I love to drone our pahari traditional dress, kurta-sutan and saluka, (kurta-a long shirt, sutan-pyjama, saluka-sleevless jacket) for either local/family functions at Kotgarh or for a visit to Rampur for shopping trips. Rampur has one of the best markets in Shimla hills with almost everything under the sun available at very reasonable prices. A trip to Rampur is inevitable after every quarter as things need to be replinshed at home.
The traditional kurta-sutan is ideal for the hot weather at Rampur where the temprature hoovers above 30 degrees. The dress makes going around the shops and bargaining a lot comfortable in the heat. This time I visited Rampur after almost a year. Dressed in my best pahari attire, I was into some shock. I was among the very few dressed in the traditionals. Almost everyone was in the shirt trouser mode. I earlier felt comfortable mingling in the crowds wearing the traditionals. By way of dressing, it is difficult to guess from which area the person belongs to. But a simple hello can tell easily by the dialect whether one is from Seraj or from Rampur tehsil or from Kotgarh. It was as if I had landed at some alien place. The regular shopkeepers did greet me with warmth and enquired about my long absence. Mercifully, it was a hot cup of tea which was offered as I was dreading that the hospitality norms would have also changed and I may be offered Coke or Pepsi. Read the rest of this entry »
Life is a tangent to the curve of our expectations. Curves are what I like, but that’s beside the point. Anyways, in this world of curves and dead-ends, the only way to stay on the right tract is to distract. Well, truly speaking, the philosophy of distraction is profound, but will talk about it later. For now I must talk about the apple. The story of the apple is as old as baba Adam. The apple was the first fruit that the human being tasted. That’s why they say in English ‘A for Apple’. Well, intelligent readers know that after ‘A for Apple’ comes ‘B for Boy’, and that was what baba Adam realized he could produce only after eating the apple. So, the apple is central to human existence. Had there been no apple, we would not have existed, and this groundbreaking research on the importance of the apple would have never taken place. Read the rest of this entry »
I would stay away from the routine glitch of Happy Independence Day. Received lots of a mails today greeting me happy Independence day. Instead I would greet you with Cherish Independence day. Our Independence is something to be cherished. Looking around at our neighbours namely China and Paksitan, I thank my stars I was born in this country. Both these countries have made a mess of ‘individual freedom’. We Indians have become arrogant though with our independence and take things for granted. But I tend to ignore this as we are a young 61 years old country and with time and age maturity will come and we will cherish our freedom in the true sense. Read the rest of this entry »
Here is a beautiful video shot in Kotgarh - Piya Basanti Re - by Chitra and Ustad Sultan Khan. The video has been shot at Kotgarh and Melan village. The old lady in the video is Dr. Uma Singha a local doc.
Beautiful song. Enjoy!
This Saturday traveled back home to Kotgarh as plucking season has started. This year the rains have been pretty good and the apple season started 10 days earlier. Found lush green scenery around. Here a few pics I clicked.
The road leading to my house among apple orchards
Home.. sweet home!! Reached on sunset Read the rest of this entry »
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