Man, woman and their travels

    As you watch travel vlogs on YouTube, you will often see a man and a woman touring fascinating and unexplored places in the world. There are also solo travelers, but I find "couples" to be the more interesting kind- a man and a woman. Just two people, braving against all odds. The kind of life these couples have chosen to live reminds me of the lives that early men had- living amongst nature, gathering food from the wild, and never settling in one place. The circumstances of these vlogger couples are quite similar but with the addition of technology to record their adventures and allow viewers to enjoy the journeys, albeit vicariously, through their films. During the 2020 lockdown, such travel videos were a delight to watch when all we could do was stay indoors for days.

    Man, as a living entity, is designed to thrive in the company of others and yearns to be a part of a community. Even if there isn't a community, the company of another person is enough to sail through life. Perhaps this is why, in these vlogs, you'll witness merely a guy and a woman doing everything on their own, most times without a group of people helping them. They enjoy traveling together, documenting their experiences, shooting their own photographs, and recording their strolls through the forest, only to return and retrieve the camera from the ground. In addition, life on these travels needs a plethora of knowledge on how to survive with minimal access to facilities. By nature, men and women are designed to possess different attributes which help them perform different tasks in life. While a woman, usually, is meticulous and disciplined, a man is seen to be good at decision-making and taking risks. These qualities work together to form a perfect alliance that enables them to face any challenge that life presents. Making them a complementary deal.

    Now, am I trying to advocate here that the combination of a man and a woman is the ideal scenario for traveling together? No, absolutely not. I'm talking about this pair of combinations as they fascinate me. My mind wonders how the basic instincts of a human drive him or her even after centuries of evolution. The desire to see new and different places has become one of the prime driving factors of modern life. Every soul has the desire to travel; some maybe be scared by the idea of it, find it exhausting to plan for one, or lack the initial funds to start a journey. But, if money were no obstacle, I'm sure a lot of people would pack their bags and leave for a trip this very instant. In fact, one of the prime reasons for hustling every day in the 9-5 jobs is to gather enough money to travel to that dream destination. Our hearts and minds yearn to visit places we've never seen before with our own eyes. And with these dreams in our unclosed eyes, we carry on with our daily work.

P.S. The birth of these thoughts took place while I was watching Ronnie & Barty's vlogs on YouTube. Absolutely mesmerizing, with brilliant voice-over, and captivating background music in each video. These guys know how to make a cinematic vlog which reminds me of the travel shows that I used to watch on Discovery and Travel & Living channels during my childhood.

A picturesque view from Meghalaya resembling a scene from The Shire from The Lord of the Rings

P.S. This piece was written a year back in June 2022. I'm publishing it in August 2023 as I saw it in my drafts and wanted it on my blog.

Why I love reading books by William Dalrymple

    “Kohinoor” was the first novel that I read written by William Dalrymple. This book about a gem is indeed a gem of a book. The facts have been well researched as the book talks in meticulous detail about the origin and the travels of the diamond that we know today and how it came to be a part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. I first read about this diamond in a history class in school, and I've been captivated by it ever since. The book brings to light various scenes from Indian history and the passage of the ‘Mountain of Light’ (Koh-i-Noor) through multiple hands and finally being presented as a gift to Queen Victoria by the Boy-King Duleep Singh. I recommend this to anyone who is curious about the story of the stone. A remarkably interesting read indeed.

    The next book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading was William Dalrymple’s account of various places and communities of India in “The Age of Kali”. The work has been a culmination of first-hand information about incidents, events, customs, and norms from people who have lived through it all.

    It serves as a travelogue of the experiences that Dalrymple has gathered in his ten years of travel across the terrains of the Indian subcontinent. Picking up stories from the north to the south; from the land of Pakistan to what lies beyond the Indian Ocean. The book’s title refers to the fourth age of time, the Kali Yug, which India is believed to be at present. It is evident from the writing that the writer is overwhelmed as well as in awe of the beauty of the stories the country has to offer.

    I was particularly enthralled to learn how modernization came into being in Bangalore and the opposition that came with it from the localities who desperately tried to hold on to the charm of the old Bangalore city. Each of the true stories depicted in the book talks of something unheard of before. For anyone interested in discovering new tales about India, I assure you this book will feed your curiosity and keep you wanting more.

