Enthralling Trails

  “Be the reason someone smiles. Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness in people.”― Roy T. Bennett It is often believed that Christmas vibes and feelings are triggered by Christmas love and evergreen trees. The Christmas lights, decor, and jingling bells create warmth on cold wintry mornings and a sense of joy among fellow humans. We have none of these in the building society we live in but we watch the Christmas splendour and feel it in the air when we walk into the market square. In our building society, plants are tended and watered regularly, and the building is swept and mopped frequently. I often wondered who sweeps the staircase. I leave home early and get back late in the afternoon. I am usually welcomed by a sense of stillness but a couple of months back I met a lady sweeping the stairs. She was young, clad in a sari and pretty looking. She carried a vibrant smile and was energetic. When asked who she was, she said she was ‘Prithuka’. A few days later

  “There is no teacher equal to mother and there’s nothing more contagious than the dignity of a father.”― Amit Ray Devlekhaa’s greetings appeared on my social media post. Many years ago, she was a student of mine. My inquiry revealed that she was doing well and pursuing her higher education abroad. She sounded strong and confident, just like her mother Iraavatii. My first words were, ‘Congratulations on doing well, all credit to your mother who helped you do well. She answered, Thank you ma’am, but we lost her last year during the Covid’ I was thrown back to Iraavatii’s serenity and acceptance of life, and I saw many more faces of the young students and their parents. I kept musing about life…so short yet so long… I have worked as a school teacher for many years. In every place that I worked, I found one thing that students did not appreciate much was the Parent Teacher Meeting (PTM). I do not remember my parents visiting my school, they had great trust in my teachers. Occasionally, t

  “The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.”― Lois Lowry After two years of the pandemic, the festivities in India began with greater fervour, almost as if people were making up for a lost time. It has been nothing different in Pune. The festival of Navratri is very special for an Indian. Every community has a different way of celebrating these nine days in the invocation of Goddess Durga but the most liked one is the Garba Dance. This is an Indian dance form that originated in Gujarat. Alagumuthu was past her seventies and had recently moved into the Vrindavan society. Though the name Alagumuthu meant precious gem, she was ordinary and had never found anything special about her. She was a tall strapping lady who sported saris with sports shoes. She would saunter at least thrice a day on the lookout for a smiling face to ease her loneliness. She lived alone but had many of the elderly ladies as her friends in the bui

  “India is not a nation, nor a country. It is a subcontinent of nationalities.”― Muhammad Ali Jinnah It’s seventy-five years since India’s independence. During this time, India has witnessed splendour, poverty, pandemics, epidemics, droughts, floods, wars, peace, joy, grief, and many more. A 139-crore Indians will raise the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav flag for three days this year to mark 75 years of independence. Every street, every road, every shop, every vehicle, every house, and every heart will unfurl the Indian flag and sing the national anthem with great pride for their motherland. It reminds me of the days when the recent pandemic brought us closer, we had lit lamps to show our fraternity and rang the bells at home in sovereignty, as loud as we could and prayed that COVID 19 would end. There is nothing that happens quickly. COVID 19 stayed with us for two whole years when it mutated and propagated. Patriotism has been a strong value for Indians. It symbolises equality, loyalty and

  “The entire life is an exam that never ends until the life itself ends.”― R.H Ork After two years of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the University decided to switch to offline examinations. The news wasn’t new to the students. Before the judgement was approved, there were many discussions, arguments, and concessions. The students kept asking for multiple-choice examinations as they had during the pandemic. They felt it wasn’t fair that a part of the session was completed online during January and February early this year for a short period when there was yet another lockdown due to the brief third wave of the Covid 19 pandemic. The faculty feared that the Pandemic and the digital world would arrest the students’ brains. The students had forgotten to think critically and write. They could type text messages quickly with emoticons and alphabets in the shortest possible form. Many of them didn’t know how to spell basic words as they were used to the cellphone autocorrect. None of the protests w

  The carefully swept muddy path leading to the ancestral home was dotted with a variety of birds. These birds flew around in a playful manner. Everything appeared just the same, except that no one stood out on the veranda to welcome us. My husband ran into the backyard and my son headed to my mother-in-law’s brother’s place through the hedges on the left. My mother-in-law’s brother had his daughter, grandsons and family living with him. I stood there all alone watching every detail of the vast greenery. My mother-in-law would always wait for us close to the short wall near the well. I always wondered what was the purpose of this tiny wall since it was barely a foot tall. ‘A tiny demarcation for plants’, she would say with a smile. My father-in-law used to walk to the main gate and beyond. She would always have plenty of work and would always welcome us with her hands full. I looked at the pond that was full now on the far end and the almond tree that had stood four feet high when I ma

