Black is beautiful

Anita was frustrated after a long day at work. How could Pratap behave like this? She had done everything in her capacity to make the client get the best comfort. The client had clearly mentioned that he wanted coffee with milk.But when Pratap came he changed his stand and told him that he was not treated well- he had requested black tea, and he was being served milk coffee. And he raised hue and cry over this small trivial issue. This was not the first time he had behaved liked that and Pratap knew that .If he is not satisfied, in spite of all her efforts, she could not be blamed for it. But Pratap had done just that. He had yelled at her in front of the entire office staff. She had not expected this kind of behaviour from Pratap. Though he was her boss at office, he was also her childhood friend. And what had he said-"don't think that even if you don't do what is expected out of your designation, you can escape, just so that, I know you from a long time. I cant stand this 'Chaltha hai' attitude.''. Her eyes started welling up with tears when she remembered his words. Despite everything she did to the company, to Pratap, those long working hours, the days she sacrificed her personal life for office, everything seems to have just evaporated, just because an insane client is not satisfied. She recollected how she had spent her school days, coaching Pratap, so that he could pass in the examinations, doing the projects on behalf of Pratap, so that he can get good marks in college, making him sit and study, at the cost of her own studies. If she had just concentrated in her studies, she would have stood first. 

Wiping her tears, she noticed that she was near the Chowpatty beach. She did not realise how she drove all the way from office till there. She decided, she wanted some time to pull herself together, and she realised, she was hungry too. She parked her car, and walked towards the beach. She bought a Bhelpuri and sat down, facing the sea. It had started to get dark. The Bhelpuri satiated her hunger, and the cool breeze improved her mood. She decided she will talk to Pratap, and if he is not happy with her work, then she  would resign. She would do all the things she enjoyed doing, which she had not been able to do due to work.She would start painting.She would go on a holiday with her parents.She would visit the orphanage and play with the kids there. She remembered how much she loved being with kids.These thoughts brought a smile to her face and she sat there enjoying the sea breeze.

Chinki was a pampered child. All of three years, she knew how to make her parents dance to her tune. She just had to start crying, that her parents would be on their knees to please her, get her what she wanted.Today, her wish was balloons. She waited for her papa to return from work. The moment he stepped in she ran to him and declared - "Papa, I want Pink coloured balloon". Her papa, though was very tired, was very happy that his little princess could differentiate colours. So he said, '' My angel wants pink coloured balloon?, sure, papa will get it while coming from work tomorrow. Now where did angel see the pink coloured balloon''?. For which Chinki replied ''Bunty from the next door has a pink coloured balloon, and he refused to play with me. So I want two pink coloured balloons, so that I can show him and play by myself tomorrow morning. So I want the balloons NOW''. Her papa and mama tried a lot to persuade her saying, they shall get her many other coloured balloons, tomorrow evening. But Chinki was adamant and started to cry. With no other way, her papa and mama took her to Chowpatty beach, with the hope to get pink coloured balloons.

Chotu counted his balloons. Three more- two pink and one black. He loved the pink ones. He always wanted a balloon to play with, not to sell. But he knew, that in his fate, he could only sell. With his father paralysed, and mother suffering from that awful disease, where she spat out blood every time she coughed, he knew the value of each and every rupee.He also knew that the twenty rupees that the Seth gave him for selling the balloons, along with few rupees earned by his elder brother by doing odd jobs were not at all sufficient to run his family. Many days they had to go without food.He had been to school for an year, when his father was well, and was working in the factory. That seemed long ago now. But that one year of schooling had taught him to count and that is all it mattered in selling balloons now. The Seth was happy with the business young Chotu did.Six years of age,and he could sell more balloons than his other older boys, and he had to pay him only twenty rupees, while the older boys took fifty.

Chotu was happy if the day was pleasant and breezy. It was during those days that parents would bring their children to beach. Children meant business. His balloons would get sold quicker - though there were times, when teenage girls also wanted balloons, when accompanied by a guy. The guys used to buy the balloons for the girls. But that was rare. His usual customers were children.

