The Stragglers (Work in Progress)
There are journeys that defy definition or slotting. They happen, often without aforethought. And bring a wealth of unanticipated pleasures, pain and perspectives. Perhaps they happen for a reason. Every trip need not be a themed one. Leave some to serendipity and see what it throws up. I did and am richer for it. I believe they too merit documentation. Hence this section.
Come, experience the unmitigated joy of learning studio pottery in quaint Andretta, sauntering through a monstrous gas storage tank skillfully turned into a piece of artwork in Dresden, gaping at Michaealangelo’s handwork on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, experiencing quirky Kazimierz in Krakow or silently mourn with me as I walk you into another gas chamber, indescribably evil and infamous – in Dachau.
Amish Way of Life, Pennsylvania (2006) - LANCASTER COUNTY is situated on the rolling plains of Pennsylvania. At first sight, it seems no different from the rest of suburban United States. The same spaced-out two-storied houses with sloping roofs, neatly laid-out streets and well-tended farmlands with capsule like granary rising skywards. But…
Architecture Noveau – Metz, France (2010) - Hitherto obscure, and ruled alternately by the French and the Germans, Lorraine, a province in the northeast of France has had its fair share of identity crises throughout its chequered history. That might however, be a thing of the past. From now on, it…
Bastar, India’s Adivasi Heartland (2003, 2004) - Maadum Haat is a feast for the senses, with its mosaic of colours, sights, sounds and smells, as only Indian bazaars can be. Yet this is not your typical Indian bazaar – it does not have trappings like Ferris wheel or candy floss. It is…
Dachau – Untrammelled, Unimaginable Evil (2010) - Dachau renders you speechless – at the horrors that evil minds can devise. It claws your heart to see the reality of the gas chambers, the barbed wire fences, the watchtowers, the scary cages in which millions of Jews were kept in squalor and terror…
Grand Canyon – Where Theatre Is The Drama (1999, 2010) - In a planet shrunk by satellite and cable television, one in which armchair travel has excised the excitement out of journeys and rendered redundant, superlatives used to describe exotic destinations, there are still places that awe the visitor with their beauty and grandeur. Grand Canyon…
Jai Mata Di - “JAI MATA DI” frenzied chants ring out in concentric echoes on the hillside. There is a riot of colours in the profusion of merchandise piled high on both sides of the winding path. Vivid red sequined nylon prayer scarves with fetching golden borders flutter from…
Munsiyari, Mahila Power in the Mountains - Kamala Pandey may appear petite, and even frail, but like all hill women, she is a formidable powerhouse. Saree draped neatly around her slender frame with nary a crease and a smile that seldom leaves her face, Kamala spins like a top, attending to the…
Niagara Falls (1999, 2010) - My first visit to the falls was in 1999 where, for want of Canadian passport, I had to be content with viewing the falls from the US side, take the Maid of the Mist boat across to be showered by the foamy spray. The second…
Sistine Chapel – Eternal Joy (Many times) - IT was one of the hottest days in Europe this summer when I joined the serpentine queue along the outer wall of the Vatican to get a peek into the priceless treasures that make up the numerous Vatican Museums, of which the Sistine Chapel is…
Splendours of Saxony - WHO could have visualised that something as unremarkable as an abandoned gas tank could be transformed into a spectacular art show, one that would invite a steady stream of connoisseurs and visitors from all over the world? But then Yadegar Asisi did, and thus sprang…
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe (2022) - The Zambezi comes cascading down in torrents that send up massive clouds of spray that gave it the name Mosi-oa-Tunya’ (the smoke that thunders) in the Kololo or Lozi language, and the name is now used throughout Zambia and in parts of Zimbabwe. Mosi-oa-Tunya National…