From 9,500 ft in the Himalayas

The anonymous samaritans

NITYIN — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:04:09 +0000

It was a short visit to Chandigarh to collect computers from IT park which were being donated by a company to set up a small computer center at my village at Kotgarh. The plan is to set up these in the local Govt high school.

This has been a Voice of Himachal (VOH) initiative. Thanks to Varun and a team of anonymous but dedicated volunteers, one fine day got a mail to collect the computers from the IT park. Accompanied by Nirvan, the local VOH representative I reached the company office to collect the machines.

Walking into the IT city was a revelation. Clean wide roads looked inviting. The buildings had the Bangalore look. Security was manning every gates. Once inside the building, it was even more orderly. IT park boasts of every big software company being present here. Workforce is quite young, mostly people in there late twenties. I wish our policy and decision makers ever visit this place and just see what they have been missing all these years in terms of attracting cleaner business into the state. All these years the state have been attracting the hydel projects and cement plant investments which naturally is not in tandem with the state’s ecological and environmental ethos.

This time, I kept away from the main roads at Chandigarh, thanks to the over ‘friendly’ Chandigarh cops (more details here) so I was able to enjoy and see the now vibrant Chandigarh city. Sector 22 still retains the old Chandigarh charm, 17 being much over hyped and a bit up market. Nearby Sector 35, the old restaurants have been converted into pubs. Evenings here give you a feel of the Brigade road at Bangalore, thanks to the techies visiting and enjoying the music or the cricket matches over a pint of beer. Chandigarh administrators have done some smart overhaul and marketing of the city. Maybe the babus running the city do not have the netas telling them how to (mis)manage the city!

Chandigarh still have an edge on educational front with some of the best schools and colleges here. This city is the capital of Punjab and Haryana and still doesn’t gives you a feel of a babu’s city like the plain old Shimla.

Life could be all plain different in a span of 200 km distance upon comparing difference in lives between Chandigarh and the dusty hills of Kotgarh. Here I am, coming from the hills to pick up computer machines from someone who would never know what difference it could make into some one’s lives in future, who never have laid hands on one. And a few anonymous samaritans who are just a name in your mail box lending helping hand. May their tribe increase!

Travelogue - Dharamshala

NITYIN — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:08:17 +0000

I started from Dalhousie at 7 in the morning. It was pretty early by Dalhousie standard being off season so left with out a morning tea. This time I traveled through the main road. Had breakfast at a road side dhaba and reached Loharu and then moved over to Shahpur and was in Dharamshala by 11 am. It took me 4 hours to drive back. On the way found a gharat and stopped for pictures. The owner was lying back peacefully. This chap was a smooth talker and we exchanged notes on crops in our respective areas. My family also owned a gharat at a place called Bhaira Khad on Satluj basin which was washed out in the famous first Parchu flood. Family since been settled in the hills, the gharat was lying abandoned off late. Anyway, return journey was full of some amazing views. Since it was morning and much less traffic than the daytime, I was able to cherish the views on my way back.

After a quick shower, went over to Mcleodganj. The place was full of foreigners. Since I was short on time, I just glanced at the bazaar. Prices are pretty steep here. Also there is quite a tension among Tibetian and local population. Very few local shopkeepers but almost all hoteliers are local. They being sore about summer season being washed off because of the Tibetan protests in summers over Chinese backlash in Tibet and tourist traffic getting hit in the peak tourist season. Mcleodganj is a foodies paradise where you can savor some of the world’s best cuisine. I chose a cafe at the Pema Thang and had a lovely lunch in the sun over Mexican food. Just below Pema Thang GH is the Chonor House. This is a small Tibetan hotel which lets you soak into Tibetan way of life. Prices are steep but worth the experience. Moved over to Naddi, which has hotels everywhere and have killed the beauty of this small village. Two years from now, this place will look like Paharganj market. Slightly away from this madness is a small place called Snow Crest Inn, which offers some solitude and have decent rooms with cheap prices. I was told that entire land from the Dal Lake till Naddi on the main road has been sold for hotels. Now you know why we are expert in screwing up with tourist places.

