Tarn Taran...For Real

The Darbar Sahib, the gurudwara at Tarn Taran was actually as beautiful, as peaceful...actually no, more serene, more peaceful, more beautiful even, than the golden temple. 

It was spell binding. Entering the space felt like being held...like being engulfed by this feeling of expanse and serenity. It mesmerized I believe.

The path leading upto the Gurudwara. You don't see the sarovar until you walk through that gate ahead.

The sarovar is enclosed on all sides by what they call the parikrama, the meditation chambers.

Entrance, you walk through  this water pool. Water's nice and warm, which feels heavenly in that cold.

Mom, not withstanding her bad knee, took this huge massive step to get a touch of the water. And I was simply shocked at how, until I figured how the space had taken over. It just inspires.

The old gate

Me. Background, all those arches, they are the meditation spaces.

The meditation spaces run all around this massive sarovar

The main Gurudwara building

I thought that made an interesting picture. Mom was totally oblivious to this group walking behind. Interestingly, most of them had not just the little kirpans, but the big ones the swords. No connection, but just saying.

Outside the temple. That's phulkari work, the Punjabi handwork on textiles.

The sarson ( don't know what the singlular is) plants being transported. He made such a sweet picture

Way back I asked Savinder if we could stop for chai, and he said 'Langar ka chai peethe hain', and he took us to this small gurudwara where there's langar tea all the time. It's served in these shallow bowls.

(courtesy Google Picture)

Savinder said "हम्हारे पंजाब में, जो भी हो या न हो , कोई एक आदमी भी भूखा पेट नहीं सोता है ! हर जगह गुरुद्वारा होता है और खाना ज़रूर मिलता है !"   (In our Punjab, whatever else true or not, one thing is, no one person ever goes to bed hungry, there is always a gurudwara nearby that provides food)

I thought that was really powerful, and something to be rightfully proud off. You could hear it in his voice.

Thanks again to Savinder.....he changed the texture of our visit.

Lost in Time - Namita Gokhale

A fascinating and wonderful read.

Made me feel like I was listening to a magical story.....on a rainy day, warm blanket, steaming cup of coffee, when anything can seem true. Couldn't help but pause to wonder at her wonderful style of writing,  the humor, the wildly imaginative mind, and the depth and profundity of story.

Lost in Time - Ghatotkacha and the Game of Illusions by Namita Gokhale.

A story on time travel, and a strange and intense friendship between a fourteen year old boy from Gurgaon, and Ghatotkacha, the first born son of the Pandavas.

Young Chintamani Dev Gupta, sent on on a bird watching camp at Lake Sat Tal, finds himself transported through a time portal to the times of the Mahabharata during the Dwapara Yuga, and meets Gatotkacha and his mother Hidimba, and an amazing friendship grows between him and Ghatotkacha. One that seems to be able to segue across any kind of difference.

"I am the rakshasa Ghatotkacha, born of the lord Bhimasena and the lady Hidimba. I rule over the hills and vale, jungle and stream, to protect the spirit of the forest and all who live in it"

Ghatotkacha  introduces himself, and the gentle giant, using a mastery of illusions and  rakshasa technology imparts some very simple and beautiful lessons, on love and the elemental forces of nature. And intertwined is Chintu's love for Ghatotkacha, the fascination for his time travel experience...... interrupted by cravings for Pizza and yearning for football. Wonderful stuff.

Was an absolute  joy to read !

Tarn Taran

What a lovely name for a town.

Yet another totally chance finding. Second day of trip, we've done Sadda Pind in the morning, a second visit to the Golden temple in the evening, dinner in a simple daaba, and back home fully satiated. We have nothing much planned for the next day, and our flights only in the evening.

We'd decided we'll just stay home and read. Thanks to long flights, we were well set on books :)

Night, all set to sleep, mom picks up this little book on Punjab that's sitting on the bedside shelf, and says "Smitha, take a look na, there's some interesting stuff in it about Amritsar"

I browse a while..... and this name Tarn Taran, I just kept rolling it around on my tongue for a while, and it rolls so beautifully. In a while I'm like "what a find ma, this looks doable, an hour from here, there's an interesting sounding place, 'tarn taran', want to go?".

She's like 'what's in it?'

"Not too sure ma, sounds like another Gurudwara...but actually chumma only, we'll go?"

She was fully game, I so love that about her. Her ability to go along with vagueness and spontaneity. (likely that gene is from her :)

First thing in the morning is a frantic call to Savinder.

He's like "abhi aana hai?......tarn taran? haan jaantha hoon........wahan jaana hai? ......kyon?"

"bas, aise hi.....jaa sakthe hain?"

He was here within half hour, and we were on our way. Through a beautifully foggy morning, going through country side Punjab, across these exquisitely beautiful yellow sprayed fields, 'sarson da keth'.

Mom daring the cold to get off the car for that nicer picture, or maybe just to experience the space. At that point I generously asked her "want to go sit in the front ma?". "No, I'm fine". Then the hesitant, "I'll go?". And she's like "antha daddy laaga ne nuvvu". 

