42 YEARS AGO-PART ONE

CHELTENHAM 1973.

Let me take you back on a journey, which happened about forty two years ago.

The year was 1973, the month was March. Triloki was working as a Chief Supervisor with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). He was posted at the Lucknow Division which then did not have its own premises. They operated out of rented accommodation at Aishbagh. Although the designation "Chief Supervisor", does not sound funky now, in those days it was quite an impressive and important position. Triloki had joined as a Management Trainee which can safely be  presumed, was a class apart from the rest.

The Management Trainees had a lot of fun together, they were all young Engineers starting out on the threshold of their careers, with dreams galore and little money at their disposal. Salaries were modest, but the prestige attached to the job was rather high. HAL used to regularly post their Officers to various places in England for getting trained in various skills and practices which were needed in an Aircraft factory. Triloki was sent to United Kingdom for three months, of which for two months he was posted  at the beautiful Cheltenham  to train with Dowty Rotol and Smith Industries, and for one month with Lucas Aerospace in Birmingham. Although we had no savings and no money, Triloki took me along after managing to raise a loan against his motorbike. The ticket was all of Rs. 3,500 return fare. In those days the Lufthansa Airline was offering Youth fare for which I was eligible. Triloki and his group were travelling Air India, as it was the rule that all Government employees had to travel only by the Government airline.  He left with his group of eight people. They were going to stop at two different places en route. Their first halt was at Cairo and the next one was at Frankfurt. In those days Airlines would allow a stopover and pay for the hotel accommodation too. This way the passengers could see the place where they halted for the night, at no extra cost. I, travelling on a Youth Excursion fare was not entitled to a halt. I was to land at Frankfurt at the same time as Triloki and we were to meet each other there.

That was my first travel by air and I was quite awed by the massive plane that I was boarding.  It was  a Jumbo Jet 747, which had just then been introduced by the airline. At Frankfurt I was as nervous as can be and waited for Triloki to come and meet me. We walked about a bit and looked at the shops.  I bought a beautiful Green little shot glass with a stem with a few Swarovski stuck on it in a pattern. I still have it.

It was a lovely purchase and a luxurious one also, because I just had three pounds with me, which was all the foreign exchange that a tourist was allowed by the Government of India then.

After this brief meeting and shopping, I boarded my flight to London and Triloki took his flight, also  to London. 

I landed at Heathrow airport and was to wait for Triloki, as I was the one who would land first. Heathrow was a big airport and had three terminals then. While I landed at the terminal where flights from Europe landed, Triloki was to land at the terminal where other international flights landed. I was one innocent little character who had led a very sheltered and protected life, so far. I looked around nervously and found a lady who looked like an Indian and worked as a janitor with a mop. I went up to her and asked her how I could go to the terminal where Air India flights landed. She helped me get on the inter terminal bus and that is how I didn't end up in the Lost and Found department!

Once in London, Triloki and I boarded a bus to Streatham where my Uncle and Aunty lived with their children. My father who was quite familiar with London had given me precise directions with bus numbers and the exact location where we were to get off the bus and walk up to door number 42. We were thrifty people not because we were virtuous, but because money was in short supply.  

CHELTENHAM SPA STATION

After a couple of days in London we took the train to Cheltenham from Paddington station. I wish I could remember the exact time of the train, then it would have sounded so very British to say, "We took the 4.52 from Paddington". 

The train was lovely, the seats were very comfortable and we sat facing each other. The journey was not too long and we soon chugged into Cheltenham Spa station. When we came out we were greeted by a couple of our friends and escorted to a taxi which would take us to our Hotel. I cannot forget my consternation when I could not find any handle to lower the glass of the window! In India we were used to the Fiat and Ambassador which had rotary handles with which we could lower or raise the window.

Cheltenham was a very beautiful place in an area which is called The Cotswold. It is no surprise that "The Cotswold" were designated as an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.The area has rolling hills and farm fields and beautiful meadows all around. 

THE MEADOWS

When we took our first journey out of Cheltenham to go to Gloucester, the view took my breath away and I felt as if I was actually looking at a picture postcard. There were farms along the road which were all fenced. There were gates and stiles over which one could climb into the farm, therefore the animals had no access to it. The place was extremely neat and clean. The sky was very very blue and the vehicles on the road were fast and orderly There were no slow moving vehicles as we were used to seeing on the highways in India. No bullock carts, no cycles, no tractors laden with produce. No stray animals, no jay walkers, no stopping or slowing down at villages that we crossed. Gloucester was the place where there were Indian shops and one could buy Indian grocery.

