A BLIND SPOT IN HISTORY.

PURANA QILA

Would it surprise you if I told you that Sher Shah Suri(SSS) or Sher Afghan ruled over a large part of India only for five years(1540-1545)? The kind of lasting legacies that he has left on administrative reforms make me marvel at his vision and far sightedness.The era of SSS is quite unsung and lesser known than the other rulers of Delhi.

Most of us would be knowing that the Grand Trunk Road(G T Road) was built by Sher Shah Suri. Roads are the life line of a nation. It makes administration easier. Suri was from Sasaram in Bihar and after defeating Humayun he ruled from Delhi, so he knew the importance of communication network, movement of news as well as troops.  In History such a massive road was built during Ashoka's rule from 304 -232 BC, as his empire stretched from Afghanistan to Bangladesh and from Central Asia to South India. The GT Road or "Sadak-e -Azam"  was built  keeping  the convenience of the people moving on the road in mind.There was a kos minar built after every two miles and a sarai(inn) built after every three miles of the road. Trees were planted along this road for shade. SSS also introduced the dak system. He appointed harkaras who would carry post from one place to another. This dak was not only for administration but the convenience was also extended to traders  for business communication. Harkaras were runners who would go up to the next post and from the next post the next man would take the dak and run onwards, like a relay race. The harkaras carried a danda(stick) with  ghunghroos or bells attached to it so that their approach could be heard by the next man in the relay race, and he could move onward  without any pause. 

There were 1700 dak chowkees with 3400 harkaras in those days running on 3000 kms of roads connecting the whole country. Later horses were used for transportation of the dak. There would be a chowkidar to attend to the horses of the harkaras  and oxen of travellers at the sarai, which doubled up as the dak chowkee. A daroga was in charge of this sarai and there were two tarikh- navis who would record the arrival and despatch of the dak.

CHAITYA LIKE DESIGN

Another major reform that SSS devised was replacing the system of province with sarkar, pargana and village. The empire was divided into 47 provinces called sarkar, managed by (1)Munsif- e- munsifan(Chief of Justice) and (2) Shiqdar- e- shiqdaram( Military chief).

Each Sarkar was divided into smaller districts called Pargana. The pargana was managed by

(1)Munsif (judicial officer),

(2) Shiqdar(administrative officer),

(3) Amin(revenue officer),

(4) Patwari(keeper of land revenue record),

Then there were villages which had the

(1) Choudhry( land holder),

(2) Muqaddam(village headman)

(3) Karkun(accountant),

(4) Mushrif(holder of trust),

(5)  Khazanchi(treasurer).

There would be a Fotedar who maintained property records in Persian and Hindi. There would be a Kanoongo who supervised these records. So akin to clerical and supervising staff of today!

Interestingly these officials were transferred after every two or three years to prevent misuse of office. I simply liked the designations of the Officials, so have given the details. Interesting to note that now one does come across people having these surnames.

It may surprise you to know that SSS introduced the standardized  Rupia. Rupia was a generic term used for silver coin of any denomination since the Magadha empire.  During the rule of Chandrgupta Maurya (340-290 BCE) the silver coin was called Rupya-rupa. SSS standardised the Rupia to be a silver coin weighing 178 grams. A gold coin was a Mohur weighing 169 grains and a copper coin was called daam. We now use the word daam to mean price.




REPAIR OF OUTER GATE

 The Old Fort or Purana Qila was built by Humayun in 1533. It was basically a fort for accommodating the troops. There were not many buildings in the Fort. Archeological Survey of India(ASI) did a lot of excavations in this fort as it was believed that this was the place where Indraprastha of Mahabharat times was located. After the excavations it was found that the history of human inhabitation at this place only goes back to the 2nd century BC. The Mahabharat time is said to have been somewhere around 800 BC.Therefore one can safely assume that Indraprastha of ancient times was surely not located here. Just for reference sake the Indus Valley Civilization is said to have existed between  (3600-1200 BC)  

SHER MANDAL-OBSERVATORY & LIBRARY.

