Rajasthan Travelogue - JODHPUR & JAISALMER

          In December 2013, my family and I had planned a trip to Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, two of the main centres of tourism in Rajasthan. Rajasthan, the land of the kings, lies in the north-western part of India. The famous Thar Desert covers almost half of Rajasthan. On one fine morning, we rented a cab and reached the Bandra station in Mumbai, a three hour trip that was absolutely boring. We saw the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium on the way. After we reached the station, at first it was a pleasure to watch the trains pass by, one after the other. In every two minutes, a local train would pass by. But the heat of the sun started setting in and I got irritated by the unhygienic conditions of the station. Finally, after one hour, our train to Jodhpur arrived. Our compartment was second AC. The one I like. Once in the train, I didn’t even realize how the time passed by as I was completely engrossed in reading a novel. I had started reading the book when we boarded the train and now it was dinner time. Surely, books are a great way to pass time.

PART 1: JODHPUR

          On the next day, the train arrived at Jodhpur station. It looked like a royal palace. It was a very cold morning. After resting for a while in the Ghoomer hotel, where we stayed, we went to see the Umaid Bhawan Palace. It was a small palace constructed on a hilltop. It was interesting to note that the Raja, which means the king, of Jodhpur was still living in the palace with his family. Half of the palace was converted into a museum. Vases, clocks, utensils, furniture, thrones, miniature non-working aeroplanes, actual swords which the kings had used and many other things were put on display. There was also a model of the palace put on display in the southern part of the main room. The king also had a vintage car collection having actual cars from those times. A wire mesh was put as a ceiling in the courtyard behind the main room and next to it, there are some royal shops, selling fabric and other items. In front of the palace there are beautiful gardens and next to the entrance, there is a café. At the base of the hill, the king had constructed his own city which had houses for the people. Good view, but if it had been a little cloudy that day, it would have been an awesome view.

We then approached the Mehrangarh Fort, the most famous fort of Jodhpur. It was also constructed on a hilltop. To prevent enemies from entering the fort, huge walls were constructed at the gate. There were stairs and also a lift to reach the top of the fort. Looking at the height of the wall, we paid the fee for the lift as we wouldn’t ever have been able to climb the stairs to reach the top. It was a wonderful view from the top. A cluster of blue houses were made next to the fort. They were the homes of the Brahmins in those times. The fort is famous for elephant howdahs. A howdah is a carriage which is positioned on the back of an elephant. Mostly used by the kings. Palanquins, royal cradles, daggers, spears, swords, some really long guns, axes, pistols, big paintings, the king’s quill, his writings, costumes, musical instruments, furniture, cannons and other similar things were put on display. From the Kilkila cannon, we got a breath-taking view of the city. Four rooms in this fort caught my eye, the Phool Mahal, the Moti Mahal, the Sheesh Mahal and the Takhat Vilas. Gold ceilings, colourful windows and balls hanging from the ceiling, mirror pieces on the walls, I guess these rooms are the main centres of attraction. While we were walking down the fort to the taxi stand, we saw this big pillar. It had these holes in it, circled by red paint. These holes were created by attackers who opened fire on the fort. The heat was again at its best. We were as tired as ever. We walked back to the gate of the fort and breathed a sigh of relief under the shade of a big tree. There were many pigeons next to the gate. My brother just took a step towards them. Flap! Flap! Flap! Flap! All the pigeons took off with such a tremendous force and sound that my brother almost fell down, embarrassed by his own actions.

          Some distance away from the fort is the Jaswant Thada. It is a memorial made of white marble built by Maharaja Sardar Singh in memory of his father, Maharaja Jaswant Singh II. This monument is an example of architectural brilliance. Although it was not very big, it had a beautiful design. It is said that the marble stones used in it are extremely thin and polished and they emit a warm glow when sunrays fall on its surface. While walking towards the monument, we passed a lake. The water of the lake seemed to cool the environment. There is a nice garden and a fountain in front of the monument and next to it are other small well-carved structures. Here also we can get a nice view of the city and the Umaid Bhawan Palace is visible from this point. Behind the Jaswant Thada and the fort, stretching across the mountains was a wall, golden in colour. It looked like a boundary wall, more like the Great Wall of China. Obviously, no comparison, but still.

          Next, we visited the Mandore garden. There are many temples and memorials in the garden. The cenotaphs of many rulers are present here. After walking past them, at the end of the garden, we approached the temple of the Hindu god, Bhairav. Many people had gathered over there. There were also a lot of monkeys in the garden. There were signboards all over the place-Do not feed monkeys in the garden. But who cares? Don’t know why, but many people were feeding the monkeys. As usual, they had to bear the consequences. There was this guy who opened a packet of food and gave it to a monkey. Three other monkeys saw this and followed the man hoping that he would give them some food also. But this guy didn’t have any food left with him. Looking at the monkeys following him, the man made a run for it. As you would’ve thought, the monkeys ran after him. They were no match for the man. They easily would have caught up with him, but two other guys started pelting stones on them. The monkeys ran off to their monkey group under a tree. Well, sometimes signboards do come handy.