Bhagsunag is just another suburb with hotels at every nook and corner. You have to find your way among these hotels to get to the temple. Then you have a check post collecting money. Why this money is collected is beyond any reasoning. One also pays to enter the Mcleodganj market.

Coming down to lower Dharamshala, lot many resorts and hotel have come up on Khaniyara road. One is Karnika Resort in the middle of nowhere and the other is Snow Hermitage Resort. Snow Hermitage looks pretty run down from the road level but once you climb up through the lift you fell in love with this place. The view is pleasant from here. One really feels like blowing those 2 grand. Club Mahindra also runs a hotel here which is located on the Palampur road. Pretty un-impressive. Who would like to come for vacation in this dump after spending so much for the time share. I was told they have bought land near Palampur and are building a resort. Dharamshala - Palampur road is in complete mess. Dropped the idea of going to Palampur and came back. Had a hearty talk with my brother and it was past 2 when we finally slept.

Next morning it had snowed up on the mountains and was still snowing. Bade good bye to my brother (we still cry upon goodbyes and started back to Shimla. It was raining for most part of the journey. Stopped for meals at Namhol at Raja dhaba and was at Shimla by 3 in the afternoon. Things were pretty the same since my last visit. Only more cars on road and lot many hotels have come up. This is the only progress I found on this trip.

Travelogue - Dalhousie, Chamba and Dharamshala

NITYIN — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:32:25 +0000

It was time for my annual journey through Himachal. I love doing these once a year. This time I picked up Chamba - Dalhousie - Dharamshala sector. One rainy morning, I packed myself in the car and started from Shimla. It was an hectic journey across the length and breadth of Himachal to Dharamshala. This is a long drive of almost 8 hours covering a distance of 265 km. Drive from Shimla to Ghagas touching the Bilaspur border has become painful, because of the road widening work going on. It took 3 hours to reach Ghagas. Roads are in a complete mess till Bhararighat. The main bazaar at Darla is still full of potholes giving you a feel of zero gravity in the small car.

Once across, Ghagas, I expected better roads, Not so! The road is full of potholes till Ghumarvin. Road is better in stretches but then the potholes make you shift gears. Ghumarvin is a border town of Bilaspur and Hamirpur district and has grown up impressively since last time I had visited. As usual, the outer areas of the town are dotted with car and truck workshops. The bazaar is full of all kind of big showrooms. Signs of people’s growing purchasing power. Crossed Ghumarvin and next stop was Hamirpur. I was entering the CM’s area and hoped for better road but to my disappointment, the road was in the same condition. Roads are wider on this stretch making it easier for the two way traffic to move smoothly. Another drawback on this journey is absence of a proper stopover for lunch and resting. Buses from Shimla stop at Chamakri pul and Bhararighat before Ghagas but couldn’t find a decent stopover after Ghagas.

After crossing Bhota, found a small dhaba at the road bifurcating to the Baba Balak Nath temple. This dhaba is a bamboo shack with bare minimum furniture. The place smelled of freshly cooked food and offered tawa chapatis instead of the usual tandooris which I always avoid while driving. Gave myself a 30 minute break and tended to the car after lunch. All appeared to be fine. Zipped across Hamirpur. It was Sunday, so there was minimum traffic on road. Crossed Nadaun, Jwalaji and a small tea break at Kangra, Dharamshala looked just over the hills. Drive from Nadaun till Mataur, where one leaves the main highway for Dharamshala is a dream drive. The main bazaar at Jwalaji was crowded as ever and Kangra has a new bus stand. Quite immaculate!! Young ones at Kangra love driving there bikes and come pretty close while overtaking and even when coming from front. I was rattled at this sort of driving and reduced my speed from Kangra onwards. Road from Mataur to Dharamshala is better than the one I had traveled last. Still have potholes in places but drivable. Reached Dharamshala around 7 pm and simply crashed on the bed at my brother’s place.

