Stay at Buffalo and visit to Niagara Falls

I had gone to attend the ISA and after this I went to visit Bittu in Buffalo. it was quite cold there and though I had planned to go to the University on a regular basis I thought it would be better if I worked from home. it was freezing cold and I just went to the University of Buffalo when i had to take a lecture. The highlight of this tour was a visit to the Niagara falls. i had seen these falls from The Canada side also when Deepa Mausi took me to these falls. The falls were 17 miles North west of Buffalo.  From the Canadian side these falls are known as Horseshoe Falls,  and from the American side they are known as  American Falls. The smaller Bridal Veil Falls are also located on the American side, separated from the main falls by Luna Island.Niagara Falls has long been a source of inspiration for explorers, travelers, artists, authors, filmmakers, residents and visitors. When we reached here we could see a lot of snow . Coming from Hyderabad I had never seen so much snow. It was fun roaming around in the snow and enjoying the cool  touch of the snow. I can still see they beautiful falls and the magical landscape once I close my eyes.

In Bastar

Somu was travelling to

Chhattisgarh and since I had winter holidays I also travelled with him. I was very keen to go to Bastar which is a tribal village and close to Jagdalpur. I found Chhattisgarh to be an  undiscovered paradise. It is known for its exceptional scenic beauty and unique and rich cultural heritage, Chhattisgarh has always been synonymous with tribes and tribal culture. Over one third of the state population is of tribes, most of them inhabiting in the thickly forested areas of the famous Bastar region. The tribes of Chhattisgarh are known for their unique lifestyles and have beautifully retained their own culture and traditions for many centuries. The tribes of Chhattisgarh region are also known for their passion for dances and music, which are the most important amusements and a part and parcel of their day-today life. One could see a lot of tribal villages enroute  and the tribal people. The only thing which was an irritant was the large amount of dust and the environment seemed to be filled with a red colour dust. Ther fact that the Governemnt was expanding the roads and there was a lot of digging all around added to the woes.  Chattisgarh has a very ancient history. Infact one of  Ashokan stone Inscription of 257 BC is found at  Rupnath north of Jabalpur. According to legends the deep Sal forest regions are Dandakaranya itself, where Lord Rama spent much of his fourteen-year exile from Ayodhya.  Between the 6th and 12th centuries AD the Sarabhpurias, Panduvanshi, Somvanshi, Kalchuri, and Nagvanshi rulers dominated this region.

The region also came under the suzerainty of the Mughal Empire around the 16th century and later to the Marathas in 1745. By the year 1758, the whole region of Chhattisgarh was annexed by the Marathas who plundered its natural resources mercilessly. Also the word 'Chhattisgarh' was popularized during the Maratha period and was first used in an official document in 1795. Chhattisgarh is also known for its rich and unique architectural monuments including temples, caves, palaces, providing insights into the rich cultural heritage of the region.

Chattisgarh is famous for its  unique and varied tribal populations, especially the  Gonds tribes of Bastar region. I could buy some lovely silk sarees with tribal  art designs in the Pallu and some wonderful handicrafts of the tribal's made in brass. It was difficult to carry these back to Hyderabad but the Hotel made a lovely packing and we could bring back three huge pieces and  they were safe and sound when we opened in Hyderabad. The most beautiful day in out lives was when we stayed at the forest Guest house much away from the town and we could hear the various voices from the Jungle.  The fact that there was no electricity made no difference and I had never been so close to nature and this was a memorable experience which i will not forget for a long time.

   

Annamayya Kirtana

 I am feeling very thrilled that on 9th of May, 2009, I participated in the public singing of Annamayya Kirtanas. These are songs written in telugu by a saint poet of 14th century and on this day, we created a Guinness record and Robert Marshal the Director of the programme. It was an amazing experience and so much positive energy was flowing . I had to go to classes for a month to learn the Kirtanas so that i got the diction right. It is nice to know that we can continue with the songs from 14th cen. till today in the 21st century with ease. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX2BuosmFHk

I feel this was an experience of a life time. Imagine people of all ages, joining in. John Marshall said he was very happy to see that there were more young people than old in the gathering, all singing in one voice. Every one was dressed in their best  and it was an amazing sight.

