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Reflections of India

~ by facing my shadows

Reflections of India

Category Archives: Madhya Pradesh

Where are your principles!

20 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by opus125 in Caste & Social position, Madhya Pradesh

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Tags

corruption, culture shock, hypocrisy, morals, shadow side, society shadows

Pottery workshop at  'Merkaba the Ascension' my Bhopal home.

Pottery workshop at ‘Merkaba the Ascension’ my Bhopal home.

Returning to Bhopal I find my sump has been ‘hacked’ by water deprived neighbours. In my absence back in Australia,  they decided it was cheaper to pipe from my supply than repair the pump to their bore.

In fact my arrival caused somewhat of a shock to their servants. While I did not over act to this innocent piracy, I was not impressed when they refused to let me turn off my own sump tap as water refilled from the mains.

It seems my partner had another cause of consternation. The neighbours cleaner had offered to sweep out the house before she began her work there at 10 am. For some reason the neighbour accused us of poaching her staff – “Where are your principles?” she demanded even though she had evicted them from her home and Advity had allowed them temporarily  to stay in space behind my rental.

It seems the only ethics offended is her pride. Guilty conscience at being caught out for ripping offer her workers and the risk of being publicly shamed.  Shame seems compelling in the network of down to earth grittiness in the lived details of architectural planning and haphazard lives.

What does it reveal about me?

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Bhopal is less compact than some Indian cities, its variegated population exudes a surprising hope in the dense  safety of  knowing everyone possible. With a roving population can that be really true? All cities In a society, or ashram yes perhaps. I suppose the locals have their myths. It seems cities are now only for business or cars. How dare you put in a RTB lanes and expect the middle class to take the bus!

Later , that day, as I cycled to Shahjehanabad, through Bitten market, I smiled at the fancy  plastic angles of modern forms will soon look like 70’s forgotten architectural  leftovers.  I was reminded of an architectural conference that spoke of fancy designers who forgot the toilets.

Then at MP Nagar for Poha, the grass close to the rail ray line, reminds me cities are like ecosystems. (Will that ever be true in India, I wonder, when in Delhi, stone pavers blocked the water run off and is reducing the water table?).

Finally, in the Old City. I love the small blocks and allies that chance new discoveries. Past the lower lakes Shri Mataji Temple, used more , it seems for washing clothes than worship, then across to Bara Bagh.

cemetary2014-10-09 10.33.38res

I reflect on the dignity of the old Muslim cemetery.  I would prefer the serenity of a stupa than a therapist, I decided. In that moment I remember own social mistakes. The uncouth loudness of an outback Aussie  at times outspokenly offending neighbours who had politely left unsaid what they thought I would understand.

near shahehanabad gate (2) res

India confronts me. It forces me to face my shadows.

Cities are like people. They offer hope and freedom, and oppress others. Behind houses , each side tells a truth of the experience. Every culture has a dark underbelly a shadow it wants to hide.

In Australia, a people yearned to be free, yet they ignored the oppression of aboriginals or blackbirds, the islander ‘labourers’ who worked the cane fields.

“They must work for it”,  I hear them scream. “No more hand outs.”

Something of an older tribal walking by reminds me of an aboriginal body ritual, tattoo scarred like the stripped earth mined for a profit and scars our soul.

No country is better or worse. In every land we find the focus on national identity and values shaped by a nation’s myth. We also find the exact opposite, simultaneously.  Perhaps less, focused, a shadow diffused through the masses, at times through its underclass.

In India perhaps it is Kashmir that is denied. Or we praise Akbar’s tolerance yet ignore the women of Gwalior who burned themselves alive rather than be his soldiers concubines.

Or should we criticise Aurangzeb oppression yet ignore the Hindu temples he sponsored no doubt out of political need? Admire Gandhi for non violence and ignore that in the process – as well meaning as it was – he alienated his son?

The West praises it heritage freedom and ignores Ashoka offered equal right s for all sexes, religions and castes.  Greek democracy applied only to the 20 percent male population and not women. It took the US 150 years to legally ensure black people “were created equal” and enjoy  “the pursuit of happiness” enshrined in their constitution. Australia took 68 years to recognise Aboriginals as citizens.

So much for its principles.

Meanwhile, India’s Constitution gave equality to all 2 years and 4 months after Independence. All three lands have racial shadows haunting them.

2014-10-14 12.42.33res

Next morning as I dig soil at dawn, the Sindor swastika from yesterdays Pooja attracts the  dancing feet  of minor birds pecking rice from the remains of offered rice. A small satin blue bird dances in the tree above the hardened shallow soil.

Then, I find a yellow envelope waiting addressed from Delhi. It must have arrived while I was away. The customs declaration is ticked gift, and described as “ORNAMENTAL BEADS FOR DECORATION ONLY”. Of course , in it seeds in plastic envelopes were inserted in a standard sized envelope also yellow.

It’s probably cheaper than admitting seeds are being posted, i thought.

 “WITHANIA somnifera , ashawaganda Indian Ginseng”
“stevia revaudiana sweetleaf , sweet leaf, sugarleaf seeds”
“seeds tribulus terrestris puncture vine SPEED POST”

So much for principles.

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Walking Chitrakoot, home of divine exile

27 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by opus125 in Indian Festivals, Madhya Pradesh

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Tags

chitrakoot, Lord Rama, Mandakini River, Ramacharitramanas, ramghat, Sita, Sita Devi, Sital Lord Rama, Tulsidas

ramghat3

The allure of Chitrakoot is both the beauty of the city and its ancient legacy. Called the a town of ‘holy wonders’ , Chitrakoot is edges the Vindhya ranges and the bank of the Mandakini river.

For me, the town is full of fascination. It is here Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshman spent eleven of their fourteen year exile. Inspired by the local serenity and holy legacy, Tulsidas wrote his epic poem of Ramas life, the Ramacharitramanas.

According to surveys Sita Devi is the most popular divine heroine, yet NGO’s paint her a model of the oppressed female. For me, she exemplifies the power of quiet female resistance. She was Gandhi’s symbol of passive resistance and non violent struggle.

I see Rama as the divine loving, but disempowered, husband under the absolute authority of a father king submissive until he can assume the throne.

Turn to Rajasthan or distant villagers, and women do not moan of oppression but sing of a quiet but protesting Sita, with lyrics at times directed to remind themselves of their own female strength within the home.

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At Ramghat devotees dip in the Mandakini at sunrise to invoke divine blessing, constantly Rama bhaktas meditaté on the Ramas life in Rama-lila. In the evening Each evening, sadhus line the ghats offering arotika, while devotees bathe.

Above the ghat steps leap to the Matha Gajendranath Shiva Temple where Brahma performed penance and offered a shivaling considered a kshetrapal or proector of the area.

Like Varnasi, long stretches of steps line the Mandakini River. South of the main bathing area at the Raghav-prayag ghat is a confluence of the Mandakini, Payaswini, and Gayatra (or Savitri) Rivers, not visible to the eye. This is why the Mandakini is sometimes called the Payaswini.