Next morning, started my journey at 7 after a cup of tea and left for Chamba. I planned to travel via the Chamba Jot. Had breakfast after crossing Shahpur and left the highway and joined the shorter route to Lahru. This is a single road across the hills and forest and occasional small hamlets. The morning air had a feel of the chill and children going to schools gave me company till 9 am. Reached Lahru around 10 am. The road till Lahru is decent and one can touch 50 km in stretches given the hilly steep and blind curves. The sun was out by now and from Lahru it is a steep climb up till the Jot. In between passed the beautiful village of Chowari. This is at an ideal location just below the mighty Chamba Jot. The valley is open and gives a 360 degree view as you climb up the Jot. As I moved up, I could virtually feel like driving up in the clouds. 3 km before the Jot, a thick fog had come up. The air was lighter with loads of chill. I was looking forward to stop at the Jot and click a few pictures but it was a complete let-down once there. There are buildings on both side of the jot completely blocking the both side view! Didn’t stop at all and climbed down the other side into the Chamba valley. The descent is gradual and road in pretty good condition. One needs to keep a constant foot on the breaks. It took me around 45 minutes to reach Chamba from the Jot.

Chamba was quite a disappointment. The main bazaar is crowded and no place to park your vehicle. Looked for an old friend who runs a small hotel behind the Tehsil office. Left the car with him and went to explore the market. Chamba is famous for Chamba chappals and rumals, all local handicraft work. Found a good pair of chappals for Anu and after some aggressive bargaining bought one for 150/ Went over to the Laxmi Narayan Temple for darshans on top of the bazaar. Came back to the hotel and caught up with our lives over lunch with my friend.

I had earlier planned to stay at Chamba for the night but dropped the idea and left for Dalhousie. You travel across the same road as to jot and after 10 km there is a U turn to Khajjiar. There is no signboard at this place and in case you are not attentive, you may miss the turning and end up at the Jot!! Found out there are no signboards in Chamba town itself. Thanks to the motor mechanics on the outskirts, I was able to take the correct road who also had a good sense to warn me to look for a diversion ahead for Khajjiar as there was no signboard. The tourism deptt. have placed signboards everywhere in the state, how they left Chamba is beyond any reasoning.

Chamba to Khajjiar is a 40-45 minute drive. Being off season, found the place to myself. The sun was just settling behind the meadow. Amazing..amazing place sans the tourists. Being a Shimla wala.. couldn’t resist taking a walk around the meadow. A good 25 minute walk and after a cup of hot tea I started for Dalhousie. This stretch is part of the wild life sanctuary area and many of my friends have recalled their experience of sighting the leopard here. It was evening time, perfect for the bragh to come out on the prowl. I was almost reaching Lakkar Mandi with no sign of the elusive leopard. Suddenly about 15 meter ahead found a bear coming off the road and accompanying her (I guess she was the mother) were two baby bears, walking in tandem.It was an amazing sight, like two babies with their mom out on a stroll on the Mall. As I looked for the camera, the mother just glanced at me and moved down the road. I missed a great picture. Thanking my stars to let me see such a beautiful family, I drove off to Dalhousie a further 15 minutes drive. Passed through the impressive looking Dalhousie Public School. It has army written all over the building. Saw impressive looking Sardarjis, ex army types, taking a walk around. It was getting dark when I reached Dalhousie. Checked-in to the hotel, had soup for dinner and was lost in dreams around 9 pm after a hectic day.

Next morning, woke up at 6 am and went out for a walk. Dalhousie is spread across Subhash Chowk and Gandhi Chowk. From Subhash Chowk took a full circle on the Cart road and back to Subhash Chowk. Then took the pedestrian path to Gandhi Chowk. Found Gandhi Chowk all to myself at this time of the morning. Took the Mall road back to Subhash Chowk and then to the hotel. Dalhousie is a cantonment and army has maintained the character of this town. One of my ex army friend used to describe this place as “Dul-lousie” (Dull & lousy). I differ from his opinion though. It started raining when I reached back at the hotel and it was time for a short nap again. After breakfast left the hotel again at 11 am and went out to explore the area. Went to Punjpulla, which is a small picnic spot and further ahead found a resort nestled in the forests. This is known as the Peace Channel Resort. It offers good accommodation and above all the peace here is mesmerizing. Ideal place if you are looking for solitude and want to listen to the chirping of the birds and occasional roar of the leopard!! Dalhousie is a must visit place for Gujju travelers. Restaurants here serve Gujju food and Ahmedabad style Pao-Bhaji. Visited the three churches in town. It was 7 pm when I came back to the hotel. Ordered an early dinner and switched off the lights by 9 as planned to leave in the morning.

