marie Antoinette, the wife of Louis XVI, who was the daughter of  Marie Theresa, the Empress of Austria, was told that the people of France did not have bread to eat, her reply was, “then let them eat cake”. I don’t know how true this episode is, but seeing the kind of life the King and Queens of France lived, it does not seem improbable.

France is well known for its sweet sounding language and also the romantic nature of its men. It was almost traditional for men of nobility to have a mistress. One has heard of Madame de Pompadour, as well as Madame du Barry,  who were both mistresses of Louis XV. Both these ladies were very powerful people.

Travelling to Versailles  for me was another great adventure. We went upto the station to catch a train. We had to enter the station after swiping our tickets. Strangely, there was no passage for a wheelchair to go through. The station was unmanned, and we were totally foxed about how to go through. After many permutations and combinations, we had to lift the wheelchair over the quite high gates, where one of us was standing on the other side to grip it. It was quite an ordeal, and had we not had 2 people besides the wheel chair occupant, it would have been impossible to go through. The train journey itself was good. The train was a double decker and there were two people who entertained us with music, of course for a consideration.
Versailles - grand, magnificent, beautiful, Versailles, made me remember the saying "Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown"! All the riches, glamour and magnificence of the palace could not ensure fairy tale endings for the Bourbons! How happily the people of Paris must have watched the chopping off of the head of their King Louis XVI! How the beautiful, fashionable, royal Queen Marie Antoinette must have felt, when she had to make her escape from Versailles. She was accused of a number of charges and was found guilty. How must she have felt when  her hair was chopped off, and she was taken in an ordinary open cart to her place of guillotine, in full public view. How pitiful it must have been.

THE DOOR OF ESCAPE OF MARIE ANTOINETTE

The magnificent, rich, guilded with gold palace of Versailles, left me with thoughts, about the vagaries of time. It also brought to my mind the immortal words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,
"Lives of great men all remind us,
We can make our lives sublime,and, 
Departing leave behind us,
Footprints on the sands of time."