Chinki, along with her mama and papa, reached the beach. It had become dark and there were no balloon-wallas to be seen. Chinki's papa became worried, as Chinki had started to cry. He got her a Kulfi, and asked her to sit with her mama, while he went looking for a balloon-walla. He was over joyed when he saw Chotu with, thankfully two pink balloons. Chotu, was equally happy to have found a customer who bought two balloons. Now he had to sell only one.Chinki was happy to have got her desired two pink balloons, and she wished to have one more kulfi before going home. Meanwhile, she declared she will play a while with her balloons. Her father, relieved,went to buy her kulfi.

Meanwhile, Chotu, started to go to each and every person on the beach, requesting them to buy the last balloon. But no one seemed interested. Chotu, became sad and started to cry, silent tears. If this balloon is not sold, he would not get his twenty rupees, and mother would not be able to buy medicine for father. He had not eaten anything since morning too.He noticed Chinki, playing happily with the balloons. He felt very sad, thinking of his fate. What was his mistake that he had to work so hard, he cant even play with the balloons, he sells everyday. And who would buy this black balloon today.No child would like black balloon. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he started towards the sea. He was so blinded by tears and also, since, it was dark, he did not notice Anita, sitting on the beach,stumbled against her and fell down. Anita, raised him up, and noticing his tears,asked him if he had hurt himself. He apologised for falling on her, and told her that he was not hurt. Then, she asked why he was crying. He told her that he had to sell his last balloon, to get his daily wage and no one is buying his balloon, since, it was black.Anita smiled, at the recollection of ''Black'' in the morning. She wiped Chotu's tears and offered him hundred rupees. She was sweetly surprised, when Chotu refused and said, that he was not a beggar. So she bought the black balloon for the usual price of ten rupees. Chotu thanked her profusely and started to walk away. She called him and gave him the black balloon, saying this is a gift to him. Chotu was so much over-joyed, on getting a balloon to play - what if it is black, it was a balloon still. He gave her his sweet smile and thanked her.

On second thoughts, Anita, called him back, rummaged through her bag, brought out few items of her cosmetics,and made a colourful glittery graffiti on the black balloon. She used her nail paints and glitters. Now the once boring black balloon became a master piece and glittered against the dark sky. She smiled on having made someones day and started walking to her car.

Chotu, very happy to have got a balloon, started walking towards the road. Chinki, who had finished her second kulfi, was walking with her parents, when she noticed the colourful black balloon, and as is usual with Chinki, immediately demanded that balloon be bought for her. Her dutiful papa, approached Chotu to buy the balloon, and he was impressed with the graffiti on the balloon. He realised that few minutes ago, the balloon was plain. He asked Chotu, who had made the graffiti. Chotu pointed Anita to him, who was walking towards her car. Chinki's papa, asked Chotu, to wait for a few minutes and he ran to Anita. He appreciated and  congratulated her on her Art on the balloon, offered her a job as graffiti Artist in his office. He explained to her that he was an art collector, exhibitor and he is also runs a studio and he had not seen such fine graffiti as the one she had done on the balloon. He gave her his visiting card and asked her to come to his studio tomorrow.Anita, who always loved painting, said she would visit his studio. She was also happy to have found a job, when she had decided to leave her previous one.She thanked Chinki's father and took his leave.

When Chinki's father came to Chotu, and requested him to sell the black balloon, Chotu, refused saying that, it is not for sale. He told him that he got  his long time wish to play with a balloon fulfilled only today and he cannot part with that now. Chinki's wails started increasing in volume when she noticed that her father is being unsuccessful in getting the balloon. She started crying that she wanted only the balloon which was with Chotu, and she does not want the pink balloons. Chotu, seeing Chinki cry, said, he is glad to exchange the black balloon for a pink one. So that was settled. Chotu, went home happy with a pink balloon and Chinki, with a colorful black balloon and a pink balloon. Chinki's parents were happy as their daughter was happy. Chinki's father was glad that he had found great talent in Anita. Anita had gone home, with satisfaction that she had got a job that she loved.

So, all is well that ends well. And one good deed begets another.

Cuttack -The Silver City

Cuttack - The Silver City. Some of my Odiya friends might know that a Odiya movie is released on this name, as I found from the big movie hoardings in cuttack and Bhubaneshwar. I was able to read the English tag - ''The Silver City'', and got to know the name of the movie, which was in Odiya, from my husband.But I am not going to explain about the movie- for I understand Odiya only sparsely.Even if I manage to watch the movie, without sub-titles, I am not sure, if I could be able to make much of it.