After a couple of days at the Hotel, we moved to a place in Suffolk Square, where we paid twenty one pounds a week for a room, breakfast and dinner. At this place dinner was served at 5.30 pm and after dinner all the guests rushed down to the living room to watch "Tom and Jerry" which came on the lone Black and White TV set at 6 pm. By eight thirty in the evening, our Indian stomachs would start growling for food and we would walk down the High Street which would have shut down promptly at 5.30. Even Restaurants would shut at 5.30 pm. We would often find a hamburger or hot dog stall somewhere in some street corner and eat that very happily.

We therefore decided that we had to look for our own accommodation, so that we could eat our food at the time that we wanted to eat. Triloki and I  found one room with a shared kitchen and toilet at Hungerford Street.  The owners of the house were a young Gujarati couple who had migrated from Kenya. Some of you would remember that in 1971 there was an exodus of Indians from Kenya and Uganda. Most of them had shifted to UK or USA, some even went back to India. Those were the days of Idi Amin of Uganda who wanted all foreigners to exit from his country.Therefore when we landed in England, we found a lot of Indians trying to settle down in new surroundings. Cheltenham being a small town did not have many Indians and so there were no shops selling Indian foodstuff. In our group there was one Mr. Francis who had also brought his wife along, her name was Sushma. We got along famously and spent a lot of time together, all the others in our group were bachelors.

Cheltenham was known for its spa, as well as Cheltenham Ladies College founded in 1853, it also has a very old school founded in 1574 called Pate's Grammar school. Cheltenham is also the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing. In a steeplechase the horses jump over a variety of obstacles that can include fences, water jump or jump over a ditch. These races are held in March in Cheltenham and are very popular.  Alice Lidell and Lewis Carroll were visitors to a house here which belonged to the grand parents of Alice Lidell. It is said that the looking glass which was the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's book, "Through the Looking Glass" is still kept in this house. Alice Lidell was the ten year old girl who had asked Charles Dodgson to tell her and her sisters a story on their boat journey from Oxford to Godstow for a picnic outing. He later wrote it down as "Alice's Adventures Under Ground" in November 1864. He wrote under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll, and we know the book today as "Alice in Wonderland."

Cheltenham was a very beautiful, peaceful small town. There was a High Street which had a Woolworth, a Coop, a Marks & Spencer and some more beautiful shops. Woolworth was a very reasonably priced departmental store. Coop was a grocery store and one would collect Green Shields  on every purchase. An album was given along with the first lot of Green Shields where one would collect the stamps and get a discount on shopping after collecting the stipulated number of points.

THE PROMENADE

On the Promenade also there were some beautiful designer shops of which The Cavendish was very well known.  The Cavendish later on merged with House of Fraser. The walk on the  Promenade  to the famous Pump house of the Spa was delightful as there were beautiful flowers planted along this path. On the lamp posts too beautiful hanging planters full of colourful flowers were hung. Cheltenham spa had become very popular after King George III visited this spa.

Since we were to be in England only for three months, we decided to explore the country. That was when we found out about the car rentals or self drive cars that were available. One could hire a car at  any place and return it at any other place. The known car hire companies then were Hertz, Avis and Budget. If one hired a car from Budget then the vehicle had to be returned to the same place from where it was hired. I am sure there must have been some more companies, but I don't remember their names now.

A HIRED CAR

Our adventures with car hiring will be my next story and you will have to wait patiently for a bit after which I will tell you about it. Suffice to say right now, that we wanted to hire a car and the only person who knew how to drive a car did not have a Driving License which the car hire Company would accept, and the one who had an International Driving License did not know how to drive.

Adios amigos, Ciao, see you later, milte hain break ke baad!