Humayun could not live in peace for long as he was defeated by Sher Shah Suri and fled to Afghanistan and then Iran. Humayun sought the help of the Iranians to regain his empire from the Afghan SSS. To gain  support from the Iranians Humayun  had to convert from Sunni to Shia Islam. Humayun has been described as a forgiving person by his biographer Gulbadan, who was also his sister. He repeatedly forgave his brothers who tried to dethrone him or conspired against him. He was known to have a lot of faith on astrology, the occult and astronomy.  He was very superstitious and would not set foot inside a house with his left foot. 
He re-organized the administration upon mystically determined principles. He divided the public offices into four distinct groups, for the four elements. The department of Earth held charge of Agriculture and the agricultural sciences, Fire pertained to the Military, Water, the department of the Canals and waterways; and Air seemed to have responsibility for everything else. 
He disdained warfare and after winning a war would spend months together indulging himself at the captured city. He was out of the Old Fort for 15 years wandering from place to place, and after his last battle with SSS with the help of the Iranians, he lived at the Purana Qila for 5 years before tumbling to his death. In 1556 he fell from the steps of his Library when the Muezzin called out for the evening prayers. There is also a thought that he was star gazing and missed the stair, or perhaps he was under the influence of Opium and didn't know where he was going. 'He tumbled in life and finally tumbled out of it too' is how his life has been described. On October 1556 the last Hindu King of Delhi,Hemu won the throne of Delhi and  had his Rajya Abhishek(coronation) at the Old Fort. In the second battle of Panipat Hemu lost to the Mughals and in  November 1556, his torso was hung outside the walls of the Fort.

The walls of the Fort are 18 metres high and stretch across 2 km. 

JHAROKA

The Fort has three main gates, the Bada Darwaza facing the West, the Humayun gate towards the South and the Talaqi Gate towards the North . The gates are beautiful with Jharokhas and Chatris. There were tiles on the walls which were blue with beautiful work on it. These tiles were most probably imported from Central Asia.

The walls of this fort are straight unlike the Tughlaqabad Fort where the walls are slanting.

QILA E KUHNA-MOSQUE

The Qila e Kuhna is a Mosque built by SSS. The workmanship is very ornate and the carvings are beautiful. One can see the use of the lotus, lotus buds as well as the Kalash and Chaitya like designs of Ajanta on the pillars , arch and the dome.

KALASH ON RIGHT PILLAR

The only other structure in this Fort is the Sher Mandal which was an Observatory as well as a Library for Humayun.

KHAIR UL MANZIL MOSQUE

Opposite the Fort across the Mathura Road stands another lonely building. Yes, lonely, as it stands alone. This is the Khair ul manzil a mosque built by Maham Anga, Akbar's wet nurse. 

HOSTEL & MADRASA

There was a Madrasa attached to this Mosque as well as rooms where students could stay. It is said that once while Akbar was returning from Nizammudin dargah, an arrow was shot at him from inside this Mosque, which missed the mark. 

THE DOME

The construction of the dome has always been an enigma for me. At the Qila e Kuhna mosque this mystery was clearly unfolded to me. In the corners of a square room, four arches are made , on top of it eight arches are made, then sixteen, and so on until a circle is formed over which the dome is constructed.

After partition Muslims of Delhi and neighbouring states who wanted to go to Pakistan stayed at the Old Fort waiting for their train to Pakistan.

The Nawab of Rampur is said to have donated blankets to people only from Rampur State staying at this camp.

The Old Fort, quite barren and  forlorn actually looks old. It's a place which was never really inhabited. No ruler could enjoy living and ruling from this Fort. They had to flee and seek refuge elsewhere, or died violent deaths like Humayun's fall from the steps and hitting his head or Hemu dying at Panipat in the war, barely one month after his coronation. 

Although I believe that Indraprastha did not exist here, yet if it did then,  true to its nature the fort did not allow the Pandavs too a life of peace and happiness. 

The Old Fort is a place which was inhabited continuously since the 2nd Century BC, but now only animals live within the Fort as the Delhi Zoo is now located here. There is a Sound and Light programme too organized in the evening when one can visualize  & hear the History of Delhi. There is a museum inside the wall of the fort where one can see the material that was excavated from this area.

Everytime I pass the Purana Qila, I feel like visiting it and seeing why this fort refused to offer safety, peace and happiness to its inhabitants.

A FORLORN FORT!

TUGHLAQABAD FORT-A WALL

A Fort is supposed to provide protection to its inhabitants. It fortifies the settlement of people, so that no one can attack and control the people of that Fort. Fort literally means “strong”. In India we call a Fort “Qila”, which is a Persian term for Fort.

Tughlaqabad Fort was the third city of Dilli, constructed by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq in 1321. This huge Fort which stretches across 6.5 kms was built in three years. The Forts built in Delhi before this are the Lal Kot of Mehrauli built by the Tomar's & Chauhan's(736 AD-1192AD), the last Hindu rulers of Dilli. Yes, the last one of them was Prithviraj Chauhan, who all of us know because of his love story. We do remember Prithviraj Chauhan and Sanyogita! Don't we? Also Chand Bardai who wrote the famous saga “Prithviraj Raso”. Prithviraj was blinded and then killed by Mohd Ghori. That is another story, and some day I will get back to it.

After the Tomars came the Slave Dynasty or the Mamluks(1192-1290) who became rulers by virtue of their being slaves of Mohd. Ghori. They built the Qutab Minar, the Alai Masjid which it is said was constructed after destroying 27 Hindu and Jain temples. They were followed by Alauddin Khalji(1290-1320) who captured Chittaurgarh and was the cause of Rani Padmavati comitting Jauhar in 1303. Allaudin Khalji built the Siri Fort, which is near present day Hauz Khas.