To be continued…

Reliance NetConnect and DisConnect in Himachal Pradesh

NITYIN — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 21:02:40 +0000

I had bought a Reliance Net Connect ZTE USB modem keeping in mind my traveling schedule and and was promised four times faster speed than the usual dial up connection. It is a wireless (mobile) internet service and can be used anywhere Reliance CDMA service is available. The speed was fine in Shimla for a few days, where I have a BSNL broadband at home. A couple of weeks later I tried this service at my village in Kotgarh and was extremely disappointed with the speed. The connectivity was either dead slow or almost dead!

My woes started with a bleak signal. Just 2 bars on the signal tab. I knew there were couple of Reliance towers, just across the hills. Called up a Reliance guy in Rampur and next day the signal strength reached to 4 and occasionaly touching 5 bars. This accomplished tried my hand on surfing but it was again dead slow. I could somehow surf till 10 pm and at dot 10, the net simply stopped as if someone had switched off the button. Called the same guy again, and explained my problem. Bingo.. next day there was trace of internet after 10 pm. This aroused my suspicion that there was something fishy with overall service of Reliance in rural areas!!

I was given a number of one Mr. Prashant (9318855055) who happens to be Reliance tech guru based in Shimla. He listened to me patiently the first time, took down my address and promised to send one of his techies to look into my problem. Nothing happened for the next 10 days. Next time I called him up, he was curt and told me to connect with some other user in the area and check if he too had the same problem!

Now excuse me, but is this my fucking job to find another sucker in the area? I happen to be the only sucker facing the Reliance (dis)service in the entire area! Wise people stay away from Reliance!! I sent an email to the cutomer service mentioned on their website. One fine day got a call from a Reliance number putting me on hold for 5 minutes and kept on playing the Reliance signature tune and then disconnected. Got a mail next day from customer care saying they tried contacting me but were unable to do so and the matter ended up there! The service is pathetic no doubt and after sales and customer services even more worse with Reliance in Himachal.

I tried doing tracerts for the websites. Most of the time I get Request Timed Out error after 4 hops. I tried pinging sites, I got the same error. Reliance tried to put the blame on weak signals but at times the signal is at 4 or 5 bars, still the sites don’t open. I have been cheated by the company and am left with a useless gizmo worth 3000 rupees. I am skeptical about using it while traveling as I think this won’t work anywhere outside Shimla. All my money has been swindled by Himachal Reliance Communications.

Words of wisdom from 9,500 ft in the Himalayas - Stay away from Reliance in Himachal. Don’t get fooled by the tall claims being dished out by the company. This is a useless company with even more useless services. Also stay away from any form of wireless internet gizmos be it GSM or CDMA. Best use the good old BSNL landlines.

Reliance NetConnect has No Reliance and is actually a DisConnect.

PS - I will post my experiences using the Net (dis) Connect at other places in a fortnight’s time before throwing it in the trash bin!.

Evenings on the Mall

NITYIN — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:16:38 +0000

Being all alone these days in Shimla, am back to my favorite pastime of watching people. I try not to be intrusive but just observe the happenings around. My day or the evening starts at the Shiv Mandir just below the Mall. After darshan the babas sitting outside do not even look at me as I take out the chillars, normally the 1 rupee coin. This is a daily chore to relieve the wallet of all the loose change. The best part of this temple I like is the self service feel to it. You do the darshans, collect the parsad yourself and there is no priest standing and looking down at you.