SHAKESPEARE'S THEATRE-THE GLOBE

The Stage, the pit & seating

Shakespeare and his writings are known all over the world. Shakespeare  was born in Stratford upon Avon in England in April 1564. He began staging his plays in London near the River Thames. The first theatre where his play was staged was called "The Rose". After  that his plays were staged at The Globe Theatre near Shoreditch. This theatre was built in  1599 and was destroyed by an accidental fire in June 1613, when during a performance a misfired theatrical cannon set fire to the wooden beams and thatches of the theatre. The second Globe theatre was built at the same site in June 1614 and was closed in 1642 by the Puritans. The third Globe Theatre called "Shakespeare's Globe" was built in 1997 about 230 metres away from the original site. This new Theatre is right on the banks of the river Thames.  At the location of the original Globe theatre of 1614 A.D. there is now a parking lot of a housing complex. The outline of the theatre, as it was then, has now been preserved, at the parking lot. 

The Thames

During my last visit to London, I went to see a play by Shakespeare at this historic theatre. The play was "Julius Ceasar". I had purchased the tickets to watch this play and had booked well in advance, so I could get good seats on the top most floor.  The theatre layout is very interesting. It is a circular building with a thatched roof. The stage is rectangular and thrusts out into the middle of the open air yard. The centre of the theatre does not have a roof. 

The Pit at base of stage

In the centre of the theatre, at the base of the stage is an open area which is called the "pit" or yard. This is the place from where one can watch the play by buying a ticket for 5 pounds. In olden times these tickets were available for one penny. The viewers watching from the Pit were called the Groundlings. They would stand on the rush strewn earthen floor throughout the performance. They were not permitted to sit even if there was space. Even now spectators watching from the pit are not allowed to sit when the show is on.

Rapt attention

Around this Pit or yard there are three levels of seating under a roof. For sitting there are benches without backs, except in the last row of each floor, where one has a back rest. There are pillars on each floor, which could obstruct one's view of the stage to some extent. I was surprised to note that while one ticket could cost around 39 pounds, the seat next to it could be for 27 pounds, because of the slight obstruction by the pillar. I thought that the  tickets are priced very judiciously. It is truly the British sense of fair play!

Wooden benches

The stage is rectangular and measures 43 feet in width, 27 feet in depth and is raised about 5 feet off the ground. The seating capacity is for 1380 people and standing in the pit is for 700 people.

No props, no curtains

There are no props or scenery on the stage. At the beginning of the play the performers come and place whatever items are needed for the scene. At the end of the act they themselves pick up the props and take them away. There are no curtain drops and every act is performed in continuity. In fact after Julius Ceaser is killed  there was blood spread on the floor, which was cleaned with mops by two performers. This kind of theatre was very new to me and I loved watching this unique ness

The costumes of the actors, the dialogue delivery, the acting were simply brilliant.

Entertainment in the pit

Before the play began there was a lot of noise in the pit. From three different doors  hawkers, musicians and entertainers came into the pit. This was part of the play and it was the scene  of a feast which the Romans were indulging in. While this was happening the stage was being prepared by other actors.

Once the actual play started the concentration of the audience was rapt. 

Cushion on hire

Oh yes I forgot to tell you that before one enters the theatre we pass through a foyer from where one can hire a cushion for 1 pound. The benches in the theatre are made of wood and can be quite uncomfortable when one has to sit for at least three hours. Food and drinks can also be pre ordered and one can have them in the interval without queueing up.

The bow

Watching a play at The Globe is an exciting experience. It is unique and absolutely worth it. It is very different from watching a play in any other theatre. It is the olden form of dramatics which is still being continued in this well maintained beautiful replica of the Globe Theatre of Shakespeare.

DAASTANGOI- THE ART OF TELLING A STORY

Dastangoi is a 9th century oral story telling art form, where a person narrates a story to an audience.This art is said to have originated in Arabia, from where it travelled Eastwards to Persia and then to India. The literal translation of the word "dastan" is story and "goi" is the act/art of telling the story.

The main person in this is the narrator of the story who uses his voice, pronunciation, facial expressions, pauses in between the narration, and flailing of his arms to narrate a story. 

The Narrator

On the 6th of April, I attended one such programme. The venue was the historical site of the Library of Dara Shikoh, and the dastango was Ankit Chadha. He is a young History Graduate who says that this unique form does not need   sound, lighting equipment, props, costumes or even a troupe to get a show running. All it needs are Dastangos and their stories. The dastangos in olden times used to tell interesting stories about things that they had heard of or text that they had read to the Kings as well as to the common man. 