It is here that Rama performed pitra tarpan, or offerings to his father, King Dasarath, who departed after Rama went into exile.

Gorge from where the Mandakini flows

Gorge from where the Mandakini flows

The Mandakini River originates from an ancient gorge 50 kilometres to the south.

Beside the Raghava-prayag ghat, but to the north of the Ramghat, is Bharat Ghat, where Sri Bharat bathed.

Ramaghat is also famous for the poet Tulsidas who it is claimed kindly applied sandal paste to the foreheads of Rama and who had appeared as children. With Hunuman’s help he hen recognised Rama’s identity.

After bathing in the Mandakini, devotees perform parikrama around Chitrakoot dhama, which begins with darshan of Lord Kamtanath. Devotees perform parikrama around the complex of tirthas, collectively known as Puri.

Be sure to visit the Mattgajendreshwar Swami mandir, Parna Kuti, and Yagya Vedi. The King of Panna, Raja Aman Singh, built the Mattagajendreshwar Temple where, the Puranas claim, Brahma offered penance during the Satya yuga, and installed a Shiva-linga, known as Mattgajendreshwar Swami, as Kshetrapal, or the protector of this tirtha. Later, Rama performed Rudra abhisheka here.

But don’t just stay in Ramaghat, A boat ride upstream is the Janaki Kund where Sita bathed

Barat Milap Sthal where foot prints are engraved  inside

Janaki Kund where Sita bathed

A wooded hill five kilometres away is a white fortress shine approached by approximately 360 steps before seeing the five faced panchmukhi idol of Hunaman cooling water gushing from under a rock named Hanuman Dhara.

Kamadgiri, the hill that fulfils all desires is said to embody rama. Pilgrims circumambulate the hill , or perform parikrama. The path passes numerous shrines and temples including the Bharat Milap Temple where Rama’s younger brother met Rama to try and convince him to return to Ayodhya.

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A boat ride upstream from Ramghat leads to Janaki Kund where Sita is said to bathe during their exile, decorated by her footprints. Further on, a boulder called Shaatik Shila is a footprint impression claimed to be of Lord Rama.

Sixteen kilometres from Chitrakoo set in forest is Atri Anasuya Ashram dedicated to the sage Atri and his wife Anusuya.

Gupt-Godavari has two caves with two natural throne like rocks which locals believe were where Rama and Lzakshman held court. In one is a a shallow tank fed by a stream called Sita Kund.

sitas footprints

Sita’s footprints?

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Bhopal: Why build a toxic factory in a city?

11 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by opus125 in Indian History, Madhya Pradesh

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Bhopal disaster, Dow Chemicals, UCIL, union carbide disaster

scienceaidsnewindia

“I offer up a thousand thanks to the all-powerful God who has granted that Bhopal enjoy the signal protection of Her Imperial Majesty so that the brilliance of Western science may shine forth upon our land …” proclaimed Bhopal’s Begum Shah Jahan had declared. It was November 18, 1884, when Bhopals railway station was inaugurated with fireworks.

When Begum praised the promise of science, it was inconceivable mismanaged science would causes its greatest shame.  Yet, 100 years and 16 days later, Bhopal’s KaIi grounds, close by a rail junction, would witness one of the world’s worst industrial accidents.

But why was a fertilizer plant built in the middle of Bhopal city?  The running commentary of Media often fails to analyze the decisions of distant memory that lead to disasters, amplifying trivial risks and obfuscating serious ones.

For many, the factory seemed to offer hope. The rush to industrialize India and the end of poverty promised by the Green Revolution, and a project at first touted for its safety and science were a potent mix.

_60575209_safety

A little economic history

With Independence, Nehru had promised complete self sufficiency, built on heavy Industry, steel production and large reservoirs.

However economic growth was slow, “the Hindu rate of growth” as it was nicknamed of 3.2% from 1952 to 1980 was slightly above the population growth. Apparently slow, it was still higher than the 1% experienced under Britain during the first half of the 20th century.

And a self sufficiency that seemed blessed by the British Labour government at Independence.  But Nehru’s plan performed poorly. Overwhelmingly rural , only 16% of Indias rural 320 million in 1952 could sign their name. The average life expectancy was only 32.

In ages past, perhaps India’s youth saluted the sun in prayer, their crops sprung from her new-formed soil, spreading freshness in a primal impulse of gratitude. India needed land reform, but local Congress Big wigs blocked his efforts.

In a land where 4/5th of the people were on the land, the rural budget declined from 1/3rd during the 1952 five year plan, to 1/5th in 1957.

The failures of Nehru’s socialist Swadeshi  was apparent when in 1967 Indira Gandhi, appointed Prime Minister the year before,  dependent on food aid to feed her people, was forced by the USA and IMF to devalue the rupee. It was hoped increased exports would bring India foreign exchange[1].

Indira had promised that the eradication of poverty should be India’s first priority. Criticism of  her failures  later  revealed her dictatorial streak to a legal challenge resulting in the Emergency, when Democracy was suspended and social reforms such as birth control  forced on the populous.

While we mourn the loss of Bhopal, let us remember that the Green Revolution has seen Indias average life expectancy rise to 66 years.

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The Rush of Industry

Carbide India Ltd. (UCIL) was founded in 1934, an produced batteries, carbon products, welding equipment, plastics, industrial chemicals, marine products  and chemicals. In 1966, Union submitted a proposal to the Indian government for “erection of facilities for the manufacture of up to 5000 tonnes of Sevin Carbaryl insecticide”.  Unacted on, in  1970 Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) revealed a new technology using Methyl Isocyanides (MIC) that halved the production cost of the pesticide Sevin.

30 years on I have talked with an ex Carbider, who with her husband continues noble charitable work in Bhopal, while recognizing the company’s responsibility, questions why the government should not take responsibility for allowing people to live near the plant.

It is a good question.

In 1975, M. N. Buch, a top bureaucrat respected throughout India for his efficiency and integrity, had asked Union Carbide to move the plant away from its present site because of the rapid growth of residential neighborhoods around it.

Mr. Buch was transferred from his post.

Had there been no disaster, corruption may have been seen as necessary to power India’s Green Revolution.  But it did, contrary to assurances of safety.

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Government Collusion?

When journalist journalist Rajkumar Keswani discovered irregularities in the allocation of industrial licenses and discovered collusion between Carbide and the local government. Since then, Wikileaks has confirmed the Government of India allowed Union Carbide, USA to bypass the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, and obtain loans from American Exim Bank instead of an Indian financing agency. This was supported by the USA. Diluting the FERA allowed Union Carbide to retain majority ownership . In the 1970’s UCIL managers were in constant contact with the US embassy to lobby for exceptional terms favourable to the company.  Then US ambassador has since confirmed moneys been paid to Congress officials.

A fire in 1978 there had been a fire and in December 1981, Mohammed Ashraf died after inhaling phosgene. After collecting witness statements and was smuggled into the plant by a dismissed trade union leader Bashir Ullah, Keswani accused Carbide of violating its own safety standards. In May 1982, three American engineers from the USA had “uncovered over sixty breaches of operational and safety regulations” which were cited by Keswani.