          Quite a hectic day though. Umaid Bhawan Palace, Mehrangarh Fort, Jaswant Thada, Mandore Garden, all these places in one day. We returned back to the hotel. I forgot to tell you, in case you ever visit Jodhpur, and stay in the Ghoomer hotel, do take the room facing the road. The staff at the hotel will advise you to take a room not facing the road as you will get disturbed by the noise of trains at night. But seriously, there is no such thing. I mean, at night, if you wake up by even the slightest of sounds, you may take the advice of the staff a little bit more seriously. But I’m a person who enjoys watching trains and hearing their sounds. Another thing, in every ten minutes or so, a train passes by over here. Also, the rooms facing the road are better as compared to the rooms on the opposite side. After returning back, the first thing I looked for was the remote control of the T.V. What could be better than coming back from a long exhausting trip and watching a movie? I searched all the channels, but not a single good movie was broadcasted. Excellent broadcasters. Nothing to do, I took out my Gameboy. Single screen cartridge video game player made by Nintendo. You must have heard that name. My brother was playing on his Nintendo double screen system. He was playing the game of Madagascar. That is the type of game you need to pass time. But I couldn’t argue with him. With my experience with him, I could tell you that big brothers aren’t always dominating. Fighting with him would mean ruining my vacation. Because once I disturb him, he doesn’t forget it easily and keeps on bugging me. Great. So I had no other option but play some other game. At 8 pm, we opened the boxes of snacks and sweets we bought from some shops while coming back to the hotel. That was dinner. One more thing I must tell you, there are no nice restaurants in Jodhpur. So having snacks and sweets for dinner was the only option.

          The following day, we set out to simply walk on the road leading to the Jodhpur clock tower. One of the many examples of the bustling small roads of India. There were shops on both sides of the road. Shops of sweets, handicrafts, clothes, shoes, fast food restaurants and hotels. Along with this, people. The road was crowded with people on both lanes. And if that’s not enough, there were cars, bikes, rickshaws, cycles and scooters. If you were an Indian living in such a place, you won’t mind this condition at all. But if you are a person living in a metropolitan city with wide roads and shopping malls instead of small shops, you would surely mind. My parents didn’t seem to be disturbed by this at all, but my brother and I had to follow them as we didn’t have any other choice. Imagine this situation. You are walking on a road. The temperature is something around 30*C. The footpaths are taken by the shops to display their goods. So, the only option is to walk on the roads itself. And there is a traffic jam. You have to go between the vehicles which are in motion and every second try to avoid an accident. Also, you see people, according to the great Indian tradition, not even thinking once before spitting on the road. Well, this was the condition my brother and I had to face. We finally reached the Jodhpur clock tower. There was a huge market over there. Here, along with the people, there were cows and dogs. Literally, panic seized me. This was too much. But I had to wait for five minutes till my father finished exploring the market and had to walk back on the same great road.

          Back at the hotel, we started packing our things. We checked out from the hotel and reached the Jodhpur station to catch the train to Jaisalmer. You might be knowing that Jodhpur is extremely famous for its sweets. We saw many sweet shops on the way. We still hadn’t seen what Rajasthan was famous for, the Thar Desert. We boarded the Jaisalmer train. This time our compartment wasn’t second AC, it was third AC. Something was wrong with the compartment, the AC wasn’t working. My father called someone to see what the matter was. The man simply pushed a small button on the AC and it started working. Yeah, common sense. But I had always seen ACs functioning on their own in second AC. There was no such button to switch them on or off. Even if you were shivering, there was nothing you could do.

PART 2: JAISALMER

          The next morning, well, you couldn’t call it morning, just some hours before dawn, the train arrived at Jaisalmer. This station too was designed as a palace, just like the one in Jodhpur. But there were simply no buildings. Strange. Nothing was to be seen in the dark. I believed Jaisalmer to be a small, nice city. We boarded a taxi to our hotel, Club Mahindra. This club is spread all over India, and even abroad in locations like Thailand. It provides you with a free hotel room, but for joining the cub, you have to pay a hefty sum of money. I guess only those above the middle class could afford it. Through the taxi window, I was able to see sand and a lot of babool trees. I wondered what the place would look like in the morning. Obviously, like a desert. But my main concentration was towards the eastern horizon. The Google Sky Map app showed that the Geminids meteor shower was occurring somewhere over this region. The Geminids meteor shower is considered to be the best meteor shower. The meteors appear in many vivid vibrant colours. But sadly, on that day, none of them were in sight.

          At the hotel, we took the keys of our room and proceeded. No light was switched on. The sky had become a bit lighter than black, dark blue I colour. There were many stairs, built in an awkward way. Three up and three down. Four up and six down. Then for some time, no stairs. I forgot about the stairs when suddenly I tripped over a pair of stairs. In the same particular manner, I tripped quite five or six times. The room was excellent. Club Mahindra style. I had slept at eleven in the night and woke up at four in the morning. Still, I wasn’t feeling sleepy at all, perhaps due to the tripping. But my parents and my brother took to the bed. I also lay down on the bed, thinking how I wasn’t able to sleep once I was awake. Nothing to do, I became utterly bored.

