My visit to Somnath, Nageshwarnath and Dwarkadheesh Temples

August 16 2012

Boarded jet konnect flight to Ahmedabad. Flight took off at about 10:50 AM

Landed at ahmedabad aiport at about 2:30 pm. Nice airport luggage was already on belt when I arrived at ARRIVALS.

Pre-paid taxi counter is available at Arrival lounge as also auto rickshaw.

I had to go to Paldi chau rasta from where all buses leave Ahmedabad. Pre-paid auto rickshaw counter wanted me to pay Rs.350 but I went on outside the airport and found an auto guy who agreed to take me to Paldi for Rs.200.

It was hot and I was a bit indecisive whether to check into a hotel or to leave for Somnath rightaway.

Reached Paldi around 3 o'clock and started inquiring about buses to Somanath. I was told that Patel Tours and Travels and Eagle Travels were the biggest operators but they did not have buses to Somnath starting in the afternoon. Then I went to Mahasagar Travels agent. He suggested I go to Junagadh by AC bus and from there Somnath would be much closer and I could take another bus to reach.

I paid the agent Rs.300 and he gave me a printed ticket to Junagadh for an AC bus.

I had some food already packed from Lucknow so I immediately boarded the bus. I paid the auto guy who was really helpful all the while and brought me a bottle of mineral water too. I also tipped him a little bit.

Bus started at 3:45 pm.

It was a video coach bus and he played popular Hindi movies.

Bus passed through Rajkot and other cities which I did not make not of.

It also stopped midway on a big dhaba kind of place though much cleaner than normal dhabas and much bigger in size, also more expensive. Place also had clean toilets.

Bus driver drove on and on except for stopping to take in more passengers who had booked their tickets online.

We reached Junagadh at about 10 pm.

We alighted from the bus and a mini bus was already waiting for us.

The bus was to take people to interior of Junagadh. Inside the bus I happened to spot a Bengali guy, a young boy. He told me to stay overnight at one of the hotels near bus stand less than half a km away and then start for Somnath the next day. I took his suggestion and started on foot. I was really tired and wanted to fall down on any bed I could get hold of. I reached the bus station and bang opposite it was a lodge named Shri Ram Lodge. It is bang opposite Junagadh Bus station however a very budget hotel.

I had my doubts whether they would be having AC rooms but it appeared that they did have one room with AC.

I checked out the room, there was something cosy about it and the AC worked! Mistake I made was not checking out the toilet which turned out to be a bit dirty. I was dead tired as I said before I paid him and advance of Rs.800 of which Rs. 100 was refundable.

I told him to wake me up at 6:30.

17 August 2012

Woke up next day due to the hotel guy's banging at my door. Immediately got ready had no breakfast just two cups of tea. Tea cup in Gujrat is about half the size in UP but cost is same. You can take the tea home when the tea vendor packs it in a polythene tube. In fact he pours it down the tube with a funnel. I found this very funny !!

Bus started soon, a non-AC bus but people said I would hardly notice due to being near the sea, they were correct and in any case there are no AC buses plying between Junagadh and Somnath.

Junagadh to Somnath is about 90 km.

The road is good and bus was comfortable.

I had been advised to stay at Veraval less than ten km from Somnath but I decicded to go directly to Somnath.

Bus dropped us at Prabhas (patan??) from there I took a shared auto to the temple.

It being last day of Gujrati Shrawan police stopped the auto about 1 km from temple near Lilavati Guest House belonging to Somnath Trust. If possible one should book room online in advance in this guest house it is cheaper. I however had done no such thing.

It was painful to drag along my stroller attache for a km specially when I had a laptop bag full of stuff.

I bought a new pair of slippers as I had not brought along any. The slipper guy told me about a hotel nearby .

I reached the said hotel but he had no rooms at least no AC rooms. I was a bit angry and frustrated then I found a young guy, the type who take people to hotels. He promised to take me to a Hotel with AC rooms near the temple. Having no option I followed him. He showed me two or three rooms which I did not find good. Finally he took me to Hotel Sharda who had a huge room vacant, the only AC room vacant at thattime. Catch was that it had yet not been vacated. I wanted to catch the 12 PM aarti and it was already 11:30 AM. He had me taken to another room where I quickly changed and had a bath and left my stuff in . Neither camera nor mobile phones are allowed inside temple.

I quickly readied myself and left for the temple.

The crowd was extremely well managed. There was a depot for depositing luggage and foot wear but I did not go there I just left my slippers outside the temple like many others had done. From then on it took only about 10 minutes to reach the temple. Just as I entered the temple the aarti started. If you miss this aarti, be sure that you have missed something divine. Like in Rameshwaram temple you have to do darshan from afar you cannot go near the Shiv Lingam. I wish it was otherwise. Also you are not allowed to stay for more than a few seconds before Shiv Lingam and will be showed out by somnath trust staff if you overstay. I went outside the the main temple but within hearing distance of big aarti drum. A shehnai is also played along with drums.

On my way out I bought parshad which is sold at a designated kiosk by temple staff.

I was very hungry by now so I immediately left for Sardar Restaurant in Lilavati Guest House campus. Food here is expensive but really delicious and the ambience is superb.

Here i met Nepali students who came from Nepalgunj on India-Nepal border. I talked on phone and by my accent the Nepali student who worked as manager of restaurant immediately understood that I was from Lucknow. He lamented that he knew nobody in Lucknow otherwise he would not have had to travel so very far from his home to work. I assured him that I would give work to anyone he would care to refer to me. I gave him my mobile number.

