As the colours of Holi faded and the coolness in the morning breeze subsided, the chirruping- chatting- whistling of the birds too vanished, probably the approaching harsh summer has driven them to safer, cooler havens in the North whereas I still have to negotiate the acclivity of the IIFM hillock in the brighter - warmer sun, every morning. It was sure that April has arrived but it seems I could not wait for the monsoons any more!
Month of April can well be dedicated to Indian Railways, without which I wouldn’t be able to crisscross the country travelling more than five thousand kilometres in a single month! I travelled almost every week (weekend) towards north, south and west from Bhopal visiting places where I earlier had been to and to some places for the first time, each journey exciting, interesting and refreshing! Undoubtedly April seemed to be amongst the swiftest of the time I had spent lately.
India’s first ISO certified train ‘Bhopal Express’, has definitely diminished the distance between New Delhi and Bhopal, or else I have been bitten by some sort of capital bug that maketh me to travel to New Delhi fifth time in a short span of 3 months. The trip was a sort of an unusual one, as I remained far off from that red city (JNU) and passed the time with my soldier friend who treated me in a very lavish way. On the top of an elaborate Chinese dinner at a posh restaurant near Saket, he even reimbursed my travelling to Delhi, for which I still fell a little uncomfortable at my heart, but nevertheless I dropped any further teasing out of the issue and tried to make most out of my trip?
I wasn’t even settled properly after my Delhi trip when I received the most exciting news of the year, which I hope you all can guess very well, yeah it’s the news of the arrival of a sweet little angel, ‘Milli’, who will call me uncle. She was born on 4th April, Monday and I made an elaborate purchasing of gifts all over during the rest of the week, before boarding the train to home at weekend. The journey seemed to be comfortable, I am not sure whether it really was or I was so overjoyed with the idea of seeing and meeting my niece that everything else doesn’t really mattered. I reached home early morning, and a glimpse of the little one made my day. The ‘sleeping beauty’ decidedly resembled my sister Rupali to such a great extent that she received this particular remark from almost everyone, a Xerox copy! However, Milli’s father and my brother-in-law, Sandy reaped this opportunity quite nicely by quipping, ‘Milli got looks from her mother but the traits will follow her fathers’. (Huge expectations, isn’t it?)
I found Milli so tender and soft that I could not overcome the fear of hurting her if I try to handle her and so I returned back on to my work desk, punctually on Monday ensconcing the bunch of many pleasant memories and waiting for another occasion when I could have her in my lap without hurting her.
The largest potion of train journey was covered in the second and third weeks of April. It was a journey towards peninsular south, towards the city of Bangalore, a journey of more than 1700 km one way! I was actually heading for Rajiv Ghandi National Park, Nagarahole, where I was to attend a one-week training cum workshop on the census of large herbivores in the rich forests of Western Ghats. I was overwhelmed with joy as this was my first opportunity to be so close to real jungles. Real in a sense that inside a National Park (NP) only jungle law is held supreme and we humans are not more than just the intruders. On reaching the camp I discovered that I was a part of the team of around 20 wildlife enthusiasts who volunteered for this transect survey exercise. Interestingly, among the crowd of these amateurs I was alone who felt that biodiversity conservation holds sufficient water to be pursued as a full-fledged professional career. The stay at the Forest rest house facility inside the NP was incredibly superb. Those 7 days were filled in with many sessions of in-house briefings; training classes, discussions and a 3-4 km stroll twice a day, beneath the densely crowned forests. Every-time after completing the walk we were treated with highly aromatic, rich and spicy items typical of the Southern Karnataka cuisine prepared in-house by the talented cook. I felt that I am getting nourished doubly, from within body as well as soul. The calm tranquil and pure forest environment was instilling new energies to all my senses while the nourishing food was making up for all those vitamin deficiencies that I have been suffering since I was away from home. And all that moments of learning were a bonus!
Month of April can well be dedicated to Indian Railways, without which I wouldn’t be able to crisscross the country travelling more than five thousand kilometres in a single month! I travelled almost every week (weekend) towards north, south and west from Bhopal visiting places where I earlier had been to and to some places for the first time, each journey exciting, interesting and refreshing! Undoubtedly April seemed to be amongst the swiftest of the time I had spent lately.
India’s first ISO certified train ‘Bhopal Express’, has definitely diminished the distance between New Delhi and Bhopal, or else I have been bitten by some sort of capital bug that maketh me to travel to New Delhi fifth time in a short span of 3 months. The trip was a sort of an unusual one, as I remained far off from that red city (JNU) and passed the time with my soldier friend who treated me in a very lavish way. On the top of an elaborate Chinese dinner at a posh restaurant near Saket, he even reimbursed my travelling to Delhi, for which I still fell a little uncomfortable at my heart, but nevertheless I dropped any further teasing out of the issue and tried to make most out of my trip?
