Bye Mumbai

Sleep clung on to my body like the remnants of a freshly baked cake stick to the pan on which they were put to the oven. I got up and walked around my square room looking for my slippers and some inspiration. Found only the former. If this is what life is supposed to mean, then i prefer not to listen.

I am more restless in this kind of inaction and stagnation that in action. In intense activity my restless energy finds a temporary vent or outlet. Mumbai, and my stay there made me feel that each day repeats itself in a ruthless routine. There are so many things to do just to get through your routine but you have not done or been through anything. I did not mind the pace of the city, but the lack of a life within the so called 'life'.

I became almost sacarstic of Mumbai and the joys and pains of people. Much had to do with not-so-brightest people, who shared the flat with me. I wasn't travelling to work everyday, living in Shivaji Park and working there as well. The food was good, available and hot. The flat was small even by Mumbai standards and the bathroom only large enough to allow me to strech one of my hands at one time!

I felt limited, in many ways, by the city. The city had nothing to offer me that would exite me. This had happened to me in many cities. Bangalore in 15 days, Calcutta in 1 year, Lucknow in 8 months and now this - the Maximum city!
Time to move. Something told me I had to leave. I did not have a job in Delhi, not many relatives, few friends and a vague familiarity with the city.
But I knew, I had to go to Delhi and say Bye to Mumbai.

----
June 2006
was written in Mumbai, completed in Bhubaneswar, after I have completed 2 and half years of stay in Delhi.

Udjayega Hans Akela

Ud Jayega Huns Akela,
Jug Darshan Ka Mela
Jaise Paat Gire Taruvar Se,
Milna Bahut Duhela
Naa Jane Kidhar Girega,
Lageya Pawan Ka Rela
Jub Howe Umur Puri,
Jab Chute Ga Hukum Huzuri
Jum Ke Doot Bade Mazboot,
Jum Se Pada Jhamela
Das Kabir Har Ke Gun Gawe,
Wah Har Ko Paran Pawe
Guru Ki Karni Guru Jayega,
Chele Ki Karni Chela


I am not very sure if there is a name for it - Learning through opposites. Like you learn about an Axiom /Thory in Mathematics by proving that the opposite is true. You learn about love through hatred, about friendship via treachery, about kindness through exploitation/harshness. Sufis and Kabir in particular, when they talk about Death they actually want to tell us about Life !
Death has been such an important concept, so many verses have been written about it. The reasons could be many - not many people get to do anything with it during their lifetimes, it is the final stop, a destination from where there is no apparent return (we can talk about rebirth later) but nothing more apt than the fact that we learn more about Life and Art of Living for that matter by knowing more about Death.
Death has been compared to a great escape, a grand reunion or end of a play/drama.
Our western friends call it 'giving up the ghost' where as much of Sanatana philosophy would say 'gave up his body' or 'kicked his frame' or 'change of clothes' !!

Kabir has his own way of comparing our souls to a Swan (Hans) which has been caged in our bodies and shall be free after Death.

The Swan will fly away,
Fly away alone to the blue skies.
Far from the fair of this world,
Which has entangled it for long in ties.

None can tell where shall it go,
Like dry leaves fallen from trees.
Driven by the gusts of wind,
Sans intention and direction which flies.

When the time of play is over,
No more ordering and being ordered around.
None to call the shots-
World, senses, mind or intellect profound.

The messengers of Yama (Lord of Death) are strong,
Never miss their target at all.
Is this life not a waiting,
A vain waiting for Yama's call?

Kabir is the slave of the Lord,
And sings the tales of His nature.
His name, shall get him(Kabir) to His door
That Kabir is sure.

Remember,it is a one way ticket for one,
The teacher shall go as per his action,
The student shall go as per his own.

NANOH!