After this I went back to Hotel Sharda and swapped my room. The new room was huge really meant for four people. It was tolerably clean with TV and huge space for putting things in.

Tea was made inside the hotel itself this I found very convenient as I am hugely dependent on tea.

I tried to catch some sleep but after some effort I gave it up and strolled out.

The sea near Somnath temple is lovely and one can stand on the rocks piled up against the sea for hours on end. It is not a cluttered beach very few pilgrims at a given point of time. Beside this pile of rocks is the regular beach which is crowded with ppl sipping a drink or even venturing out into the sea waves. coconut water , cold drink, snacks and sea shell mementos are sold on this beach.

Afraid that it could rain I went back into the hotel and watched some news on TV .

I again visited the temple for the 7 am Aarti. It was again a very smooth darshan. No pushing and shoving and no rush.

This time I sat on one of the benches facing the sea inside temple complex and did mala jaap.

Temple closes at about 9:30 PM in sharp contrast to Jyotirlingas like Mahakaleshwar and Vishwanath which are open almost througout the day and night.

After this I went again to Sardar restaurant and had dinner.I also had fried rice and roti and sabzi packed. I always do this before starting on a journey and I really thanked myself for this later on.

The bus station is near the temple and the inquiry guy told me  that a bus to Dwarka, my next destination, would start at 6:30 AM in the morning. Of course a non-AC bus since AC buses did not ply between Somnath and Dwarka

Reached hotel and after watching TV and packing up my things I went to sleep.

 18^th August

Started from Hotel Sharda at 6o’clock reached Bus station just a few buildings away. Inquiry guy said at the bus station that bus will leave at 6:30 am. Bus did come and leave at allotted time but I was not on it reason being that I have not mastered the fine art of pushing and jostling and elbowing one’s way into a government buses.

 It was suggested to me that I go to Veraval and wait for another bus which would arrive at 7 am. I took an auto and went onto Veraval and waited. A bus did come for Dwarka but it was the same bus that I could not get into. 

There was a group of financially weak students there too facing the same plight. We inquired about private buses but none were available. Then a mini bus guy suggested we first take a mini bus to Porbandar and from there take another bus to Dwarka. This is what we did. 

I and those seven people got into a rickety mini bus which took us to Porbandar . It was a beautiful coastal road with strong breeze blowing. But we were cramped for space so a ride of nearly four hours was a torture.

 At Porbandar the bus guy dropped us near bus station . From there we took an auto and went to bus station. Just as we got there a bus for Dwarka came inside the bus station. 

We got onto this bus which had become  fully vacant due to most of the passengers alighting. When the bus started we heaved a sigh of relief. It was again near the coast and cool breeze blowed. 

We reached Dwarka at around 1:15 pm and were shocked to learn that the temple had closed and would open only at 5:30 pm. 

Temple of Dwarkadheesh closes at 12:30 pm.

I was deeply worried as I was very very far from Ahmedabad and had to catch the plane back to Lucknow in the afternoon the next day.  

We inquired about Nageshwar Nath and Bet Dwarka thinking of doing these in the meantime . We were told that buses charged only Rs.70 for the whole tour. 

We went in an auto to inquire about these buses but apparantely they were all full. At this point the group of seven told me to take a special auto and go on forward on my way and they would stay back and manage somehow.

 I got an auto for Rs.600 both ways . I got onto the auto and heaved a sigh of relief. It took me to Nageshwar Nath about 16 km from Dwarka. Nageshwar Nath ji mandir was in a dilapidated condition but Late Gulshan Kumar had it renovated and a gigantic statue of Lord Shiva was installed there by him.

 Here I again met the same guys who helped me in getting darshan quicker. 

As we drew nearer the temple I bought gangajal and Prasad from the vendors there. I was disappointed to see that one had to do darshan only from a distance as in Somnath but those guys I had travelled with pointed to me that some people were going near the shivalingam so I inquired from two Pandits sitting there and they said I had to pay Rs.210 to go near shivalingam I paid and started to go in but they said first I have to change into a dhoti, so I went and changed into a dhoti and poured some gangajal on myself as I had not taken a bath.

 I was allowed to touch the shivalingam covered in silver except for a small window from where i touched it. It was a very old shivalingam with stone highly corroded. No body checked me I also offered bel patra and gangajal . 

I was so overcome by emotion that I clutched at the feet of two staff members there. Even they felt embarrassed but at that point of time I did not know how to thank them. One of them perhaps the Mahant gave me a special picture of Nageshwarnath Ji. It was the only picture I could acquire and why you would know later.

I also bought two bags of prasad from prasad kiosk which i later distributed to people back in Lucknow.

From this point the auto took me to Bet Dwarka jetty . I passed through salt making factories. 

At the jetty I was really tired but had no option but to move on. There was a mad rush for getting onto the steamer which was a large boat acting as a ferry.Steamer people charged Rs.10 . the rickety vessel chugged its way towards bet dwarka jetty. There we alighted . I saw a restaurant in front of me and stopped for bread pakora and tea which were only items available there that interested me. 

I was really tired by now with my soles paining badly but somehow pushed on. At bet dwarka temple i deposited my camera and mobile and my luggage with the security guard. I quickly had darshan of Dwarkadheesh. 