THE SUN SETS!

 After the Khaljis a person by the name of Ghazi Malik came on the scene and founded the Tughlaq dynasty (1320AD-1414AD). He took on the name of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq. He was in a hurry to build his Fort and ordered all the masons to leave all other work and build the Fort. At the same time the disciples of Nizamuddin Auliya a Sufi saint were getting a bawdi or water tank made in the present day Nizamuddin, for the people who came to visit. The masons worked by day at the Fort and by night at the bawdi. As the efficiency of the workers was getting affected Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq banned the sale of oil so that the work of the bawdi would stop, as lamps could not be lit. Nizamuddin Auliya it is said got annoyed at this diktat and cursed the Fort by saying, "Ya rahe ujjar ya base Gujjar" which means that the fort would either remain barren or would be inhabited by nomads.

As a matter of fact this curse came true. This massive fort constructed in three years from 1321 to 1324, was abandoned in 1327.

ENTRANCE TO GHIYASUDDIN'S MAUSOLEUM

Such was the love lost between the Saint and the ruler that while returning from his conquest of East India, Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq asked Nizamuddin to leave the city before he reached Dilli, to which the saint is supposed to have said “Hanooz dilli door ast" which means Delhi is still far away.

Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, it is said, never reached Dilli. He was killed by the machinations of his own son. A welcome gate that had been built to welcome Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq "accidentally"fell on the Ruler, killing him there and then. Muhammad bin Tughlaq his son became the ruler. He also issued the Tughlaqian farmaan(order) to move his capital from Dilli to Deccan or Dakshin so that he could rule his territory from the center of India which would be more convenient to control and  administer his vast empire. However, within a few years he returned to Dilli. In these expeditions, he lost a lot of people as well as cattle. A lot of his people stayed back in Deccan and never returned to Delhi. 

ADILABAD FORT

On coming back to Dilli, Mohammad Bin Tughlaq did not occupy this fort but built a smaller fort close by which he named Adilabad Fort. That fort actually looks like a mud fort and is quite small. 

The Tughlaqabad Fort therefore was the Fort which could not hold its people, could not defend its people, nor could offer any resistance to invaders.

I wonder if it was the curse of the Saint or the lack of water which led to its failure. There was no river close by and it was located at a height on the Arravali Ridge. 

RUBBLE & STONE.

This huge Fort has very thick walls. The walls were made with rubble, and were covered with uniform stones. These walls are at a slanting angle, so that no one could climb the walls with ladders. The walls look majestic and mighty from the outside. Once you reach inside the fort, all that one can see is vegetation. The whole place is covered with creepers and shrubs. No building is visible. Probably all the buildings were broken and the stones were removed for use somewhere else. A huge fort which was built with great speed, simply failed to live up to the expectations of its builders.

THE UNDERGROUND PASSAGE WITH ROOMS

I did find a few interesting ruins though. One was an underground passage which had rooms on both the sides. They appeared more like kaal kothris or rooms without any ventilation and light. I could not fathom out the purpose of its existence. Perhaps they were either granaries or were used for storing  armaments.

STEPS LEADING NOWHERE

There were  also some stairs which took us upwards. On reaching the top, sitting on the broken parapets one could see the horizon, the beautiful sunset, the Qutab Minar on the West side and the Lotus Temple on the North side. The breeze at that place was totally unhindered, it was cool, soothing and refreshing.

THE MAUSOLEUM

The mausoleum of Ghiayasuddin Tughlaq is close to the Fort. This was built by Ghiyasuddin himself during his lifetime.There is a causeway leading to the mausoleum from the Fort. This causeway too has been broken and the Mehrauli- Badarpur road goes through this gap. The mausoleum also has fortification around it. The tombs look like replicas as they are very plain. 

CAUSEWAY BETWEEN TOMB & FORT

Is it true that rulers and men of God have always been in conflict? Is it possible that an Auliya would curse a Ruler because he came in the way of his constructing a baoli? Are such saints not supposed to be calm and peaceful people who take human beings to a higher level? Were they also in a rat race to win followers?

WHAT REMAINS ARE RUINS.

Rulers with wealth and power want to build lasting structures, which will talk about their conquests, but sadly these structures also decay. What remains alive are stories. Stories of arrogance, haughtiness and folly. Stories of curses, atrocities and despair!

THE FORTIFIED MAUSOLEUM

Do we remember anything good of the Tughlaq Dynasty?

The Sufi Saint Nizamuddin Auliya is still revered. There is an annual Urs held in his Dargah, where a lot of devotees come. His follower and disciple Ameer Khusrau, the great poet and writer of pahelis, and the introducer of Hindvi ( khadi boli) also lies buried in the same premises. Jehan Ara the daughter of Shah Jehan is also buried in the premises of Nizamuddin Dargah.

