an itenary of a vauge traveller

Travelling is my Spa, it gives me the ultimate massage. My goal is to make enough money by the age of 40 and travel the rest of my life. Most people plan their vacation through some sleazy travel agent, who only cares about his pay check. A big con job who makes people go gaga over some monument, river, mountain or statue. Most people don't know that either ways they are going to drop their jaws over something beautiful, common logic.
When i travel i go by the cheapest mode of transport, not because i cannot afford it but because it gives you a better perspective.Trust me this is where you meet the most fascinating people You can actually strike a decent conversation with many folks there .
On my last trip i choose to take the local bus from Patankot to Dharmasala, i met this old man ( least a 90 + ). He told me stories on how he travelled 40 km on foot every day, once he reached kashmir on foot all alone. He jus amazed me by his strong character, i lent him a hand while gettin down but he refused.
I always wish i was born a few hundred years ago, i am guessing life would have been much easier. We so damn dependant on these machines. Put the most intelligent man with an IQ over 150 betcha he would not know how to survive over 2 days alone. I believe the whole purpose of life is to be able to use nature and learn to be one with it.
Ok back to travelling, a tip from me, when you are going to travel choose a place of choice, carry the minimum amount of money and clothes and just wander off - Don't plan
cheers

DIWALI

Diwali or the Festival of Lights is celebrated every year in India. Signifying victory of good over the evil and the end of the last harvest before the onset of winter. Every year crackers are burnt on a large scale and each house adorned with lights or lamps.

Ten years back the idea of crackers made me go berserk. Every Diwali my father brought home a box of crackers and just like other kids I blew them up till they all went up in smoke. Little did I know these where made by children my age, their hands endlessly toiling and struggling. I was burning the crackers carefully handcrafted by the sweat and tears of a kid whose world was limited between four walls.

I remember meeting Raja, one of the 80,000 children who painstakingly toil making our Diwali colourful at the Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu. Tell that to the manufacturers and the Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers Association (TFAA) who deny any use of child labour. Sivakasi is India's cracker capital which contributes to around 80% of the fireworks produced with an annual turnover of over 1000 cr. Produced by children between 9-14 years old these crackers take around 300 days to make, eventually taking 3 days to be up in flames and smoke

Most factories are unregistered and illegal, located at the back yard of tiny huts with minimal safety measures. Here underage children are crammed inside into dingy rooms, spending the whole day making crackers out of gunpowder, potassium nitrate, cadmium and potassium chloride. Which pose a deadly health hazard causing respiratory diseases, eye infections and skin allergies. Large scale illegal manufacture of fireworks have banned, with some indridents falling under the Class 7 category, under the Explosives Rules 1983. There have been many accidents that have disfigured the victim and sometimes ended up fatal. Because most factories do not have a valid license the victims do receive compensation. It's a pitiable sight to look at these children, their hands and bodies shriveled, the life sucked out of their faces

There are many arguments to this evolving dilemma, some say it's ruthless exploitation by the capitalist minded, and others blame the families. The government has been ignoring the Sivakasi issue for far too long, many laws have been past, many laws will be, but who bothers?

As for Raja who sits in a small hut behind stacks of paper and gunpowder working the whole day huffing and puffing deadly chemicals it's will be just another day at work. He too has dreams, but the mean harsh world he lives pushes him to work at this tender age. The money he makes goes to his father, who uses it to feed his thirst for alcohol. Paradoxically children of the same age have a fiesta perversely blowing these crackers. No one can blame them; they do not know the monster behind the curtain is.


The festival - treat or threat

This Diwali is undoubtedly going to start with a 'Big Bang'. With noise levels peaking, everyone is assured an ear popping experience. Noise and air pollution levels during Diwali have always been a problem. With Most crackers producing large amounts of smoke and unwanted noise.

There is a great battle during Diwali; there is safety and health on one hand, and customs on the other hand. Doctors have reported a worrying increase in the number of people complaining of bronchitis and asthma after Diwali. Hospitals get many visits from people who have suffered from partial and full burns, some of the cases happen due to the misfire of a cracker or rocket.