Dara Shikoh was the eldest son of  Shah Jehan and his Begum Mumtaz Mahal.  He was born near Ajmer, when his father was not yet the Badshah but was still Prince Khurram.  Badshah Jehangir died when Dara was about 12 years old. Dara was married to Nadira his cousin and unlike most others of those days, he had only one wife.

Dara's Palace -1639 AD

Dara was a great favourite of his father and was anointed as the wali ahad or heir apparent to the throne. Dara had three other brothers, Shah Shuja, Muhiuddin and Murad, and two sisters Jehan Ara and Roshan Ara.

  The Mughals were followers of the  Chishti sect of Ajmer, but Dara was very influenced by the Qadiri sect and followed Mia Mir.  Dara was a thinker, philosopher, composer of poetry and patron of many other forms of Art.  He questioned religious thought and wanted to study the Upanishads, which were written in Sanskrit and were not available to anyone other than a Brahmin. Once, the main Priest of Varanasi approached Shah Jehan to get exemption from paying the Jiziya tax. Dara seized this opportunity and asked his father to exempt the priests of Varanasi from payment of Jiziya, in return for which he asked the priest to open the wisdom of the Upanishads to Dara. It took the priests and Dara six months of continuous sittings in 1657 to translate the Upanishads into Persian which was then the Court language. This translation was called "Sirr- e- Akbar" or the Greatest Mystery. Dara was not a protagonist of fundamental Islam but believed in the co existence of heterodox traditions. 

The Mughal construction

 When Shah Jehan decided to move his capital to the north of Agra,  Dara selected a place North of the proposed city of Shahjehanabad, and constructed his Library in 1637. Each book was brought from Agra carefully and placed in this Library. After the death of Dara Shikoh this building was given to Ali Mardan Khan, the Governor of Punjab. Subsequently it changed hands many times. David Ochterlony the First Resident of Delhi, built a palatial house on the first floor of this Library in 1803. The facade of this building was totally changed and in place of niches and arches, large pillars were built and it became a British palace. Later on it housed the Government College, The District School, Municipal Board School, and now it houses the Department of Archeology. This Library is located right next to St James Church also called Skinner's Church, it is very close to the ISBT, the original Kashmiri Gate, and Old Delhi Railway Station. It is located on Lothian Road. I am sure I have totally confused you about its location. Never mind, when you are coming from Kashmiri Gate and are going towards the Red Fort, this Library will come on your left hand side. Today it houses the Ambedkar University. 

The British facade made by Ochterlony 1st British resident

Coming back to the story of Dara Shikoh, in the battle for power, Muhiuddin the youngest son of Shah Jehan got Shah Shuja his other brother on his side by promising to get his son married to Shah Shuja's daughter. When Shah Jehan heard of this arrangement he declared that while he was alive he would take all the decisions pertaining to all his family members.

As the sun sets....

When it was rumoured that Shah Jehan had died, each of his son declared himself the Badshah.  Shah Shuja who was the Subhedar of Bengal, Muhiuddon who was in the Deccan, Murad who was in  Gujarat marched towards Agra. To quell the rebellion of Shah Shuja, Shah Jehan had earlier despatched Dara's elder son to Bengal.  Dara was therefore left alone to fend for himself and so fled from place to place with Nadira and his younger son. In the end of his escapade, he reached  Sindh, where he sought the help of Malik Jiwan whom he had saved many times from the wrath of the Badshah. Nadira did not trust Malik, but Dara did not listen to Nadira, and was actually betrayed by Malik Jiwan. Dara was captured by Muhiuddin who had by now taken the name of Aurangzeb, got rid of his brothers Murad and Shah Shuja, imprisoned his father Shah Jehan and sister Jehanara and became the Badshah of Hindustan. Aurangzeb arranged for Dara to be paraded around the City, seated on a very filthy elephant. Dara was smeared in mud, his clothes were in tatters and he was bound in chains. The public who had once loved this peace loving Prince were very disheartened to see this sight.  Dara Shikoh requested Aurangzeb to allow him to meet his father which permission was not granted to him.  Dara actually posed a threat to Aurangzeb as he was popular with the common people. So  a convocation of nobles and clergy was called by Aurangzeb who declared Dara a threat to the public peace and an apostate from Islam. In the History written in Aurangzeb's time, it was written that if Dara had become Badshah, he would have declared Islam as "kufr." He was assassinated by four of Aurangzeb's henchmen in front of his terrified son on the night of 30 August 1659.