 The takht( throne), or the taj( crown) on the head as well as the head often is lost, in the struggle for power. Many times it is the son who gets his own father killed so that he may get the crown and rule.

What is it that remains ultimately?

The only Tughlaq who ruled well was Feroze Shah Tughlaq, a nephew of Mohd. Bin Tughlaq who also did not inhabit the Tughlaqabad Fort. He built his own Fort, where today stands the Feroze Shah Kotla grounds.

BARREN FROM THE INSIDE!

The Abhishapt Fort, the cursed Fort, so strong and majestic from the outside is totally barren and destroyed from the inside. Only its massive outer walls call out to us and seem to say that nothing remains, the strongest of edifice may be hiding a totally hollow precinct within. External looks indeed are very deceptive!

GHADI BABU!

I just needed to get the strap of a watch adjusted, so I visited a watch repair shop in Connaught Place recently. This was an air conditioned place with absolutely beautiful wall clocks from all the well known brands of clocks and watches from all over the world. A Piaget, an Omega, a Rado, and so many others adorned the walls. Each clock was more beautiful and unique than the other.

The people at the reception were young persons, who attended to me. The person who took my watch in, was an elderly gentleman. While waiting for my work to be done, I looked around the place and noticed that most of the people repairing or servicing the watches were elderly people. 

SHOP IN PAVITRA PAPI

My mind took me back to a very old movie that I had seen, "Pavitra Papi". Balraj Sahni had played the role of a watch repairer. His shop was filled with clocks in a tiny space, with a counter. I do remember so many such shops in all the cities that I lived in. They all looked alike.

I also remembered "Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam" where there was a "ghadi babu" whose job was to keep winding all the clocks in the household.

Who can forget the Salarjung Museum in Hyderabad and its musical clock where everyone gathers every hour to watch the clock perform?

THE CLOCK AT BERNE, SWITZERLAND

Other memorable clocks are in Prague, Berne,The Big Ben and many more historical, magnificent clocks in other cities of Europe, where people gather around the clock every hour to see the performance of the clock. 

THE CLOCK IN PRAGUE

Coming back to my story, I remember long- long ago, I was in the tenth class and most of my classmates did not possess a watch. In those days everyone did not wear a watch. It was considered an expensive item and everyone trusted the clock on the wall. My first watch was a "Camy" handed down to me by my mother. It had a square dial and it was my most precious possession. It was given to me so that I could prepare for my exams, timing myself. After that I did get a new watch but I always had only one watch at a time. I would take very good care of my watch, as did everyone else in those days. My watch was always the winding variety and I always wound it up at exactly the same hour every day. The first scratch on the dial had brought tears to my eyes and had spoilt my entire day.

My father owned an Omega and I was very careful whenever I had to fetch it for him.

It was my dream to own an Omega. For me it was the ultimate sign of having “arrived”.

Long ago in 1973, when I was in England, I worked for about six months there and with my earnings bought a Pye TV and an Omega watch for my husband. It was a beautiful watch with a two colored dial. Rishi Kapoor used to wear the same model of Omega then.

TRILOKI'S OMEGA OF 1973.

Many years passed, I acquired more watches one after the other. They were never too expensive. I always thought that a watch was for utility and needed to tell me the time. I did however buy a watch with different cases and colored straps and would match the strap with the dress that I wore. Then it was a fashion statement. I never thought of a watch as a status symbol. More years passed and when I completed 25 years in the Bank, as a Silver Jubilee gift from the Bank, I bought a black dial delicate looking Titan watch. That was the first time I had two watches at a time. Then a Seiko, a Citizen, a Regency and yet another Seiko, came my way. By now my thinking that a watch was just for telling the time had  changed.

One day while visiting my daughter in London, I noticed that a shop on Oxford Street was closing down and had a total "closing down sale" going on. My eyes opened wide when I saw a few Omega watches too waiting to be sold. I quickly called my husband in India, then called my daughter at work, got approval from both of them and ventured into the shop to buy my first prized possession...an Omega watch! My childhood desire of owning an Omega which had been lying dormant for donkey's years, suddenly got fulfilled!

MY PRIZED POSSESSION

Now I wear it everyday of my life. I have many other watches which I get regularly serviced, but my everyday companion is my Omega.

Well to get back to the watch repair shop! In my memory a watch repair shop was quite a non descript shop, with a show case filled with numerous watches waiting to be repaired by its ageing owner and a shop assistant who always looked eager to learn his job, sorry, craft. This swanky air conditioned shop with the most desirable beautiful wall clocks only had one common factor with those shops of my memory. It was the oldish looking gentlemen repairing the watches.