          The next thing I remember after that was that I was woken up by the loud sound of the T.V., and of course, my brother playing horsey-horsey by sitting on me. It was 9 in the morning. I had slept another four hours. The others were. I suppose, fresh and clean, and here I had just woken up. I quickly got ready for breakfast. In the daylight, the resort was absolutely whoa! I mean it. Swimming pool in the middle of the resort, table tennis, library and all, a really cool place to stay in Jaisalmer, I guess. The resort was designed in a palatial way, except for the fact that there wasn’t any kind of dome on the top, found in most palaces. There were 6 buildings in all, I guess. , joined together. We were familiar with the exotic Club Mahindra food.  Always like a royal buffet. Not free, yes, a bit expensive. You have to take your plate, take whatever food you like, and keep on eating until you can’t eat anymore. For breakfast, there was cereal, hot and cold milk, potato sandwich, coffee, hot water and tea packets for tea, sambhar-a dish of lentils and vegetables, uttapam-a thick pancake dish, khichdi-a rice dish, fruits, and what not. There was even a special Jain counter as well as a live counter where chefs were making dosas-another kind of pancake and omelettes right before our eyes. We are vegetarians, but there was no problem as almost everything was veg.

          Remember I mentioned that Jaisalmer had to be a city? The resort we stayed in wasn’t actually in the city. It was quite far. We set out for our tourism purposes and rented a taxi. The driver took us with him at top speed. Now, the sun was shining brightly, compared to 4 in the morning. Now, everything was visible. And yes, the place did look like a desert. There was no sign of any houses. There were cacti, babool trees and all kinds of plants you’d see in a desert. On the long dusty road, there were only three cars including our taxi. The driver was driving at 125 km/h. He told us that the Indo-Pakistan border was not too far. Out in the desert, I saw something unusual. Two super-large dishes with super-long antennas. The driver told us that it was the Indian army’s airbase, which was going to be converted into Jaisalmer airport. Now I was able to see the runway, shining and clean amongst the desert sand. We took some left and right turns before we saw some civilization. Small buildings, a few people, small cars, rickshaws, sandy hills, prickly trees and a network of thin roads. The city of Jaisalmer- the Golden city.

          The first tourism spot was a lake. The Gadsisar Lake. The guide provided by the resort told us that the lake used to be a source of water to the city. It was made by the king of Jaisalmer, Maharwal Gadsi Singh in 1400 A.D. There are many temples and shrines surrounding the lake. In the water of the lake, many beautiful small structures were built in which the king used to sit, relax and enjoy. Next stop- Jaisalmer fort. Also called the Sonar Quila or Golden Fort, it stands proudly atop the Trikuta hill, amidst the Thar Desert. It is made up of yellow sandstone. To reach it, we went through some problems. There is perhaps only one main road in Jaisalmer, as we had to reach the fort through very thin roads, all like the road of the Jodhpur clock tower.

          The fort certainly looks better than the Mehrangarh Fort, I believe. Maybe because of all the sunlight in Jodhpur, I wasn’t able to see the Mehrangarh Fort clearly. But this fort looked great. Just some hours after sunrise, the fort gleamed in the sunlight. Well, I couldn’t say that it is a proper tourist spot, though it is a UNESCO world heritage site. In the fort, people were riding motorcycles and cows were roaming around. It is actually a residential area, I suppose. The ancestors of the people living in the fort actually lived with the king in those times in the same place. There is an enormous number of Jain temples in the fort. All very beautiful. They had fabulous carvings. The guide told us everything about them. At the top of the fort, was a cannon, facing the better part of the city. We had a nice panoramic view of it from there. The guide told us about three havelis- private mansions, which were in sight. Farther away from the city all across the horizon, there were windmills. Quite a lot of them. Big and small, huge and tiny. I took innumerable photos of them. Coming down, the guide showed us a house, residential of course. But it was the most breathtaking. The symmetrical carvings were done to the level of a small sharpener.

          The fort also had some shops. We visited a stone shop. The merchant showed us many magnificent stone pieces. He was a collector of stones. He also had this gigantic crystal stone which was made up of many small crystals which were bigger than ice cubes. The whole stone was the size of a watermelon. He held some kind of record for that. We bought a small stone pyramid as a souvenir. In the afternoon, it was quite hot, and this feeling is best experienced when 6you are thirsty. My brother and I bought some juice for ourselves, but before we could take a sip, the guide led my father out of the fort and they disappeared around the corner. We quickly caught up with them.

