The vintage library in Allhabad

Thornton-Mayne Library - sounded very grand and I had to see it. It looked like a church from outside and inside; a Gothic one at that, with a rose window and the praying arches, I could have been in a French village church:so catholic.

Yet this building was built as a library in the late 19th century and the libray came into existence in 1898. The two architects were Thornton and Mayne. They had a large population subscribing and the deposit was 50Rs ;some of which are still deposited in the the Allahabad Bank in Calcutta.

It has a million books, old and new , mostly old and about 50,000 subscribers. the present fee is Rs 16 /year and the deposit is Rs 800. The users are mostly students who are studying for competitive exams and those preparing for IAS. Some spattering of research scholars do use the library. There are archives of the newspaper Pioneer since 1905, a separate room has been dedicated to these decaying paper bundles.

We found a dark, musty room with many rare books, some on cuneiform swriting, on how to make marble temples, on Britis Army maps, on rare paintings; all piled up in a dusty cupboard open to elements. When asked about their preserving methodology, they said once in a while they put these books out in the sun! rats have their share of the books.

We found three rows full of well bound "punch" issues since 1840 read by none at the moment but in fairly good condition. I have been offered the previlege of reading it if I desired, thanks to my Husband's position.

The best discovery was that of a book written for the students of the Madras Medical College by Surgeon Major General Sibthorpe in 1903. I had goose pimples holding the book in my hand and my pulse rate was way beyond a new borns'.

It is such a shame that we have such treasures and we have many problems such as :1. Nobody knows about it. they do not even have a list of the old , rare books they have .the researchers of the world do not know that these books exist to peruse them 2. knowledge about preservin g these rare publishings is nil in the librarians in charge. 3. Govt is apathetic to the state of the books and wastes money on politicians and their tamashas.

The exteriors are well maintained I must accept but, the most important content in a library are its books and they are in a poor state. There was an antique looking Chinese : there are no records of it existence nor a history. I am sure it one of the spoils of war or a gift from a visiting dignitary of the yester years. it is kept in the corner of a room exposed .

Anand Bhawan

Saturday, missing Golf, on a hot summer's day is not a good day to visit monuments. I do not regret visiting Anand Bhavan, back in the cool climes of my bedroom yesterday afternoon. The two hours when I was not wiping the torrents of sweat that flowed over my body, I was spellbound by the magic this building wove around me - I had my hair standing hearing the history of Independence struggle unfold in all those empty walls of this magnificient white and blue home of Motilal Nehru. Though it is always referred in context with Jawahar Lal Nehru, actually Allhabad and Ananda Bhavan is all about Motilal Nehru.
The stories of his practice as a lawyer, the wealth he had amassed, his entry into, the freedom struggle, his support that infused life into Congress in his own quiet but firm manner, his large heartedness to give Congress its base to function, are all legendary in this city of Holy piligrimages. A visit to Anand Bhawan as a part of a pilgrimage is well deserved.
Anand Bhavan , the original was bought from the founder of Aligarh Muslim University.Indira Gandhi was born here. Jawahar Lal Nehru was born in Meerganj in a rented house when Motilal Nehru was a young aspiring lawyer.
In the 20 acres that surrounded the house , Motilal Nehru built a house of his own design suiting his requirements, next to the old one . This house has only 12 rooms as compared to the original which has 22 rooms. The new residence was also named Anand Bhavan while the old one was renamed Swaraj Bhavan and was donated to the Indian National Congress as their National Office. Most of the decisions leading towards our Independance was taken in this house. Rajiv Gandhi had introduced audio-visual S&L show in every room to transport us to the last century thus recreating history for us as we amble along from room to room.
The new Anand bhavan is a cheerful house painted in Bright colours of White and Blue where Indira Gandhi was married. She dedicated this piece of history to the Nation when she inherited it from her father. Such is the benevelonce of a great daughter of the Nation. She grew here with the Netas of the land discussing, arguing, contesting, agreeing for a unified cause. She got groomed in this ambience with nobleness to protect and develop this Nation. She had a a forerunner in her grand father to emulate in her largesse.
The Planetorium stands in one corner of the garden where JLN who was impressed by the shiny stars on those dark nights in the jail, brought into his home for continuity. Kamala Nehru hospital initiated by Mahatma Gandhi in her memory still functions in another corner of the plot.
A cartoon by Shankar caught my eye : There is Jawahar Lal Nehru holding the hand of Independent India personified as a young Girl running away from a mob of big fat humans trying to join them. He is saying" lets run ahead before they catch us." These fat hooligan looking beings are Communalism, casteism, religious fanatics, abject poverty and a few more unwanted elements.
It is sad that the two did not run fast enough !