Plaque about Dara's Library

Rebellion, bloodshed, treachery, back stabbing, life on the run, what kind of a life did a Mughal Prince live? Killing your own brothers, not knowing whom to trust, plotting and planning! Surely the life of a prince was a life of fear. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this story telling session which was held   in front of the original Library of Dara Shikoh. There are huge trees in the area and although it is in the very busy area of Kashmiri Gate, the place was calm, peaceful, quiet. White sheets were spread in front of the palace where the audience was to sit. There were cane chairs called moodha kept there. 

MOODHAS

There was a tree with head phones hung from different branches. One could hear the poetry of Dara, as well as excerpts from his teachings. This tree was called the Speaking Tree. 

SPEAKING TREE

We went around the building and saw the original Mughal structure which was the Library of Dara Shikoh. After Dara's death most of the books were lost. Later on after 1857, War of Independence whatever books were left were further destroyed. Time has gone by, Dara was ruthlessly murdered, the books were all lost, but the building so lovingly made in 1637 to house books of learning still survives and continues as an Institution of learning. That perhaps remains Dara Shikoh's legacy to posterity.

Dastan goi

BERLIN A CITY WHICH HAD A WALL

BRANDENBURG GATE

I am a wanderer who wants to travel and see the world. I like to go to those places where History was created. My travels have taken me to many places, of which I am particularly fascinated with Greece, where I found every thing pleasant. Life seemed tranquil and peaceful, the place was beautiful with plenty of fruits and olive trees. The sea around was calm.  The ruins  speak of Art, Theatre, Music, Medicine, democracy, Olympics, Maths, Alphabets, Education, Philosophy and everything else which was meant for the development of the people, and all this happened before the birth of Christ!

I recently chose to visit Berlin. This was  a city which saw a lot of turmoil. It saw History being created for the destruction of humankind. It brought about a lot of pain, suffering, discrimination and dehumanizing people on the basis of their religion or physical impairment  It was the pursuit of a particular person to create a superior race. The woes of considering oneself superior and eliminating those whom they consider inferior  surely speaks volumes about the society then. Jungle law says Survival of the Fittest, but then are we are not human beings who are supposed to be civilized, thinking people, social people who want to take everyone with us?

AN OLD BUILDING

Well to come back to my travels, as I landed in Berlin the airport seemed quite functional and unattractive as compared to the very beautiful, spacious modern airports of a lot of cities that I have seen. Delhi airport is comparatively LUXURIOUS, lovely and comfortable.  There were no escalators, elevators and no walkways too, so one had to lug ones hand baggage up the stairs. The travel Information desk was very helpful though and we were quickly issued 5 days passes for about 37 Euros each, so that we could travel on any mode of transport and explore the city at quite a concessional rate.The bus, tram, overground and underground trains are very many, very comfortable and easy to catch. There is Bus No. 100 and 200 which takes one around all the different tourist spots of the city. It is like a Hop on Hop off Bus, but very reasonably priced. One only has to validate the ticket the first time that one uses a public transport and after that for five days one can use the public transport without a worry. I found the city very clean, neat and beautiful, where traffic is almost non existent by my Delhi standard, the air is fresh, the gardens are lovely and green, the people are helpful. The roads are wide and the city looks very neat and tidy.

After the Second World war Berlin was divided into two parts the Western part was occupied by USA and the eastern portion was controlled by USSR. Therefore it has two airports and two main Railway stations. 

WIDE ROADS

The roads are very wide, cyclists are encouraged as their are cycle paths, and traffic of cars was very scant. All that one could see were Mercs, BMW's, Audis, VW's. There were very few Japanese cars on the roads.

I loved the area where my hotel was located.

Wilhelmstrasse is the road where History happened. This was the road on which all the Ministries, the Gestapo, Hitler's House and the British Embassy were located. Walking down Wilhelmstrasse is a great experience. It is a very wide road and I could visualize the huge flags of the Third Reich, the might of Hitler, the massive military strength that was displayed on these buildings and the road where the marching troops went by.  It all looks very professional, majestic, and mighty.  I was particularly interested to see the building where Hitler lived. I learnt that in 1938-39 a new Reich Chancellery was built for Adolf Hitler by Albert Speer on this street. This building stood immediately south of the old Chancellery, on the corner of the Wilhelmstraße and the Voss Strasse, and its official address was Voßstraße 4, but the balcony from which Hitler addressed crowds faced the Wilhelmstraße. I walked up and down this road for three days trying to locate the exact spot without success. On the third day I found a small board stating that 77  Wilhelmstraße was located here. It did not state that Hitler lived here. Presently there is a residential car parking at that place. 