In this grand shop, I  missed the stately grand father clocks which would go tick-tock, tick-tock in a very soothing way. The pendulum would swing mesmerising me to some extent , and then suddenly the gong would strike the half hour, and break my reverie.

This shop took me down memory lane on a different journey! I loved re-visiting this closed lane!

DO BORDERS DIVIDE?

THE BORDER

Wagah border is the door between two nations which were once one without borders. About 66 years ago, a border was made and land was divided. People were uprooted and houses built with a lot of love, care and money were left behind. People moved to unknown places to settle down after having lost everything and tried to grow new roots in a different soil.

Very few of that generation which faced all that heart break, pain, misery, anguish, remain to tell the story. There are a lot of films made and a lot of stories written on the pain which brought about the partition of a property which created a lot of rift and animosity between people who were once brothers.

DISTANCES

 I travelled to Amritsar to see this border. They say Amritsar and Lahore were twin cities. They both were cultured and beautiful cities at close proximity with each other. Amritsar is relatively a new city built about 500 years ago by Guru Ram Das the 5th Guru of the Sikhs. Lahore on the other hand is known to be at least 2000 years old. It was the capital of the Mughal Empire for some time and Jehangir lived here for a considerable period of time. The famous story of Salim and Anarkali belonged to Lahore. Maharaja Ranjit Singh ruled from here. Lahore was the citadel of learning and its University, Govt College for Men, Foreman  Christian College,  Aitchison College were famous institutions. The tombs of Jehangir and  Noor Jehan are in Lahore. Lahore is famous for its cuisine, culture and juttis. 

Amritsar  is famous for the Golden temple, Durgiana Temple and Jallianwala Bagh. The cuisine of Amritsar and its street food too is legendary.

OUR SIDE OF THE STANDS AT WAGAH

We were in Amritsar to see the Closing ceremony at the Wagah border. There is a gate at the border. The Indian  gate is painted in the tri color. As one approaches Attari one sees the sign boards showing the distance to Lahore. We approach the border from the Swarn Jayanti gate. On this gate facing Pakistan is a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi.

OUR ENTRANCE GATE

On the side of Pakistan they have a portrait of Mohd. Jinnah. There are stands on the side for tourists to sit and witness the ceremony. Our side of the stands were choc a block filled with people. There were children and women running with the Indian flag in their hands from the Swarn Jayanti gate to the Border gate. Loud speakers were blaring out nationalist and patriotic songs mostly from films. There was Chak de India, Himmat watan ki hamse hai, Jai ho, and Yeh desh hai veer jawano ka.  The beat of the music was such that one automatically wanted to dance or clap.

THEIR STAND & PORTRAIT OF JINNA

Soon women from the public stands came down and started dancing the bhangra. Then the music stopped and one could hear the booming voice of a BSF Commander. The command went on as if it would never stop! Soon two men dressed in black with very dark glasses on their eyes marched across and stood near the Border gate. After that two women from the BSF marched to the Border gate and smartly stood there in attention after ceremoniously kicking their right leg high up.

They were followed by men from the BSF who were all more than 6'tall. They all marched smartly, aggressively, showed their attitude, temper, brute force and power. Yes, the closing ceremony was on its way.

  

LAND ACROSS THE BORDER

One is filled with pride watching the men march and kick up so high that it appears as if their toes go higher than their head gear. The marchers from the Pakistan side too  displayed the same mannerisms and antics as ours. The only place where they could not match us was that they did not have women marching to the border.Their stands too were devoid of people, perhaps as it was Ramzaan.

WOMEN CAME DOWN TO DANCE Our people were extremely enthusiastic, emotional and waiving the flag with great gusto. We are indeed very emotional people.

THE FLAGS. The flag was brought down with great precision. Each side made sure that the ceremony was in exact tandem. If looks could kill this was really one such ocassion, where even the blink of an eyelid could show that you were the loser. That actually explained why the dark glasses were worn by two BSF men. There was to be no blinking of eyes as they faced the opponent bang opposite each other. Gestures, looks, kicking of the legs with full force was fully dramatic and identical on both sides.It filled me  with pride and patriotism to watch the ceremony.

PAKISTAN & THEIR SIDE.

At the end of this ceremony, we could go behind and actually see Pakistan from across the barbed fence. The same fields, the same crops, the similar looking people with same color and features were trying to show animosity where perhaps none exists. People all over the world are humans first. They all want to live in peace. Europe is a continent without borders. Anyone can move about freely between countries. There is no hatred, no anger, no fear, no animosity. They seem to want to live in peace and harmony. They seem to want to grow, prosper and be comfortable. Why do we people of the same family want to fight, show aggression, show power? 