    Another interesting book I read from Mr. Dalrymple was “Nine Lives”. This was also the book that I got signed by the author at the "Times Literature Festival" held in Bangalore in February 2020. It was after attending many literature events that I finally got to meet him for an autograph and hear live from the author. 

    “Nine Lives” depicts the stories of nine different individuals, each following a different religious path. While journeying across India in quest of modernity and ancient traditions, Dalrymple met these nine people and learned about their holy beliefs. The narrative is structured in such a way that the characters in each story speak for themselves. Here's a thought-provoking line, from a story titled “The Maker of Idols”, that reads- “It’s the faith of devotees that turns it (the idol) into a god.”

    I recall another intriguing story titled- “The Lady Twilight”. It recounts the life of Manisha Ma Bhairavi, who came to Tarapith in search of Ma Tara, and continued to stay there as she felt deep protection from the goddess. Tarapith in Bengal, noted for its Tantric temple and the adjoining cremation grounds, has witnessed the survival of some of the oldest forms of Tantric rites in India. While Sadhus and Tantrics live there amidst skulls and corpses, scavengers in the cremation ground, and confronting their fear of death, for Manisha Ma, it is her home, one “where even the most damaged and marginal can find intimacy and community”. One of the many practices and beliefs they follow there is the practice of drinking from a skull. They believe the skulls give them power- Shakti of Ma Tara. Each of these stories will make you wonder, "What is meant by religious belief?" and "Is it the same as spirituality?"

    The fourth book that I was reading from William Dalrymple’s list was “The Anarchy”. I completed a few pages of it before I left for the US. The book tells the story of how the British ruled India for decades through the establishment of the East India Company. I hope to complete it someday.

    

    Each of Dalrymple’s books tells us a distinct story.  It is an achievement of the author to be able to recount tales of history in such vivid detail and draw up images of the times that we can only imagine now. I have a great appreciation for the author who went scouring for these stories and preserved them for the reader's delight. A true historian of the modern day.

Images are from Times Literature Festival held in Bangalore in February 2020. That is where I met him and got a book signed. 

 

Shuggie Bain - a review

I often read books that are well-received by the reader community or ones that have been awarded in the literature community. One such recent read was "Shuggie Bain", a debut novel by Douglas Stuart, winner of the 2020 Booker prize. As I started Shuggie Bain, I had a preconceived notion that it could be a lengthy, repetitive description of the despairing lives of the characters, and a bleak central theme in general which would make it difficult to continue reading till the end. These reservations of mine arise from my previous reading experience. I have often found that the books with awards or the ones most popular on everyone's must-read list are often not suited to what I consider an interesting read for me. I'm not criticizing any book or author here. It's a recurring thought that has often struck me when I finish such books. 

So with these thoughts, I picked Shuggie Bain anticipating it to be a gritty tale of depressing incidents referred to over and over again throughout the length of the book. However, I was in for a surprise. The book's narration is from the point of view of Shuggie Bain; talking about the experiences in his life, his dysfunctional family set in the suffering of the Glasgow community in the 1980s, and his relationship with his alcoholic mother, Agnes. 

Shuggie is a young boy trying to find himself amidst the difficulties that life is throwing at him. Abandoned by his father, Hugh Bain, and half-siblings, Leek and Catherine, Shuggie finds himself burdened with all sorts of responsibilities and care for Agnes through her alcoholism and depression. He faces additional struggles as he is often bullied and abused at school and in the neighborhood for his effeminate characteristics. It is only so much that a young boy could do to sustain himself in a world around him that is self-consuming, cruel, and scary. As the story progresses, people move in and out of Agnes's life, affecting her in ways that leave her more damaged than before. However, it is only Shuggie, out of her three children, who stays by her side till the end. Caring for her like she was his child, believing that his love for his mother could save her. Despite the depressing narrative, the parts portraying a child's love for his mother would warm your heart, even if for a few seconds.