Keswani wrote three articles of warning of the serious risk of disaster in 1982, and a fourth in June 1984. He also wrote a letter to Chief Minister Arjun Singh was ignored, and the minister assured the Assembly that he personally inspected the Carbide plant and nothing was wrong.

Meanwhile, plant manager Warren Woomer, left India believing all the problems revealed by the safety review would be resolved and Sevin would help India’s peasants. He also strongly recommended his successor keep a strict minimum of dangerous materials and MIC always be rigorously refrigerated.

Warren may have  “belonged to a breed of engineers for whom one single defective valve was a blight upon the ideal of discipline and morality[2]” but drought cut sales. Under the series of future mangers cut backs followed.

As the son of an employee said “Plant medicines are great when things are going well. But when there’s no water left to give the rice a drink, they’re useless.”

Carbide flooded the countryside with posters of a Sikh holding a packet of Sevin proclaiming “My role is to teach you how to make five rupees out of every rupee you spend on Sevin.” Only  2,308 tons, half the production capacity,  were sold in 1982, and 1983 looked worse.

Even as staff was halved, many still believed that Carbide would ride hard times and always remain for Bhopal and India.

Carbide wasn’t just a place to work. It was a culture, too

“Carbide wasn’t just a place to work. It was a culture, too. The theatrical evenings, the entertainment, the games, the family picnics beside the waters of the Narmada, were as important to the life of the company as the production of carbon monoxide or  phosgene” stated mechanical engineer Arvind Shrivastava.

“The management created cultural interest and recreational clubs. These initiatives, which were typically American in inspiration, soon permeated the city itself. The inhabitants of Bhopal may not have understood the function of the chimneys, tanks and pipework they saw under construction, but they all came rushing to the cricket and volleyball matches the new factory sponsored. Carbide had even set up a highly successful hockey team” wrote Lapierre in Five Minutes past Midnight in Bhopal.
“As a tribute to the particular family of pesticides to which Sevin belonged, it called its team “the Carbamates.” Nor did Carbide forget the most poverty stricken. On the eve of the Diwali festival, …an official delegation of Carbiders hand[ed]  out baskets full of sweets, bars of chocolate and cookies. While the children launched themselves at the sweets, other employees went around the huts, distributing what Carbide considered to be a most useful gift in overpopulated India: condoms.”

Sadly, the loyalty it inspired could not last.

As Keswani observed  “I have published a report in the state as to how many of the relatives of the politicians and bureaucrats were employed by Union Carbide. And apart from that, the guesthouse had a beautiful guesthouse which was being used by several people like Arjun Singh and Madhav Rao Scindia. At one instance, the Congress party held a convention in Bhopal and used it as a place of stay for several ministers. That only shows what kind of clout they had. Those were the times when a multinational company coming to India was greeted with open arms, they were given all kinds of concessions and treated like demigods. There was absolutely no question of anybody going against a powerful corporation like Union Carbide. The company was one of the biggest chemical companies in the world.”

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A lesson for the new India?

I often walk past the guest house gate, abandoned besides the Bharat Bhavan, just as I have walked through the Union Carbide site. As I read of the mismanagement of disaster funds, of the poor health management that followed and the incredible delay to undertake a study of the effected I wonder if the the then government has as much to be ashamed off as Union Carbide.

Perhaps, that is why justice is so long in coming.

As the 30th anniversary of the disaster approaches, I am reminded of the 1912 sinking of the Titanic. world hopes of technological progress were mortally wounded when the by an iceberg and along with confidence in Britain’s social class structure,  killed off by World War I.

The forces that held back Indias economy in Nehru’s time have changed by information technology. In contrast to China’s labour intensive economy, India’s economy is capital intensive, under utilizing hundreds of millions of unskilled labourers, many leaving the land.

Bhopals disaster is not loudly discussed in the City of Lakes, but its presence is always felt.

150 television channels now allow the poor to see a the glitter of good they are supposed to want but can never afford. Bhopal reminds me that long term India must involve the rural poor, or risk the discontent of the underclass left behind by the new India.

… and justice?

Wikileaks revealed that as late as 2007 the USA threatened to link investments in India to the country’s stand on Dow Chemicals, one of that nations largest corporations that bought out Union Carbide.

[1] Writer Edward Luce (In spite of the God’s, p. 32, Abacus, London 2011) the death knell to this dream followed the loss of India’s foreign currency reserves when Iraq torched Kuwait’s oil fields at the Gulf War.

[2] Dominique Lapierre and Javier Moro, Five Past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World’s Deadliest Industrial Disaster, Grand Central Publishing, 2009.

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Did I find the worlds smallest mosque?

24 Friday Oct 2014

Posted by opus125 in Indian Art, Indian History, Madhya Pradesh

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Dhai Seedhi Ki Masjid, gandhi medical college, mohammad dost masjid, mosque of two and a half steps, shauqat palace, world smallest mosque

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Passing the Shaukat Mahal, I am seeking the tomb of Bhopals founder, Dost Mohommad Khan.
The Shaukat Mahal across from the Iqbhal Playground, where budding cricketers in white qurta and knitted skullcaps practice. Post Renaissance and Gothic, it’s design blends occident and orient in a style conceived and designed by a decadent Frenchman who claims decent from the French Bourbon Dynasty.
Next door, the entrance of the Sheesh Mahal seems more parking lot for cars Sadar Manzil Gate.

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The delicate beauty of the past now houses the Bhopal Municipal Corporation.A fountain past the entrance catches my attention as I ask a a guard for directions. They invite me in for a look. I am saddened that nearby Taj Mahal is a closed deteriorating shell while this beautiful building is a business hub that few tourists can be entered within to experience.

However, my goal is slightly farther, within the campus of Gandhi Medical College, besides the tomb of Dost Mohammad Khan and his wife Fateh Bibi . I am even more interested finding on the campus the worlds smallest mosque.

tomb Dost Mohommmad Khan

Panoramia.com I was not permitted to photograph inside the mosque tomb

the tomb of Dost Mohammad Khan and his wife Fateh Bibi

I quickly found the asjid Dost Mohammmad Khan as I wound past  a temple and mosque inside the entrance. Within to the side are the tombs.

I had first to negotiate a barrage of personal questions. “Foreigner? Which country””Mai Bhopal main rahta hai), and offering profuse assurances I would not photograph inside the mosque or tomb, I was checked several times to ensure I did not take photos within.

Built by son Yaar Mohammad Khan in the year 1742 the tomb sits on a raised square platform, the tomb is surrounded by a 3 metre  high wall with corner minars and three entrances.

Eight arched pillars support a dome, which typical of the early Bhopal rulers, is not proportionate. Beautifully, amalgam horse shoe and lotus shaped brackets  in between the pillars are proportionately balanced multifoil arches. Lattice marble screen surround the tomb.