And you realize that when with parents, you will never fully move away from being a child. You can resist it or flow with it. Well, I moved to the front, chose to smile and flow with it :)

When we kept seeing signboards that read 'batinda' it was sounding familiar, and then it struck. Jab we Met, this lovely road trip movie, and it somehow felt like we were on the right road too :)

A drive like this, countryside Punjab, and we were like, even if there's nothing in Tarn Taran, we're good.

I love the fog filled pictures of this post.......will do actual Tarn Taran in the next :)

Amritsar again....Sadda Pind

I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said our visit to Amritsar panned out the way it did, from one totally chance (?) occurrence.

The chance occurrence came in the form of Savinder Singh, our cab driver who took us from the airport to our home stay. Starting from that one off space, he became an integral part of the entire visit, starting each morning with a sweet 'sääse kaal'

On the way from the airport, he said "take my number, just in case you'll need a cab". Guess I was too busy gazing at the sights of Amritsar, I smiled and ignored. After a while...  again and in a more insistent tone "number likhlijiye madam" (write it down madam)".  I did, just so he wouldn't interrupt again.

And that became our core connect.

The home stay we'd picked, while huge, and beautiful, and comfortable, was a good distance from the city. Evening when we decided we'd step out, we could get neither an Ola nor any other cab.

We called Savinder.

He not only took us around each day after that, but even became our source of information. It was he who told us about 'Sadda Pind' ( Our Village), a visit that gave us a lovely traditional and cultural Punjabi experience.

It's a place they've created for a true Punjabi experience, starting right from 'Makki di roti aur Sarson ka saag'

See it in pictures: The entrance

Pretty much the first thing you get is 'garma garam sarson di saag and makki di roti', simply yummmmm. It's made right there, and on firewood.

That's us enjoying the 'makki di roti and sarson da saag'. When we did our cross country drive and passed the 'sarson da keth' when mom asked Savinder how come there's so little leaves, is when he explained how the saag is made not from the leaves, but from the stalk. So interesting.

Balwinder Singh, he was so statuesque and dignified, for a moment we thought he was a statue. Mom had a nice chat with him. She has a soft corner for Punjabi's :)

There's lots of these real looking statues from rural life around

Mom so loves peacocks, so this one was for her.

I tried my hand at the chakkipees, only because mom said they would do it regularly during their childhood. Plus it also gave me a chance to have a chat with Honey

Just couldn't resist the picture. Took it at the cost of blatantly embarrassing them :)

He was explaining how this fan runs on kerosene oil. It's kind of all from the 1800's.

A statue that was so beautiful, that it had me transfixed for a bit there

Preeti, she was manning the music room which had several musical instruments I'd never seen before. 

When I pointed to one, she picked it up and played it, so rustic and lovely. When asked if she herself could play, she said she's a BA in music. And i was like "gaathe bhi ho?". And she's like "haan madam, sunoge?".

We were like "zaroor" (ofcourse). She said "hindi ya punjabi?". And then she sang, in this clear loud husky deep voice, that seemed to reverberate through the room and beyond. 

She even explained it, a song about a mother weaving a shawl for her daughter who is married and gone, and through each weave telling her how much she missed her. 

Was touching and beautiful.

He was doing a shawl on handloom, and insisted that mom model it for him

This was so quaint. Thukkudu billa we used to call it back in the day. I have played it for hours and hours during school days.

I was in a reckless enough mood to get my palm read :)

My lunch plate....an authentic punjabi meal, with dahi wada and kadi, and dal makhni, and moong da halwa. My mouths watering just thinking about it.

Mom enjoying the swing after lunch

That's how we saw most of Sadda Pind, else we couldn't have spent four hours there. So glad for their having a wheel chair, their hospitality and respect for elders is exemplary. Also equally glad for mom so sportingly and willingly doing the wheel chair. Proud of you ma.

Sadda Pind was a simply beautiful experience.

A Beautiful Memory (ies)

असतोमा सद्गमय ।

तमसोमा ज्योतिर् गमय ।

मृत्योर्मामृतं गमय ॥

ॐ शान्ति शान्ति शान्तिः ।।

I chanced upon this mantra this morning when online.  I felt as though something in me was auto attracted to it, refusing to move further....I could actually feel the tug, like a magnet whose pull cannot be resisted by those iron filings.

I read. And I found it was going into natural rhythm, into tune. And then I realized this was from my very first job, way back in 1987 (sounds ancient huh). I was teaching at this Indo German project, where we were integrating marginally handicapped children with the normal stream, using the Montessori method of education. We would recite this twice each day, everyday for two years.

It had become a cellular memory.