Cuttack is the home city of my husband and hence, we had been to visit my in-laws. I like the city, with its historic and rustic combo look. Its seems to be a perfect blend of the urban and rustic virtues. People seem to still retain the traditional human values, at the same time adopting the urban culture. The roads are wide sans heavy traffic, though many roads are dusty, they are bordered by greenery. The city is an island, though is connected to Bhubaneshwer by roads and bridges. So anywhere you go, you end up crossing at least one water-body, which makes it all more beautiful. It has two main rivers - the Mahanadi and the Kathjodi.

Almost every alternate evening, my husband took me out to roam about the city. We had mouth watering Dahi vada, aloo dum and aloo chop. My husband informed me that Cuttack is famous for dahi vada, aloo dum, especially Raghu's dahi vada aloo dum. It seems that Raghu has been selling it for more that four decades. He was around since the time my father-in-law was a boy. Now he is a old man, who sits in a corner overlooking the business, while his sons handle the shop. Many a time we failed to get dahi vada aloo dum, for we had reached a little late and the whole stock was sold off. If that be the case, we used to have paani poori in the market place. Then there is this very tasty Narula Kulfi. I had it whenever I did not have cold. May be due to change in climate, I caught cold every alternate day. The dahi vada aloo dum is so filling that, if I had it in the evening, I had to skip dinner. I liked the aloo chop as well.

Sunset from the naraj

Note the barrage in the middle

Kathjodi - view from the bridge

As I mentioned earlier, there are two main rivers flowing in Cuttack. One day my husband took me to the "naraj''. It is the place where there is a  barrage. The view of sunset from there is breath taking. Since, it is a secluded place and is not safe, we did not spend much time there. Rather, we went on a ride on the adjoining bridge. The bridge is bulit over the Kathjodi. We stopped mid way on the bridge and enjoyed the view from there. 

Cuttack is called the Silver City, for a reason. It is famous for a fine art work, whose main raw material is silver.Heard of filigree work? - it is an craft where thin wire of silver is used to create motifs, which are made to delicate jewellery, show pieces etc. There is a wide choice of jewellery made with the white metal to choose from - ranging from ear hangings, neck laces, anklets, toe rings, rings etc. Statues( I am not sure if I can call them statues - since they are made with wire), of Gods and Goddesses are also available. I was really fascinated by the Kalpa- Vruksh made with silver, and decorated with precious stones and enamel. The price you pay will include the price of silver in weight and the making charges. The making charges, for some exquisite and intricate work, sometimes would be so high that, the price of silver would look peanuts. But it seems worthwhile, looking at the craftsmanship. Due to lack of patronage, this craft is slowly fading out. So I made my contribution, by purchasing a pair of anklets. In my previous visit to Cuttack, I had purchased ear hangings. I got few other pieces of jewellery as gifts.

Anklets

Ear-hangings

Ear-hangings(notice the thin wire, which is interlaced)

Kada(bangle)

Toe rings

Toe rings

Toe rings

I bought a beautiful handloom cotton saree from the Orissa Art Emporium. Since it involved so much manual skill to make that saree, it was expensive, the price almost comparable to a pure silk saree. The shop had good collection of ethnic wear - sarees and salwar sets, in cotton and silk. Silk is called paatu here. Though there were many exclusive sarees, which seemed to be one of a kind, I could not buy them due to the high price.

May be, next time, I will buy one more saree, one more craft work in silver, manage to look around the Barbati palace, visit the place of birth of Subhash chandra bose, watch a match in the Barbati stadium. Looking forward to the next visit.

Konark ,Pipli and Dhauli

The next day was equally refreshing as the last one. We woke up early and went to the beach to enjoy the sunrise. The sunrise was enchanting - with clear waters, clean sands. To add to it, we had instant made tea on the beach. I liked the idea - the man carried a bucket full of water, a custom made bag, which could hold a vessel of milk, tea leaves, cups, sugar and a short stool to hold the stove. On getting the order, he instantly lit the kerosene stove and prepared the tea. We came back to the hotel at around 7.00 a.m, took some photographs of the hotel,got ready, had breakfast(which was included in the tariff of room rent) and checked out of the hotel. From there we went to Konark.