OUR BORDER

We celebrate our Independence Day on 15th August and Pakistan celebrates theirs on 14th August.We are two nations created craftily, hastily, by Sir Cyril Radcliffe who was just given one month to divide 175,000 square miles of territory with 88 million people. There was no thought given to the emotions of the people, the land and the territories that were divided. That happened 66 years ago. It is part of our History.

I take this opportunity to wish all of you A Very happy Independence DAY! Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!

At WAGAH.

Baki sab theek thaak hai!

AMRITSAR STATION

My latent desire to go to Amritsar finally fructified and I booked Railway tickets to travel by the Swarn Shatabdi from Delhi to Amritsar. I loved train journeys once upon a time, so was quite looking forward to it. I even told my grand children that they would see the Indian countryside and the towns as we passed them. I also told them that it was a prestigious train and would therefore be quite comfortable and clean. It was quite a disappointment by the looks of it, as the paint was chipping off, and it did not look like what I had imagined it would be. Nevertheless we boarded, my daughter purposely ran to catch the train in DDLJ( Dilwale Dulhaniya le Jayenge) style, as it would never be possible anywhere else in the world, where the doors are shut before the train moves out. Don't want to sound hoity toity, but the fact remains that I have travelled a lot by train in Europe particularly Switzerland, UK, China, and have absolutely great memories of those beautiful, clean, gorgeous trains.

HAPPY WITH THEIR SEATS

The train moved, the tea was served and we were settled comfortably on our seats. We had excellent seat numbers and plenty of leg room. Soon the landscape changed and the fields and small towns went past us. The disappointment of the looks of the train started fading away, when the waiter serving us tea noticed that my grand children would neither drink tea nor coffee, so he brought them extra Marie biscuits, removed their tea tray and said, "Ye le lo beta". This dialogue of his touched my heart somewhere....this is India. This is what is "us", the relationships that we build so easily. Behenji, mataji, auntyji, bhai sahib, beta, these are the general terms used by all and sundry.We are all one big family!

SUMPTUOUS FOOD

The journey after that did not bother me and I took everything else in my stride.

The first stop was Ambala, and the announcement on the Public Address system said, "We welcome only passengers from Ambala......" I was quite amused by this declaration of bias towards passengers from Ambala. The next station was Ludhiana, again only the passengers from Ludhiana were welcomed. I thought it was quite strange and sounded not too good. By the time the third station arrived and the PA system was announcing the Welcome, I listened to The Hindi Welcome too. It said, “Phagwara se chadne wale yaatrion ka hum Hardik Swagat karte Hai." I realized that all this time the lady was actually saying, "We Warmly Welcome passengers from ..... and not "We Only welcome passengers from.....

After having solved this mystery quite successfully, I turned my attention to the passing scenery. Punjab is really a land of plenty. The fields were all green and fully planted. There were paddy fields , and sugar cane was present to a lesser extant. There was a pathway along the canal (nahar) on which people were going about on motor cycles and tractors. I also saw an elderly gentleman walking on the path probably taking his morning walk. It reminded me of my mother- in- law telling me that her father was the Dipty(Deputy) in the Irrigation department and he used to go on his horse for Inspection of the canals. That was the time of the British Raj and they lived in Imnabad which is now in Pakistan. My time traveller mind could find the similarities of a period about ninety years ago with this day. The nahar, the pagdandi(pathway), the same fields, the greenery of a fertile land, the prosperity of the people, everything seemed the same. The houses were few and all were pucca houses, they did not have the village like, rustic looking thatched huts. We crossed quaint little stretches of platform with two boards displaying the name of the station, a railway crossing with cars, tempos, motor cycles, tractors waiting for the train to pass, and a cluster of houses around the station. I felt glad that I had decided to take this train journey. It brought me in touch with My India, the real India. Prosperous, still rustic, still grounded, still surrounded by land, agriculture and crops.
Even though I strained my neck a lot, I simply could not see a Waheeda Rehman romping on the fields singing “Doongi tujhe reshmi rumaal oh banke zara nede aana( Des Pardes style). Could not see Simran( DDLJ style), simply couldn't see those beautiful damsels anywhere. OH! I know, those were all in the fields of the yellow sarson, so I guess if I come when the sarson is flowering and the fields look like a sea of yellow, I will see the damsels singing in filmy style! Eureka!

THE MIGHTY RIVER BEAS

Train journeys are still very romantic.They take us to our destination, and the view from the windows of greenery, prosperity, large rivers, little clusters of villages, power transmitters, electricity and power towers, the chaiwala visible but not entering your compartment, is a good memory.

THE OUTER POST OF AMRITSAR STATION

 One does have to overlook the toilets, the nasty complaining traveller who wants the complaint book as the waiter refused to serve him a cold drink, and the non existent cleanliness of the station.
One thing that I kept thinking about, was the same time of August in the year of 1947. I recalled the journey that a lot of people undertook on the train fleeing from Pakistan or India, leaving their homes, lands, belongings and memories. A lot of them lost their dear ones too. They all travelled on this very route, in very difficult, turbulent, disturbing and tragic circumstances. I know that a lot of water has since flown down the Ganges as well as the Indus, and yet I thought about those who travelled on this very route, and felt a little sad at those memories.

