Nature Blesseth...

One of my friend from Pune said this about Niagara falls when we first went there few years back -"Ya deshala nisargachi punyayi laabhli ahey ", (Mother nature has blessed this nation); I wouldn't blame him for exaggerating. For first time visitors, Niagara can have that kinda effect.Niagara of course happens to be a Desi Pilgrimage. And I am not sure if it is worth the hype. But anyways.

As we drove through Montana last weekend and tried to sink in those scenic views, my friend's statement kept haunting me. I kept wondering how can you even frame this place's beauty in words? Would you call "Mona Lisa" a painting?
It would be cheapening it's worth, isn't it? You would call it a masterpiece. Painting would be technically right term, but calling it a masterpiece would do some justice to that classic piece of work. The Glacier Forests, are a nature's masterpiece, IMHO. And if you have to see "nisargachi punyayi", this place would be a good start.

As you go past Apgar Village due east from the West Glacier entrance you go to the "Going to the Sun" road. There's this legend among native Indians from Montana, about a Guru who came to rescue the tribes living there. The Guru it seems came from the mountains, stayed with them, taught them how to deal with extreme weather conditions, taught them skills and how to deal with wildlife and once he was satisfied, disappeared into the Sun via those mountains. And that's how they say, the road got it's name.

The natives still have a substantial presence in those mountains and have mixed with the non-natives to a large extent. There are several interesting anecdotes that Matt told us while we were on our excursion.



As we started getting a feel of Montana we figured it had more to it than snow peaked mountains and wild life. It had a culture. A Cowboy culture if you will. As you drive through those rustic towns and villages to go to the West Glacier entrance, you can't help but feel being part of the Cohen brother movies. The old worn-ed out automobiles, the wide roads with a small "kaam chalau" deli somewhere in between with one man manning it and then of course the huge massive ranches with white picket fences around them for the richer and heavier folks of the state. Those ranches with horses grazing in wide open front yard are to me, signature snapshots of Montana. This state is in some sense a representative of the WILD WILD WEST. Only, it's greener,cooler and much more mountainous than it's southern cousins.

But all said and done, the Glacier Forests are the real deal. This is the tourism basket of the state. It's where most people collect every summers. The park remains open only 5 months a year andthat's when most pictures are clicked . I hate myself for not having a powerful Nikon. My amateurish photographic skill would have got a fillip. I could have done some justice to this place's awesome beauty if I had one of those black monsters.

It's almost like humans wait for seven months, while nature's movie is under production which would be premiered in summers. And then man opens the lock to the Glacier Park gates. Mother nature unfolds a cinematic magic. A blockbuster that lasts for next five months attracting thousands to it's magnum opus.

They come from all over the country. In different shapes and sizes. Via different routes. Some go for trail and hiking , some take the bus tours, while still some others just camp in there with their RVs/Tents around the grand lakes. One couple we met had come from Ohio on their motorbike. They had driven around 2000 miles to reach there. And the dude just could not stop clicking his Nikon. It was mesmerizing to say the least.

I think the word Picturesque gets a new meaning near the "Many Glaciers Park" on the east end. I wish we could have another day to take the trail toSwift current lake. But then as a rule, number of days are always less. We made do with taking a shorter trail on the Logan pass itself.

I would let the remaining talking on the post be done by the pictures we took. It would make more sense than my nonsensical blabber anyways....

Ladies and Gentleman, presenting, The Glacier National Park.... 08

Photo comments :
1. 'Going to the Sun' Road
2. The serene Lake McDonald's snap taken from Apgar Village
3. Two wild goats near Logan Pass. Snap taken from the car.
4. Jackson Glacier
5. "Many Glaciers" Hotel in 'Many Glaciers Park' on the East.
6. US 2 Highway
7. Chance encounter with Mama Grisly on the way to Polesbridge
8. Near Logan Pass
9. The St.Mary Lake with a small little island tree in the middle
10. Lake McDonald's lodge lobby


Dos and Donts:
# Plan a one day hike on any of the trails on 'Going to the Sun'.
# Sunscreen and Jacket are both necessary as you move higher.
# Take a guided tour on one of the Red Buses.
# For Camping, the West Side of glacier is better.
# Rafting is recommended, although we did not go for it.
# Logan Pass is touristy. I won't spend too much time there.
# Book a motel within the Park. McDonald's Lodge recommended.