Dost Mohammad Khan Masjid
Dost Mohammad Khan Masjid

Dost Mohammad Khan was a complex man. Brutal in conflict, he enlisted under Mir Fazlullah, Emperor Aurangzeb’s Keeper of Arm and led forces during in the final brutal years of collapsing Mughal rule.  A risk taker, who broke military conventions, often at great risk to his own life.

However, he had earlier learned to appreciate culture when he fled Afghanistan after he killed a man in self defence. In Delhi, There he met his old  Mullah Jamali of Kashgar. For a year, Khan studied Quran and witnessed the culture and  tolerant ideals of Shah’s Akhbar and Jehan.

A mercenary during the wars of Mughal Succession, he married Kunwar Sardar Bai, who later converted to Islam and adopted the name Fatah Bibi and established a small mustajiri (rented estate) near Mangalgarh, called Berasia.

Khan was invited by Bhopali Ghond Queen Rani Kamlapati to revenge her husbands death. Bhopals upper lake was then inhabited by around 1000 Gond and Bhil tribals.,and Khan usurped her kingdom then invited her to join his harem. She refused, choosing suicide.

He decided to fortify the town with a wall with six gates and built Bhopal’s first, and the worlds smallest, mosque so fort guards could perform namaaz.

The fortified city of called Sher-e-khas enclosed 1.5 sq kilometre by a wall 10m high 2 to 3 m thick included  hammams, with windowless chambers for public bathing,  hathi khannas to house elephants and their mahaots , serias to house  travelling merchants, and mosques. Buildings, three or four floors high, enclosed narrow streets, a few 4 metres wide at the most,  matched each other as children played on pattias or raised platforms to sit out the front of a house.

Ironically, after chai with my new – still inquisitive – friends, they did not know where the worlds smallest mosque was! Overhearing, another man pointed me a few hunnded metres around the bend.

 Dhai Seedhi Ki Masjid, the Mosque of two and a half steps

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russinansmallestmosque

Russia’s World Smallest Mosque

“Er …. where is it?” was my first reaction, reading the sign, sadly aware that unable to find the watchman I would not see inside. The padlocked gate also prevented me from climbing the steps.

Dhai Seedi Ki Masjid sits atop a watchtower, at one of the cities highest points it offers a commanding view of a city built in turbulent times. Initially a makeshift mosque for the prayer of the guards,  the mosque of 2 and a half steps was built during the construction of Fatehgarh fort begun by  Dost Mohammad Khan.

But  the words smallest mosque? Daniel McCrohan paced  the floors interior dimensions to 16 metres square, smaller than another “world’s smallest mosque” of 25 metres square in built in 2002 at Naberezhnye Chelny, in honour of those who fought Ivan the Terrible.

Harar Ethiopia Tree Mosque [Travelod.com]

In Harar it is claimed the smallest mosque is in a tree!!

For me, the Dhai Seedhi ki Masjid, built for the defenders of Fatehgarh Fort, is a reminded that we have a spiritual yearning that needs to be answered even when defending our kingdom.

As I wandered the grounds hoping for a better a photographic angle, I found this more worldly reminder of the modern world.

Mosquetwohalfsteps no ragging res(8)

Yes, we must live in this modern world. First we must transform ourselves if we are to transform the planet. After visiting the Mosque, I found that Lonely Planet had made the same trek with better success finding the watchman.
Hence, complements of lonely Planet I present the inside of the Dhai Seedhi Ki Masjid.

4x4: The main prayer hall of Dhai Seedi Ki Masjid. Image by Daniel McCrohan / Lonely Planet.

4×4: The main prayer hall of Dhai Seedi Ki Masjid. Image by Daniel McCrohan / Lonely Planet.

The mosque was perched on top of an overgrown stone turret, which formed a corner of an old ruined fortress wall. The hospital, it turns out, was built inside the grounds of the 18th century Fatehgarh Fort, so that soldiers deployed as guards could perform their daily prayers. And, according to an old city tourism sign standing outside the locked gates, this was the first mosque built in Bhopal, a city that now boasts more than 400.
– Loney Planet

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Back again for Punjabi Tandoor

13 Monday Oct 2014

Posted by opus125 in Indian Food, Madhya Pradesh

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

punjabi tandoor, tandoor, ten number

Amutsari kulche chole

Women have bad hair days,  I was having a bad Hindi day. Maybe I was just tired, but basic questions like “How do you say greater” in Hindi escaped me.

The day was compounded by some personal dramas effecting my business partner.

So I decided to walk from HB City Mall to 10 Number Market, an area named by the local bus stop, to enjoy a latte at Shake’n’Bake before heading off for one of Bhopal’s legendary hones of Punjab tandoor, Amutsari Kulche Chole.

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If you want India, check it out, but If you want a 5 star experience it may not satisfy. But i was the locals who insisted I should check it out. I’m glad I did.

With my comments to follow, you may wonder why I recommend this side street cafe.  But do not go in the flooding monsoon, when the floor was mudded wet and I go the runs.

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So why do I keep returning there?

There seems something wickedly exciting about the place. The old tandoor looks more like a metal drum than the fancier clay. The cylindrical drum is heated by charcoal fire within the tandoor itself cooking the parathas stuck to the inner sides of the drum by live-fire, radiant heat, and hot-air, the the flavoured smoke from the fat and food juice that drip on to the charcoal.

My Hindi failed to make much sense of the staffs questions, reduced to pointing, the Palak (spinach) I wanted was not available, i misread the menu – until I realised the word for onion (pyaaz), had been replaced by English lipi (transliteration) of the English.

I order two parathas: one of onion and the other paneer, cost 80 rupee, served with rajmah  and onion sauce.

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Simple vinyl ‘table cloths’; stained walls squeezed between the cart of Yashi Chinese and Raspan South Indian Sosa opposite Nakhrali, a fashion store in 10 Number.

Staff in tshirt, trousers and chapels respond to an a singleted gentleman, who I usually remember in blue. He orders my bowl to be refilled with beans. Meanwhile, a blue turbaned Sikh sits at the front with the cash box. I’m sure his turban was orange last time I visited.

Rustic and delicious. He waves to me as I return the next day.

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The Birla Museum is a must for lovers of archaeology

07 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by opus125 in Indian Art, Indian History, Madhya Pradesh

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Birla Museum, Birla Museum Bhopal

birla-museum
Together with the Lakshmi-Narayan temple next door, the Birla Museum sits serene in a beautiful setting on the on the Arera Hills. The red and white sandstone building entered by steep steps, it houses an extensive 4,000 volume library of art and culture, terracotta sculptures and manuscripts.

The Birla Museum is a must for lovers of archaeology, but there is little effort to keep for the average “Philistine” tourist interested.

A lover of history, I was enthralled. I immediately began photographing the gardens, aided by one of the staff, only to be told that photography was not allowed. I would have loved to show you more of the very special artefacts inside!

Durga Trimurti, 12th century, from Sagar. [art-and-archaeology.com]

Durga Trimurti, 12th century, from Sagar.
[art-and-archaeology.com]

Not to be missed is the 12th century Durga Trimurti. In her Trimurti form, Durga where the goddess is depicted with the attributes of the Hindu Trimurti of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. The central image shows her on her lion, flanked by her depicted standing.

