Final Transit

Flute :: Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia
Santoor :: Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma
Tabla :: U. Zakir Hussain
Shehnai :: U. Bismillah Khan
Violin ::

That’s right. I’m referring to Dr. L. Subramanian, popularly known as L.S.

I first heard LS live at the Nehru Centre auditorium during the Malhar festival. Already fascinated by his wonderful music which I had heard only on radio or cd’s, watching the maestro perform live was a thrilling experience altogether. I heard him play next at Sawai Gandharva, and the audience went crazy. It is believed that the audience at Sawai Gandharva festival is most difficult to appease. A harsh Pune critic cheering an artist playing Carnatak music is indeed an achievement. His third performance was at Vile Parle, at the Prabha Atre festival. Wow again.

To learn music from the maestros is a rare privilege indeed. I’ve seen people struggle for getting accepted as a shishya (disciple) by particular gurus (teachers). This is because the Indian tradition of education calls for extreme devotion to the cause and the disciple is expected to sacrifice a lot.

My friend Hari from Bangalore is now a student of t h e Dr. L. Subramanian. Hari also writes poetry (see his blog) and my infrequent chats with him are always insightful.

I’m very proud to know him.

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Hundreds of liters of milk is wasted daily in offerings to lord Shiva. This figure spikes every Monday, a day supposedly sacred for Shiva. On Mahashivratri day, while devotees celebrate the marriage of God Shiva and Goddess Parvati, this wastage reaches its highest limits. Devotees compete with each other for offering milk, and sometimes as high as one-hundred-one liters of milk is showered on the shivlinga (object symbolizing Shiva).

Many years back, the rumor of ‘milk drinking Ganesha’ saw a squandering of thousands of liters of milk in a single week.

Does God need milk to be pleased? Do we – Hindus in particular – need to squander valuable resources in order to appease the deity with material goods? To me this looks as simple as either:
a. bribing the God (because I want something)
b. fear punishment from God (because I did cheated)
c. incorrect interpretation of religion (It is our duty to feed the God)

I’d rather feed the hungry little boy sitting outside the temple. I’m sure God will prefer that.

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When dad first got a computer in 1999 for using at home, he was the only person using it. I had a mouse-phobia, which I overcame after six months. Then I started discovering Windows 3.1 on a black and white 486 DX2 machine.

My learning curve rose exponentially until 2004 when my younger sister also started using the machine. By ‘use’ I mean real work and not just playing games. Although my territory was intruded, yet I had not lost the dominance.

In 2005, dad achieved partial freedom by buying a new laptop. Now it was only me and my sister who would share the home computer. Dad has occasional office work.

However, in Jan 06, my mother finished learning the basics of word, internet and email. She also knows how to type Marathi in Unicode. That’s great, but terrible for me. Now I can no longer assume the availability of home computer. There are 3 others who challenge my claim.

Live example of how we run out of resources.

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Prices of air tickets have crashed. I realized this last week when I was booking tickets to Delhi. Difference between 3^rdAC cost of super fast train and that of low cost carrier is barely 400 rupees. While train takes approximately twenty six hours, in flight time is barely two hours.

I could book Air Deccan flight to Delhi for (what I’d call) a cheap price. And saving of twenty-four hours. That means I can travel more. Delightful!

Laloo Yadav (India’s Minister for Railways) should consider this while formulating his budget. At the same time, he must look at reducing travel time by railways. Halts at some of the station are as long as thirty minutes. Isn’t that unnecessary?

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Today morning’s little bicycle trip with G and R to Shiva Temple in Ambernath (approx 20 km away) started a little late, but was enjoyable!

The road leading to Barvi dam, flanked on two sides by water pipelines, is full of ups and downs. Tiny hamlets dot the region.

Aum Suryaya namah

Aum Namah Shivay
We reached the Shiva Temple in about eighty minutes. As seen in the picture, at the moment the temple is being renovated. I hope they don’t paint it in gaudy oil based colors.

The temple is pretty old. Here is some information:

This exquisite temple was got built by Chittaraja—a king of the Silhara dynasty—in the late 11th century. An inscription above the north-facing door of the temple states Saka 982 (1060 AD) as the date of construction.

and we couldn’t help pity the sorry state of maintenance…

An Archaeological Survey of India board at the site states that the Ambarnath temple is “perhaps the oldest shrine dedicated to Shiva in the coastal parts of Maharashtra.” However, continued worship at the temple is affecting its beauty. Devotees still burn incense in the alcoves and pour milk over the Nandi idol. Some restraint on their part might allow their great grandchildren also to see the temple in its full glory.
- Read further (Sunday Tribune - Spectrum - Travel)

After some tea and vada-pav, we headed back thru a rustic path.
(This photo reminds me of high school mathematics - “Parallel lines meet at infinity”)

Three machines.

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