Impossible Is Nothing

{Copying this post from my old blog. This is about a year old post. Remembered this since its the soccer season again :)}

Adidas's new ad with the tag line - 'Impossible is nothing' - has caught my imagination. The ad has two Latino kids "imagining" a dream football team each. They toss and select a player each. They not only select players from different countries but also from different generations. At one end they have Zidane,Beckham and all and at the other end one guy selects Platini and Beckenbeur. And then they start playing till one of them is stopped by his shouting mom to stop playing and come back home.

The ad instantly touched my core. I could relate to it since when we were kids we used to do the same for cricket. For example me and my cousin in the backyard of the house would make two imaginary teams and select a player each and start playing. I would choose Australia or England and he would choose Windies or India. And then we would select players and play a 10 wicket game between just the two of us. That is he has to get me out 10 times so that "my entire team" is all out and then i would have to do the same :)

After seeing that ad i was reminded of those innocent days. In that sense the ad has a universal appeal. Showing how kids all over behave the same. All have their moms shouting to come home for having their bath or lunch or getting something from grocery store. And making sure she embarrasses her lazy son.

If an ad is all about sending a message, this ad has conveyed one too many. I must say i was impressed !!

Of DDLJ, SRK and NRI-ism

(Please note: I don't intend any bragging of NRIism or condone candy floss movie culture. I am trying to connect events that happened surrounding this movie and see if i can make sense)


Some movies reflect nation's mood. They reflect the generational change...and sometimes tap on the changing sensibilities of a sub culture.

Almost 12 years back, one such movie was Dilwale Dlhaniya Le Jayenge. A 'coming of age' movie for lot of people including the lead - Shah Rukh Khan.

How was DDLJ different? Well to start with how about the acronym DDLJ itself? I don't remember we used to have many acronyms like this before. DDLJ firmly etched the notion of the shortening of big name movies. Although it wasn't the first to do that, the movie goers lingo definitely changed post this.
{My wife has just argued that QSQT was the one that started the trend. But I am going to stick with my gun. I think DDLJ made this acronym notion more prevalent}

But there were many other 'firsts' to this movie. It was the first "hit" movie where the romantic couple was NRI. Before DDLJ, the hero would be "foreign returned" at most; but not an ABCD or in this case British born confused desi. He would be that patriotic Indian who would come back to "serve" his country. DDLJ broke that glass ceiling. It was unapologetically NRI in it's portrayal.

The second "first" for this movie was the romantic rebel who wouldn't try to be "too nice". He wouldn't try to be the devdas or the good guy. He would use brain to fight out his situation . He was NOT a good guy. He was NOT perfect. He was charactersiticly rude and in your face lover.
Something that was never fully attempted earlier. And the third "first" and in my opinion one of the big jumps was the strong feminist portrayal. The female lead in a romantic movie always had to be the coy, all-adjusting girl who would stay within limits all the time. Although in the movie Kajol does portray that "good girl" image, its different; she is shown as fiercely independent and confident and decisive to a large extent in the first part. At times she irritated me too. But that also indicates that the heroine lost all pretense of the good girlie character.

The year of DDLJ was 1996. This was the time when NRI-ism was coming on its own in urban India. It was a period when economy had just opened. Urban India was seeing American brands like Pizza Hut and McDonald opening their shops around the corner. Coke and Pepsi were already a part of the pop culture. Coke was the official sponsor of the Cricket World Cup in India in 1996. IT revolution was also slowly unraveling in India. A revolution, that, with it's one big tide would sweep a whole generation of middle class Indians into an upper middle class mode. The middle class Indians of wannabe NRI types.