I wasn’t even settled properly after my Delhi trip when I received the most exciting news of the year, which I hope you all can guess very well, yeah it’s the news of the arrival of a sweet little angel, ‘Milli’, who will call me uncle. She was born on 4th April, Monday and I made an elaborate purchasing of gifts all over during the rest of the week, before boarding the train to home at weekend. The journey seemed to be comfortable, I am not sure whether it really was or I was so overjoyed with the idea of seeing and meeting my niece that everything else doesn’t really mattered. I reached home early morning, and a glimpse of the little one made my day. The ‘sleeping beauty’ decidedly resembled my sister Rupali to such a great extent that she received this particular remark from almost everyone, a Xerox copy! However, Milli’s father and my brother-in-law, Sandy reaped this opportunity quite nicely by quipping, ‘Milli got looks from her mother but the traits will follow her fathers’. (Huge expectations, isn’t it?)
I found Milli so tender and soft that I could not overcome the fear of hurting her if I try to handle her and so I returned back on to my work desk, punctually on Monday ensconcing the bunch of many pleasant memories and waiting for another occasion when I could have her in my lap without hurting her.
The largest potion of train journey was covered in the second and third weeks of April. It was a journey towards peninsular south, towards the city of Bangalore, a journey of more than 1700 km one way! I was actually heading for Rajiv Ghandi National Park, Nagarahole, where I was to attend a one-week training cum workshop on the census of large herbivores in the rich forests of Western Ghats. I was overwhelmed with joy as this was my first opportunity to be so close to real jungles. Real in a sense that inside a National Park (NP) only jungle law is held supreme and we humans are not more than just the intruders. On reaching the camp I discovered that I was a part of the team of around 20 wildlife enthusiasts who volunteered for this transect survey exercise. Interestingly, among the crowd of these amateurs I was alone who felt that biodiversity conservation holds sufficient water to be pursued as a full-fledged professional career. The stay at the Forest rest house facility inside the NP was incredibly superb. Those 7 days were filled in with many sessions of in-house briefings; training classes, discussions and a 3-4 km stroll twice a day, beneath the densely crowned forests. Every-time after completing the walk we were treated with highly aromatic, rich and spicy items typical of the Southern Karnataka cuisine prepared in-house by the talented cook. I felt that I am getting nourished doubly, from within body as well as soul. The calm tranquil and pure forest environment was instilling new energies to all my senses while the nourishing food was making up for all those vitamin deficiencies that I have been suffering since I was away from home. And all that moments of learning were a bonus!
This trip has an additional attraction. I managed to meet two of my old friends, one from my schooldays and other from my university days. The meeting, although short was remarkable in a sense that I was able to spent some time with them after a long time and shared the past course of events with them. The time snapped down any possibility of venturing deep into the minds of each other to actually judge what’s going on and I left for Bhopal for the same monotonous life that I feel so accustomed now.
It was for attending my cousin’s marriage that I boarded the train during the last weekend of April. The marriage was to take place at Pilani, my hometown, where my parents got married, where I was born and where I have had my life’s many of the most unforgettable and extra ordinary moments, moments of love and of pain alike. During the marriage, I met a great number of my relatives, many of whom I have not visited since I returned from UK. It was an occasion of fun and joy, of exuberance and excitement, of glamour and extravaganza and everyone seemed to be in perfect harmony with the moment, either truly engaged or very successfully pretending to be intensely involved in the moment, except for me. I could neither pretend not approve such pretence, for all this appeared a farce to me. The whole idea of staging huge propaganda, which down the years, has lost its traditional and cultural significance and is performed for the sake of society suddenly appeared unpalatable to me. The scores of people who showed extraordinary dexterity in managing their way through the buffet meals among the huge crowd without giving a damn to either the bride or the groom, stood a strong testament to this belief. I wasn’t much happy after witnessing such a futile showdown of the resources and next day when I started off for Bhopal I was seriously thinking how not to allow this to happen in my case. Before boarding the train in Jaipur, I sneaked some time for one of my close friend (KG), with whom I have not met since past 2 years, The meeting was soothing and prepared me for the journey, which was as usual, nothing great and I resumed the office on time with a feeling of tiredness due to a hectic travelling schedule.
It was for attending my cousin’s marriage that I boarded the train during the last weekend of April. The marriage was to take place at Pilani, my hometown, where my parents got married, where I was born and where I have had my life’s many of the most unforgettable and extra ordinary moments, moments of love and of pain alike. During the marriage, I met a great number of my relatives, many of whom I have not visited since I returned from UK. It was an occasion of fun and joy, of exuberance and excitement, of glamour and extravaganza and everyone seemed to be in perfect harmony with the moment, either truly engaged or very successfully pretending to be intensely involved in the moment, except for me. I could neither pretend not approve such pretence, for all this appeared a farce to me. The whole idea of staging huge propaganda, which down the years, has lost its traditional and cultural significance and is performed for the sake of society suddenly appeared unpalatable to me. The scores of people who showed extraordinary dexterity in managing their way through the buffet meals among the huge crowd without giving a damn to either the bride or the groom, stood a strong testament to this belief. I wasn’t much happy after witnessing such a futile showdown of the resources and next day when I started off for Bhopal I was seriously thinking how not to allow this to happen in my case. Before boarding the train in Jaipur, I sneaked some time for one of my close friend (KG), with whom I have not met since past 2 years, The meeting was soothing and prepared me for the journey, which was as usual, nothing great and I resumed the office on time with a feeling of tiredness due to a hectic travelling schedule.
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