THE 17TH FLOOR

"We've put you on the 17th Floor, Madam," said the Mumbai hotel receptionist, reassuringly..."that's where we put all women traveling on their own" !  This was the first time I'd ever encountered this kind of consideration ....a kind of 21st century purdah ?   In the global gender equality index, India rates 105 out of 135 countries.....so this was a salute to that statistic !

One of the very pleasing aspects of the Holi celebration of a few days ago, is the breaking down of barriers, gender, age and religion....a good time is had by all, as identity is obliterated.

However, the view from the 17th floor was impressive and one could only marvel at the superb lines of the Rajiv Gandhi Sea-link opened by Sonia Gandhi in 2009, with its 420 ft high concrete towers and fine mesh of suspension cables, linking West and South Mumbai and costing 16 billion rupees - a highway over the Arabian Sea.

HOLI SMOKE

HOLI

A misty full moon overhead and neatly stacked pyramidal tepees of dry wood, round pats of dung and at the apex, the faded detritus and ragged remnants of the 'Kite Festival', these pyres lined the road in readiness for the bonfire lighting which precedes the colour festival of Holi.  Carts with heaps of coloured sand, looked blindingly colourful under the hot sun.

This festival celebrates the end of Winter and a welcome to Spring.  All barriers come down as everyone celebrates renewal, casting off the old and embracing the new.  Water pistols filled with a mixture of coloured sand and water, make formidable weapons as everyone tries to daub everyone else with as much colour as they can - obliterating the old identity.  This raucous display, makes the old miniature paintings of Lord Krishna celebrating Holi with Radha and the Gopis, look very sedate !

And in other countries they'll be celebrating this time of year with Easter Eggs !

PEACOCK

The Marudhar Express has a somewhat notorious reputation for being late and waiting for hours on the platform, being accosted by Hijdas (transgender/men dressed as women), is part of the experience.  But after a 2 hour wait, boarding the train and finding a window seat in AC class, promised a modicum of relief and expectation.

All journeys between cities seem to take about 6 hours and traveling between Jaipur and Jodhpur was no exception.  Observing life and landscape from the window, provided a perspective on this part of India and stopping at Junctions every few miles, created a slow, timeless, inescapable and mesmerizing rhythm.

But one of the more surprising sights out of the window,  as it chugged slowly through Rajasthan, apart from camels and a lake of flamingoes, was a field of peacocks, pecking away in the dirt of the arid, semi desert, in a run-of-the-mill, everyday, sort of way - this prosaic setting was shockingly different from the usual romantic image, of a fabulous bird seen at a distance, beyond the spray of an exotic palace fountain, or hauntingly glimpsed, in the shadows of a cusped colonnade - illusive, distant and unapproachable.

It's the National Bird of India and protected - its beautiful feathers may not be exported and sometimes one reads in the Times of India,  of bulk packages of feathers being dramatically seized at airports, with heavy fines for perpetrators - though feathers which fall from the bird naturally, can be traded locally, where they are regarded as a good luck talisman.

In Renaissance paintings, the peacock was tucked away discreetly, into images of the Birth of Christ, to remind us of his resurrection and immortality, as it was believed, according to ancient mythology, that the flesh of the peacock was incorruptible !

PINOCCHIO FRAMED !

Gepetto - has he gone too far this time ?

THE JHOOLA

There was a subtle rise in the pre-summer temperature in Gujarat - a foretaste of the soaring heat of the months to come and the monotony of endless days of sultry sunshine.  Apart from the brief monsoon months, the weather provides the same recipe of blue skies and unimaginable heat - clouds are a rarity in the perpetually indigo sky.  But the morning of 16th February was different.  There had been a fresh fall of snow in the Himalayas, a sprinkling of unprecedented overnight rain and rarest of rare, a gentle cool breeze had arrived to fan Gujarat.  The pleasure of this phenomenon was remarkable - to feel the wind in your face and see leaves moving on the trees, defined the day, from the start, as extra special !

In the unchanging climate of Gujarat, where the year becomes a succession of identical days of sunshine, the people have had to be innovative - each and every home or apartment has at least one large metal hook in the ceiling, usually the lounge, from which hangs an indoor swing - some are shaped like baskets but some swings on the terraces or verandahs, are freestanding handcrafted and elaborately decorated, jhoolas.  What better way to idle away a long hot afternoon, than to gently sway back and forth, on this piece of essential home furniture ?

IDIOMATIC ENGLISH

Headlines in the local English language newspaper are certainly eye catching:  "Murderer 'nailed' by son" or 'Farmer 'did himself in' by hanging self"   "robbers 'nabbed' ", "the thieves were caught 'red-handed' in the 'wee hours'!

Interestingly, the use of written English in this idiomatic way, negates the seriousness of the crimes or the tragedies, being reported, reducing them to no more than comic strip reportage !

Most of the reporting of crime is done in this matter of fact tone.  The horror of reading these stories is compounded by the light-hearted way in which horrific detail is treated.  After reading some of these headlines, one turns with trembling fingers to the inner page with the daily homily by 'The Speaking Tree' writer,  urging his readers towards compassion and spirituality, with the reassurance of the existence of Infinite Love.