Thirtharaja -- Allahabad

Located at the confluence of two mighty rivers and an invisible one....Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswathi respectively, Allhabad is considered to be the holiest of holy places. It is personified as a man -Prayagraj whose idol is still worshipped in the Patalpuri temple of the city. The other 8 pilgrim centres like Dwarka, Khashi, Haridwar, Ujjain, Ayodya, Puri,Mathura and Kanchi are only the queens. The punya that one gets visiting Allahabad is much more than the mokshas attained while visiting the other centres, says the Padma Purana which has devoted 100 verses to Prayag.
Prayag is Pra=best, superlative ; yajna== yaga referring to the ten Ashwamedha yagas that Brahma conducted here which lured Vishnu to make it his sthal as Veni Madhav and Shiva follwed him to stay here as Shulkanteshwara. The presence of the Trinity and the three rivers makes it very special.
It was inhabited in the 8th millenium BC and all the stories that we hear are either documented or by word of mouth.
Rama stayed at the Akshaya vat ( now within the Fort) on his way to his Vanavas. Adi Shankara established the Shakti peeth at at the Alopi temple where her finger fell -(When Daksha did not invite her husband to his yaga, his daughter Dakshyani comitted Sati . Her husband,Lord Shiva enraged with grief, danced with her body; this Thandavam was threatening to destroy the world that Vishnu divided the body into eighteen pieces with his disc and they fell in different places in India). Eighteen Shakthi peeths were established in these locations and are still worshipped with great fervour.
The neck part fell in Vindyavasini near Mirzapur and the Necklace in Meihar , MP about which I shall write in my later blogs.
Allhabad's claim to fame are : the Maha Kumbmela that occurs once in Twelve years , Akbar's fort, Anand Bhavan, the High Court, The University and the buildings with a medley of architectural styles.
The distinct colour distinction of the two rivers are very apparent to the naked eye. Yamuna is green and Ganga is whitish yellow to brown. At the Triveni Sangam one can make out the difference in colour and after the sangam the colour changes to an amorphous brownish green.
At the actual Sangam there are many platforms of wood built and Pandas are waiting to perform the poojas to appease the souls of one's ancestors.
The Agra fort was converted to an Ordinance depot by the Britishers and is now with the Indian Army. We went in their boat to the sangam where another boat was kept moored. There are two showers on this boat in a well furnished shower room attached to a dressing room. These showers are marked : Ganga pani and Normal Pani. You could have your sins washed away with the Ganga pani first and wash the E.coli and other organisms with the Normal water. Kya Baath hai. Two birds in one stone. Presrved tradition and accrued punya and .. protected oneself too!

Back to wright brother's days!

The flight from Samneua to Vientiane was one hour duration in a small 19 seater and was full; It did not take even half the runway to get air borne. No beautiful air hostess, no safety instruction, just close doors and take off. The pilot jumped in at the last moment and was the first to jump out. It is a Russian plane with Ukranian pilots. The noise level throughout was very high; even the slightest tilt got exacerbated in my middle ear to earthquake proportions that in spite of my anti- motion sickness tablet and constant acupressure, there were moments that i wanted to give vent to the temptation of emptying the gastric contents. Did you notice the open window next to the pilot; No, no, no, he did not fly with the window open , only while taxying in . WHEW! Never again

It took me an hour to recover after reaching Terra Firma. So much for adventurism: I would not like to do another flight like this again.

