How Far I'll Go

Diksha and I had one of our wonderful early morning in the balcony, chatting up.....part deep conversations.....part playing songs 

A song from this morning that we both just love:

An awesome awesome visit !

This was a visit to the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project.

The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project is a complex system of barrages, pump-houses, tunnels and canals, to move water over some very difficult terrain......going against gravity, and that's why called 'lift' irrigation. It's on the river Godavari. It's so massive and so complex that I doubt I could do justice even writing as much as I understood.

It's expected to change the landscape of a significant portion of Telangana, infact they said it would impact 40% of the state, that's how massive it is.

What's wonderful is that it's at final stage of completion, with the commitment and excitement palpable among all those associated, right from the Chief Engineers to the Supervisors, the workmen and even the guys who drove us around. They all seem to know they are part of something historical and huge.

While this would be an awe inspiring visit to anyone, to Praveen and me it added that facet of nostalgia, as we'd pretty much grown up on the Srisailam project when under construction. While in one of the tunnels, the engineer was telling me "there's too much mud and dust, we should move quick, it'll make breathing difficult" and I was like "what, no...this feels and smells wonderful, like .,,.like...." and then I realized it smelt like childhood excitement :)

The location we went to was an hour beyond Karimnagar, making it a five hour drive, and we decided to do a day trip.....a 6 am to 10 pm day.....and one that will stay forever.

Rest in pictures:

The scene from the project site office

Shifting from our cars to theirs. Mr Sridhar and Mr Narsimha Rao , Chief Engineers on the project who accompanied us and patiently and proudly explained the spectrum of operations.

They started with this line drawing which gave us an overall perspective..... and told us that we would be seeing one or if interested two of the several phases of the project ( we did both), each a complete section of water inflow, pumphouse lifting and water outflow

An open canal, which leads into two massive tunnels, inside of which are pump houses with massive generators ( the worlds largest to date) and gets lifted over several levels to be let out at a level higher than what the river naturally flows at ...........the essence of lift irrigation

The inflow channels

The lot of us standing on the barrage, other end of the canal are two tunnels through which the water will flow 

The vehicles that rough it out in that dry, dusty and difficult terrain

The tunnels of another phase

Inside the tunnels...which we can drive through now as the waters not yet been let in. It actually feels like out of a horror movie.......there's places with no light where we asked for the car lights to be switched off and it's a dark that one doesn't see otherwise

Parts of the tunnel where the inflow of water happens

An eerie picture in just car lights

Going to the pumphouse

The pump house with work in full swing...all of this is deep within the mountains

Some stuff being explained

Inside the pump house

The generator itself

The foundation for the generator before it's fit in

This is actually inside the generator space

One of the phases where it's all ready to go

A group pic inside the pump house

On a canal weir

Dusk along  a canal

Back to our own cars, and ready to head back

Everything there is so larger than life, it seems to redefine scale at the physical level.....and that's why it's visually so awe inspiring. So much so, and seeing it's potential impact actually influenced my vote in the recent polls.

Many many thanks to Sridhar and Narsimha Rao for enabling this once in a life time experience.

Summer - And How It Feels

I remember back in the day, during summer, the first thing I'd note when the newspaper came in was the temperature.  Knowing what the previous days temperature was and aligning what I'd felt about it was a matter of great satisfaction......god knows why, but it was.

Today current, live temperature readings are available at a click of the phone, and I still do it every once in a while. 

What caught my attention was this: it showed 'temperature 40° C' and then also said 'real feel 45° C' 

(screen shot from this morning so it's 26 and 27 :)

I've since been using this as metaphor.

About how 40 is fact....non changeable. And whether we want to make it feel like a 35° or a 45° is really us. Taken as metaphor into other situations, 35° would trend towards avoidance and 45° would be magnification.

Question then becomes, what do we avoid and what do we magnify? 

Are we magnifying our joys or are we magnifying our issues? What are we playing down? Which part of that scale are we on, and where would we like to be. 

It's an interesting thing to become aware of, and can be a powerful tool of self awareness, if used. 