In some sense DDLJ tapped that mood of the nation to it's most profitable best. It must be the business acumen of the Chopra camp to have sensed that mood. The mood of a generation of Indians who were ready to move on to greener territories. DDLJ had all the makings of a candy-floss love story with loads of rich NRI shenanigans. It's not hard to see why a generation of India was caught by this fancy flight to Europe. The Flat world of Thomas Friedman was flattening in India at a very high rate at that time.

The globalized Indian was at ease with the NRI romance. He was ok with a convertible car being broken in Switzerland express way. He could easily relate to train journey in Europe. Although Yash Chopra had taken Indian audience many a times over to his favorite destination, it was with DDLJ that he camped in Europe for good. Just 5 years before DDLJ an NRI hero had failed in Chopra's own Lamhe.

In 20/20 hindsight it's easy to see why DDLJ would not have failed even if it was totally crappy. Some may argue it was still crappy after all. But just seeking an objective analysis, it cannot be denied that it was SRK's signature movie. It was for SRK what Deewar was for Amitabh Bachchan or what probably Hum Aapke.. was for Madhuri Dixit.
Any numero uno needs that ONE big movie to propel him or her in a different league. One movie that is permanently tied to that star. DDLJ was that movie for SRK and also to some extent for Kajol. While Deewar reflected the angry socio-economic situation on mid-70's , DDLJ mirrored the new emerging positive India to some extent. Both movies hitting the sweet spot as far as box-office is concerned.

The gloss that Chopra movies started acquiring with Chandani and Lamhe finally reached it's crescendo with DDLJ. Remember Chopra was the same guy who gave Deewar and Mashaal. The suave urbane hero was not Chopra's real deal till very late in his career. Some may say, the coming together of SRK and Yash Chopra spawned a new thread of candy floss cinema. A new lane on Bollywood traffic. A lane which Karan Johar would keep driving and go for an overkill of NRI centric stuff. KJ even created an NRI family in London who lived in a palace that would be bigger than the Queen herself; for crying out loud. I am referring to the sub-standard attempt at movie making - Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam; K3G as it was called.

DDLJ opened new gates and market for Bollywood and soon other big movie houses joined the bandwagon. NRIs were the new target audience. And before we knew, every one from Saif Ali Khan to Abhishek Bachchan were living in Australia, UK and USA.

But like any other notion, the NRI syndrome had to fail. Not because it was meant to. But because of the curse of Bollywood. That curse is called overdoze. Of over kill. A curse that has been induced time and again by its unidimensional Directors, who cannot think beyond "formula".

The over used formulae of DDLJ may have seen it's sell by date already. But it's significance in the larger pop culture of India can simply not be denied.

A Game

I will play a game with myself. I will try and connect a word to another one, creating a chain... and somehow come back to first word, completing the chain.