A report on the ambient air quality on Diwali night prepared by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) highlights the high levels of noxious pollutants like Reparable Suspended Particulate Matter (PM10 - RSPM) and Nitrogen dioxide (NO2). There have also been many reports of deaths. Over 18 people died in an accident that occurred at an illegal fireworks factory in the western Indian state of Rajasthan on October 23rd, 2008 just few days before the festival. All this indicates how unsafe the whole process of Diwali is.

The original idea of Diwali is to celebrate it as a festival of lights and lamps. Not to make a riot out of crackers. I don't burst crackers because I don't want to add another tear to Raja's eyes, do you? A festival, to celebrate a prosperous year ahead, is some time a sign of yet another year ahead at the back yard for the kids at Sivakasi.


SO STOP USING CRACKERS !!!!
spread the message , spread the love

Mc Leod ganj and Triund

Ramlila

Sakshi suggested me to watch the Ramlila, a significant event that occurred every year in North India. Since i was from south i never wintnessed such a event. There was no work at office, i decided go vamoosing to see the burning of Ravana and Co at the Ramlila grounds, which was a stones throw from my office.

Since Indian crowds are quite unstable and chaotic, i mentally prepared my self to the incubus i was going to face. One of my frineds Melina also accompnied me, she hailing from US was quite eager to see the fet. The smell of dust and sweat greeted me, the ground was filled with thousands of people from different walks of life who swarmed the ground.

The entrance was maddening with a pinch of ritious behaviour. After being thrown, showed and Pushed i finally entered the ground. Initially i felt i was in the wrong place, all i saw was this huge carnival with countless shops all around.

To my resuce, beyond the maddening crown i saw the wooden and hay statues of Ravana and Kumbakarna, this was all i wanted. A few snaps and i was off , not the type who appreciates crowds. I was a struggle but i finally got a few snaps.Not too great but will do.

I also convinced Melina to take a ride in the Desi giant wheel, Of course i decline to go along ( i have this phobia that it may fall off ). She kinda enjoyed it, at least thats how it looked.

All in all a new experience.

day and night

The phenomenon of day and night has always amazed me. Both the sun and the moon have a special place in my heart, these objects portray supremacy and signify the battle of day and night.
Symbols of the sun have been know to be the oldest form of drawings and dates back to 10,000 years ago. Each culture and religion has some relation with both the sun and moon in the beliefs as well as scriptures, societies have worshipped them as god's.

One of the oldest description of them is in the egyptian culture. HORUS was the god of sun, Horus had a man's body and a falcon's head,he was told by his mother Isis to protect the people of Egypt from Set the god of the underworld. Horus was said to be the sky, he was considered to be the Sun. It is also said that the sun was one of his eyes and the moon the other, he moved in the sky as falcon. SET, an ancient god, who was originally the god of the deserts, storm and chaos was a sworn enemie of Horus. And that they had regular battles, many times interpreted like this - Every morning horus (Light) sent set to the underworld thus signifying the day, and every evening Set inturn (darkness) sent horus back to darkness. This battle evn goes on today.


Then there is the Yin and Yang, the oldest chinese representation of Good and Bad, some times signified as day and night also. The concept of yin and yang describes two opposing and at the same time complementary aspects of any one phenomenon. While "yin" would be dark, passive, downward, cold, contracting, and weak, "yang" would be bright, active, upward, hot, expanding, and strong. This is a striking relation to the day and night.

In India we have Lord Surya "supreme light". The term "Surya" also refers to the sun in general. Surya drives through the heaven in his triumphal chariot harnessed by seven horses which represent the seven colours of the rainbow or the seven chakras . Surya is considered to have a dry nature, he also represents the soul, will-power, fame, the eyes, general vitality, courage, kingship and authority Then there is Rahu , who is considerd to be the enemy of surya and always tormented him.
He is the cause of all eclipses and shines as the King of meteors.He drank some of the nectar of immortality, was then caught by the sun and moon who cut off his head, however the mouth having touched the elixir remained immortal and forever hunts the sun and moon, occasionally catching them and so causing eclipses

There are so many striking resemblances in many cultures around the world. I have been a follower of nature and the only thing tangible and physically present is nautre, over the past thousand years people have interpreted the nature and its phenomenon as god or deities, who they inturn worship. Naure has created life and this very nature controls the process of life. Dont be fooled by other intangible theories and myths.