Where this becomes even more pertinent...... is to be aware of our cut off points. Are they real, or are they in stretched zone. To extend the metaphor here, I know that my cut off with temperature is around 42°. Each degree above that I actually start to get a little cranky.....can't focus....anxious.....irritable...all of that. 

So, at such times to stay with 'real' and not get into 'real feel' becomes even more critical.

Trust me, this awareness has helped me get out into the heat at 40 (real feel 45) and get a lot of work accomplished, which otherwise I'd have stayed away from. What's more.... it's even enabling me to make a trip to Goa next week, summer notwithstanding.:)

Back !!

What a feeling......

one that just gurgles and bubbles as it flows through you.

You know that emotion that washes over you when you step into home after a long time away.....or you go searching and step into your childhood home in a village from years bygone ......or you touch that tree that you planted as a sapling years ago.........you know the feeling right?

It's that feeling of being fully connected....not just with yourself, but with just about everything

I know this sounds exaggerated.....but if you allow yourself those feelings, they are the ones 'to die for'....or rather 'to live for' :)

Well, what was meant to be one line became many.....

Ever since I started to blog, which was about four plus years, I've never been away this long. What propelled me back are two links which Girija sent me this morning. 

http://thepunekar.com/2019/01/have-you-checked-out-these-old-book-stores-in-pune/

https://homegrown.co.in/article/801084/bangalore-bibliophiles-here-are-6-bookstores-you-can-hide-out-at

they are both about book shops.... one in Pune and one in Bangalore..... years apart.......both feature pictures from this blog and what's wonderful is that they gave credit too..... and it was just so thrilling to see. The small big joys of life.

Girija, thanks.......

for having found them when you did .....I'll never cease to be amazed at how you chance upon these

for having sent them to me .....it made for a wonderful morning and more

for having enabled this reconnect........can't tell you how much it means to me

My best woman's day message....

Receiving this inspired me to actually put it here....especially so because it came with a personalized "you are already that"

Monica, thanks pal......so touched. Also loved the art work. Rest of thanks through what's app :)

Mount Abu - Street Side Shopping

While I pretty much detest shopping.......street side shopping, especially in Rajasthan......that's a whole different story.  

The ethnicity, the colour, the baandini sarees, the junk jewellery........all my kind of stuff. Even my mom's patient, yet consistent looks of disapproval didn't deter me :)

To share that experience:

Baandini sarees, one of my favourites.....

What a riot of colour.....you can barely see the shop keeper amidst all those pretty bags

I got my silver stuff here....deepak in full pose after a good sale

Mom waiting....she'd find some place to sit and patiently wait :)

Some interesting moments after and inbetween the shopping. This was one curious langoor exploring the trash can....looked almost like he's reading the label

Had to catch that dog on the cart

Our pit stop....garam garam chai

A cute kid sitting there as I drank my chai. It was also this moment when Diksha called to say "ma, I got into Deakin !!!!! ". It's not often that I hear that level of excitement in her voice...making it a moment to be captured :)

Mastaan singh who was happy to pose for me in full style

The rock formations there are so intriguing

Mom waiting again :)

Stuff I bought. Diksha's like, "don't they mostly look the same ma?" :)

Mom actually discovered a 'jain saatvic bhojanalaya' for our lunch....was an interesting eating experience

That was a satiating morning in all senses !

Dilwara Temples

Breathtaking.............. Awe inspiring.............Amazing

These temples inspire all these feelings at a whole different level. Even the recall is giving me goosebumps.

It's the architecture. It's so intricate and exquisite........that it's no longer just visual, you kind of feel something of it in your bones. You feel in the presence of god, of where man has achieved something of such immense art and beauty that you can but stand and gape in awe and respect.

The Dilwara temples built on Mount Abu, the only hill station in Rajasthan, is actually five temples built between the 10th and 12th centuries. They are dedicated to five of the thirthankaras of Jainism. 

While now the town of Mount Abu has grown around the temple, it is said that when it was built and until quite recently too, the temples were the only structures atop the mountain and surrounded by thick forest. Can only imagine how that would have felt or looked like.

We're not allowed cameras into the precincts( and this is one place I could totally understand why), so the pictures here are all courtesy Google. 

The pictures only give an idea of the place. For the feeling, I'd say it's a once in lifetime must visit.