 

WHERE HITLER'S BUNKER WAS

After the occupation of the City by the Russians,  construction of  new buildings in the area around the Führerbunker( Hitler's Underground bunker) began. It was a strategy employed for ensuring that the surrounding place remained anonymous and unidentifiable. As it is  during the War all the old buildings had been fully destroyed. Now the new rulers had tried to wipe out all trace of this place. As it is said in Urdu, "is jagah ko naist nabood kar diya", this place was totally destroyed. One may destroy buildings but can one erase memory and the sad history of the place?

During the Nazi rule the German Foreign office headed by Joachim von Ribbentrop stood at Wilhelmstrasse 73. The Finance Ministry stood at Number 61.The Propoganda Ministry of Joseph Goebbel's was at 8-9 . The British Embassy was at number 70.The only major building that survived the bombing was Reich Air Ministry at Wilhelmstrasse 81-85. The Berlin Wall was broken on the  9th November 1989 but there are two portions of the wall maintained as tourist attractions. One portion is near the Topography of Terror and the other portion is near the river. The portion near the river is filled with graffiti.

GRAFFITI ON BERLIN WALL

Berlin was and still is a very beautiful city. The trauma that the people of this city underwent can only be felt, words cannot express the agony and uncertainty that the Berliners may have had to face. Those who were friends suddenly became foes if they were Jews or had physical deformity or had a different ideology or belief. It is rather strange how one person could create so much havoc, destruction and misery. Ribbentrop, Eichmann  Goebbels  they had so much power and they wielded it for creating terror.The beauty of Alexander Platz, the magnificent Reichstag, The Brandenburg gate, Potsdamer Platz, pales when one thinks of the horrors that went on in this City.

MEMORIAL

 The memorial to the murdered Jews  is stark, grey, poignant. They comprise of simple blocks of granite in different sizes laid out in rows. They symbolize the massive graves of people who died and were cremated unidentified, unknown and unsung. The magnitude of misery stares one in the face. This place is very close to the Brandenburg gate and the Reichstag. I sat there for a long time looking at the grave like structures, I felt quite devoid of feeling, I felt numb and time seemed to stand still. This memorial is one of the best that I have seen. It tells of a time not so long ago when innocent people were killed in cold blood, in the most barbaric manner. 

We went to see the Topography of terror, which is located at exactly the same spot  where between 1933 and 1945, the central institutions of Nazi persecution and terror– the Secret State Police Office with its own “house prison,” the leadership of the SS and, during the Second World War, the Reich Security Main Office – were located. It was the office of the "Gestapo." This is now a museum with a lot of pictures.

THE ONLY BUILDING THAT SURVIVED THE BOMBINGS

I saw the building from where Goebbles worked. He was the Minister of Propoganda and he was the one who said,“It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be molded until they clothe ideas and disguise.” 

CHECK POINT CHARLIE

I went with great expectations to Checkpoint Charlie which was a gate between East and West Berlin. It was a bit of a disappointment. Today there is a portrait of an American soldier on the side which belonged to USA and on the reverse is the portrait of a Russian soldier. There is a Museum located at this place. It houses amongst other things a Volkswagon car which had been used to stow away people wanting to travel to freedom on the Western side. There are a lot of photographs showing the different apparatus and equipment used by people to cross the border stealthily. Many lost their lives but a number of them succeeded. GRAFFITI ON A WALL AS SEEN FROM TRAIN

Berlin has a huge underground city which had been built for shelter during air raids during the IInd World War. We took a guided tour of an underground bunker. It a very big planned shelter, with rooms, benches and toilets too. There were rooms for women with small kids too. It was expected that the shelters would be for short durations. They are well ventilated and not claustrophobic. It just goes to show how well prepared the regime was to take care of its people.

THE OLD & THE NEW

Berlin needs to be seen slowly. One thing at a time. The Olympic Stadium, The Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, Charlottenburg Palace, need to be spoken of in detail, and I shall write of them separately.