We had about twenty little children in the class from the surrounding underprivileged section of society. And today this brought back the times, the children.....Mamata, Satish, Jyoti, Navin, Rebecca, Vani, Ashwin, many of whose homes were also familiar places. 

asato mā sadgamaya

(from ignorance, lead me to truth)

tamasomā jyotir gamaya

(from darkness, lead me to light)

mrityormāamritam gamaya

(from death, lead me to immortality)

Oṁ śhānti śhānti śhāntiḥ

It's a hymn from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. What a beautiful hymn. And I think this is where some dots connect.(in hindsight)

When doing my masters in Philosophy, I was fascinated by the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. So much so, that I enrolled for private Sanskrit classes, just to be able to read this one tome. I still have the copy, a huge massive piece.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, and the Bhaja Govindam. That's another which fascinated. College days, I've spent hours and hours on my terrace learning the Bhaja Govindam, reading, singing, feeling. In fact went to Khaladi in Kerala just to visit the birth place of the genius who created the Bhaja Govindam, Sankaracharya. (words which come to mind are crazy, nuts, passionate, mad...an indulgence the age allowed into 'normal')

And now ( more dots connect) the novel I'm currently reading "The Vine of Desire' by a favorite author, Chitra Banarjee Divakaruni, starts with lines from the Bhaja Govindam

Again the day, again the night

Dawn and dusk, winter, spring

In the play of time, life ebbs away

Only desire remains

Again birth, again death

Again the dark journey through the womb

In this world of changes, nothing holds fast

Except the coiled vine of desire

Bhaja Govindam, Sri Sankaracharya (AD 788 - 820)

Memories so dear and so deep, and so beautiful, that they made their way here.

Amritsar...finally !

The 'finally' is because this is a trip that's been three years in the making.

Mom's been wanting to visit, and the obstacles kept coming up each time we planned, in fact right up until the day before our trip.

Well meaning people said it's crazy cold at 5 degrees. Scared us for sure, I for one can't handle cold. Then she read that it was an anniversary celebration day, so the crowd wasn't going to be easy. Should we be rethinking?

Final straw was, couple weeks before we were to go she developed a bad knee pain.

Two days before she said "I will likely need a wheel chair everywhere possible". That hit me bad as I wondered how much pain she was in, to be willingly saying that. The question had to be asked. 'Should we cancel ma?'

And then I saw what sheer will power can do.

We went. Just the two of us. And what a wonderful trip it was.

We'd both decided that we didn't want the regular touristy circuit. We decided to do the Golden Temple. No Wagah border, and no Jallianwala Bagh. A conscious choice, and I was happy with the clarity, and how well we aligned in our thoughts.

Also exactly how she wanted it. She said "let's not do a hotel, get a 'home stay'. While I was initially apprehensive, I logged into air b&b. We got in touch with Hargun, and we stayed with a Sikh family, with Romy didi, an absolutely delightful and lovely hostess. It so definitely added a warm and authentic Punjabi feel to the visit, including yummy masala parathas straight off the tavva, for breakfast :)

We visited the Golden Temple not once, or twice, but thrice !! And we did a lot more......

The Harmandir Sahib experience in pictures:

As you enter the temple area, you walk in to this square of beautifully architectured buildings and imposing and pretty statues, that are quintessential Punjab

Mom, as we walked in

Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Statue, and there's a little me at the base

Bhangra in stone...so beautiful

A cute little paapad shop. What's well known, and to bring back, is the paapads from Amritsar. 'Paapad wadiyan', there's stores and stores selling different kinds of paapads. And we brought back some lovely chikki too.

As we were walking, there was this sudden moment, like someone said 'statue' from that childhood game. Out of nowhere came this spellbinding display of firecrackers, and everyone stopped to stare. It was an anniversary special.

Mom on that bench, watching :)

And then the breathtaking sight of the Harmandir Sahib. A moment to stand and stare.

Covering your head is mandatory in the entire temple precincts

All around the Sarovar (the lake surrounding the temple), are people lighting candles. It's so beautiful that the lights from the temple, around the temple, the candles, they all seem to seep through your body, and enable this one overwhelming feeling of oneness and connect.

Next morning....the temple ....epitomizing peace, tranquility and serenity

You can't come away from there untouched. And interestingly enough, there's no idol, in a sense no God. The sanctum sanctorium holds the 'Guru Granth Sahib' the sacred scripture of the Sikhs.

Sikhism talks of God as 'Ik Onkar',  the one all pervading spirit...prayer is spiritual meditation, a connect into oneself and the all pervasive oneness. So beautiful.

Sunrise.... at 35000 ft

A sunrise from a flight.

The happy part of an early morning flight. This was a 5.20 am flight back from Calcutta, and I was luckily seated at a window on the left of the plane. 

Why lucky?

Well, we were flying south west, (Calcutta to Hyd) so window facing east....at 5.30 am, allows for some spectacular views of dawn, a vantage not often accessible. 

The horizon as it started to change colour

Reflection of the colour onto the thick cloud layer over which we were flying.... which until moments ago was totally not visible

The sun peeping just over horizon

This was a time when I wished I had a better camera....this moment had more feel than look

The sun up !

I definitely have a special corner for sunrises, so catching one from 35000 feet was special.

And what better day to put this up than on New Years Eve. A Very Very Happy and Fulfilling New Year to You!!