Travel Tales

To Ajanta...

After Aurangabad, I set out for the Ajanta Caves. Took about 3 hours as I had taken the longer route via Daulatabad and Khuldabad (where you can visit Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb’s tomb). I climbed some steps cut into the hills, took a turn and there the panoramic view of the caves spread out nestled amidst such beauty! 

The View

30 caves cut out from the steep Sahyadris with the Waghora river curving below. And this was done from 200 BC till 650 AD when this area was abandoned. The last few caves have been blocked probably for safety reasons. I began my exploration from the 26^th cave, the last one that tourists are allowed to access. Only thing missing was a detailed write up on every cave. It would have made things easier instead of relying on the guides who earn their living giving the historical background of the caves which sometimes are quite imaginative!! Though Ajanta is known for its paintings, the sculptures is not to be overlooked.

Chaitya

 Though Ajanta is famous for its paintings based on the life of Gautam Buddha and the Jataka tales, the paintings are fast disappearing and what is left is difficult to see in the dark. Some lighting arrangements have been made though. Five of the caves here are Chaityas or temples and the other 25 are Viharas or monasteries.

There is a story to the present state of paintings. Apparently an Italian team was called in for restoration work on the paintings in the 1920s. With the best intentions, this team with their experience in their country, coated the paintings with shellac as a protective covering. Unfortunately, over the years, shellac darkened in the hot and humid climate and the luminosity of the paintings was lost. Removing the shellac is proving to be difficult for ASI. 

The ceiling and wall paintings - or what is left of them

Besides, the lakhs of visitors who visit the caves increase the humidity levels. People are also known to be uncaring and go about touching the paintings. Both of these are reasons we might not have the paintings for long.

Also, centuries ago, when the artists completed their work, the monks inhabited these caves for prayers, studies and living. The oil lamps and incense they burnt, covered the paintings with soot. Now after excavation, the soot is being removed and experts feel this is harming the paintings underneath. 

Bodhisatva - Padmapani

Bodhisatva -Vajrapani

Caves 1, 2, 16 and 17 are the ones where some paintings are still intact. These just show us how much of this wonderful art we are missing today. The entire caves were filled with paintings too exquisite to be described. The walls and the ceilings glowed with yellows, reds, whites, blues, greens and blacks. All the colours were mineral based except for the black which came from lamp-black.

The murals depict Buddha as a youth, as a prince, as a monk and finally as an ascetic surrounded by people and nature and I was glad to be there to just take in all this beauty. This just cannot be explained so easily. I wonder at the dedication of the artists who spent hours in the dark caves, perhaps using metal sheets and water to reflect sunlight onto the walls or even using lanterns to help them paint, reaching every nook and cranny and the ceilings, filling them up with their dedication and love.

Travel Tales

Aurangabad and more ....

It took me about five hours by road from Pune to Aurangabad via Ahmednagar. Reached before lunchtime and after a good lunch (a veg thali) set off to take a look at the city of Aurangabad. Not a city, I would say a large town, which is defined by its chowks (crossings) and Darwaze (gates).

My first stop was the Biwi ka Maqbara (the Wife’s Tomb). This is the mausoleum of Aurangzeb’s wife, Rabia-ul-Durrani and was built by Aurangzeb’s son, Azam Shah. It has a striking resemblance to the Taj Mahal and is known as the Taj of Deccan. 

Entrance to Biwi ka Maqbara

Taj of Deccan

The next stop was the Pan Chakki which is a water mill. Yes, this is a mill that is driven by water and was used to grind wheat more than 200 years ago. Underneath the grinder is a fan that rotates by the force of water released into the tank. An engineering marvel, the water is carried through earthen pipes from the underwater springs of the nearby hills. 

The waterfall at Panchakki

The grinding stone

The ancient banyan tree

The water was forced over a high wall and a waterfall is created that falls into a huge water tank. In one corner lies the panchakki with the hidden fan underneath.  The tank is full of fish. I saw the grinder still rotating. Many many years ago, it was used to grind grain to feed  the devotees visiting  the dargah in the premises. A huge banyan tree, more than 500 years old, stands next to the tank providing shade even today!