Coming back on the Mall, a round till the Toys shop and a dekko at the Asia Book House for a look at the latest best sellers. This place used to be a great store house of books, magazine and greeting cards. Now no one reads magazine and books and no one sends the cards. The shop has turned more of a stationary shop. Their pen sales must be lot more than all the books combined. Thank god, the technology has still not taken away pen, pencils, writing books from the class rooms. There is a decent collection of best sellers from both fiction and non-fiction. The prices are prohibitive though as they sell mostly the international editions with prices mentioned in pounds and dollars. I remember back in college days, I would marvel at all the books. The prices were too steep for my pocket money then which was not even $5. The cover price would give me heart attack. After selecting a book, my hunt would take me at the Sunday market where I would find the same book in the following weeks at one tenth the original price. Now a days, I only find school and college guide books in the Sunday market. Either people have stopped buying books or seldom sell those books, like myself!

Out of the book shop and a glance at the Barista filled with all the PYT and HDG (handsome dashing guys) it is time for a cup of coffee at the Baljees. This place is more relaxed now as earlier it used to be the Barista of the young. Now you get a table easily in the evening. The food is decent, nothing to rave about but the place is good enough for my sensibility. They play the satellite radio with good hindi film songs. The owner Mrs. Baljees keep a tab with a CC TV installed at all corners. This is a perfect place for observing people. In evening hours you find the deals being stuck with the babus to get the file moving in the office. The local MLA visits this place regularly and there is a big crowd at his corner table. You have Bengali tourists visiting this place these days. The lady or the wife is talking about the shawl she saw in one of the shops and the husband telling her to forget it as it is just waste of money. “You not going to use a shawl in Kolkata”. Some more brooding and then a compromise being reached, “We will get one from Darjeeling as it is cheaper there.” All this is in chaste Bengali and here my four years stint in the city of joy comes handy as I am quite conversant in the Bhadralok bhasha. Then there are the occasional foreigners nibbling a sandwich and reading all about Shimla in their holy book, The Lonely Planet. Though the first thing they check is all the below 300 rupee hotels listed in the book.

The best part of leaving Baljees is the commotion of paying the bill. As soon as one guy picks up the bill, the other three try and snatch it from him. Two of the three are the reluctant actors and there effort is just for the sake of the act. The other two are now wrestling with the piece of paper. Suddenly one guy takes out the wallet and asks the waiter, “Kitna hua?” and hands over the 100 rupee note. Seeing this the other guy pulls the money back from the waiter and instead hands him over his note. Very very funny indeed!! This scene is enacted at least three times over my cup of coffee.

Scandel point is a dampner these days. Remember the tall burly bunch of policemen with the best moustaches in the entire force manning this corner. They are all gone and instead there are these chocolate policemen with a new uniform. These boys, they don’t look like men, I would rather call them chikna, as they call in Mumbai lingo. Gone is the elegannce of the khakhi and the big turban with red and white border. Instead these chaps look like the band-baja types in the new uniform. My 20 month old goes upto one of them clutching his leg! In my childhood I would get scared just looking at those big moustache and the parents would put fear of those men for I being absolutely naughty on the Mall.

Coming back home the Chicken soup-boiled aandey chap is tending to his business, rather brisk business. The horsemen on the Ridge give me company back home and the cows too trudge along through Lakkar Bazaar. It is when all the cows and horses return home that I too find my way back The family is away in Kotgarh these days so it is a couple of sandwiches for the dinner. The house misses the chirpyness of the little one. Sitting on computer is not fun anymore. I miss the mails getting deleted, the keys going missing, my phone getting lost, the walls becoming drawing board. I find it irritating finding things exactly where I left them last evening! Infact I miss the overall dis-order of the house!!

So what has been keeping me off from the blog these days. Work of course and then I am catching up with all the reading as I have all the solitude. I am reading a mamoth 933 page Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. I have finished 700 pages and am inching towards the end now. I shall be updating you with my visit to Dalhousie and Dharamshala last month very soon, once the madness of the house resumes as it helps me concentrate on my thoughts in a proper fashion.

Wishing every one a great Dushera. Let us all burn the Ravan within and leave this place a better one for our kids!

Pic Courtsey

Visiting Rampur - a changed town

NITYIN — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:50:24 +0000

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.