I am bit by the Sustainable Development bug as you would have guessed from my last post. After, much reluctance and 10-15 min of wait later at 10 in the night at Delhi's Lodhi Gardens, I took an autorickshaw back to my guesthouse. (I would have liked a DTC killer Blueline Bus, even though they are infrequent, shoddy, drivers and ticket wallahs rude and the buses have a murderer's reputation to live up to)

I looked at a biker rider, nay riders and looked on further. Wait! Something unsual here. I looked again. There were five on them on the bike (a Hero Honda Splendour).
1. The smallest kid - a two year old sweetheart }- The tank
2. The father }- Seat
3. The eldest sister }- Seat
4. The mother }- Seat
5. The brother - a five year old }- the small iron rods that protude after the seat ends - generally used to hang up polythene, bags etc.

My face must have been distorted (more that what it already is) at the sight of five people on one bike and that too without helments for any of the riders other than the driver.

The kid who was at the last part of the bike clutching the rod looked sideways at me. My expressions did not change, he would have been scared. He looked ahead.
The kid looked back again (very natural) and smiled.
I have no idea whether the kid could read my mind full of safe driving, sustainable transport, family planning, city life and other bull shit.

I was reminded of a woman I say crying inconsolably inside a big black BMW, her face red, eyes swollen and hair dishevelled. Contrast.

My thoughts moved to Nano. I had heard and spoken a lot about how it is going to transform the scene on the roads, pollution levels, traffic jams etc etc. I had even stepped inside one at a showroom here.

I forgot all that in an instant and was reminded of the vision Ratan Tata talked about when he launched the car a few months back. This kid would be certainly happier and much much more safer to sit inside one.

I caught him again looking at me. I put out my arms tightened my fist, urging him to hold tight. He gave me a broader smile as his father sped away.

smarter planet

i am writing this with my skin burning - heat trapped under and over, millions of sweat-drops over my forehead, sipping a glass of water at room temperature (i.e. 40 deg. celcius, you can still call it room temperature!) and a distraught pair of hands typing at a insanely familiar keyboard.
No, it not just the month of June, it not just Delhi, it is not just the pollution, it is not just my bodily water cycle in hyper-active mode, it is not dehydration, it not just the Sun, it is all these in parts and a very small insignificant unsuspecting thing - a shower at 8.45 PM. I can read the 'Hmmph' on your face. Let me explain.

It is not uncommon to feel your skin burning, to have sweat oozing out of pores and your body and clothes heated up after exposure to sun in the month of June in Delhi. But, to have the feeling after your body have cooled down a bit because of a jog and subsequent perspiration after which you have take a shower is trival at the least and of personal interest at the most. The issue lies in between. It is 'WHY' and 'WHY NOT'.
If you feel like throwing something at me. Find it!

why?: It is perfectly normal and banal to have water pipes heated up during the day due to the Sun in the summers. It is a natural that when one wants to take a shower in the evening the pipes would not have cooled enough and for the first 5-10 minutes (okay so what if it is 30!) one would have hot (okay boiling!) water coming out. You be patient, read the newspaper, try a facepack, update your tweeter and come back ! Simple! Don't start writing a post on it man!

WHY?:The amount of water that I drained off for 30 min, could have allowed so many girls in Rajasthan and the outskirts/slums of Delhi to go to school or study for extra couple of hours, rather than walking miles and waiting for hours for water. Their families never had or would have access have such clean water (what I drain off every day at South Delhi) to drink.
It is not activist/nature enthusiast crap, it is a fact.
Why do we think that these things are not as important as other things we think about?
We do we think we have so much time?

WHY NOT?: Why can we not have a better solution to such problems?
I never had this problem of having to take shower in hot water (in Summers) while living in a not-so remote village in Orissa. There were wells, most of which dried up though during summers. Unlike Mumbai, Delhi there was no easy access to clean drinking water though. So, where is the ideal solution - somewhere in between?
Why can we not have naturally ventilated and cooled houses? Why can we not escape the A.Cs?
Why can we not escape drinking water from the bottles kept in refrigerator(which are too cold to drink often) or at room temperature (at 38-40! deg C)?
Whay can we not think that these things are for people who read/write in Science journal or do their PhDs or get Nobel Prizes?
Why can we not do anything about these things rather than read/write about them?
Why can we not build a smarter planet? (Thank IBM commercial for this)
WHY NOT?

present-future

“You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you’ll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present." Looking For Alaska, John Green

Really ?
Got me thinking and thinking real hard.