          Now, the guide took us through one-way roads which had the width of about one small car. After reading till here, I’m sure you know about my dislike for crowded Indian roads. The roads were incredibly thin. Every now and then, a biker would come, brake hard, avoid crashing right into us, curse and move on. After working our way out of these roads, we reached a 2-3 storey well-carved building. It was a haveli of an important personality who lived during the king’s rule. Inside it, there wasn’t much to look at. But something was cooking. I mean, food was being cooked in the house. You might be curious to know what people of royal blood eat. The answer- plain old khichdi, a dish made up of rice, spices and green gram. One of the basic food items of India. Thought they’d be eating some royal food. Perhaps they might be on a diet. It was humid in the building. Then I saw some familiar faces. Two people. A married couple, I guess. I tried hard to remember who they were, where I had seen them before. I suddenly remembered that they were the same people who were with us on the Jodhpur train and also on the Jaisalmer train in exactly the same compartment. Crazy coincidence. Train, second train, okay. But now here! It seemed like they were following us. Probably might be having the same vacation plan as ours. They didn’t seem to recognize us. I sure did.

          The guide finally took us to the last haveli. Two havelis combined. The first one was indeed very beautiful and bigger than the previous one. Another well carved building. We had to pay a good fee to enter it. On the first floor, we entered a room. It was a temple or a prayer room. The walls were decorated with pieces I couldn’t describe. Maybe glass of different colours. I had to take a picture. There also was a camera fee. We weren’t allowed to touch anything. Tight maintenance. CCTV cameras were installed everywhere. But still, I should say, this is a must-visit place. The best decorated room I’d ever seen in my life. The guide then took us to different rooms. We saw a bedroom, dining room, dressing room, drawing room, kitchen, a game room, and if that’s not enough, a big turban room. All of them had displays. In the game room, we saw a model of the Jodhpur clock tower, and board games like chess and ludo, once used by royal people. The chess pieces were still arranged correctly. Outside the game room, there were some pots. No, not exactly pots, cauldrons. Big cauldrons. With a height of one metre or more. There were also some utensils kept there, which our guide said were used for making ice-cream, or something like that. Ice-cream? Are you sure? In those times?

          After seeing this haveli, we climbed down. Mother and brother saw someone making key rings. Meanwhile, my father wanted me to go with him to the adjoining second haveli. The first one was well maintained, but this one, not so much. It looked like a poor, old dusty, abandoned haveli. I would have added the word ‘haunted’ if I had visited it at night. It was constructed for governmental work. It had almost the same design as that of the first one. We both entered it. At first, it was a cool feeling. I and my father walking alone in a spooky, abandoned haveli. We were walking in dim light conditions, and I was sure that if I tripped, the walls would come crashing down. It was extremely dark and cold. And if that isn’t spooky enough, there were bats. And that terrible bat smell. Man, I hate bats. In the building, wherever there were stairs to reach other floors, bats resided, making their strange sounds. I tried to avoid looking at those creatures, by concentrating my vision on the stairs while climbing, but one of those little devils kept on hovering above me, flapping its wings and finally hung upside down from the ceiling. Not a nice experience. I’ve seen many of those movies in which hundreds of bats come out of caves, flapping right into a person’s face. Then we heard footsteps.

Now that’s scary enough. Cold footsteps. I imagined myself and my father in tomorrow’s headlines. Two people half-eaten by unidentified vampire in haunted haveli. That’s the last thing I’d wanted to happen. Finally, I saw the vampire. But this vampire had a hat on his head and his weapon was a camera. To be precise, another tourist like us. So, we were at least not alone in the haveli. From the top of the building, the condition of the haveli was clear, it was in ruins. Other things we saw `included the Jaisalmer Fort. It was the best spot to view the fort. From there, I again was able to see the windmills stretching from east to west, as seen from the fort. We had a small light-hearted discussion with the tourist. We explored the rest of the haveli. Some rooms were decorated a git. One of them had a gold checker ceiling, part of which had fallen doing. This haveli must’ve been feeling very lonely. Almost no one came to see it. The fee to see it was also low, compared to the first one.

Lunch time. We went to the nearest restaurant. After having lunch, we came out. To my mother’s surprise, there was a khadi cloth centre right next to the restaurant. Khadi is the type of clothing Mahatma Gandhi used to wear and preach about. It is basically a traditional Indian cloth. My mother bought some bandhini dresses for herself. City tourism complete, we came back to the resort.

On the day, the resort namely Club Mahindra Jaisalmer was having its first anniversary. For the same, at around 7:30 in the evening, the club hosted a celebration party. The authority had organised performances Rajasthani folk dancers and singers. The best thing- free food was given. Nice. It was one of the best experiences I had had in any hotel ever before.

Next day, we set out to see the world famous Thar Desert, the thing Rajasthan is famous for. The taxi driver flew the car at 150 km/h, as the road was completely empty. On the way, we stopped by at Kuldhara- an abandoned village. It was made of yellow bricks. Extremely lonely. It looked good, though it was ruined. People believe that the village really is haunted. A signboard said- All tourists leave the place after 7 pm to stay away from unwanted experiences. We left the place.