Rampur is a mix of tradition and now emerging into the world of modernity. Best deals you can get for grocery shopping is at the Ram Krishan Jeeva Ram. Another old hand Nandi, who used to sell grocery sitting on a mat has started a new modern selfservice super store with a dash of mall experience thrown in. The old shop is still there which suited me perfect. An old friend who had started an internet cafe have now converted his place into a snack-bar joint offering pizza, burger, momo and thupkas. Just went in to say hello and was treated with some rap music blaring across. Missed the old calm of the only internet cafe in Rampur.

Jugal Kishore Santosh Kumar, the oldest cloth merchants have changed the interiors and instead of cloth shop it is an emporium now. The shop is full of readymade garments for all age and seasons. A small portion of the store still have the cloth section but the choice is few and limited. For ages, this shop was the favorite to buy cloth for the family. Remembring old days, Grand dad during winters used to buy cloth for the family and it would be transported back home by the Gurkhas as the nearest bus stop was 11 km away then. The tailor used to be engaged for a month stitching these clothes. Now this man was a store house of all the gossip around the village. The month would pass with so much gossip getting circulated around. Bought my first gift to my then sweatheart and now throned wife at this shop. What memories!

Coming back, ATMs drone the market area. You have the SBI and PNB ATMs on the NH just opposite to each other. HDFC Bank has a full branch operating in Rampur. So no more money worries. Rampur is full of motor repair shops and vehicles of all kind can be repaired. Mahindra has a full fledged showroom and Maruti has two authorised service centres. Rampur has decent restaurants and hotels but I prefer the HPTDC Satluj cafe for its view. The food is nothing great to write about and the service sloppy. Old timers used to crave for the sweets of Thissu Halwai but since the old man is no more, the sons have taken the easier way out and sell the packed Lovely sweets from Jullandhar. Not worth even a visit. Rampur is well connected by HRTC network. Direct buses ply as far as to Haridwar, Delhi, Jammu, Chandigarh, Ambala Cantt. Dharamsala, Chintpurni and Manali via the Jallori Pass. Haryana Roadways also plies it buses from Delhi and Ambala.

Returning back home, I was not sure whether to be happy with all the ‘progress’ made by this small town. Anything which let us shed our traditions, I do not agree with such progress. Or I think, I am just another sentimental fool who was wishing to find the same town I had visited a year back. Life had certainly moved in this one year!

Apple Story

NITYIN — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:03:55 +0000

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.

Speaking about baba Adam and babe Eve: Soon after eating the tasty apple, baba Adam realized that babe Eve looked even tastier. So babe Eve, clever that she was, confused baba Adam by cloaking herself in the most distasteful leaves of all: the banana leaf. The first love song was sung around the apple tree, and that forms the inspiration for the zillion Hindi movie songs that are filmed around trees. God saw babe Eve dancing in designer banana fashion wear, and like the censor committee, he too was appalled to the core. He realized that his apple was gone, eaten and that too by baba Adam. God, like me, too likes apples. He was quite annoyed, so much so, that he put an apple in man’s throat, and banished him from heaven. It is this very apple that all my classmates looked forward to in high school. Apple as a synonym of desire: apple is central to the concept that is the human being!

I like apples; an apple a day keeps the doctor away, though I would urge the unmarried women to keep the apples away, so that they can meet me some day. Only if I meet them, they can make me the apple of their eyes. There are some women who tried to make me the grapes in their eye: some left saying that the grapes are sour; others said they prefer wine, and would return to savor me when I become old and fine. Apple, launched in some year around the period I was born, revolving in space, miles away from the beauties. I keep falling, though I never reach them; if the moon couldn’t complete its free fall, how can I. But I do hope that I cause some tides of emotion in those unreachable apple pies. Apple pies are sweet, and sultry and tasty and inviting and no other pies can match them. Not even the American pie, for which Madonna re-sung bye bye Miss American Pie, and two movies came and went, without a real punch; for the real revelation would be a movie I produce some day, aptly titled Apple Pie, starring none other than Preity Zinta who hails from apple valley, from my apple state (though we are not related).