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The colourful Kondapali toys make for a refreshing display. These toys traditional to Andhra Pradesh are made of soft wood and tamarind powder and enamelled gums. They are painted with bright water colours to depict mythological figures and village scenes.

Varaha, Paramara dynasty, 13th century  from Samasgarh

Varaha, Paramara dynasty, 13th century from Samasgarh

A ninth century image of Varahi, the feminine form of Vishnu’s boar avatar in the Devi gallery. A head of a Salabhanjika, or stylized woman grasping a branch, depicts a tree spirit.

Paramara dynasty, 10th century,  from Ashapuri .

Paramara dynasty, 10th century,
from Ashapuri .

A 12th century Vishnu holds a conch and discus, surrounded by attendants and deities, including Brahma and Shiva.

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Unfortunately, in our over hyped super sensory world. Tourists can be a necessary but despised breed. Wanted for cash, but despised for their Philistine disregard for subtlety of tradition.
Tourists need to be engaged or they lose interest.

This is perhaps why the Birla Museum is not rated highly on TripAdvisor.com. People complain it is boring, and not been allowed to take photograph means you walk in look around and leave. Perhaps, a guide, or an audio headset that explains each display will engage people more.
For lovers of archaeology, there a booklets for 20 rupee detailing the artefacts with black and white images. Six colour post cards are available for 20 rupees for the set. I hope the collection will be digitized, perhaps as a CD so people can enjoy the beautiful art when they return to their home country.
Apparently, the museum workshop makes limited display replicas for purchase. Without a vehicle, I will return later to purchase one.

The terms ecotourism or cultural tourism seem oxymorons. Tourists are seen as culturally ignorant and tourism is accused of changing the very thing come to see.
Thinking of the neaby Union Carbide site, I recognise frustrated sceptics feel justified in describing Social Justice tourism as “self righteous arrogance”, “hypocritical” and “ironic”.
However, museums importantly allow locals to appreciate their heritage, and tourists a chance to treasure a world I hope is never forgotten.

2014-10-02 16.39.14res

10 Rupees adults 5R children
50 rupees foreigners.
Open 9:30 AM – 8PM
Monday closed

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Sustainable Architecture: Bhopal before the gas

27 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by opus125 in Indian Art, Madhya Pradesh

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Chotta Talab, Hamidia Katubh Khana, Shahjehanabad, taj mahal Bhopal

When people hear the name Bhopal they think of “the night of gas”. They do not realise a rich history of environmentally sensitive and sustainable architecture precedes the disaster for nearly a millennium.

Since the disaster, a former employee assures me, India has had to import fertilizer. But Bhopal’s agricultural heritage predates the malfunction and sabotage of a fertilizer factory.

Sprawled across 20 to 25 kilometres of the Vindhya and Singarcholi mountains, the City of Lakes, has a beautiful green cityscape built around the Bara Talab (Big Lake) commonly called the Upper Lake. A millennium on 11th century Raja Bhoja’s Dam still holds back 35 sq km of water but many other ruins dot the city uncared for.

Rock art caves Shamla Hills Bhopal

Rock art caves Shamla Hills Bhopal

Prehistoric man wandered Lalghatti and Dhrampuri and rock paintings are preserved in the Shamla Hills. However, it was during the reign of Raja Bhoj (1010-1053) the fortified grid iron city of Bhojapala guarded the east of Bara Talab. A sister city of Bhojpur, with its magnificent unfinished Bhojeshwar temple, was built east of an enormous lake 650 sq. Km of Bhima Kund and Sagar Taul. By utilizing natural terrain only three dams were required. At Sagar Taul two small gaps were required to be filled.   A 90 metre long, 14 metre high wal, 90 metres wide earthen dam with huge sandstone blocks with a flat top stood until 1334 CE.

The undammed river besides Bhojpur

The undammed Betwa besides Bhojpur

The local Gond tribes claim it took three months for the men of Hoshang Shah to cut through the dam and three years for it to empty. For thirty years the swampy lake bed was uninhabitable and villages downstream of the Betwa destroyed.

Now the once prosperous Bhojpur is remembered only by the incomplete temple and the huge scattered dam masonry.

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Nearby, Bhopal’s 11th century settlement is also layered with history. Ravaged in the 13th century, a decayed village by the 17th century. In 1722 Dost Mohammad Khan, a mercenary, was invited to assist the local Gond queen Kalmapati, annexed the Bhopal Taul.   Rani K amlapati suicided rather than be forced into Khan’s harem.

Fatahgarh frot ramparts

Fatahgarh frot ramparts

Khan built city ramparts near the older settlement, establishing the citadel of Fatehgarh on the highest plateau of the lake. It remained the administrative centre to the early to mid 19th century. Part is now used by Kasturba Gandhi Medical College that includes the world’s smallest mosque.

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The fortified city of Bhopal was called Sher-e-Khas and enclosed 1.5 sq. Km in a 10 metre wall, 2-3 metres thick and 1.2 kilometres in length. Taxes probably paid for elaborate infrastructure that included

  • hammams, or public bathing with windowless chambers
  • serais, or housing for travelling merchants
  • hathi khannas, housing for elephants and their mahaots,
  • and mosques.

The narrow streets, the widest being four metres, were sided with buildings to three or four floors. The outside platforms, or pattias, had matching designs where people met and gossiped. An akhara, or gymnasium included mud pits and fitness training equipment.

The city was extended by Pul Pukhtra in 1794 when a 274 metre long and 21 metre wide masonry dam spanned the Ban Ganga and Patra valleys that formed the Chhota Talab, or small lake. A vassal state to the Nizam and then the Mahattas, little building followed until Mamola Bai, one of Bhopal’s history of ruling women, insightfully gave General Goddard of Britain shelter in Raisen fort as he battled his way across India and ensured a protective treaty with the British East India Company.

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Another female ruler, Qudsia Begum, built the Jami Masjid with its golden minarets between 1833 to 1856. Then in 1847 the Moti Mahal (Pearl Palace) was begun by Sikandar Jehan Begum as an administrative centre and residence, creating a new urban centre on large plateau north of the Gohar Mahal. Although the Khirniwala Maidan complex took 50 years it’s has a unified design elements including parapets, uniform wall height and plinths with French influence. In 1848 Sikandar Begum then commissioned engineer David Cook to develop the lake front that included a waterworks.

motimahal 1948A red sandstone boali or step wall of Bara Bagh is 3 stories deep, two above the water level, lead into a step-well was built by Nawab Wazir Mohammed Khan and later conserved by Nawab Qudsia Begum.

Inside are ornamental structures that surrounded the well, colonnade with cusp arches and slender pillars. Niches decorate the wall along the entrances of the boali built around 1819. Bhopal’s inter-connected lakes began with the building of a new suburb by Nawab Shah Jahan Begum called Shahjehanabad in 1874. An Idgah was constructed on the highest point, and three new terraced lakes constructed, now separated by a road. Water from one cascaded into the next forming the suburbs central area. Complete with bazaars, galla mandies, or grain markets, store houses, serais, and a residential quarter Shahjehanabad was enclosed by a city wall.