Last thing to see- the desert. On the way, windmills were seen. Everywhere. Some big project. Finally, we saw sand dunes. The beginning of the actual Thar Desert. We took a camel ride. Father on one while my brother and me on another. Mother was a bit frightened by the camels, so she walked. We saw the sunset. It was incredible. I conducted my own photo session while the sun stood still. It felt cold after a while. My brother ran down the dune, and then walked back up. He collected some sand in his bottle as a souvenir. We roamed around a bit, and rode the camels back to the taxi. This time, even mother accompanied us on the camels, after much of our persuading. The taxi driver led us back to the resort. We packed our bags and suitcases and went to the station. In the train, we felt much relaxed. Finally, trip over. The train reached next morning to Pune. We reached our home. This was my first desert experience. Never to be forgotten.

-         Manas Trivedi

The Thar Desert

Mehrangarh Fort

Windmills across the horizon of Jaisalmer

Sunset in the desert

Resting camels

Kuldhara - The haunted village

The record crystal stone

 

The last day before Diwali holidays

 

         The day all students look forward to-the day before vacations. The beginning of holidays. Tempting. In my school, there is a 15 day long holiday each year for Diwali. Diwali, the "festival of lights", is a Hindu festival celebrated in autumn. It signifies the victory of good over evil.

 

         October 17, 2014 was the last day of the school before the Diwali vacations. The teachers had asked the students to bring some snacks for a Diwali party for this day. It was the first time we had heard the word ‘party’ from the teachers. In the morning of the particular day, I sure was pretty excited. I reached school. Everyone looked normal. The party was going to be held in the last period of the day. Till then, we had to study.

 

          Finally, the wait was over. The last period came, and we officially declared ourselves free from studies for a fortnight. As soon as the bell rung marking the beginning of the last period, all students who had brought snacks opened their packets of chips and other stuff. They started sharing their snacks. A nice, friendly atmosphere was created. I liked it. Our class teacher came into the class and exclaimed, “Hey everyone! Started without me?” Before we could respond, someone called her from outside, so she left.

 

          Now things started to get a little bit ‘polluted’. Snack wrappers were lying everywhere. I should tell you, unknowingly I even sat on one. My friend Gautam and I were eating our snacks and passing our time, waiting for the last bell for the day. The next thing that happened was certainly not expected by me. Rain started to pour down in the class in a horizontal direction coming from somewhere behind me. I took about 2 seconds to process the thought, during which I completely got soaked. Instinctively, I looked behind. Three guys were emptying their carbonated soft drink bottles on the rest of us.

 

          I shouted one word “Hey!” and bolted to my left to avoid the drinks. They kept on emptying their bottles and swirled them at full speed. God. Two of them were spraying on the two groups formed at the left and right sides of the class, while one sprayed in the center, where only Gautam and I were sitting. Then, out of nowhere, the class teacher marched into the class and stared right into their eyes. They dropped their bottles on the floor. The teacher was extremely angry with them. Poor guys, last day celebration ruined. Still, there should be some limits on the way you party.

 

          People of my class tried to cheer our class teacher up. I hadn’t seen our teacher angry ever before. The whole class had become sticky with the drink. The teacher finally gave in and started giving sweets to all. She tried to take things into her own hands. She tried her best to organize a song game. But the game was a total failure. The children made groups and sang their own songs in the loudest voice they could. Their way of enjoyment. Not mine. Gautam and I quietly sat in our places. Within moments, two large groups were formed around us-one immediately in front of us, the other right behind us.

 

          I didn’t get it. It seemed like we were the kings of the class while the others sang to us. The only problem I had was that the songs weren’t melodious at all. In fact, they were causing some serious noise pollution. It didn’t feel nice. The Central Pollution Control Board had to be notified. I seriously wanted to get out of there. But the stadium was jam-packed. I wasn’t able to move a muscle. I felt like curling myself into a ball. I felt helpless, to be precise. Then a great personality of our class yelled my name and asked me to sing. That was the last thing I had thought of doing that day. All started to shout my name. Come on. Everyone looked at me with big round eyes. Now, what did they expect me to do? Although I was enjoying all the attention, they ultimately got bored of asking me and started singing their songs again.

 

          The bell rang. Holidays! The moment every student of my school was waiting for. Finally, the period got over.  A few of us felt relieved, while others wanted to continue the party forever. Each person was telling the other, “Happy Diwali, my friend!” We literally ran down to the ground towards the buses. This was probably the first time I had experienced a real school party.

 

-  Manas Trivedi

 

 

School Picnic - Singapore Gardens, Pune

          I hope you know what is a picnic. A picnic is a leisure trip in which food is eaten outdoors. On 30 September 2014, the school took the students of the ninth grade to Singapore Gardens. I remembered by experience of Kapila Resort. The school had taken us there on a picnic once. Though a good place, it was quite small. Really small for 500 children. Crowded and all, my experience wasn’t nice.

          I hoped that this time, the picnic spot was a better place. We all guys sat in the bus. The bus was a Volvo, or a luxury bus, with a functional TV. At least the school didn’t cut the costs on that. I sat with my friends, Amit and Deepak. The bus started. Within 5 minutes, Amit said that he was feeling hungry. We opened some snacks and had a sort of breakfast. I’d brought my Rubik’s cube along with me. I tried to teach Amit the cube. That took a lot of time. Deepak also brought a cube, which was different from normal ones as it was a mirror cube. All the cubies were of different sizes. A movie was being screened on the TV. I didn’t understand much of it, as I was busy teaching Amit. Guys in the bus started dancing to the tune of songs in the movie. Then we reached a hilly area, called the Western Ghat region.