Lord Krishna 's idol here is almost a copy of the one at Dwarkadheesh temple. 

After this I quickly moved back to jetty and boarded the same boat with the same unpleasant owner. When I got back I again met those students who did not want to go to Dwarka but wanted to push off. I said goodbye to them. It was nearly six . I got onto a bus for Dwarka. He charged me only rs. 20. I had bid adieu to the auto rickshaw guy as i found him too unpleasant.

In the bus I met a couple . The man told me that he would take me to the office from where I would be able to get a bus back to Ahmedabad in the night. He dropped me at an office but the guy there said there was no vacancy in any bus. Then I went to adjacent agent and he gave me the only seat available in a sleeper bus. Ticket cost was Rs. 360. It was 7:45 and the bus was to leave at 8:30. I quickly took an auto to Dwarka temple . There I met a young Panda clad in jeans. He took me past the long queue and made it possible for me to have Darshan of Lord Dwarkadheesh. I asked for a bit of Tulsi from temple guard and he gave me a whole mala. Outside the temple I gave the young Panda Rs.500 for making it possible for me to have Darshan of Lord Dwarkadheesh. 

 I quickly rushed back to Bhadrakali chauraha where the bus was to come. I got my ticket checked and bought some patties , cream roll and mineral water and sat or rather lay down inside the sleeper bus.

The bus reached Ahmedabad at about 7. One autowalla took me to three hotels, of these I liked Hotel Crystal. Very clean luxurious hotel with wi fi and everything neat and new . I ate food there took a bath repacked my luggage and left for airport. 

Room tarriff was nearly 2K but I negotiated with him and he agreed on 1200. I had a heavy meal there of dal roti and chappatis.

The auto guy who had dropped me earlier had sent his brother to take me to the airport.

Reached airport at around 12 and checked in immediately.

Took a flight and came back to Lucknow again

It will be 3 jyotirlingas again in winter.

Jai Baba Somnath n Nageshwarnath. Jai Dwarkadheesh !

Top quality vegetarian food in Lucknow : well mostly !!

There are two evils in Lucknow - sloth and food ! Yes I know they are evil but Lucknowites love both! Once you become infected by these two evils your career is finished. I have seen people who were posted in Lucknow stick to their jobs for years, not taking promotions just digging their heels in so that they do not have to leave Lucknow.

I never would have realized this had I not been entrusted with the responsibility of expanding my father's business in the south, extreme south India that is. Once in cities like Chennai I felt like a fish out of water due to non-availability of good north Indian food. North Indian food was there but it was not good. I guess no one is to be blamed for it but it made me look around and realize how heavily food makes up for what we call  Lucknowi culture.

This is my first blog post on food and I welcome your suggestions and comments.

Shahi Paneer

This is one of the most painstakingly prepared dishes and so requires great expertise. When I was a kid almost every restaurant in Lucknow served decent quality shahi paneer but this has changed in recent times. The quality has gone down dramatically and only recently have I discovered that Ritz (Mahanagar) has again started preparing the old and famous top quality Shahi Paneer that can only be prepared in Lucknow.

Dal Makhani

In Lucknow Dal Makhani is on the menu cards under different pseudonyms like Dal Bukhara and Dal Maharaja but basic ingrediants and method of preparation is same everywhere. This again is  a dish that is painstakingly made due to a variety of ingredients used and spices required. The recipe is still a secret and it is almost impossible to prepare the kind of Dal Makhani at home which is served in reputed restaurants in Lucknow. The best quality Dal Makhani is available in Hotel Gemini Continental, Royal Sky and Hotel Sagar Ratna; Falaknuma roof top restaurant in Hotel Clarks Avadh sadly has lost its mojo where aforementioned dish is concerned. 

Chole Bhature

One can say why mention Chole Bhature under the head Lucknowi food but the old Chole Bhature recipe of Lucknow is decidedly different from the Punjabi Chole Bhature. Lucknowi Chole Bhature are not actually made from chole but from a smaller version of chole known only to old timer khansamas it is called 'mobia'. This small gram is also not available easily in the market and professionals stock it up in large quantity. I feel sad though to announce that the best chole bhature in not only Lucknow but perhaps in UP are no longer been made. There used to be a shop in a lane now known as Naaja or Naaza market in Hazratganj which used to serve those. They were a large family but they had disputes and only recently they wrapped up the eatery business supplanting it with computer hardware business. They used to make a limited amount at great pains and it used to finish up by evening. They had no name for the shop so it has disappeared without a trace and become history. Now only in certain pockets in old Lucknow will you get those heavenly chola dishes. I am yet to discover one of them because I depended heavily on that Naaja market shop. So still looking for the perfect Chola-Bhatura maker in Lucknow. If you have run into someone who fits the bill let me know by using comments section below please.

Chaat

No it is not chat as in chatrooms it is chaat which means in Hindi 'to lick' or literally 'lick it!' . Chaat is of course not a single dish but rather a syndrome of dishes I used the world syndrome because a lady who suffers from this syndrome can make your life hell specially if she happens to be your wife or mother. So chaat consists of paani puri, aloo tikki, matar tikki, sonth tikki, baigni, matar suhaal and chatni batasha some people add dahi bada to that long list. In my opinion original Lucknowi chaat is dead merely because no one wants to invest the mandatory long time in preparing chaat that is absolutely necessary for a quality product. To a very small extent Dixit Chaat in Chowk still keeps alive the taste but only just. Dixit chaat shop in one of the few to use Desi ghee in preparing chaat. Other big players in chaat market are King of chaat opposite DM's residence in Hazratganj and Royal Cafe Hazratganj. In my opinion Royal Cafe people who are the Don Corleone of food business in Lucknow make a chaat which cannot be called Lucknowi at all. It is an entirely different preparation. 