Vieng Xay caves

The Lao people wanted to get out of Colonialism and Royalty. One of the Princes , an Engineer educated in Paris and a few idealists wanted a free country. And they got it after a struggle; the Govt was formed after the WWII, soon to be toppled by the royal parties with America and Thailand assisting them. All the important members of the ruling communist party were imprisoned.Surprisingly all of them walked out one fine day unharmed, and the guards even escorted them on a 500 Km hike to the province of Xieng Khuong.

America in the meantime waged war in Vietnam in order to prevent the spread of Communism in the East. They believed that Laos also needs to be stopped and hence decided to decimate the party workers who are in the NE of Laos.

In 1964, US started intense bombing of the area and the Pathet Lao moved into the caves- some natural and some man-made at that time, for their safety. This must have been the most bombarded country in the history of the world. About 20 million bombs- 2tonnes / person and America spent 2 million dollars a day for 9 long years . All this to take the HoChi Minh Trail and to annhilate the Communist Laos. Many innocent villagers died; living was difficult; farming was done in the nights,; cooking before dawn or after dusk to escape detection; children never saw light for days living underground, studying, playing, singing, dancing, falling sick - they grew up like moles. But, US could not break the spirit and determination of the people who emerged victorious and got liberated in 1973.

The philosophy of the Lao people is shaped by this hardship they went through. There is no bitterness in them against the people of America. Anything in the village is a collective responsibility. If a villager wants to build a house, he gets the bamboo from somebody , the wood from somebody else and is assisted in all his efforts by the villagers altogether. This is repeated for the rest. Farming, wedding, Funeral everything is done with peaceful co-operation.

In fact I was witness to this togetherness of the Laos: It rained Cats & dogs one morning when we were on our way into the mountains. In one village, we saw almost everybody, both adult men & women of all ages walking towards a storm drain with spades and hoes and baskets in their hands. Due to rains the storm drains had got blocked and they all set to work over a stretch of 1 1/2 kms. This ownership and civic sense impressed me so much. These villagers did not wait for the Govt to come and clear the drain, cribbing while waiting.

Coming back to the caves, about 20,000 people hid in these limestone caves, walking enormous distance for communication, collection of food and wood; there are rooms for meetings, barracks, hospitals which were manned by Lao,Vietnamese and Cuban doctors and nurses; theatre cum wedding hall, markets , a city underground. When the shelling was intense; the members had emergency rooms with very thick Iron doors that sealed them with a russian made contraption that pumped fresh air for breathing.

Once i stepped out of the caves, the pristine beauty of the landscape was captivating: lush green trees of all kinds, towering Lime stone cliffs, some lakes interspersed here and there, a light mist swirling above the peaks - it was like a painting; just like a Chinese ink painting.

Pathet Lao.

During their struggle for independence , the Eastern part of Laos took a heavy beating. The communists formed their strength here and the Americans bombarded them incessantly. The poor villagers also paid the price. Thankfully the little mountains in this region are of limestone and could easily be excavated into large caves which housed the communists, villagers, hospitals and schools;
One of the peaks of a hill has completely collapsed due to bombing on it !!!!!!
I do not know how the French did not utilise these limestone mountains for their wine making. the weather is ideal for grape growing, limstone cliffs for keeping the wines ,, why why why did they not make wine here? Mais oui, the French never made wine in any of their colonies, have you noticed? They taught the people here Baguettes and petanque but no wine please!

Chickens again

I have been in Laos for three weeks now. There are just few days when I had slept well. It is not anxiety, stress, ill health or too many night activities which have denied me of a good night's sleep. The two legged birds of the dining table have become the bane of my life.
It is unusual for me to sleep at the unearthly hour of 9 or 10 PM normally. But in Laos most of the villages , we stayed in did not have electricity and when the laptop battery gives up , i have nothing else to do but fall asleep. So far so good.
Cuckarocokho: I groggigigigily look at my clock - what , it is only 3.30 AM The roosters here have the loudest voice and it seems as if they are in my room trying their best to wake me up. I tried ear plugs, clamping my head down with a huge pillow; HmHumm nothing works. I could not wish this dutiful cock away because he sets his snooze for every 15minutes.
Here I am waking up every morning as if i have never been to sleep.Tomorrow I leave for the Capital. I am sure the Urban setting will alienate the Avian from me!

