Trip ,Tour & Journey

From my point of view, travel by a Train is a lot more comfortable and enjoyable.

If you are a child, you can watch the silhouettes of trees going past on the opposite direction.

If you are a budding youth, just have a look at the far away stars in the dark and deep sky, blinking lights in the passing by towns and the beautiful girl just opposite to you, then there is a chance, that you might end up with a poem, however difficult it might be for others to accept it as  ‘poetry’ (What do they know…the ‘ignorant lot’!)

 For the past five days I was on travel, of course, by train. The first trip was to the southern tip of India. From my place it was a night long journey. We returned back from the place the next night. It was very short.

The next journey started in the after noon of the same day. Why do I call it a journey? Why don’t I call it a trip? Because the travel is to a very far away destination, thousands of kilometers away from my place. New Delhi! But I regularly visit once in two years.

This time my companions were two students, Rahul and Shiva.(I  could not write a poem. The reason was obvious.) They told me that they were on a tour. We played games; watched films thanks to their laptops; enjoyed sights of different rivers , mountains, Chambhal valley with its dry ravine crisscrossing the whole area; talked about corruption and our leaders (who never lead us to prosperity); chatted about cinema stars and cricketers who, we would like to believe, may lead this nation!
 There were six others,  who took part in all our activities. How ever this was, after all, a train friendship; naturally short lived! So, nobody asked for names or bothered to remember them. We said "Bye" to each other and melted away in the moving mass at Nizamudin Railwaystation. This is India!
But one thing which was new astonishingly non-Indian! Yes! We did not  litter our bay; but  instead we collected all garbage and waste in a plastic bag! It is true! Don’t you believe? Now i  strongly believe that we can have a neat and clean India, if we have the will to stop throwing things around us.

THAT WAS THE GREAT THING WHICH MADE THIS JOURNEY HAPPY!

Note on:

Tour: purpose of a tour is pleasure.here our travel becomes a tour 

I went on a tour for ten days to Delhi and then Kulu just to enjoy nature.

Trip:

I went to Thirunelveli on a short trip. When you go to a place and return back within a short time. It is 'trip'.

Journey: A regular travel to a long distant place: These two conditions are met, that travel can becalled a journey.

Interview Part-1:APPLES , ORANGES AND INTERVIEWS

                                

    

                                                                                     

               “ IN AN INTERVIEW, TELLING ABOUT YOU, IS SELLING YOUR SELVES”     
     

My grandson and I went to a fruit market. Hawkers and shop men were in competition with each other to woo the customers.

“Please come here Sir, apples  ...Simla apples  ... Tasty like honey and cheap like green leaves” saying this One hawker invited us. His shop was full of flies. Fruits were lying open.

“How is it, grandpa? Can an apple taste like honey?”

“Baby, they say this to sell their apples. Your question is correct. Honey cannot be apple and apple cannot be honey” He is now 6 years old. Would you allow me a small digression here? That is about my little grand son. He usually asks lots of questions. One of the questions, which his mother had had to face, was “You say God is kind,Mom. Then why are these people begging and sleeping on platforms and signals? Why is God not good to them?” She has been still looking for an appropriate and satisfactory answer. Could you help her?

Let us come back to our  topic-apples, oranges etc. We moved further in the market. The next man who was in a clean and bright dress offered “…Son, taste this sweet piece, if you like it, then buy some apples. These oranges have calcium and vitamin C. If you eat them regularly, my dear boy, you can become strong like Tarzan. Take a piece sir, vitamin-c strengthens our immunity” (We usually have a weakness for freebies, discount, bonus etc. Yes... I don’t deny I am also one of them. This fellow some how seemed to have understood this. I took the piece and enjoyed more his attitude)

He further continued confidently with an eye on me “Show me your teeth  ...My Boy!  Ha! You have got bad teeth. Isn’t it? Let me tell you about apple. if you eat an apple a day, it will prevent decay. Would you like to have an apple and better teeth?” 

Both of us decided to purchase not only apples but also some more fruits, of course at my grand son’s choice.

Let us analyze why I preferred the second seller over the first hawker.

The first person who called us was very brief in communication. His emphasis was on taste and money (I felt my self esteem was in question if I preferred to buy fruits because they were cheap. Neo-middle-class mentality?)

On the other hand,

The second one’s appearance was neat and clean.

Secondly his attitude: behavior and communication are descent. He directly addressed my grand son offered a piece of apple to prove the sweetness of the fruit.

Thirdly his knowledge about fruits is reasonably good.

Fourthly look at his experience in selling: Really a brilliant approach; he indirectly attracted me by addressing the child and leaving the decision of buying to me.

Precisely, what I could understand from his presentation was that we have to tell about ourselves in a manner which may not fail to address the needs of our interviewers.

Don't you accept that we have to adopt these methods when present (sell/rent/lease our abilities to the employers) ourselves in interviews?

20 April 1984

I was in a hurry to go out. But I heard the calling bell. It was the young lady next door... 

“Uncle…Do you know what Rohit did last night? It was really funny!” Rohit is her 4 years old son and the darling of our apartments. I was used to such introductions from her   over the last 5 years, right from when Rohit’s family moved next door. As usual she started telling the story; some times inconvenient and irritating; sometimes hilariously funny; sometimes just plain boring. But mothers never understand this; you can’t stop them till they finish. I know that I will be late for my appointment. Let me tell you  that her opening line is simply  the preface to a story that can  run for hours often  with flash backs from  her childhood thrown in to  add to the  twists and turns of the story ....