Next Stop --- The Caves of Ajanta

Bridge of Spies

Movie Review (English)

If you haven't seen it yet, What Are You Waiting For?? The electric combination of Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg gave us this fast paced movie set in the 1950s. It's the time of the Cold War, something that we really cannot think of today.

 An American lawyer, James Donovan (Tom Hanks) takes on major powers like Russia and Germany singlehandedly. The Berlin wall rises and divides. A Russian spy is caught and then defended by the American lawyer. Now the lawyer is targeted by his own countrymen for defending an enemy. 

The movie revolves around the exchange of two prisoners and with characteristic cleverness, Donovan converts a one for one exchange to one for two exchange. 

Loved the character of the Russian spy Abel (Rylance). Donovan asks, " Aren't you worried about the trial?" Abel's reply: "Would it help?" Quite a simple matter of fact answer really. 

The best part -- the movie is based on real events.

The Joy of Giving

I am sending out an SOS to all of you on behalf of my 107 students whom I teach as a Fellow of Teach for India.

Do lend a helping hand and help them march towards their dreams.

http://www.giveindia.org/iGive-educationalinequity

Talvar

Movie Review (Hindi)

I was intrigued to see that a director would dare make a movie on a real double murder case and clearly show the lack of evidence which anyway led to a guilty verdict. Meghna Gulzar, the director, has brilliantly executed the happenings of the tragic night and the days that followed, the goof ups by the police and the rivalry within the CBI leading to more goof ups.

 
It is scary to note how the so called law protectors (the police and the CBI) completely lose their game, making the common man's tragedy a humongous one.

I do not understand why the parents of the victim (young Aarushi) should be sentenced to life if the evidence is not concrete. The murder of the household help, Hemraj, also complicates matters. But such is the imbalance of justice. 

The film is fast paced and the director has chosen her actors carefully. Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Konkona Sen Sharma and Neeraj Kabi are really accomplished actors. There is a documentary feel to the movie as if no one knows there is a camera filming their every move. The different versions of the night of the murder is a master stroke.

The Intern

Movie Review (English)

Robert De Niro is one of the few actors who is a guarantee to a worthwhile 2 hours or more watching the silver screen. And I have never been let down. So when The Intern comes along, I have no choice but to go. Anne Hathaway is another actor difficult to ignore. I enjoy the magic she brings to the screen. 

Being of an past the thirties, I found this start-up world, inhabited by today's youngsters a little intimidating. Seeing Ben Whittaker (De Niro) take up a job as an intern after retirement  in a start-up firm dealing in e-commerce was a gutsy thing to do. Loved his perspective of the world and the way he conducts his life.

With a personality like him around, Jules (Hathaway), the founder of the company, is bound to have found her North. And mind you she has the driven CEO syndrome, the guilty mother and wife syndrome and OCD. 

Simply enjoyed the relationship between the two. 

If you want to feel "All's well with the world", then go watch The Intern. You will not regret it!!

Thank you Nancy Meyer. Though sometimes, too much on the plate might just make one lose appetite.

Drishyam

Movie review (Hindi)

Frankly I am a little wary of watching remakes. They generally turn out to be duds when compared to the original. But thank goodness, in Drishyam's case, this was not so. I saw the movie because I had heard of the excellent film made in Malayalam and am happy I saw it. 

 The trailers of the movie are very misleading, as far as the story is concerned. Vijay (Ajay Devgn) will go to any extent to save his family from disintegrating. A death and then the ways to avoid detection. How? Through movies of course!! Vijay owns a cable service company and loves watching movies through the night in his office, his phone off the hook. (That's not advisable...). So all his education comes from watching movies. He is after all class 4 fail. The twists and turns keep the audience engaged as does the performances of Tabu and Ajay. 

Good to see an engaging Hindi movie after a long time. When Ajay Devgn decides to perform, he is one of the best. Thanks Jeethu Joseph for the excredible story!