I never could train my palate to savour the strong and chilly taste of chaat so I am not so very enthusiastic in writing about this syndrome that has in its grip many ladies of Lucknow.

Veg kebabs

About ten years back veg kebabs were available only in parties of the very rich and nowhere else . Looks like some cook suddenly had a brainwave and started a veg kebab kiosk since then veg kebabs have become a huge hit in Lucknow with consumption far outstripping the supply. I am vegetarian but I have been told that there is not really much difference in taste in a good veg kebab and a non-veg kebab the secret being the spices used - which are the same. Veg kebab though is still evolving. No reputed restaurant right now has a good kebab cook on its payrolls so it is the roadside vendors who are supplying this new dish. There is one kebab corner in Chowk opposite Chowk post office, this eatery seems to me to be biggest eatery dedicated to serving veg kebab and veg biryani. On the quality parameter though I would give it two and a half out of five. Beware kebabs are very spicy and would not be kind on your palate or your stomach but the taste is divine if prepared by an expert. Falaknuma the roof top restaurant mentioned before serves a dish named 'Hariyali kebabs' they are definitely worth a try. I am sure in a few years good dedicated eateries serving veg kebabs would come up in Lucknow. Kebab is eaten either with rumali roti, a thin but large roti without ghee or butter; or parantha which is full of refined oil or ghee and made from polished rice flour.

Jalebi

Advertisements have been resorted to in a big way by moneyed restaurateurs and halwais in recent times in Lucknow. People not having the inside knowledge of the eateries map in Lucknow are fooled by these. I do not want to quote any names here but finding good food is not easy as reading and address in a hoarding and going to the same. Jalebi preparation is again a very painstaking process in that several processes are involved in it and a shade extra at any stage can spoil the whole effect. In my four decades of gluttony I have not tasted jalebi which comes even close to Babulal a famous halwai in old Lucknow. There is a whole crossroads named after him in Aishbagh. They are more than a hundred years old Halwai family. His jalebi has just that exact amount of sourness and sweetness which is the very soul of jalebi preparation. Then there is the texture of the fried flour how it releases the sugary and sour substances in your mouth that is what makes the jalebi either a success or a failure. He prepares a limited amount of jalebi and the last few grams are sold by 10:30 AM everyday. Like I said in the beginning no one comes even close. However if you want to savour the taste of second best jalebi you can go to Radhey Lal Sweet shop just outsidee Gol Darwaza market in Chowk in old Lucknow but he wraps it up by  10 am sharp.

Imarti

At first glance imarti looks like the Siamese twin of jalebi but in fact it is more different than similar to jalebi. One big problem with Imarti is that it cannot be eaten even an hour after it is prepared the quality deteriorates dramatically as soon as imarti becomes cold. Old Lucknowi imarti is again dead and there are poor clones. The one imarti that comes close to old Lucknowi taste is available at Net Ram halwai on Shree Ram Road in Aminabad. Imartis are made only in the evening though in most shops in Lucknow. Another tolerable variety of Imarti is prepared by Radhey Lal adjacent Gol Darwaza in Chowk in old Lucknow.

Rasogolla/Rasgulla

You would again protest that it is a Bengali sweet but Rasogolla is Rasgulla in Lucknow and to the best of my knowledge two very old Bengali Sweet shops used to prepare the best of these one was (closed down recently) Bengal Sweets on Lathouche road and the other is Calcutta Sweets Charbagh. The former shop was the better of the two though with the rasgullas and sondesh having the characteristic bongo-lucknowi taste. Calcutta Sweets has taken a rebirth and is now hidden inside the lanes of Naka Hindola near Chargbagh railway station. They sold their huge property or maybe they were just tenants in a very old hotel which do the best of my memory was also called Calcutta Hotel just outside Charbagh railway station.

Puri / Kachori(ghee/refined oil)

Well in Lucknow there are two types of Puri/Kachori one made in desi ghee and other made in refined oil or Dalda ghee and believe me it is a totally different ball game. Again it is an altogether different ball game making the sabzi and the puri/kachori. Many halwais in old Lucknow are involved in making puris/kachoris because believe it or not many Lucknowites in old city breakfast at the halwai's place almost every day using these puris/kachoris. Technically speaking halwais do not make puris and almost all puris they make are actually kachoris as all puris are filled with varying amounts of filling. Normally urad dal is filled in puris, those which have a liberal filling are classified as kachoris and those with small filling are called Puris. Top class puri is available almost exclusively in old Lucknow and new Lucknow puris are overhyped. The great taste of puris in old Lucknow has evolved over nearly a hundred years. The best puri in my opinion is made by one halwai known as Ramchander . Ramchander was perhaps the grandfather of the halwai who presently makes those awesome puris with the help of his two sons. The puris are served hot and 11 AM is cut off time . This halwai is based in bartan bazar in Yahiyaganj area of old Lucknow. The high and mighty are his customers as the market is the very hub of business in Lucknow and most traders belong to families who have been doing ancestral business of selling utensils. Babulal halwai mentioned earlier has his shop at a stone's throw from this halwai's shop.