          The landscape was fantastic. We were travelling on a long hill. On both sides there was a green valley with a clean river flowing on the left side. We reached a tunnel. It was a long, dark one. Everyone in my bus started woohooing and yahooing. In formal language-yelling, screaming and hooting. Back in light, the noise died down. We approached the destination. Singapore Gardens, my friends were already making fun of it. “How does it feel in Singapore?” Amit asked me. The bus stopped and we walked down to the gardens.

          The first thing I saw was a 3 metre by 3 metre garden. “There it is! Singapore Gardens! Couldn’t be any better!” Deepak said. The actual thing’s gate was on the right. We entered and came face to face with a green elephant. Made up of a green carpet, or a curtain. The second thing we saw was a monster. A dragon. A sculpture with water flowing out of its mouth. A breakfast was organised, a nice one according to me. In a plate, the staff of the place served poha-a snack made from crushed rice, and a sort of halwa-a sweet dish made of flour. Amit, for some reason, didn’t like the breakfast. We kept our bags at a safe place and explored the area a bit, and I got back to my Cube classes. I told Amit frankly that we were here to enjoy, not to stress out our brains.

          I know I said the word ‘enjoy’. I am not much of a fun-loving person. The DJ started his songs in the dance room. All guys totally shook it. They seemed like they were enjoying a lot. I don’t know how one could enjoy by dancing. I am not made for dancing. I believe that playing the guitar is the best way to enjoy. Still, I envied those guys in the dance hall.

          Then an announcement was made. “All students proceed to the auditorium”. It was a big room. The weird thing about it was that 3 rows of robots were arranged beneath a big screen. I thought it was just a design and they would show us a movie on robots. Firstly, they showed us a video clip of robots dancing. Next, the robots right in front of us started dancing. Cool. Then, they showed a clip of a robot exercising. The same robot was brought in. It started doing push-ups on one hand with one feet in the air. Awesome. Another robot was brought, which responded to the commands of a person. The next thing was a fish. Two air filled fishes were brought which literally ‘swam’ in the air. The two swam unimaginably gracefully. Now, why should birds be left behind? A robotic bird was brought in, which flew through the air. It swooped over us. I had to duck in order to save myself from getting hit by the bird. Finally, the bird’s flight ended in a crash into a person of my class. This quad copter was brought in next. Didn’t seem too great, but it produced a lot of wind. That was the end of the robotic show.

          Lunch was served. Satisfactory food. Sweet dish-not available. No, actually it was available at a cost. For Rs. 20, Choco bar was provided. This awkward incident then happened. Right in front of my eyes, a student took 10 or 15 bars from a box and gave it to his friends. Someone noticed, but it was too late.

          Again an announcement was made. “Students proceed to the open ground”. The robotic show was restarted. The quad copter was flown right into the sky. Up into the sky. Really high. Next, a UFO was flown into the air. The UFO was made up of thermocol, with a hex copter attached to it. It didn’t fly high, and it met with the same fate of the robotic bird. It crashed into a guy, who didn’t seem hurt, and broke into two pieces. Poor UFO.

          Once again, an announcement was made. “Students go for 3D show”.  I went for the show. It was the opposite of incredible. Ouch. Seen much better things than that. Then the coordinator called for children who were willing to become social workers. I and Deepak went to volunteer. But we backed up as soon as we heard the task. The social workers had to clean up the garden. There were very few volunteers. The garden was very badly polluted with wrappers and other stuff. I and Deepak felt that it was our duty. We picked up some of the trash and put it in the dustbin. It felt nice. Then the coordinator called us and asked our names. I felt great pride in telling my name. Overall, the social service was a good experience.

          This time our school had arranged an educational trip also. To Mahananda Milk Plant. We came back to the bus and set off for the plant. The bus left us on a road. We trekked down the road to the plant. It was smaller than I had thought. It took a while before we entered the plant. From inside, it was amazing. We were able to see the packets being made, the milk being filled into the packets, and being sent off to different places in boxes. There was a huge cylinder to store milk. It was about 3 storeys tall. Well, the visit was not too educational.

          We boarded the bus back to our school. This time, instead of movies, songs were played. Boring for me. I asked Amit to stop bugging me and that I would teach him the cube afterwards. The tunnel, this time, seemed smaller. Time seemed to flow. Some guys were taking selfies on our teacher’s tablet. All seemed tired as well as happy.

          We reached school. End of picnic. We said our bye-byes to each other. I boarded the school bus back to my home. At home, I narrated all the incidents that took place to my parents, grandparents and brother. The overall experience was nice. Especially the robotic show. Nice day.