Back to the present day and time and journey, I have to say what most of us Indians usually say, after a full bout of complaints, "Baki sab theek -thaak hai!" (everything else is fine). 

SHAAN HAI! SHANGHAI!!

Most of us get fascinated by the names of some places in our childhood.  Shanghai was the name of one such place that I always fancied. Some other "names of places" that I liked were London, Bombay, New York, Melbourne, Paris.

IN THE TRAIN

When our China trip included Shanghai in the last leg, I was quite anxious to see what this city was going to offer me. From Xian we took the Express Sleeper train to Shanghai. The train was superb. There were beautiful net curtains as well as light yellow colored silk curtains on the windows. The corridor in the compartment had single seats at intervals where one could sit and watch the countryside go by. The sleepers were comfortable, with soft berths. Every cabin contained a water jug, 4 hangers, bright reading lights, and a dustbin. We were provided with two sheets, a blanket and a pillow, kept neatly stacked on the berth. We were allocated 3 Cabins but all ten of us huddled together in one cabin, as we wanted to chat and spend our evening together, eating all the namkeens that we had carried with us to China.

SEATS IN THE CORRIDOR

Incidentally it was the Wedding Anniversary of one couple, so there was more fun. We heard the interesting story of their marriage, which I will share with you some other time.

This train was a vestibule. There was a dining car too. In every compartment there is a washing area where you can wash your dishes and cups. There was also a very hot water dispenser for endless cups of hot tea.

HOT WATER DISPENSER

The train journey was good, and after a good nights sleep we arrived at Shanghai. It's altogether another story that TNN my husband lost his breathing apparatus....oh sorry...his mobile phone just when we reached Shanghai. No, it was not stolen, he just dropped it somewhere.

THE ERSTWHILE RUSSIAN EMBASSY

Shanghai seemed less high rise as we entered the City. It looked different from Beijing. There was something about the city which was captivating. The place gave an impression of a rich, relaxed well established grand city which has a character of its own.  

A GOLDEN BUDDHIST TEMPLE

The train stations and roads were very beautiful. There were no roses alongside the roads as in Beijing, but they had other plants and roads were clean, traffic was orderly. There were lovely Magnolia trees all over the place. The trees were in full bloom and the white huge flowers amongst the dark green leaves looked very fresh and pretty. There were Peonies too. Peonies are large pink flowers, and I was quite fascinated to see these flowers on trees.

The name of our hotel was "Lotel"! It was an eco friendly hotel so everything was quite green and no plastics were seen around. 

NEON LIT SKYSCRAPER

Shanghai has a  beautiful skyline.  The Pudong district of Shanghai has a wide range of skyscrapers, many of which rank amongst the tallest in the world. No other city in the world has as many free standing buildings which are over 400 meters tall . The third tallest building in the world is the Shanghai World Financial Center which is 492 metres tall. The tallest  building in China is under construction at Shanghai and will be 632 metres when completed and will have 127 floors. Shanghai has been described as the "showpiece" of the booming economy of China.

THE AMAZING SKYLINE BY NIGHT

All these buildings are lit up every night and so every night is Diwali night in Shanghai. The lighting pattern too is different in every building.We had asked our guide if there was any power failure in Shanghai. He said, " I am 27 years old, and I have never seen the lights go off".

When we reached the Bund, we were filled with awe as all around us were fabulously lit up huge sky scrapers.  The roof of each building was different and the beauty of the place was enough to make all of us gasp with amazement. 

ABSOLUTE BEAUTY!

The spectacular  area with the sky scrapers  is near the Huangpo river. A lot of  boats ply on this river taking  tourists around to  enjoy the beauty of the skyline by day as well as by night. The boats too are  well illuminated with decorative lights, and are quite fascinating to watch as they glide past with their passengers.

THE BUND WALL

The walls on the bund around the river have been beautified with an abundance of flowers. The potted plants have been placed on the walls in such a manner that the wall looks as if they are  made of flowers. The place therefore looks beautiful by day as well as by night.

THE YUYUAN MARKET

Shanghai also has an ancient side. There are many buildings maintained as they were traditionally.These are "Shikumen" residences which have a front courtyard protected by a high wall.  Each residence is connected by a straight alley. The entrance to the house is usually through a stylistic stone arch. In fact Shikumen means "stone gate".

THE ZIG ZAG BRIDGE

The Yuyuan Market is one such place where one can see a lot of these typical buildings. This is a shopping complex, but I was quite captivated by the beauty of the whole place and kept gaping at every roof, building and wall. I cannot recall any shop over there. There is a lovely lake in the center of the market and there is a zig zag bridge on it. It is quite fascinating to see these really exotic buildings and get the feel of traditional China as it must have been, once upon a time.