UXO

People in Laos are ever smiling, happy, 'Bopinyang ' (Never mind) attitude and generally minding their business because it is their "Karma", honest and generally peace loving. Why then did somebody else in the world object to how they wanted to change their Governance? Well that is what had happened about 40 odd years ago.
Laos was ruled by three kings, two of whom wanted autonomy and the third wanted to hold on to his throne and betrayed the other two. He also allowed the French to colonise his country for petty favours in return.
America at this time was occupying Central Vietnam in the hope that they can stop the Vietcong. They also wanted to stop communism stepping into Laos: this is to preserve the balance of power in the world - yes it was the days of Cold war between two great powers :US and Soviet Union.
The Vietnamese were sending defense supplies to Laos through the HoChi Minh trail. So the Americans with the Royal Thai Army bombarded the Ho Chi Minh trail to stop this transport route. and they wanted to purge out the communists from the caves in teh Nort Eastern part of the country. It seems they bombed every 9 minutes a days for days on end and that they had one bomb for every citizen of Laos.
All the bombs did not explode and many got embedded into the ground: Even now years after the war, whenpeople plough their land or dig to lay foundations while building a house, a cluster bomb or a 500 pounder explodes taking many innocent lives. There are many NGOs, the Government and even the United States Army are looking for these UNEXPLODED ORDINANCE to prevet further accidents. It is like looking for a needle in the haystack as the numbers are plenty and it might take them years to find. Good luck to them and to the people of Laos. May there be no more lives lost due to some stupid political strategy of idiotic human beings.

hydro electric power

In the Northern most part of Laos, Electric cables have not reached. The innovative Locals make use of the little rivers and hang some tins on wires which in some manner produce electricity to light their bulbs and enlighten their lives.

Karl Marx and Lenin are very much alive in the northern most corner of Laos .

The suicidal chickens

It is only when they see a vehicle coming that the chickens want to cross the road. And none of them stop, two things can happen: either they live or they get squashed. When I asked our driver what happens if he runs over a chicken? he replied, The owner of the chicken will be happy;that he can have a good dinner. Bopinyang: that means never mind! Compare this with an Indian scenario: Not only will the owner take the dead chicken but will also fight with you to get five times its cost.
Ducks also cross but they do not scamper like the chickens: they amble along, forcing the automobiles to slow and let it pass. Dogs and puppies also try to share the road with all but they are not respected so much and the souls reach their maker soon while the flesh lands up on the table of the owner for dinner!!!!