  The day we reached Leh, Nono, our tour guide had asked for our identity proofs. He said he needed it to get an inner line permit. There are certain restricted places in Leh such as Kargil, Pangong, Nubra, Changla Pass, Khardung La pass and others which require an inner line permit due to security reasons. These Permits are issued by the Deputy Commissioner’s Office in Leh. Nono told us that he would take it for our visit to Pangong and Changla Pass The roads after the magnetic hills were wide and well laid. Niyas played Peppy Hindi songs to cheer us up. I was feeling much better as we went downhill. The roads were getting busier with tourists touring. We had also met a few ladies working for the taxi controllers. A young girl in trousers and a jacket ran towards our car waving her hand high up. Two more women stopped the cars. They said something musically in the local language. Niyas kept saying something that sounded as if he was trying to convince them regarding the permit issued

  The Leh Palace in the City of Leh is located on a hill. The roads in Leh grow narrower between the terrains. Parvez drove the car carefully and with great expertise. A lot of women drive their cars in Leh. This was surprising since there was barely enough room for a second car to move on these narrow roads. Parvez dropped us off a short distance from the Palace, where there were cars parked for almost a quarter km. As there was plenty of sand under our feet, we moved slowly. Occasionally, a bit of the soil blew off the mountains. As we reached closer to the palace, we were able to stand on a flat platform with protected grills to view the magnificence of the snow-peaked mountains far away and the partially crowded city close by. On the other side, there were just tall mountains. The palace did not seem palatial. It was nine stories tall, but the height of each floor seemed low. The entrance had motifs just above the main doors that were swung open. People said that the view above was

  Taking a vacation to Leh town situated in the Ladakh province was a last-minute decision. It was only a brief visit and we did not have time to read about it. The city of Leh is the capital and the largest union territory in the province situated 3500 metres above sea level. It was a major halt on trade routes along the Indus Valley between Tibet and Kashmir. With its huge mountains and coloured crystals under the clear sky, it is known for its beauty. Its lakes and rivers have crystal blue water that changes its tone according to the changing light. We landed between the snow-capped mountains on our connecting flight from Delhi. It was announced that we weren’t supposed to click any photographs as it was a defence airport. People hurried out of the aircraft, a few of them had quickly grabbed their netted hoods, beanie and jackets. While Delhi was burning hot with the advent of summer, this place had cool winds blowing and was chilly. We enjoyed looking at the mountains and the initi

  “Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.”― Steve Maraboli After two years of pandemics and virtual encounters, it was a regular technical event. People were cautious, they had their masks on and the sanitisers were available at regular halts. The event began with 500 people socially distanced inside an air-conditioned hall. Our guests of honour are usually people from the industry, but today we saw a young officer in Khaki. He appeared energetic and represented the Maharashtra Police. In the program’s course, the young officer was invited to the stage to speak a few words about the occasion. He began by saying, ‘When I was invited to this event to address you all, I asked your Principal, Sir, what would you like me to speak about since I am not associated with Engineering?’ He said, ‘Motivate the students towards doing their best in life’ I felt that to inspire and persuade another person, it was best to speak in their native language. There was

  Go higher and higher, until it becomes impossible to bring you down― Michael Bassey Johnson As the daily news rolled in, I recognized beautiful flying kites, some godly, some beastly, but all filled with life, and it slid me back into my childhood days. It also brought back memories of my golden yellow kite. Those were the good old days when technology hadn’t made an impact. In fact, television was rare then. It was an era when e-commerce didn’t exist, and one had to walk to the market for small and less important items as well. In one such walk with my mother, I stood admiring the bundled flying kites spread out on a white canvas. Although my mother tried to usher me, my attention was drawn to the tiny square kites. The kites were tiny, but I was not older than seven years old. The first kite was white with a blue tail…and the next one was pink…and the third one was golden yellow with a short blue tail. It is unclear when kites were invented. In 200 BC, Chinese General Han Hsin of t