M S Subbulakshmi::Brahma Kadigina Paadamu

One can check these Kirtanasa in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzXwCN72HCg

I like the one sung by M.S. Subbalakshmi also.

ANNAMAYYA KIRTANA-1

The Capacity Building Programmes

 

In 2006, I got involved in a program me that was focused on capacity building for women in higher education. This was a brain child of Dr. Armeti Desai who was the UGC Chairperson once upon a time. This programme had two phases. in the first which was called Capacity Building and awareness  rising workshop there was a general training which was imparted. Prof. Uma, Parvathy, Sushila , Padma were all part of this workshop which was held at Dr. Ambedkar Open University. I had attended many workshops and Conferences earlier but this did touch a cord in my heart. It did things very differently and there were a lot of management tools that were used which included role play, discussions, games, exercises and the five days were filled with fun. One made a lot of friends and Dr. Padma really touched our lives. it was a treat to listen to her.  She was in the secretariat when the Status of Women Report , 1984 was commissioned and passed and she shared many highlights with us. She looked so soft and one realized that one did not have to look tough in order to get one’s way. She was an example of being soft and yet firm. I met Anju , Rani, Sneha, Pushpa Chakrapani and many more from  different Colleges in Hyderabad and we developed a very close bond. I definitely felt much more empowered and enlightened. This was followed by the Trainer of Trainees workshop which I attended at NALSAR University.

The Kids and the three dogs

 

Both Somu and the kids have always been very crazy about dogs. i some how never had this kind of likeness for dogs. When we had got married and I went to Almora there would be a dog which would follow Somu. he had named him Moti and very sincerely it would come in the morning and evening. The kids were after me to get them a bycycle and a dog. i kept promising them that I would do this when we shifted to our house in the ground floor. In Vijaya Towers we were living in a flat and it was not possible to have a dog. I still remember that when we shifted to lakshmi Enclave Bittu was in 6th class and Tarun Varun in 1st and the moment our Truck landed with the luggage they kept pestering me when am I going to get a dog and a bicycle. i got them the bike soon but kept resisting the dog for I told them that managing the three was a handful and I did not need a dog to add on to my woes. Soon when the children were going to school they started feeding their Tiffin to a stray dog. Soon this dog started roaming around the house and the children named him a Raju Pande.( RP) I asked the kids if they could not find any other name for in the office i was known as RP.This was a brown colored dog and it would often come to the gate for breakfast and dinner, which the children would gladly feed. I still remember Tarun asking, “ Raju dinner me Kya Khayega” and I would tell him please ask him if he wants butter and cheese or just plain rice. However with in few years this dog was killed by people across the street who had built small huts across the road and since this dog had killed some of their chicken they were very angry with him. The kids felt very sad and Varun cried a lot. However soon they found another stray dog and named it Asara Pande. This dog also stayed for quiet some time till our front door neighbour who shifted newly to the colony became very attached to it. This aunty also took care of Asra and once they shifted to the city she took Asra with her and told varun to take care of another dog. Varun told me we have had Raju, Asra a hindu and a Muslim dog so we will now have a christian do and named the new dog, Smokey  Pande. Now Smokey is very much near the house. I feel happy because I do not have the task of bringing the dog inside the house and I can just feed it.  Earlier I used to get annoyed that I had to make chappatis for him but now I just get rice and boil it and mix it with milk and give it to him. It roams around. But both Somu and the children have kept shampoos with which they give it a bath. Our Milk man who works in the immologicals gives it injections and now Smokey is very much a part of the colony and can be found loitering outside the house in the lawn or sleeping ion the first or the third floor. Though i am no dog lover I cannot help but admire the dog for when ever I go out for the morning walk it just comes running from where ever it is and follows me to the walk. Even when my car enters the colony it comes running to greet me. Though i am not very comfortable with a dog jumping and licking me it shows so much affection. At least now with Smokey i am able to understand why people love dogs and how loyal they can be when you feed them. Being a stray do these dogs are not at all fussy and eat what ever you give them. They never demand any thing.