Puri / Kachori(desi ghee)

Like I said earlier this is an entirely different ball game. Best kachoris are made by a very friendly and savvy businessman in Aminabad area the famous Netram guy. He charges a fortune for his kachoris but it is a very neat and clean place and he has lots of other interesting things for you like the imartis I mentioned earlier. His kachoris are available throughout the day till almost 9 PM. I love his insatiable desire for customers and his cleanliness considering it is just a halwai shop and you know how halwais are in India.

Khasta

This is one of the most complex north Indian dishes to make. No novice should attempt this dish. Even seasoned halwais and housewives are not able to produce a good specimen. There are two types of khasta again one made with desi ghee and the other made with refined or dalda ghee. I am sad to announce that no one in Lucknow seems to be able to make an excellent desi ghee khasta that art is lost! Last time I ate a good desi ghee khasta was years and years ago in Allahabad!

The best dalda/refined oil khasta is made, nay invented, by a halwai well known as Ratti based at Hewett Road. At his shop there is always scope for a stampede so popular is his stuff. Unlike other place he serves them mainly with matar but also gives two types of aloo sabzi one chilly and other only spicy. Quality has gone down dramatically as the third generation is concentrating on every thing other then quality of his khastas. I won’t recommend this shop anymore.

The best desi ghee Khasta is available unfortunately where not even a two wheeler can go and one must walk to reach the legendry shop of Ram Asrey in Ban Wali Gali in Chowk. The quality fluctuates a bit but it is more or less like khastas tasted almost eighty years back in Lucknow. I may add here that the shop invented malai paan or malai gilauri and is still the best producer of the aforementioned delicacy.

Newest entrant to Khasta scene made of refined oil/dalda as they call it is Durga Khasta on GB Marg. There are many duplicate shops so the exact location of this shop must be known which is in second lane near Gautam Budh mandir on Gautam Budh Marg in Lathouche Road. He serves these piping hot and preferably they should be consumed outside on the road near his shop rather than taken home. These khastas are very crisp bordering on hard so keep in mind your dental health

Mechanical watches vs Quartz

This post is inspired by an article by Sidin Vudukat the famous author from India and editor of Mint here is the link http://www.livemint.com/2011/11/11221747/Hunting-down-an-HMT.html
It is not that I did not know the difference between mechanical and quartz watches, I knew it since childhood but never realized the value of rare watches my grandfather wore. I recently discovered one of his swiss watches in a pile of junk with bracelet damaged beyond repair but movement running better than a new watch's. Once fully wound the watch runs for about 3 days.
Now that is beside the point somewhat, what I wanted to tell you was when exactly did I realize that a mechanical watch is much more valuable than a quartz one, I have been trying and trying but cannot quite put a date to that. I guess like Sidin I also got to know the importance of mechanical watches from message board posts on the internet. It is there that I got to know that the world's most famous brands like Rolex, Rado are really famous for their mechanical watches .
Now for the new ones to the club mechanical watches are of two kinds - hand winding and automatic though it is not always that simple ! With handwinding watches you have to rotate the crown of the watches several times to wind the spring that gives power to the movement of the watch such watches are a bit cheaper than automatic watches ! Which brings us to automatic watches - these are the real kings of the trade. An automatic watch is powered by the movement of your hand as you move your hand an ultra sensitive semi wheel like structure rotates over a rail like metal ring and this rotation is used to wind a spring which powers the movement. Some automatic watches can be wound too like hand winding watches but I am told in Japanese watches this is definitely not the case. Nearer home HMT automatic watches can be wound a bit to give preliminary power to the movement. Now what sets apart expensive watches like Rolex and our humbler HMT. It all really depends upon sensitivity if you wear an HMT continuously for 12 hours it may keep on running for another 12 hours however I am told that if you wear a Rolex for an hour it will run for more than 10 hours when put off. Rolex is much down the line when it comes to cost . Some automatic movements are three dimensional like in the Breguet a very old watch brand which sold watches to Napoleon (hope I am accurate there). Such watches have a slit in the dial to show off this ultra complex movement the focal point of which is a tourbillon. Quartz watches are of course much simpler at first sight being largely a miniature circuit with a battery supply. The quartz movements are very cheap and I distinctly remember a road side seller in Lucknow selling quartz watches at Rs.50 per piece with one year warranty and most amazing thing was that the watches were displayed underwater in a tub, this to prove that they were waterproof. However when Seiko first made quartz watches they were as expensive as a car and even James Bond wore them in a movie before he reverted back to his Rolex.
Sidin in his Mint columns gives much more exhaustive accounts of various famous brands and their movements I advise all watch lovers to have a look at each of his articles.
Long time back I bought an automatic watch on ebay. It took nearly a week for the watch to come to my humble abode. When I opened the pack and the watch revealed itself it was with great difficulty that I was able to control my tears, I was afraid my workers would see my in that embarrassing condition, the reason I later on wept a little was that its dial was almost identical to that of a watch my grandfather used to wear, he died when I was a kid and that watch was an important part of memories I have of him.
He had many watches most of them I think he gave away to people whom he loved during his long illness only one of them is left which still ticks to remind me of a person who believed in giving away rather than hoarding.
Well I agree that was a bit beside the point - after reading Sidin's article I became aware that HMT is still making watches and checked out its huge range of models some of them now out of production. Many of these I found in old watch market in Aminabad in Lucknow. Fortunately for me most of them were prized at nearly 1000 Rs. or less. The modern HMT automatics are a bit expensive but still about one third the prize of automatic watches by Titan . HMT's Pilot watch is not world famous for nothing it is an absolute beauty and its real beauty is revealed in the dark when you can see its radium markers and hands glowing clearly. Radium is now banned for watches but it was probably more harmful for the people who painted the dials than for the wearer. Pilot watch however is not entirely HMT's invention I have a feeling it is inspired by old British Pilot watches of WWII but I am not entirely sure of it.
After reading all that stuff from Sidin and various experts on the site www.watchuseek.com I am both elated and concerned. Elated to discover a world of watches and concerned because this is very addictive and watch collective is a very very expensive hobby. I find myself ogling at rich people's wrists, shamelessly gazing at their Rolex es and Rados and thinking Lo - does he know how exactly this thing functions ! God has been kind to me till now I have limited myself to only buying Seikos, Orients and HMTs a lot of HMTs though if you are kind enough to gift me a Rolex I would not say NO!

