In Xanadu

I have just finished reading 'In Xanadu' by William Dalrymple and this has put me in a fairly restive mood. For the whole of today, I threw all caution, studies and application forms to the winds and sat (or rather lay) spell bound, reading about WD's amazing journey across 12, 000 miles through Central Asia from Jerusalem to Xanadu in Mongolia. I guess the restive mood is prompted by the fact that I have always wanted to make a journey like this.

Having several deadlines to meet, I tried to sleep but was quite hungover the book. Cold barren deserts, fierce turbaned Afghans, jagged mountain peaks and great domed mosques all flashed before my eyes. Ever since I read about Peshawar in Afghanistan in I think 'Shantaram' followed by Dalrymple's own 'Age of Kali', I have wanted to go to central Asia and visit the great bazaars, travel through maze like alleyways lined with mud brick houses and (for some reason) watch bearded Pashtuns parade around with their AK 47s. 'In Xanadu' rekindled that longing in a big way. I grew depressed thinking that my current line of study was singularly unsuited to travel on this scale. 5 years in law with small vacations spent interning and now this MBA with no vacations did not throw up vast opportunities for a long journey using buses, trucks and walking as the chief modes of transport.

Indeed, even my dream of backpacking across North India looks a little doubtful. I have always wanted to (this phrase has appeared for the third time in this entry I think) journey from the west to the east - across Gujarat (well I am there now, but no time!!), through the Rajasthani desert (romantically on a camel, braving sandstorms), upwards through to Punjab (may be I can spend more time in Amritsar) and into Himachal Pradesh moving on to Kashmir, before coming down to Delhi (a one week pleasure stop). Then I would press on to UP - through Agra, Allahabad and Ayodhya into the great Chambal valley in MP. Somehow I would emerge from there and move into Jharkhand and Bihar (and probably make a foray into Nepal). There I would finally reach Bengal, visit the mountains in Sikkim, pay homage to the tea gardens of Assam and the rock music in Mizoram. From there I would fly, exhausted, back to Bangalore and renew myself on a strict diet of dosas and beer. Dreaming thus, I started wondering - if only I had studied history at Cambridge (like Dalrymple), if only I was white (these damn white people get clear passages every where), or better still - if only I had been a journalist, if only I hadn't taken up such strenuous courses and done arts at DU instead....As the ifs started crowding into my head, I switched the laptop on and decided to rant on this blog.

I Googled some of the places visited in 'In Xanadu' and then Googled Xanadu itself - the town where Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan received the Italian explorer Marco Polo, thus cementing the latter's legendary status as the first European to have first penetrated the Far East. In fact, 'In Xanadu' recounts Dalrymple's fantastic attempt to retrace Marco Polo's footsteps across Israel, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China i.e. through the famed Silk Route. The book is rich in detail, full of anecdotes and seems to indicate that Dalrymple faced a considerably harder time than Marco Polo as he was travelling in 1986, when both Iran and China were extremely suspicious of Westerners (my white person wish is more to do with the fawning attitude adopted by most Orientals towards Occidentals in recent times, cha). Kublai Khan is of course known to us mainly through Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem which we all would have studied and recited in school - In Xanadu did Kubla Khan, A stately pleasure dome-decree... etc etc. I never really liked this poem for some reason. It wasn't half as exciting as 'The Highwayman' or 'Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner'. Anyhow, on Googling Xanadu, I found that it was the name of a 1980 disco musical starring Olivia Newton John. Initially dismayed by this, my curiosity soon gained the upper hand and I ended up reading the Wiki entry about the movie (a refreshingly random plot involving a nightclub, a Greek muse and a painter of record covers who falls in love with her and asks her father Zeus for her hand, all set in Los Angeles) and watching the title song for the movie on Youtube. It was the usual gaudy disco affair, full of disco balls and strobe lights and Olivia Newton John at her 'Physical' best. Ah well. Music leads to travel and travel leads to music. Where does an MBA fit in?