MY FIRST IMPOSSIBLE DESTINATION MOHENJO DARO.

There are a few places on earth that I really  want to see. I am quite sure that I will manage to see a lot of these places, but there are at least four places which may always remain out of bound for me.  They were part of India at one time, but now they no longer are easily accessible to us.These places are now located in Pakistan, and are Mohenjo Daro, Harappa, Takshashila and Lahore.

Two of them belong to the Indus Valley Civilization, one belongs to the beginning of the AD era and the last belongs to a more contemporary era.

A well in a compound & the drain

I have therefore embarked on this trip sitting in my chair with my lovely Mac, a tall glass full of cold coffee and away I go on my trip. I am so  happy that I am not spending any money too. Away, away on the wings of my mind, I land on the Mound of the Dead, or as most of you would call it Mohenjo Daro. This ancient city sits on elevated ground in  Larkana district of Sindh province in Pakistan. Mohenjo daro is a town of the  Indus Valley Civilzation which  existed during the Bronze age from 3300 BC to 1300 BC. This civilization was spread from North East Afghanistan to North West India. It was near the river Indus, Ghaggar and Hakra. The  two other ancient Civilizations that flourished during this time were Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia .

A seal

It is said that there were over 5 million inhabitants here. They had developed new techniques in handicraft and metallurgy, they dealt with copper, bronze, lead and tin.Their major business was agriculture as well as trade with the present day Middle East.

The most amazing aspect of that time was the way the people lived. I am talking of about 4000 years ago. Buddha lived about 2500 years ago, Indus valley was 1500 years before that too! Looking at the villages of contemporary India today, it is surprising to know that even 4000 years ago, in the Indus Valley there was urban planning, houses were made of baked brick, there was an elaborate drainage system and water supply system too. There were bathing areas in the houses,toilets and also a plumbing system akin to what we have now. Wells have been  found throughout the city. The houses were often in two stories. There were precise lanes and the city was well planned.

The Great Bath

The most impressive structure excavated at Mohenjo-Daro so far, is the Great Bath. It was constructed with kiln-burnt bricks, and is  12 metres long, 7 metres wide and 2.5 metres deep. Gypsum has been used along with mortar to make the floor and sides of the pool water-tight. The pool is in the centre of a large open quadrangle with rooms and galleries on all sides.  The pool was fed by a near by well and the dirty water was drained into the city's sewage system through a corbelled drain. It seems as though they were very particular about cleanliness and bathing. 

There was also a cluster of large non residential buildings.  There were no ostentatious palaces, temples or monuments.There's no obvious  evidence of a king or queen. Mohenjo Daro was most probably  governed as a city-state, perhaps by elected officials or elites.

Pottery and tools of copper and stone were standardized, There were proper weights and there were a lot of seals. There are  ceramic similarities  in pottery, seals, figurines, ornaments, found in Central Asia, the Iranian plateau and southern Turkmenistan, which speak of intensive caravan trade with them.

Dancing girl

A miniature bronze statuette of a nude female,which is 4.1" high, known as the "dancing girl", was found here and  is now displayed at the National Museum in New Delhi. Amongst the artifacts found here are those made of ivory, lapis, carnelian and gold beads. A lot of seals have been found with figures of animals. 

Priest King

There is a stone sculpture  of a Priest King also found which is now displayed at the National Museum Karachi.  It is called Priest King although it is known that there were perhaps no kings at that time. This is the figure of a seated male, it is 6.9" tall. The hair is neatly combed back and the cloak draped on the left shoulder has a beautiful pattern.

Each city in the Indus Valley was surrounded by massive walls and gateways. The walls were built to control trade and also to stop the city from being flooded. Each part of the city was made up of walled sections. Each section included different buildings such as Public buildings, houses, markets, craft workshops. Over the years, the level of streets and houses were raised owing to the accumulation of debris  which necessitated raising the height of the wells. This is the reason why very tall wells are often seen at Harappa and in the surrounding areas.

Who were they, what did they do, how were they so advanced, how did that civilization end, is a big question. They had a script which has not yet been deciphered, once that is deciphered a lot of the questions will be answered. This script is written from right to left.

MORNING GLORY!