Bhopal-unplugged3 (1)The highest, Motia Talab spread 230 by 230 metres, to the 230 by 170 metre Noor Mahal Talab and finally the lowest Munshi Hussaini Talab was 115 by 230 metres.

An aqueduct still visible at Chhota Talab, pulled water up 15 metres by leather bags, or chawars, into channels that flowed down an arched slope. The chawars raised the well water with animal strength and the water flowed 1.75 kilometres to a pond at Noor Bagh where Afghan troops were stationed.

However, the three lakes were dependent on seasonal rains.

To balance water levels a reservoir was built north of Shahjehanabad with elaborate brick-lined vaulted drains that collected and bought water to the lakes. Transformed into splashing fountains and gurgling cascades, and silent chadars (sheets of water), these channels passed through important buildings along the way. Legend claims rose water or kewda was added to cool and freshen the air.

To this day ground water is recharged year round in the Bhopal’s old city. The boali reduce water loss in a locality known for high evaporation.

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Bhopal’s royal residences, the Taj Mahal and Noor Mahal, were linked to the rail . The Taj Mahal blends Muslim and Hindu design that includes cusped arches, massive gateways, mudlings and plaster work and squat domes with overhanging balconies called jharokahs. The inner courtyards detailing suggests British colonial design.

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Over a century, Asia’s largest mosque, the Taj-ul-Masjid, was built and nearby, across from the Motia Talab, the H-shaped Benazir Palace in 1875. Made of steel columns with louvered wooden partitions, extensively carved hammam, the Benazir Palace cleverly control the temperature. A summer palace, it is enclosed with terraced gardens and fountains its steps and plinths descend into the lake like a ghat. Its ornamental gate, the most ornate in the city, was added later. This has multi-foliate arched openings and stair cases leading to chhatris, or domed kiosks, with pitched eaves.

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The Colonial influence of high ceilings and raised plinths was more marked after 1901. The newer public buildings include Revenue courts, Minto Hall, Court of Justice, Civil Club, and the Hamidia Katubh Khana, or library.

Sadly more recent design has increasingly distanced itself from the environment and culture. Modern designs often show scant respect sustainable design once practiced by Bhopal’s Tribal, Hindu and Muslim forebears. The inappropriate materials and techniques are rushing construction.

Many of the gates are deteriorating. Locals speak of their city still beautiful in the 1970’s. The wall that enclosed the old city was partly removed to allow for a oad and access to the Hamadia hospital. The land Minto Hall has been leased out by the MP government  and will be demolished. The Munshi Hussaini Talab sadly looks like a rubbish dump.

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There are exceptions. Bhopal’s Tribal Museum has a green roof, the Correea designed Bharat Bhavan shows a Hindu sensitivity for nature, and Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly, or Vidhan Sabha is influenced by nearby Buddhist stupa’s of Sanchi. However, the step-wells of Bhopal and majority of the lakes constructed by the cities noble rulers have since decayed. The Baoli has been forgotten and lakes have been encroached.

But now, after walking the Union Carbide site, and enjoynig the connected series of lakes by the Taj us Masjid, I am sitting the smallest, Munshi Hussaini Talab. A local family kindly offers me chai. By the mosque an old man clasped my hand warmly. Hindu”s had paraded floats and hoses for Navratri. I still find old city charm and hospitality.

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For a  useful resource is checkout

Dass, Meera. “City with a past – an account of the built heritage of Bhopal.” In Bhopal 2011: Landscapes of Memory, edited by Amritha Ballal and Jan af Geijerstam, 80-84. New Delhi, India: SpaceMatters with Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 2011.

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Bhojpur could have been the grandest of all

24 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by opus125 in Madhya Pradesh

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Around Bhopal, Bhojeswar Shiva Temple, Bhojpur, Raja Bhoj

Bhojeswar Shiva Temple

Bhojpur is a tiny town that lies “a at the base of a rock strewn hill on the summit of which signs of a much older settlement may still be traced” wrote Major C. Eckford Laurd, in the Gazetteer Gleanings in Central India.

I am reading a tourist brochure, across the open rock forecourt is the Bhojeswar Shiva Temple, 28 kilometres south-east of Bhopal. Named after patron 11th century Raja Bhoj, who, according to the apocryphal Bhoja Prabandham , founded it.

“This is Gandwana land”, a friend explained of the ancient landmass beneath us, part of the Vindhya ranges.

However, only the temple survives in memory and it is incomplete. Had it been finished it was potentially one of the grandest examples of medieval architecture – a huge claim when once considers the temples of Khajuraho north of the same state.

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“The temple at Bhojpur is above all, a tribute to one of the finest feats of aesthetic engineering in which perfection of design, and architectural landscaping join hands in a happy organic consummation.” wrote K K Chakravarty, in his Bhojpur Temple, (Bhopal, 1991.)

The temple is built on sandstone ridges typical of central India, next to a deep gorge where the Betwā River flows. Two large dams, constructed of massive hammer-dressed stones, were built in the eleventh century to divert and block the Betwā, so creating a large lake, but in the 15th century, one of the cyclopedian masonry dams was opened by Hoshang Shah of the 15th century, reportedly at the request of local merchants in Bhopal and Vidisha because bandits found the dam afforded them in accessible refuge there.Within its garbhgriha is a massive shiva lingam. Temple is built on 2 metre high plinth supported by four massive pillars,   exquisitely carved in built in 3 sections octagonal in two lower portions with 24 facets in the upper section in an unfinished dome.

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The bracket capitals of the pillars are decorated with intricate images of Parvati and Shiva.

On a pedestal of three graduating sandstone platforms, the uppermost 7metres square, Within the sanctum Santorum is a single stone lingam 2.3 m high and 5.3 metres in circumference. Once sheaved in gold it is claimed pillaged by invaders who stripped Bhoj’s possessions.

 


To the north remains of massive earthen ramparts, probably used to raise the blocks of stone in position, prove the temple incomplete . Numerous carved blocks still lay strewn on the site. These include stone rings for the temples dome.

Bhoj probably died in 1055 defending his capital from the Chalukyas and Lakshmi-Karna Kalachuri, the sculptures fled and the temple vision abandoned and looted.

Interesting hill side forecourt incisions show the ground plans, elevations, cross sections and superstructure, pillar diagrams and illustrations of the intended brackets and capitals.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

As we left baskets with pythons were flashed open. Snakes are associated with Shankar the divine manifestation seen as destroyer, so I asked why a Shiva temple had them. I was told there actions were not really religious, but simply begging. Another person then claimed the temple was dedicated to Shankar but everything I read claimed the temple was to Shiva, the creative expression of god.

