Interpreter of Maladies
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
The TAJ- as we saw it
The temperature was close to 40 and we were walking on hot marble. Torture, it might seem to be-but then, we were walking on the marble platform on which one of the seven wonders of the world rests-TAJ.
I have been to the TAJ when I was a kid; around 12 years back and this trip was accidentally planned because someone from the US office was visiting India and wanted me to accompany her to what most foreigners come to India to see-TAJ. I am not very much into sighseeing but TAJ has its own temptations that you cannot ignore. Maybe it comes from the fact that TAJ is the ultimate in grandness and makes one appear so diminutive that you begin to understand what humbleness is. Or the fact, that even if you have a heart of stone, it requires real guts to be able to ignore TAJ's power of love. The simple fact that TAJ is erected on the foundations of love, makes it so noble and complete. One could laugh away the story that a king built TAJ for the love of his wife but the truth is-TAJ reflects that love, even if you dont trust the story.
AGRA is still the same. Polluted, mismanaged, living on the leftovers that tourists coming to see TAJ leave behind, but pass AGRA, and you would see ruins scattered around the city; people basking in the aroma of the Mughal empire that is no more; a city that lives enveloped in the cocoon of time. TAJ arches over the city as the common theme that justifies the overwhelming nostalgia. The YAMUNA is no more; it dies ages back I guess. The Mathura refinery is threatening to break the borders and enter Agra; its smokes have already petrfied the TAJ; it has paled in complexion. But, still, AGRA, a li'l like LUCKNOW, has its own identity. Something, one might see missing in places like Bombay and Kanpur which are thronged with new structures and the city has come out of its past to accept the present. AGRA in contrast, lives and flourishes in its ancient past.
TAJ-I dont know how many visitors visit it every day but there are people, people and even more people in and around the TAJ courtyard. Some reason why Mayawati wanted the TAJ corridor to happen !!! The foreigners are numerous; clicking pictures, marvelling at the beautiful carvings of the masterpiece and wishing that their forefathers would have erected something similar back in their homelands. There is a big beehive of vendors, and the hive breaks open the time they see white skin around. They would charge 3 times the actual price for a set of pedestrian TAJ postcards and for trinkets that otherwise sell for pennies on the road. The police is inefficient and is more than happy to let TAJ manage its security by itself. There are signs not to click snaps inside the tomb or near the lake but nobody listens and nobody objects.
I wish TAJ improves, at least if there are so many people voting for it to get included in the seven wonders; I hope they also come forward to do something about the way it is managed. As I sign off, here's a snap of the massoleum. Adieu, TAJ !!
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Solitude-meanings and implicationsI discussed this yesterday and since this whole topic is so thought provoking, I thought of blogging it. Solitude, is it a matter of choice or are people actually born with it. My best friend is a real loner. Given a choice, he will never talk to a human being. He infact hates most of the people on the face of the earth. On the other hand, I know of people who just can't visualize life without a "gang"or "group". Is it a weakness to be too social ? Do you actually become dependent on other people for fun and happiness? A context to this, is something that I thought of yesterday but couldn't put in perspective. If being social and extrovert is a weakness then love should be an even higher form of weakness. Because, in the depths of love, your happiness and pains become dependent on a sole entity. Isn't that weakness too? I agree, love makes you dependent but love also enriches your soul, teaches you to rise over and above individual fancies and look at a larger goal. Similary, when you have friends around you, you also learn to live with the shortcomings in personalities and look over and above that, at the larger picture, the positives in a person. Not that being a loner is a bad idea but solitude promotes selfishness. When you are the master of your life and there is no involvement of any other factor in your life matrix, then you are bound to swing things your way. You apparently become selfish.
The other side of the story is solitude also promotes creativity. Big writers, achievers and successful men have come so far owing primarily to the fact that they looked far ahead of the average life. In a group, more or less, you become one amongst the herd, an average person but uniqueness and therefore greatness, comes only through a silent, solitary and lone effort. These are my thoughts, what does everyone else say about this?
Monday, March 14, 2005
Would friends stay close with the passage of time ?I was on the phone with my best buddy around an hour back. We were trying to chalk out plans of a get together in Lucknow this weekend. The plan was-we would travel all the way from Delhi to Lucknow-meet up, talk, roam and then leave for delhi on the next night. I want to meet everyone. After all its been only one and a half years since I left college, and friends and fun still accounts for a substantial part of the happiness quotient. Though, this trip is tough to manage because of work back in the office and due to the preparations that I have to do for my forthcoming US trip. Icing on the cake is the fact that I have to anyways travel home the weekend after that and too much travel is bad for a non-adaptable me. But, still I wanna meet everyone and feel safe in the haven called nostalgia.
When I disconnected the line, a colleague looked up and asked me where was I planning to go. I told him, with enough excitement in my voice that me and my friends are meeting up this weekend and possibly this would be lots of fun. He looked puzzled as to why would I waste so much time even thinking of the possibility of going so far just to meet up with few "friends". I could well understand that college is a blurred stroke of memory for him and "friends" have gone far apart over time. He told me that since I am just a kid, recently out of college, it would take some time before I develop the surprise element on thoughts of meeting up friends. He is partially true. I have seen people drifting apart, failing to keep in touch and simply getting too caught up in their personal life. There are always strings which pull you back. Your parents or bf or gf would always want you with them, when you move out of college as you are now supposed to grow up and understand your commitments much more. But what about friends and the certain carefreeness which comes only with the nights spend talking with them. I sometimes wonder would my friends also drift apart with the passage of time ?
Would there come a day when I would just have my cosy family circle but no one on the outskirts, harking back to the old times, those lovely days ? I am too young to visualize that and I fear the day it would actually happen. Till the time, I wanna be with friends and just live my life the way I want to. If tomorrow I forget my words and forget friends, there should be some way to set a reminder which would just touch my shoulder and tell me that friends are important in life.
If I talk about friendships that last for a lifetime then I would think of her. She has been with me no matter what has happened for the last 14 years. She has been my friend, guide, counsellor and confidant at every step. Now, when I am busy in my professional life and cant give enough time to my family, she still makes it a point to visit my mom every evening and talk to her so that she doesn't miss me. We have seen enough happening with each other. Heartbreaks, maturity, new life and deaths...so much and yet we grow fonder of each other everyday. I wonder if there would be a day when she would lose meaning for me. I hope not. I just wish that never happens. And I should tell my colleague, that friends don't drift apart universally with time. It's you own decision to shut off your eyes, so that you don't acknowledge them.