Konark - The road which links Puri and  Konark is called the marine drive and is by the sea. We enjoyed the cool breeze from the sea throughout.We stopped at the Chandrabhaga beach. It was as beautiful and as clean as the puri beach. But we reached there at noon and it was so sunny and glaring that, it hurt the eye. So we did decided not to spend more time there and made to the sun temple. The sun temple is also known as the black pagoda and is a UN world heritage site. The temple is built in the form of the chariot of the sun God Surya, drawn by seven horses and twelve wheels or chakras. Only one of the horses remain today. The entrance is guarded by two gigantic lions, crushing two elephants. The elephant in turn seems to be crushing a human.Opposite to the temple is the Natya mandir, where the dev dasis used to dance for the sun God.The carvings are very intricate and detailed, mostly of human forms. Floral,geometric patterns are also found all over the temple and in the Natya mandir. Remains of the dining hall and the chaya devi mandir(consort of God surya) can also be found on the site.Konark is famous for stone/rock sculpture. I shopped and bought a miniature temple and the Konark chakra. 

Konark sun temple

The dining hall

The Natya Mandir for Devdaasis

Note the Giraffe on right hand side

In one of the sculptures, we noticed a giraffe. All of us know that Giraffes are not of Indian origin. This sculpture, signifies, probably trade relations with South Africa.

From Konark, we started our way back. I was not hungry, due to having had a heavy breakfast,  hence skipped lunch. My husband and the driver had typical Odiya food in a hotel on the way back. Around two O clock, we reached Pipli.

Pipli: I was wondering if this is the same village as in Amir Khan's movie "Peepli Live". I was informed it was not :-). Of course, the spelling is also different. Pipli, is a small village on the Puri-Bhubaneshwar road. It is famous for a craft called "Äpplique work''. It is a  process of cutting coloured cloth into shapes of animals, birds, flowers,gods,and other decorative motifs and stitching them over a piece of cloth. The products vary from lamp shades, umbrellas, hand bags, bed spreads, cushion covers,wall hanging etc. I bought a wall hanging.I shall post the picture of the same after I mouth it on the wall.

From Pipli, we moved to Dhauli.

Buddha statue at the Stupa

Translation of the Rock Edicts

The Daya River

Dhauli is the site, where the Kalinga war was fought by Emperor Ashoka. It is next to river Daya- whose water is said to have turned red after the battle, from the blood of the soldiers. The sight of the red river melted the heart of Chanda Ashoka, made him repent and embrace Buddhism. Dhauli also houses the rock edicts of Ashoka's doctrine of Dharma. They are written in Prakrit - so I was not able to make head or tail out of them. There was a translation in English, thankfully. There is a Stupa - called the Shanti stupa, constructed by Japanese. It seems to be a recent construction.

That is it. Back to Bhubaneshwar. I heard that there are many interesting places in Bhubaneshwar as well. Due to shortage of time, we could not visit those. May be, I shall - in my next visit to Orissa.

Puri and Raghurajpur

My first visit to Odisha(then Orissa) was after marriage in july 2011. I did not get a chance to explore or roam about the area much. I stayed confined to the house, as was expected of newly-wed daughter-in-law- I donot have regrets, for I got to spend time with the new family.My second trip was more fruitful. My husband took me out to almost every other day during evenings. We also went on a trip to Puri, Konark and Dhauli. On the way to Puri, we went to Raghurajpur, which is famous for "Talpata chitra'' and "pata chitra'' or paintings on palm leaves and paintings on cloth. Drawing is made by carving on the palm leaves and is painted. I will get to the details in a short while.

We started from Bhubaneshwar at approximately 8.00 a.m. The scenic beauty after crossing Bhubaneswar is just awesome. It is a feast to the eyes. We had break fast at Pipli, which falls on the way to Puri. I can vouch for one thing - you can get amazing food at mind boggling low prices in Odisha, that keeps one wondering how the people manage to survive by selling their food products at such low prices. We had Poori and dalma, accompanied by Raabdi, at a roadside hotel. Food is abundantly available in Orissa, that you feel that the people live to eat and not the other way round. You find food items heaped to form small hills in the roadside shops. After breakfast, we took a detour to Raghurajpur, which I mentioned earlier. I was of the opinion that my trip to Puri was a religious one. But surprisingly, it turned out to be art tour.