The MBA will sponsor my travels and show biz career. Just you wait.

Top 18 Travel Memories

My next post might also be in a list format, can't tell.

1. The Maid of the Mist ride into the Niagra falls. The falls are horseshoe shaped and the boat takes you into the middle of the horseshoe. For about 10 minutes, you are surrounded by roaring water, a fine mist hitting your face. Quite an overwhelming moment in some ways.
2. The Kraken ride at Sea World, Orlando. The roller coaster last for about 2 minutes and has 7 loops! I went twice. An incredible adrenaline rush.
3. Watching Chicago in New York. Broadway has been one of my various showbiz obsessions for a while and watching Chicago on Broadway was almost spiritual.
4. My first first sight of Times Square. This was when I had gone with my family. We took a cab from Upper Manhattan and got off just before the actual junction of Broadway and 7th Avenue. A few paces took us in the midst of a whirlwind of noise, colour and people. The sheer exhilaration of being there made me want to jump around.
5. The Wayanad trek. It is definitely one of the most unique experiences I have had. The long trek upwards, subsequent qualms about going further and the final trudge to the heart-shaped lake and our photo taking session on top. One of the cooler things I have done (I hope to do more of them!).
6. Paris. I can't really pin-point anything specific moment here - everything was so awesome! But highlights definitely include the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower and Roland Garros.
7. Wimbledon and Strawberries and Cream. Our old time British guide took us on a good one hour tour of the entire Wimbledon grounds. We then had baked jacket potatoes and strawberries and cream for lunch. I could literally picture text from Enid Blighton books before my eyes.
8. Hong Kong Disneyland. Though it is called a poor man's Disneyland, we visited it over two days and met almost all Disney 'characters' including Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and of course Mickey and Minnie themselves. It was quite satisfying in that sense :).
9. Our private beach experience in Thalaserry. Yes, it was incredibly hot and yes, we got terribly tanned but the feeling of having the entire beach to one's self was empowering. And of course all the games of hand-sand.
10. Lying on Om Beach at night and looking at the stars. No explanations needed, it was simply beautiful.
11. A mad canal ride through Bangakok. This ride was made more exciting by the fact that it had rained very heavily that afternoon and the canal was swollen and the water quite turgid. Our boatman, without a care in the world, made the both go so fast that its prow was rising out of the water and it seemed about to take off. The rather exciting but slightly scary trip was completed when we later found out that due to the swollen river, a couple of tourists had been drowned while exploring some caves. Psycho shit!
12. Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. I can't really describe how I felt looking at those frescoes except for the fact that I was incredibly awestruck. Each figure seemed to come to life in the flickering candle-light and each panel had a story to tell.
13. The entire Dresden trip. Being the first phoren locale I had visited with friends and my first hop-on/ hop-off tour (which went on to have a profound influence on Anwesha and my lives), it was a fun and interesting trip helped by the fact that Dresden is an incredibly beautiful city.
14. The dash through Charles de Gaulle airport to catch the Frankfurt flight. Man I hate that airport! It was fun though :)
15. The tequila experiments in Pondicherry. Our extreme belief in the power of tequila and subsequent disappointment is something I will never forget!
16. Driving to Mysore. Mainly because of my driving powers and all those photo moments.
17. Breaking into random song on the slopes of Munnar. This is something I have been wanting to do for a while and I was lucky had two worthy individuals to accomplish this feat with :D
18. The thrill of travelling to Disneyland Paris without a ticket and actually fooling the ticketing machines. I still marvel at it sometimes!

The list ends at the somewhat random number 18 because these experiences undoubtedly stand out from the entire bunch of adventures one has on any holiday. I am honestly hoping one comes my way soon - something longer than 4 days. Major break required!

Rehna Tu

When times get hectic, one rarely gets to think about, well may be not happier, but less hectic and more languid and idyllic times. In fact, one shouldn't be indulging in such sighing and dreaming anyway. Yet, like I mentioned before, all it takes is one song to trigger your memories.