Petroleum prices and what the government should be doing!

I always wished that petroleum prices would rise so much that we would switch back to horse carriages and all those fancy vehicles driven by horses like that stagecoach thing in The Good The Bad and The Ugly in which Tuco discovers Bill Carson. Unfortunately that is not going to happen no matter how much I wish. But the insane petrol prices are going to raise the price of all commodities very soon if they have not already.
Now I can go on suggesting remedies for this but you as well as I know what kind of people we have in power in a society where the one dream that every middle class father has for his son is to see him in a position where he can siphon off public funds. But since both you and I are not going to improve let us go through the routine of writing and reading.
Here is what I think should be done immediately for controlling fuel price
Increase the taxation on heavy non-commercial vehicles like the SUVs owned by private people to pollute the environment. It is nothing new happens in France as the engine volume goes up the taxes rise dramatically. This would not only generate additional revenues that can be directed to subsidize petrol prices but will also act as a deterrent for people using heavy vehicles needlessly.

Price petrol differently for different users some parties do need SUVs like medical services, tourism related companies, charitable trusts etc. they should get petrol at a different rate so that they do not suffer due to high petrol prices

Impose congestion tax people taking their vehicles to busy places in the center of the city for example Connaught Place in Delhi should be made to pay a tax per day or take non-petrol vehicles like electric cars inside those zones. Something like this is already in place in London. There can be exceptions created for people living in those zones or working there.

The funds thus generated can be used for subsidies

Electric vehicles should be made free of all taxes so that people switch to them as cheap alternatives to fuel guzzling automobiles.

Government should air propoganda in favour of non-petrol vehicles and describe the advantages for the environment

Like liquor adverts automobile adverts should be banned on TV I have seen a lot of people who cannot afford cars, buying the same on expensive EMIs just because media has subconsciously made people believe that they are paupers if they do not own the car. You will protest that Indians always believed that even before electronic media came, agreed to a certain extent but electronic media has reinforced and sealed that belief because it survives on revenues mainly by telecom companies and automobile companies the government must step in and do something about this.

I apologize for taking up your time but I felt I must express these ideas which were churning themselves inside my brain since a long time but of course like you I too understand that nothing will happen till it is too late for both of us because in Bollywood movie Mohra, hope I remember this correctly, a corrupt cop says "Aadhi zindagi nikal gayi padh ke police officer banne mein abha kya aadhi gawan doon choron ko pakadne mein" translated would mean "Half of my life I spent in studying to be a police office now no one can expect me to spend the other half chasing criminals"

#barkhagate and so called Mutiny of 1857 the parallels

I would not waste words on #barkhagate because I am assuming that those reading this are internet savvy people and they can easily google the term.

A little background about myself, I am an amateur historian specializing in the so called 'Mutiny' of 1857 I am so obsessed about it that I even wrote a novel based on events during 1857 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of this glorious event.

Warning what you read on may sound childish and amateurish to you but it is important to me very important.

Now when I first listened in to one of the tapes of Barkha Dutt talking to Nira Radia about cabinet formation I was horrified, I never liked her for her lopsided views but this was shocking even to a cynic like me. The story broke first on twitter and I expected people on twitter at least to leave aside everything and concentrate on pressurizing the media into playing the tapes. Initially the enthusiasm was there but I found that majority of people on twitter the ones I respected and thought could really make a splash in cyberworld with their numerous followers did not participate at all in using the #hashtags #barkhagate #mediamafia #dalalmedia etc. The journalists on twitter did not participate in the process at all.