Raghurajpur - is a very small but beautiful village, with a lake(it might be a canal too; I am not sure) on the way, bordered with coconut trees and lush greenary all around. It is developed as a heritage crafts village by INTACH. It is famous for patta chitra. The pattachitra paintings are made over a piece of cloth known as Patta or a dried palm leaf, which is first painted with a mixture of chalk and gum. On that drawing of gods and goddesses, scenes from Indian epics, of animals etc are made. The outline of the drawing is distinct and is made in black. Bright naturally derived colors are used in the painting. The paintings are available for sale and exhibition .They are usually sold to foreigners at a price which is double the price quoted to Indians. After a little bargaining, we can strike a deal. Apart from these main products, we can also find other crafts like, toys made out of coconut fibre, stone carving, face masks made out of paper, paintings on glass bottles, shaven coconuts etc.

We spent a lot more of time than we planned in Raghurajpur and so reached Puri around one o clock. Since the Puri Jagannath temple closes by 2.00 p.m, we straightaway went there, instead of going to the hotel.

Puri- Puri Jagannath temple is considered as one of the four "dhams", besides Badrinath, Dwaraka, and Rameswaram. It is felt that these four places have to be visited at least once in ones life time.The main deities are Jagannath, his sister Subhadra and brother Balabadra. The road opposite to the temple is nearly 200 meters wide, to accomodate the Ratha(chariot) yatra of the main deities. It is called the bada dhanda. The temple was crowded, mostly by widows, who were easy to spot in white sarees. The time I visited the temple was during the Karthika month and a little before the panchuka. It seems that this is the favorite time of the year when most widows travel to puri to pray to Lord Jagannath. I need to find out the story behind this from my mother-in-law.One thing that I noticed in this beatiful place( I mean Orissa), which also disappoints me is that nothing is organised here. The people do not follow the required etiquette and you will find no wall without the stains of paan spit. And in the temple people almost would walk over you. No queue system is followed. There is a lot of pushing and pulling in the main temple, that you always need to keep your vigil over your purse and jewellery. The temple prohibits carrying any kind of leather products inside the temple. Waist belts, bags, mobile phones, etc are to be handed over at a counter at the entrance of the temple. My husband was aware of this. So we had left ours in the car. We waited for some ten minutes in the main temple, for darshan. Some kind of pooja was going on with doors closed, and hence we waited patiently for the main deity darshan. And when the doors did open, people pushed over each other to get darshan and almost everyone lifted up their hands praising Jagannath, thereby, seizing any little chance left to get the darshan.I started feeling suffocated in the crowd, so we managed to walk out from there. From there, we went to the anand bazaar. This is the place in the temple where you get the Prasad. Prasad is not one item, but one square meals, complete with sweets. And may be due to the crowd, cleanliness seemed to have been compromised. Since, my husband and I were not very hungry from the heavy breakfast, we did not have the meals, instead, we had Raabdi and some milk peda.

Mayfair hotel, Puri

We checked into the Mayfair hotel around 3.00 p.m. After a quick wash, we had late lunch at the hotel. The ambience of the hotel was awesome. We had the view of the sea and the beach from the hotel and the beach was just outside the hotel. After lunch, we strolled the beach. Puri beach is the cleanest beach that I have ever seen. The sand was soft, and I loved walking bare foot on it and also tried to do some sand art :-).We were lucky to experience the sand art in making by Mr. Sudharshan Pattnaik, to bring awareness to save the endangered olive ridley turtles. The water is so clean and transparent, unlike in other beaches that you can see the sand beneath. We enjoyed the sunset lounging on the beach. After the sunset, we walked back into the hotel and spent a lovely breezy evening at the poolside.We enjoyed our tea, viewing the beach and listening the waves from our room balcony. We decided then that, we will be early birds to catch the warmth from the first ray of the sun, on the beach. It seems ages since, we woke up to see the sunrise. 

Sunset at puri beach

My sand art at the Puri beach