In a second visit a month later the snake bearing hawkers were absent. I missed them.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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Why I love to cycle in India

07 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by opus125 in Madhya Pradesh

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anger, cycle in India, head waggling, indian traffic

Elephant Traffic Hazard, Jaipur

Elephant Traffic Hazard, Jaipur

The first time I rode a push bike in India …. (“pushbike?” “yeah , pedals like this ..” “aahh cycle”).

OK, start again ..

The first time I rode my cycle in India, carefully navigating the morning madness of a roundabout, I stopped at a red light, a giant pot hole prevented me from moving to the left. A truck beeped for me to break a red light, pushed forward and buckled my back wheel.

The cycle was less than 24 hours old.

So why do I thrill to a ride in India?

India confronts you and forces you to find yourself

No matter how many times I ride, every sense is bound up mechanical mayhem. The shock of a car horn behind, adrenaline, the knotted intestines have lessened, I now know the hidden order in chaos. I understand impatience across the line before the traffic timer switches to green.

Sandhya, the sacred time between night and day, is my preferred time. Its cacophony of pigs and dogs, aarti, and from the mosque the call to prayer. Someone rings a temple bell to enter, as others whispered prayers.

The self protective knit of my brow is lessened, I need less to squint through heated glare of concrete canyons, brick, steel and glass.

I pass boys boys playing cricket, that their strokes send balls into traffic from the footpath is half the fun.

My once shrunken world is less tightly bound, now I have relaxed enough to distinguish the diversity.

No matter how prepared you feel, India keeps throwing itself at you. The constant talk, the temple music, a man sweeps near his cart, where is proffering subje. The endless “Arey dost” Hey friend of rickshaw wallahs vying for trade.

“Pachas Kilo… pachas kilo.”

As monsoon rain ploughs into new roads with slashes, dimples and pockmarks . The new road by my home is nearly half washed away.

You need discriminating minds to distinguish diversity and patience to ignore a buses soot smoke and chunking gears. “Relax”, I tell myself, “our world shrinks as we become more tightly bound.”

Still it can be frightening. I once read 142,000 people a year die in Indian motor accidents. I have seen few. A woman bumped in slow motion off the back of a scooter for instance. I also remember outside my former Pune home, an overtaking motorbike collecting an oncoming cyclist. The fallen engines handle bars were twisted but it was the cyclists right angled ankle, shredded and shoeless, that made me cautious.

India interrupts your internal frame of reference.

I have been often criticized for being too much in my head. At least by Indian friends. “Relax, meditate, learn to live in your body. “

Have you ever walked in a big city, looked deeply into someone’s eyes and made them angry?

What did you do wrong?

They were so stuck in their own world in the back of their heads that you interrupted their day dream. As my partner Advity reminds me endlessly, I need to get out of my head.

Riding in India forget the day dream. Everything and everyone was in your face. Which is why I needed meditation.

Then entering a side street all seems strangely still, as if waitimg for cross street to move. No I find, a whole row of cars have simply parked in the middle of the street.

Overtime as frustration melts into understanding, something changed…

And it started with me ….

At first the constant impatient horns drove me to distraction (and at times they still do!). Cars whizzing past, blasting a warning when almost on top of you, scaring me out of my witts.

The honking whirring wizzing precipitous confusing, unconscious permability rushes in to fill every space.

Because now I can read the traffic flow and madness that is India. There is order in the chaos: if its bigger than you give way to it!

All this honking has forced me to confront my years of unresolved anger.

In Australia its illegal to blast your horn without reason (although New Years and your teams victory do seem to be ignored). In India I have watched the habitual beep-beep , on an open road, oh thre a pedestrian beep- beep, these not a single other car anywhere insight, never mind beep beep.

Trucks are worse. They invite “Horn OK Please” emblazoned on their back as you overtake. Their endless warbled sounds like a cross between Woody Woodpecker and a ratchety machine gun.

 It was not until, crossing a road on foot, a biker unexpectedly passed on my left, zipping right so quickly I could not check my step, and walked into his path with a whack. Them, on returning from Hindi class, a woman biker passes so close she forces me off the road, collecting my elbow, Then cutting me off, bumps my front wheel without even noticing.

From then on I leaned to treasure the warning blast. It still wakes me from my revelries, that internal world, where struggling to keep up, deeply concentrating on how best to negotiate the monsoon potholes, I have dissolved into deep concentrated trance.

The Asphalt skin is pockmarked and as the rain clears, filled with loose shale that seems to sink with a jolt under my tyres.

Bumpy are the safest roads – atleast in the monsoon? Rock is firm, in the wet puddles seem to sink into deep ditches that can catch you unaware.s The trick is to raise onto you pedals, ride out the impact rather than bounce of your seat.

Traffic Hazard, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune

Rule 1: don’t stop.

Break, allow a vehicle to cross then instantly release the momentum into a roll. If you let it, the continuous chaos will have you stop start in your tracks, that will exhaust you if, you must constantly re-kick uphill at every push in and

If you are forced to stop – squashed gainst a parked car, whizzing traffic on your right and biker bearing down on you against the legal flow of traffic ….

There is a way to use the stop start traffic, to read where a truck or bus is turning and tuck in into shadow

Rule2: He who glares wins …

Forced in a stand off you play it like Bollywood. It is said Bollywood actors are the worlds best because they can throw daggers with their eyes. So glare well and let all opposition melt before you.

 A boom gate begins to descend just as it begins to rain.

You wait a good two minutes before the train passes. Maybe three if it’s a goods train. Then ninety seconds for the gates to rise.

A swing a path around the gate, passing cars I wait beside the gate.

A cyclist dings his bell for me to move. He wants to cross the tracks regardless. Pedestrans and some motor cycles follow.

After the train passes a rail worker waves cyclists on, whizzing past the congestion, 750 metres around the bend I hear another train. Arriving at my chowk traffic behind is still at a standstill.

Indian NLP? waggling an escape valve

How do they survive this india madness? There is an Indian escape valve. A simple disarming trick: It is NLP mastery home grown in unconscious simplicity.

As I pass subzi wallahs camped on the foot path forcing everyone to walk on the road, at night the left lane becomes temporary parking for vege hunters. Oblivious as I approach from behind her a woman steps out I front forcing me to swing around her. Move – then look – 6 inches into traffic enough to effect a disruption to traffic and show your presence guaranteeing the continual sequence of stop-start.

Then she smiles her disarming smile and waggles her head.

Suddenly you know you can to can smile your troubles away Life is too short for anger. Waggle your head and the intense angry focus that propels you forward, watching every maddening possible collision, dissolves into the innocent smile of a child. Waggling your head as if you are harmless, innocent, in socks full of holes.

“Sorry uncle” she says like a child pretending she is not responsible for her actions. I know that’s not th e case. It is just a thought – a memory of studying child psychology.

What matters I simply cannot feel angry any mor simply because I waggled my head like a harmless kid.

Swinging through an intersection freed of cross traffic by a slowing bus. I am quickly asked by another cyclist “Travelling?” He is a young man taking a few seconds to decipher his accent “Tourist?”

“mai Australian hun. Likan Bhopal main ek sal raha hun. ”

“Which country?”