Radio One in Bangalore, for all its flaws, used to play Rehna Tu from Delhi 6 very regularly. I recently listened to it and suddenly found myself missing traffic jams on Mysore Road (when the song would invariably play and ease my tension), Grissy, discussing the intricacies of Rahman's music and music in general with Vivek, Aishu, Bhavi, Shore, Asma, Gupta, Amber and hell, several other lovely people who let music and its moods dictate their lives more often than not. I missed the rush of sitting next to someone you barely knew in class and having a long winded discussion with him/ her about life, love, relationships and random philosophies feeling wonderfully refreshed later on. I missed the randomness and closeness that life at law school made one accustomed to. I missed sleepy 5th year evenings in Bangalore, Chetta Maggi and that Nora Roberts book which I freely admit I have read several times and really like. I even missed Radio One's 'Maximum Music, maximum choice' and Indigo's terrible yet catchy music. After some contemplation on where life had taken me, I pulled myself out of my reverie and pushed off to the library to study.

Rehna Tu is a lovely song which moves between the sad, romantic and other worldly. Its mellow pace contrasts beautifully with the anguish in Rahman's voice. And the Kamas (I think) bit at the end adds yet another layer of contrast and complexity, ending the song on this haunting and wistful note - you can't but sigh after listening to the song. Like all Rahman's songs, it is incredibly layered and complex and yet simple in its soulful message (as opposed to those monstrosities he created for Slumdog and Raavan). At any rate, the song seems to have become inextricably linked with my last few months in Bangalore, its mildness somehow suiting the mild pace and weather of the city.

I am not sure how to conclude this post now. The 'me' in law school would have sighed over the song for hours together while the 'me' in IIM rapidly shuts out these external influences and concentrates on the task at hand. In several ways, it is a very good development. And in some other ways, it is a little sad. I hope at the end of my two years here, while emerging as a smarter and stronger person (with quant skills!), I will be able to retain that appreciation and love for these things that have so moved me in the past. And well, I've already spent too my time over this entry - the library beckons!

Rehna tu, hai jaisa tu....

Flying

Written on 16th September:

I am sitting in the duty free area of Mumbai's interntional airport on my first alone-alone international trip. Cool no? Just recently, when I landed at the Bangalore airport, as I hurried to the baggage claim area with a delighted smile on my face, I caught a glimpse of the immigration counters and suddenly longed to go abroad. Not that domestic travel isn't stimulating - but every now and then you get that desire to go somewhere truly far away, with a completely different culture. (actually you can ge that in India. Ok ok, I'm a wannabe firang) And that wish actually came true. Of course its only to Singapore. You don't have the satisfaction of flying at least 8 hours and seeing full-full phoren people..but still you go through immigration and end up at duty free, so you kinda get a feel of the thing.

The que for the the shuttle to the international terminal in the swanky new Mumbai airport is very very long. I stood in it for at least 45 minutes and at one point attempted to get an auto to go to the terminal. The airport guards seemed to have prepared for such an eventuality though and prevented me from doing so. However, I wouldn't miss the shuttle ride in the night for anything. If you love planes, like I do, you will love this ride. The domestic and international terminals are sort of opposite each other and the shuttle skirts the runway while taking you to the international terminal. You see a sea of lights in every colour possible..blue, red, yellow, green...an expanse of black dotted with pinpoints of light. It is quite an amazing sight. And of course you get to see planes taking off and landing. In the dark, the wing to wing lighting of the plane actually makes it look like a disc shaped object - very UFO like. It was quite a surreal experience. The best part was seeing Boeing 747s and Airbus 340s in their hangars. You realise how big the place is when you see it parked in a plane shaped building, where you get to admire its awesome wingspan and marvel at how such a massive thing gets off the group. A note to my engineer friends - science is rather cool at times!