Have you ever noticed mothers when they talk about their child? Surely you can’t miss the obvious pride in their animated tone and proud eyes. Most of them are in a trance during that time. They could not sense our thoughts and look into our eyes which would show (very openly) everything but interest in the ongoing monotone.

What happened last night around 11pm was that Rohit was crying for a burger which could be bought next morning only. Rohit’s mother told “Darling, if you don’t stop crying, God will come and separate us. You will be put into a hostel”. The child stopped and thought for a moment “Is it mom? Like you peel the skin and separate beans and put them into a pot; Will God peel my hands and then legs and later put me into hostel?” Everybody laughed. Of course he could get burger plus ice-cream next morning for our extra laughter.

Rohit’s mother without any consideration for me went back to her 4^th year and  set on describing the encounter with her police-officer-dad who had to, at last  go and fetch a cutlet( The Pizza of 70s)for her at 5’o clock in the morning when they were in Delhi.

I usually keep quiet when people tell me stories; in fact some times I pretend to follow, while my mind might be wandering elsewhere. I hope, I can safely assume that’s it’s not just me .I am sure most of you have the same attitude in such situations.

NOW 24 Dec 2011

Calling bell again rang. It was Rohit’s mother.  But this time I am not in a hurry at all. She has brought a copy of e-mail from her grand daughter, Priyanka. It is a letter to ‘Maths’.

‘Dear Maths,

Please grow soon. Try to solve your problems. Leave us free and enjoy our life.’

 “Uncle, What a letter! She is intelligent like her father. ANOTHER THING.I am writing a book on “Families and the changing relationships”.

Could you write me an introduction?’ (What a chance for people like me!)

 Now she is a professor of Tamil; writes often in magazines; speaks in meetings.

I silently nodded and started writing “Rohit, sometimes a rogue, but most of the times a darling and budding hero of our apartments. The author of this book showed great patience and confidence on her son…….and so on”

She was happy with the opening lines. When I finished the intro she told

“Uncle, I am very happy for the foreword. I’ll send a copy of this to that lovely rogue now at NASA on a special tour selected and sent by our space department.” She was beaming with pride. Mothers never change though change is the only permanent thing in this ever changing world.

Note on Preface and Foreword;

If it is your book and your own introduction or the editor’s intro, it is called ‘preface’. Just think Rohit’s mother went into the shoes of Rohit in 1980s and told about her son. She used to give interesting intros.

If it is your book and you ask the next door uncle or a known person to write an intro, then it is called ‘foreword.’

PS: I thank Mr.Mani for asking a question about ‘Preface and Foreword’.

Thanks to Gowtham for the joke on maths.

Jadav Payang and his Eden Garden

An Ordinary man and an Extraordinary achievement:

"And out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food...” Genesis 2:9

It is believed that God created the earth from sound; then came Eden the garden , followed by animals and human beings. And then the slow   and  never ending destruction started because God left everything in the hands of man

I have not seen God and I believe you are also in the same league. But, I came to know about Jade Payeng whose nick name is ‘Mulai’. Who is Jadav Payeng?

HE is a CREATOR. Then is  he God? No. Not at all. God can create anything with his magic wand within a millionth of a second. On the other hand, our Jadav had to work hard with hands; had to walk miles and miles to bring plants; had to sweat a lot, to water them and had to spend all his life to care them. The Result is another Eden garden on the sandbars of the river Brahmaputra for tourists and film shooters!

Everything started when he saw with anguish that trees had been wiped away by floods leaving dead animals and reptiles on the bare sands. The devastating sight made him adopt the land. He settled there with his family who also adapted themselves to living in the forest. He started planting bamboos. Initially Forest department supported him.

Later on, he planted varieties of trees on his own choice with native wisdom and brought red ants from his village to enrich the soil. It paid him well ; the soil became vibrant and fertile. The magic happened without any wand; the bald shores of the river slowly changed into dense forests. Forest officials, when found this man-made-forest in year 2008, got stunned at the amazing sight: a dark deep and lush green cover with thousands of trees on the sandbar; along with  about 115 elephants visiting the place every 6 months; four tigers and hundreds of deer roaming all over the ‘Mulai Woods’ with three happily settled Rhinoceroses. Thank God! No human beings!

Mulai is about 50 years. Like God, he also doesn’t have any basic schooling. But he dedicated 30 years of life to create  the 550 hectares of wood and care  for  the trees.

Now he is adept in ‘silviculture’.

We owe some of our life to him. Yes! May   be a zillionth of the oxygen we inhale, comes from his trees.

Shall we honor him with ‘Bharat Ratna’? I don’t think so. Let us leave these things to our Netajis with 2Gs and 3Gs!

Note on ‘adopt’ ‘adapt’ and ‘adept’:

It makes me think twice before using these words. Because I am not adept in using words.(efficient in)

But our Jadav ia adept in creating forests. He is now ready to extend the forest to a thousand hectares.

Mrs. And Mr. Sethia adopted Dinesh Kumar as their son. (Take ,

approve legally).

Jadav Payeng adopted the sandbar to grow bamboos.

Dinesh Kumar, a twenty years old young man, easily adapted himself to the new environment.(changed himself  appropriately)

Jadav’s family also adapted to living in woods.