-         Manas Trivedi

Learning the GUITAR

          You a guitarist? Yeah? No? If you’re not, go right now to a music shop and buy one. Really. This is one of the best suggestions I could give to you. Let me ask you something, what according to you is the best instrument in the world? Some of you might say drums. Others, the piano. I say, the guitar is the coolest instrument in the universe. You disagree? Just once, play the E minor chord on the guitar. You’d know why.

          My brother Mihir, in 2010, went on a strike. He demanded a guitar. If his wish was not fulfilled, he wouldn't agree to whatever my parents and I said. I don’t know why, but my parents really fulfilled his wish. I kept opposing them, saying that Mihir would just buy it and keep it as a decoration. And yes, the same happened. The guitar bought was a black acoustic guitar. It looked quite cool. But for the next three years, the guitar gathered dust in the storage area.

          In March 2014, finally I decided to try out the guitar. The exams were over, so there was nothing to stop me. I tried to learn some chords by watching videos on the internet, but the videos I saw totally disappointed me. I lost interest in the instrument and it was kept in the storage for another month.

          When the school reopened in April, I was promoted to the ninth grade. I made a lot of friends. One of the friends I made, Siddharth is an experienced guitarist. I saw this as my chance. I tried to extract whatever was possible about playing the guitar. He gave me quite a lot of good information and asked me to watch the videos of this person named Marty.

          I have to call Marty my first guru of guitar. His way of teaching is better than everyone else I’ve seen on YouTube. I learnt my very first song, or tune from him. Summer holidays came. I remained glued to the computer screen watching his videos all day long. There was this one thing that bothered me a bit. The strings, when you start to play, really dig into your fingers. Though my fingers hurt a lot, that didn't stop me from learning the guitar.
 

          In May, during the holidays, I came to know that a guitar teacher had come to teach in my society. My joy knew no bounds. I joined the class the very first day. The teacher’s name is Sachin. He is a very nice guy. And an incredible teacher. He started his teaching with a lead song. Playing lead for the first time is impossibly hard. First of all, if you’re a right handed person, I’m sure you won’t have any control over the fingers of your left hand. The right hand only does the strumming part. The left hand has to go to the correct place on the guitar’s fret board and then press the string. I thought of playing the guitar left handed. In that case, I’d have to only do the strumming with the left hand. But that was even harder. Just about then, I thought of giving up.

          Still, I continued the classes. After some days, I got some control over my left hand. Though the hand was not speedy enough, I was able to play the correct notes. Within a month of serious practising, I was able to call myself an amateur guitarist. I must say, I became good at it. I was able to play fluently.

          Then I gave my first ever performance on the guitar. On the Indian Independence day, I with my three friends played the national anthem in front of a real audience. Within 15 days, on Ganesh Chaturthi, I performed solo with my guitar and my voice. The guitar accompaniment increased the performance quality and I was able to put up a good show, all thanks to my guitar.

          I still am learning more songs and this learning is endless. And please, please learn the guitar if you haven’t. I have experienced that it reduces stress and relaxes and rejuvenates the mind, along with being a great way to pass time. I thank Siddharth, Marty and Sachin sir for their guidance and making me the guitarist I am.

-         Manas Trivedi

 

My guitar

 

Stress Faced By Students

          In today’s competitive world, students face a huge amount of stress. According to my experience as a student of the 21st century, I believe there are mainly four types of stresses a student has to face.

          The first one is examinations. As we all know, exams are the one of the biggest fears of a student. All things which are taught throughout the year are tested within a few hours of exams. Students not only have the tension before exams but also after the exams before the results are displayed. They have the fear of failing.

          The second main stress is homework. I have to write these long journals for homework. And I’m not a very punctual guy. I postpone my work to the last day. But I believe in completion of work on time. So basically I freak out when I have to do a ton of homework within a couple of hours. In this way, homeworks can become nightmares.

          The third one is tuition. Tuitions horribly mess up the daily routine of a student. Along with the school homework, which I’ve mentioned, there is this tuition homework which the students have to do. This greatly increases the load on them. I have seen my classmates doing their tuition homework while the teacher was teaching in the class. And I wish my brother good luck, who is going to join his tuitions in a few days.

           And last, but not the least, peer pressure. A student’s friends may ask him/her to change his or her behaviour or attitude to suit them. They pressurize him/her to do what they say to be accepted. But when the student refuses, social isolation takes place. He/she is completely isolated by his/her friends. In these cases, the consequences can be dire. Students commit suicide in some cases.

           These are the main reasons, I believe, are responsible for the stress on them. And these are perhaps the main reasons for student suicides all around the world. I hope parents read this and understand the feelings of their school-going children.