Right now, I am drinking beer at watching an incredibly bad movie at one the numerous bars in this airport. I have finished my first term at IIM A :)

This is what I wrote at the airport when I was rather high on two cans of draught beer. I ended up spending a lovely 4 days in Singapore and have come back to what promises to be an insane 3 months. Sigh, the too-short pleasures of a holiday.

Faff

Faff is the only constant thing. and I have moved from one faffy profession to the next. Not that these professions don't have anything to them. Faff is after all grounded in some facts. At least some. What is faff, some of you may ask? (given my recently expanded readership). Well:

Faff is the ability to talk obliquely and verbosely about a particular topic or point of contention so as to make the reader/ listener believe that the the writer/ speaker has thought about the above-mentioned topic or point of contention for a considerable amount of time and has formed coherent views on the matter; when in reality, the writer/ speaker is merely improvising by employing large words and considerable rhetoric to state her or his case.

In fact that is faff. Another example: "The current project will act in a timely fashion to increase our bottomline through top-line growth achieved by vertical intergration employed in a strategic manner". I will soon be issuing statements like this.

Faff is an awesome word.

When we first came into law school, 5 years seemed to be a tiny period compared to school - a mere 10 minutes if school was an hour. During the course of law school, through tough periods, projects, fights, sliming sessions etc etc 5 years suddenly seemed too long. We wanted to get out, get away, get somewhere. In the last trimester, with those 5 years coming to an end, it suddenly seemed like law school was too short again. Like 5 years of excellent fun just whizzed past without us even realising it; and us failing to appreciate it entirely while we were going through it.
Now at the end however, one overwhelming feeling remains - that 5 years are enough.

The theme's getting repetitive I know. Don't worry, this is the last one. Well, may be.

A cat, a cooler and a juicer

I walked down 80 feet road, Indiranagar yesterday (after being told by the bank that I was still a minor as per their records and that they did not recognise my signature for withdrawals from my account) and it was a walk down memory lane. There was Sugandha Gift Gallery where we used to buy birthday gifts (when we spent a 100 bucks on them). And Chung's Pavillion where several birthday treats were given. There was the turning into New Thippasandra (nothing new and swanky about it) and the Bakery where we used to go to eat after school. Nearly every street in Indiranagar and Airport Road itself is full of forgotten good times - Coffee Days, Karthik Sweets, Kanti Sweets, Corner Houses, Baristas, Kaati Zones, Bombay Houses, Daily Breads, Casa Picolas, Shanti Sagars - scenes from a life in Bangalore without Law School.

Yet, while I used to think that Law School had spoiled Bangalore for me in several ways (primarily because many people who came down didn't like it and told me things like 'Oh, you should definitely go to Casa Picola'. I mean, really!), I realise now that it has made Bangalore all the more real for me. Pubs, discs, out of the way hamlets, tiny teashops, street food carts, shady bars - all these are very much a part of Bangalore and but for Law School, I would have never discovered them(or discovered much later).

How can I leave a city so seeped in memories..which has defined me so completely and has left an indelible mark on me? And on which I have left my own mark? Yet, I feel no real sadness on leaving - more a sense of completion. Like I know my time here is done, and I am ok with not coming back for a while (at least till the metro construction is completed). And as I start life on my own finally, with the things mentioned in the title, I am satisfied knowing that I have got all I can from this city and can leave it knowing I can still come back to it and feel loved.

In the past one week, I have slept for a total of 10 to 12 hours. My legs and head ache. I have been drunk continuously for 5 nights, stayed up till 5 in the morning on two occassions. I have lost my voice, I don't think its ever coming back! I have sung for 8 hours straight, have danced without stopping for nearly for 6 hours till 4.30 in the morning, have driven nearly 60 kilometers in one day and have just about managed to eat one small meal a day. Right now I feel like I will never recover from the exhausted state I am in. Because this is Univ Week and it has been the best week I have ever had.