Now from the beginning something that bothered me were the similarities between this struggle to expose corruption in media and 1857 and I describe them in brief below

• While young things people in their prime were fighting with their primitive arms and ammunition, the greatest power of their times influential people and those with resources were involved in pastimes like flying pigeons, playing chess or watching mujra you might have seen this in movies like Junoon and Shatranj ke Khiladi similarly on twitter people were talking about club football, cricket and hollywood moviesa and Sheela ki Jawani.
• Rulers of provincial kingdoms waited for events before taking a stand they wanted to see which side looked like winning - the British or the Indians and this delay on their part resulted in lack of a focussed and overpowering movement against the British similarly we have seen in the last month that major mainstream news media are still equivocal in their response and they refrain from using names of journos involved and prefer to refer to the tapes as just Radiatapes
• Most of the rulers did not help the so called mutineers because they had owed their very existence to the British similarly on twitter and elsewhere 'pseudo-celebs' who have been falsely glorified by media have either altogether refrained from commenting on the tapes or have brushed the whole thing away as something insignificant
• Many people were in the employ of the British or in industries or offices directly or indirectly operated by the British and they acted as if nothing had happened like industrialists in Ludhiana and officials from Bengal in British army they neither supported the British nor supported the so called mutineers similarly some people on twitter seem to be involved in either telecom industry or media and they act as if the radiatapes expose or barkhagate does not have anything to do with them.
• Some people did fire the first shots without thinking about results in 1857 and were never equivocal in their stand like Nana Sahab, I guess N. Ram can be compared with him in this regard who was clear in his just criticism of Barkha and Vir other journos have by and large given statements that would help them change their stand if things go in favour of Barkha and Vir so that they could plead they were actually helping them out !
• The biggest generals of the struggle in 1857 were not war hardened soldiers but amateurs who had never even seen battle in some cases for example Tatya Tope the greatest general of 1857. They were just clerks similarly in media expose we see that it is not the real journos, politicians or activists who are leading the fight it is investment bankers, dalal street brokers, software guys, engineers, amateur writers etc. who are trying to educate the masses and lodge their protest
• People differed on the ways to fight the British and there were lots of views finally the fight against the British was piecemeal half hearted and at several theatres and such a fight was bound to fail similarly on twitter I see some people think that using hashtags in their tweets is childish or they think they should stay away from the crowd and show their individual brilliance in their tweets consequently Barkha supporters have pointed out that there are only 10 people or so opposing Barkha greatly diluting this whole protest thing on twitter. So well don't say I did not warn you.
• ............................................................... keeping this blank because 1857 failed but the final chapter of barkhagate or exposé of media is still to be written

My advice and plea if you have the slightest shame on you jump on to the bandwagon and expose corruption in media so that they may cleanse themselves of the black sheep and expose corruption at every scale in our country!

Jai Hind!

Capitalism and literature!

I am so lazy... specially in writing but perhaps the positive side of that is the fact that when I do write I am very excited and full of hate! Ya hatred motivates me specially for the wave of capitalism now sweeping through India. I always wondered what suddenly happened that our literature, good literature that is, suddenly died! I do not want to be Mr know all but English literature seems to have just died! It is no more produced by artists, it is now produced by craftsmen! Now you would say what is the difference or may be you wouldn't but I will explain anyway. An artist has new ideas, now that was easily said but 'new' is something rare! 'New' here means really new and new almost certainly does not mean stuff that is produced to cater to a certain section or clientèle like for example you will find certain 'famous' NRI Indians writing novels from the perspective of a 'western' tourist. They are 'famous' because capitalist publishing houses made them 'famous' because if they are not made 'famous' their stuff would not sell. When I was a student such fiction was rammed down my throat and even then I wondered whether there was any literary merit in those works. They are craftsmen. A craftsmen can make a painting you want but an artist can only paint one that he has in mind- ideally that is !Now how does a writer become famous? Most of the people cannot think for themselves - they must have a good word from some 'established' some page 3 'celeb'. So well all that the publishing house had to do is to network with those page 3 people, you know how it is..... Also I have a feeling that to be a successful Indian writing in English you must criticize your country you absolutely must, I know I am being simplistic in this, but that is what will please a reviewer from the west and the big thing is that most of the Indian reviewers do not have the ability to think independently they more or less ditto what a western reviewer writes about works of Indians so if you really want to be successful criticize India its history and its culture. Emphasize on the poverty the corruption the class divide. That could win you millions not in rupees but in dollars. Only thing is that in your heart of hearts you will know that you are a conman/woman. For example there was one lady an NRI from UK who wrote a novel on Rani Laxmibai - so ... well she painstakingly tried to prove that she had an affair with an English officer- I can't tell you all the contents of it because it was banned in UP. But I only wonder whether the novel was centered only around that affair or was there something else in it - well if you read the reviews and what that writer had to say about her novel that is the only main thing you would have the impression, you were expected to think about.

But what effect does it have on literature, that is what we were talking about, my feeling is that in late nineteenth century and early twentieth century the big publishing companies overdid it! They churned out so much stuff often of little value that the reader out there was simply fed up, somewhat like TV/Cable/Satellite TV guys are doing today. Around the 60s the public just wasn't interested in reading - so they started this sex thing. And we had all 'those' kind of writers willing to make their contribution to the pool of depravity. Unluckily it started with D. H. Lawrence's novel but in all of Lawrence's work I could never find morbidity anywhere they are highly artistic works and not so easy to read either.

Now even the 'sex' thing is not working so what do the capitalistic publishing industry do - the next thing is controversy - Satanic Verses style that sells! But I have a feeling even that is not going to work soon with literature so the publishing industry has switched over to non-fiction in a big way. Like my novel was rejected by 'big' publishing houses because they said they were not really interested in fiction anymore. So what will happen to literature I wonder? Have you read a novel that you really enjoyed recently I mean one that was written recently and published by a 'big' publishing house? You have to ask yourself that question and yes by commenting on this post do let me know where all I have gone wrong.