“Australia. But now in Bhopal. Mai Bharat main tin sal raha hun.”

“I lived in Australia.”

“For how long?”

“ Melbourne.”

“How long?”

“Two years. Good bye.”

He immediately pulls left at the chowk we have just entered.

In a lather of sweat, a spreading rip cuts crossways across my cargo pants worn thin I guess by consant love to walk and cycle.

A women on a scooter, a second, pinioned behind her, attempts to get my attention.

“Handsome” she says.

“I doubt it “ I said, aware she had just seen the rip on my thigh, it was then I realized a black and tan stain was also below the knee, perhaps from kneeling as I photographed a Tribal Museum workshop.

“No, really” she says, pulling away, her left thumb raised in salute.

At 50, I’ll take any praise I can get.

I renew myself at A lot can happen over coffee – the meeting place of Westernized lovers without parental matchmakers and their wedding plans. (Oh yes, there are business people and families too.) A large latte costs 90 rupees – 18 chai’s from a street wallah, or $1.65 Australian. Unlike my last visit this brew has a need for a touch more coffee.

I am obviously more tired than I thought. Only mango for breakfast, 20 kilometres riding, and its approaching 5 PM. I needed my java!

Leaving, Squeezing through the entrance abutting the chowk, I don’t see the traffic light directly above my head and enter the open road, only then realizing why the road is clear.

Then I see the officer, chin in his hand, grateful he chooses to ignore it. I am grateful for his generosity. Explaining infringements as a firengi can be tricky.

Perhaps I am just now over tired. I will be more careful next time.

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Vultures What are we gonna do?

30 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by opus125 in India, Madhya Pradesh

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Diclofenac vultures India, Egyptian Vulture, Indian vulture, Slender Billed Vulture, vulture kidney failure, White Rumped Vulture

vultures

“Whata we gunna do? Whata we gunna do?” asked the shoulder shrugging vultures of Disney’s  Jungle Book. I laugh every time I think of it, remembering the laughter of boys mimicking the voice of Beetles. Now living in Madhya Pradesh, the endangered vulture may well be asking “Whata we gunna do?”

Mowgli’s fictional ‘home’  is now in Pench National Park.

 Unfortunately, the White rumped, Red Headed, Indian and slender Billed vulture are critically endangered. The Egyptian vultures threat is critical. A common cause is a drug now found in the carcasses they eat.

Vivek Jain’s Status of globally Threatened Birds in Madhya Pradesh, published by the M.P. State Biodiversity Board, lists the antiinflammatory and analgesic Diclofenac as common cause decimating the five vulture species it lists. The veterinary drug was linked to vulture Kidney Failure.

Vultures are essential to Indias ecology.

White rumped vulture res

The 70 to 85 centimetre White Rumped Vulture  (Gyps bengalensis), declined 44% per year from 2000 to 2007.  With Blackish plumage, white neck ruff and under wing coverts with up to 15 nests in a single tree where the bird roosts at night.

Indian vulture res

The Indian Vulture, or Long billed,  vulture (Gyps Indicus) declined 97% in 12 years. This 90-100cm strong eagle like features has lived to 37 years in captivity, and matures in 4 to six. It has pale yellowish bill and cere, pale eye rings, a large white ruff and buff and the typical vulture bald head appearance with very broad wings short tail.

Nesting in cliffs and rivers, the monogamous birds share nesting duties. They feed large mammal carcasses eat enough for several days usually meat offal intestines but not stomach contents. Unlike many other scavengers rarely seen in flocks may associate with white rumped vulture while scavenging carcasses or at slaughterhouses.

Neck dropping, a condition indicating disease, has been observed a few weeks before falling from trees and dying.Food was sufficient, an no epidemic discovered.

 red headed or king vulture res

The bulky  75-85 centimetre Red Headed or King Vulture (sarcogyps calvus) has a deep scarlet naked head seen near human population.

 slender bill vulture res

The Slender Billed Vulture (gyps tenduirostris, and formerly classified with gyps indicus until 2001) has a dark bill pale culmen, black care and near total black feathering on the black head and neck. This 80-95 centimetre vulture has a snake like neck, with elongated bill.

 egyptian vulture

The Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) is surviving a little better being classified only as endangered, but has seen a recent rapid decline in its numbers.  It is often described as a useful scavenger that can live closer to humans.

This 60 centimetre dirty kite-like vulture has black wing quills and naked yellow head and bill. Last scavenger o leave as its long beak can finish off meat left by other scavengers. It uses small rocks as a tool to break its food.

 To clarify,  “There cannot be one reason for extinction of vultures. Diclofenac may be one of the reasons,” said head of the Nagpur Veterinary College medicine department, Dr N P Dakshinkar International Vulture Awareness Day 2013. The event reported in the Times of India also listed:

  • Starvation, carcasses when once thrown outside of villages, as more cattle is butchered.
  • Avian malaria was recognised cause of vulture deaths in Maharashtra’s  Gadchiroli tribal district.
  • the excessive use of pesticides  by farmers.

In reference to the deaths of the Indian Vulture, Jain concludes “it is now very clear that vulture cannot survive as long as Diclofenac use continues, irrespective of other causes of mortality.”

“Okay, so what we gonna do?”

” I don’t know, what you wanna do?”

“Look, Flaps, first I say, “What we gonna do?” Then you say, “I don’t know, what you wanna do?” Then I say, “What we gonna do?” You say, “What you wanna do?” “What we gonna do?” “What you want…” Let’s do SOMETHING!”

“Okay. What you wanna do?”

“Oh, blimey! There you go again. The same notes again!”

“I’ve got it! This time, I’ve really got it!”

“Now you’ve got it. So what we gonna do?”

During the 2013 conference, National Association for Welfare of Animals and Research secretary Dr Ajay Poharkar, who is working for vulture conservation in Gadchiroli, pioneered a ‘vulture restaurant’ in Gadchiroli.

Maharashtra chief wildlife warden SWH Naqvi called for mass awareness among rural folks.

Protection and nest monitoring was proposed.

In Madhya Pradesh monitoring of identified nesting colonies in MP’s many wildlife reserves, and an annual winter survey was encouraged by Vivek Jain.

Jain mentions that while Diclofenac was banned in 2006 it is still used because it is very cheap. The use of Meloxicam as a drug substitute encouraged.

Vultures-the-jungle-books-vultures-18695333-480-360

Personally, I admit trepidation over Madhya Pradesh biodiversity.

World over, environmentalism is a matter of convenience. Its a great idea, as long as it doesn’t effect me. For example, in New Delhi the near war that existed over the BRT bus lanes, pitted bus users against the presttge conscious middle class.   (That story will have to wait for another blog).

Until we are personally effected by the damage man causes the attention grabbing novelty of everchanging commercialism will pushb the environment  from our attention. Out of site the damage will continue.

Reference: Vivek Jain, 2011, Status of globally Threatened Birds in Madhya Pradesh, M.P. State Biodiversity Board, Bhopal. Vultture images have been sourced from this excellent book.

 

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