The apple that fell on Newton led to the brainstorm, though I doubt that story too. I sincerely think that a bird that was eating an apple dropped the final product on Newton who was so aghast that he set out to find out why the thing hit him in the first place. Had an apple fallen on him, he would have just eaten it and that would have been the end of the story. Agreed that Newton was a genius, and that’s precisely why he would have ended eating up the apple without bothering so much about why it fell. The apple story cannot be true on other account too. I have often stood under apple trees, but in the two decades of my existence on this planet, no apple has ever fallen from a tree on my head. But, from years of data collection and experience I know that the probability of a bird throwing the paint on your face is quite high; but an apple falling on the head is as low as finding a Hindi movie heroine fully clothed. Be it the monsoon or snow, the heroines have enough courage to avoid covering their cold-proof, water-proof skin. Anyhow, I have now dropped the idea of being another Newton and have instead picked up an apple.

We have come a long way from the first day of humanity on this planet to the present moment, and the apple is still there. When people started creating this virtual habitat, they called the computers “Macintosh”, another world for apple. I still prefer the apple, but apples are not that easy to get. At least in India we get apples only in one particular season when someone brings a peti home, as a gift. Government officers have their own sources of apples, and believe me I have always benefited from this apple culture. But while the apple is rare, apple cider is available more often, and so is HPMC apple juice. HPMC apple juice has the merit of tasting like the tonic that they gave my sister to kill worms in her stomach, and I drank it thinking it was apple juice from HPMC. Well, that was the turning point in my life, for that tonic drove the thriving population in my stomach away. Moreover, I realized that the world is not as it seems, and we must not take for granted what we are told. Around the same time, I had another heartbreak when I learnt that the earth is not shaped like an apple, but like an orange. I still doubt it though, because the orange has no historic relevance whatsoever. Believe me, if you prove that the earth is indeed shaped like an apple, the Nobel Prize is the least you can expect.

Get real. Find your apple today. Or find your Eve who can lead you to the apple. Sit under an apple tree — perhaps some apple will fall on your head someday. Maybe you have had an apple fall on your head in the past, and in that past you were the apple of everyone’s eyes. Your reading this far reminds me of another apple story, an unfair conclusion to your swallowing my apple fairytale: one rotten apple spoils the lot! Anyhow, that rotten lot later becomes fine alcohol, as tasty as wine. Wine: reminds me of more grapevine, perhaps I will weave that the next time. Meanwhile, eat an apple a day, and keep the doc away..!!

Posted in ShimlaHangout on October 15, 2002. Author unknown

Independence Day

NITYIN — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:56:26 +0000

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.

Having grown up in Shimla, the summer capital of goras before 1947, it must have been truly humiliating not able to walk up on the Mall which I think is my birth right now. So what does this day means to us. Let’s think it over. I once visited Shilong and saw ‘Indians by mistake’ written all over the walls. Not by mistake, my dear countrymen but by ‘destiny’. People seeking independence from India, fail to understand what they are trying to walk into. Will Pakistan and China let them remain independent? They will suck them like they did to Tibet and Occupied Kashmir which has now a seizabale Punjabi population. Indian system with all its drawbacks have been able to preserve the unique cultural identity of each state.

It’s going to be a busy day tomorrow, catching up with the Independence day parade on Doordarshan early morning. The tri-color being hosted in my balcony. A word to our Tibetian friends. Don’t loose hope. The mightiest too happens to bite the dust. This is the law of nature!

Cherish the Independence!

Monday Melody - Video shot in Kotgarh

NITYIN — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:29:22 +0000

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!

Piya Basanti re

Trip back home to Kotgarh

NITYIN — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:52:33 +0000

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

Kavyu, the daughter running around in the lawns with the gang.

The clapping sessions in full swing

The mountains..

The valley..

View

Satluj as seen from home

Another one

Apple tree

The crop is lighter this year

Last moment finishing touch to the apples

Chacha, posing for the camera

Back to Kavyu and her gang!

Let me go..

I said.. let me go you moron.. #$%!@&*#

I know.. dad is going back to Shimla..
(she gonna cry)

Here comes the tears..

..and she cried

One last look at the mountains..

and back on road!

Miss you baby…

and the home.