My morning walks are a source of information and learning for me. I go to the nearby Government City Forest which is also a Nursery which has a nice walking path. The path is 2.4 kms long and winds its way in an interesting manner. The bends and turns are irregular, so the path retains a charm of its own. The area is forested with a large number of trees.

At the entrance to the Nursery sit a number of fruit vendors, most prominent is the nariyal walla. I feel very happy to see the awareness amongst the walkers to health foods and fruits. A lot of people buy their days supply of fruit on the way out. A number of walkers drink coconut water everyday.

Walkers are of all types, shapes and age. This park is situated on the Mehrauli Badarpur Road and is close to Sainik Farms, Saket, Neb Sarai and Said ul ajaib. The walkers come from all these places.

 The pattern of the groups are interesting. Young girls walk in a group of two or three, young men are in pairs, ladies in the age group of 30 to 40 years are usually in a group of four, older men walk in a cluster, then there are couples who would be in the slightly older age bracket and  then there are retired senior citizens who need help in walking, they come with attendants. Then there are singletons, who are usually the serious walkers, whose sole purpose is to walk at their own speed. They do not want to socialize and do not want to walk at the speed of someone else.

Yoga in the park

Younger men in two's usually jog, younger girls walk and talk and giggle. Older men are the loudest, there is a lot of politics discussed and there is a lot of leg pulling also. They really enjoy their walk the most. The middle aged women discuss their kids and the school and also extra curricular activities for the children.The older couples are the quietest. They just trudge along together, there is no talk, no laugh and no smile too. It appears as though they are just completing a task given to them. I do wish people would retain their charm, conversation skills, and companionship always. Wonder why people start taking each other for granted!

Looking for a bench

I usually take two rounds of the path and then look for a bench to sit down upon. Benches are arranged away from the walking path, in a square. While looking for an empty bench I cross a lot of groups. There is a group of young men who practice yoga. Then there is the laughter club, where after some bits of exercise and a lot of clapping, people burst out into artificial laughter. After the group laughter is finished and they disperse, I have noticed many from the group walk away with the perpetual frown that is the normal look on the face of most Indian men. A happy, relaxed, smiling face I have noticed is a rare sight.

Then there are those who bring food for the stray dogs as well as for the ants and the birds. They come with bags full of bread or roti and also bajra grain. There is an oldish lady who is usually surrounded by dogs. She talks with them and pets them and then feeds them. One person does the Surya namaskar and then feeds the ants.

One day as I sat on the bench I heard, "Ma, take off your shoes and walk on the grass. It is very beneficial for health." The mother took off her shoes and then the mother and son walked together on the damp grass. The young man's little daughter was also being told, " Beta, one must always look after one's parents". It was nice to hear these words. This is how traditions are passed on and children are trained by example.

This morning I heard two ladies discussing a proposal for opening of a creche and conducting Music classes at their house.

People

Morning walks provide me with fresh air, chirping of birds, and also lessons on people and their behavior, their interaction and also how almost everyone thinks that they are very experienced and therefore  competent to dish out their free advice to all and sundry on exercise and also on what health foods must be consumed!

One day as I entered the walking path I heard, "Come ma'm please have a cup of tea." There was a group of people who were serving tea and biscuits at the entrance to all the walkers. Satish said,"We all see each other everyday, so we thought that let us share tea and introduce ourselves". They had the tea with sugar and also without sugar! I spent a pleasant five minutes with them and had a nice hot cup of unwanted tea. The result is that  now we at least smile at each other on the morning walk path.

Once I went for a walk in the evening. The trees were full of extremely noisy birds, who were all back after the day and were settling down for the night. The noise was just too much. The decibel was very high and I think there was a lot of discussion going on about the day!

In the mornings the birds leave their nest after a good nights rest so one hears the melodious notes of the cuckoo bird, but the evenings are just a cacophony of noise.

My walking path in Nashua

I visit London and Nashua every year to be with my children. I walk there too. The difference is that in both these places the people are generally jogging. All the people that one passes on the path  always wish each other Good Morning and wave. Walking and jogging is always done after a warm up, which is not so in Delhi. 

A morning walk is not just a physical fitness walk for me, it is a social and educational walk, which starts my day with the mild sun, the cool fresh breeze and the cuckoo singing its melodious song. It is a beautiful  start of a new day.

Walking Park in London