-         Manas Trivedi

 

The Locust Squad

          Have you ever seen a bee flying alone, collecting nectar? Yeah, most of you have. What about a group of bees, coming from a hive? Okay, what about a million bees, flying together like a huge bee army? A sight not seen every day, right? On this particular day, the 3rd of October 2014, I with my grandpa, was coming home from the market. I had my camera with me. I had been clicking pictures of clouds. There was this spectacular display in the sky. The clouds had formed a lightning pattern, and the setting sun gave an orange tinge to it. I took at least 20 pictures, while my grandpa was busy buying things. After he completed his purchases, we were on our way back. Even while riding the scooter, I was still fully engrossed in taking pictures of the sunset. Then while taking a photo, this bee came in between me and the sun. I deleted the photo, and continued. Immediately, the sky was filled with hundreds of bees. They were flying quite high. On the scooter, there was no protection. But still, with the bees flying so high, I wasn’t at all scared. I was in fact amazed at their number. There were at least a million bees. If you have seen stars in a clear, pollution-free sky, imagine all of the stars moving in a random motion. But the bees didn’t maintain their height for long. Within a minute, they were buzzing around our scooter. Yikes. It seemed as if they were racing against us. But they didn’t seem to be in the attacking mode. On close observation, I saw that they were dragonflies. But my grandpa said that they were locusts, which destroy crops. We reached home, and I went straight for the balcony. Our house was on the fifth floor. The locusts would be visible clearly at this height.  But they were gone. Yeah, gone. They disappeared as soon as they had appeared. Strange. I looked all around for them. No sign. This was the first time I had seen such a huge number of locusts at a time. I know I won’t forget this locust experience ever. I just hoped for one thing, ‘May God save the crops”.

 

-         Manas Trivedi

Pet Caterpillar

When I say ‘Pet’, what comes to your mind? A dog? Maybe a cat? Perhaps a fish? But did ‘caterpillar’ come to your mind? Probably not. My brother Mihir always wanted a pet dog. For doing anything useful, he would say, “If I do this, will you get me a puppy?” This continued for about 2 years or so. Then, on the day of Dussehra, marigold flowers were brought to make garlands for vehicles. On Dussehra, people worship vehicles and put garlands around them. That day, at least 6 caterpillars came out of the flowers. Caterpillars are known to be great devourers of marigold. Mihir was overjoyed and put all of them into a plastic box. He made all of them his pets. He gave them petals of marigold to eat. I felt kind of happy seeing them crawling. I also remembered the time when my cousin sisters ran for their lives on seeing one. In the box, I saw one green caterpillar was bigger and hairier than the rest. I named it Hairy. Four were small and orange, they seemed like infants. One was green and black, and was a bit long. It was the most active among them. Within an hour, I saw Hairy rushing towards an infant. I was horrified to see what happened next. Hairy chewed into the infant and completely devoured it. A yellow liquid came out of his mouth. Yikes. I had thought of caterpillars to be leaf eating herbivores. Hairy proved me wrong. Then, within minutes, Hairy half-ate another one. Poor caterpillars. I alerted Mihir, who quickly transferred each of them into separate containers. He kept watching them throughout the day. He also wrote his initials, M.T. on Hairy’s back, with a sketch pen. Next day, he became fed up of so many caterpillars, except the green-black one. I don’t know what became of the rest, but Mihir kept the green-black one into the plastic box. He named it ‘Catty’. He gave it a Jamun leaf to eat. Catty had an exceptional speed of eating. The leaf was about 3 cm long and 2 cm broad. The leaf was gone in 12 hours. One hungry caterpillar. I cleaned his box every now and then. Mihir had stopped asking for a dog and Catty always seemed hungry. Mihir started giving it different types of leaves, including a money plant leaf. One day Catty would turn into a moth, or perhaps into a beautiful butterfly. Caterpillars do make nice pets. Next time you think you want a pet, get yourself a pet caterpillar.

-         Manas Trivedi

Catty on a money plant leaf with a half eaten jamun leaf

The Top Dog Fight

          We all have heard the saying-‘Dogs are man’s best friends’. But do you think they are friendly with their own kind? One day, my brother, Mihir and I went to play cricket. On our way to the playground, Mihir saw a pet dog running with his master. The dog’s name was Max. He was strongly built and white with a small feather-like tail and brown eyes. Mihir pleaded to me to let him touch Max with his hands. I allowed him and we both went towards the dog. Now was the time to take permission from Max’s master to let Mihir touch him. Then Mihir became shy and tugged at me to take the permission. I rolled my eyes and took his permission. Mihir touched him and said that his fur felt like velvet. Then he patted his head. Woof! Bark! Growl! Grrr! Max suddenly became angry and started barking at him. Mihir jumped and crashed right into me, terrified. The master stroked Max’s body and told Mihir that dogs don’t like strangers patting their heads. Max was staring furiously at Mihir when another dog came with his master. His name was Bruno. He also was strongly built but was black in colour. On seeing Max, Bruno suddenly became angry and broke into a sprint. He barged into Max and caught him off guard. Max became surprised and bit Bruno in return. Teeth, nails, tongues, paws, all were seen in the fight of the dogs. Mihir and I were watching this fight, absolutely stunned when a dog ran straight towards me. I had to jump to avoid being rammed by Bruno. Each wanted to show the other that who was top dog. After about half a minute, the masters of Bruno and Max, struggling, finally got their dogs under control. Running, jumping, scratching, biting, this fight sure must’ve been painful, but none seemed hurt. Well, I guess they may say that dogs are man’s best friends but it seems they are not friends of their own kind.

-         Manas Trivedi