Universe - Infinite;
--Infinite - Limits;
---Limits - Algebra;
----Algebra - Senior School;
-----Senior School - Past;
------Past - Nostalgia;
-------Nostalgia - Nagpur;
--------Nagpur - Green;
---------Green - Cool;
----------Cool - Orbitz.com;
-----------Orbitz.com - Blue;
------------Blue - Lake Michigan;
-------------Lake Michigan - Chicago;
--------------Chicago - Second City;
---------------Second City - Improv;
--------------Improv - SNL;
-------------SNL- NBC;
------------NBC - Jay Leno;
-----------Jay Leno - Jokes;
----------Jokes - Seinfeld;
---------Seinfeld - New York;
--------New York - Fast;
-------Fast - Food;
------Food - Italian;
-----Italian - Sopranos;
----Sopranos - New Jersey;
---New Jersey - New Port;
--New Port - View;
-View - Barbara Walters;
--Barbara Walters - Oscars;
---Oscars - Hollywood;
----Hollywood - Angelina Jolie;
-----Angelina Jolie - Adoption;
------Adoption - Africa;
-------Africa - Safari;
--------Safari- Lion;
---------Lion - Gir;
----------Gir - Rajasthan;
-----------Rajasthan - Fort;
------------Fort - Jaisalmere;
-------------Jaisalmere - Train on Wheels;
--------------Train on Wheels - Lalu;
---------------Lalu - Fodder;
----------------Fodder - Cow;
-----------------Cow - Milk;
------------------Milk - White;
-------------------White - Snow;
------------------Snow - Shovel;
-----------------Shovel - Ass;
----------------Ass - hole;
---------------hole - Mouse;
--------------Mouse - Windows;
-------------Windows - Microsoft;
-----------Microsoft - Bill Gates;
----------Bill Gates - Billions;
---------Billions - Forbes;
--------Forbes - Magazine;
-------Magazine - Filmfare;
------Filmfar - Bollywood;
-----Bollywood - SRK;
----SRK - Energy;
---Energy - Fuel;
--Fuel - Hybrid;
-Hybrid - Prius;
Prius - Smooth;
-Smooth - Ice Cream;
--Ice Cream - Dinshaws;
---Dinshaws - Summer;
----Summer - Holidays;
-----Holidays - Indoor Games;
------Indoor Games - Dessert Coolers;
-------Dessert Coolers - Mango Milkshake;
--------Mango Milkshake - Alphanso;
---------Alphanso - Bombay;
----------Bombay - Traffic;
-----------Traffic - Infrastructure;
------------Infrastructure - Roads;
-------------Roads - Black;
--------------Black - Black Hole;
---------------Black Hole - Celestial;
----------------Celestial - Planets;
-----------------Planets - Light Years;
------------------Light Years - Universe

Dharampeth Coffee House

I was a regular visitor to Dharampeth Coffee House [DCH] for around 2 years; between the period when i was just around end of my college and my regular job. The period when i was mostly unemployed or trying things and failing consistently.
We were a group of guys, who had recently passed their Engineering and were looking for either jobs or generally taking the next career step.

Now get this, Nagpur was not exactly the kind of city where one could launch a career in a technical field. It was neither a manufacturing hub like Pune nor a professionals paradise like Bombay. In terms of lack of employment opportunities Nagpur ranked higher than most cities.
The only option we had was to move out from Nagpur and look for *greener pastures*.
Moving out of Nagpur? - well that required some motivation.

That was a period when the IT revolution was slowly unraveling in India. But we Nagpuris were sort of detached from this phenomenon. Not that we were not aware; oh no, we were actually very aware. Only thing we did not know the gateway to that revolution.

At 21-22 , we simply were the young turks who had the energy but not the direction to get it right. The growing expectations of our family was not helping either. We were the quintessential *Educated unemployed* romanticized in some art movies of bollywood. Not that we considered ourselves to be that.

Given this situation where at one end i was trying to avoid eye contact with my father and at the other end was not motivated enough to go out of the city and find something, I found a haven in Nagpur called the Dharampeth Coffee House [DCH]

DCH, a place where you could spend hours together and not spend more that 2.50 INR by sipping one cup of coffee. Being a government run house, neither the manager nor the waiter would give you those condescending looks for ordering "just one coffee" and occupying the chair for hours and along the way consuming the resources like newspaper endlessly. They were least bothered. They were equally laid back.

The thing about newspapers at the DCH was that you would never get a full version of "todays news" in a single bunch. The daily and its supplement would usually be scattered amongst different tables of the DCH. The sports section would be at one end while the editorial would be lying under someone else's cup.
Anyway our interests were not about current affairs. We were more interested in solving the crossword puzzle; a thing or liking we picked up while preparing for the MBA entrance. (ya right!)

So even as we *were* discussing the current situation, we were more bothered about that English word which was not fitting the puzzle.