PROUD GRANDFATHER WITH CAKE

Another spectacular and affluent market in the olden style is Xintiandi. Xintiandi means "New Heaven and Earth". This is more modern than Yuyuan. There are traditional buildings which have a modern touch to it. They are less stylized. This is a very posh market with a lot of Western style restaurants with open air seating. It was my grand daughter Aaria's birthday the day we visited this market. So we had a little coffee party with lovely cakes. All the ten people wished Aaria and I recorded it on video.

As the houses here were connected by alleys, so we walked through one such alley. There was a window where the curtain seemed to be made with real egg shells. Flower arrangements and decorations in the windows were quite exotic and different from the Western world.

Xintiandi is the place where the first congress of the Communist Party of China met.

Near this place is the people's park and nearby are the showrooms of Lamborghini as well as Rolls Royce. Quite a see change from Communism to materialism!

NANJING

Nanjing is the posh- posh highest profile market in Shanghai. It is one of the world's busiest shopping street. It is totally a pedestrian area and is beautifully lit with neon lights. We wandered around the place, looking at the people and shops. We found Tea shops, where different types of tea was sold. There was a tea like a bud which when soaked in water opened out into a flower. I bought Jasmine tea as well as the flowering tea, I do not know the name as it was in Chinese.

In spite of the years of Communism, now people have returned to their Gods. There are a number of temples,mosques and Churches too. They follow Mahayana Buddhism, and also Taoism. We  went to see the Jade Buddha temple which was built in 1882. 

LANTERNS

COLOURFUL FISH

 There are two statues of Buddha made of jade, which were brought here from Burma. Besides the jade statues there are other statues made of marble in this temple. Outside the main temple inside the compound, there was a lot of incense being burnt in huge cauldrons. Candles were in the shape of pink lotus. 

WORSHIPPERS IN THE TEMPLE

People were praying very fervently. We entered the temple through a corridor full of red colored lanterns( akashdeep). The temple had a Bonsai garden as well as a pond filled with very beautiful colored fish.  The statues were beautiful and prayers were not carried on inside. It was very tranquil, clean and pretty. 

TEA CEREMONY

There was a tea shop inside the premises of the Temple, where they sold herbal tea which was quite expensive, but is said to bring relief in asthma, arthritis, diabetes and many other long standing illnesses. The tea was made and we were offered the tea. All of us bought one tea or the other trusting that it was a Government shop.

ZHUJIAJIAO ANCIENT VILLAGE

After seeing all this opulence and grandeur in Shanghai, we went to see a very tranquil, peaceful place. This was about 48 kms. away from Shanghai. The place is called Ancient Water Town Zhujiajiao. This village has been in existence for the last 1700 years. It is also called the Venice of China. 

THE CANAL AT ANCIENT VILLAGE

There was a canal in the center, lined with Weeping Willow trees., there were old streets paved with stone and many curved bridges across the canal. On the banks were shops selling curios, traditional toys, hand knitted bootees for babies, traditional clothes and food and tea. 

WEEPING WILLOW & A BOAT

We were told that a lot of buildings were more than 600 years old. There were boats plying in the canal. How beautiful and peaceful old China must have been! There was a lot of beauty, calm and a feeling of time having stopped in its track in the Village.

 

FLOWERS IN A WINDOW

 On our last evening in Shanghai, we went for a river cruise on the famous Bund. The fascinating lights, the lovely breeze made it a delightful evening for all of us.

Shanghai which broken up sounds like Shan hai, actually is a very shaandaar place. It is a majestic, grand, rich, historical metropolis which can give any big metropolis of the Western world a complex!

A JASMINE TREE IN FULL BLOOM

I cannot end what I am telling you without sharing one very interesting aspect that we experienced in China. Amongst the five men in our group there were two men with moustaches and one with a goatee. In Beijing at the Tiananmen Square, one of our group with large Nathulal style Moustache got a lot of attention from girls. The girls would flock around him and one girl even asked if she could comb his moustache! Where ever we went he was the center of attraction. If any of us got lost, we just had to strain our ears for the oohs and aahs of girls and sure enough our hero would be found there surrounded by admiring females.

On the cruise, before disembarking we were taking group photos, and were being watched quite intently by a lot of people. Suddenly one girl asked if she could be included in our picture. We agreed, she quickly came over to the hero with the goatee, pushed his wife away, and almost sat on the lap of our hero. It was a very hilarious sight and we couldn't get over this episode.

HIGHLIGHT OF OUR TRIP!

Now of course everyone knows why all the other men of our group are tending to their moustaches and making sure that they grow nice and beautiful, before we plan another trip to China.