I read a lot of stuff published by publication houses based in Moscow when I was a teenager, awesome books and at throwaway prices - because their agenda was not just business perhaps! I do not know for sure but I only know they were cheap and the stuff in them was full of innocence. I do not see books like those around. So little fiction is getting published these days because publishing fiction is a gamble and capitalist publishing houses do not want to try that specially when people are reading so little these days. I wonder what is the future of literature, English literature that is ......

The 'ism' of Capitalism !

This post should have come in first before I wrote Capitalism I , II and III . In this I wish to explain what I think is Capitalism and what people think about Capitalism. Please do not assume that I am a 'communist' because I am not. I do not really believe in any 'isms' because they are attached to individuals/'philosophers' and I am not into hero worship on serious issues. So let us get this clear that when I criticize Capitalism I am not supporting Communism ! Let us also get this clear at the outset that Capitalism is like sensuality or what is known in traditional Hindu philosophy as 'kaam' or 'kaama' . 'Kaama' is a vice like 'Krodh' (anger), 'Lobh' (greed), 'Mada' (arrogance) and 'Moha' (undue attachment or love for someone/something) ; but the big thing about 'Kaama' or sensuality is that it is so beautiful that it appears more like a virtue than a vice or should we say more like a friend than an enemy similarly about Capitalism. So if you feel you are too much in love with Capitalism just remember this!

Now the problem I have with Capitalism is a bit different than one would expect - I have no problem with Capital but only with 'ism'. Let us take the example of Chikan - chikan is a special kind of embroidery done only in Lucknow - authentic Chikan embroidery cannot be produced on a commercial scale anywhere else except Lucknow because it is a very complex art and also because a special kind of bleech is used to wash the garments to give them the white colour. The potential of Chikan has not been fully explored and most of the profit is still made by big exporters based in Mumbai as the industry is not organised. The worker who produces the chikan embroidery is generally very poor but he/she is poor because by and large he/she is not willing to work hard and stick to deadlines. This is where the wholesalers come in they take the risks they invest money and get high blood pressure and heart attacks because the chikan workers by and large are very very lazy - even if they are offered double the money they still go according to their whims - also a lot of stuff is lost or stolen by them and there is nothing the wholesalers can do about it. It has been this way since the last hundred years, many wholesalers lose heart and close shop. I know this because many of my relatives are in this business. So I guess Capitalism is more being wronged against in this case than doing the wrong and probably it has been this way even before the world Capitalism was coined . I am not saying that wholesalers are entirely in the wrong in this or the workers but one thing is sure and that is that things are going to remain this way in this industry in the near future. There were some efforts by some so called NGOs to organise the workers and give them more profit but ultimately it turned out that those NGOs were being run by polished con people.

My problem is with the 'ism' . People with capital were always there and big business families like the marwaris were always there and probably controlled a big chunk of business but this Capitalism is a new phenomenon. 'ism' means the whole society is oriented towards that idea. The endeavours of the society the government and everybody else is to achieve the goal defined by that 'ism'. So suddenly only those people who have the Capital can really do something only those. Because they have the money to pay MSM and other advertising pimps. Their voices are the loudest since they have banner ads on internet, ads on FM radio, big print ads in major newspapers, on TV, huge billboards and God knows where. This is what I am against ! Did you know that the so called spiritual channels on which polished 'Mahatmas' give discourses charge a hefty fee to air the discourses! And since this is how it is you can very well understand who gets to have his/her discourses aired. This is not to say of course that all the mahatmas that speak on those channels are fake of course not but having to pay an unbelievable amount of money for spiritual discourses thank God in-spite of Capitalist propaganda still appears wrong. I wonder whether people will think the same away in a few years. So this Capitalism means that only babas like one who was recently arrested will get to speak and to mislead people.

Also this whole emphasis on generation of 'revenue' means that the most attractive jobs in coming days will be in 'sales' which means that people will be 'selling' something to their neighbours all the time and getting all kinds of diseases in the process as they are controlled by slave drivers. Isn't this a throwback to the early barter system society the newly material society when the emphasis was to hoard and barter 'things' and the more advanced stage which came later was the spiritual society when people exchanged spiritual ideas to achieve a higher stage in spiritual development. So is the Capitalistic = materialistic society a progressive or a retrogressive society.

I have written about this earlier but must write again - when society becomes Capitalistic and the already corrupt capitalistit MSM has to survive in this it has to delve deep into morbidity to bring out a new 'pearl'. They have almost done with gay and lesbian themes and now the next stage is incest and bestiality! A gay character already coming up in Archies comics (if I am to believe certain tweeters on twitter) to keep up with newer morbidities.

This is the problem I have with the 'ism' you see - it is not about the PR definition of Capitalism - the 'privately owned means of production' and blah blah blah... spare me that crap please!

When the whole of society is geared up to this - freedom is curtailed - and the fallacy that Capitalism = freedom comes to the fore. For example content in MSM - as you might have observed they favour only a certain kind of news mainly those connected with celebs, sports, beauty pageants, sex scandals, soap operas ... well you know all that so where is the freedom .. are their correspondents free to do a story they think is important! These are early stages of Capitalism in MSM a later stage would be - they would never hire a correspondent who shows even the smallest traces of being original .. Ha Ha!

So well this was in short - a short objection to 'ism' in Capitalism that I am dead against. I will expand this further as I am able to organize my ideas.

Thanks for tolerating!