Ultimately, this dark tale of a boy's struggles and his mother will make your heart cry out in pain. As much as you wish a ray of hope to shine on their souls, the author keeps giving you more than one reason that would continue breaking your heart. At no point in time will the thought of "feeling sympathetic for the duo" leave you. The theme is, no doubt, bleak and full of despair, however, the writing is what keeps you wanting to continue reading it. Raw emotions are described so vividly that makes you feel like the characters are your next-door neighbors and you want to visit them to check if everything is fine. The helplessness of the society they live in, marred by unemployment, poverty, violence, and addiction issues are the effects of Margaret Thatcher's policies in the 1980s leaving the poor and working-class of Scotland in utter turmoil. And all you could do as a reader is just read about one such affected family and feel sorry.

I reached the end of the book to read the Acknowledgement section where the author mentions his mother, brother, and sister and their struggles. Stuart, the youngest of three siblings, was born in Sighthill, a housing estate in Glasgow, Scotland. His father left him and his family when he was young, and he was raised by a single mother who was battling alcoholism and addiction. His mother died from alcoholism-related health issues when he was 16. Perhaps, this novel is closer to reality than just a fictional read and the narrative style and tone are an inkling of that. The book is inspired by the actual story of Mr. Stuart's life and that is what makes it such a tragic and heartbreaking read. I believe a writer can write something with such make-believe conviction when the story is closer to home. And to imagine that Douglas Stuart could be the Shuggie Bain in reality, is just painful. Having the courage to write the story of his life as a debut novel and being awarded for it, speaks volumes of the wonderful work done by Douglas Stuart. Hope this makes you consider this book for your next read.

World Environment Day

My thoughts on my environment

Every time we utter the words “uff! iman gorom” or “oh! Its so hot”, I guess that’s something that comes out of our mouth involuntarily and we don’t even pause to think what causes us to feel the heat of the environment. We might think its blazing sun rays that fall on us mercilessly & also wish if there was something that could have shielded us from these hot rays…well guess what, there’s  something that could come to our aid and also provide us cool breeze in the summer. Yes, they are the big green trees which are now a rare sight in cities which only sees new high rise buildings every passing year. No doubt the high rise buildings are so high that they too provide us shade, but what about the ecological balance that a tree adds to the environment.

Every time I reach Guwahati from Tezpur, I can instantly feel the warm air hitting me hard as I try to protect my eyes from the heavy dust particles floating around. Every time I go out into the city the innumerous cars on the road extend the time for a 10 minute long distance to half an hour or even an hour at peak times & in addition to that I keep muttering “uff! iman gorom”. I turn on the car air conditioner to cool off the car interiors; so does everyone on the road who has a car. Are we aware that is one way how we contribute to our remarks of “oh! Its so hot”. But if everyone else is enjoying their car AC why should I not turn mine’s on? What difference would one person’s car make? That’s the general thought. What’s the solution to this? I keep wondering as I reach my destination, cool off under a fan, get refreshed & forget about it until the next time I go out again.

We are devoid of the cool shady benefits of a lushy green tree in the summer while we add onto ourselves all the excess heat by the use of facilities that contribute to the pollution. I remember, in our school we  had eco clubs that planted saplings on this day and daily groups were assigned to clean up the school premises off the chocolates wrappers, papers etc. But I guess that only got confined within the school.  Now we hardly give a second to think before mercilessly throwing around our garbage. However unfortunately the world’s not a school where groups will be assigned daily to clean up the mess. The merciless we are on mother nature, the merciless she will be on us too; harrassing us with her mighty agents & one day we will finally have to give up what we so dearly hold on to. I wonder how long can we survive this raging forces of nature & its after effects. If we don’t act now & the heat keeps rising I cant imagine if this environment will ever get cooler again and then all our efforts of studying, achieving degrees and success will come of no use as we will stand at the mercy of a much greater force that we undermined once . Every time we say “oh! Its so hot”, lets not blame the sun alone for this ‘cause we play our part too. Instead let us play our part in protecting the environment in our own possible way. EVS wasn’t taught to us in our 2nd semester as an easy scoring subject, real engineering is that which takes into account sustainable development and innovates things that complies with nature instead of adding to its woes.