Visit to Kanpur and Lucknow

Both Somu and I left for Kanpur on 30th of November.  I was feeling a bit low for Bittu was also leaving after a months holiday at home and we left the house at two o, clock and he had to leave by six. The occasion was Mikkis marriage in Kanpur. I was shocked at looking at Kanpur. The town looked like a large slum and every where it was so dirty. The roads looked over crowded and narrow and there was a thick smog surrounding the environment. The whole place looked covered with dust. I could hardly find a clean leaf on any tree. The streets  were also very dirty and it looked very filthy. The only nice thing was the Pulses institute that was very neat and had a beautiful greenery around.  What I really liked about this trip was that I could reconnect with so many old friends some after thirty years and some after eleven years. I met Kommi at the wedding and caught up with the Allahabad University  tit bits.  I could find an old friend Ajai and it was a pleasure meeting him. He looked frail and heavily engrossed in Rekki. He has taken retirement and spends his time in rekki only.   I could also speak to Rakesh who is now settled in US. I got his email and would soon write to him. After this I was with Ashima for two days. Ashima had a lovely house with fantastic plants all around. She is now the Divisional manager in the North Eastern railways. I was meeting her after more than ten years . I also met her lovely daughter Ananya. I also attended a wedding  and a Tilak ceremony with her and it was fun to feel very much close to the culture of North. It brought me back to my University days when through Ashima I could get in touch with Shanti Ghildiyal and old friend and I could also contact Rachana who told me Deepali Singh, Loveleen, Mukesh and Surabhi, all in the Indian Administrative services were also in Delhi. I could also get the mobile number of Rajlakshmi Verma, the daughter of Ram Kumar Verma the famous Hindi poet who was our teacher at the Undergarduate level and since she was in charge of the hostels we did many activities with her. I spoke to her today morning and felt very happy. She had a lot of influence on me as a young girl. She made us think out of the box and wanted us to be very dashing and dynamic. I felt very happy that I could connect to so many people from Allahabad days. I did a lot of Chicken saree shopping and returned back to Hyderabad on 5th December.Leaving North was sad, but nothing like home and the beautiful and clean city of Hyderabad. May be in the past thirty years I have become a pukka Hyderabadi. I may have come from North but today i love Hyderabad and its clean and beautiful environment.

Workshop on Adolescent girls in Bangalore

Manju a dear friend at NIPPCD had organized a workshop related to adolescent girls and this was a review of all kinds of material available on this issue. It was three days of sheer excitement and fun from 6th to 8th October, 2008.  It was amazing to see the kind of material developed by Government, NGO, schools and Colleges related to the issue. However what we found was that most of the material related only to health aspects especially giving information on reproductive health and diseases like AIDS etc. We had a lot of discussions and then pointed out the need to create more materials on different aspects like livelihoods, violence, empowerment etc. The highlight of this workshop was the Yakshagana performed by a group primarily comprising of men on the last day. These men were dressed in beautiful costumes and with a lot of drama, music, song and dance they covered a large number of  women’s issues. Yakshagana  means  " the music of celestials" is a form of a dance drama performed predominantly in South Kanara, Malnad region and certain parts of North Kanara Districts of the State of Karnataka. It is a  400 hundred-year-old tradition. It is a combination of dance, music, spoken word and costume-makeup and stage technique. It is a typical folk form of drama , commonly performed at night on a platform-like stage in the open air with themes based on Hindu Epics like the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and mythological tales from the Puranas. As prescribed in the Natya Shastra, it has the Suthra Dhara (conductor) & the vidushaka (the Jester). here is both mystery and robustness about this form in which singing and drumming merge with dancing, and words with gestural interpretation, and players clad in costumes of striking colour and contours. In all it was a very robust performance and will stay in my mind for a long time.  It really brought home the point that any format which includes a folk format stays for a long time in the minds of the people and it was wonderful to see this group take up the issue of educations, empowerment, health, the right to take decisions for one self.  I also decided to experiment with a lot of folk forms to bring in an awareness on women’s issues.