The real charm of DCH was in its visitors. The absolute regulars. From around 10:00 am in the morning till 5:00 in the evening you would end up seeing the same faces all the time. It made us wonder what these "professionals" , some of them dressed always in formal attire were actually into? Were they really working somewhere? Or they had come so far at a point in their lives of trying to dodge an eye contact with their fathers that they had made DCH their professional home?

Nevertheless it helped build the place into what it was. A bustling and breeding ground for wannabe professionals. Professionals discussing complex world issues around a table complete with empty coffee cups and cigarette ashtrays. The *smoke screen* that those cigarette puffs created couldn't have been more ironical given the situation.

We were all having our own SMOKE SCREENS. We were escaping the hard realities and DCH provided us with that escape route. It was a place where you were not accountable for your actions. And spending hours without the monetary counter balance for doing that was economically viable for unemployed like us.
2.50 INR [less than 10 cents] for 3 hours or more made perfect business sense. The Government of India after all was taking good care of us.

DCH had more to it than the regular faces. It had regular waiters. The ones who came from Kerela and were in Nagpur for their respective "onsite" opportunity. Nagpur offering some one with an onsite opportunity was in itself a notion, lot wouldn't find amusing. But so it was. The same waiters who would become so familiar with our faces, they would hardly ask us for orders. They knew we could not afford more than one cup, ok may be two on good days tops. They were humane enough to understand our "situation".

But there was also a class of people, the achievers, who strangely found a safe haven in DCH. This was sort of a mystery for me. Whom were they escaping from? These guys were successful doctors [my own family doctor was a regular visitor], successful business men [some of whom i knew personally] , successful lawyers etc. What was bringing them here? And everyday.

I realized that DCH was a magnet that was attracting people of all walks of Nagpur's life. In some sense it was a true melting pot of Nagpur's educated young/old turks. We had people from age of 25 to 50 sitting on the same table, having coffee and cigarettes and often not even in conversation with each other. Yet they were bound by the same thread of DCH. You were *cool* if you were a DCH regular. You don't know the person, you never speak to him, yet you probably KNOW him. He is the same guy who like you spends hours in DCH and yet is un-apologetic about it. He may occasionally come over to your table for taking a "current" from your puff [current - a term used to take another persons live cigarette and using it to light your own] and move on without saying a thank you - yet in strange ways acknowledging it.

DCH for me is symbolic of Nagpur's professionalism , or lack of it. Laid back and non-demanding. Easy going and not too convoluted.

A place that actually made you feel more intellectually empowered. A place where unemployment wasn't a taboo. A place where waiter was called Anna and he would feel endeared. A place where the super achievers shared the space with non-achievers or potential achievers and yet feel perfectly comfortable.

DCH was that one stop shop for all our miseries. And we did not have many in fact. Yet Coffee House somehow filled that vacuum. A day not spent at DCH was a day wasted. We felt like we were integral to that culture. Our only contribution being warming the chairs of DCH for hours together. The style accompanying the puffing of your cigarette and entering through the door, the association of adulthood to that place was unmistakable. The putting up a facade of maturity and forcing yourself into the men's world was an act of desperation and yet it was endearing.

After almost a decade I did visit the place again in recent past; probably last year. I somehow did not like what i saw. The old faces were replaced by new less known ones. The waiter wore the same attire but he was not the same. The aura was missing. The DCH i knew was not there anymore. May be it is for the new unemployed of my city. But for me the DCH i knew had passed.

For those years of my life when nothing concrete was being achieved, when i was not contributing locally, domestically or nationally to the economy and was Indian government's unwanted guest , a parasite if you will, an era when i was visiting DCH so that i could feel amongst the MEN of Nagpur and associate myself with a community that virtually existed on cigarette and coffee, an era when my only achievement was solving the crossword puzzle incompletely and an era when i did not feel left out because i had for my own convenience created a social mechanism of which i could be a part of without paying for it ; the DCH, Dharampeth Coffee house was my second home.

In some sense it was my last stop of the splendidly relaxed days i spent in Nagpur.