trip from Oudamxai to Phongsaly

20th To Phongsaly from Oudamxai

.
Chan the driver arrived at 1030AM Started out for Meungla by 1050 hours . Stopped at Mueng La to see the 400 year old Buddha. Till Pahd Nam the road was asphalted and good and Chan zipped around the bends as if he is driving in formula-1 racing.
We stopped for lunch here at the weekly market- all tribes converge here to buy their monthly rations. It was fete time for most. The Thaimeung women were trying to sell silver bracelets but I was not interested. The lunch offered were mostly tribal food but I tasted the rural fare of Steamed bamboo shoots with chilli powder, steamed spicy sea weed with sticky rice and two bananas and two very juicy oranges from China.Usha would not have survived seeing the barbecued squirrels looking so alive.
The mountain side was swiddened i.e., slashed and burned for cultivation. When the ground looks charred and scarred it looks bad but then this is the way they rotate the richness of soil to grow rice. If It was rice alone then it is ok, but the poverty of losing land due to many reasons has tempted the people go in for Rubber which will create a vacuam in the cycle after 30years and there will severe aforestation. Some of these plantations are partly owned by the companies from China and Thailand. At the end of 30years when the present rubber trees will be cut and the next one starts yielding after 8years will create such a vacuam the people will be forced to sell their lands to tidy over the gap. and thus loose their land too! Watermelon, pumpkins, sugarcane and corn are other cash crops that get exported to China everyday .
The road from then on was worse ; no surface, the sand has dissolved and through stones were like cobblestone paths some hundred times worse. The cinnarizine I took helped a lot and so did the belt and the seat belt which protected me from whiplash injury. This continued for about 90 odd kms when we reached the cross roads to China and the road became makkan. Reached Phonsaly around 5-45PM. Chan recommended the only good hotel in town : it was clean but very shoddy. Am not too comfortable in it. Like the one in Satana , a shade smaller and more grubbier.
Dinner is by 7PM and the town shuts by 10PM Even the electricity shuts at 9PM and supposed to come on at 6AM No life after sunset. We went walking trying to find a place to eat and found this hotel called Phou Far hotel set in a wide open space with neat modern rooms and very clean with A/Cs too. The same price as the one we are staying in. And … we could not find a place to eat. Called for Chan who took us to a Chinese restaurant and ordered a typical meal that every body shares: Soup, rice, vegetables and a plate of beef curry for them This came with chilli oil. The soup had Tofu and the veggies were only green leafy ones. It was very tasty thanks to the veg. Plate and the chili oil . Feeling like a python now.
TOMORROW WE ARE SHIFTING TO THE OTHER HOTEL.

3 tribes out of 49

Out of the 49 ethnic tribes living in Laos , I can identify three of them by the clothes they wear. Only if they are women.
The Aka women wear a sin(a sarong like thing) with a blouse on top; what differentiates them is a piece of cloth on their heal folded back and the inevitable basket that hangs from their crown at their back.
The Lantein women wear a uniform black top and black skirt and black leggings with silver necklaces. Very socialistic their can be no class distinction among them.
The Hmong women are the most elaborately dressed with silver beads/plates on their head dress and very nicely embroidered Sins.
I just went into a chinese supermarket. What a range of chinese goos! but no smile or warmth in those who run the shop. This is a common find in all establishments that the Chinese have:be it a restaurant or a guest house or a hotel: no smile; no hospitality; no warmth. Being used to the Lao smile and warmth and hospitality and openness , this characteritic of the neighbour stands out.

photos of yesterday's post

This ubiquituous vehicle on the above right is the famous "Tuk-tuk". A multi purpose vehicle for all terrains; The rear has two boards for seats and the top takes all the luggages: you could even see two jars of Lao lai -the Laon Whiskey tied on top

not an alien invasion

Watermelons are cash crops and are harvested once a year . Most of it are exported to China and Thailand .

In place of beasts of burden

These are simple machines that do everything that satisfies the transportation needs of the rural Laos. It has a kat-kata- engine in front with a kind of belt going somewhere into the bowels of the vehicle, makes a lot of noise and carries a cart like carriage in the back that can carry anything and everything including human beings : lots of them ;

Little businesses

eating houses are plenty in Laos. The front room of the house opens , a few tables and chairs are piut , the wife ccoks and serves with the children growing amonsgt all this , the TV blaring out Chinese/Laos soap operas; the family gets food from outside and eats ; at night everything is cleared and the beds are laid out .
Sometimes the room is large with a partioned bedroom in one corner, the kitchen is in the front veranda; and business is on.
The popular domestic business is a shop of all sorts in the front room.

caves full of Buddhas

Pat Ou caves

On the banks of River Mekong 25 kms frm Luang Prabang are these caves where old, found, destryed buddha statues are kept. People in the region come on their new year- 14th April and clean up the place, the buddhas, offer incense, Marigold flowers and worship them. the rest of the yaer it is a tourist attraction. One has to climb steep stairs. There are two caves one very near the water front another one that you climb higher and is set a little deeper where there is no direct light that you have to use torch lights. A fat buddhja guards the entrance of the upper cave.

Lao Hai

The whiskey of Laos is flavoured with snakes , scorpions, lizards and centipedes.

slash and burn - gold panning

the whole of the Mekong river banks had a haze. It seems it is like this in the dry season , when the locals cut and burn the forest to prepare for agriculture. Every year it is a different part and thus all of the forest gets systematically destroyed. The Govt is trying to stop this method of farming and to introduce the step culture with the wet method - but then any change takes a lot of time to happen.

Gold, gold , gold - In the river minerals get dissolved or get carried - in the Luang Prabang region these people try and sediment Gold from the waters. We saw groups, individuals, women & children in this occupation all day.

gas stations on the river - aerial roots

Filling stations on the river -- no cans weighing down the boat, just pull by the boat and fill through the hoses

The roots of the trees on the banks of the river are hanging on to dear life as the soil gets eroded as time passes .

10000 kip is equal to 53.something Rs. Laundry is done by weight. 1kg of laundry costs 10000-20000 kip. You put your dirty clothes into a plastic bag and give to the laundry who will weigh it on a kitchen scale and that's it. Collect the same evening washed and ironed clothes.

I had a Laotian Tom yaum soup today with tamarind, galangal, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, shitake mushroom besides other veggies. It was yum but the servings in Laos being very big, I could not finish. I had it with steamed rice and it was like having rasam satham with vegetables, sllllllllurrrrrrrrrp!

River transportation on mekong has been stopped froa while. Because there is not enough water in the river for the boats to move. This decision was taken after two speed boats collided unable to move. There is going to a drought in Southwest China this month. Laos will face water problem just when the water festival to celebrate the Lao New year next month will happen. this festival attracts a lot of tourists and during this time people splash coloured water on each other like our Holi.

cables picturised

Cables overhead

Have you ever been to Old Delhi through its streets? It is better not to try and see the sky above you. You might get paranoic seeing the electrical cables running haphazardly crisscrossing madly . You cannot say when one of them will fall and electricute you as they hang precariously.

In Vientiane as I was walking dow the road, I just stopped fro a minute bursting out with laughter. Imagine the same cables above but in an organised manner-That is Laos for you!

laos

Hi. am back again after almost a year. Been to a few places in between but nothing new-Paris, Coutainville, Mumbai, Allahabad, Varnasi, Lucknow, Bangalore, Virinjipuram, Egmond in Holland, Satana, Vindyachal but what has triggered me to write again is being in Laos.
I reached Vientiane from Allahabad via Delhi and Paris- a circuitous route I know!
Vientiane is the capital of Laos. been so for a few hundred years. It is called Vieng Chan in laos. This city amazed me in many ways: The airport is just 4kms from city centre. The streets are clean with well laid out roads. My hotel is functional, simple and clean with all the reqd. amenities. No food or hot drinks, though. No problems 'cause the street down the hotels and several others around it are filled with little cafes and bistros where one can have a snack, breakfast , a quick salad / sandwich -at 4 kadam distance. The area around my hotel houses the National theatre, stadium , a fountain park surrounded by French, Italian restaurants reminding me of Toulouse. There is a chennaiwasi from Mylapore who has a restaurant that gives authentic Dosas if you please.
The presidents palace is 500mtrs away. very big and neatly kept. It has a huge temple on its grounds that is open to the public.
Last evening I went on a recce to the largest market complex, a kind of shopping complex with everything to everything available there. It looked like a bigger version of that plaza in Egmore.
People cannot prounce R - so evellything is velly velly nice. If there is a X in a word it is pronounced as S.
Lot of two wheelers- mostly scooty's , cycles, for hire too. Merc is a poor cousin, from lomborgini to porsche to mercs, to high end toyota nad hondas are seen in plenty. the mini markets are full of all imported stuff sold as normal 'cheeze';Bookshops are many. Old and new and copied books sold.
Street shops at night sell handicrafts to t-shirts to traditional clothes to silks to plastic to stuffed toys you name it it is there.